Showing posts with label Foreign Aug 2016. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Foreign Aug 2016. Show all posts

Friday, August 04, 2017

Flights to India dip down to $588 return on Malaysia Airlines

Malaysia Airlines is churning out all the sales right now and the best flights where we've seen prices drop are to the incredible Indian city of New Delhi.

Departures from Melbourne start from $588 return and include a short stopover in Kuala Lumpur. Not only are these fares some of the cheapest available right now for an all-inclusive airline, they're also some of the fastest with flight times between 16 and 17 hours. In case you're wondering, yes, many of these are overnight flights so you can rest easy while your pilot takes you from A to B.

Other standout fares include: Adelaide to Delhi from $591, Sydney to Delhi from $613 and Brisbane to Delhi from $656. All are return flights.

Travel dates vary per departure city but generally fall between August and December 2017. You can find the cheapest dates to fly in and out using the Skyscanner calendar or by choosing "cheapest month" when you search for flights.
04/08/17 finder

Thursday, September 01, 2016

India to ensure its airlines get slots in Dubai

New Delhi:  India is going to link granting of slots to its airlines at constrained foreign airports to giving more flying rights or bilaterals to these countries. India will soon hold talks with Dubai for increasing bilaterals and the issue will come up in the deliberations, aviation secretary R N Choubey told TOI.
"Dubai is a slot constrained airport and our airlines have spoken about difficulties in getting slots for more flights there. This issue will be a part of the bilateral discussions we have with Dubai," said Choubey.
"We will first assess their demand (for more flying rights for Dubai). After that we will speak to the civil aviation authority of Dubai. The process will be completed in a way that is a winwin for our airlines and consumers," said Choubey.
Indian and Dubai carriers are allowed to fly 65,000 seats per week. While Emirates and Flydubai have fully utilized this 65,000 capacity, Indian carriers are utilizing 90%. Eighty per cent utilization of bilaterals is India's cut off point for initiating talks for additional flying rights. India will hike Dubai's flying rights by an amount that Indian carriers can also mount and not leading to a mismatch in utilization by Indian and Dubai carriers.
01/09/16 Saurabh Sinha/Times of India

Skyrocketing airfares dampen expats' festival spirit for Malayalis

Kochi: For Malayalis working in West Asian countries, celebrating Onam would be a costly affair this year as most of the airline companies have jacked up fares five-seven times for flights until the second week of September, when the school vacation in West Asia coincides with Onam.

Dealing a double whammy to the expatriates who have already been reeling under severe pressure following the crash of oil prices, which triggered massive austerity drives across the Gulf, the Central Government has made it clear that the Civil Aviation Department would not be able to rein in the airline companies that fleece passengers by charging exorbitant prices in the Kerala-Gulf sector during peak seasons, saying that any intervention would be contravention of the Aircraft Rule-1937.
According to travel agents, airfares will be five-seven times higher this season than the normal fares, and that fares would hit an all-time high on September 7, 8 and 9. As per fares quoted as on 30 August, passengers will have to pay `63,099 for flying in the Dubai-Kochi sector on September 7 (non-stop) on Jet Airways. Meanwhile,  the fare touched a record high of `1,63,061 for Jet Airways one-stop flight in the Riyadh-Kochi sector on September 8.
“The fares are set to go up further for passengers who purchase tickets in the last minute - on many routes, fares are expected to cross the `1 lakh mark,” according to travel agents. When the issue of exorbitant fares being charged in the Kerala-Gulf route was brought to the attention of the Civil Aviation Ministry, Minister Jayant Sinha said airlines set the fares driven by various market forces, which is a practice in the aviation industry globally.
01/09/16 Dhinesh Kallungal/New Indian Express

CSR donations to Indian NGO by European defence, aviation firms under scanner: Report

New Delhi: Income Tax Department's investigation into aviation consultant Deepak Talwar has yielded documents showing that Talwar's NGO received donations amounting to Rs 143 crore from European missile manufacturer MBDA and the erstwhile EADS, now the Airbus Group, under the head of corporate social responsibility (CSR) funds, reported The Indian Express on Thursday.

The NGO, Advantage India, received these payments from the two defence and aviation majors in several instalments between June 2012 and April 2015, added the report.
Incidentally, according to the report, Talwar's name figures in connection with former Central Bureau of Investigation director Ranjit Sinha and the Nira Radia tapes.
The documents and data were recovered during a search on Talwar's premises on June 22.
According to the report, both companies have confirmed that CSR funds were given to the NGO in question. They also said that they had appointed “oversight committees” in the country to ensure that the funds were being used properly.
Income Tax officials have told The Indian Express that their investigations have unearthed possible “fake” expenses incurred by the NGO.

The expenses include purchase of medicine for Rs 32 crore, purchase of Mobile Medical Units (MMUs) for around Rs 25 crore and large sums spent on exercise books and stationery.
01/09/16 Business Standard

Wednesday, August 31, 2016

Scoot to start Jaipur-Singapore flight with ‘Kamascootra’ plane

New Delhi:  Singapore’s no-frills airline Scoot will launch flight from Jaipur to the city state with a plane — called ‘Kamascootra’ — from October 2 as it expands services from the country. Scoot, an arm of full-service carrier Singapore Airlines, has flights from Chennai and Amritsar. Scoot’s India chief Bharath Mahadevan said the airline will be getting its 12th aircraft, Dreamliner, in the first week of September and it will be named in a unique way. “To commemorate India services launch, we have decided to call the aircraft ‘Kamascootra’,” he said. “This is the first time that Scoot has named an aircraft in honour of a particular country other than our home base Singapore.”
The name ‘Kamascootra’ is inspired by Vatsyayana’s text ‘Kamasutra’. The “first ever non-stop flight” connecting Jaipur and Singapore will be launched on October 2, he added. The plane will have 335 seats, including 21 premium economy.
31/08/16 PTI/India.com

Indian arrivals and spending on the up at Sydney Airport

Indian arrivals at Sydney Airport have grown by nearly 50% and spending has increased 60% since the launch of Air India’s direct service from Delhi to Sydney.

The airport is celebrating the third anniversary of Air India’s inaugural direct service, which it says has significantly boosted tourism and trade over the past three years.

“India is our sixth largest international visitor market and one of our fastest growing markets,” Sydney Airport managing director and chief executive officer Kerrie Mather said.

Since Air India commenced its direct service to Sydney in 2013, the number of seats has grown from zero to 107,000 last year and Indian passengers have increased from 140,000 to more than 200,000 in the same period.

Tourism Australia managing director John O’Sullivan said that Air India’s decision to resume its Sydney service in 2013 represented a key step towards unlocking India’s long term tourism potential.
31/08/16 Simone Hellyer/Frontier Magazine

Etihad offers up to 40% discounts on fares for all flights out of India

New Delhi: Etihad Airways today announced sale offer with discounts of up to 40% on both economy and business class fares for all flights out of India.

"The discount offers will be for flights out of 11 cities that Etihad Airways operates to in India to some of the world's most popular destinations across Europe, and the Americas. In addition, members of the airline's loyalty programme, Etihad Guest, will continue to earn miles on all fares in the sale," the airline said in a release.
Discounted fares will be available for travel until June 2017 and bookings can be made between today and September 4, 2016.

The release added that the sale will cover a wider range of cities including those served by the Etihad Airways Partners.
31/08/16 Mihir Mishra/Economic Times

Delhi airport check spells trouble for Argentine Indian project

New Delhi: The team of "Thinking of Him", an Argentine Indian co-production, may have to suffer financial loss after their upcoming movie's negative film was stopped at the Indira Gandhi International Airporthere.
On Tuesday, a luggage containing the negative film was stopped as the security guards at the airport thought it had "suspicious metal".
"They (security) kept our luggage. They are not technically qualified to open it. Once the negative gets exposed to sunlight, it will get destroyed. It happened yesterday (Tuesday) morning. When we reached Kolkata, we realised that our stuff was in Delhiairport. We got our bag yesterday night. We still have to check whether it is okay or not because the bag has been opened," the film's co-producer Suraj Kumar told IANS.

"Thinking of Him", a joint project of Johnsons-Suraj Films International, India and Caesar Production, Argentina, stars veteran actor Victor Banerjee, Raima Sen, Argentine actor Hector Bordoni and Eleonora Wexner.

The team, including the technical team from Argentina, flew from here to Kolkata to shoot the film in Shantiniketan, Kolkata and Sunderbans.

"If all goes well, the shooting will begin from September 5. The film negative came from Argentina. It has been specially manufactured for us. The stock isn't available in India. If it's ruined, we will not be able continue our shooting. There will be financial loss. It will take another month to get a new stock," Suraj Kumar said.
31/08/16 IANS/Business Standard

Monday, August 29, 2016

Australia looks to increase direct flights from India

Chennai: Enthused by increasing number of tourists from India, Tourism Australia has intensified its marketing campaign in metro cities. It is planning to increase direct flights to the country from major Indian cities.
Now, travellers fly via Singapore, Kuala Lumpur or Hong Kong. In spite of the lengthy journey, number of tourists from Chennai and other major cities has increased. Tamil Nadu comes fourth, when it comes to Australia-bound tourists. The first three states are Delhi, Maharashtra and Karnataka.
Tourism Australia managing director John O'Sullivan said, "Australia will lobby for more flights connecting India. The promotion with regard to India will be focused on three points - lobbying for more flights, designing tourism products that will give more value for the tourists and to integrate content of promotion by adding local flavor."
Flying to Australia is expensive and cumbersome because there are no direct flights from Chennai. Scoot Airlines, which offers competitive fares and quick connection from Singapore, has eased the travel woes a bit. This has also increased the volume of tourists in recent months. However, there is very little scope to increase flights via Singapore, because Singapore Airlines has almost exhausted their quota of flights into India.
29/08/16 Times of India

Scoot keen to utilize untapped opportunities in Indian aviation

Scoot which launched its services from Singapore to Amritsar and Chennai in May, intends to offer Indians the option to fly internationally at affordable fares with superior product offerings.Citing the largely untapped with promising growth opportunities, backed by a strong GDP growth, a burgeoning young population and the rising affluence of the middle class,Bharat Mahadevan, the Country Head of Scoot-India, believes that with its services to Chennai, Amritsar and Jaipur, India will become the number two market for the Singapore Airlines group in terms of the destinations after China. For Scoot alone , India will become the third market after China and Australia.

We have received positive response from Indian guests and are experiencing strong load factors since our launch. Scoot’s travel proposition combining affordable value airfares with superior product offerings, along with a stringent focus on safety, is resonating strongly with our Indian guests.
We have received positive responses from Indian guests and are seeing strong load factors since our launch. Scoot’s travel proposition combining affordable value airfares with superior product offerings, along with a stringent focus on safety, is resonating strongly with our Indian guests.
We focus on the leisure market and our strategy includes targeting both independent and group travellers, depending on the originating market.
29/08/16 Voyager's World

Sunday, August 28, 2016

India grounds Air Arabia’s designated airline status plea

New Delhi: India has declined a request, for a second time, from the United Arab Emirates’ Ras Al Khaimah to grant flying rights for Air Arabia to connect with Indian cities as its designated carrier.

“Air Arabia didn’t meet the air services’ agreement requirements,” R.N. Choubey, Civil Aviation Secretary, said in an interview. “How can an airline be a designated carrier for two emirates?”The Indian authorities have said that Air Arabia already operates flights to Indian cities from its hub in Sharjah and the same airline cannot be granted flying rights to India from another emirate.

Airlines from India and Ras Al Khaimah are entitled to fly 1,428 seats each week from each side at present, as per the air services agreement.

Countries sign air service agreements through bilateral negotiations to decide the number of flights airlines can fly into each other’s territory. Then, the governments distribute the allocated seats to the respective designated airlines. However, in the case of UAE, India has signed separate bilateral air traffic agreements with seven emirates, including Ras Al Khaimah.
27/08/16 Somesh Jha/The Hindu

Wife of diplomat intercepted at IGIA

New Delhi: Wife of a Korean diplomat posted here was today intercepted at the Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) for entering the terminal by allegedly using a special pass issued to the spouse of another senior official from the same embassy, police said.

The incident occurred at 2:00 AM today after CISF and immigration officials detected that the Korean lady, wife of a diplomat posted at the Korean Embassy here, had entered the terminal-III of IGIA using a Airport Entry Pass (AEP) which was issued in the name of another lady, wife of a senior diplomat from the same Embassy, officials said.

The officials and police refused to divulge to which embassy the North Korean or South Korean embassy the husband of the lady belonged.

After preliminary probe, it was found that both the ladies bore resemblance and hence after the first got inside the terminal area, she reportedly sent her personal AEP outside the airport through someone, using which the other lady came inside the arrival area, they said.
28/08/16 PTI

Lankan Tamil couple arrested for forging documents

Coimbatore: A Sri Lankan Tamil couple was arrested by the Tirupur city police on Thursday for obtaining Indian passports and ration card by forging documents. Police sources said that the couple and their two children planned to go to Sri Lanka from Madurai airport in April 2016. However, the immigration officials managed to trace the identity of the couple and informed the ministry of external affairs who conducted a detailed inquiry and finally lodged a police complaint on Thursday.
The arrested couple was identified as K Thiyagarajan, 29, and T Menaka, 27, both hailing from GN Balan Nagar at Neruperichal in Tirupur. The couple has a son and a daughter. Their daughter studies in a private school and stays in a hostel. She got permission from the judicial magistrate court to keep her infant under her care in the jail.
Police said Thiyagarajan and Menaka hailed from Thillaiyadi village in Puttalam district in Sri Lanka. They came to Trichy on tourist visa in 2011 and did not return to Sri Lanka. The couple took a rented house at Udumalpet in Tirupur district and were engaged in cloth business. Later, the couple moved to Chennai where they stayed for one year.
27/08/16 Times of India

Afghan lady held at IGIA for trying to smuggle imported cigarettes

New Delhi: An Afghan woman has been apprehended at the Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) here for allegedly smuggling in five bags of imported cigarettes.

The incident was reported on Friday when intelligence sleuths of CISF in civil clothes spotted the suspicious behaviour of the woman, identified as A Khanjari, arriving from Kabul.

The woman was seen carrying five big bags and soon after landing she entered the washroom in the arrival terminal and came out after changing her clothes, a senior official said.

She was apprehended on suspicion, he said, and later on during frisking, five bags full of foreign brand cigarettes were recovered from her.
28/08/16 PTI/Business Standard

Israeli man arrested for entering IGIA illegally

New Delhi: An Israeli national has been arrested for illegally entering the Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) in an apparent bid to see off his wife to Tashkent.

The incident was reported at 10:30 AM yesterday when the Israeli man, identified as A Halbani, gained entry into the terminal area after furnishing a ticket at the entry gate to travel to Tashkent, Uzbekistan. But he had cancelled the ticket earlier.

CISF personnel later found that the man was not proceeding for boarding but trying to find an exit from the terminal area in a suspicious manner and apprehended him.

He told them, sources said, that he first booked an e-ticket for yesterday to travel to Tashkent but cancelled it and re-booked his ticket for September 12.
28/08/16 PTI

Saturday, August 27, 2016

The story of an Air India emergency landing: Why the captain and crew deserves praise

New Delhi: A passenger who boarded the Mumbai-Newark flight Air India AI191 on Thursday, and ended up at a little known town in Kazakhstan due to an emergency landing, heaped praises on the airline’s crew. Especially the captain, for handling a tricky situation well, ensuring that each of the 303 passengers were taken care of, and most importantly, keeping each passenger well informed of the developments.

The passengers finally reached Newark On Friday afternoon, after an almost 18-hour grounding at Kazakhstan.
Not just the flight’s captain and crew, the concerned government functionaries were also kept busy in India through much of Thursday and Friday, trying to get stranded passengers out of Kazakhstan. Civil Aviation Minister A Gajapathi Raju, his deputy Jayant Sinha and External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj were all answering queries on twitter regarding this flight.
There were assurances from each on quick solution to the passengers’ woes, with Swaraj also saying the Indian Ambassador to that country was engaged in helping passengers throughout.
This is what happened. Three hours into the flight from Mumbai, which had anyway taken off late, captain Arup Roychaudhary announced an emergency landing, saying this will be done in about 20-22 minutes and the passengers have no cause to worry. He did not immediately explain why an emergency landing was being done.
“The Captain was calm; he switched off the in-flight entertainment system immediately to bar access to GPS. This meant none of us knew where we were landing, preventing panic. Once the flight landed (in almost exactly the time he had indicated), the Captain told us it was Akobe in Kazakhstan,” said Ramanan Seshadri. Seshadri was on the flight with his wife and twin sons, on his way back to the US after a family holiday in India.
The Boeing 777-300 ER aircraft was almost full, even the first class was full, said an Air India official. Once the aircraft landed, passengers were deplaned in an orderly manner, with an efficient cabin crew providing assistance and ensuring that no personal belongings were taken by passengers.
The orderly de-boarding in this case assumes importance given the scenes witnessed during the recent emergency landing of Emirates flight EK521 at Dubai. Here, precious minutes were wasted as passengers tried to carry their personal belongings and hand luggage, because either the crew failed to emphasise that belongings be left behind or because they did not heed crew’s requests. This aircraft caught fire seconds after the last person had deboarded.
Seshadri said real trouble could have begun after the de-boarding, as passengers began filing in to the Akobe International Airport. Akobe is a small town and the airport there is not equipped to handle a large bird like the Boeing 777-300ER, which had disgorged so many passengers at one go. The airport opened its entire first floor for the passengers, got all the available toilets cleaned while the passengers tried to settle down and wait for further news.
Seshadri says Roychaudhry ensured that water and milk for children was made available first. He also spoke to passengers to explain that the emergency landing was necessitated due to a smoke alarm. Later, the captain would again explain that since the fire extinguisher in the cargo hold area had been used up, this aircraft could not now be used and a new one will have to be flown in from India to take the passengers onwards. Little did the passengers know that the substitute aircraft would take another almost 18 hours to arrive.
“The captain and his crew did a really commendable job. They not only took care of the passengers, they were forthcoming with information at each point, explaining things. This helped most of us keep calm. A few hours after landing, the captain ensured we got lunch etc. The same crew flew us back when the substitute aircraft arrived in the evening,” Seshadri said.
27/08/16 Sindhu Bhattacharya/First Post

US-based couple spend Rs 3 lakh to ensure Mumbai stray dog flies with them

Three-legged Tyagi has found his forever home and two loving parents, Sushant and Sheetal, who spent an additional Rs 1.67 lakh to take him home to Philadelphia, after the previous carrier they were going in could not carry the pet on the 14-hour flight. The couple spent $4,500 (Rs 3 lakh) in total to carry the pet home.
The couple was booked on Air India’s AI 191 flight to Newark from Ahmedabad via Mumbai.
Since they were taking Tyagi with them, they inquired about the procedure to carry pets from the airline’s call centre and learnt that it allowed pets to fly as cargo.
Completing all the formalities, the couple, who were booked on a non-refundable ticket to Newark went to their office and faced a bout of bad news. They were informed that due to their operator’s fault, they had forgotten to mention that pets weren’t allowed on a long haul flight and could fly as cargo only if it was a hopping (with multiple layovers) or via flight. It takes 14 hours to land in Newark on a direct flight from Mumbai. It was then that the family tore off their Air India tickets, that cost them nothing less than $2,000 (Rs 1.34 lakh).
They later bought tickets for a Lufthansa flight that had transit at Frankfurt. Rinky Karmakar, trustee of NGO Save Our Strays (SOS), explained, “We were somewhere sure that they wouldn’t be able to fly Tyagi with them this time due to the last minute update from Air India. It was then that I sent emails to the Air India CMD requesting him to look into the matter and at least adjust them in another flight or even another airline instead of just doing nothing. However, I never received a reply. Tyagi was getting a home after a wait of 18 months and we didn’t want this last minute trouble to shatter his bright future. To our surprise, in order to fly with Tyagi, the couple decided to spend an additional $2500.”
27/08/16 Neha LM Tripathi/Mid Day

British passengers stage protest against Air India

Bengaluru: Four British citizens staged a protest in front of the Air India office at Unity Building on Friday night against the airline's move of “transferring” the reserved seats to other passengers.

The Britons - Nayeema, Manza, Ivan and Diya - said that they had come to the city on August 7. “We had paid Rs 2.5 lakh and reserved the onward journey to England on August 26. We went to the KIA at 5 am as the flight was to leave at 6.10 am. The Air India staff did not issue us boarding passes and sent us away,” alleged Nayeema.

All the four claimed that the Air India staff did not behave properly. “We learnt later in the evening that the Air India had allotted the seats to other passengers. Hence, we staged a protest," Nayeema added.
27/08/16 Deccan Herald

Flights to India affected by Colombo airport upgrade

Colombo: Sri Lankan Airlines has announced the cancellation of flights from Colombo to Chennai, Trichy, Cochin and Bangalore in southern India for three months from January due to runway repair works at the Bandaranaike International Airport. The Lankan national carrier has also cancelled flights flying to Singapore and Male.
The rescheduling of flights remain for three months from January 2017 due to runway repairs that will close the Colombo international airport during day time, the airline said in a statement.
The airport will remain closed from 8.30 am to 4.30 pm each day for runway maintenance work from January 6, 2017, to April 6, 2017, it said.
Flights from Colombo to Beijing, Shanghai, Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur, Trivandrum, New Delhi, Karachi, London and Jeddah will be shifted to alternate times of the day, the statement said.
27/08/16 PTI/Indian Express

Friday, August 26, 2016

Indian firm said to be eyeing Iraklio airport

Indian airport operator and construction firm GMR Infrastructure is reportedly pondering an offer for the development of an airport in Kasteli, in the Iraklio prefecture of Crete.

The Bengaluru-based company already operates two of India’s busiest airports, in Delhi and Hyderabad, as well the Mactan Cebu International Airport in the Philippines.

India’s Hindustan Times on Friday cited sources as saying that GMR has already sought and received an “experience certificate” from the Indian Aviation Ministry to participate in the tender.
26/08/16 ekathimerini.com

India's new air route to avoid Pakistani air space will cut emission and save fuel

New Delhi: In a bid to save fuel, cut emission and have better route utilisation, Indian carriers have suggested a new plan to the government that co-opts the air space controlled by the armed forces. It also calls for bypassing Pakistan while flying overseas to save navigation fees.

Called the Flexible Use of Airspace Initiative, under the larger aviation services management, it calls for: New, permanent routes for shorter navigation; grant of weekly permissions to operate shorter routes; and case-by-case approval by the defence Air Traffic Control to a pilot in air.

"If this is institutionalised, it will be a win-win-win for all: Less fuel use and lower emission -- which is good for the environment -- significant cut in fuel bills and shorter flying time for passengers," a top airline official said. "Avoiding Pakistani air space is part of the strategy."

The National Civil Aviation Policy that was unveiled in June also promises that the Ministry of Civil Aviation will strive to optimise the flexible use of airspace initiative in consultation with the Ministry of Defence.

Sources said the Airports Authority of India has constituted a separate Directorate under the Department of Air Navigation Service Providers to look into the optimisation of the entire Indian airspace in coordination with the Aviation Ministry.
26/08/16 IANS/Hans India

China Airlines to resume cargo services to India

New Delhi: China Airlines , one of the leading international carriers in Taiwan, said that it will resume cargo services to India amid optimism toward the fast-growing South Asian economy.

Partnering with India-based Ascent Air, CAL is scheduled to relaunch the cargo service in the Indian market, starting from Aug. 28, after the Taiwanese carrier suspended its cargo flights to India four years ago.

In an initial phase, the two partners will operate one round-trip flight a week, carrying cargo from East Asia to India and then to Europe, and in turn, delivering cargo from Europe to India and then back to Taipei, CAL said.

Lin Hsiao-feng , a manager with CAL's cargo operations division, who is currently in India to supervise the resumption of the cargo service, said that the first flight on Aug. 28 is full.
25/08/16 Focus Taiwan

Thursday, August 25, 2016

Indian-Origin Muslim Siblings Hauled Off Plane Over ISIS Claims

London: Three Indian-origin Muslim siblings, including two hijab-clad girls, have claimed that they were hauled off a plane at an airport in London and questioned on the tarmac by British policemen after a passenger accused them of being members of ISIS.

Sakina Dharas, 24, Maryam Dharas, 19, and Ali Dharas, 21, had boarded the easyJet flight from Stansted to the Italian city of Naples last week when they were approached by a cabin crew member and asked to accompany her off the aircraft without explanation, media reports said.

The trio, born and raised in London, were hauled off the plane and grilled for an hour by officers, who first asked them, "Do you speak English?", according to Sakina, who narrated the ordeal writing in The Independent.
According to her, they were asked by one of the officers, "Right, we have to speak with you. A passenger on your flight has claimed that you three are members of ISIS."

"They saw you with Arabic or praise be to Allah on your phone," the officer was quoted as saying by Sakina.
In their reply, the siblings said, "Firstly, that's part of the Quran, our religious text, so even if we did have it, it wouldn't signify that we're a part of ISIS at all."

"Regardless, we've had nothing on our phone remotely Arabic related this morning. Also, we're Indian by ethnicity, so we wouldn't even have Arabic in conversation with anyone," they told the officers, according to Sakina.

During their one-hour interrogation on the tarmac, Sakina said she was asked to explain the details of various entry stamps on her passport. She also showed a MI5 agent recent WhatsApp messages.
The siblings provided answers relating to their personal lives and were questioned on their home addresses, workplaces, social media history and parents' professions, Sakina wrote in her post.

"The MI5 and police officers apologised for the 'inconvenience' and assure(d) us that, at a time where we are all 'on edge', they have to respond to threats such as these. Our accusers, we are told, were very 'frightened'," Sakina wrote. The incident took place on 17 August and the siblings returned from their holiday on 20 August.

A spokesman for easyJet said the three had been taken off the flight "following concerns raised by a passenger".

"The police then confirmed to the captain that the passengers were cleared to complete their journey and they re-boarded the aircraft and the flight departed to Naples," the spokesman was quoted as saying by The Telegraph.
25/08/16 PTI/Huffington Post

India to summarily reject ICAO’s proposed carbon emission tax

New Delhi: As part of its strategy to counter the carbon emission tax proposed by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), the United Nations’ aviation watchdog, the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government will seek a formal response from the Indian carriers on the issue.
India expressed its disagreement to ICAO president Olumuyiwa Benard Aliu during his visit to New Delhi earlier this month, according to a senior official from the ministry of civil aviation who did not want to be named.
The official said the Indian government would reiterate its discomfort when the ICAO Council meets in Montreal, Canada, next month to address these carbon emission issues and would again point out that Indian carriers are not willing to abide by the proposed tax.
According to ICAO, the tax is meant to control emission in the aviation sector. India has also pledged to reduce emissions, as committed at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Paris last year.
Though the aviation sector was not included in the Paris agreement adopted by 195 countries in December 2015, all the member countries have been asked to take measures voluntarily as per their national climate action plans.
25/08/16 Sanjay Singh/VCCircle

Air India's Mumbai-Newark flight diverted to Kazakhstan after technical snag

Mumbai: A Newark-bound Air India flight, carrying around 300 passengers, from here was on Thursday diverted to Kazakhstan due to technical issues.

The Boeing 777-300 ER plane landed at an international airport in Kazakhstan at around 0800 hours after “some alarm went off”.

Air India is dispatching a relief aircraft from New Delhi to ferry the stranded passengers from Kazakhstan to Newark.

An airline spokesperson said the flight was diverted due to technical reasons. There was some alarm that went off and the engineers are inspecting the flight, he added.

In a tweet, the airline said the flight has been diverted on account of operational reasons and that all passengers are being taken care of.
25/08/16 PTI/The Hindu

50 Telugu families stranded at Kazakhstan airport

Hyderabad: Close to 50 Telugu families are currently stranded at the Aktobe airport in Kazakhstan from Thursday morning after the Air India flight (191) from Mumbai to Newark (New Jersey, United States) made an emergency landing.

Passengers noticed white smoke from the left wing five hours after the takeoff and alerted the crew.

Immediately, the pilot issued a warning signal made a landing at Aktobe airport. Everyone was asleep when the announcement came and the pilot was calm and landed the plane smoothly, said one of the passengers, M. Venkat, contacting through whatsapp.

“We landed at the airport within 15 minutes of the announcement. We are right now inside the airport waiting for the last six hours for the replacement aircraft to arrive from Delhi. They served us soup and bread from the airport kitchen. Luckily, my mother has packed lemon rice for us,” he said.
He said there could be about 300 passengers and crew on the flight and the staff of airline and airport was doing the best they could do at the moment. “We landed at Aktobe airport at about 8 a.m. and I am not sure if we will be moved into the hotel before the replacement flight arrives at 10 p.m. as has been indicated to us,” he said.
25/08/16 V. Geetanath/The Hindu

AI Express to launch Chandigarh-Singapore flight

Chandigarh: Air India will launch a direct international flight between Chandigarh and Singapore.
"Singapore is a potential destination. Air India will launch a direct flight between Chandigarh and Singapore," Air India Express CEO K Shyam Sundar said here today.
He, however, did not divulge the timeline.

"Air India MD Ashwani Lohani will make an announcement about the flight on September 15 at Chandigarh," he said.

Sundar said Air India Express, a low cost carrier and subsidiary of flag carrier Air India, will operate its first direct international flight from Chandigarh airport to Sharjah on September 15.

The flight will operate on Mondays, Thursdays and Saturdays.
25/08/16 PTI/Business Standard

Swiss airline fined in India for serving meat meal

An Indian passenger whose vegetarian meal was accidentally switched for one containing meat has succeeded in obtaining financial compensation at an Indian consumer tribunal. However, his attempts at enhancing the compensation were rejected.
The passenger is a follower of the Jain religion whose central tenet is non-violence towards all living things. It advocates a strict form of vegetarianism which excludes meat, eggs and vegetables that grow underground such as potatoes, onion and garlic. Acts that go against the religious teachings are believed to attract bad karma, which can lead to suffering.
The Mumbai-based passenger claimed to have discovered the error when a fellow traveler pointed it out to him on a flight from Zurich to Mumbai in 2011. He filed a “deficiency of service” case at the district consumer court in Mumbai which awarded him INR20,000 (CHF297) in compensation, along with INR10,000 in court expenses for hurting his religious sentiments. In addition, Swiss International Airlines (SWISS) had offered him a complimentary business upgrade on an economy class flight to or from Europe as a gesture of goodwill.
However, the Jain man was unhappy with the decision and appealed it at the state and national level. On August 19, the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission in Delhi ruled that he had been adequately compensated taking into consideration that it could not be proved he had actually consumed any portion of the wrong meal.
“When realizing the mistake, the cabin crew member immediately handed over the correct special meal which the passengers had pre-ordered,” a SWISS spokesperson told swissinfo.ch.
25/08/16 Swissinfo.ch

Air Arabia offers Indian passengers the option of EMI payment

Air Arabia, the largest low-cost carrier in the West Asia and North Africa region, on Wednesday said it is offering Indian passengers the option of paying for tickets in monthly instalments. The EMI option would allow travellers to plan their expenses and allow them to travel to various destinations, which are offered by the Air Arabia network.
"Air Arabia announces the launch of comprehensive Equated Monthly Instalment (EMI) payment options for Indian travellers," the airline said in a statement. The EMI facility is offered to credit card holders of eight banks, namely ICICI Bank, Axis Bank, Kotak Mahindra, IndusInd Bank, State Bank of India, HDFC and Central Bank of India.
Passengers wishing to avail the EMI payment option have to first select the flight and reserve the tickets on the website, and then opt for the 'Pay with EMI' tab on the payment page and finally, choose their preferred bank. Then the interface would display a choice of duration for the EMI, along with the break-up amount, which would be billed to the credit card statement every month.
25/08/16 Kalyani Pandey/IBTimes

Italian man forges plane ticket so he can see his girlfriend off at the airport

New Delhi: When you forge a plane ticket so you can sneak through the airport to see your girlfriend off - that's amore.

Or so one Italian man thought, when he attempted to enter the international terminal of India's Delhi Airport using fake travel documents.

According to The Times of India, the man's romantic gesture was foiled when airport security spotted him loitering around the terminal without any papers.
After a pat down search, he was handed over to police. When he admitted he had sneaked in to see off his girlfriend, he was arrested.

A police officer told the Times the man had managed to enter the terminal by flashing a forged Aeroflot ticket at officials.

The incident occurred amid heightened security for India's Independence Day celebrations on August 15, as well as in response to terrorist attacks in major world cities.

An airport official told the Times there had been around 35 cases of people entering the airport on fake tickets so far this year.
25/08/16 Stuff

Wednesday, August 24, 2016

Cabinet approves signing of India-Fiji air services agreement

New Delhi: The Union Cabinet on Wednesday gave its nod for the signing of a new Air Services Agreement (ASA) between India and Fiji.

The agreement is for updation of the existing agreement between the two countries, which was signed in 1974.

"The updation is as per latest ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organisation) template keeping in view the latest developments in civil aviation sector and with an objective to improve the air connectivity between the two countries," a statement said.

A draft text of the agreement has been finalised in consultation with several key ministries. According to the agreement, both countries shall be entitled to designate one or more airline which will have right to open offices.

The proposed agreement allows airlines to take decision freely on tariffs in respect of the agreed services at reasonable levels based on commercial considerations. They have to operate the agreed services on specified routes. "The routes and frequencies shall be decided subsequently," the statement said.
24/08/16 IANS/Business Standard

International airline to pay Rs 52,000 to industrialist

Chennai: The District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum, Chennai (North), has directed an international airline to pay Rs 52,000 to an industrialist for theft of his credit cards from his checked in baggage at Chennai airport four years ago.

Four ground staff of Emirates Airways allegedly took away the cards from his baggage while boarding a flight to France. In the complaint, Fredrick Wilson, an industrialist of Coimbatore, submitted he visited Nice, France, with his family members and his friends for summer vacation in May-June 2012. They boarded an Emirates Airways flight on May 26 at Chennai around 4.15 am.

On reaching Nice, he noticed that in one of his suitcases the lock had been tampered with and the suitcase could not be opened. He continued the journey without opening the suitcase. On returning to Chennai, he checked the suitcase contents. The credit cards were missing.

He also learnt that there was an illegal transaction using his credit cards and found that some fraudulent transactions to the tune of `47,000 done by unidentified persons using the cards.

An FIR was registered in June 2012. With the aid of CCTV footage from shops, police identified Zahir Usain, Kumaresan, Salim and Muthuswamy, employees in cargo division of Emirates Airways as those who stole the cards. He contended it was the responsibility of the airlines to safeguard passenger luggage when once handed over to it. If there was any pilferage in luggage, the airlines should compensate the passengers.

Denying the allegations, Emirates Airways replied no complaint was lodged at Nice airport in respect of the alleged tampering of the lock. He committed mistake by packing credit cards in checked in baggage.
24/08/16 Deccan Chronicle

3 Malayalis stuck in Saudi return

Kochi: Three expatriate Malayali workers, who had been languishing in Saudi Arabia for the past few months without job and food, arrived at the Nedumbassery airport here on Tuesday, after the Saudi government issued them exit visas. Kannur-native Shijo Mathew, Muhammad of Malappuram and Shabeer of Chakkumkadavu in Kozhikode arrived by a Saudi Airline flight in the morning.

They had been employees of Saudi Oja company. Speaking to reporters at the airport, they said they were not paid salary since January, and that the company stopped food supply to its labour camps in July due to financial crisis. "Nearly 200 Keralites have been facing a harrowing time in Saudi Arabia, following lay off by their companies after being hit by financial crisis," they said.
24/08/16 New Indian Express

Tuesday, August 23, 2016

Indian carriers request govt to allow bypassing Pakistani airspace

New Delhi: Indian carriers have sought the government's nod to fly from western India (mainly Ahmedabad) and over the Arabian Sea to reach destinations in the Gulf, in order to avoid flying through Pakistani airspace, reported the Times of India on Tuesday.

Air India, Jet Airways, IndiGo and SpiceJet operate flights which pass through Pakistani airspace to reach Gulf destinations, the report added.

According to the report, the requests have emerged due to the deteriorating ties between India and Pakistan, along with economic factors.


Speaking to ToI, an airline official said, "In the past few days, India has asked some non-scheduled aircraft flying from Pakistan to return and Pakistan may also retaliate. This is one fear that is behind the demand and the other is pure and simple cost factors."

SpiceJet, according to the report, has sought direct access for its flights from Ahmedabad to the Gulf under the "flexi-use of airspace". Flexi-use allows commercial aircraft to use airspace reserved for the air force and the navy.
23/08/16 Business Standard

Govt open to enhance bilaterals with Gulf: Aviation Minister

Mumbai: Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju today said the government is ready to open negotiations with the Gulf nations in general and Dubai in particular to enhance the bilateral air traffic rights between the two markets.

"Since the past two years there has been a tremendous improvement in the utilisation levels of the bilaterals by our airlines with the Gulf nations. While it is around 80 per cent for the region as a whole, with Dubai it is over 90 per cent now.

"And with the limits being reached, we are ready to open negotiations with them again. I think we should begin with Dubai shortly," he told a select group of reporters here.

But Raju was quick to add that the negotiations will not be one-sided, as it has been in the past, but will clearly be mutually beneficial.

"As the aviation minister, my job is to secure our national interests and not someone else's. Though a lot of bad things have happened in the past, I cannot set the clock back. But going forward, I will secure our interests first," he said when asked why not let the market and capacity determine it as the ultimate beneficiaries will be the consumers.

In the previous negotiations, none of the Gulf nations gave India any benefit at the bilateral talks, but that will not happen again, he said when pointed out that higher seats per week will bring down the prices of tickets and benefit the passengers.
23/08/16 PTI/Business Standard

Air Arabia, Thomas Cook to pay Rs 6.5L to customer

New Delhi: A foreign airline and a tour company have been directed by the apex consumer commission to pay Rs 6.5 lakh to a passenger for deficiency in quality of services rendered and not informing him about the cancellation of a flight.
The National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC) held Air Arabia and Thomas Cook (India) Ltd guilty of deficiency in the quality of services rendered to their customer and directed them pay Rs two lakh as compensation along with refund of Rs 4.5 lakh towards the tour package.
"The petitioners, Air Arabia and Thomas Cook (India) Ltd, can be held guilty of deficiency in service in the quality of service rendered to the complainants," an NCDRC bench, comprising members Rekha Gupta and Anup K Thakur, said.
The bench dismissed the revision petitions filed by airline and the tour company challenging the order of the Chhattisgarh state commission.
According to the complaint, Chhattisgarh-resident Pagdalu Prashant Naidu had booked a tour package to Kenya through Thomas Cook (India) Ltd, which was supposed to start on May 21, 2014 from Mumbai airport.
From Mumbai airport, the complainant and his family were to be given a connecting flight from Sharjah to Nairobi, the complaint said.
It further said when the family reached Mumbai airport, the airline officials informed them that the connecting flight from Sharjah has been cancelled and they would have to wait till the next day for the rescheduled flight.
The complaint alleged that the arrangements in Kenya were also bad and as a result, they had to spend one day in Nairobi doing nothing.
The vehicle provided to the complainant in Kenya was also in a bad shape and broke down causing delay in the sightseeing trip. They had to ask for a lift to reach the airport, it alleged.
22/08/16 PTI/Business Standard

Monday, August 22, 2016

Airport clearance for each pilgrim ‘takes 20 minutes’

Jeddah: The “electronic track” system at King Abdul Aziz International Airport is helping in the completion of procedures for each pilgrim in just about 18 to 20 minutes, said an official.

“It is not taking more than 20 minutes for each pilgrim from the moment he or she steps out of the aircraft until leaving the airport premises,” said Nabil Haddad, director of Haj and Umrah Affairs at the airport.

According to the performance indicators and evaluation criteria, the application of the electronic track system has achieved a quantum leap in providing services to the pilgrims, he told local media. “The airport has so far received more than 250,000 pilgrims from outside the Kingdom.”

Haddad gave a briefing on the program to welcome the pilgrims overseen by the Ministry of Haj and Umrah. He said the program is being followed up under the directions of Minister Mohammed Salih Bentin, with the participation of the six Tawafa establishments.

“This is a kind of extension to what the mutawif used to do to celebrate the arrival of Hajis, receiving them and welcoming them,” he said.
22/08/16 Arab News/daijiworld.com

Sunday, August 21, 2016

Russia keen to tap India as Global Aeronautics manufacturing base

Russia is ready to tap India as a global aeronautics manufacturing base and is willing to partner local firms in developing their technological and production capabilities in the aviation sector, an official representing a delegation from the country said during bilateral talks held here.

India, on its part, expressed eagerness to jointly develop iron ore and coal mines in Russian territory and sought technical inputs on producing high-grade cold-rolled, grain-oriented steel, typically used in power transmission equipment.

Ramesh Abhishek, secretary, department of industrial policy and promotion in the ministry of commerce and industry, led the bilateral talks held under the aegis of an India-Russia working group on modernization and industrial co-operation. The Russian delegation was headed by the deputy minister of industry and trade Alexander Potapov.
While both sides acknowledged their mutual interest in expanding bilateral cooperation between Russian and Indian companies in different sectors, more focused discussions were held on modernization, mining, fertilizers and civil aviation.
20/08/16 Northlines

Saturday, August 20, 2016

Russia to enter Indian Civilian Aircraft Market

US and European aviation companies are likely to face major competition in India as Russia has proposed to set up a production line for India’s civil aviation sector. A Russian delegation headed by Alexander Potapov, Deputy Minister of Industry & Trade of the Russian Federation, put forward this proposal before Indian officials of the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion in New Delhi.

A statement released by India’s Ministry of Commerce and Industry says, “In the civil Aviation sector, the Russian side declared its readiness to participate in the “Make in India” program in order to develop technological and production capabilities of the Indian side in this field and potential supplies of the jointly produced equipment to third countries.”

Russia wants to introduce Sukhoi Superjet 100 (SSJ100) civilian aircraft in India and has a target set to put out at least 50 SSJ100 in the next three to five years. Sukhoi expects to sign a deal this year with Tata Advanced System to manufacture key airplane parts in India
19/08/16 Sputnik/Russia & India Report

Nidhi Chaphekar recounts moments from Brussels airport twin blasts

Brussels airport blast survivor Nidhi Chaphekar recalled her experience of how she survived the horrible attack and her determination and courage not to give up when things were falling apart.

“I heard a loud ‘boom’ and felt as if I was dead,” recounted Jet airways crew member Chaphekar, a survivor of the March 22 Brussels airport twin blasts that claimed lives of more than 30 people.

Recollecting the incident, Chaphekar told ANI, “When I reached at level two and went a little further, my colleague Amit and I heard a loud sound and it seemed as if somebody had busted a big cracker. There was smoke in the air and it seemed as if things were flying from beneath like feathers. But, actually, they were clothes of people, which we realised later.”

She said in another 40-45 seconds, they heard another loud sound, after which they tried to run.

“When I turned left and took some steps forward, I saw a fireball. It threw me away. I don’t remember where I had fallen, maybe somewhere at the end,” she added.

Chaphekar recalled when she was almost fainting, in her subconscious mind she was thinking about her kids.

She said she was unable to breath and could only hear an echo.

“I was asking for help from God, I closed my eyes and asked God to send somebody for help and when I saw nobody is coming, I thought I have to get out of this place, and tried to drag myself, but I never lost my courage,” she added.

Giving details about her injuries, she said, “In my left foot, a metal plate and a mirror piece had pierced due to which I was unable to walk. The only priority was to stop the blood loss.”

She said she asked a lady to help her lie down while she kept her legs on a bench at a height so that the blood flows towards her heart.

“There was a policeman, Alen, who kept me engaging in a conversation by asking questions about my work and family so that I do not sleep, because if someone sleeps in such a condition then everything slows down. I was feeling so cold that I was shivering, as my stretcher was lying on the floor and the temperature was 3-4 degrees and there was strong wind as well,” she said.

When she was taken to the hospital, she was shuttered to know that her face was burnt and she didn’t want to live.

“I thought from now on, I won’t be able to work and how my kids and society would accept me? Doctors consoled me. They asked me the contact number of my family. I gave them my husband’s number. I had no clue if somebody would come from the Jet Airways. But the only thing I knew that I work with Jet and there was my brother Shabeer, who will definitely come to see,” she concluded.
20/08/16 ANI/New Indian Express

Friday, August 19, 2016

India to negotiate air service agreements with six countries: Report

India will begin air service agreements with several countries and possibly start direct flights to Greece. This would help decrease travel worries on some of the busiest routes.
Greece does not have any foreign flying rights with India so far, but is considering a deal for the first time, the Economic Times reported. Over the next few months, India will begin negotiations for foreign flying rights with Dubai, Thailand, Saudi Arabia, Nigeria and Cambodia in a bid to add more seats on these routes.

"The plan is to negotiate agreements with all six nations. The increase will primarily be pegged on quota sought by Indian carriers," a senior aviation ministry official was quoted as saying by ET.

Analysts quoted by the publication said increase in "bilateral entitlements" is good for consumers, which would mean more flights in the international sector. The analysts want the Narendra Modi-led government to form an international strategy as well.
This means there would be better air connectivity between India and the above mentioned countries. The benefit of having more foreign flying rights would be to increase tourism, trade and improve prospects for the hospitality sector. In the medium term, the air service agreement policy will increase investments such as FDI and drive more allocation of funds for infrastructure, ET added.
19/08/16 Kalyani Pandey/IBTimes

India may open talks on foreign flying rights

India is likely to further open foreign flying entitlements with several countries, helping ease travel worries on some of the usually busy routes and start direct flights to Greece.

Over the next two months, India will start negotiations on foreign flying rights with Nigeria, Dubai, Thailand, Saudi Arabia and Cambodia to add more seats on the routes. Greece currently doesn't have any such pact with India and the two sides are considering a deal for the first time. This is also the first time in two years that the government is negotiating foreign flying rights at such a large scale.

"The plan is to negotiate agreements with all six nations. The increase will primarily be pegged on quota sought by Indian carriers," said a senior aviation ministry official, who did not want to be named. Analysts said any increase in bilateral entitlements is good for consumers as it means more flights in the international sector, but they wanted the government to formulate an international strategy as well.
19/08/16 Mihir Mishra/Economic Times

Family struggles to get body home from Doha after in-flight death

The family of an Indian man who died midair on a Qatar Airways flight this week said they are caught in a bureaucratic nightmare as they try to bring their relative’s body home.

Prem Prasad Tummala and his wife were flying from Washington, DC to Hyderabad, India via Doha on Aug. 15 when he suffered a massive heart attack and died.

The 75-year-old’s family is now struggling to piece together the exact procedures needed to get his mortal remains out of Hamad General Hospital’s mortuary.

In a statement released to Doha News, the family members asked for help in expediting the process:

“We have made several calls to the airlines but have not heard anything definitive.

The family members are in a lot of distress, especially since we recognize this as a case of natural death. Please expedite the process and help us.”
Their experience will likely spark questions about what to do in the event of such a mid-flight emergency.

Tummala, accompanied by his wife Aruna, boarded Qatar Airways flight QR708 from Washington Dulles International Airport on Aug. 14, after a six-month vacation visiting their children.

They were returning home to Hyderabad.

The couple was supposed to transit through Hamad International Airport (HIA) on Aug. 15 at 5pm.

But a few hours after takeoff from Dulles, Tummala passed away of what is thought to be a heart attack. Cabin crew could not revive him, according to a family member who spoke to Doha News.

His body was moved to a separate section of the plane and his wife was asked to remain in her seat.

On arrival at HIA, Aruna Tummala said that the airline told her to continue her journey to India, upgrading her to business class.

Qatar Airways, however, has told Doha News that it did give her the option to remain in Qatar if she wished to.

Qatar Airways policy states that “in the event of death of a passenger en route, the tickets of the persons accompanying the passenger may be modified by waiving the minimum stay or extending the validity.”

Tummala’s body was taken to the mortuary at Hamad General Hospital, where it remains for now.
A Qatar Airways spokesperson also confirmed to Doha News that the family was waiting on a clearance certificate from the MOI.

According to Mohammed Khola, a PRO for the Indian Embassy, the MOI must first receive a medical investigation report from the Police Clinic at Hamad General Hospital.
This has yet to happen.
19/08/16 Aparajitha Mukherjee/Doha News

MEGA Maldives To Extend Its Flights To India

MEGA Maldives Airlines has been awarded an Air Operators Permit from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation of India, which will see it launch direct flights between the Maldives and India.
MEGA Maldives Airlines is only the second airline based in the Maldives that has been awarded the permit to operate flights, and follows on from the airline’s success in operating flights between China and the Maldives.
Being in such close proximity to the Maldives, the growing Indian market is deemed to be extremely important to the country’s tourism sector.
2015 saw the arrivals of tourists from India to the Maldives at just over 50,000, but in 2016 the market has already increased 25%.
18/08/16 MV Hotels

Kuwait Airlines asked to refund ticket cost, compensate couple

New Delhi: A foreign airline has been directed by the national consumer forum to compensate a passenger for cancelling a flight and not informing them, holding the carrier responsible for deficient service.

The National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission held that there was deficiency in service towards the passengers and directed the Kuwait Airways Corporation to refund the ticket amount of Rs 59,516 and pay a compensation of Rs 50,000 to a couple from Rajasthan.

"It was their duty to contact the complainants and try to resolve their grievances, rather than expecting complainants shall approach them from time to time for getting the said refund. This kind of attitude on the part of petitioner itself constitutes deficiency in service towards the complainants," the bench presided by B C Gupta said.

According to the complaint, Ajay Gupta had booked two tickets to travel on April 18, 2010 from Frankfurt to New Delhi, by the airline and the flight was cancelled without giving any intimation to them.
19/08/16 PTI/Economic Times

Why Shah Rukh Khan and Other Indian Celebrities Have Been Detained at U.S. Airports

When Shah Rukh Khan tweeted that he was "detained" at Los Angeles' LAX airport last Friday, he made headlines as the incident was the third time the Bollywood actor faced such scrutiny by U.S. immigration authorities.

While it was not clear why and for how long Khan was held before being allowed entry, the resulting outcry also put the spotlight on, and raised questions about, how a range of Indian celebrities have had to deal with similar treatment in the past when traveling to the U.S.

While at times issuing apologies, U.S. authorities typically don't detail why certain high-profile visitors from India, or elsewhere, get held at airports. But it's not just Indians who have faced such scrutiny, with experts saying travelers from the Middle East have also been among those held up. In 2013, for example, Palestinian filmmaker Emad Burnat and his family were detained at LAX where he was asked to prove he was indeed on his way to the Academy Awards. Burnat, who co-directed the Oscar-nominated documentary 5 Broken Cameras, was eventually released after Michael Moore, a champion of the film, intervened.

“With increasing population, religious intolerance and increasing senseless violence coupled with the widening disparity between the haves and have-nots, we have to adjust to new ways in which the world has to operate," Navneet Singh Chugh of the Chugh Firm — whose portfolio includes immigration services and has offices in the U.S. and India — tells THR. He also adds that "the U.S., of course, is a bit too sensitive and extra cautious in these matters, in part because the U.S. faces threats from every direction. [That is the] price to pay for being the world's super-power and super-cop."

In a 2013 guest article for Outlook magazine, Khan said he was questioned about his last name during his 2009 interrogation by U.S. immigration authorities after he was detained at New Jersey's Newark airport. “I wonder, at times, whether the same treatment is given to everyone whose last name just happens to be McVeigh (as in Timothy)??” Khan wrote in the article, referring to the U.S. army veteran who detonated a truck bomb in Oklahoma City in 1995. Considered the deadliest act of terrorism in the U.S. before 9/11, the bombing killed 168 people and injured hundreds of others. McVeigh was convicted and executed in 2001.
19/08/16 Nyay Bhushan/Hollywood Reporter

Condition of baby born mid-air stable

Hyderabad: A baby girl born mid-air in a Manila-bound flight and forcing the plane to land at Rajiv Gandhi International Airport here on medical emergency is now healthy, stable and is recuperating in a private hospital.
A 32-year-old woman passenger, who was pregnant and travelling to Manila with her mother from Dubai on August 14, in the Cebu Pacific Air flight went into a labour on board the flight and gave birth to a premature but healthy baby girl mid-flight.
The planes crew had to make an impromptu landing at Hyderabad after the flight was diverted due to a medical emergency.

The baby was completely blue and cold and had severe breathing difficulty when the specialised transport team first received her at the airport, a statement from Apollo Cradle here said, where the baby and her mother were admitted.
"Baby was estimated to be 32 weeks of gestation and weighed a mere 1.6 kgs when born. In the NICU, baby was rapidly rewarmed, connected to mechanical ventilation and given medications, which started to improve her blood pressure. The baby is now healthy, all the follow-up evaluations have been normal and mother is being trained for breastfeeding," said CVS Lakshmi, Chief Neonatologist, Apollo Cradle.
18/08/16 PTI/India Today

We want to double our service but regulations aren't allowing: Scoot's India head

Chennai : Scoot Airline, low-cost and medium-haul arm of Singapore Airlines (SIA), has said that it is ready to double it flights between Indian cities and Singapore, but regulation in India is not allowing them to expand.

The airline said that it will start its service from Jaipur to Singapore from October this year, but it has identified many more cities in India, where the demand is high.

The airline claims that average load factor is around 90 per cent and it is seeing more demand and it is right time for the government to change its policy and be more liberal.


In May, SIA moved one step closer to merging short haul LCC Tigerair and medium/long haul LCC Scoot by creating a new holding company for its two budget airline subsidiaries. Scoot and Tigerair will remain separate airlines for now, with their own operator certificates, but will have a new joint management team.

The two airlines are now operating 46 flights a week in India.

Bharat Mahadevan, country head, India, Scoot Pte Ltd said that the airline is ready to double the service considering the demand is huge, however the airline could not expand due to the regulations.
18/08/16 T E Narasimhan/Business Standard

TCS expands outsourcing deal with US Airline JetBlue

Tata Consultancy Services said it will expand its three-year engagement with US Airline JetBlue to include several new projects.

The initial contract covered areas such developing new platforms, quality assurance and infrastructure services.

Under a new deal, TCS will now provide new services to improve data analytics and operational agility, and to develop innovative tools for customers and JetBlue crew members. This will involve the modernization of the airline’s IT Foundation platform, TCS said.

TCS will also expand its innovation center in Pune, India, over the next two years to support critical JetBlue Digital initiatives, complementing the U.S.-based JetBlue team, as well as TCS team members in the U.S. and Mexico, the Indian IT leader said.

“This strategic agreement is a reflection of our confidence in TCS as the right partner for our global talent and technology transformational needs,” said Eash Sundaram, EVP and CIO, JetBlue. “We love their culture, customer focus and see them as a valued extension of our teams.”
18/08/16 T Thomas/RTN.Asia

When Shabana Azmi said 'shooting' at Chicago airport

Shabana Azmi who has gone to the US to shoot an American film was subjected to some racial scrutiny at Chicago's O'Hare International airport. This, when she was asked her purpose for her visit.

"I very innocently said I had come for shooting. The immigration officer was shocked. 'Whom have you come to shoot?' he asked me.. His shock was palpable. I calmed him down and corrected myself, 'I'm filming. Only slightly relieved he said 'Why did you say shooting?' he scolded me. I told him it's a cultural thing. Really, are we actors supposed to stop saying we're shooting merely because the word has alarming connotations?"
19/08/16 Subhash K. Jha/Bollywood Hungama

Thursday, August 18, 2016

Aviation ministry to meet foreign delegates, stress on auction for additional seats

In a bid to curb any increase in bilateral airline seat entitlements and push for auction process to allocate additional seats, the ministry of civil aviation will meet official delegates from West Asian and European countries later this month.
This comes in the wake of the underutilisation of seats by Indian carriers. Indian airlines use less than 40% of their entitlements, while foreign carriers operating here manage to utilise over 80% of their entitled number of seats. This has helped foreign carriers to corner the international traveller segment.
While Indian carriers offered 242,000 seats in June this year, foreign carriers offered 432,000 seats, according to data provided by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation. Also, Indian carriers fly to only 66 of the 108 countries with which India has bilateral air agreements.
A senior aviation ministry official, requesting anonymity, said the meetings with delegates will start later this month and exact dates will be finalised soon.
InfraCircle on August 12 reported about the government’s plans to discuss the auction concept with different carriers and implement it before the revised summer schedule comes into effect by March end next year.
18/08/16 Sanjay Singh/VCCircle

Airfares rise fivefold as NRGs rush for funeral

Sarangpur: Jaimin Patel from Texas paid Rs 4 lakh airfare to reach Sarangpur just in time to pay his last respects to Pramukh Swami. Patel, an ardent devotee of Bapa, did not mind shelling out more than five times the normal fare and was, in fact, relieved he could attend the last rites of his revered guru.
Overwhelming grief of devotees and their burning desire to pay homage to Pramukh Swami caused an explosive spike in airfares from the US and the UK to Mumbai and Gujarat, over the past four days. Over 7,000 NRGs have travelled to Gujarat in this period. Of the 15 chartered flights that landed recently in Ahmedabad, Rajkot, and Bhavnagar, seven came from abroad, said airport officials.
Normally, the ticket rate from Texas to any destination in Gujarat is around Rs 70,000. But since the followers of Pramukh Swami rushed to book tickets at the last minute, the rates skyrocketed. "Jaimin was a little late in booking and had to pay five times the normal fare," said Chandrakant Brahmbhatt (42) also from Texas, who managed to reach Sarangpur on Wednesday morning. "I paid Rs 1.47 lakh for the ticket. But it is double the usual airfare."
Brahmbhatt said, "All flights from the US were full. People reached Dubai easily, but from there it was really difficult to come to Ahmedabad." Brahmbhatt said his entire family wanted to come, and although there was no financial constraint, tickets were not available. "They were crestfallen because they could not travel," he said.
18/08/16 Bharat Yagnik/Times of India

Wednesday, August 17, 2016

Mother gives birth on plane and now the baby may get FREE flights for LIFE

The woman was only seven months pregnant when she unexpectedly went into labour a few hours into a flight from Dubai to the Philippines.

Flustered flight attendants moved her to the front of the plane where there was more leg room - and two off-duty nurses on the flight came to help.

Amazingly, the healthy baby girl - named Haven - was delivered safely in just one hour amid cheers from fellow passengers on the nine-hour flight to Manila.

The plane then made an emergency landing in India where doctors whisked the baby off to an incubator as a precaution.
Missy Berberabe Umandal, 20, who pictured the mother and baby on the Cebu Pacific Air flight, said it was the most amazing thing she has ever seen on a flight.

The unidentified woman, a Filipino who is understood to live in Dubai, had been travelling back home to the Philippines with her mother, who had flown there to help her with the journey.

Flight crew used blankets as a make-shift screen around the mother when contractions started on the Boeing 777-300ER.

After giving birth, two other passengers who had baby clothes in their hand luggage gave the newborn a t-shirt and tiny trousers to help keep her warm.

Air hostesses then filled a container from the overhead compartments with bottled mineral water to wash the baby.

The flight, which had left Dubai at 3.30am on Sunday, then made an emergency landing at Rajiv Gandhi Int'l Airport, in Hyderabad, central India, where doctors rushed on the plane to check the baby.

The woman and her mother left the flight and the baby was rushed to hospital and placed in an incubator, a standard procedure for premature births.
Medics cleaned the seats and the floor where the woman had been sitting and after a three-hour stop, the flight took off again.

A male air steward even a suggested the lucky girl could get free flights for life on the budget carrier - an unwritten tradition among some airlines when a baby is born on a plane.

Cebu Pacific Air said they were still looking into whether a baby girl born on a flight from Dubai to Manila would receive free flights for life.
17/08/16 Express

PIA denies Kuala Lumpur-bound flight was barred from using Indian air route

Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) has denied that its flight from Peshawar to Kuala Lumpur had been barred from entering into India’s air space on Tuesday.

Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) flight PK-894 was flying from Peshawar to reach Kuala Lumpur when it was told to change its route by the Indian aviation authorities, media reports had claimed earlier in the day. The plane was then landed at Lahore airport and passengers were asked to wait for further instructions from the management.

However, a PIA statement said that due to restrictions of take-off weight from Peshawar, PK-894 on Tuesday evening was re-routed to operate via Lahore for Kuala Lumpur.
17/08/16 Pakistan Today

PIA flight leaves for Malaysia after ‘Indian glitch’

Lahore: A Kuala Lumpur-bound PIA flight yesterday landed at the Lahore airport after being denied overflight rights by Indian authorities. The PK-894 flight had left Peshawar airport for Malaysia.

A PIA’s spokesman late yesterday night said that the flight left for Kuala Lumpur after refuelling.

He also clarified that the flight did not face any kind of resistance.

The spokesman claimed that the flight was called back because of weight conditions.

Earlier, aviation sources said the pilots diverted the flight back to Pakistan after being denied air-space by New Delhi. When a pilot asked the reason, the Indian air traffic control did not mention any justification for denying air space to the Pakistani flight.

Reportedly, this PIA’s flight uses the Indian air space as usual but yesterday it was denied the airspace without any prior warning. Pakistani officials immediately contacted their Indian counterparts by using Hot-Line but the Indian authorities did not respond to their calls.

According to the international laws, the concerned authorities are bound to give prior information to the flights in case of any problem related to the air-space use.

However, Indian authorities without prior information denied the air space to a Pakistani flight. The airline ultimately was called back and it safely landed at the Lahore international airport yesterday evening.
17/08/16 Nation

SL national involved in drug trafficking held at city airport

Chennai: A Sri Lankan national allegedly involved in a case related to seizure of 12.78kg heroin worth 12.8 crore in the international market, was arrested from the Chennai International airport by the Narcotics Control Bureau on August 13.
The accused was identified as 38-year-old Saravana Kumar alias Shetty alias Saravanan. The seizure was at Ramanathapuram bus stand in 2004. NCB officials said he was involved in smuggling of contraband items between Sri Lanka and India by boat through the Palk strait. Saravanan lived in a refugee camp in Ramanathapuram, officials said.
Saravanan, who was part of a gang, was to arrive at the Ramanathapuram bus stop to collect the contraband. However, he managed to give police the slip that day. He later escaped to Sri Lanka and after preparing a fake passport in the name of Muthu Maheshwaran, he went to Sweden in 2008 from Colombo, NCB officials said.
17/08/16 Times of India

Tuesday, August 16, 2016

GoAir gets nod to fly to Iran, Uzbekistan, 7 other nations

New Delhi: GoAir has received government's approval to fly to nine countries including Iran, Uzbekistan and Kazakhastan, with the Wadia group airline now expecting to take to international skies early next year.
The approval for the Mumbai-based carrier which has been operating for over a decade, comes more than two months after the Government eased the overseas flying norms for Indian airlines.

The airline has received approval to operate flights to nine countries, including Iran, China, Vietnam, Uzbekistan, Kazakhastan, Azerbaijan and Saudi Arabia, a senior official said.

"We have got approval to fly to nine countries. We expect to start international operations from the next summer schedule," GoAir Chief Executive Officer Wolfgang Prock-Schauer told PTI.

Generally, the summer schedule commences from the last Sunday of March and extends to the last Saturday of October every year.

GoAir would be the first Indian private carrier to fly to any CIS (Commonwealth of Independent States). CIS countries for which the carrier has got flying nod include Uzbekistan, Kazakhastan and Azerbaijan.
Currently under the air service agreements, Indian carriers can operate 31 weekly services to Iran, seven to Azerbaijan, Kazakhastan (21), Uzbekistan (18) and China (42). In case of Vietnam, Indian airlines are allowed to operate 28 weekly services and permitted unlimited operations from 18 select tourist destinations in India.
16/08/16 PTI/Business Standard

Paulo Coelho on SRK's detention at airport

World renowned author Paulo Coelho has always been a staunch supporter of Shah Rukh Khan. Last year, Paulo Coelho was vocal about the fact that he felt Shah Rukh Khan deserved an Oscar for his performance in My Name Is Khan.

Readers may know that, only last week, Shah Rukh Khan was detained at the Los Angeles airport by US immigration department officials. To which, Paulo Coelho tweeted "It also happens in the masterpiece 'My name is Khan'. @iamsrk , we know that life imitates art".
16/08/16  Bollywood Hungama

Monday, August 15, 2016

US-A'bd airfares skyrocket from 50K to 2.45L

Ahmedabad: Thousands of NRI devotees of Bochasanwasi Shri Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha (BAPS) have been booking last-minute tickets to Ahmedabad for one last darshan of Pramukh Swami Maharaj. The rising demand for flights to Ahmedabad from Chicago, New York, Newark and Los Angeles airports have caused the airfares to skyrocket like never before, say airline sources and travel agents. Devotees from the US, where BAPS has 93 temples, have been spending as much as Rs 2.5 lakh on an economy class ticket to make it to Sarangpur to attend his last rites on August 17.
Sources associated with BAPS in the city said that over 8,000 NRG devotees will reach Sarangpur to pay their last respects to their departed spiritual leader. Interestingly, flights from these destinations cost not more than Rs 55,000 if booked for dates after August 17. The flights arriving at city airport from the US are fully packed, said sources. Even for days preceding August 15, the flight tickets were priced at around Rs 52,000 on the shortest route from Chicago to Ahmedabad.
Sanjeev Bhatt, a devotee from New Jersey, told Mirror, "It is difficult to get a ticket to Ahmedabad immediately due to heavy rush of devotees, but I have been extremely lucky to get one. A one-way ticket cost me $2000, but money is no issue here. I will reach Sarangpur on Tuesday to attend the last rites of a man who was more than a father to me."
Airfares have never shot up like this before recollects Urjit Thaker, owner of World Wide Travel, who mainly caters to NRG clients. "I do not remember people buying tickets for such high rates in past. One of my clients bought a business class ticket for Rs 7 lakh for the August 14 flight from Newark as economy class seats were unavailable. Usually, tickets bought from any US destination on the day of flight would cost below Rs 1lakh. These fares are the highest I have seen in 18 years of my business." The cheapest Air India ticket (one-way, for August 15) from Newark for 34 hours of flying costs Rs 2.45 lakh.
15/08/16 Alok Brahmbhatt/Ahmedabad Mirror

'Haj flight schedule won't change'

Hyderabad: The Telangana State Haj Committee special officer Prof S A Shukoor on Sunday said that the flight schedule that was announced by the Haj Committee of India, will not change. "Under no circumstances it cannot be changed or altered, as it would cause serious administration problems," said Prof Shukoor while addressing the last training-module for pilgrims of Haj 2016. Addressing the last Haj camp, he informed the pilgrims about the Haj journey and requested them to show patience and exercise restraint on on every stage of the journey.
He also said that the pilgrims are scheduled to leave from the city from August 21 to August 28 to the city of Jeddah in Saudi Arabia. Everyday two Air India flights with a capacity of 340 passengers each will leave from the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport (RGIA), he said.
15/08/16 Times of India

Back from Istanbul, Gurgaon couple relives airport trauma

Gurgaon: The Josephs, a Gurgaon couple, set out for a trip to the US late on July 15 (Friday) but their vacation turned into a holiday nightmare when they reached Istanbul when a coup attempt was underway in the country. They were to have a 3-hour layover at Istanbul but ended up camping out at the airport for over 32 hours.
All outgoing flights to the United States and other countries were either cancelled or indefinitely delayed, and the passengers were scrambling to find the next best option. "When we got off the plane, it was complete chaos at the airport," Neema Joseph, a resident of Golf Course Road, told TOI. "We landed there around 1:20am local time on July 16 (Saturday), and people had been waiting to board their flights since Friday evening. Thousands of people were rushing about the airport and it was utter confusion. To exacerbate the situation, flights continued to arrive until late evening and the crowd continued to grow but not abate," she said.
"We were told to stand in line to get any information about our own flights or any alternate flights. We ended up standing in that line for approximately 9 hours. There was only 3 airport staff present to dole out information to those thousands of people. It was an agonising wait. And unbelievably, at the end of it they only told us that the booth was closed and that we need to consult someone else for our flight information," added Joseph.
15/08/16 Times of India

Sunday, August 14, 2016

Forcing low airfares on Gulf route may attract litigation:Govt

New Delhi: Making Indian carriers offer low airfares on the Gulf route might result in discriminatory pricing and attract litigation by foreign airlines, according to the Civil Aviation Ministry.
The ministry conveyed this view to a Parliamentary panel, which sought steps to ensure that the public is protected from predatory airfares amid persisting concerns over high ticket prices in the Gulf sector.
Dissatisfied with the response, the committee told the ministry that India's case should not be compared with any other country as there is a specific case which needs a "specific solution that is best suited to it in a given situation".
Sharp fluctuations in airfares has been a matter of debate for long and there have been voices from many quarters, including Parliamentarians, to put in place measures to curb volatility in prices.
In its submission to the panel, the ministry said that under Aircraft Rule 1957, every airline is required to establish tariff having regard to all relevant factors including cost of operation and characteristic of service.
14/08/16 PTI/Times of India

Bring down steep hike in airfares in Gulf sector: Kerala Opposition leader

Thiruvananthapuram: Ramesh Chennithala, an Opposition leader in the Kerala Assembly, has appealed to Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju to take steps to bring down the hiked airfares by various airlines in the Gulf sector.

In a letter to the minister, Chennithala said that the 'huge' increase in air fares should be withdrawn immediately.

During school vacations, various airlines raise the airfare four to five times, thus exploiting the Non-Resident Keralites (NRKs) in the Gulf, Chennithala said in the letter.

At a time when many NRKs are facing difficulties due to uncertainty with regard to their jobs, a hike in fares would cause them further hardship, he said.
14/08/16 PTI/Business Standard

India, Dubai to expand air traffic due to higher demand

New Delhi: India’s civil aviation authorities will hold talks with their counterparts in Dubai to increase bilateral airline seat entitlements due to an increased demand, top civil aviation ministry officials said.

The Union Civil Aviation Ministry has received a fresh request from the Dubai Civil Aviation Authority (DCAA) to increase the entitlements as airlines of both the countries have exhausted the current flying capacity. The move will enable passengers with more options to fly to the most populous city in the United Arab Emirates.

Countries sign air service agreement through bilateral negotiations to decide the number of flights airlines can fly into each other’s country. Airlines from Dubai and India are entitled to fly 65,200 seats from each side at present. The bilateral agreement had further given flexibility to the airlines to fly two per cent additional seats to match their seat configurations taking the total entitlement to 66,504 seats, a senior Directorate General of Civil Aviation official said.

As of July this year, while airlines from Dubai – Emirates and flydubai and Dubai Aviation Corporation– offered 66,504 seats, Indian carriers – IndiGo, Jet Airways, SpiceJet and Air India – flew 65,272 seats.
There has been a sharp increase in seat entitlements to Dubai – from 10,400 seats in 2003-04 to 65,200 seats till date. The previous Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to enhance air services between India and Dubai was signed in February 2014.

Dubai accounts for a huge chunk of international passengers that fly in and out of India from several airports such as Delhi, Chennai, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Madurai and Trivandrum. In January-March this year, 27.58 lakh passengers flew between India and Dubai, out of the total 1.32 crore international passengers who travelled in and out of the country, DGCA data showed. In fact, Dubai is the only country where the Indian carriers have fully utilised their seat entitlements as of July this year.
14/08/16 Somesh Jha/The Hindu

Cebu Pacific flight diverted to India

A CEBU Pacific Air flight from Dubai en route to Manila was diverted to India after one of the passengers on board was found in need of medical assistance, the airline said on Sunday.
Cebu Pacific said flight 5J015 landed safely at the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport in Hyderabad, India at 10:30 a.m. Manila time (6:30 a.m. Dubai time) to unload the passenger, who was not identified.
The airline said it was “coordinating with relevant authorities to ensure that immediate medical assistance is being provided for the passenger at a hospital in Hyderabad.”
“Our Customer Care team is also in direct contact with the passenger’s family, to provide any assistance they may need at this time,” Cebu Pacific added.
Flight 5J015 is expected to arrive in Manila at 7:10 p.m. Sunday after it departed Hyderabad at 1:06 p.m. Manila time.
14/08/16 Benjee Vergara/Manila Times

NCP's advise to SRK after detention at LA airport - wear 'My name is Khan and I am not a terrorist' band

The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) on Saturday expressed disappointment over the recent episode of Shah Rukh Khan's detention at the Los Angeles Airport in the United States and sarod maestro Ustad Amjad Ali Khan was denied visa by the United Kingdom.

Speaking to ANI, NCP leader Majeed Memon appealed to the US, UK and other countries that only because somebody's name is Muslim, they should not jump to the conclusion that the person dangerous, and, thereafter insult, humiliate and harass him.

"It is very distressing that after Shah Rukh Khan was detained and harassed at Los Angeles airport, only because his name happens to be Khan. He made a movie some time back 'My Name is Khan'. I think he should make a band and wear on his chest saying ?My Name is Khan and I am not a terrorist.? US has done it earlier also at the New York Airport," Memon said. "Now we are sorry to find that Amjad Ali Khan has been denied visa by UK because his name happens to be Khan. This is very unfortunate. I appreciate that both UK and US are very careful in the matters of security. No doubt, we don't dispute that.
13/08/16 ANI/DNA

Shah Rukh Khan's US airport detention: Did foreign ministry intervene on star's behalf?

Shah Rukh Khan's detention at a US airport on Thursday has created some major buzz. It has now emerged that Indian foreign ministry had to intervene before Khan was released from the Los Angeles Airport.
Government sources have revealed that the government has spoken to US diplomats and asked them to make sure that Khan does not have to endure such an experience again.
According to The Economic Times report, a source has said, "The matter was taken up with the US embassy here and also with the state department by the Indian embassy in Washington, DC. This helped in his quick release."
Soon after the incident, Richard Verma, US ambassador to India, took to Twitter to express his apologies.
14/08/16 First Post

Nigerian held at Agartala airport for illegal entry

Agartala: Security agencies on Sunday detained a Nigerian youth at Agartala airport a day after he illegally entered Tripura from Bangladesh. The detention occurred within three days of arrest of a man from Congo on Bangladesh side of Tripura border.

Police identified the Nigerian as Thaiok Nowabo. He was trying to travel to Kolkata with fake documents.

Nowabo is currently held at the Airport police station. He would be produced before court on Monday.

Border Guards, Bangladesh (BGB) recently captured Badila Sidmin Sanselvig from a location along border with Tripura. The man from Congo entered Bangladesh from Sonamura in west Tripura.
14/08/16 Syed Sajjad Ali/The Hindu

Saturday, August 13, 2016

After SRK detained at US airport, now Amjad Ali Khan’s UK visa rejected

New Delhi: Hours after Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan’s detention at the US immigration at Los Angeles airport, Sarod maestro Ustad Amjad Ali Khan’s application for a British visa has been rejected, the musician tweeted on Friday.
The 70-year-old celebrated artist took to Twitter to express his displeasure.
“Shocked & appalled. #UK visa rejected. Scheduled to perform at the #RoyalFestivalHall in Sep…,” Khan tweeted.
He also tagged his message to External Affairs minister Sushma Swaraj, the Indian high commission in London and the British High Commission in India.

“Extremely sad for artists who are spreading the message of love & peace…,” he said in a second tweet.
Khan was to perform next month at the Royal festival Hall in London and had applied for a permit to visit the country. He said he had been performing abroad almost every year since the early 1970s.

Asked about the reason for the rejection of visa application, a UK High Commission Spokesperson merely said that the mission does not comment on individual cases.
12/08/16 Deccan Chronicle

Brussels Airlines confirms Mumbai flights

When earlier this year Jet Airways left Brussels International Airport and shifted its operations to Amsterdam, two major connections were lost for travelers from Belgium and connecting passengers from Brussels Airlines' African network.

Jet Airways, part of the Etihad Group, was the operating airline but codeshared with Brussels Airlines on the routes from Brussels to Toronto and to Mumbai until that moment. It was Toronto first in April this year when the Belgian flag carrier stepped into the void with the launch of flights out of Brussels, making it the third North American destination.
The airline has now confirmed that effective March 2017, Mumbai will follow with five flights a week, restoring nonstop connectivity with one of India's most important aviation hubs.

Bernard Gustin, CEO of Brussels Airlines, said when making the announcement: 'With India, we add an important market to our hub. After the departure of a major Indian player out of Brussels earlier this year, we take our responsibility as the national carrier and we create additional employment for our country. The opening of the Mumbai route will lead to 200 additional jobs at Brussels Airlines and will have a positive impact on our suppliers. By next season, we offer the diamond- and travel industry direct flights, which is an important investment in our network expansion, but also in the economic relations between Belgium and India'.
12/08/16 Prof. Dr. Wolfang H. Thome/eTN

Cellphone of IAS officer's son stolen at Dubai airport

Aurangabad: The city police have registered a theft case against an unidentified suspect, who allegedly stole a high-end cellphone of senior IAS officer Sunil Kendrekar's son from Dubai international airport.
Kendrekar's son Prajanya, who was heading to San Francisco via Dubai, boarded his flight on Monday from the Mumbai international airport.
As per the complaint lodged by Kendrekar, chief executive officer of City and Industrial Development Corporation (CIDCO), Prajanya went for a security check at Dubai airport when his cell phone worth Rs 65,000 was stolen. While going through the security check, he removed his cellphone from the bag and kept it in the tray. However, the high-end cellphone was picked up by an unidentified suspect within no time. Prajanya tried raising the issue with the authorities, but could not bring the incident on record at the airport. After reaching San Francisco, he brought the matter to the notice of his father, who appraoched the Mukundwadi police and lodged a complaint against the unidentified suspect on Thursday.
13/08/16 Mohamed Akhef/Times of India

Friday, August 12, 2016

Dubai plane crash: Girl behind Emirates landing video

What is the first thing you do when a plane makes an emergency landing? You run for survival.

But a video that captured the moment inside Emirates flight EK521 seconds after it landed showed passengers grabbing their belongings.

Behind the footage from inside the cabin that went viral for days, is a 17-year-old student, Riya George. George, an Indian national, lives in the US and was returning after a vacation to her homeland in Kerala.
George said passengers' reaction was the motivation behind taking out her phone and recording the moment.
"The moment was really important to record. I thought it was selfish of people to put other people's lives in danger and prioritise their luggage despite clear attempts by the crew to evacuate the plane," said George, who attends high school in Spring Valley, New York.

"We needed to get out of there as soon as possible. The plane started to go up in flames minute after we got out. It was a matter of minutes, and it could have all gone wrong."


The video, filmed on August 3, showed passengers blocking aisles and grabbing their belongings from the overhead compartments even as oxygen masks dropped down and smoke started to fill the cabin slowly.
George has been residing in the US for six years. She was on vacation with her parents and elder brother, Jerin, in India and had a connecting flight from Dubai to the United States.  She said as the plane landed, she kept her calm while others were screaming and panicking. She praised the crew's efforts on evacuating the plane on time.


 "We can hear from the video the crew's instructions and constant reminder for people to leave their belongings. At some point, they said 'JUMP JUMP JUMP', and we all jumped out. They made great efforts to get people to walk away."

She also praised the pilot's efforts in stopping the plane in a very short time. George said the plane landed on its belly and bounced again before landing on its left wing. As black smoke started to fill in the cabin, "we knew we had to get out."

George noted that her family was delayed for 12 hours after the landing. The airlines moved them to a hotel close to the airport before they could fly again to the US. "I am still jet lagged!" she laughed.

The Emirates team called up her family to ask details on the luggage. Like other passengers, the airlines informed them that they will receive US$7000 ($9700) as compensation.

"I know some people were not aware that the plane was on fire, but it still remained an emergency landing. It is dangerous to carry luggage that could hurt you and fellow passengers while getting out of a plane."

She added that she hoped her video would be a reference in training flight attendants in the future.

"My intention was to show the world what people should not do during emergencies. I hope I got the message across."
12/08/16 Sherouk Zakaria/Khaleej Times