Passengers protest over delay in departure of flight

Kochi: Irate passengers, including Kerala Home Minister Kodiyeri Balakrishnan, protested to Air India officials in Kochi when the Sharjah-bound Air India Express flight was delayed at the international airport.
Tempers ran high as the Kochi-Thiruvananthapuram-Sharjah flight, which was scheduled to leave at 10.45 am on Tuesday, could not take off on time as it arrived in Kochi late, airport sources said.
Though the 85 passengers, including the minister, were allowed to board the flight, the crew hesitated to operate the service due to Crew Duty Time limitation guidelines of the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).
After spending over an hour in the plane, the Minister disembarked and complained to the Air India Airport manager, Muthukoya.
The flight left in the evening via Thiruvananthapuram after a six hour delay.
02/01/08 Press Trust Of India/Hindustan Times

Read More

Bigger Jet Airways plane for Chennai-KL route

Sepang: Jet Airways (India) Ltd is flying aircraft with increased passenger capacity of nearly 60% for its Chennai-Kuala Lumpur route to accommodate rising flight demand.
Jet Airways South-East Asia regional vice-president Gerry Oh said Jet Airways was introducing the bigger A330-200 aircraft to replace the Boeing B737-800 to cater to the higher passenger travel.
“The high passenger volume has provided an impetus for a larger aircraft to meet the demand,” he said at the launch of the A330-200 aircraft at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) last Saturday.
Oh added that the KL-Chennai route enjoyed healthy passenger volume, with an average load factor of 83% to 85% in 2007 for the daily individual flights.
“The capacity increase will also allow us to serve the increasing number of visitors from India expected to visit Malaysia in 2008,” Oh said.
31/12/07 Eugene Mahalingam/Malaysia Star, Malaysia

Read More

Jet Airways hopeful of wider collaboration with MAS

Sepang: Jet Airways (India) Ltd hopes a wider collaboration with national carrier Malaysian Airline System Bhd (MAS) will materialise by the middle of next year.
“We may have something on with MAS by mid-2008,” Jet Airways country manager for Malaysia Kavin Martinus told The Edge Financial Daily after the Indian airline launched its widebody A330-200s aircraft for its Kuala Lumpur-Chennai route here last Saturday.
“Code-sharing is something we would like to do with MAS, if they agree we could possibly look at it for Mumbai flights. The idea here is synergy, so if we can code-share on their Mumbai flights, then they can code-share with our Chennai flights,” Martinus said.
“We’re talking about a wider co-operation with MAS, which may involve code-sharing and many other areas including marketing. We are in active discussions with MAS,” said Jet Airways regional vice president for Southeast Asia Gerry Oh.
It was reported that the two airlines had scheduled discussions in January 2007 concerning a code-sharing arrangement for flights between Malaysia and India.
31/12/07 Sharmila Ganapathy/The Edge Daily, Malaysia

Read More

AAPI forges stronger alliance with Air India

New York: Dr Hemant Patel, President of American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (AAPI) and core members such as Dr Jayesh Kanuga and Dr Seema Jain hosted an elegant dinner party for Air India officials Anil Mathur, Executive Director for USA and Canada and Andy Bhatia to explore possibilities of working together and strengthening their ties. Established in 1982, AAPI representing the interests of 42,000 physicians and 12,000 medical students and residents of Indian origin in the United States, is the largest ethnic medical association in the country.
The evening's discussions were very much on the same lines - to forge an alliance so that there could be a mutually beneficial relationship between the two. While the relationship and association dates back to more then two decades, it was about taking that to the next level. It was proposed that registered members of AAPI would be given additional benefits should they fly by Air India. While the logistics are still being worked out, it would seem that AAPI registered members would benefit financially as well as in terms of additional perks.
30/12/07 IndiaPost.com, USA

Read More

Mum hunts for 'lost' baggage

A Bharaini mother is trying to locate an Indian man, who she believes will be able to lead her to baggage she lost while travelling from India to Bahrain.
Salma Mohammed Khan claims she handed over a cardboard box at Santa Cruz Airport, Mumbai, to the man because she had excess luggage.
The 54-year-old says they both travelled on the same Gulf Air flight on December 1 but doesn't know his name because she didn't ask.
She planned to get the box from him, containing clothes and gifts, on reaching Bahrain, but failed to find it at the luggage collection area.
Her efforts to trace the man in Bahrain have proved futile because he could have possibly travelled to Dehran, Afghanistan, the flight's final destination.
"I had gone to India during the second week of November to visit my sick aunt," said the woman, who didn't want to be named
"After staying for nearly 20 days, I was returning to Bahrain via the Santa Cruz Airport, Mumbai, on December 1.
"I had extra luggage, for which I would have been asked to pay money.
"That's when I spotted a young man, in his early 20s, and he didn't have much luggage.
"I asked him where he was going and he said Bahrain, or at least that's what it sounded like, and so I gave the carton to him.
"When I reached Bahrain International Airport, I saw him a few metres away from me and he gestured to me that his work was over.
"I hadn't checked at the luggage collection area till then, from where I hoped to collect my carton, and told him he could leave.
"But when I went to get the box, everybody's luggage arrived except mine.
"The problem is that I don't know his name and he doesn't know mine."
Mrs Khan was told by airport authorities that the man could have been travelling to Dehran because that was the flight's final destination.
They need to have the passenger reference number attached to the luggage to trace it, she was told.
31/12/07 Begena Geroge/Gulf Daily News, Bahrain

Read More

Nigerian woman's fettish for footwear

Mumbai: A Nigerian woman with 3 kgs of morphine was arrested by customs authorities at the international airport on Friday.
Olayiwola Olayinka Funmi was arrested while she was trying to board an Ethopian Airline flight ET-611 for Lagos from Chhatrapati Shivaji International airport in the morning.
The Air Intelligence Unit of the Customs were suspicious and checked her baggage and found 15 packets of women's footwear. On checking them they found morphine powder concealed in the heels of all the footwear. The footwear had false heels to hide the drug.
Funmi was arrested after her statement was recorded and she will be produced in a local metropolitan court on December 29.
This is the fifth case of drug seizure at the airport in the last five months.
29/12/07 Little Yadav/Gunaah

Read More

Indians demand Tamil public announcements at Kuala Lumpur airport

Kuala Lumpur: Malaysian Tamils have urged the airport authority of Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) to make announcements in Tamil, as it would help the passengers coming from India, majority of them being Tamils.
Datin Seri Indrani Samy Vellu of Sri Sruthi Mandram has expressed hope that the KLIA authorities would work in this direction.
She also demanded setting up of a special information centre where Tamil passengers would be advised about flight schedules and other important information in their mother tongue.
Officers who are well versed in Tamil must man information centres, and they must be able to give advice to those stranded at the airport and job seekers, The Star quoted her, as saying.
31/12/07 ANI/Thaindian.com, Thailand

Read More

Haj pilgrim dies

Kochi (PTI): A pilgrim was found dead Saturday on-board the Air India chartered flight while returning to the international airport here after performing Haj.
The deceased was identified as Kochi Aleemma Sainudeen (76) of Kadungalloor, near here, officials said.
She complained of uneasiness on-board the flight after leaving Jiddah. A doctor on the flight and crew immediately attended her, but could not save her life, they said.
The flight, with more than 300 pilgrims, landed at the Airport here at 8.10 p.m. The airport Health Officer Raphael Teddy, who was summoned to the airport, permitted to transfer the human remains of the deceased to her relatives, they added.
30/12/07 PTI/The Hindu

Read More

Training pilots is a growth industry at Falcon Field

Four training facilities for aspiring pilots opened in 2007 at the airport at 4800 E. Falcon Drive, bringing the total flight learning centers to seven.“We started as a flight school during World War II, and we’re continuing to grow in that direction,” said airport director Corinne Nystrom. Read On >>

Read More

Stricter norms may block foreign flight dreams

New Delhi: It will soon be a lot tougher for domestic carriers to fly overseas, as the Government wants to tighten the norms on opening international routes, by including new conditions
Apart from the present norms of 20 aircraft and five years of operations in the domestic market, the airline’s financial strength, infrastructure capabilities as well as the composition of its fleet will be taken into consideration before allowing an airline to fly overseas.
According to sources in the directorate general of civil aviation, in case an airline does not have the requisite parking and landing slots at destination airports abroad, it will not be given permission to fly overseas.
If the Government follows the proposed rules strictly, Air Deccan may not even get permission to fly abroad till it acquires long-haul aircraft and parking and landing slots abroad.
Air Deccan, which has already applied to the Government to fly abroad, would probably have to reapply to the ministry after merging its infrastructure with Vijay Mallya-promoted Kingfisher Airlines.
29/12/07 Bipin Chandran & Shauvik Ghosh/Indian Express

Read More

Pilot error declines as factor in airline mishaps

Airline accidents attributed to pilot error declined significantly between 1983 and 2002, according to new US research. While the overall rate of US domestic airline mishaps remained stable during that time, the proportion involving pilot error decreased 40%, say researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
The researchers also found a 71% reduction in the rate of mishaps related to poor decision-making by pilots, They attribute the decline to better training and improvements in technology. The study findings are published in the January 2008 edition of Aviation, Space and Environmental Medicine.
Lead author Susan Baker says the study examined 558 crashes and other mishaps involving US domestic air carriers on scheduled and unscheduled flights under Part 121 operating regulations. They were drawn from the National Transportation Safety Board database of accidents and incidents involving fatalities and injuries in the air and on the ground, she says.
Mishaps outside the USA, those caused by criminal acts and those for which there was no NTSB investigation data were not included in the study, Baker says.
28/12/07 Graham Warwick/Flight International

Read More

Minister vows to end woes of air travellers

Trivandrum: Federal Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel yesterday promised an end to the miseries of passengers at the Karipur international airport in north Kerala.
He made the promise in a letter to Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan after the latter informed about the difficulties faced by the passengers, especially the expatriates working in the Middle East, to his notice.
Patel has assured Achuthanandan that he would personally intervene in the issue. Air India chairman Thulsidas later rang up the chief minister and assured that he would take steps to improve the services of the national carrier.
Achuthanandan blamed the indifferent attitude of Air India towards the passenger as the root cause for the problems faced by the passengers in the airport. He accused the national carrier of neglecting the passengers.
Gulf passengers believe that their woes would end only if the airport is opened to foreign airlines. They say that Air India and Indian have been exploiting passengers as they enjoy near monopoly.
29/12/07 Khaleej Times, United Arab Emirates

Read More

Jet Airways adds five more Kathmandu-New Delhi flights

Kathmandu: Encouraged by the rising flow of travelers, Jet Airways has added five more Kathmandu-New Delhi flights, raising its total weekly flights on the route to 19.
“Of the 19, we are conducting 12 flights under the brand of Jet Airways and seven under Jet Lite Airways -- a wholly owned subsidiary of Jet Airways,” said Ava Shah, chairman of Hansa International, the general sales agent of the airline in Nepal.
The airline has also begun connecting flights to New York, Brussels, Toronto, and London via New Delhi.
“Due to problems in connectivity, we had not sold tickets until now. However, with the increase in flights, we are able to provide easy connections,” said Shah.
She said excluding taxes, a two-way ticket between Kathmandu and London costs US$ 955; Kathmandu-New York costs US$ 1,215; Kathmandu-Brussels US$ 955; and Kathmandu-Toronto US$ 1,240.
28/12/07 Kantipur Online, Nepal

Read More

Indian student's death: Tower warned the other pilot of approaching plane

Fifty-five seconds to disaster, the voice of a busy Miami air traffic controller crackled over the radio in Harry Duckworth III's twin-engine Piper. Traffic 11 o'clock, 2 miles southbound, altitude indicates two thousand two hundred." The veteran pilot scanned the horizon for the oncoming plane. Read On >>

Read More

Cos line up for Kolkata, Chennai airports

New Delhi: Global construction majors have lined up for the Rs 3,700-crore airport modernisation plans in Kolkata and Chennai. The Airports Authority of India (AAI) has received 11 applications for the Rs 1,900-cr Kolkata project and 14 for the Rs 1,800-crore Chennai expansion programme.
Apart from Indian majors like L&T (which is building both the Delhi and Mumbai airports), the global names include Greece's AEGEK General Construction; Malaysia's Muhibbah Engineering and Britain's largest privately-owned construction firm Laing O'Rourke.
The AAI is also going to appoint a project management consultant who would oversee the implementation of these two projects on a turnkey basis. Firms like US-based Louis Berger have applied for becoming the consultants.
AAI has taken up Chennai and Kolkata airports as a sort of challenge, mainly to prove a point that it can also build good airports, especially when private majors like GMR and GVK already implementing projects in Delhi and Mumbai airports.
28/12/07 Saurabh Sinha/Times of India

Read More

Hong Kong carriers welcome open skies pacts with mainland China, India

Hong Kong: Hong Kong-based airlines welcomed recent agreements between the territory and China and India to open up their aviation markets, saying Thursday the moves would strengthen the Hong Kong's position as a regional and international hub.
Hong Kong and mainland China agreed during talks concluded Thursday to increase the number of airlines flying between the two sides and the frequency of flights, starting in the spring of 2008, a Hong Kong government statement said.
From the end of March, there will be no restrictions on the number of airlines operating on routes between Hong Kong and the mainland, except those to Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Chengdu, Kunming and Dalian, the statement said.
From the end of July, both sides can nominate three airlines to operate passenger and cargo services on those seven popular routes, and two airlines to operate cargo-only services, it said.
At the end of October, both sides will be able to add an extra airline each to run passenger and cargo services on those routes, it said.
27/12/07 The Associated Press/International Herald Tribune, France

Read More

Club-class international travel may get cheaper soon

New Delhi: Budget 2008-09 may have some good news for air travellers, especially those who travel business and first class. Airfares are likely to come down, with the government planning to scrap service tax on business and first-class tickets for international journeys. It may also halve duties on aviation turbine fuel from 10% to 5%.
The move to withdraw service tax would reduce the price of J and F class tickets on international sectors in the range of Rs 5,000 to Rs 25,000. Duty reduction on ATF would benefit airlines, which would eventually pass on the benefit to passengers irrespective of the ticket category.
Official sources said the finance ministry is favourably considering the civil aviation ministry’s proposal to reduce excise duty on ATF from 8% to 4% and Customs duty from 10% to 5%. Civil aviation minister Praful Patel is aggressively pursuing these two issues with finance minister P Chidambaram.
At present, the government levies a service tax of 12.5% on J and F class tickets on international flights originating from India.
28/12/07 Nirbhay Kumar/Economic Times

Read More

Finnair Holiday Flight Delayed by 18 Hours

A flight returning from Phuket in Thailand was delayed by a full 18 hours, arriving in Helsinki after seven on Thursday evening.
The flight was delayed during a stop-over in Ahmedabad airport in India, when a problem with the second engine was detected. Local technicians were unable to solve the problem, forcing authorities to fly in a mechanic from Helsinki.
The 173 passengers on board the flight were accommodated at a hotel in Ahmedabad.
27/12/07 YLE News, Finland

Read More

CDC begins tracking down passengers near TB-infected woman

San Jose: When American Airlines Flight 293 took off from New Delhi for a 16-hour flight to Chicago early Dec. 13, there was no way for other passengers to know that the 30-year old Sunnyvale, Calif., woman coughing in their midst was a danger to those nearby.
There was no international law to prohibit the Nepal native from boarding a commercial flight, even though she had been diagnosed with a dangerous case of drug-resistant tuberculosis in India.
Even though World Health Organization guidelines say no one with an infectious case of multi-drug-resistant TB should ever board a commercial airliner because of the risk of infecting others, there is no system or international database to notify airlines beforehand, or public health authorities afterward, about the journey. Such a system would be extremely difficult to create, industry and health officials say.
Thursday _ two weeks after the woman boarded her plane _ the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention notified public health authorities in 16 states, from California to Vermont, about the drug-resistant TB case on Flight 293, as they began tracking down 44 U.S. nationals and people traveling on non-U.S. passports who sat within two rows of the woman on the Boeing 777.
The woman is being treated in isolation at Stanford Hospital. "We don't know what her prognosis is," said Dr. Marty Fenstersheib, Santa Clara County's public health officer. "TB takes a good amount of time before you know whether they respond to their medication."
27/12/07 San Jose Mercury News - McClatchy-Tribune News Service via COMTEX/Trading Markets (press release), US

Read More

Now, Boeing to delay delivery of Dreamliners

New Delhi: Indian carriers' wait for next generation planes of both Boeing and Airbus has got longer. After Airbus delayed delivery of their A-380 to Kingfisher, now Boeing has informed Air India the induction of 787 Dreamliner will miss the September 2008 schedule. AI, which is facing a severe aircraft crunch, is going to seek a hefty undisclosed amount as compensation from the US major.
The Maharaja had ordered 27 Dreamliners for being used on the medium and long haul sectors.The aircraft were to be delivered between September 2008 and October 2011.
About nine of the 27 ordered were to be delivered from September 2009 to December 2009. This delay has hit AI - which only recently launched a global enquiry for aircraft on lease - badly.
It is reliably learnt that a problem with suppliers of aircraft parts has led to the delay in 787 deliveries. Apart from AI's 27 planes, Jet Airways has ordered 10 Dreamliners.
28/12/07 Saurabh Sinha/Times of India

Read More

Jet Airways to target North America West Coast

While Jet Airways have made no effort in hiding their targeting of North America for expansion and so far their steps have taken them mostly to the East Coast, but there may be a change in the air.
There have been rumours now that the Indian airline is turning its eye to strategic points on the North American West Coast.
For the time being, all of Jet Airway’s three NA destinations lie on the East Coast, Toronto and the two New York Airports (JFK and EWR), but with the addition of San Francisco come February 2008.
Currently Jet Airways operates its East Coast destinations through Newark and New Delhi, with a transit through Brussels.
27/12/07 e-Travel Blackboard (press release), Australia

Read More

113 AI passengers stranded

Kolkata: At least 113 passengers of an Air India flight to London from here are stranded at the N.S.C. Bose International Airport since Tuesday due to non arrival of the plane, airline sources said on Wednesday.
The plane could not come back to Kolkata from London due to foggy weather condition in London, the sources said.
The flight was supposed to land in London and then return to Kolkata but it could not land in the capital of Britain due to foggy condition and was diverted to some other place, they said.
26/12/07 The Asian Age

Read More

Jet Airways, Virgin forge frequent flier partnership

New Delhi: In a major initiative to provide more choices to its passengers and reward members of its frequent flier programme, Jet Airways has forged an alliance with Richard Branson's Virgin Atlantic to offer facilities on a reciprocal basis.
The partnership would offer Jet Airways' JetPrivilege members the benefit of accessing a choice of destinations on the Virgin Atlantic network. Similarly, Virgin Atlantic’s Flying Club members would be able to tap into Jet Airways vast domestic network, besides the various international destinations served by Jet Airways.
Jet Airways said in a statement that JetPrivilege members would now be able to earn and redeem JPMiles on all Virgin Atlantic flights to over 34 destinations worldwide, including North America, the Caribbean, Africa, Asia and Australia.
Virgin Atlantic’s Flying Club members would be able to earn and redeem their miles on Jet Airways with over 355 daily flights to 44 destinations in India or to international destinations such as New York (Newark and JFK), Toronto, London, Brussels, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok, Colombo, Kathmandu and Dhaka.
26/12/07 Lalatendu Mishra/Hindustan Times

Read More

Jet urged to offer more Doha seats

The newly-constituted Gulf Passengers Association - Qatar (Gapac Qatar) has hailed the decision of Indian airliner Jet Airways' decision to introduce daily flights from Doha to Kozhikode on January 5.
Even while welcoming the decision, the forum appealed to GCC airliners to explore chances to operate to Kozhikode sooner than later.
In a statement yesterday, Gapac-Qatar chairman K K Usman said though the decision of Jet Airways would ease the travel woes of the passengers travelling on the Doha- Kozhikode sector, the airline's plan to allot as many as 30 seats of the proposed flight to passengers from Kuwait would adversely affect the interests of those travelling from Qatar.
The official said even if the whole of the seats of the flight were reserved for passengers from Doha, it would not solve the grievances of passengers travelling on the Kozhikode sector.
27/12/07 Gulf Times, Qatar

Read More

Lanco in tie-up talks with global operator for non-metro airports

Hyderabad: Integrated infrastructure developer Lanco Infratech Ltd, a company with interests in power and construction, is in talks with an international airport operator to be a partner as it bids for new airport contracts in small Indian towns.
Lanco group chairman L. Madhusudhan Rao declined to name the global airport operator. Lanco, with Rs1,647 crore in revenues last fiscal year, had in the past held talks with Houston Airport Systems, the fourth largest airport operator in the US, to be a partner, but did not conclude a deal, said Sanjay Diwakar Joshi, executive director at Lanco.
In August, Lanco, based in Hyderabad, won a Rs83 crore bid to modernize the airport at Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh.
Lanco has submitted pre-qualification bids for a Maharashtra tender to convert airstrips in six smaller cities into airports. These airstrips include Nanded, Osmanabad, Latur, Yavatmal, Baramati and Jalgaon. Once the firms are selected, a request for proposal tender would be floated in January, and contracts expected to be awarded by June.
These airports would be initially used as a maintenance and parking facility to run aviation academies and eventually be turned into commercial airports.
26/12/07 C.R. Sukumar/Livemint

Read More

Indian carriers offer cheaper tickets to US

New Delhi: Indian carriers are all set to turn the heat on foreign airlines on the lucrative Delhi-US market. Air India will launch its Delhi-New York nonstop flight in February, with a tariff for economy class at about Rs 45,000 (inclusive of taxes), same as Jet’s via Brussels connection. Comparative fares of foreign carriers like British Airways, Lufthansa, Continental and American Airlines is higher by Rs 6,000 to Rs 16,000.
AI seems to have learnt from the Mumbai-JFK experience when it had to slash its introductory high fares within 10 days of August launch. With Kingfisher also going to join the list of Indian carriers flying to US by next year, foreign airlines will have to fly the extra mile to woo fliers.
The fare war, said analysts, will be for price-sensitive economy class passengers. With visiting relatives and leisure travel to US on the rise, this sector will become more important.
"Although traffic on this sector is growing, foreign carriers will have to fight for passengers with Indian airlines. For economy class passengers, this would mean more attractive fares. For premium business and first class fliers, this will elad to better services," said a travel agent.
26/12/07 Saurabh Sinha/Times of India

Read More

Baggage Rule Leaves Pilgrims in Precarious Situation

Jeddah: An Air-India flight left the Haj Terminal yesterday morning carrying only 100 of its over scheduled 200 passengers after they raised an outcry over an excess baggage charge of SR55 a kilo that the airline was demanding from the pilgrims.
The flight bound for Lucknow in northern India, for which over 200 passengers had checked in, finally left around 9 a.m. “In fact, the 100-odd passengers who did not travel chose not to board the flight as they needed time to send their excess baggage by cargo,” K.M. Kurian, Air-India’s Western Province manager, told Arab News.
“Our rules for excess baggage for passengers stand at SR55 per kilo for those purchasing return tickets in India and SR13 per kilo for those holding tickets purchased in the Kingdom,” Kurian said.
“So there was nothing wrong on the part of Air-India to demand SR55 kg per kilo over and above the carrier’s free baggage allowance of 45 kg in addition to a can of Zamzam water per pilgrim,” he added.
Asked why the pilgrims were not informed in advance about the increase in charges, Kurian said, “Air-India had communicated to the Haj Committee of India and it was the responsibility of the HCI to inform the pilgrims.”
Until last year, Air-India’s excess baggage charges stood at SR13 per kilo for Haj tickets purchased in India.
26/12/07 K.S. Ramkumar/Arab News, Saudi Arabia

Read More

Stranded dad flying home to cancer boy

A worker, who is stranded in at Bahrain International Airport after returning from India to earn money to treat his cancer-stricken son, is scheduled to leave soon.
K P Pavithran has been stranded since Sunday when his sponsor blocked his return to Bahrain by cancelling his visa.
The carpenter, who first arrived in Bahrain three years ago as a free visa worker, says he was in desperate need of more money for his son's treatment.
His Bahraini sponsor yesterday provided him with an open air ticket home and he is waiting for the next available flight, said Vadakara Association president Ramath Haridas. His visa was valid until June and he claims that his sponsor had not warned him earlier.
Mr Pavithran, who is his family's only breadwinner, was not able to save enough money during his stay in Bahrain.
He flew home to India in March with 265,000 Indian rupees (BD2,533) raised in Bahrain to save his seven-year-old son Sarang, who is suffering from leukaemia. Sarang is currently undergoing treatment at the Malabar Institute of Medical Sciences in Calicut, Kerala. He needs two more years of treatment. The money raised here was enough for only nine months.
26/12/07 Begena P Pradeep/Gulf Daily News, Bahrain

Read More

ITAT spares Galileo from paying tax

Mumbai: Galileo International, a computer reservation service (CRS) company specialising in electronic booking of air tickets, has been exempted from paying tax, thanks to an Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT), Delhi bench’s order. The order says the company is not liable to pay tax since it has made an arm’s length payment to its agent in India Interglobe. This decision will have a bearing on the Indian operations of CRS majors such as Abacus, Amadeus and Saber.
The ITAT’s ruling is in tune with the principles laid down by the Supreme Court in the case of Morgan Stanley. In that case, the apex court had said the commission paid to an agent extinguishes the liability to pay taxes in India.
The ITAT made several observations that will have a bearing on the taxability of foreign companies operating in India. Firstly, it said Galileo has a permanent establishment in India through the computers installed in the country. Secondly, the distributor who markets and distributes Galileo’s network in India, is a permanent agent even though the distributor has a full-fledged travel business in the country.
Both observations have sparked off a debate among tax professionals as what constitutes a permanent establishment has a bearing on the taxability of a foreign company in India.
26/12/07 Padmakshan/Economic Times

Read More

Passengers protest as AI reschedules flight

Kozhikode : Passengers of a Gulf-bound flight went on a sit-in protest at the Karipur International Airport here on Tuesday after Air India rescheduled the flight.
Air India Express flight to Jeddah,originally scheduled to leave at 11 AM,could not take off owing to "technical reasons" airport sources said.
Irked by the "last minute" announcement, the passengers initially refused accommodation in nearby hotels and raised slogans against the National carrier, they said.
However,the passengers soon dispersed from the scene after they were assured by the Airline officials that the flight would depart at 2 Pm,the sources added.
25/12/07 PTI/The Hindu

Read More

Air services pact with Jordan to spur trade

New Delhi: The union cabinet today approved an amendment to the air service agreement with Jordan. The amendment is aimed at spurring greater trade, invesment, tourism and cultural exchange between the two countries.
"The amendments to certain provisions have the potential to develop the agreement between the two countries in line with international civil aviation," the government said in a press statement.
India and Jordan had agreed to the amendments during the last round of bilateral and services talks in January this year.
The Cabinet also gave its approval for amending clause F of Section 20 of the Indian Trusts Act, 1882. The clause would be substituted with "any other security of class of securities expressely authorised by the intrument of trusts or by the Central government by notification in the official gazette."
The amendment will be placed for Parliament's approvval in the next session.
24/12/07 Business Standard

Read More

Air India to start Delhi-NY non-stop flight

Mumbai: Expanding its long-haul route network, Air India said it would launch a non-stop service from Delhi to New York from February eight with a new Boeing 777 aircraft.
The national carrier, which launched a similar service from Mumbai in August this year, would take delivery of a brand new Boeing 777-200 in the next few weeks and use it for the Delhi-New York operations.
"We have scheduled the launch of this non-stop flight for February 8," a senior Air India official said.
Air India has so far received four 777-200 LRs (Long Range) as per schedule agreed with the US aircraft major Boeing, he said.
Besides Mumbai and Delhi, the airline operates another flight from Amritsar to New York via London.
The global grouping of major airlines, Star Alliance, recently decided to induct Air India as a future member.
24/12/07 Financial Express

Read More

Airline to pay for Bishop snub

New Delhi:An Italian airline that offloaded a Rome-bound Indian bishop in Kuwait although he had a confirmed ticket must pay him Rs 25,000 in damages.
Bishop John B. Thakur, from Muzaffarabad in Bihar, was put on the next flight but said his Rome schedule was thrown into disarray by the six-hour delay, which happened on July 31, 1997.
The Delhi state consumer commission held Alitalia responsible for its agent’s actions and asked it to pay the priest within a month. “Once a confirmed status is provided to a ticket, the passenger cannot be offloaded for any reason whatsoever,” it said in response to the bishop’s complaint, which had asked for a Rs 9.5-lakh compensation.
The commission noted that the priest was put on the next flight to Rome but mentioned his mental agony through the six hours he was kept waiting.
Bishop Thakur had bought a ticket for the Mumbai-Rome flight from the airline’s booking agent in July 1997. The agent allegedly told him that all the flights were packed, so it was handing him an additional ticket from Kuwait to Rome as a precaution.
But after the flight landed in Kuwait, the crew asked the priest to get off, saying his ticket was valid only for the Mumbai-Kuwait section.
24/12/07 PTI/The Telegraph

Read More

CAE Courts Asia Simulator Buyers as U.S. Orders Stall

CAE Inc., the world's largest maker of flight simulators, is working to add customers in Asia and win defense contracts to wean itself from dependence on U.S. airlines, Chief Executive Officer Robert Brown said.
China and other Asian countries now generate 11 percent of revenue, up from 7 percent in 2005. Europe accounts for 37 percent of revenue, up from 34 percent two years ago. Until two orders last week, CAE had won only one order from a U.S. carrier in the six years since the Sept. 11 attacks, Brown said.
``We were much more reliant on North America and on simulator sales to U.S. airlines,'' Brown said in a Dec. 20 interview from CAE's Montreal headquarters. Now, ``there's demand like we've not had before'' from China and India.
As Brown wooed buyers including Jet Airways India Ltd. and Air China Ltd., U.S. revenue fell to 32 percent in fiscal 2007 from 42 percent two years earlier.
CAE has a flight-training center in Zhuhai, China, to serve airlines in the world's second-biggest aviation market, and another in Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates, that is a training base for Indian carriers, Brown said.
CAE's simulator orders in fiscal 2007 reflect the push by Brown, 62, to add business outside the U.S. since becoming CEO in 2004.
Of 34 orders, eight came from Indian and Chinese customers including Jet Airways and Air China, compared with one from the U.S. A simulator for a Boeing Co. or Airbus SAS jet with full options typically costs about $16 million.
24/12/07 Hugo Miller/Bloomberg

Read More

Who will command the AI 777s?

Air India’s fourth Boeing 777-200LR, scheduled for delivery in the second week of December, has not reached the airline. A shortage of commanders for the new generation aircraft will probably delay it further.
“Air-India could not take deliveries of two of its 777LRs from the manufacturer on time because it did not have enough pilots to fly these aircraft,” said a pilot with the airline on condition of anonymity.
The national carrier finds itself in a situation where deliveries are underway for its Rs 35,000-crore order for 69 aircraft (eight B777-200LRs, 16 777–300ERs, 27 787 Dreamliners and 18 B737-800s). Air-India has only 22 commanders to fly the B777 family of aircraft.
Air-India refused to confirm the number. “The entire delivery schedule for the 777LRs has been awkwardly planned by Air-India. There is an acute shortage of pilots as well as engineers trained for the aircraft,” sources close to the developments said, adding: “The airline is now into a major training spree both for its pilots as well as its engineers. But it is impacting the operational schedules of the airline.”
22/12/03, Manisha Singhal/Business Standard

Read More

Overseas Borrowings-Aviation cos top list of overseas borrowers

New Delhi: Aviation companies have resorted to the highest amount of External Commercial Borrowings (ECBs) to fund their expansion plans during the first seven months of the current financial year (April-October 2007), followed by steel companies.
Six sectors, namely, aviation, steel, telecom, automobiles, pharmaceuticals and shipping, have taken $10,377-million ECBs during the first seven months out of a total of $19,209 million, accounting for more than 54 per cent of total ECBs during this period.
According to the data compiled by the Reserve Bank of India, airline companies have made ECBs amounting to $3,637.40 million.
The largest carrier Jet Airways has borrowed $1,856 million, mainly to acquire aircraft. The new entity created through the merger of Air India and Indian Airlines — National Aviation Company Ltd — has taken $1,020 million in October this year. Earlier Indian Airlines and Air India Charters had borrowed $518 million and $429 million, respectively.
23/12/07 Business Line

Read More

Air China to connect Kolkata, Beijing

New Delhi: Buoyed by the success of its 2008 Olympic packages for Indians, Air China plans to start new services from Kolkata and Mumbai to Beijing from next year, which will help it handle the growing air traffic.
To questions on the Chinese carrier's expansion plans in the country, Zhao Quanzhen, the airline's Country Manager in India, said "we may start operations to Mumbai and Kolkata any time, but definitely next year."
Air China wants to use its unutilised bilateral air traffic rights, which enables it to operate in five Indian cities and mount 21 flights. At present, the airline operates only four times a week between Delhi and Beijing.
"Not even one-third of our traffic rights are being utilised now," he said, adding that the first priority would be to launch daily services to and from the National Capital.
Asked about the delay in launching services to other major metros, Zhao said a major factor was shortage of pilots, a problem plaguing the Indian aviation sector also.
21/12/07 PTI/Times of India

Read More

Boeing signs MoU with HAL

New Delhi: Aviation giant Boeing on Thursday signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited that will bring aerospace manufacturing work worth a billion dollars to the Indian company.
Under the agreement, the HAL will also be able to share Boeing's manufacturing tools. The agreement, signed by HAL chairman Ashok Baweja and CEO of Boeing Integrated Defense Systems Jim Albaugh, will enable the two aerospace companies to expand their base in the world market.
Boeing will now look to transfer work to India and support HAL in setting up manufacturing facilities and handle hardware. As per the agreement, the Boeing will target to bring work worth USD10 to USD20 million annually. The officials said that Boeing will seek to transfer its Lean principles and Supplier and Programme Management under the US government rules.
HAL is India's flagship aeronautical company which has 18 units where the Indian Force planes are assembled, overhauled and maintained. It is also developing advanced fighters, trainers, helicopters and other avionics. The Boeing will soon start setting up the facilities at HAL for using it as an outsourcing hub.
21/12/07 Newindpress

Read More

Mid-air collision averted

Just two days after the Directorate-General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) issued a directive to the Airports Authority of India (AAI) to earmark one runway for landing and the another for take off, a collision between two aircrafts -- IndiGo flight to Goa and Qatar Airways flight to Doha was averted at the Indira Gandhi International Airport at Delhi.
Both the aircrafts reportedly took off simultaneously in the same direction at the IGI Airport on Wednesday (Dec 19). The incident occurred at 5.30 pm when an IndiGo flight to Goa and a Qatar Airways flight to Doha took off from the two runways of the airport within 30 seconds of each other. However, after the Air Traffic Control (ATC) alerted the aircraft, the IndiGo plane turned left, leaving the Qatar aircraft free to fly straight, thereby averting a major collision.
20/12/07 Times Now.tv

Read More

SriLankan receives EU certification to train aircraft maintenance personnel

SriLankan Airlines is now one of the few companies in Asia to receive the globally recognized EASA 147 certification from the European Aviation Safety Agency, to provide training in aircraft maintenance to foreign and local students. Read On >>

Read More

Vietnam's first private airline to take off end 2008

Hanoi: VietJetAir, the first private airline in communist Vietnam, expects to launch commercial flights by the end of 2008 or early 2009, the company's general director, Nguyen Duc Tam, said Thursday.
'We will first open Hanoi-Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi-Danang routes,' he said while presenting the aviation license the company received from Prime minister Nguyen Tan Dung.
VietJetAir will be the first 100 percent private company operating in the aviation sector in Vietnam with capital of 600 billion dong, or about 37.5 million US dollars.
VietJetAir will focus on short-haul flights and plans to eventually include all 61 domestic airports on its route, said Robert Hughes, VietJetAir's managing director.
But the carrier would also focus on ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) countries, Japan, India and South Korea, Hughes told reporters.
20/12/07 Thomson Financial delivered by Newstex/CNNMoney.com

Read More

India, Hong Kong sign aviation pact

New Delhi: India and Hong Kong have signed an agreement on air services traffic rights that allows each side to operate 27 new flights. The agreement, which ended a long-standing dispute over the issue, was signed after two days of talks here on 17-18 December, a civil aviation ministry official said here today.
The agreement permits Indian airlines to operate 27 services to Hong Kong from any point of India. On the other hand, the Hong Kong carriers can operate 10 services to Delhi, six services to Mumbai and 11 services altogether to Bangalore, Chennai and Kolkata. Chennai was added as a new point of call for Hong Kong during the talks.
Both the parties also reached an agreement on the exercise of fifth freedom beyond traffic rights. Of the 27 services, the Indian carriers will be able to operate 14 services to West Coast North America, including Los Angeles, San Francisco and Vancouver.
Reciprocally, the Hong Kong carrier can exercise beyond fifth freedom rights through India on 14 services to Europe, excluding Britain.
19/12/07 The Statesman

Read More

Indian pilot student escapes with injuries as plane crashes in Philippines

Zaragoza, Philippines: An Indian flight student and a Filipino pilot were injured after the small private plane they were using made an emergency landing in Nueva Ecija on Thursday morning, local authorities said. Read On >>

Read More

Jet set to go SF-India by Feb ’08

San Francisco: After its spectacular success on the India-US/Canada East Coast sector, Jet Airways is all set to launch its West Coast flights. The modalities are being worked out and Jet Airways is expected to commence flights by mid to late Feb 2008.
Jet Airways' 53 destinations include most of the big cities in India and nine cities outside India. International destinations include Kathmandu, Colombo, Singapore, Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur, Heathrow, Brussels, Newark, New York and Toronto, Canada. Jet Airways was the first private airline in India to fly to international destinations.
The US State Department gave the go ahead November, 2006.Currently Jet operates flights from the East Coast .Flights between Newark and Delhi began Aug 05 followed by Toronto – Chennai Sept 05 and JFK - Mumbai on Oct 28. These are daily flights and go via Brussels.
18/12/07 IndiaPost.com, US

Read More

Older retirement age unlikely to ease worldwide pilot shortage

After years of debate about the merits of older pilots flying commercial passenger planes, a controversial rule that kept pilots over age 60 out of the cockpits of U.S. jetliners was overturned last week. Read On >>

Read More

Chaos at Bahrain airport as scores bumped off flights

Scores of passengers have been bumped off Gulf Air flights out of Bahrain over the last few days, leading to widespread disruption and accusations that the airline has been excessively overbooking during the busy holiday season.
The disruption began at the end of last week and continued on Sunday with passengers heading for the Indian subcontinent, UK and Europe facing continued delays, Bahrain’s Gulf Daily News reported on Monday.
The newspaper said Gulf Air was shuffling passengers on to alternative flights, laying on extra flights to some high-traffic destinations and even bringing in bigger aircraft in an effort to limit the problem.
However, the airline admitted it would be a few days before the situation was back to normal.
Al Fanar Travel general manager Suhaib Kidwai blamed Gulf Air for the chaos, claiming the airline had allowed excessive booking without checking to see how many people would actually be flying.
However, the airline has dismissed accusations, claiming that passengers being bumped off flights was not unusual.
"A glitch in the immigration computer systems at the King Fahad Causeway on Saturday had contributed significantly to the problem", Adnan Malek, Gulf Air’s acting head of corporate communications said, quoted Gulf Daily News.
17/12/07 James Bennett/ArabianBusiness.com, United Arab Emirates

Read More

AI's Star Alliance induction may take over a year

Beijing: The integration of Air India into the grand Star Alliance can take 12-18 months and would also involve route rationalisation among member carriers and sharing of facilities, top airline executives have said.
Sharing of business and first class lounges, common mileage points and seamless transit for multiple airline passengers will be among the benefits for alliance passengers following the integration, the executives added.
Senior officials of the alliance explained that the most important factor which tilted the balance in Air India's favour, vis-à-vis its domestic competitor Jet Airways, was the government's decision to merge it with Indian Airlines.
They said since the process involves a host of issues, it could take anywhere between 12 and 18 months for integration. They said it took a similar effort to induct China Air and Air Shanghai - the 18th and 19th members.
18/12/07 IANS/Economic Times

Read More

Thai Airways to start five flights a week to Hyderabad

New Delhi: Packed flights and a fast growing market have prompted Thai Airways into augment its operations from Hyderabad from the current three flights a week to five flights a week, starting January 16, 2008. The airline is also looking at increasing its frequency to Chennai from four flights a week to making it a daily service by April, 2008.
Ravinder Talwar, Area Sales Manager - India, Thai Airways, said, "We commenced operations from Hyderabad in October, 2006. It is a fast growing market with a lot of IT potential and our load factors in the city are quite high. Considering the increase in the corporate traffic, we decided it was imperative to increase our frequency from three to five flights per week from Hyderabad. We plan to make it a daily service at a later stage."
In terms of marketing the new schedule of flights from Hyderabad, the airline plans to carry out promotional campaigns in both, the print and electronic media
18/12/07 Kanika Mehta/TravelBizMonitor

Read More

AI to engage global IT cos for better asset utilisation

New Delhi: Global IT majors can look forward to working with Air India on a programme that would help the airline not only make better use of its aircraft, but also rationalise the domestic and international operations.
The airline plans to soon invite proposals from global IT firms that would help the airline achieve both objectives.
“Air India could be the first domestic airline to use the system which is used by several airlines abroad.
“The savings both in financial and improvement to the asset life would be substantial although these cannot be quantified just yet. The idea is to start with a clean sheet from the 2008 winter schedule,” an airline official said.
At the moment, Air India has curtailed and reduced its operations as it faces a shortage of aircraft.
Among the measures taken include curtailing the frequency of the flights to some South-East Asian destinations such as Seoul, apart from delinking Delhi from some of the services operated to Europe and Canada.
18/12/07 Ashwini Phadnis/Business Line

Read More

Tiger to expand in India, orders 20 aircraft from Airbus

Tiger Airways Pte, the budget carrier partly owned by Singapore Airlines Ltd., ordered 20 single-aisle planes from Airbus SAS as it sets up a base in South Korea, and expands in Australia, Malaysia and India.
Tiger Air is converting options for A320 planes, valued at $1.3 billion, that were part of an order pledged in June, Chief Executive Officer Tony Davis told reporters in Singapore today. Tiger Air expects to finish delivery of the new planes by 2016. The airline will have a fleet of 70 planes by then, he said.
The deal will boost Tiger Air's total orders to 66, helping the airline counter growing competition in the region. AirAsia Bhd., Southeast Asia's biggest discount carrier, and Indonesia's PT Lion Mentari, both have more than 100 planes on order as economic growth and liberalization boost demand for air travel.
Davis, 42, who set up British Midland Airways Ltd.'s low- cost unit, wants to build a fleet of 70 aircraft to support a network, covering India, Australia and South Korea. Tiger Air operates 12 A320s and flies to more than 25 destinations.
The airline added the Indian cities of Chennai and Kochi to its network in October and began domestic flights in Australia a month later.
The airline also won approval to start flights between Singapore and Kuala Lumpur in February 2008.
18/12/07 Chan Sue Ling/Bloomberg

Read More

New US law may worsen Indian pilot shortage

Mumbai: A new US federal law passed mid-December may make it difficult for airline companies in India to recruit retired expatriate pilots to meet growing shortages. Read On >>

Read More

Bush Signs Pilot Retirement Age Act

President Bush signed the Fair Treatment for Experienced Pilots Act (H.R.4343) into law on Friday, thus raising the retirement age for commercial pilots from 60 to 65. Read On >>

Read More

JetLite gets clearance for Amritsar-Bangkok operations

New Delhi: The Government has given permission to JetLite Airline to start regular operations between Amritsar and Bangkok. While confirming this development, official sources told Business Line that the airline plans to offer a low-cost alternative for passengers wanting to fly between the two cities.
The launch of this flight will be the airline’s first international operation after Air Sahara was taken over by Jet Airways earlier this year and renamed JetLite.
While company officials were tightlipped on when the operations would begin, sources said that JetLite has been asked to start during the winter schedule 2007-08. Globally, the winter schedule of airlines runs for about five months beginning from October end and finishing at the end of March the following year. The start of operations would see JetLite’s international network increase as the airline currently operates flights to Kathmandu and Colombo. The airline has also applied to the Government to operate flights to Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, Muscat, Bahrain and Kuwait, the airline’s Chief Executive, Mr Garry Kingshott, had told presspersons in October.
16/12/07 Ashwini Phadnis/Business Line

Read More

Punjabis home in on Rome

Amritsar: After the USA, UK, Canada and Singapore, now Italy will be linked to Punjab, as a direct chartered flight by GIR Airlines (owned by Sukhwinder Singh, born in Kapurthala, Punjab, now based at United Kingdom), which would fly weekly, today landed with 163 passengers from Rome at the local Rajasansi International Airport here.
The flight, said the organisers, would cater to NRI population of Italy and Spain for their pilgrimage to the city of Golden Temple. There was a great demand for a direct flight to Italy, where there is a recognisable population of Punjabis, who come to Punjab via Delhi— the route which was time consuming and expensive.
The fare in this flight, which has no business class, would be Rs 31,000 and it would take about seven hours to reach Rome. The flight, which can carry over 200 passengers, also has a provision for cargo loading. Sukhwinder Singh, an NRI from UK who arranged the chartered flight, said it would take off next Sunday and 55 seats have already been booked. “We are seeing a great rush and if there is a good response, we may increase flight’s frequency,” he added.
16/12/07 Dharmendra Rataul/Chandigarh Newsline

Read More

Indian pilots resent better pay to expats

New Delhi: Sparks are flying between Indian and expat pilots who are increasingly being hired by airlines here to meet the flier shortage. Read On >>

Read More

Russian plane carrying eqipment for ISRO reaches Chennai

Chennai: A Russian plane carrying some equipment for the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) reached here on Sunday morning.
Airport sources said the plane landed around 06. 30 am at the city airport, following which the area was cordoned off by security personnel. The equipment would be transported by road to Sriharikota, sources said.
The details about the equipment were not immediately known.
16/12/07 Newindpress

Read More

Qatar Airways’ new fare structure ‘irks’ travellers

A three-tier fare structure recently introduced by Qatar Airways seems to have taken air travel by the national carrier beyond the reach of hundreds of passengers.
While the airline says the new fare structure is meant to avoid “blocking seats for low fares” many passengers say it makes travel (by the national carrier) exorbitantly costlier, especially if one makes last-minute booking.
Several passengers have complained to Gulf Times against Qatar Airways’ new fare structure. A passenger said when he approached the airline for an economy class seat on Qatar Airways to Thiruvananthapuram on December 17 he was given a quotation for QR5,030 (return fare included).
He said: “This is somewhat the fare Qatar Airways charged its passengers to Washington DC in October. What’s the logic in levying the same fare for travel to a destination which is one-fourth the distance of Washington DC?”
The passenger also said he was offered a return fare of QR2,970 to Thiruvananthapuram provided he bought the ticket by December 20 and travelled in July 2008.
Passengers complain that air fares to Indian destinations are almost two times costlier than other destinations operated by the airline. They point out some of the Gulf-based budget carriers operate flights to Indian cities at charges as low as QR1,000 (return) provided the seat is booked in advance.
16/12/07 Gulf Times, Qatar

Read More

India's Jet Airways starts operations in Bangladesh today

India's private airline Jet Airways enters Bangladesh sky today to operate flights on Dhaka-Kolkata and Dhaka-Delhi routes, a move industry experts believe will intensify competition in the market.
Jet Airways will be the second Indian airline after Air India operating in Bangladesh. Bangladesh's national flag carrier Biman Bangladesh Airlines Ltd and private GMG Airlines are also operating flights to India.
At least four international carriers-- Air Arabia, RAK Airways, Air Slovakia and Air Asia X-- and two local airlines -- United Airways and Anmole Albab Airlines -- launched operations in Bangladesh during the past 12 months.
Jet Airways said the airline will operate daily direct flight from Dhaka to Kolkata and four flights a week from Dhaka to Delhi, with effect from today. It will operate Boeing 737-800 aircraft.
The airline will charge US$ 420 for two-way Dhaka-Delhi (economy class) ticket and US$ 113 for two-way Dhaka-Kolkata (economy class) ticket.
16/12/07 The Daily Star, Bangladesh

Read More

Lufthansa-JetBlue Deal May Be Start Of A Trend

Lufthansa's surprise swoop for a 19 percent stake in discount US carrier JetBlue Airways could be the start of a large-scale ownership grab in the global airline industry.
Lufthansa's move comes as its Star Alliance -- one of the three major global airline partnerships -- expands aggressively. Star Alliance, which vies with oneworld and SkyTeam, allows airlines to widen their reach through connections with partner airlines.
State-run national carrier Air India said on Thursday it would join Star Alliance, which also includes United Airlines. Earlier this week, Air China and Shanghai Airlines formally joined Star Alliance, as it adds partners in key Asian markets.
To counter the expansion by Lufthansa and Star Alliance, Air France, which is already bidding for its SkyTeam partner Alitalia, might be interested in securing its partnership with Delta, even as the third-largest US airline mulls its merger options.
Likewise, British Airways and American Airlines could be forced into the fray.
"If I'm SkyTeam, I might be concerned about someone else making a play for Delta," said Bill Swelbar, a research engineer at MIT's International Center for Air Transportation.
"As SkyTeam and Star get stronger and stronger, can American and BA afford to sit idly by and watch the world change?" he asked. "Maybe we are looking at transformational deals here."
16/12/07 Airwise

Read More

Jet Airways starts Doha flights on January 5

India's Jet Airways has confirmed that it would roll out its Doha operations on January 5, with 14 flights a week.
Shakir Kantawala, the airline’s sales and marketing regional manager for the Gulf, Middle East and North Africa, told Gulf Times from Dubai yesterday that there would be daily services from Doha to Mumbai and Kozhikode in Kerala.
“Both the services would be non-stop, exclusively for Doha passengers,” he said in an interview by telephone.
Fourteen-year-old Jet Airways will be India’s first private airline to start services to the Gulf. It will also launch direct daily flights to Kuwait and Bahrain on January 5.
Kantawala said that the airline would initially launch two daily direct flights on the Kochi-Kuwait-Kochi and Kochi-Bahrain-Kochi sectors.
The airline will also operate daily direct flights on the Mumbai-Bahrain-Mumbai and Delhi-Kuwait-Delhi sectors.
16/12/07 Arvind Nair/Gulf Times, Qatar

Read More

Safe landing for man on ventilator

A critically ill Indian was safely flown home from Bahrain to Kerala by Indian Airlines, which equipped its aircraft with additional oxygen cylinders.
Keekan Sheik Mohammed Isak, 60, of Kasargode, Kerala, suffered a stroke and was at the Salmaniya Medical Complex (SMC) for a few weeks before he was flown to the Malabar Institute of Medical Sciences (MIMS) in Calicut.
"Mr Isak required four litres of oxygen per minute," Indian Airlines country manager for Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, Niranjan Kumar told the GDN. "Our aircraft is fitted with seven oxygen cylinders, and we required an additional seven cylinders.
" Airline's general manager for engineering Anil Mathew in New Delhi managed to get seven more cylinders and sent them to Bahrain by our aircraft via Calicut," he revealed.
"Such a move was necessary to save the patient's life in case the flight is forced to fly extra hours or diverted due to bad weather or some other reasons."
"Nine seats were removed to accommodate him comfortably," he added. "A paramedic staff from SMC also accompanied him to Calicut.
15/12/07 Soman Baby/Gulf Daily News, Bahrain

Read More

Abacus, Deccan tie up for GDS link to 15k agents

New Delhi: Abacus International, recently announced the first GDS partnership to take place in India's low cost carrier (LCC) market with the launch of its distribution of fares for Deccan, India's largest and fastest growing LCC. Effective from December 13, 2007 passengers will be able to book their travel on Deccan through Abacusconnected travel agents.
Kenneth Low, vice president , South Asia, Abacus International said Abacus was excited to be the first GDS (global distribution system) to move into the thriving low-cost carrier market in India.
Last year an Abacus survey of more than 1,500 travel agents across Asia identified the growing LCC market in Asia as travel agents' second largest concern for the future because of the potential of the LCCs to bypass travel agents.
16/12/07 Debasish Roy/Economic times

Read More

Flight schedule goes for a toss, thousands hit

A painful annual ritual at the Indira Gandhi International Airport is back despite promises that it would be kept away.
On Friday, dense fog disrupted flight schedules for more than eight hours and caused inconvenience to thousands of passengers, like it does this time of every year.
About 250 flights, international and domestic, were delayed between 30 minutes and six hours. Thirty-one flights were cancelled and seven were diverted to other airports as visibility dropped below 50 metres in the early hours. Visibility improved only around 11 am.
Passengers were stranded for hours either at the congested terminals or in the aircraft.
And all this happened despite airlines declaring that the number of pilots trained to fly in dense fog has gone up to 600 from 200.
For the past three years, the Civil Aviation Ministry and the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) have been warning airlines of strict action if they did not train their pilots and make their aircraft compliant to fly in CAT III-B conditions — when visibility is between 200 and 50 metres — using the Instrument Landing System.
The authorities have given airlines all possible warnings — from threats to cancel their winter slots to barring them from operating in Delhi during the fog season. But nobody seems to be listening, and this showed on Friday.
15/12/07 Sidhartha Roy/Hindustan Times

Read More

Jet Airways’ Gulf entry will trigger price war

Muscat: India’s top private airline, Jet Airways, is all set to start Gulf operations, sparking hopes that increased competition could slash prices significantly.
Jet Airways, according to New Delhi sources yesterday, has already launched a massive recruitment-drive in the Gulf, including Oman.
“The airline received permission to operate services to Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait and Oman from the Indian Civil Aviation authorities in September this year. Jet Airways is expected to commence Muscat operations soon,” a senior Indian official told one of the members of an Omani trade delegation, which is currently visiting India. India’s biggest domestic carrier’s entry, according to travel industry gurus in Dubai, will trigger a price war, especially in the Indian sector.
Jet Airways, sources said, will fly from New Delhi, Mumbai and Kerala. It will commence operations to Bahrain and Kuwait on January 5. Jet Airways will initially launch two daily direct flights on the Kochi-Kuwait-Kochi and Kochi-Bahrain-Kochi sectors.
The airline will also operate daily direct flights on the Mumbai-Bahrain-Mumbai and Delhi-Kuwait-Delhi sectors.
A senior official of the airline, sources said, was in Muscat early this month to recruit competent personnel for its Muscat operations, including a country manager.
15/12/07 Palazhi Ashok Kumar/Times of Oman, Oman

Read More

AF-KLM abandons Indian freighters

Air France-KLM Cargo will pull its freighters from India when the summer timetable goes into effect at the end of March 2008. Michael Wisbrun, cargo director at Air France-KLM, told Frankfurt's Aircargo Club that the airline was not generating any income in the market.
The carrier has struggled to fill bellyhold capacity on some routes to and from India.
Wisbrun said that prices have been pushed down by international competition, as well as by the rapid growth of Indian airlines.
14/12/07 Air Cargo News.net, UK

Read More

Plane lands safely after hit by bird

One hundred and fifty Air-India Express passengers had a narrow escape after their aircraft was hit by a bird as it came in for landing at the Bahrain International Airport.
Sources said 90 passengers were bound for Bahrain and the rest for Doha. They said the Boeing 737-800 aircraft, with a capacity of 180 passengers, was coming from Mumbai and was to go to Mangalore, India via Doha.
Air-India manager for Bahrain and Jordan D Debesh confirmed the incident and said that the Doha-bound passengers were accommodated in local hotels.
"The pilot reported something amiss as soon as the plane landed so a thorough engine check was ordered," he told the GDN.
"Engineers discovered the remains of what appeared to be a bird in one of the engines."
He said the presence of mind of the captain who landed safely in spite of the bird hit, had to be appreciated.
15/12/07 Mandeep singh/Gulf Daily News, Bahrain

Read More

“The door of a plane came off once while he was learning to fly”

Mumbai: Mumbai boy Cleon Alvares, 25, is lying somewhere in the alligator-and-snake-infested swamps of Everglades in Florida, 8,800 miles away from home. Read On >>

Read More

ANA to Test 787 On Business Nonstops To India

All Nippon Airlines, using a 36-seat Boeing 737-700 for the nonstop all-business service to Mumbai from Narita it launched last September, will consider upgrading the aircraft to a Boeing 787 when it takes delivery of the aircraft next year.
"This is a trial route for us. If it continues to do well, we use the Boeing 787 on it," ANA CEO Mineo Yamamoto told The DAILY on the sidelines of the Star Alliance Chief Executives Board meeting.
The flight currently operates six days a week on the 9,000-km, nine-hour route. ANA is believed to be the first carrier in Asia to offer business-class-only flights following the recent trend set by Silverjet and Eos.
Yamamoto added that since ANA was not permitted to fly daily to Delhi, ANA was not considering the sector.
Not overtly worried about the six-month delay of the Boeing 787, "unlike the one-and-a-half-year delay in Airbus," he added the carrier was calculating the effect on business and would go ahead with final negotiations with Airbus.
14/12/07 Neelam Mathews/Aviation Daily/Aviation Week, US

Read More

A murky ending to the Air India whodunit

Ottawa: Jacques Shore has heard more than 200 witnesses and spent more than 14 months poring over evidence about the bombing of Air India Flight 182, which exploded off the coast of Ireland 22 years ago.
But Mr. Shore, a lawyer who represents the families of people killed in the attack, says he is haunted by questions that remain unanswered.
None of the testimony at the commission headed by former Supreme Court justice John Major - which wrapped up yesterday afternoon - offered real clues about the identities of those responsible for the act that claimed 329 lives.
"I think the families had hopes in their heart of hearts, really, that some of those mystery individuals who were implicated in this most heinous crime would have come forward," Mr. Shore said in an interview outside the hearing room.
Uncovering the identities of the terrorists who placed the bomb on the plane - and who planted the related device that exploded in the Narita Airport in Japan, killing two baggage handlers - was not part of the mandate handed to Mr. Major.
Instead, his task was to examine, among other things, whether the Canadian government and its officials could have prevented the attack; whether there were deficiencies in the co-operation between the government, CSIS and the RCMP; and whether there are ways to better investigate and prosecute terrorist cases. Mr. Shore and the families held out hope that the evidence would shed some light on the culprits.
To this day, the only person ever convicted was Inderjit Singh Reyat, who pleaded guilty four years ago to manslaughter and was handed a five-year sentence. Two other men, Ripudaman Singh Malik and Ajaib Singh Bagri, were found not guilty and released at the end of the costliest trial in Canadian history.
14/12/07 Gloria Galloway/Globe and Mail, Canada

Read More

Air India finally gets a seat on Star Alliance

New Delhi: The international airline grouping Star Alliance have formally invited Air India (AI) to join the 19-member alliance. With this the country’s national carrier is all set to acquire a global footprint. The decision was taken at its annual board meeting in Beijing on Thursday.
As first reported by The Indian Express, Star Alliance had been in talks with Air India and Jet Airways but finally AI was considered a ‘strong contender’ for Star Alliance membership as it has a bigger fleet and reach. With this, AI passengers will be able to enjoy seamless transfers across member airlines along 897 destinations. Lounge facilities at various airports, mileage additions and freebies for frequent flyers and several other benefits will prove a strong magnet to pull passengers towards the airline. It will also be in a position to offer more attractive fares vis-à-vis the Indian counterparts. Also, AI will soon decide on a European hub which will be either Munich or Vienna.
14/12/07 Indian Express

Read More

Air India hopes Star Alliance badge will push up revenues

New Delhi/Mumbai: State-owned Air India has joined the largest operating grouping of global carriers, Star Alliance, and expects international revenues to expand 3-4%—up to Rs400 crore—after a complete integration of its operations with the alliance’s member airlines. It also hopes to extend reach to some 800 destinations, up from the 50 cities it touches today.
Air India, owned by the National Aviation Co. of India Ltd, left Jet Airways (India) Ltd behind in the race to join an alliance, whose member airlines carry over 455 million passengers annually or nearly a fourth of global airline traffic. That leaves Jet Airways—and Kingfisher Airlines Ltd, an ambitious Indian airline that expects to fly overseas next year—the other two major Indian carriers to select from One World and SkyTeam, the other two major airline alliances. “For us it is a big sweep. We expect an incremental 3-4% increase in annual revenue on the international sector,” said Jitender Bhargava, Air India’s spokesman.
An analyst said Air India’s brand and service quality would get a boost. “They get projected on the same platform as Lufthansa, and Singapore Airlines. In the short-term, we will see a visible change in service quality as they adopt pre-set standards,” said Mark Martin, aviation analyst with KPMG’s India offices.
Air India passengers will be able to redeem passenger miles on any of the other 19 member carriers, including Lufthansa AG, Singapore Airlines Ltd, US Airways Group Inc., Air Canada and South African Airways.
14/12/07 Tarun Shukla and P.R. Sanjai/Livemint

Read More

Jet plans to move US administrative base to San Francisco

Mumbai: Private carrier Jet Airways (India) Ltd is planning to shift its US administrative office from New York to San Francisco even as it plans to start services to San Francisco via Shanghai from Mumbai in the next three months and rival Kingfisher Airlines Ltd begins groundwork to start non-stop operations to San Francisco by mid-2008.
Jet Airways currently operates daily flights to New York from Mumbai and Delhi via Brussels.
The overseas administrative offices of an airline co-ordinates various functions such as marketing, sales and accounting.
“Our New York office would remain there. But some of the key administrative and account staff will shift to a new San Francisco office, which will be finalized in two months,” said a senior Jet Airways executive, who did not want to be identified.
The idea is to have a better administrative control as the airline plans to launch its Mumbai-San Francisco flight, added the executive.
14/12/07 P.R. Sanjai/Livemint

Read More

Former Jet airhostess, 4 others get bail

Mumbai: A metropolitan magistrate today granted bail to five persons—including former Jet Airways airhostess Aliah Rizvi—accused in the immigration racket recently busted by the Crime Branch. In the bail order, the magistrate observed that “there is no reasonable ground to believe that the accused are guilty of the offence” as the charge under forgery cannot be attracted in their case.
Others granted bail by additional chief metropolitan magistrate N V Nhavkar include: Altaf Hassan Shaikh, Rajesh Kumar Trivedi, Yusuf Baig and Rajesh Ghemlawala. All five were released on a bail bond of Rs 25,000.
They were arrested by the Crime Branch on November 26. According to the police, Shaikh, Baig and Ghemlawala demanded Rs 20 lakh from Trivedi, an Ahmedabad-based businessman, for fraudulently obtaining a visa to the US in his name. The Crime Branch said Rizvi posed as Trivedi’s wife in the visa application, for which the trio promised her Rs 1.8 lakh.
13/12/07 Mumbai Newsline

Read More

Gulf prince’s gifts fail to take off from Mumbai

Mumbai: A bag containing gifts meant for a prince of the UAE and valued at Rs80 lakh went missing from Etihad flight EY 205 from Mumbai to Abu Dhabi on December 3.
The passenger, who has only been identified as al-Amir, checked in with nine bags for the flight which left at 11pm, said a source at the airport, who asked not to be identified. On reaching Abu Dhabi, the passenger, said to be a family friend of the prince, realised that one bag was missing. That was the very bag containing the valuables.
Amir lodged a complaint with the airline, which is trying to investigate the matter on its own and has not yet filed a police complaint.
An official said there are two possibilities where the bag might have been stolen - on the tarmac after the check-in baggage is put on the conveyor belt and taken to the aircraft’s hold for loading, or after the luggage was unloaded at Abu Dhabi.
Airline employees in Mumbai pored over the video recordings of closed-circuit cameras near the baggage screening area but failed to find anything. According to an airline official, who refused to come on record, in one section of the screening area, there was only one functional camera, with the other having been removed for repair. And the functional camera does not record.
14/12/07 Naveeta Singh/Daily News & Analysis

Read More

BOC Aviation Aims to Buy More Planes From Airlines

BOC Aviation, Bank of China Ltd.'s aircraft-leasing unit, aims to buy up to $2 billion worth of planes that airlines have ordered and are unable to finance with bank loans because of the global credit squeeze.
Asia's biggest lessor plans to more than double aircraft purchases from airlines next year from the $700 million it bought in 2007, said Chief Executive Officer Robert Martin. The Singapore-based company received a $1 billion credit facility, its largest loan, from Bank of China this month at a rate lower than it would get from other banks, he said.
A surge in borrowing costs that prompted the Federal Reserve and four other central banks to add cash to the financial system has squeezed airlines. Record fuel prices and a possible slowdown in the U.S. has made sale-and-leaseback arrangements more attractive to carriers to finance new planes.
Airlines such as Tiger Airways Pte, a budget carrier part- owned by Singapore Airlines Ltd., and Easyjet Plc, Europe's second-biggest discount airline, have funded aircraft acquisitions by selling the planes and then leasing them back. Jet Airways (India) Ltd. said it made a profit from the sale and leaseback of four Boeing Co. 737 aircraft in September.
14/12/07 Chan Sue Ling and Denise Kee/Bloomberg

Read More

Jet Airways Introduces Flying Suite Delhi-London & Delhi-Singapore

Mumbai: With demand for the airline’s services in these sectors soaring, Jet Airways will upgrade its Delhi-London-Delhi flight to a state-of-the-art B777-300 ER, effective December 06, 2007. As a result, Jet Airways’ passengers flying on this sector can now experience firsthand the airline’s signature First Class product, the world’s first ‘flying suite’ providing over 26sq ft of usable space with dual sliding doors that create complete privacy for every passenger.
In London, Jet Airways’ First and Premiere Class passengers can also use the luxurious limousine services up to 50 driven miles from or to London Heathrow Airport Terminal III.
Jet Airways will also upgrade its popular Delhi-Singapore-Delhi flight to a larger, more luxurious A330-200 aircraft, effective December 10, 2007.
With the introduction of its A330-200 aircraft, Jet Airways’ passengers on this sector can now enjoy the airline’s revolutionary Premiere Class. Featuring a new cabin design, it offers every Première passenger a virtual living room, a space to work, rest or play.
Jet Airways will be the First Airline in India to offer its Premiere Class passengers a bed length of 73” and a seat that electronically converts to an enormous 180 degree flat bed, passengers will rest in unequalled comfort. Economy Class passengers can relax in the most ergonomically designed seats.
14/12/07 Newswire Today (press release), UK

Read More

Qatar Airways arrives in Ahmedabad

Qatar Airways today inaugurated daily scheduled flights to the western Indian city of Ahmedabad rounding off yet another year of remarkable expansion for the award-winning airline.
Qatar Airways today inaugurated daily scheduled flights to the western Indian city of Ahmedabad rounding off yet another year of remarkable expansion for the award-winning airline.
Flight QR 282 from Doha arrived at Ahmedabad's Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport from Doha in the early hours of this morning with a delegation of senior airline officials and international media onboard.
Doha-based Qatar Airways serves Ahmedabad with daily flights, non-stop from Doha using an Airbus A320 in a two-class configuration of 12 seats in Business Class and 132 seats in Economy.
The airline offers an excellent choice of connections for passengers from India to destinations across Europe, Middle East, Africa, North America and, even the Far East with a modern fleet of 59 aircraft.
Highlights of Qatar Airways' route expansion during 2007 included the launch of flights to New York, Washington, Dar es Salaam, Bali, Ho Chi Minh City, Chennai, Geneva and Stockholm.
13/12/07 AME Info

Read More

US Senate Passes Age 65 Legislation

One day after the House of Representatives unanimously approved a measure increasing the mandatory retirement age for US commercial pilots to 65, the Senate voted its approval for the legislation as well, sending the bill to the president's desk. Read On >>

Read More

Pilot shortage throttling Chinese airlines too

Beijing: A pilot shortage is throttling the dramatic and safe ascent of China's aviation industry, leaving hundreds of new Boeing and Airbus jetliners on order without pilots to fly them. Read On >>

Read More

Air India hearings conclude with racism claims

Ottawa: The federal government is challenging a study, commissioned by families of the Air India bombing victims that suggests systemic racism may have played a role in the way officials dealt with the tragedy.
The report, written by sociologist Sherene Razack, was tabled Thursday just as 15 months of hearings before a public inquiry were about to conclude.
Razack pointed no fingers at individual police officers, intelligence operatives or federal bureaucrats and didn't accuse anyone of intentional and overt racism.
But she maintained there is a "powerful impression'' that racial stereotyping -- even if it was unconscious -- was a factor in both the pre-bombing assessment of terrorist threats and the post-bombing investigation of the attack that took 329 lives.
Barney Brucker, the chief lawyer for the government at the inquiry, raised questions about the reliability of the study as soon as it was presented.
"We have been operating under very relaxed rules of evidence (but) I do have some concerns with respect to this report,'' he told commissioner John Major.
"It is argumentative in the extreme. There's a complete lack of evidence for some of these assertions.''
Many of the victims' families have contended for years that the former Conservative government of Brian Mulroney viewed the 1985 downing of Air India Flight 182 as a feud among South Asians that didn't affect the rest of Canadian society.
Major, a former Supreme Court judge, has alluded to that perception several times during his hearings and raised the point again in an interim report issued this week.
"The question that lingers among the families and other Canadians,'' he wrote, "is if Air India Flight 182 had been an Air Canada flight with all fair-skinned Canadians, would the government response have been different?
"There is no way to answer that. As a country we would hope not.''
Raj Anand, the lawyer who tabled the study Thursday on behalf of the victims' families, said outside the hearing room it's a question that deserves further exploration.
Part of Major's mandate, he noted, is to investigate any deficiencies among Canadian officials in their response to the bombing.
That should include a look at whether "Canadian institutions were operating under blinders as a result of systemic discrimination,'' said Anand, a former head of the Ontario Human Rights Commission.
13/12/07 The Canadian Press/CTV.ca, Canada

Read More

Great Wall Airlines: Beijing refusing to accept compromise

New Delhi: India’s attempt to resolve the row with China over security clearances to Chinese cargo carrier Great Wall Airlines by offering Delhi as a point of call instead of Mumbai and Chennai has fallen through with Beijing refusing to accept the compromise.
More significantly, China has held up clearances for Air India to fly to Guangzhou as agreed between both countries when Chinese President Hu Jintao visited India last November. Also, Jet Airways’ plans to fly to Chicago via Shanghai, too, are blocked as a response to India not letting Great Wall Airlines fly to Mumbai and Chennai.
Security agencies are not keen to allow the airline to fly to these two cities as key nuclear facilities are located near these two places — Kalpakkam near Chennai and the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre in Mumbai — and one of the main stakeholders in the company has “doubtful” credentials in the nuclear sector.
After much deliberation between the Ministries concerned and security agencies largely due to Chinese diplomatic pressure, it was agreed in August to offer Delhi as an alternate point of call and extend overflying rights to the airline. This, however, is not acceptable to China which says the application of the Great Wall Airline is in consonance with the air bilateral agreement between both countries.
At the heart of the matter is the history of the company that has a controlling stake in the Great Wall Airlines, a joint-venture with Singapore. Initially, 51% stake was with state entity China Great Wall Industry Corporation (CGWIC) while the remaining stakes were with Singapore Airlines Cargo (25%) and Dahlia Investments (24%), a subsidiary of Singapore-based Temasek Holdings.
Last year, CGWIC came under US scanner and was blacklisted for alleged transfer of missile technology to Iran. As a result of sanctions, the airline folded up operations for close to six months.
13/12/07 Pranab Dhal Samanta/Indian Express

Read More

Companies raise more than $ 2 billion to buy aircraft

Mumbai: Aviation companies, including the state-owned National Aviation Company of India (NACIL) and private airliner Jet Airways, have raised more than two billion dollars of overseas debt in October to buy aircraft.
The NACIL raised one billion dollars through External Commercial Borrowings (ECBs) to get aircraft on lease and hire-purchase basis, according to a data released by the Reserve Bank today.
The debt raised by NACIL under the approval route will have to be repaid over a period of 13 years and three months.
Another public sector company Air India Charters raised 430 million dollars of overseas debt to buy aircraft.
Jet Airways raised two ECB loans of 477 million dollars and 82 million dollars in October for lease and hire-purchase of aircraft.
12/12/07 PTI/Economic Times

Read More

Three investors line up for equity stake in GoAir

New Delhi: GoAir is believed to be mulling over bringing in a new equity partner from among three aspirants, including a leading Indian corporate and a global venture capitalist - a move that would help the Wadias- promoted airline to expand its fleet to 40 aircraft by 2012.
Ahead of advancing the negotiations, the budget carrier has been valued at up to Rs 1,600 crore (350-400 million dollars) by a leading international consultancy firm.
Asked about the new equity partner and the stage of negotiations, a company spokesperson declined to comment, saying: "As a policy, GoAir does not comment on market speculations."
With the recent round of consolidation in aviation space, such as Jet Airways-Air Sahara and Kingfisher-Deccan deals, GoAir is emerging as an attractive investment target and has received offers from an international venture capital firm, an Indian corporate and another domestic financial investor, people close to the development said.
According to a person familiar with the valuation process, value was arrived after taking into consideration the company's business plans for the next 4-5 years, which includes a major fleet expansion plan.
12/12/07 PTI/Economic Times

Read More

Jet Airways plans direct services from Bahrain to Indian cities

Manama: India's Jet Airways will soon look at operating direct services to almost all of India's large cities, a top official said yesterday.
Jet Airways Gulf, Middle East and North Africa general manager Abraham Joseph said the immediate priority was to launch world-class services from Bahrain when it begins operations on January 5.
"We are starting off with a flight a day to Mumbai and Kochi, from Bahrain, both of which will be non-stop operations," said Mr Joseph.
"The 14 flights every week will operate state-of-the-art Boeing 737-800 aircraft, in the configuration of 124 economy and 16 business class seats."
Mr Joseph said flights to New Delhi, Hyderabad, Chennai and Bangalore from Bahrain would follow soon, depending on clearances from India's Civil Aviation authorities.
Jet Airways,India's largest private airline, had been given the go-ahead to fly to Bahrain on September 14. India's Civil Aviation Ministry has allocated 2,100 seats every week to Jet's Bahrain operations.
Of these, 1,050 seats have been allocated for Kochi while the rest have been allocated to Mumbai.
The airline will operate full-service flights initially, operated by Jet Airways as well as its low cost arm, Jet Lite, to offer an all-economy budget service later.
Jet Lite, formerly Air Sahara, is now a subsidiary of Jet Airways.
12/12/07 Mandeep Singh/Gulf Daily News, Bahrain

Read More

Paralyzed man's supporters promise more protests

Supporters of Laibar Singh weren't saying where the failed refugee claimant was on Tuesday morning, but promised more protests if officials try again to deport him to India.
More than 1,000 people surrounded Singh's taxi at Vancouver airport on Monday, blocking the deportation. The paralyzed man has been fighting deportation since his first refugee claim was denied in 2003.
Harpal Singh Nagra told CBC News Tuesday morning that he does not know where Singh is being cared for on Tuesday, but vowed more massive protests if the government makes another attempt to deport him.
"There will be a huge protest, double the amount of yesterday's protest, if the CBSA is going to do any efforts," said Nagra, adding everything possible within the law would be done to keep Singh in the country.
Nagra posted a $50,000 bond to secure Singh's freedom after he was detained by Canada Border Services Agency officials this summer.
Singh spent time Monday night in at least two temples, Nagra said, but is not claiming sanctuary there.That's because Singh's supporters believe he has been granted an official stay of his deportation order, said Harsha Walia of the immigration and refugee rights group No One Is Illegal.
11/12/07 CBC British Columbia, Canada

Read More

Terror group founder rallying behind paralyzed refugee claimant

A key figure in the campaign to keep a paralyzed refugee claimant in Canada is the founder of the banned terrorist organization International Sikh Youth Federation, who himself won refugee status in 1998.
Harpal Singh Nagra, who has used several aliases, is now the president of the South Asian Human Rights Group, which is fighting to keep Laibar Singh in Canada on humanitarian and compassionate grounds.
Mr. Nagra's link to an organization banned by Ottawa in 2003 has not prevented him from getting meetings with federal and provincial politicians about the plight of Singh.
The deportation to India of Mr. Singh, a failed refugee claimant who suffered an aneurysm after coming to Canada, was halted after a massive demonstration at Vancouver International Airport on Monday.
Mr. Nagra was one of three community representatives who met with Canada Border Services Agency officials at the airport and has put out several news releases about Mr. Singh's case since last summer.
Mr. Nagra's name surfaced at the Air India inquiry in Ottawa just last week.
Bob Solvason, a retired RCMP staff sergeant, testified he investigated Nagra on allegations he brought a Sikh extremist into Canada on someone else's passport 24 days before the June 1985 Air India bombings.
Nagra was convicted but won a new trial on appeal. The second trial hasn't been held.
Pushpinder Singh, who is no relation to the paralyzed man fighting to stay in Canada, also attended a meeting on June 12, 1985, with other International Sikh Youth Federation members, the Air India inquiry heard.
One person at the meeting allegedly criticized him, saying: "You have not killed an ambassador or a consul yet," and Singh reportedly replied: "You will see. In two weeks we'll show the community."
Border service officials did not return phone calls on Wednesday about the status of Laibar Singh's deportation or the involvement of Nagra in the current campaign.
Mr. Nagra did not return phone calls.
12/12/07 Kim Bolan/CanWest News Service/ Vancouver Sun/National Post, Canada

Read More

SpiceJet plans joint venture with UK-based online retailer

Mumbai: The UK-based online retailer UnderFivePound.com is forging a joint venture with the low-cost carrier (LCC) SpiceJet, in which the latter would have a majority stake. SpiceJet has decided to outsource its logistics and retailing operations to UnderFivePound.com and expects to make a foray into merchandising on board by early next year.
“..We would be adhering to the regulations governing retail in the country and would be having a majority stake of 51 per cent, while the balance would be held by our exclusive partner. With this joint venture, we are making a foray into merchandising and would commence operations by next year,” Mr Samyukth Sridharan, Chief Commercial Officer, SpiceJet, told Business Line.
UnderFivePound.Com, through its Web site, sells a range of men’s, women’s and children’s clothing along with other items such as jewellery and houseware gadgets. Known for its ‘amazing’ offers, the Web site, as its name suggests, sells products for less than £5 and is known for its discounts and freebies.
12/12/07 Purvita Chatterjee/Business Line

Read More

India & China Providing Escape Velocity to Global Aerospace Industry

The global aerospace industry is flying high. As per the RNCOS report, the industry will witness concrete growth in future led by increased demand from the prospering Asia-Pacific economies (India and China).
RNCOS, the leading research firm, has recently released its market research report “Global Aerospace Market Analysis” to discuss the growing global aerospace industry. The focus of this report is on the emerging Asia-Pacific market and the global aerospace industry, which is defined as the shipment of aircraft, engines, parts etc.
According to the report, the US continued to be the biggest market for aerospace manufacturing during 2006, experiencing an impressive growth rate of 8%. The growth momentum is likely to continue in 2007 with an anticipated growth of around 6%.The upward movement is mainly led by augmented delivery of commercial aircraft, engines and parts.
On the other hand, as the report predicts, a big proportion of the demand will stem from the Asia- Pacific region. Don Birch, President and CEO of Abacus International, said that shifting airline models including the advent of low cost carriers, the thriving markets of China and India assisted by a stronger Vietnam have led to record investment levels in the airports, aircrafts, in a statement published by Express Travel World on October 14, 2007.
A Senior Research Analyst at RNCOS agrees that growth will be particularly led by the burgeoning low cost economies of China and India that will propel the worldwide aerospace industry.
13/12/07 PRMinds (press release), France

Read More