South Africa Sees 28% Increase In Indian Arrivals

South Africa Tourism has witnessed a growth of 27.9 per cent in Indian arrivals from January to June 2016. According to arrivals statistics of August 2016, India has now emerged as the eighth long-haul tourism source market for South Africa.

Speaking about the development, Hanneli Slabber, Country Manager - India, South African Tourism said, “India has always been a very important market for South African Tourism. 2015 was a spectacular year for South African Tourism and with a steady rise in arrivals in the first half itself, 2016 could well turn out to be one of the best years ever for South African Tourism in India. As of June 2016, 51,020 Indian tourists have visited South Africa between Jan 2016 to June 2016 which is an increase of 27.9 per cent vis-à-vis the same period last year. We are looking at around 100,000 visitors from India to South Africa in 2016. We had 79,000 visitors from India in 2015.”

She further added, “India has emerged as one of the world's fastest-growing outbound tourism market over the years. Keeping this in mind, we are investing heavily in India and constantly adapting to the evolving consumer interests, diversifying our products and customising our offerings to varied consumer demands. We have wonderful expectations from the Indian market and going forward our increasing engagement with trade and consumers would help us in realising this vision.”

As per the recently released TTFDS report, there has been a significant increase of 51 per cent in the Total Foreign Direct Spend in South Africa per person travelling from India excluding capital expenditure (all pre-payments done in India prior to departure). The average spends in SA by Indian travellers increased from 10,400 Rand in 2014 to 15,700 Rand in 2015. According to the recent report on the length of stay for 2015, the average number of nights spent by Indians increased by one night making it an average of 18 nights.
30/12/16  Akshay Kumar/TravelTrendsDaily

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Air India plane terrorist bids to return to Midlands home after being freed from jail

A terrorist bomb-maker is bidding to return to the West Midlands after serving 21 years in a Canadian prison for his part in one of the deadliest airline attacks in history.

Inderjit Singh Reyat was the only person to be convicted over the 1985 Air India atrocity which claimed 331 lives.
Former Jaguar Land Rover worker Reyat was released in January after serving six years of a nine year sentence for perjury.
A Sikh immigrant to Canada, he previously served more than 15 years in prison for making the bombs that were placed into two suitcases and planted on planes leaving Vancouver.

One bomb blew up Air IndiaFlight 182 as it neared the coast or Ireland, killing all 329 people aboard.

The second exploded at Japan’s Narita airport, killing two baggage handlers as they transferred cargo.
The attack took place during an Indian crackdown on Sikhs fighting for an independent homeland.

It was alleged to be in revenge for the storming of the Sikh religion's holiest shrine Golden Temple in Amritsar by Indian troops in June 1984.
Reyat has been ordered to live at a halfway house until August 2018, when his perjury sentence would normally expire, and abide by several conditions set by the parole board, including having no contact with victims’ families or alleged former co-conspirators, and no political activities.

He must also obtain counseling to address violent tendencies, a lack of empathy and “cognitive distortions."
A family friend said Reyat had now formally requested that he be allowed to return to the West Midlands after completing his sentence. He had previously lived in Coventry.

The supporter, who did not want to be named, said: "He has a lot of family and friends in the Midlands and wants to return to live a quiet and unobtrusive life which is impossible now for him in Canada.
29/12/16 Birmingham Mail

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'Mallu Cyber Soldiers' Attack Pak Airport Website, Avenge Hacking Of Thiruvananthapuram Airport Site!

After Pakistani cyber attackers hacked Thiruvananthapuram airport's website yesterday, a group of cyber experts from Kerala - the 'Mallu Cyber Soldiers' - decided to respond in kind: by hacking the website of a Pakistani airport.
But the 'soldiers' weren't content just to hack the site. They invited others to log in and "nail the site," too.
The hackers, who're from all over the state, obtained the login information for the website of the Sialkot International Airport in Pakistan's Punjab province. The changed the password to 'malayalees' and shared the new login details with the public.
And they had some advice for potential 'trollers' - in other words, Internet users who might use the information to post provocative content on the site.
29/12/16 India Times

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Flights from Dubai to India: UAE wants more, India says only if you give our carriers more slots

Dubai-based airlines will not be allowed to increase flights to Indian cities until and unless the United Arab Emirates government allocates commercially and operationally feasible slots to Indian carriers at the Dubai International Airport. These terms and conditions are part of a bilateral seat entitlement agreement, which the two countries will sign soon.
A senior Union Civil Aviation Ministry official told Press Trust of India that the Narendra Modi government has the authority to enforce the clause. Emirates and flydubai are two Dubai-based carriers which will be unable to increase their flights to India until and unless they reciprocate in a similar way.
"We will agree on increasing seat entitlements between the two countries as carriers from both sides have exhausted their quota. But, any increase in flights and new slots at Indian airports for them will depend on Dubai authorities providing the same to our carriers," the official was quoted as saying.
28/12/16 Kalyani Pandey/International Business Times

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Soon, lie-detecting security kiosks at airports!

You may need to convince a computer that you are telling the truth during future airport security checks, thanks to a new lie-detecting kiosk that can spot changes in physiology and behaviour during interviews with travellers.
The Automated Virtual Agent for Truth Assessments in Real Time (AVATAR) is currently being tested to help border security agents determine whether travellers coming into Canada may have undisclosed motives for entering the country.
"AVATAR is a kiosk, much like an airport check-in or grocery store self-checkout kiosk," said Professor Aaron Elkins from San Diego State University in the US.
"However, this kiosk has a face on the screen that asks questions of travellers and can detect changes in physiology and behaviour during the interview.
"The system can detect changes in the eyes, voice, gestures and posture to determine potential risk. It can even tell when you are curling your toes," said Elkins.
Passengers would step up to the kiosk and be asked a series of questions such as, "Do you have fruits or vegetables in your luggage?" or "Are you carrying any weapons with you?"
29/12/16 PTI/India Today

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Flights from Dubai to India: UAE wants more, India says only if you give our carriers more slots

Dubai-based airlines will not be allowed to increase flights to Indian cities until and unless the United Arab Emirates government allocates commercially and operationally feasible slots to Indian carriers at the Dubai International Airport. These terms and conditions are part of a bilateral seat entitlement agreement, which the two countries will sign soon.
A senior Union Civil Aviation Ministry official told Press Trust of India that the Narendra Modi government has the authority to enforce the clause. Emirates and flydubai are two Dubai-based carriers which will be unable to increase their flights to India until and unless they reciprocate in a similar way.
"We will agree on increasing seat entitlements between the two countries as carriers from both sides have exhausted their quota. But, any increase in flights and new slots at Indian airports for them will depend on Dubai authorities providing the same to our carriers," the official was quoted as saying.
The Modi government took the decision after India's request to give commitment on slots for Indian domestic carriers was turned down by the UAE government. The UAE-India routes are considered one of the busiest routes as each side operates about 65,200 seats a week, PTI added.
28/12/16 Kalyani Pandey/IBTimes

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Indian-origin man found guilty of bribery in US

New York: An Indian-origin man was found guilty of bribing Mexican officials to secure contracts, Assistant Attorney General Leslie Caldwell has said.
Kamta Ramnarine, 69, the co-owner of an aircraft maintenance company was found guilty in the $2 million-bribery case involving Mexican officials, Caldwell said on Tuesday.
The conviction of Ramnarine of Brownsville, Texas, followed his admission before Federal Judge Ricardo H Hinojosa in McAllen, Texas, that he had conspired to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act that makes bribing foreign officials a crime prosecutable in the US.
He and three others, who either co-owned or were associated with the aircraft maintenance companies, and two Mexican state government officials were all found guilty in the $2 million-bribery scheme, officials said.
"The six convictions announced today demonstrate the (Justice) department's commitment to holding accountable those who further official corruption through bribery," Caldwell said.
"The individuals involved in this scheme paid millions of dollars in bribes to foreign officials in exchange for aviation contracts that placed legitimate businesses at a significant competitive disadvantage," said Rick Goss, the Special Agent in charge of Internal Revenue Service criminal investigations.
28/12/16 IANS/Times of India

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Nepal rejects India’s ‘open sky’ offer

Nepal has rejected India’s ‘open sky’ offer to allow unlimited flights between the two countries at a meeting held here on December 20, senior officials of the Civil Aviation Ministry said.

Nepal said it was not yet ready for the agreement. India has been keen on countering Nepal’s recent engagement with China on the road, railways and port connectivity. “Nepal said it was not yet ready for the ‘open-sky’ agreement and it might consider the proposal two years later,” said a senior official of the Ministry. Airlines from India and Nepal are now allowed to operate 30,000 seats from each side.

The official said India and Nepal signed a memorandum of understanding to set up a joint technical committee to examine Nepal’s request for developing new air routes and air entry points at Janakpur, Bhairahawa and Nepalgunj. “The committee will meet in the first week of February to examine the feasibility of the proposed routes,” he said.
27/12/16 Somesh Jha/The Hindu

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Guyana Signs Open Skies Agreements

During the ninth annual International Civil Aviation (ICAN) 2016 conference, which was held in Nassau, Bahamas, from December 5-9, 2016, Guyana signed open skies agreements with the Dominican Republic, India and South Korea.

The agreement with India will allow an unlimited number of flights to six airports in India: New Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Bengaluru and Chennai. The new arrangement will encourage connectivity and passenger travel between India and Guyana.

While there is no imminent direct air connectivity between Guyana and India, the agreement puts in place a legal framework that may provide seamless connectivity to passengers and make possible connectivity between India and Guyana not served by direct flights. The agreement with Guyana will allow international codeshares including third country airlines with Guyana, and removal of capacity restriction in case of codeshare with third country carriers.
27/12/16 Ray Chickrie/Aviation Pros

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Despite note ban, arrival of foreign tourists rise over 9% in November

New Delhi: Nearly 9 lakh foreign tourists visited India in November this year, a growth of 9.3 per cent over the same month last year, indicating that demonetisation move did not impact the tourists footfall adversely.

Foreign tourist arrivals (FTAs) during November 2015 was 8.16 lakh, while it was 7.65 lakh in November 2014.

Foreign Exchange Earnings (FEEs) from tourism during the month of November were Rs 14,474 crore as compared to Rs 12,649 crore in the same month last year, recording a growth of 14.4 per cent.

The US accounted for highest share of tourist arrivals followed by the UK and Bangladesh in November 2016, according to an official release.

FTAs during January-November, 2016 were 78.53 lakh, recording a growth of 10.4 per cent as compared to 71.14 lakh during the corresponding period last year.

Among the top 15 source countries in November, share of the US was highest with 15.53 per cent, followed by the UK (11.21 per cent), Bangladesh (10.72 per cent), Canada (4.66 per cent), Russia (4.53 per cent), Australia (4.04 per cent) and Malaysia (3.65 per cent).
27/12/16 PTI/Economic Times

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Gulf airlines lure Indian passengers with free visas, hotel discounts

Mumbai: Dubai is the most popular transit hub and also a leisure holiday destination for Indians. Emirates is the largest foreign airline operating to India with a 10.8 per cent share of country’s overseas traffic in FY16.

Etihad and Qatar Airways had a market share of 4.7 per cent and four per cent respectively in FY16. These two airlines are offering discounts and incentives to get a larger pie of Indian traffic.

Earlier this week Etihad notified travel agents about its ‘Abu Dhabi StopoverProgramme’ which allows guests to break their journey in the UAE capital and enjoy two-for-the-price-of-one night accommodation offers. The announcement coincided with the launch of its holiday division in India. The airline is marketing packages for Abu Dhabi, UK and the US.

“With every Etihad Holidays package you sell you are entitled to 10 per cent commission, SuperSeller miles (reward points for agency staff) and many other benefits,” the airline informed agents.

Last month Qatar Airways introduced it’s holiday-within-a-holiday scheme which allows visitors from India to break their outbound or inbound journey with a stay in Doha, without impacting their total return ticket fare. Qatar is offering free transit visas and passengers transiting to Doha can stopover for upto four days.

Qatar Airways Chief Commercial Officer, Dr. Hugh Dunleavy said “ At Qatar Airways, our brand is about Going places together, and even a short stopover in Doha will enrich the entire journey.
23/12/16 Aneesh Phadnis/Business Standard

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Priyanka Chopra's Brush With Racism: It Was At An Airport

Home-girl Priyanka Chopra is back in the country for the winter holidays - India hardly sees Priyanka these days. And that is because the 34-year-old actress has been living in New York and is busy filming the second season of her TV series Quantico. Priyanka's popular TV show took off in September last year and since then Priyanka has been shuttling between the Big Apple and India. Priyanka is also prepped for her Hollywood debut Baywatch
, co-starring Dwayne Johnson. Priyanka, who is reported to occupy the Koffee couch on Karan Johar's talk show Koffee With Karan soon, opened up about her brush with racism during her stay in New York, reported DNA.

When Karan Johar asked about her experience, Priyanka said that she was a victim of racist attitude at a crowded airport and not at her workplace, reported DNA. Priyanka was misbehaved with at the first class lounge of an airport. She later received an apology but only after an argument with the concerned airport personnel, reported DNA. "Priyanka said that whoever goes to Hollywood after her should be careful about the kind of roles they do. When KJo asked if she has faced racism she shared that she did, but not in the studios. She said that it was at the airport when she was sitting in the lounge for first class passengers that she was a victim. One of the ground staff personnel was rude to her, and only after she argued that she was a valid first class passenger did he apologise," DNA quoted a source as saying.
23/12/16 Nilanjan Basu/NDTV Movies

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Nepal, India agree third-coutnry codeshare deal

Nepal and India have agreed on a third-country codeshare deal which allows carriers of the two countries to share marketing services with airlines from third countries.

The two neighbours signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on the cooperative marketing arrangement last Wednesday in New Delhi.

Nepal currently has third-country codeshare agreements with China, Vietnam, Malaysia, Bhutan, the UAE and Cambodia. Codesharing provides seamless connectivity between far-off destinations not served by direct flights.

“The MoU will be implemented through an exchange of notes after both countries fulfil their internal legal requirements,” said Suresh Acharya, joint secretary at the Tourism Ministry.

The codeshare agenda was placed by the Indian government. Nepal and India signed a revised bilateral air service agreement in 2010, but it does not permit codesharing.
23/12/16 Kathmandu Post

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New Jersey man accused of sexually abusing woman on Air India flight writes 'I Was Stupid' in apology note

A New Jersey man accused of sexually abusing a woman on board a Newark-bound flight from India wrote to her “I was stupid,” in an apology note, authorities said.

Ganesh Parkar, 40, moved from his assigned business seat on an Air India flight from Mumbai to Newark Liberty International Airport on Wednesday and sat next to a woman in the center row of the economy class section soon after take-off where he allegedly groped her, according to U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman.

The remaining seats in the center row were empty and the woman had only engaged in limited conversation with Parkar, the criminal complaint states. Authorities concluded that she did not know Parkar before the incident.

The woman fell asleep and when she awoke, she noticed the blanket she had on top of her had been pulled down. She then pulled it back up and went back to sleep again.
Soon after waking up, she found that Parkar removed the blanket, and allegedly had his hand inside her shirt, touching her left breast without consent, the complaint, written by an FBI agent, reads.

“What the hell are you doing?” the woman shouted at Parkar, and she immediately rushed to inform the airline crew of the incident, according to the criminal complaint.

Parkar then followed the woman down the aisle and the crew instructed him to go back to his assigned seat.

Once seated, Parkar demanded the crew let him speak with the victim, which his request was denied, and instead wrote two notes to the woman apologizing and that he “was stupid.”
Parkar — who is of Indian decent — is charged with one count of abusive sexual contact on a plane, authorities said.
23/12/16 Daily News

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Man held with banned Indian banknotes at TIA

Kathmandu: Police arrested an Indian national in possession of banned Indian banknotes worth Rs 363,500 from the Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu on Wednesday.

Police arrested Thupten Gelek (44) in possession of 210 notes of Rs 1,000 denominations and 307 notes of Rs 500 denomination.
Police found Gelek while he was about to leave for New Delhi of India from Kathmandu on an Indigo Airlines flight (6E032).
22/12/16 Himalayan Times

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Tata Sons, Singapore Airlines JV Vistara set to spread wings to foreign shores, to put plan before board

New Delhi: Vistara, the joint venture airline firm of Tata Sons and Singapore Airlines, has put in place a concrete plan for its international operations which will be presented before the board in the next couple of months for approval, Phee Teik Yeoh, the ariline’s CEO told FE. He said that once the plan is approved funding will also be tied up.
“We have had several rounds of discussion and are very close to presenting the full-fledged plan which is going through the final changes. It is not yet approved by the board and the promoters. We are coming close to finally present it to the board and thereafter we can get the funding that is required,” Phee Teik Yeoh said.
Vistara will induct the twentieth aircraft – A320Neo – and the full service airline will be eligible for flying on the international routes after that. The management is also working on finalising the code sharing partnerships with foreign airlines cutting across continents.
Phee Teik emphasized on presenting a credible plan to the board and the promoters which will be done shortly and the current focus was to expand the domestic operations and prepare in every possible way for the international operations.
Vistara got its CAT 3B certification this year, and the airline will induct its first A320 Neo aircraft in April 2017. The management expects the airline to get approval for the safety management system from IOSA which is a must for airlines before starting the international operations.
21/12/16 Mayaban Ghosh/Financial Express

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Jet Airways starts fourth route to Singapore

Jet Airways now serves Singapore (SIN) non-stop from four Indian airports. On 14 December the full-service carrier began daily flights from Bengaluru (BLR) using its 737-800s. The 3,177-kilometre route is already flown by three Singaporean carriers; Singapore Airlines and Tigerair Singapore both with daily flights and SilkAir with five times weekly flights. Jet Airways already serves Singapore with daily flights from Chennai and Delhi and with twice-daily flights from Mumbai. Singapore is only the second international destination served by Jet Airways from Bengaluru this winter, the other being Abu Dhabi. This is no great surprise as the carrier is an Etihad Airways Partner airline.
21/12/16 anna.aero

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Hong Kong scraps visa-free entry for Indian travelers starting from January 23, 2017

The visa-free facility enjoyed by Indian travelers who visited Hong Kong has been scrapped. Starting from January, all Indians visiting Hong Kong will have to complete a pre-arrival registration.

The Hong Kong Immigration department through its website announced that “the pre-arrival registration for Indian Nationals will be implemented on January 23, 2017.” The statement also says that the ‘Pre-arrival Registration for Indian Nationals is currently opened.

“Indian nationals must apply for and successfully complete pre-arrival registration online before they can visit or transit the HKSAR visa-free (if seeking to enter the HKSAR during transit). Pre-arrival registration is not required for Indian nationals in direct transit by air and not leaving the airport transit area,” it said.

According to reports, the scrapping of visa-free entry will affect over half a million Indians who travel to Hong Kong every year for business, holiday and trade purpose.
20/12/16 Amrican Bazar

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'India's aviation has dramatic headroom for growth than US and China'

New Delhi: Describing India’s aviation as a sunrise sector of growth Minister of State (MoS) for Civil Aviation, Jayant Sinha on Saturday said the sector has a dramatic headroom for growth with 150 million passenger trips a year with an average growth of over 20% every year, while China has 450 million passenger trips and US with 800 million passenger trips a year.

Addressing the 89th Annual General Meeting (AGM) of industry body, Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI), Sinha said India’s total revenue of airlines is Rs 1.4 lakh crore and is growing at a rate of 20%, with over 90 million domestic and over 50 million international passengers travelling in and out of India.

He emphasized that the government is committed to safety and security and will launch the unified command of Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) in the entire aviation system.

The minister specified that there are three priorities for the government, first is to put in digital experience through AirSewa, improving airport facilities with an aim to decrease in immigration lines and other customer services and to double the expansion of airports from 75 to 150 airports through the government’s ambitious plan under the Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS).
17/12/16 New Indian Express

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Now, fly to Bangkok from Lucknow

Lucknow: Flyers from Lucknow planning to visit Bangkok may not need to go to Delhi or Kolkata to catch a flight.
On Friday, a private carrier began a direct flight connecting the state capital with Bangkok, the international tourist destination in the south-east Asia.
The flight will operate three days a week -Wednesday , Friday and Sunday . It will take off from Lucknow at 1.20am to reach Bangkok at 6.25am. The return flight will take off from Bangkok at 10pm to reach Lucknow around 12.30am.
A few months ago, a direct flight to Singapore was introduced.
Raji Hassan, a partner with an international travel agency , said that he had received 56 orders for Bangkok tickets since the airlines, Thai Smile, launched the direct flight.
17/12/16 Times of India

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Airlines from Sri Lanka allowed unlimited flights to metros

Airlines from Sri Lanka will be allowed to operate unlimited flights to Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Bengaluru and Chennai.

Sri Lanka is among the six countries with which “major issues were resolved” under the National Civil Aviation Policy (NCAP) at the recently concluded International Civil Aviation Negotiations, an official statement issued by the Ministry of Civil Aviation said. The NCAP calls for India to look at having “open skies” agreements with various countries.

Finland, Czech Republic and Spain are the other countries with which India has resolved issues under NCAP \to allow open skies. Open skies between countries allow airlines from both the sides to operate unlimited flights. Besides, airlines from India will be allowed to operate more flights to various parts of the world, including Oman, Saudi Arabia, Ethiopia and Ghana.

India has renegotiated traffic rights with Oman and increased the entitlement by 5,131 seats a week. With this, the total capacity entitlement has increased to 21,147 seats a week from 16,016 seats allowed earlier between the two countries.
16/12/16 The Hindu Business Line

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VietJetAir, Air India ink partnership MOU

Air India(AI, Mumbai Int'l) and VietJetAir (VJ, Hanoi) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) over their proposed cooperation on flights between India and Vietnam.

Under the terms of the partnership, signed in Delhi this past weekend, VietJet and Air India will both commence direct flights between the two countries with the first route to be Ho Chi Minh City-Delhi Int'l. Moreover, both airlines will also cooperate in the expansion of their sales distribution capabilities, the implementation of tourism and trade promotions between Vietnam and India; and the exchange of expertise through collaborative personnel training.
13/12/16 ch-aviation

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Oman, India sign pact to increase weekly airline seat quota by more than 6,200

The much-anticipated increase in quota of airline seats that Oman was expecting for the Indian sector has finally come through.

The Public Authority for Civil Aviation (PACA) has signed a bilateral air services agreement with its counterpart in India to increase 6,260 seats per week.

PACA took part in the International Civil Aviation Organization’s (ICAO) ninth Air Services Negotiation Event held in Nassau in the Bahamas, from December 5 to 9, and signed bilateral agreements with Saudi Arabia, Kenya, Tanzania, Ghana, Bahamas, Caracao, along with India, enhancing air connectivity to these countries.

An agreement was also signed with Australia, following which any number of cargo flights could fly between Avalon Airport in Melbourne, Australia and Salalah Airport.

Dr Mohammed bin Nasser bin Ali al Zaabi, CEO, PACA, stated that these agreements will help strengthen the relations between Oman and these countries. As per the agreement with India, the number of weekly seats was increased to 27,405 for both sides, compared to the earlier 21,145 per week, an increase of 6,260.

Oman also reached an agreement with Saudi Arabia to operate seven additional weekly flights to Jeddah.
13/12/16 Muscat Daily

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Air India express plans daily Karipur-Riyadh flight

Passengers from Malabar, hit by the lack of adequate air connectivity to Saudi Arabia, can relax as Air India Express (AIE) is planning to increase flights from Karipur to Riyadh from four a week to seven. AIE had commenced its direct flights to Riyadh from December 2 and is operating a Boeing 737- 800 on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday.
Airline authorities said that the huge response from passengers for the newly-launched service made them think of turning it into a daily service. "We are trying to put in place the necessary infrastructure to operate daily flights from Karipur to Riyadh soon," said an AIE official.
Expatriates from the region working in the Saudi cities of Riyadh and Jeddah had been hit following the ban on operation of wide-bodied aircraft from the airport due to runway safety concerns from May 1, 2015 onwards.
12/12/16 The Times Of India

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UAE's Empire Aviation eyes Indian, African markets

Facing a slowing Middle East economy, Empire Aviation (MJE, Dubai Int'l) is looking outside the region for opportunities and has its sights set on expanding in India and Africa.

Empire Aviation currently has Air Operator's Certificates (AOC) in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and San Marino. Executive Director Paras Dhamecha says that they are near the end of the AOC process for India and he expects to see a lot more activity once it is finalised. Talking to AIN Online, Dhamecha believes that India is a good market as there are several Tier II and III cities with fully operating airports. The market is also large; he estimates it is four times the size of the UAE.

Empire currently offers private aviation services, managing a fleet of twenty-five business jets based in Dubai Int'l, Dubai World Central, Muscat, Lagos, Bangalore Int'l and Hong Kong Chek Lap Kok. Empire’s sister company, Empire Aviation India, is based out of Bangalore. A subsidiary of Air Works India Engineering, it manages a fleet of four aircraft in the sub-continent.
08/12/16 ch-aviation

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ASM Ups India Support Ops

Dubai-based Aviation Services Group (ASG, Stand 884), which specializes in support for operations in Africa, Asia and South America, is expanding its presence in India and its focus on China, the company’s commercial manager, Valdo Gomes, said here at MEBAA.

ASG currently has Indian offices in Goa, Delhi and Mumbai. “We have staff in those three locations, but we want to add more,” said Gomes. “We feel there’s a huge potential for growth.” The company has a number of clients based in India, as well as “foreign companies that fly in for business reasons.”

In addition to its flight and ground handling services, ASG can offer clients inexpensive fuel at many locations, as it also handles fueling for airlines. “Our volume is huge, and prices are good,” Gomes said. “That will benefit a lot of business jet operations anywhere in the world.”
07/12/16 James Wynbrandt/AIN Online

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As Trump Vows To Save Jobs, US Plans To Make F16s In India: Foreign Media

As a new American president bent on retaining American jobs prepares to take office, the Obama administration and the U.S. defense industry are working on a deal with the Indian government to build iconic U.S. combat aircraft in India.

In recent months, Lockheed Martin and Boeing have made proposals to the Indian government to manufacture fighter jets - the F-16 Fighting Falcon and the F/A-18 Super Hornet - in India as the country seeks to modernize its rapidly aging fleet of largely Russian-built airplanes.

In both cases, the aviation companies would be building production facilities in India; Lockheed Martin proposes to move its entire F-16 assembly line from Texas to India, making India the sole producer of the single-engine combat aircraft.

The U.S. military is phasing out the F-16 for its own use, but other countries remain as likely customers.

The proposals have the strong backing of the Obama administration, which has sought a closer connection with the Indian military in recent years. Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James said she was "optimistic" about the prospect of a deal after a visit to New Delhi in August, and Defense Secretary Ashton B. Carter is set to return to India next week, with procurement high atop the list of discussion topics.

But the election of a billionaire businessman focused on keeping jobs at home, rather than creating them overseas, has brought a measure of uncertainty to the talks.
06/12/16 Annie Gowen,The Washington Post/NDTV

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India to raise slot allocation issue at Dubai airport

The failure of Indian carriers to get desired slots at the Dubai International Airport is a matter of concern for the ministry of civil aviation, and it would raise the issue with the country in an informal discussion.
The Dubai International Airport is one of the world’s busiest with 90 carriers connecting it to about 240 global destinations. There is a high demand for the limited slots that the airport can offer.
“The problem is that there is only one airport on offer in Dubai, while the traffic from India is high. Of course, the ministry could leverage this to increase the number of seats and slots but it is a matter of deep concern. We are opening our hearts for Dubai in terms of the number of airports and slots for their carriers. But this is not being reciprocated in equal measure. We are going to raise the issue in an informal discussion with Dubai. This, of course, has to be done keeping in mind the kind of bilateral ties the two countries share,” said a senior aviation ministry official requesting anonymity.
The development comes close on the heels of civil aviation minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju’s statement on 25 November that Indian carriers should get their “fair share” wherever they fly. Indian carriers, including SpiceJet and IndiGo, have been raising the issue of not getting adequate slots at the Dubai airport.
06/12/16 Subhabrata Dasgupta/Infra Circle

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