Showing posts with label Foreign Apr 2011. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Foreign Apr 2011. Show all posts

Saturday, April 30, 2011

Bhutan denies chopper landing, ISRO called in for search

Mystery surrounds the whereabouts of a helicopter carrying Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Dorjee Khandu, with official claims that it had been traced to Bhutan denied and no news about the chopper till late evening on Saturday.
Indian government has alerted the Department of Space and ISRO for help in locating the whereabouts of the missing helicopter.
Union Home Secretary G. K. Pillai said that Indian satellites have made two passes over the probable area from where the Pawan Hans helicopter went missing 20 minutes after takeoff from Tawang in Arunachal Pradesh but has not picked up any signals.
He said Pawan Hans helicopter carries a location transponder that can communicate at 406 MHz frequency in the event of any emergency or it could also be manually operated.
Pillai said depending upon the weather tomorrow morning IAF helicopters from Dibrugarh and Jorhat will carry out aerial search.
There was some confusion about reports that the helicopter had been located but actually it still remains untraced till tonight.
"We have also heard through the media about the helicopter landing in Bhutan, but we don't have any reports of an Indian helicopter landing in our territory. But we have deployed troops and local villagers to see if any helicopter has landed here," S. Duba, deputy commissioner of Trashiyangtse district in Bhutan adjoining Tawang, said by phone.
India's Ambassador to Bhutan Pavan Verma also said Bhutan has not reported any landing of an Indian helicopter in its territory.
"There is no confirmation of a landing of Indian chopper in Bhutanese territory," he said.
"The official position is there is no confirmation or news about the helicopter. There has been no direct contact with any of the five people on board and we really don't know any details as of now," Arunachal MP Takam Sanjay said.
"The fact of the matter is we don't know yet where the helicopter is," Sanjay said.
30/04/11 Itanagar/Deccan Chronicle

U.S. Loses in Biggest Fighter-Jet Sale in 15 Years in India

India’s Defence Ministry opted for European over American warplanes for the world’s biggest fighter-jet aircraft order in 15 years, snubbing the lobbying efforts by President Barack Obama.
The U.S. is “deeply disappointed” after India told it this week that Boeing Co. and Lockheed Martin Corp. “were not selected for procurement” for the warplane, the American embassy in New Delhi said in a statement, citing Ambassador Timothy Roemer. India’s Defence Ministry will not comment on reports it has shortlisted the aircraft of France’s Dassault Aviation SA and the European Aeronautic, Defence & Space Co., ministry spokesman Sitanshu Kar said by phone today.
The contest for India’s order may not be over yet, with approval by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s cabinet required following the Defense Ministry’s final recommendation. Obama has sought to strengthen ties with India, the world’s second-fastest growing major economy, aiming to boost export and job growth as the U.S. struggles to pull down an elevated unemployment rate.
“A remaining uncertainty is that the defining nature of the U.S.-Indian strategic partnership might trump the purely operational and technical considerations” that have given an advantage to the European companies, said Kapil Kak, a retired Indian air vice marshal who is a director of the Center for Air Power Studies, a New Delhi think-tank.
29/04/11 Bloomberg

Pilot strike: Two-day trip turns into ordeal

New Delhi: What was to have been a brief two-day trip from Kathmandu to Kolkata and back has turned into an extended nightmare for US citizen Hugh Rossi who is now stuck hundreds of kilometers away in Delhi.
Rossi, in Nepal for a mountaineering expedition with a group of 10, decided to fly to Kolkata on Thursday to meet some Missionaries of Charity Sisters. However, the Air India pilots' strike saw his direct flight to Kolkata being cancelled and Rossi was instead flown to Delhi. "Airline officials in Kathmandu told me only after I reached the airport that they would fly me to Delhi and from there to Kathmandu. We left Nepal at 4pm, reached Delhi a couple of hours later, waited for another couple of hours and was then flown to Kolkata where we reached only around midnight," said Rossi.
Since it was too late to travel from the airport to the Missionaries of Charity home, Rossi decided to spend the night at the airport. In the morning, Air India officials told him that no flight to Kathmandu was operating and, hence, it would be safer for him to travel back to Delhi on the next available flight and from there get back to Kathmandu.
30/04/11 Neha Lalchandani/Times of India

Friday, April 29, 2011

Jet mega deal: Why US firms lost out

New Delhi: The Pentagon has expressed disappointment at India's decision to exclude two American companies Boeing and Lockheed Martin from its multi-billion fighter jet purchase order.
Both Boeing and Lockheed Martin were aggressively bidding for the anticipated $11 billion deal for at least 126 fighter aircraft.
The French Rafale and Eurofighter won over US contenders - the F-16 Super Viper and the F/A-18 Super Hornet. The Defence Ministry shortlisted Eurofighter Typhoon and Dassault Rafale from among six competitors participating in the billion dollar tender to provide the Air Force Medium Multirole Combat Aircraft.
Dassault and Eurofighter are the only participants asked to extend the validity of their commercial bids and have been called to the Defence Ministry today.
Defence sources told NDTV that the US planes did not perform up to expectations during flight trials in the extreme temperatures of Rajasthan and Ladakh.
29/04/11 NDTV.com

Visa to expire, Saudi-bound workers stranded at IGI

New Delhi: Mehfuz Alam, a resident of Bihar and working as a tailor at Dammam, found himself in deep trouble on Thursday after Air India told him and his three companions that they would not be able to fly back to Dammam in Saudi Arabia till at least Saturday. The airline's offer to accommodate them in a hotel was of no consolation to the four — their visa to Saudi Arabia is expiring on Friday.
The four, belonging to various parts of the country, have been in Delhi since Wednesday morning when they were scheduled to catch their flight. "Our flight on Wednesday was cancelled and the airline told us to stay at Centaur Hotel and that they would book us on the next available flight. We waited all morning but received no information from them at all and finally decided to come to the airport and check," said Alam, a resident of Bihar.
When the four stood their ground at the domestic counter and refused to move till someone address their concern, an airline official stamped their ticket and sent them back to the international counter once again.
29/04/11 Neha Lalchandani/Times of India

Out of fighter deal, US ‘disappointed’

New Delhi: A day after both its firms competing for the $10-billion medium multi-role combat aircraft (MMRCA) were rejected, the US on Thursday said it was “deeply disappointed” by the development and was currently reviewing the documentation India has provided to justify its decision.
Reacting to the developments, US Ambassador Timothy Roemer, in a statement, said: “We are reviewing the documents received from the Government of India and are respectful of the procurement process. We are, however, deeply disappointed by this news. We look forward to continuing to grow and develop our defense partnership with India and remain convinced that the US offers our defence partners around the globe the most advanced and reliable technology.”
The statement added: “I have been personally assured at the highest levels of the Indian government that the procurement process for this aircraft has been and will be transparent and fair. I am extremely confident that the Boeing F/A 18IN and Lockheed-Martin F-16IN would provide the Indian Air Force an unbeatable platform with proven technologies at a competitive price.”
Meanwhile, the Defence Ministry said they have asked the shortlisted European Eurofighter and French Dassault Rafale to extend the validity of their commercial bids till December 31.
29/04/11 Indian Express

Plane and simple: US, Russia out of India’s $12-billion fighter aircraft deal

New Delhi, Bangalore : The Indian defence ministry has short-listed the Eurofighter Typhoon and French Dassault Aviation Rafale for the $12 billion 126 Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) deal, effectively showing the door to the Americans, Russians and Swedes from the fierce competition.
Eurofighter Typhoon and Dassault Aviation Rafale have been asked to extend the validity of their commercial bids till December 31. The bids of all six contenders expired on Thursday.
The ministry of defence (MoD) sent out letters on April 26 to all six competing vendors – US’ Boeing F/A-18 Super Hornet IN and Lockheed Martin’s F-16IN Super Viper, Gripen’s Next Generation (NG) from Sweden’s Saab, European consortium EADS’ Eurofighter Typhoon, French Rafale from Dassault Aviation and the Russian MiG-35 – while asking only the two short-listed companies for further negotiations.
An MoD source said the rejection of the four contenders was on technical grounds and that the commercial bids of both the short-listed companies would now be opened. Whoever is finally selected will be retained for further price negotiations, as per the seventh and eighth steps of India’s Defence Procurement Procedure (DPP) under the defence ministry. Benchmarking of prices is being done now, after which the final decision will be taken.
The offset negotiations are still on. The offset policy mandates foreign company from who defence ware is being procured to invest 30% of the deal cost in any Indian defence company to encourage foreign collaboration and boost the business among private Indian defence firms. The latest developments over India’s MMRCA hunt have understandably miffed the US.
29/04/11 Daily News & Analysis

Thursday, April 28, 2011

Empire Aviation Group to begin operations in India

Dubai: Empire Aviation Group (EAG), a Dubai-based private aviation specialist and operator of one of the West Asian’s largest managed fleets of business jets, has announced plans to start operations in India, with the opening of a new branch office in Mumbai by mid-2011.
The new branch — the company’s first operational base outside Dubai — will eventually offer the full range of Empire Aviation Group services in the subcontinent and will have an initial focus on aircraft sales and management.
The announcement was timed to coincide with the inaugural Kerala Aircraft Static Display Show 2011 held in Kozhikode where the company will have an exhibit highlighting its range of aviation services and featuring a Hawker 800XP business jet that EAG is marketing on behalf of its owner.
Mr Steve Hartley, Executive Director at Empire Aviation Group, said this is the right time to enter the Indian aviation market, as private jet registrations have continued to rise strongly over the last three years.
“Market reports suggest that there are around 130-140 private jets currently based in the market, covering all the major manufacturers. The market opportunity is especially attractive for our aircraft management services, in which we take owners’ aircraft onto our mixed fleet and manage, operate and charter them on behalf of the owner.
“We believe there is also good potential for new and pre-owned aircraft sales, in a market which is clearly recognising the benefits of private aviation and as the aviation infrastructure develops rapidly to accommodate and support this trend,” he said.
28/04/11 PTI/Business Line

Emirates Skycargo begins Lucknow operations

New Delhi: Emirates SkyCargo today said it has begun cargo operations from Lucknow and plans to expand services to more secondary markets, like Jaipur, Coimbatore and Amritsar soon.
Exporters from Uttar Pradesh to the United Arab Emirates can now directly ship their cargo using the SkyDubai network of 111 cities and 66 countries on six continents.
“We are glad to to have expanded our operations and launched our office in Lucknow, a city that has a growing importance for us from a business perspective,” Emirates SkyCargo Cargo Manager (India & Nepal), Mr Keki Patel said here today.
“Now, we are looking to expand to secondary markets. When I say secondary markets, I mean Jaipur, Coimbatore and Amritsar and Chandigarh and Lucknow and Kanpur, Varanasi, Indore, Vishakhapatnam,” he said.
The cargo airliner, which already operates from 10 stations in India, will offer interline cargo capacity on a thrice—a week—service on the Lucknow—Dubai—Lucknow route.
An interline agreement allows one airline to carry passengers or freight of another based on a formal arrangement between the airlines which involves the coordination of baggage checks, carriage or air cargo, etc.
27/08/11 PTI/Business Line

Etihad Award for overseas exemplary Indians

Mumbai: Etihad Airways has partnered with Remit2India for the first-ever "The Light of India Awards" ceremony held at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York on April 22, recognizing exemplary achievement by overseas Indians in the fields of business leadership, corporate leadership, political leadership, science and technology, journalism and literature and arts and entertainment.
Etihad Airways' senior vice-president Americas Geert Boven, said: "The individuals honored here have proven themselves to be exceptional leaders among Indians living abroad, for their talent, dedication and individual successes.
27/04/11 Manju V/Times of India

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Strike likely to hit Air India flights to Dubai

A section of Air India pilots numbering about 800 went on strike on Tuesday night demanding pay parity and better working conditions.
The immediate impact of the strike will be on domestic flights since the striking pilots belong to the erstwhile Indian Airlines. HOwever international flights to South East Asia and Dubai are also likely to be affected.
Air India management though unperturbed by the strike maintained that the passengers won't be affected and said that the strike is illegal. It has warned that strict action will be taken against those who refuse to report for work, and some pilots may even be terminated.
27/04/11 Emirates 24|7/Zawya

Man from Belgium dies after international flight diverted to Newfoundland

Gander, N.L: Police in Newfoundland are hoping autopsy results will reveal why a man from Belgium fell ill aboard a passenger aircraft and later died after the jet was diverted to Gander.
The RCMP say the 53-year-old was aboard a Jet Airways flight heading to Brussels from Newark, N.J., on Saturday, when he reported feeling sick.
26/04/11 The Canadian Press

Vancouver politicians distance themselves from man acquitted of Air India bombing

Vancouver politicians scrambled Tuesday to get away from any association with Ripudaman Singh Malik, saying they were aware of his association with the 1985 Air India bombing when attending a Khalsa School dedication last year and steered clear of him.
Mayor Gregor Robertson and Coun. Suzanne Anton both said they felt obligated to attend the event marking a new school to replace one that burned down in 2009. But they said they steadfastly avoided Malik, the school's founder, who in 2005 was acquitted in the mid-air bombing that killed 329 people, including 280 Canadians.
"I had concerns about being there in the same place as Mr. Malik, but I did not meet him and was focused on the school and the kids and the parents," Robertson said.
Anton said she immediately left when it became apparent that Vancouver councillors were being called to come up and accept a plaque while Malik was nearby. "Once they were getting people up to shake hands with Malik, I left," she said. She photographed Robertson accepting a plaque from Narinder Chhina, a school official and former Vision Vancouver school board candidate, while Malik looked on. Several other councillors, including Andrea Reimer, Raymond Louie and George Chow were also at the dedication.
Malik's presence at last year's school event became public Tuesday following stories that he used the backdrop of the school to meet with and endorse Vancouver South Conservative Party candidate Wai Young on April 6.
Last week Liberal Ujjal Dosanjh, the incumbent in Vancouver South, filed a filed a complaint with Elections Canada alleging that the school, a publicly funded registered charity that receives $8 million in provincial education ministry funds, violated rules banning partisan campaigning. In the complaint letter Dosanjh's campaign manager Braeden Caley said "Ripudaman Singh Malik and Wai Young both attended this meeting and urged attendees to support her candidacy." He said there were also reports the school was being used as a telephone room to campaign for support for Young.
The Vancouver Sun reported Monday that Young also met with Malik at a private home four days before the April 6 school meeting. Young has not returned calls for comment.
26/04/11 Jeff Lee/Vancouver Sun

Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Air India Express Dubai base opens, aims to tackle flight delays

Dubai: India’s Minister of Civil Aviation Vayalar Ravi inaugurated the Dubai base of Air India Express with an aim to strengthen and smoothen the operation of all Air India flights in and out of Dubai.
Addressing media in Dubai on Monday, the minister said that setting up of the base in Dubai will help the airline offer better connectivity and improved customer services. The location advantages of Dubai include multi-cultural and cosmopolitan business environment and a growing market with easy access to skilled manpower needed for aviation business, he said.
The base in Dubai would be geared to performing some of the maintenance functions, which are presently being handled out of Mumbai. It is envisaged that some tie-ups with leading airline Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MROs) in the Gulf would lead to a mutually beneficial business partnership.
Dubai would also become an operational base for stationing the pilots, cabin crew and other personnel needed for stepping up flight operations.
Ravi expressed confidence that the base would help avoid further delays due to lack of maintenance support.
Talking about fleet planning and flight operations, CMD of Air India Arvind Jadhav said that more flights could be planned from Dubai with the objective of providing transfers from India to destinations in the Gulf or Europe with transfer connections at Dubai.
As the airline has already two aircrafts positioned in Dubai for operating flights, the on time performance has increased significantly in recent months.
26/04/11 Imran Mojib/Gulf Today.com

Monday, April 25, 2011

Fly abroad from T1D starting August-end

New Delhi: Delhi’s exclusive terminal for domestic low-cost carriers, Terminal 1D at Indira Gandhi International Airport, is all set to witness two airlines — Indigo and SpiceJet — start international operations by the end of August.
SpiceJet had launched its first international flight from Terminal 3 to Nepal in October last year; it will now shift to T1D.
Airport officials said international operations at T1D would start with four flights, and will increase to 14 flights by December. Both Indigo and SpiceJet already have the requisite permissions to fly to international destinations.
“Taking international operations of the low-cost airlines to T3 would only escalate costs for passengers as parking bays are very expensive. It only makes sense that the international flights of these airlines land at the domestic bays, which would keep costs under control. That’s the reason why SpiceJet would also shift to Terminal 1D,” an official said.
A few officials, however, feel T1D may not be able handle both international and domestic operations.
“At present, the facilities provided in various parts of the terminal are accessible to all passengers. The terminal would have to be partitioned into two with the launch of international operations, making facilities inaccessible to passengers on either side,” said a senior airport official.
25/04/11 Indian Express

Skip Kabul, Nepal: ICPA tells pilots

Mumbai: After the Directorate General of Civil Aviation served notices to four private domestic carriers for violating norms at the Dabolim airport in Goa and asked the airlines too to de-roster some pilots for the same, the Indian Commercial Pilots Association (ICPA) has asked its 660 members to refrain from flying to Kathmandu and Kabul in the interest of safety of passengers and the crew.
On April 13 the ICPA, a union of Air India (AI), had asked its members not to operate flights to Kabul. Similarly, on April 18 the ICPA asked its members not to undertake flights to Kathmandu.
25/04/11 Daily News & Analysis

Air India passenger in Bangalore will get Rs30,000 as compensation

Bangalore: A city-based consumer disputes redressal forum has awarded a compensation of Rs30,000 to a passenger of Air India Limited for deficiency in the service meted out to him by the airline.
The II Additional District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum directed the airline to pay the amount directly to the complainant — Sukumar, 57, of JP Nagar 6th Phase —- through cheque or demand draft within a month, failing which the airline would have to pay an annual interest of 6% of the amount.
Sukumar had in a complaint filed on August 11, 2010 prayed to the court a compensation of ¤11 lakh for mental trauma, stress and harassment caused to him because of the absence of certain services during his travel from New York to Bengaluru International Airport, Devanahalli.
He detailed three incidents in which Air India failed to provide him with adequate facilities.
He said that the airline refused to accept his Indian Airlines American Express (Amex) card for the payment of luggage charge citing unavailability of swiping machine which accepts such cards causing him embarrassment.
Despite specific agreement, the airline failed to make an arrangement for his travel from New York Airport to New York City, and the airline took four days to hand over a misplaced luggage, he said.
25/04/11 Santosh Kumar RB/Daily News & Analysis

SL Airlines to carry Sai Baba devotees

Special arrangements have been made by the Sri Lankan airlines to carry all Bhagwan Sri Sathya Sai Baba devotees who wish to pay their last respects to the Bhagwan’s remains in India, Sri Lankan Airlines said.
The airline will have additional capacity on their daily flights to Bangalore from Tuesday April 26, onwards, in order to accommodate all devotees who wish to fly to India to pay final homage to their spiritual leader. The airline will also consider adding some special charters to facilitate the travel of all the Bhagwan's devotees.
25/04/11 Daily Mirror

Saturday, April 23, 2011

10 yrs on, return airfare given as compensation

Mumbai: Nearly 10 years after Gopinath Deshpande from Mumbai was detained in Rome and had to spent a day in custody, he will now get back the return airfare for his journey from Newark to Mumbai via Rome as compensation for the humiliation he suffered then. The airline, Alitalia, which no longer operates in India, had on November 8, 2001, re-scheduled Deshpande’s return journey via Rome, without checking with him whether or not he had a visa to enter Italy. Since he didn’t possess one, the airport security at Rome handed over him to the immigration authorities, and the airport police put him in custody for nearly 24 hours.
The National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission last week said that the casual approach on part of the airline officials amounted to deficiency in service.
Anupam Dasgupta, presiding member of the commission, has, therefore, directed the airline to refund return airfare to the city resident by way of compensation towards the humiliation he had to face in Rome.
23/04/11 Kanchan Chaudhari/Hindustan Times

Thursday, April 21, 2011

Tory accused of campaigning with man acquitted in Air India case

Vancouver: Liberal Ujjal Dosanjh has filed a complaint with Elections Canada after one of the men acquitted in the Air India bombings endorsed his Conservative rival.
Dosanjh said his campaign learned Friday about the April 6 meeting at B.C. Khalsa School in which teachers and parents were urged to support Conservative Wai Young.
Dosanjh, the incumbent in Vancouver South, said Young was at the meeting along with Ripudaman Singh Malik, one of the Khalsa School founders.
Malik and another man, Ajaib Singh Bagri, were found not guilty in 2005 in the 1985 Air India bombing in which 331 people were killed in two explosions.
In a statement late Friday, Wai said she was invited to Khalsa School by the school's principal and not by Malik.
“Had I known he would be present or was involved with the school, I never would have attended,” said Wai. “No one involved with the school or Mr. Malik is involved in my campaign nor have I ever asked for his support. I strongly stand against terrorism.”
The Khalsa School is an independent school that receives funding from the B.C. government and is run by a charitable organization.
In addition to filing a complaint to Elections Canada and B.C.'s education ministry, the Dosanjh campaign has sent a letter to the Canada Revenue Agency. Dosanjh says the meeting could be considered campaigning during an election, which could violate the school's charitable status.
22/04/11 Petti Fong/The Star.com

Did Air India misquote Vayalar Ravi to make pilots fly to Tokyo?

Mumbai: If Air India is to believed, then civil aviation minister Vayalar Ravi and not the director general of civil aviation is now deciding whether pilots have had their mandatory rest to safely operate passenger flights beyond legally permissible duty hours.

The matter relates to the March 19 Delhi-Tokyo-Delhi flight AI-306. A day before, top Air India officials briefed the minister about operating flights to Tokyo. "There were concerns about radiation exposure. They sent me a brief about it," said Ravi. Little did he know it was more than a regular briefing.
Next day, Air India called four of its overworked Boeing 747-400 pilots ” two commanders and two co-pilots ” to operate the 19-hour, quick turnaround return flight to Tokyo. It left from Delhi at 6pm and returned at 1pm the next day.
"These pilots should not have been called for this flight as they had exceeded the maximum limit of extra duty a pilot is legally allowed. But they were told the minister had given the airline a waiver to circumvent the rule," said an airline source.
The airline could only circumvent this by getting a nod from the DGCA. "The director-general would not have given the dispensation as the airline had many other Boeing 747 pilots who had hardly done any flights. So, they should have been rostered for the Tokyo flight," said the source.
21/04/11 Manju V/Times of India

Top court clears way for B.C. to recoup Air India accused’s $5.2-million legal bill

The Supreme Court of Canada has cleared the way for the B.C. government to wrest $5.2-million in legal fees from a man acquitted of criminal charges in the 1985 bombing of an Air India flight.
The court gave the province a green light to unseal and examine documents it seized from Ripudaman Singh Malik, a Vancouver businessman, in 2009.
The material was seized in connection with a lawsuit the province launched alleging that the Malik family systematically misrepresented its considerable wealth to defraud the public of special legal funding made available to Mr. Malik.
Thursday’s decision reversed an earlier B.C. Court of Appeal decision that had gone in Mr. Malik’s favour.
The Air India plane exploded off the coast of Ireland on June 23, 1985, killing all 329 people on board. Mr. Malik was also charged in the deaths of two baggage handlers at Tokyo's Narita Airport who were killed when a bomb-laden suitcase exploded before it could be loaded onto a second Air India flight.
Writing for a 9-0 Supreme Court majority, Mr. Justice Ian Binnie said the Malik family retains the right to challenge evidence obtained from the documents which they believe might “explain away or put a different light on their financial transactions.”
However, he made it clear that, were the seizure order to be reversed, the Maliks might potentially go so far as to destroy evidence that harms their cause.
21/04/11 Kirk Makin/Globe and Mail

Royal Caribbean International and Kingfisher Airlines announce strategic alliance

Mumbai: Royal Caribbean International and Kingfisher Airlines have formed an alliance that will offer customers conveniently bundled vacation packages as well as enhanced member benefits for members of King Club, Kingfisher Airlines' loyalty program.
Kingfisher Airlines is one of India's market-leading airlines and is a member-elect of the world's leading quality airline alliance, oneworld. Royal Caribbean International is one of the largest cruise lines in the world, offering vacations to more than 260 ports around the world.
"Working together, we can offer a number of synergies and new benefits to our Royal Caribbean International guests, and to Kingfisher customers," explains Michael Bayley, Executive Vice President of International for Royal Caribbean Cruises, Ltd. "India is a key market for us, and we look forward to expanding our brand presence there and introducing people to the world of cruising."
"At King Club, our vision is to deliver a bouquet of unmatched and innovative benefits across the world to our members, in collaboration with leading national and international brands," said Ms. Anshu Sarin, Vice President of Guest Loyalty and Kingfisher Holidays at Kingfisher Airlines Ltd. "The alliance with Royal Caribbean International is yet another initiative that will expand the range of exciting and exclusive benefits we offer our King Club guests."
20/04/11 afaqs!

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Eurocopter delivers 1,000th Dauphin helicopter to Pawan Hans Helicopters

Eurocopter’s 1,000th helicopter from its Dauphin family was delivered today to India’s Pawan Hans Helicopters Limited, the world’s largest civilian operator of this successful twin-engine, medium weight rotary-wing aircraft.
Pawan Hans’ milestone helicopter is an AS365 N3 version, configured for offshore oil and gas drilling missions, and it brings the Indian operator’s fleet to a total of 35 Dauphins.
The Dauphin is known by its distinctive shape, with the helicopter’s nose recalling the form of a dolphin – the mammal after which its French name is derived. Since the 1970s, Dauphins have been in service with some 300 customers in 69 countries, accumulating a combined total of more than 5.1 million flight hours. These helicopters are used in a full range of operations on land and at sea, earning a reputation for mission capability, cost-effectiveness, ease of operation and flight safety. Since 1981, the Dauphin also has been available in the AS565 Panther military version.
Marking the 25-year association of Eurocopter with its key Indian customer at today’s delivery were Eurocopter President & CEO Lutz Bertling; and Sanjiv Bahl the Executive director of Pawan Hans; who were joined by Joseph Saporito, Eurocopter’s Executive Vice President for Commercial Programs; and Cécile Arnaud the Sales & Marketing director of Eurocopter India Pvt Ltd.
19/04/11 Business Standard

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Rauf in Chilean custody not IC-814 hijacker

New Delhi: A two-member CBI team, which went to Chile last week to ascertain the identity of Abdul Rauf, one of the main conspirators in the IC-814 hijacking in 1999, returned here on Monday empty-handed after it was confirmed that the person in Chilean custody is not the same person that the agency has been looking for all these years.
Sources said that the detained individual was asked various questions, including his parentage and profession, to ascertain if he is the same Rauf.
"However, he is not the same person. There are several anomalies like age and his ignorance about the hijacking operation," said a source.
A CBI officer and an Intelligence Bureau were sent to Chile last week. Chile had reportedly informed India that one Abdul Rauf was detained three months ago, who could have been the IC-814 hijacker.
19/04/11 Times of India

Sunday, April 17, 2011

Couple stuck in lift delays Trivandrum-Sharjah flight

An Air Arabia flight from the South Indian state of Kerala to Sharjah over the weekend was delayed by about half-an-hour as two passengers were stuck in the airport lift.
An elderly couple - Narayanan Ravindran and his wife Sajini - were the unfortunate victims of the 'callousness of Trivandrum airport staff'.
The couple completed their immigration check at about 12.40am on Saturday at the newly-opened International Terminal and proceeded to the second floor but was stuck inside the lift.
An hour later, the technical staff at the airport still could not rescue the couple. So Ravindran himself had to call fireforce to help. However, the airport security refused to let the fireforce personnel from entering the airport asking them to first get the approval. So the local police had to intervene.
Once the fireforce personnell were let in, airport officials would not let them break open the glass door, said one official present at the scene.
However, pressure from co-passengers and the fear of delaying the flight further forced the airport staff to let the personnel break open the door and free the couple.
17/04/11 Joseph George/Emirates 24-7

Saturday, April 16, 2011

Delhi to Hong Kong on fake air tickets

New Delhi: Five Fijian nationals were arrested at Chek Lap Kok Airport in Hong Kong and deported to India for possible security breach. Before boarding the Air India flight from the Capital on April 10, they had spent three months in the country.
Rafik Saiyed, Rafik Mohammed, Ali Naushad, Ali Mohammed and Khan Mohammed arrived in India on January 1, reportedly on a tourist visa, to visit historical places across the country. After spending three months here they decided to go back. All five boarded Air India flight AI 310 on April 10 for Hong Kong. From there they would take another plane for Fiji. On the way the Air India staff received an alert that the group was travelling on counterfeit tickets.
The message first came to the office of Air India's Deputy Director in Hong Kong that five persons might be flying on fake tickets and it could be a security threat to the country. An airport source said that as soon as the message Air India officials informed the Hong Kong Airport authority about the matter. As soon as the plane landed at Hong Kong airport, all the five Fijians were detained by security personnel and were interrogated. They were deported back to India after security personnel smelt foul play in the matter.
The five persons have been handed over to Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport police to look into the matter. DCP, IGI, R Sanjiv said that according to Air India the accused have travelled on counterfeit tickets and hence an FIR of cheating and forgery was immediately lodged.
15/04/11 Mid-Day.com/NDTV

Friday, April 15, 2011

Govt blocks Lufthansa's A380 India plans

Mumbai/New Delhi: German airline Deutsche Lufthansa's plan to introduce Airbus A380 service on the Delhi-Frankfurt route has hit an air pocket. The ministry of civil aviation has blocked Lufthansa's proposal to operate the superjumbo jet between the two cities from next month, putting the airline's route planning in jeopardy. "There is neither a yes nor a no from the ministry," said Axel Hilgers, director (South Asia), Lufthansa.
The airline, which had recently increased frequency on two destinations--Frankfurt and Munich--from Delhi, was hoping to secure the permission soon as it had factored in an Airbus A380 for India in its route planning. The German carrier has seven of these super jumbos and it is acquiring another next month. It had planned to deploy the new jet on the India route from May 15. The civil aviation ministry, which clears seat entitlements on all sectors, is of the view that allowing Lufthansa to operate A380 will mean raising the airline's capacity on the sector. "An A380 coming into the country means cutting off the business of domestic carriers," said an official in the ministry with direct knowledge of the matter. "We can not allow that."
The superjumbo offers 139 more seats per aircraft as against a Boeing 747-400, or 255 additional seats as compared with a Boeing 777-300 ER or 777-200 LR, versions most used by airlines in India. Kingfisher Airlines is the only Indian carrier that has placed an order for A380, but it too is thinking of revisiting the order. However, the official said the main reason for not letting Lufthansa operate an A380 was the lack of facilities at the Delhi airport to handle an aircraft as big. He said an A380 might cause chaos at the airport.
15/04/11 Manisha Singhal & Anindya Upadhyay/Economic Times

Chile may have held wrong man, says CBI

New Delhi: A day after Pakistan media reports claimed that the man arrested by Chile was not Abdul Rauf, Jaish-e-Mohammad chief Masood Azhar’s brother who is wanted for the Indian Airlines IC-814 hijack, the CBI seems to have come to the same conclusion. And if this indeed is the case, then it will be the third time the arrest of Rauf has turned out to be a false alarm for the CBI, after Seoul in 2004 and Lebanon in 2005.
A two-member CBI team — one of the members is the investigating officer of the IC-814 case — which was sent to Chile after Rauf’s arrest believes he may not be the person they are looking for, CBI officials in New Delhi said.
The team did not have any picture or fingerprints to corroborate the identity of the person. “So, it was decided that a background check by the method of elimination will help them establish whether Rauf is the person who is alleged to be behind the hijack. But as they quizzed the man, they learnt he was not the wanted person,” said an official.
The CBI, however, said it has not closed the chapter yet, but has sought help from the FBI.
15/04/11 Indian Express

Citing safety, AI pilots say won’t fly to Kabul

Mumbai: A day after the Directorate-General of Civil Aviation said it would de-roster pilots who had flown to the Goa airport under unsafe conditions in the first week of April, a section of Air India pilots announced today that they would no longer be flying to Kabul as flying conditions were unsafe there. Air India is the only airline that operates to Kabul and has six flights a week from Delhi. An Air India spokesperson did not comment on the pilot union ICPA’s notice to its pilots.
“If the DGCA is going to pull up pilots for flying in unsafe conditions, then why should we put the lives of our pilots and the passengers at risk. The fact is that Kabul is a substandard airfield,” said Captain Rishab Kapur, General Secretary of the Indian Commercial Pilots Association. Kabul is a class G airspace, which pilots say means pilots are essentially on their own. Every aircraft has anti-collision alarm called the TCAS which warns pilots in case of a potential collision by alerting them with traffic advisories (TA) or resolution advisories (RA).

“On every second flight, we get a traffic advisory or a resolutionary advisory but as the air traffic control is quite poor we have to manage advisories on our own,” said a pilot on the condition of annomity. A TA is when an aircraft is approximately 40 seconds away from collision with another aircraft, while an RA is when an aircraft is approximately 25 seconds away from collision with another aircraft. In India, pilots have to face an inquiry in case of a TA or an RA alert.
15/04/11 Indian Express

Thursday, April 14, 2011

Kandahar hijack: How India can get Abdul Rauf

The Home Ministry has sent a team to Chile to probe the credentials of Abdul Rauf, who is currently under detention in Santiago. They will have to ascertain whether the nabbed terrorist is the same man who financed and masterminded the Kandahar plane hijack in 1999. The task for the Indian team is clearly cut out.
The team will first have to establish the identity of Rauf, the alleged hijacker of Indian Airlines (now Air India) flight IC-814. There have already been two previously failed attempts to capture him.
If sufficient leads are gathered from such questioning, the Indian team will file an extradition plea with Chilean authorities to get Rauf for trial to India. Chilean Ambassador to India Christian Barros has already said that India would have to back their plea with strong documentary evidence.
If the extradition is successful, the path will be cleared to try Abdul Rauf in India for his role in the 1999 plane hijacking.
14/04/11 India Today

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Dip in number of international flyers

Ahmedabad: The all new and swanky, Rs 350-crore international terminal at Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel international airport can compete with all major airports in the country when it comes to looks. But the number of international travellers at the city airport has been dipping. The new international terminal was made operational in September, 2010.
According to the recently released air traffic figures in January 2011, the number of international flyers has seen a dip of more than 18 per cent compared to the same period in 2010. The figures for November and December, 2010 suggest that there is considerable dip in the number of international flyers coming to city. More than 50 per cent of international traffic to Gujarat is seen during these three months every year.
But the number of domestic flyers in January recorded the second highest increase as compared to last year. Airline officials said that this increase can be attributed to the increasing business travelers and tourists to Gujarat.
13/04/11 Ankur Jain/Times of India

Intel-IB team heads for Chile to verify Rauf arrest

New Delhi: Two senior police officers left for Chile on Tuesday afternoon to verify the identity of the arrested Pakistani citizen, even as authorities were yet to receive any further confirmation if the detained man was a key conspirator of the 1999 hijack of Indian Airlines aircraft IC814.
Chilean law enforcement agencies alerted Interpol about the arrest of a Pakistani citizen, who they suspect is Abdul Rauf, brother-in-law of Maulana Masood Azhar, who was among the three terrorists released in exchange for the passengers of IC814.
End of the hijack on December 31, 1999 saw New Delhi giving into the demands of hijackers, releasing Azhar, who later founded militant group Jaish-e-Mohammed, Saeed Omar Sheikh, a key suspect in the killing of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl, and Mushtaq Zargar, a key operator behind Kashmiri militancy till date.
Sources in the security establishment said they were yet to get a confirmation if the suspect arrested in Chile is Rauf, who was a key conspirator of the 1999 hijack according to Indian investigators.
13/04/11 Neeraj Chauhan/Times of India

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

SriLankan Engineering wins IndiGo fleet maintenance deal

SriLankan Airlines said its aircraft maintenance arm SriLankan Engineering has secured a deal to carry out maintenance checks on twenty aircraft for India’s largest low-fare carrier IndiGo in 2011.
It was SriLankan Engineering's biggest contract to-date, the airline said in a statement.
"This is the third consecutive year in which IndiGo has awarded SriLankan Engineering the contract to carry out ‘C-checks’ on its Airbus A320-200 fleet, and is a significant expansion from the C-checks on 13 aircraft in 2009 and another 13 in 2010."
C-checks are carried out on an aircraft every 18 months, and work on the IndiGo fleet is being carried out throughout the year.
SriLankan Engineering has gained a reputation as the regional specialist in maintenance of Airbus aircraft at its hub at Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA).
11/04/11 Lanka Business Online

Monday, April 11, 2011

Kandahar hijack kingpin may have been nabbed in Chile

New Delhi: Abdul Rauf, the man arrested by the Chilean police in January 2011 in a fake visa case may be one of the conspirators in the hijacking of Air India IC-814.
The hijacking had taken place on December 24, 1999 from Tribhuvan International Airport, Kathmandu to Kandahar via Amritsar, Lahore and Dubai. The plane was originally set to fly from Kathmandu to Delhi.
During interrogation, Chile police found that the Interpol had issued a notice against a man named Abdul Rauf who was involved in the hijacking of the plane to Kandahar.
Rauf is the brother-in-law of Maulana Masood Azhar, the leader of Jaish-e-Mohammed, a dreaded Pakistani terrorist outfit. Maulana Azhar was released by India as part of the ransom in 1999.
The CBI's chargesheet in the hijacking case says that Abdul Rauf was constantly in touch with the hijackers, making sure that the plan was successfully executed.
11/04/11 Indian Express

Sunday, April 10, 2011

Indian lecturer says flight 'security' was racist

A university lecturer has made a complaint of racial harassment against an airline after being told not to sleep with his hands covered as "a matter of security".
Dr Ashok Malhotra, who teaches at Edinburgh University, was told he would be escorted off the BMI Baby plane if he did not keep his hands visible at all times.
A flight attendant woke him after he had covered his head and hands with his jacket, saying his actions had "disturbed" other passengers.
Malhotra, 32, who was born in the UK but is of Indian descent, believes he would not have been treated the same way if he was white, and has been backed by the Equality and Human Rights Commission in Scotland. The incident, last month, raises fears that passengers of Asian or Muslim appearance are being discriminated against by some airline staff because of heightened tensions over terrorist attacks. The Civil Aviation Authority, which regulates airlines, says there are no rules disallowing passengers from having their heads or hands covered during a flight.
The lecturer in South Asian Studies has a seven-month-old son, Arjun, and had a sleepless night before the flight on 7 March. He had hoped to catch up on some sleep on the flight to East Midlands Airport, before giving a lecture at Leicester University later that day.
10/04/11 Gareth Rose/Scotsman

Friday, April 08, 2011

Jet to launch non-stop flight to the US

New Delhi: The country’s largest airliner by market share, Jet Airways, may launch a non-stop flight to the US, said top company sources. At present, it provides a single daily connection to New York and New Jersey via Brussels — its hub in Europe.
“The company has been exploring this option and is also in talks with US domestic airline Delta to provide connections within that country,” said a company executive and added that the proposal is on the drawing board. The New-Delhi-New York flight may be launched by 2011-end or 2012.
Jet Airways has a code share agreement with American Airlines which operates a non-stop daily flight Chicago-New Delhi. Last year, it entered into a code share agreement with United Airline that operates flights between London and Chicago, Denver, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Washington.
However, the airline is likely to receive a stiff competition from Air India, which operates non-stop daily to New York and Chicago. Even though these are prestigious routes, Air India makes losses to the tune of Rs 750 crore per annum.
08/04/11 Smita Aggarwal/Indian Express

IAF officer faces court-martial for taking 'bribe'

New Delhi: IAF is likely to court-martial Wing Commander A K Thakur, a transport aircraft pilot who was allegedly caught while demanding a Rs 20,000 bribe from officials of a French aviation company at the Aero-India show in Bangalore in February.
Sources say this comes after the court of inquiry (CoI) against Wing Commander Thakur found him prima facie guilty of demanding the bribe from French company Dassault Aviation for allotting ''a more advantageous position'' for its aircraft in the ''static'' aircraft display section at the airshow.
In the military legal system, disciplinary action in the form of a court-martial is taken after a summary of evidence is recorded, somewhat akin to the framing of charges in the civil system, following a CoI. The court-martial is the actual trial to prove if a person is guilty or not of the charges against him.
There is, however, talk that the entire episode is ''much more murky'' than just a Rs 20,000 bribe being demanded by one of the IAF officers deputed to oversee the arrangements for Aero-India.
Dassault Aviation's Rafale fighter, after all, is one of the six contenders in the hotly-contested race to bag India's gigantic $10.4-billion project for the acquisition of 126 medium multi-role combat aircraft (MMRCA) for IAF.
08/04/11 Times of India

IAF officer faces court-martial for taking 'bribe'

New Delhi: IAF is likely to court-martial Wing Commander A K Thakur, a transport aircraft pilot who was allegedly caught while demanding a Rs 20,000 bribe from officials of a French aviation company at the Aero-India show in Bangalore in February.
Sources say this comes after the court of inquiry (CoI) against Wing Commander Thakur found him prima facie guilty of demanding the bribe from French company Dassault Aviation for allotting ''a more advantageous position'' for its aircraft in the ''static'' aircraft display section at the airshow.
In the military legal system, disciplinary action in the form of a court-martial is taken after a summary of evidence is recorded, somewhat akin to the framing of charges in the civil system, following a CoI. The court-martial is the actual trial to prove if a person is guilty or not of the charges against him.
There is, however, talk that the entire episode is ''much more murky'' than just a Rs 20,000 bribe being demanded by one of the IAF officers deputed to oversee the arrangements for Aero-India.
Dassault Aviation's Rafale fighter, after all, is one of the six contenders in the hotly-contested race to bag India's gigantic $10.4-billion project for the acquisition of 126 medium multi-role combat aircraft (MMRCA) for IAF.
08/04/11 Times of India

Thursday, April 07, 2011

M&M to bring acquired Boeing unit to Bangalore

Chennai: Mahindra & Mahindra has decided to dismandle its recently acquired Boeing plant in Melbourne, Australia, which makes machinery for aircraft, and shift it to Bangalore.
Anand MahindraIt is also in talks with some of the world’s largest aviation companies to be providers of components and services,according to Mahindra Group’s Vice-Chairman and Managing Director, Anand Mahindra.
After launching Mahindra First Choice Wheels 2S Superstore here on Wednesday, he said: “We have asked the Karnataka government to allocate land close to the Bangalore airport.”
The company hopes this would boost orders, as it is likely to help improve the quality of aircraft parts it produces and attract clients that need to fulfill their offset obligations in India. Under Indian law, foreign companies selected for government defence contracts have to source about 30 per cent of the project value from local vendors if the project is worth Rs 300 crore or more.
07/04/11 T E Narasimhan/Business Standard

Wednesday, April 06, 2011

After 2-day search, runaway dog reunited with owner at airport

Chennai: MC Manohar, the senior manager of ground handling department of Air India, had to just call out the name of the eight-month-old dog to identify her after a two-day search. "As soon as I shouted Ricky, she immediately responded," he says. As if to prove that, the moment Manohar opened his car's door calling her name, Ricky jumped into the car and sat on the front seat.
Ricky was brought to India by her owner Bipitha Jacob from Dubai through the Chennai airport and was headed for the quarantine. As she was being offloaded on Sunday night, she got scared hearing the drone of the aircraft engines. "The wheels of the kennel tumbled down from the baggage ramp and broke open. Ricky escaped in no seconds," said a senior airport official. She entered the tarmac and went missing from the airport campus through Gate No 9, where the gates have remained damaged for several weeks.
Ricky is a Saluki one of the oldest known domesticated breeds of dogs. It has been portrayed in ancient Egyptian and Sumerian inscriptions.
Airline officials were touched by the bond between Ricky and her owner Bipitha when the two were reunited. A pregnant Bipitha had been weeping at the terminal on Sunday night after Ricky went missing.
Bipitha said the dog was shivering with hunger when she came to her. Bipitha gave her milk and biscuits and Ricky regained the cheer. Though Ricky accepted water from airline officials who rescued her, she refused to take any food from them until she could see Bipitha.
Ricky had been roaming in the area near the airport since Sunday night after she went missing. A villager who found her thought she belonged to an army officer and pulled her towards a residential area near the airport. A team led by airline officials and Blue Cross volunteers had been searching for Ricky in the nearby villages.
On Tuesday morning, when Manohar found her on the defence colony road, she had sustained minor injuries.
06/04/11 Arun Janardhanan/Times of India

Missing dog on Dubai flight sparks airport hunt

Amateur airport officials in Chennai, India scrambled the whole night on Monday along with hundreds of volunteers to trace a dog that escaped, after it was placed on the baggage handling conveyor belt.
In an incident that could reflect poorly upon the airport security system and its operational procedures, the pet dog that flew along with an Emirates Airline passenger from Dubai escaped the airport premises through an open gate and was only traced after 36 hours from a neighborhood street.
A red alert was sounded as the dog ran out of the terminal and into the airfield, before managing to get out through gate number nine, which was incidentally open for an incoming truck.
Babita Jacob, a resident of Al Ain was travelling with Ricky, her eight month old Saluki – the Persian greyhound, a rare breed in India on Sunday evening. Narrating the sequence of events her husband Saban Alex says the incident is a clear example of ignorance and unprofessionalism of airport staff at some of the Indian airports, when compared to Dubai.
“All the procedures were meticulously completed by the Emirates staff in Dubai and Ricky was screened separately, before being allowed to fly with the passenger and not as cargo. However, upon landing at Chennai, the local handling crew, just dumped the dog which was in the crate on the baggage conveyor. One of the wheels of the crate broke and the latch opened up, allowing our dog to flee the place in panic,” said Alex.
According to media reports, almost 100 volunteers from a group called “friends of Police were pressed into service.
“Thankfully one of the airport staff who was driving in a white car found Ricky and called out his name. He immediately responded and upon seeing the white car, the same colour as my vehicle here, jumped inside,” he said.
According to him Emirates airline, although it was no mistake of theirs have arranged free transportation for Babita and her dog from Chennai to Kottayam in Kerala.
06/03/11 Joseph George/Emirates 24/7

Singapore Airlines cuts fare for summer tourism

Mumbai: Singapore Airlines along with it regional subsidiary Silk Air Tuesday announced special airfare for the summer holidays to promote Indian tourism to the city state starting from all-inclusive Rs.17,940 onwards, an airline official said.
"With Singapore's growing popularity as a visitor destination, we are pleased to offer our customers the opportunity to make the most of their summer vacations," said G.M. Toh, General Manager (India), Singapore Airlines.
The promotional fares will be available in India across 10 Singapore Airlines and Silk Air getaway cities - Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Bengaluru, Chennai, Ahmedabad, Cochin, Thiruvananthapuram, Coimbatore and Hyderabad.
Bookings for these deals are available from April 4-8. A minimum of 2 tickets is to be booked to avail of these special fares and the travel validity is till April 30.
05/04/11 IANS/Economic Times

Foreign airlines in India cannot settle transactions overseas: RBI

Mumbai: Reserve Bank of India has asked foreign airlines operating in India to stop the practice of using overseas banks to settle transactions on the sale of air tickets in India.
Some foreign airlines have an arrangement in India with credit card companies for allowing customers to select the country and currency of their choice while buying tickets from India, the central bank said.
In such a transaction, the overseas bank receives funds from the card company in its account maintained with an authorised dealer bank in India or in its foreign currency account maintained abroad and makes the payment in a foreign currency to the foreign airline.
05/04/11 Economic Times

Hong Kong Aviation Capital Closes Sale on New Airbus A320

Sydney and Hong Kong: IndiGo Airlines and Hong Kong Aviation Capital (HKAC) have successfully closed the sale and lease back of a new Airbus A320 delivered on 30 March at the Airbus facility in Toulouse. HKAC closed the delivery of the new aircraft with financing from China Development Bank.
HKAC now has a total of eight (8) A320s on lease to IndiGo.
Hong Kong Aviation Capital ("HKAC") is a diversified investor and manager in the aviation industry. HKAC is headquartered out of Hong Kong, with offices in Sydney and London. The firm invests in commercial aircraft leases and financial instruments, and also provides aircraft management and advisory services.
05/04/11 PRNewswire

Tuesday, April 05, 2011

Jet Airways promoted Lydia Nazareth as the general manager for the UK and Ireland last week.
Having spent almost a decade serving the airline and various previous managerial roles, her appointment is fitting to lead Jet forward.
Lydia has spent nine years with the airline, of which the last three years were spent as general manager of Sales, and sales manager for ethnic and leisure sales.
She said: "My predecessor, the late Raja Segran, put in place a pragmatic business plan which has put Jet Airways in good stead for times ahead.
"I am excited to lead Jet Airways through the next stages of its development with positive future prospects for the airline, its staff and guests."
Prior to her UK roles, Lydia worked with Jet Air Private Limited, based in India, as vice president marketing and sales.
She will now be based at the airline's corporate office in Hammersmith, bringing a wealth of experience of the aviation and sales sectors, plus leadership and management qualities.
04/04/11 Salina Patel/Skyport