Ravi targets the Gulf to revive Air India fortunes

Newly appointed civil aviation minister Vayalar Ravi plans to increase Air India’s West Asian flights and add more long routes to turn around the state-run carrier, which is facing the prospect of strikes and the exits of some senior executives.

Flights to West Asia account for one-fourth of total revenue and covers all cash costs for the airline, except for a few routes.

“My first priority is to bring flights to the Gulf back to profitability. We will add more flights to the Gulf. It makes more commercial sense to shift the operations base of Air India Express to Kochi as more Keralites are flying to Gulf,” Ravi said.

Air India Express, the carrier’s low-fare subsidiary, is stepping up hiring. It has been forced to cancel flights to West Asia because of crew shortages. The airline is currently in the midst of a Rs.10,000 crore government-backed rescue plan.

“I am not frightened by any recent developments in Air India and I don’t think these things will prevent the implementation of the turnaround plan for the airline. I am on the job and I am talking to everybody. I am sure that I can turn around the airline as I have no vested interests,” Ravi said on Saturday in an interview.

Earlier this month, the Air India board sacked Pawan Arora, chief operating officer of Air India Express. Air India’s chief training officer Stefan Sukumar submitted his resignation last week.

One of Air India’s independent directors, Anand Mahindra, vice-chairman and managing director of Mahindra and Mahindra Ltd, last week stepped down from the board, citing conflict of interest.

28/02/11 P.R. Sanjai/Live Mint

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India Studies Cooperation with Kulon Progo Airport

Yogyakarta: The Indian Prime Minister will meet with Yogyakarta Governor Sultan Hamengku Buwono X, to discuss the construction of Kulon Progo Airport. The meeting follows on from a MoU between PT Angkasa Pura and the Indian government to build the airport under a cooperative agreement. “Next month,” said Tjipto Haribowo, chief of the Yogyakarta Transportation, Communication and Information Office.

India is not the only country interested in investing. The Czech Republic is also interested and has already looked into the project.

25/02/11 TEMPO Interactive

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More AI flights to evacuate Indians from Libya: Vayalar Ravi

Kochi: Air India will send more flights to trouble-torn Libya to evacuate stranded Indians, Civil Aviation Minister Vayalar Ravi said on Sunday.

Two AI flights have already landed with Indians from Libya and more flights would be deployed as per need, he told reporters on the sidelines of a function here.

Efforts were also being made to bring those wanting to be evacuated through ships to Alexandria in Egypt and then to air lift them, he said.

There were about 18,000 Indians in Libya, he said.

In situations where Indians need help, it was Air India which was providing assistance, he said.

Since Saturday night, two Air India flights have brought back 528 Indians from Libya as India launched the evacuation exercise.

27/02/11 PTI/Sify

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Emotional homecoming for 500 Indians from Libya

Over 500 Indians on two special flights came home from violence-torn Libya to an emotional welcome on Sunday. Two more Air India flights are leaving to ferry more Indians back. The government said 530 Indians who have returned are in “good health and cheer”. And, 67 Indians including 11 children and 2 infants, crossed over from Tabrouk (Libya) to Salloum (Egypt) this afternoon. “They are now on their way to Cairo in two buses and should reach by late in the evening. Food and hotel accommodation at Cairo has been arranged,” ministry of external affairs said in a statement. They will arrive in India on Monday.

Another group of about 80 persons from Derna/Baida area in Libya are expected to cross over some time on Monday. The MEA said that some Indian nationals are trying to cross over by the land route to Tunisia.

The Air India Boeing 744 flight from Tripoli is expected to reach New Delhi on Sunday.

Anxious relatives lined up outside Terminal 2 of Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) here. The first flight, a Boeing 747, carrying 291 Indian nationals, arrived around Saturday midnight. The second batch of 237 evacuated passengers, who were picked from Libyan capital Tripoli, arrived in an Airbus A330 at 4.10 am.

Minister of state for external affairs E Ahamed, foreign secretary Nirupama Rao and secretary in the ministry of overseas Indian affairs A Didar Singh were among those present at the airport to receive the evacuated Indians.

Libya has around 18,000 Indian nationals.

27/02/11 Hindustan Times

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Special AI flights to Libya from today to evacuate stranded Indians

New Delhi: With help from India yet to reach Tripoli, some Indians working in Libya have already crossed over to Tunisia to escape the fighting.
NEW DELHI: India on Friday got the much-awaited clearance to land special flights in Tripoli to carry out evacuation operations for its citizens in strife-torn Libya.
Two special Air India flights will depart for Tripoli, one each from Delhi and Mumbai, early on Saturday and are expected to be back by Sunday with over 600 evacuees.
Two Indian warships will also leave for Libya from Mumbai on Saturday.
About 18,000 Indians are stranded in the country. Foreign minister S M Krishna said Libyan authorities had allowed Air India to operate two flights daily for evacuation for the next 10 days.
"As per schedule informed by Air India today, two flights per day from tomorrow to March 7 will be operated," the minister said. The national carrier has deployed an Airbus 330, with a capacity of 270 seats, from Delhi and a Boeing 747, with a capacity of 400, from Mumbai.
26/02/11 Times of India

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Air India to start daily direct flight to Melbourne from Delhi

New Delhi: After a delay of about 6 months, Air India will be launching its direct flights to Melbourne from here.
"The Civil Aviation Ministry has approved our request and granted Air India the traffic rights to operate seven services per week on Delhi-Melbourne sector," an Air India spokesperson said.
Melbourne would be the 34th international city on the list of Air India destinations.
The national carrier was to start Delhi-Melbourne daily direct flight from the winter schedule starting October last. It has been a long-standing demand of the Indians, including many students studying and settled in Australia, the spokesperson said.
25/02/11 PTI/Economic Times

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Embraer in Talks With Indian Carriers for Jet Sale

New Delhi: Embraer S.A. is in talks with several airlines in India to sell its regional jets in the country, where it expects economic expansion to continue to drive demand for air travel, said a senior executive at the world's fourth-largest plane maker by sales.
The Brazilian company hopes it will be able to sell its 50-seater ERJ 145 jet, as well as the 70 to 122-seater E-Jet family of regional jets, to carriers in India due to a growing need to connect smaller towns and cities in the South Asian country, Alex Glock, managing director at Embraer Asia Pacific, said.
Embraer and others such as Bombardier Inc., Boeing Co. and Airbus are hawking jet planes, as well as turboprop aircraft, in the world's second-most-populous country to tap potential growth. Domestic air travel grew 19% in 2010 to 52.02 million passengers, according to government data.
The International Air Transport Association Monday forecast India's domestic passenger numbers to grow 10.5% each year until 2014, which will make it the fourth-fastest-growing market globally. By 2014, India will also be the fifth-largest market worldwide for domestic passengers, with 69 million travellers a year, after the U.S., China, Japan and Brazil.
"We are talking to several companies who are evaluating our aircraft," Mr. Glock said. "India is still not well served, so there still exists lot of potential in this market."
Mr. Glock declined to disclose the airlines Embraer is in talks with.
15/02/11 Santanu Choudhury/Wall Street Journal

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Air India gets US anti-trust notice over cargo rates

Air India is headed for fresh trouble. The US government’s anti-trust department has served a notice to the state-owned airline for adopting ‘unfair trade practices’ in its cargo business. The cost of settling the case — either out of court or through litigation — could turn out to be a big drain on the meagre finances of the airline.
The airline’s chairman and managing director Arvind Jadhav has written to the civil aviation ministry to take up the issue with the US authorities on diplomatic levels. A government official said the aviation ministry would have to move the external affairs ministry to help resolve the issue.
Air India sources said the case is several years old and involves allegations of an airlines’ cartel which set cargo charges like handling, delivery and fuel surcharge at identical rates. “The case involves Air India before its merger with erstwhile Indian Airlines,” an official of the company said.
25/02/11 Nirbhay Kumar/Financial Express

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India urging Libya to open Tripoli airport for its flights

India has urged the Libyan authorities to open up Tripoli airport for its flights so that air evacuation could take place.
The developments came as 'Scotia Prince', the ferry ship hired by India to evacuate stranded Indians in Libya began sailing towards restive Benghazi.
Speaking to ANI, Secretary (East) Lata Reddy said: " We are urging Libyan authorities to make arrangements for our flights to land in Tripoli airport, we have flights on standby here and they can leave once these arrangements are confirmed."
"Very large number of foreign nationals are trying to leave Tripoli at the moment, clearances are taking time, our Ambassador is personally seeking these clearances at the earliest possible time and we hope to began air operation at that time," she added.
According to the Ministry of External Affairs, evacuation is being arranged by sea and air.
'Scotia Prince' a chattered passenger ferry with capacity to seat 1200 persons, has reached Egypt and is to sail for Benghazi to evacuate stranded Indian nationals from Libya.
Ministry of External Affairs personnel and a medical team will be on board to assist the evacuees.
24/02/11 ANI/Sify

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International Regulatory Authorities to be Consulted on Mangalore Air Tragedy Report

The Court of Inquiry has submitted the draft final report to the Government. International Civil Aviation Regulations the regulatory authorities of the State of Manufacture and State of Design have to be consulted for formal comments on the Draft Final Report before it is finalised. Accordingly, the views of Federal Aviation Administration of United States in pursuance of America have been sought. Action on the recommendations will be taken after finalisation and acceptance of the report by the Government.
The above information was given by the Minister for Civil Aviation Shri Vayalar Ravi in reply to a question in the Lok Sabha on 23 February , 2011.
The Minister also informed the House that all the bodies at the crash site have been identified. Air India Express has started the process of final settlement and as of date 40 cases have already been settled for a total amount of Rs. 24.02 crores (including interim compensation). For the rest of the cases, proceedings is underway to settle the final claim. These claims are being settled as per Carriage by Air Act, 1972 which incorporates the Montreal Convention of International Civil Aviation Organisation. After the tragic crash, the following steps have been taken (i) a Civil Aviation Safety Advisory Council (CASAC) has been set up under the Chairmanship of Secretary, Ministry of Civil Aviation; (ii) directions were issued to all concerned regarding adherence to Standard Operating Procedures; (iii) special audit of airports identified as critical was undertaken; (iv) A Surveillance and Enforcement Division has been set up in Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).
24/02/11 PRESS RELEASE/Press Information Bureau

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Canada bars entry to Indian Airlines hijacker

Toronto: Canada has refused to re-admit the mastermind of the 1984 Indian Airline hijacking who was deported to India last year.
Parminder Singh Saini, 47, who was the leader of five Sikh militants who hijacked the Srinagar-Delhi flight to Lahore July 6, 1984, had filed a plea in a federal court Feb 3 to seek re-entry into Canada.
However, in its ruling Feb 9, the court dismissed Saini's plea, deeming him a threat to public security, according to a report.
Saini, who took refuge in Canada in 1995, was put on the plane back to India in January last year.
He led the five militants in hijacking the Indian Airlines flight to Lahore, with 255 passengers.
The hijack drama ended after a 17-hour stand-off, with the hijackers surrendering to the Pakistani authorities.
After a trial in Pakistan, Saini was sentenced to death by a Lahore court. But the death sentence was commuted to life term. He was released after 10 years and asked to leave Pakistan.
In 1995, Saini entered Canada illegally under the name of Balbir Singh with a fake Afghan passport arranged by the Pakistanis. He maintained that he lied about his identity for fear of being deported to India.
24/02/11 Gurmukh Singh/IANS/Sify

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Cancun International Airport Named Best Airport in Latin America

The Airports Council International (ACI) has named the Cancun International Airport as Latin America’s best airport for the second year in a row.
Thanks to its quality of its services the airport has been placed among the top five spots worldwide among airports that serve between 5 and 15 million passengers per year.
This is a product of ASUR’s successful job of constantly elevating the quality standards in both service and customer care that it provides for its passengers.
The award ceremony will take place on the 7th of April during the Regional Assembly of the ACI- ASIA, in new Dehli, India, lead by the General Director of the Airport Council International Angela Gittens.
23/02/11 Ozgur Tore/Travel News Gazatte

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'DGCA delaying med test parity policy'demand med tests for foreign crew

Mumbai: While Indian pilots undergo stringent medical tests on a regular basis to keep their licences currentand stay employed, foreign pilots can work for Indian carriers without clearing such tests. Last year, after a court order, the aviation regulator was forced to change this rule in favour of a policy that brings parity to medical standards followed for cockpit crew.
On Monday, an association of Jet Airways pilots, the Society for Welfare of Indian Pilots (SWIP), sent a letter to the aviation regulator in protest against the delay in implementation of the parity policy. The letter alleged that the aviation regulator been postponing the deadline set for foreign pilots to undergo Indian medical tests only to suit the commercial interests of airlines.
The SWIP protest letter speaks out against the aviation regulator's decision to give a three-month extension to foreign pilots for fulfilling Indian medical requirements. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) decision allows for differential medical standards for foreign pilots and Indian pilots and so compromises air passenger safety, the SWIP letter said.
24/02/11 Manju V/Times of India

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Gaddafi digs in, Indians to fly out

New Delhi/Tripoli: As a defiant Muammar Gaddafi late on Tuesday vowed to stay on as Libya's leader, raising fears of more bloodshed, India has decided to evacuate its citizens from the African country. The decision came on Tuesday after external affairs minister SM Krishna spoke to India’s envoy in Tripoli Mani Meklai. There are 18,000 Indians in Libya. In Benghazi, a stronghold of the opposition, some 3,000 Indians are trapped.
In the evening, foreign secretary Nirupama Rao meet senior officials to take stock of the situation.
“An in-principle call has been taken to bring back all those who want to be back. But the final plan, including the logistics, will be worked out in coordination with the ministry of civil aviation,” an official said on condition of anonymity. The government would first assess the number of people who want to come back.
The situation was being closely monitored and all Indians were safe, Krishna said earlier in the day.
23/02/11 Hindustan Times

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Plea for resumption of flights

The delegation consisted of K K Usman, Shamsudheen Olakara and Fareed Thikkodi
The Doha-based Gulf Calicut Air Passengers (Gapac) has requested the Indian civil aviation ministry to intervene directly to mitigate the problems being faced by passengers at Kerala’s Calicut Airport in Malappuram district.
Gapac’s appeal to Indian Civil Aviation Minister Vayalar Ravi during his recent visit to Qatar highlighted the problems being faced by passengers at the airport owing to the irregular operations of the Air India flights.
Ravi was in Doha to attend the global conclave of the Overseas Indian Cultural Congress (OICC), organised by Indian Cultural and Arts Society (Incas).
22/02/11 Gulf Times

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Emirates Airline: Discovering destinations

New Delhi: Emirates Airline, the national airline of Dubai and the largest airline in the West Asia, has launched its pre-summer awareness campaign in India. Dubbed “Guess where, and Emirates will fly you there!”, the campaign comprises eight television commercials and 15 print ads, of which four TVCs have already gone on air and seven print ads have been issued. The campaign has been split into two stages, each conveying a distinct message. Stage 1, running in February, will focus on the destinations, and stage 2, which will be rolled out in March, will build on the Emirates experience. The airline, will spend Rs 5 crore on the campaign.
The airline, which operates 184 weekly flights to 10 Indian destinations, has also unveiled an interactive contest for its travellers in India, who have plans to take a vacation abroad this summer. The contest invites participants to identify the name of the city by taking cues of the visual representation in the ads and enter the contest either by SMSing or logging onto emirates.com/fly there to submit their answers. The contest started earlier this month and will be on till March.
21/02/11 Arunima Mishra/Business Standard

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Rahat fined Rs 15 lakh

New Delhi: Pakistani singer Rahat Fateh Ali Khan has been slapped a fine of Rs 15 lakh for trying to board a flight with excess and undeclared foreign currency.
The customs department has also asked his manager Maroof to pay the same amount.
The duo is expected to pay up and leave India tonight.
Khan and his 16-member troupe were arrested by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence on February 13 at the Indira Gandhi International Airport. He was carrying undeclared cash worth $1,24,000 (Rs 55 lakh) in cash and two demand drafts while trying to board a flight to Lahore via Dubai. The maximum permissible amount a traveller can carry abroad is $5,000 in cash and $5000 more in other instruments, like traveller’s cheques — this amount would come to around Rs 4.5 lakh. Not declaring any excess amount is an offence.
20/02/11 The Telegraph

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Royal Jet brings luxury private aviation to India

Abu Dhabi: Royal JetRoyal JetLoading... has intensified efforts at optimising opportunities in the fast-growing Indian private jet sector by showcasing its award-winning products and services at the Indian Business Aviation Expo (IBAE) taking place on 21-23 February 2011 at the Shangri-La Hotel in New Delhi.
The international executive flight services company will also use this opportunity to strengthen and promote its partnership with Aviation Services Management (ASM) - Royal JetRoyal JetLoading...'s newly appointed General Sales Agent in India.
"IBAE presents us with a unique platform to introduce our business relationship with ASM as we present a new era of luxury private aviation service to the Indian market," said Fahad Wali, Acting Vice President Commercial, Royal JetRoyal JetLoading.... "As the number of High Net Worth Individuals (HNWI) in India increases at a much faster pace than elsewhere in the world, such an event offers tremendous potential for us to explore promising business opportunities.
The IBAE event comes under the backdrop of transport analysts and consultants' predictions of approximately 350-400 million Indian nationals opting to travel by air annually by 2020. Described by some as the biggest potential shift in transportation habits in history, such a scenario is expected to inevitably cause a strain on the existing Indian aviation infrastructure. Subsequently, this is expected to take its toll on the travel requirements of Indian executives, entrepreneurs and HNWI's.
20/02/11 Zawya.com

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Rahat, manager slapped with Fema

New Delhi: Pakistani singer Rahat Fateh Ali Khan and his manager were on Saturday charged under FEMA and violation of the Customs Act by the Directortate of Revenue Intelligence.
Sources said that this could pave the way for an early resolution of the case against the singer and his manager and they can walk free after paying a heavy redemption penalty and fine to be decided by the adjudicating authority. But investigating agencies are likely to pursue the domestic leads that have emerged in the case.
The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) had detained Rahat and his entire 16-member troupe, including his manager Maroof, from the Indira Gandhi International Airport on February 13 for allegedly carrying undeclared cash worth Rs 60 lakh in foreign currency. The troupe was on its way to Lahore via Dubai.
Government sources said the case has now been handed over for adjudication to the Commissioner Customs (Airports).
The sources said under the adjudication process a huge penalty could be levied.
19/02/11 Times of India

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Centre honours Neerja Bhanot

New Delhi/Chandigarh: The civil aviation ministry conferred an honour on Neerja Bhanot posthumously on Friday in New Delhi. The award was presented to Neerja`s brother, Aneesh Bhanot, to launch the centenary celebrations of Civil Aviation in India by Union minister for overseas Indian affairs and civil aviation Vayalar Ravi.
On September 5,1986, Pan Am 73 landed at Karachi from Bombay (now Mumbai), on its way to New York.
As passengers were boarding the aircraft at around 6 am, four hijackers dressed in Pakistan police uniforms and armed with assault rifles, pistols, grenades and plastic explosive belts stormed the aircraft and seized control of it.
Realizing that the hijackers intended to kill Americans aboard the plane, Neerja and the other airhostesses hid the passports of American passengers when the hijackers ordered them to collect the passports of all the passengers. The flight remained under the control of the hijackers for 17 hours and ended in a bloodbath with the hijackers firing indiscriminately inside the aircraft and hurling hand grenades at the passengers, who they had herded into one section of the aircraft. Neerja opened one of the emergency doors and helped passengers escape. She was shot dead while shielding three young children from a hail of gunfire from the terrorists.
Neerja is also the youngest recipient of India`s highest civilian award for bravery posthumously — the Ashok Chakra.
19/02/11 Times of India

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US doubts over India's combat jet partner

Washington: US ambassador to India Tim Roemer has expressed doubts about the ability of Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) to partner with US companies in delivering a multi-billion dollar jet fighter contract, according to reports. "The potential for HAL to successfully partner with US firms on a truly advanc
ed aircraft remains untested and suspect," Roemer wrote, giving a critical assessment of HAL's capabilities following a February 2010 visit to one of its facilities, according to Wikileaks cables cited by The Financial Times.
Roemer reportedly wrote that India's aviation industry was "two to three decades behind the United States and other western nations".
He also wrote of a lack of automation and safety provisions at the HAL facility, and said US firms would have to take care to "understand the management and technological experience of Indian firms".
India is currently seeking 126 multirole fighter aircraft as part of a $10 billion contract sought by American, European and Russian firms.
18/02/11 Indo-Asian News Service/Hindustan Times

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Amritsar-Toronto flight from Sunday

Amritsar: Almost four months after the withdrawal of Air India’s Amritsar-London-Toronto flight, the new flight from the holy city to Toronto is all set for an overwhelming start from Sunday.
The flight has opened to choc-o-bloc response from the passengers not only for the inaugural day but for the entire next month. Though Air India officials could not be contacted despite repeated attempts, Rajeev Suri, owner of a leading travel agency here, said the flight has been fully booked till March 22.
Punjab NRI Sabha Patron Jaswinder Singh Dhaliwal hailed the resumption of flight from Amritsar to Toronto, stating that though UK bound Punjabis would be disappointed, but it would bring about much-needed respite for a huge Sikh population in Canada. “The abrupt withdrawal of immensely successful Amritsar-London-Toronto flight on October 31 last year came as a rude shock for many. Thereafter the passengers used to have a harrowing time first boarding a flight from the holy city to New Delhi and changing it there for onward journey,” he said. However, he felt that now at least the Diaspora in Canada would be saved from harassment they had to face while boarding a connecting flight from Delhi.
18/02/11 GlobalSikhNews

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Plea to run Lanka flights to Vizag

Visakhapatnam: Air Travellers Association of India (ATAI) has asked the Sri Lankan deputy high commissioner to south India, Mr Vadivel Krishnamurthy, to organise a road show on Buddhism in association with AP Tourism Development Corporation at a venue central and accessible to Buddhist monks, business persons, industrialists, government officials and public in June or July this year.
The ATAI president, Mr D. Varada Reddy, asked the deputy high commissioner to organise another road sh-ow on Sri Lanka in Visakhapatnam and persuade Sri Lankan Airlines to operate a bi-weekly flight on the Colombo-Visakhapatnam sector to cater to the
Buddhist pilgrims who can visit shrines and to the benefit of those employed in Brandix India Apparel City and to the Special Economic Zone. Mr Reddy told the deputy high commissioner that over seven lakh air passengers from this region use Vizag airport, the only one in this region.
18/02/11 Deccan Chronicle

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Malaysia flight to stay

Calcutta: Air Asia has decided not to stop its thrice-a-week Calcutta-Kuala Lumpur flight “because of popular demand”.
On Thursday, Metro had reported that the low-cost international airline would not fly to the Malaysian capital after March 26 despite clocking a decent passenger count.
The report had prompted appeals to change the decision, led by Malaysia’s honorary consul in Calcutta.
Sanjay Budhia reminded Air Asia CEO Tony Fernandez about Calcutta being “the focal point” of the east and the Northeast.
“Calcutta is the hub/focal point for entire north-eastern region, comprising Assam, Meghalaya, Manipur, Nagaland, Mizoram, Tripura, Arunachal and Sikkim, plus adjoining states like Bihar, Jharkhand, Orissa and also neighbouring countries like Bangladesh, Bhutan and Nepal….
“Any new venture initially takes a little time to get off the ground and be self-supporting. Therefore, I would request you very sincerely to reconsider your decision to discontinue the direct flight from Calcutta to Kuala Lumpur,” he wrote.
19/02/11 Sanjay Mandal/The Telegraph

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Airline gets Sharjah bridegroom to wedding after flight grounded

A Sharjah bridegroom had lost all hope of reaching his wedding on time this morning after yesterday's Air India Express Calicut flight IX 354 was cancelled due to "technical" snags.
But the airline managed to find him accommodation on an alternative flight to ensure he met his wife-to-be in time for their nuptials in Kerala.
Despite the temporary stress, he was the lucky one as about 235 passengers who boarded an Air India Express Flight from Sharjah to Calicut on Wednesday night are still waiting at a Sharjah Hotel [3.30pm Thursday] awaiting their next flight which official said may take off anytime now.
The passengers are fuming over the last minute flight cancellation after they had checked in their luggage and boarded the flight.
While less than ten passengers were accommodated in other flights, all the remaining passengers are still stranded in Sharjah.
Says Riyas Rahman, a passenger of the cancelled Air India Express Calicut flight IX 354, who was flying with his wife: “We were inside the aircraft and the pilot announced that the flight would take off soon. As we were settleing in, there was another announcement that the flight will not take off due to technical snags. We have spent the whole night at the airport and after 4am we were shifted to a hotel in Sharjah.”
17/02/11 VM Sathish/Emirates 24/7

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Jet seeks nod for direct flight to US

New Delhi: After connecting destinations in Europe, West Asia and Southeast Asia, Jet Airways has sought permission to fly directly to the United States from next winter. The winter schedule starts in October.
“Jet has asked permission to fly to New York, directly. The flights could be either from Delhi or Mumbai and the airline wants to fly on all seven days a week,” said a senior civil aviation ministry official seeking anonymity.
As of now, the airline owned by Naresh Goyal, flies to New York with a stopover at Brussels. Air India, American Airlines and United Airlines operate direct flights between India and the US.
The US and India have open skies policy, which means any number of airlines and flights can connect any destination in the country. With a fleet of 97 aircraft, Jet Airways serves 47 domestic destinations and 24 international destinations, and is the country’s largest carrier in terms of passengers carried. With a strong domestic network, the airline is increasing its presence in the international arena and now has 100, of its 400 flights, operating to international destinations. The aviation ministry has also given permission to operate daily direct flights to Amsterdam.
17/02/11 Mihir Mishra/Business Standard

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9 foreign airlines cleared of cartelisation charge

New Delhi: The investigation wing of the Competition Commission of India (CCI) has cleared nine foreign airlines of cartelisation and abuse of dominant position charges, pressed by the Travel Agents Association of India (TAAI).
The report of the Director General (Investigations) was given to CCI on January 27, and this will form the basis of further hearings of the fair trade watchdog. The next hearing of CCI is on March 3.
TAAI had approached CCI in December 2009 after the airlines — Lufthansa German Airlines, Continental Airlines, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, Swiss International Airlines, Singapore Airlines, Air Canada, Air France and North West Airlines — announced their decision to end the practice of giving commissions to travel agents for ticketing services.
In its petition to CCI, the association alleged the decision to reduce the “Standard Agency Commission” from five per cent to zero from November 1, 2009 was an anti-competitive move. It also said the airlines were part of two international networks, Star Alliance Network and Sky Team Alliance, thereby pointing towards a potential cartelization that led to the joint decision.
17/02/11 Joe C Mathew/Business Standard

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Hyderabad, Delhi, Mumbai airports on a different plane

Bangalore: It’s official now. India’s swanky airports have joined the league of top airports in the world.
Three of them—Hyderabad’s Rajiv Gandhi International Airport (RGIA), Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport and Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA)—have figured in the latest Airport Service Quality (ASQ) rankings of the Airports Council International (ACI) at first, second and fourth position respectively in different categories.
In the 2010 survey of the global airport rating agency, Indian airports have outshined yesteryear’s leading airports like Heathrow, JFK and others in different airport categories.
Hyderabad’s RGIA, which was ranked in the top five airports worldwide in 2009, retained its number one position for the second year in the 5-15 million passenger category. It beat competition from Japan’s Nagoya airport, Cancun, Indianapolis and Austin airports to secure the top spot.
17/02/11 Supriya Ghorpade/Daily News & Analysis

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Macau Airport eyes India, Australia’s markets

Macau International Airport Company (CAM) wants to take advantage of big markets like India and Australia, to bring more tourists to the SAR this year, said the company’s executive director, Sunning Liu yesterday. Nevertheless, mainland China will maintain its position as Macau’s major market, as local authorities want to add new routes and increase the frequency of some flights to the Mainland.
“The influx of Chinese passengers keeps rising. [Therefore,] routes to the Mainland, in particular to the northern part [of the country], will be our main target this year,” Liu stressed.
“We’ll also target India and Australia, since these markets are potential medium long haul routes,” she added.
In addition, CAM plans to increase existing routes, especially to Eastern China, as it vows to improve the customer service.
Yesterday, the company announced the final numbers of the Macau International Airport operation in 2010.
17/02/11 Macau Daily Times

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Air India prefers to hire foreigners, Indian pilots’ union complains

Mumbai: One of the two pilots’ unions in Air India has accused the airline of intentionally ignoring training of Indian pilots to continue the services of expatriate pilots. The Indian Pilots’ Guild (IPG) reported the matter to civil aviation minister, Vayalar Ravi and union labour minister, Mallikarjun Kharge on Tuesday.
The union alleged the airline has been portraying a fake shortage of senior commanders to continue the services of expatriate pilots.
“We strongly suspect some officials have a vested financial interest in the continued employment of foreign pilots through recruitment agencies based on foreign shores,” said Jeetendra Awhad, president, IPG. “The training of many Indian pilots has stopped,” he added.
The union also raised safety concerns owing to the crossover of some Indian Airline pilots to Air India post the merger.
17/02/11 Soubhik Mitra/Hindustan Times

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TSA agent admits to stealing from Indian passengers during security checks

A Transportation Security Administration officer pleaded guilty to stealing thousands of dollars in cash and other valuables from unsuspecting travelers, mostly non-English speakers, during security screenings at Newark airport.
Michael Arato, 41, also admitted on Monday to taking kickbacks from a subordinate officer, who stole between $10,000 and $30,000 over the course of a year while Arato agreed to look the other way.
The crooked TSA supervisor was busted last fall after the subordinate, who was not named, worked with authorities to videotape him taking his cut during a three-week period, from Sept. 13 to Oct. 5, authorities said.
Arato also admitted stealing from passengers at his own checkpoint at Newark airport's Terminal B.
According to the original complaint, authorities became suspicious after receiving several complaints from passengers on Air India's daily nonstop flight to India that money and valuables from their carry-on bags had gone missing after TSA employees at Arato's checkpoint had searched them by hand.
The victims were mostly women of Indian decent who did not speak English, the complaint said.
Prosecutors said the two agents often targeted foreigners and subjected them to additional screening, during which time they would pocket cash found in their carry-on bags.
According to prosecutor Paul Fishman, the supervisor pocketed between $400 and $700 from passengers on a given shift. He also accepted about $3,100 in bribes during the three-week period he was being observed.
"Arato literally made a game of stealing hundreds of dollars a day from individuals standing in the security lane," Fishman said in a statement after Arato was busted. "That he targeted them based on their inability to speak English is especially offensive."
15/02/11 Philip Caulfield/NY Daily News.com

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India, China to be among top five domestic aviation markets

New Delhi: India and China will be among the five largest domestic aviation markets in the next two years but the US will remain at the top, the IATA has estimated, saying the focus of the global aviation industry will continue shifting eastward.
By 2014, the five largest markets for domestic passengers would be the United States with 671 million, China with 379 million, Japan (102 million), Brazil (90 million) and India (69 million), the International Air Transport Association (IATA) said in its latest global forecast.
While China will record the highest compound annual growth rate in passenger traffic of 13.9 per cent contributing an additional 181 million passengers, India with 10.5 per cent will be among nations which will record double digit growth.
Other countries with double-digit growth would include Vietnam with 10.9 per cent, South Africa (10.6) and the Philippines (10.2), the figures published by the global airlines' body showed. Noting that China would be the biggest contributor of new travellers, IATA said, of the estimated 800 million such passengers expected in 2014, 360 million or 45 per cent would travel on Asia-Pacific routes.
15/02/11 PTI/Economic Times

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Pakistan thanks India for releasing Rahat Ali Khan

New Delhi: Pakistan Interior Minister Rehman Malik called up Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram on Tuesday and thanked him for his assistance in the release of noted qawwali singer Rahat Fateh Ali Khan detained at the Delhi airport for allegedly carrying a huge quantity of cash.
Mr. Malik assured Mr. Chidambaram of the singer's “full cooperation in the matter, in accordance with the law of the land,'' said a press note from the Pakistan High Commission.
India has extended Mr. Khan's visa to enable investigation into the charge of his having a large amount of money.
The DRI is probing the source of foreign exchange worth Rs. 60 lakh allegedly recovered from Mr. Khan and two others — Maroof, a Pakistani, who is said to be the singer's manager, and Chitresh Shrivastava, an Indian, said to be part owner of an event management company. The premises of Eyeline Telefilm and Events, owned by Mr. Shrivastava's family, has also been searched.
The three were detained on Sunday while Mr. Khan and his troupe were going to board a flight to Dubai from where they had planned to travel home to Lahore.
16/02/11 Sandeep Dikshit/The Hindu

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Embraer in Talks With Indian Carriers for Jet Sale

New Delhi: Embraer S.A. is in talks with several airlines in India to sell its regional jets in the country, where it expects economic expansion to continue to drive demand for air travel, said a senior executive at the world's fourth-largest plane maker by sales.
The Brazilian company hopes it will be able to sell its 50-seater ERJ 145 jet, as well as the 70 to 122-seater E-Jet family of regional jets, to carriers in India due to a growing need to connect smaller towns and cities in the South Asian country, Alex Glock, managing director at Embraer Asia Pacific, said.
Embraer and others such as Bombardier Inc., Boeing Co. and Airbus are hawking jet planes, as well as turboprop aircraft, in the world's second-most-populous country to tap potential growth. Domestic air travel grew 19% in 2010 to 52.02 million passengers, according to government data.
The International Air Transport Association Monday forecast India's domestic passenger numbers to grow 10.5% each year until 2014, which will make it the fourth-fastest-growing market globally. By 2014, India will also be the fifth-largest market worldwide for domestic passengers, with 69 million travellers a year, after the U.S., China, Japan and Brazil.
"We are talking to several companies who are evaluating our aircraft," Mr. Glock said. "India is still not well served, so there still exists lot of potential in this market."
15/02/11 Santanu Choudhury/Wall Street Journal

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Tata forms JV with Lockheed Martin

The Tata group has boosted its chances of becoming the preferred local partner of US firms bidding to sell medium multi-role combat aircraft (MMRCA) to India in the world’s largest fighter jet deal.
On Monday, Tata Advanced Systems Ltd, a subsidiary of Tata Sons Ltd, signed an agreement with Lockheed Martin Corp. to form a joint venture (JV) company, Tata Lockheed Martin Aerostructures, to build aerostructures for the C-130 aircraft produced by the US firm.
Tata Industries Ltd, another group company, had formed a joint venture with Boeing Co. in 2008 to manufacture defence-related aerospace components in India for export to Boeing and its clients worldwide.
Both Lockheed Martin and Boeing are in the race to sell 126 MMRCA to India for $11 billion (Rs.50,050 crore), along with Sweden’s Saab AB, Paris-based Dassault Aviation SA, Moscow-based United Aircraft Corp., and EADS NV. Bidding is expected to begin in a month.
Whoever wins the contract will have to source components and systems from local vendors worth at least 30% of the order’s value, under India’s defence offset policy.
Tata Advanced Systems has also teamed up with Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. and United Technologies to manufacture S-92 helicopter cabins in India.
15/02/11 P.R. Sanjai/Live Mint

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Sukhoi to enter the passenger jet market

Sukhoi, better known for its fighter jets in India, has this time brought its newly-developed medium-haul aircraft to the Aero India 2011 and has left the people looking at it in disbelief. Can a fighter jet maker build a passenger aircraft?
With its eyes on Indian and South-East Asian markets, the Sukhoi Superjet 100 medium-haul aircraft has been brought to the Aero India.
Made by Russia's leading aircraft producer Sukhoi, which is part of the United Aircraft Corporation, UAC, has been brought in to give the potential customers a dekko at the new kid on the block.
14/02/11 Rediff

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Jet Airways angles for Alitalia network for Italian jaunt, Europe

New Delhi: Jet Airways, India’s largest private airline, is looking to expand its network in several European cities besides also launching a non-stop service to New York.
According to civil aviation ministry sources, the airline has received temporary permission to fly daily to Milan, Italy, from New Delhi. This service is already operational.
“But, this is a temporary permission. Jet wants to join Alitalia’s network within Italy and also for onward connections to other European cities,” said a source.
Jet has been given permission to fly to Milan pending a fresh Air Services Agreement (ASA) between India and Italy.
At present, Italy does not allow any Indian airline to enter into code share with an Italian airline for domestic routes within Italy. The permission is temporary since the ASA will be amended by March.
Code share is a flight with two or more legs, covered by one ticket and sold by one airline, for a destination served not directly by it but through an affiliated airline.
A code share flight uses the same two-letter carrier code during all legs of the journey.
15/02/11 Sindhu Bhattacharya/Daily News & Analysis

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IATA sees Asia leading growth in global airline industry

Singapore: The International Air Transport Association said Monday that Asia will lead a projected boom in air travel, accounting for about 30 percent of the world's 3.3 billion air passengers expected in 2014.
IATA chief Giovanni Bisignani said at a news conference in Singapore that the number of air travelers will rise to 3.3 billion by 2014, up from 2.5 billion in 2009.
An estimated 1 billion people will travel by air in the Asia-Pacific region by 2014, he said.
IATA said in a statement that China, Japan and Hong Kong will be the biggest international passenger markets in the Asia-Pacific region by 2014.
China will be the biggest contributor of new travelers, it said.
"The focus of the industry continues to shift eastward," said Bisignani, who had attended an international meeting IATA organized in Singapore last Saturday to discuss the future of the industry.
Asian airlines make up four of the five largest airlines in the world by market capitalization -- Air China at US$20 billion, Singapore Airlines at US$14 billion, Cathay Pacific at US$12 billion and China Southern at US$11 billion.
15/02/11 Mainichi Daily News, Japan

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Global Aerospace majors evince interest in SEZ

Chennai/ Bangalore: Honeywell, Rolls Royce, Dassault Aviation and Thyssen Krupp are among the 50 or so domestic and overseas companies that have shown interest in setting up manufacturing units in the aerospace SEZ near the Bangalore international airport. The top officials from these companies held talks with the state government during the Aero India 2011 and visited the upcoming Aerospace SEZ near the Bangalore international airport, a senior government official said.
“The proposals have the potential to generate an investment to the tune of Rs 5,000 crore in the next two years in the aerospace sector. Already, nine Indian firms, including IT majors Wipro and Mahindra have signed memoranda of understanding with the government for an investment of around Rs 430 crore at the Aerospace SEZ,” V P Baligar, principal secretary, department of commerce and industries, government of Karnataka told Business Standard.
He said, aerospace division of Thyssen Krupp from Germany, Axis Aerospace and Technologies, and Mahindra Group have already taken approvals from the state government. Thyssen Krupp is investing Rs 50 crore in the first phase and is taking up around 10 acres for their components’ manufacturing unit, while Axis Aerospace and Technologies is setting up an aerospace cluster comprising an MRO (maintenance, repair and overhaul) facility spread over 75 acres adjacent to the international airport.
15/02/11 Mahesh Kulkarni/Business Standard

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Jet adds two international flights, takes daily roster to 100

Mumbai: Jet Airways Monday announced the addition of two more international flights to its schedule, taking the number of such daily services to 100.
The new services are from Mumbai to Dammam - the fourth daily service from India to Saudi Arabia - and Dubai.
The airline currently operates daily flights from Mumbai to Riyadh and Jeddah and from Thiruvananthapuram to Dammam.
The airline also operates daily direct flights to the United Arab Emirates from Chennai, Delhi and Hyderabad, which makes the additional flight from Mumbai the sixth daily direct service on this sector.
Jet Airways CEO Nikos Kardassis said: "Introduction of these flights is an important landmark in the evolution and emergence of the airline as India's premier international airline, as we will now operate over 100 daily flights to key international destinations."
14/02/11 IANS/Economic Times

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18,000 travel every day between Dubai and India

An average of 18,000 passengers flew daily between India and Dubai last summer, while Mumbai-Dubai sector is the most popular international route to and from India, according to India'S Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).
With the high number of travellers, the emirate is way ahead of Singapore, the UK, Thailand and Sri Lanka in terms of air passenger traffic. Dubai's airline, Emirates, was also the single largest international carrier operating to and from India during that same period of April to June 2010. The one-way passenger load for Emirates last summer was 180,000 flyers a month, Times of India reported.
A combined average of 5,000 passengers flew from Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai and Hyderabad to Dubai last summer. London came in second, with an average of only 2,500 flyers--50 per cent less than the passenger traffic to Dubai--travelling daily from the four cities.
From April to June 2010, Emirates flew 548,000 passengers out of India followed by Jet Airways with 504,000 travellers. Air India by itself, that is AI-coded flights, carried 367,000 flyers. Air India beats Emirates only when its flyers are added to those of Indian and Air India Express.
14/02/11 Zawya

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Indian carriers pass international flyers' test

Mumbai: Statistics released by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation on Saturday showed that Indian carriers are slowly but surely catching up with foreign carriers. Though foreign airlines ferry a majority of international passengers to or from India, passenger preference has seen a slight shift towards Indian carriers in the last five years.
In 2004-05, for instance, 71% of passengers who flew international to or from India did so on foreign carriers. In 2009-10, that number fell to 66%.
But airlines such as Air India, Jet Airways, Kingfisher Airlines are several 'nautical miles' behind their foreign rivals like Emirates, Air Arabia, Qatar Airways etc when it comes to total number of passengers flown. In the year, 2008-09, only 95 lakh passengers flew Indian carriers on international flights as compared to the 1.93 crore who flew foreign carriers to/from India during that time.
"Indian carriers will continue to catch up, with airlines like IndiGo scheduled to launch international operations this year," said a top airline official. The percentage of passengers flying on foreign carriers to or from India has been decreasing at an average of 1.5% for the last five years. But the airline official warned against making a linear comparison between these figures. "One must remember that these numbers do not make a distinction between, say, a passenger flying to Singapore and the one flying to New York," he says.
14/02/11 Manju V/Times of India

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Rahat Fateh Ali Khan stopped at IGI airport with cash in baggage

New Delhi: Acclaimed Pakistani sufi singer Rahat Fateh Ali Khan was detained on Sunday at Terminal 3 of the Indira Gandhi International Airport by officials of the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence for allegedly carrying undeclared currency to the tune of 1.24 lakh US dollars, along with Pakistani and Indian currency, sources told Newsline.
Khan (37) was detained at the airport around 3.45 pm. Till the time of filing of the report, he was with DRI officials. Around 11 pm, DRI was going to begin questioning Khan and his entourage of 14 persons, officials said.
Khan was to board an Emirates flight to Karachi via Dubai (EK 517), scheduled to take off around 4 pm, when the currency was found in his baggage. Khan was here to perform at an Indo-Pakistan peace initiative.
“The questioning will go on for another five hours, at least. All the 15 are under detention. A decision on their arrest has not been taken,” a source said.
As per norms, a foreign national cannot carry more than $ 5,000 in cash and $ 5,000 in other instruments — a greater amount has to be declared to the Customs Department. A person can take out of the country an amount equivalent to what he had declared on entering.
14/02/11 Geeta Gupta/Indian Express

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Airport cuffs on singer caught with cash

New Delhi: Pakistani singer Rahat Fateh Ali Khan was tonight arrested at the Indira Gandhi International Airport here for allegedly carrying undeclared foreign currency several times the permissible limit.
“He has been placed under arrest. He was carrying $1.24 lakh in foreign currency and two demand drafts of $10,000 and $8,646. He did not declare it to the immigration authorities,” said an official of the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) who along with customs authorities had earlier detained the singer.
A foreign national can carry up to $5,000 in cash and $5,000 in other instruments —around Rs 4.55 lakh at current exchange rates. The sum Rahat was allegedly carrying adds up to over Rs 60 lakh — over 13 times the limit allowed.
A customs official said the arrest followed Rahat’s failure to explain the source of the cash. “He was giving unsatisfactory replies on where he got the currency. He was arrested as he failed to provide all the details,” the official said. Rahat was detained around 4.15pm as he was about to board an Emirates flight to Dubai on way to Karachi.
The 37-year-old is the nephew of the late Pakistani singing legend Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and the voice behind several Bollywood chartbusters. These include Tere Mast Mast Do Nain from last year’s top-grosser Dabangg and Ajj Din Chadeya from Love Aaj Kal, starring Saif Ali Khan and Deepika Padukone, in 2009.
13/02/11 The Telegraph

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Recession hit air traffic to US, Britain

Mumbai: The global economic downturn not only caused heartburn in India, it also dampened Indians' newfound wanderlust. Encumbered by the difficult times, Indians reduced their travel to and from various international destinations, but not all.
While flights operating between India and countries like the US, UK, Singapore, Sri Lanka suffered between 2008 and 2010, a few places like Dubai and Hong Kong witnessed a surge in passenger traffic. Of these, Hong Kong was the biggest beneficiary; air traffic between India and the bustling Chinese city grew by 128% in 2008-09 and by 68% in 2009-10. During these years, air traffic to most other countries fell by an average of 10%, according to data released by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Saturday.
Experts say the reason Hong Kong has suddenly found favour with fliers is the bilateral agreement signed between the special administrative region and India, which has allowed Cathay Pacific to operate more flights between the two destinations.
The DGCA statistics also show that Indian airlines are slowly catching up with their foreign carriers on international routes. Though foreign airlines continue to ferry the majority of passengers to and from India, fliers have somewhat warmed up to Indian carriers in the last five years. In 2004-05, 71% of passengers flying between India and other destination chose foreign carriers; by 2009-10, that number had fallen to 66%.
14/02/11 Manju V/Times of India

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Air India Express adds new routes from Abu Dhabi

Air India Express is introducing a weekly flight to Mangalore and one to Amrtisar from Abu Dhabi International Airport.
With the addition of the new services on Feb 14, Air India Express will now operate 32 flights a week to seven destinations in India.
Mr. Harjeet Sawhney, manager of Air India Express in Abu Dhabi & Al Ain, said: “Air India Express is pleased to announce this increase in frequency on the two routes: Mangalore – Abu Dhabi and Amritsar – Abu Dhabi, which reflects our confidence in the Abu Dhabi market and the level of services made available to us by Abu Dhabi Airports Company.”
13/02/Arabian Supply Chain

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US citizen in T3 for 20 hrs: Ministry raises questions

New Delhi: The civil aviation ministry has raised questions about the presence of US citizen Tyrome Torand Redmon at IGI airport's Terminal 3 for over 20 hours before he attempted suicide on Thursday morning . The 37-year-old has been booked under Section 309 by Delhi Police and sent to judicial custody.

Redmon ran out of the terminal around 7.15am on Thursday and was chased across the approach road by security officials before he attempted to fling himself over the railing. He had reached the airport around 11am the previous day to catch a flight to Newark but was not issued a boarding pass since he did not have his baggage .

"The passenger was inside the terminal from around 11am on Wednesday to 7.15am on Thursday. Not one person detected his presence or questioned him. Not even did the airline , which knew there was a passenger who was unable to board a flight, report him to anyone. A passenger who enters the terminal cannot leave unless the airline authorizes the exit. At this point there was no security check done on him and he could have been a risk either to others to even to himself. This seems to be a serious lapse on part of all agencies concerned ," said a ministry official .
12/02/11 Neha Lalchandani/Times of India

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China and India boost Heathrow numbers

The growing market from China and India led Heathrow to have its busiest January since 2006 this year.
Passenger numbers on routes to China from the London hub grew 30 per cent, while those to India rose 10 per cent, leading to the airport’s strongest January long-haul performance ever.
The airport saw total passenger numbers rise 4.6 per cent year on year to 5.05 million in January. Only half of this rise is attributed by Heathrow’s owners BAA to the bad weather in January 2010.
BAA’s airports as a whole saw an underlying increase of between 1.5% and 2% year on year this January. Domestic traffic grew most strongly, up 8.3%, having been more affected by snow in the same month last year. European scheduled traffic rose 2.7% and the North Atlantic services increased by 3.2%.
11/02/11 Gary Noakes/ABTN

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Man sold bogus airline tickets: Cops

A Toronto man was arrested Thursday for allegedly selling fraudulent airline tickets, leaving unsuspecting victims stranded at airports without valid tickets.
Peel Regional Police alleged a man operating under the online business of Super Asia Travel Inc. sold bogus airline tickets to victims.
When victims arrived at the airport to check in with their tickets and board their overseas flights, they discovered their tickets were invalid and would not be honoured, according to investigators.
The majority of flights sold were to India and Pakistan and South Asia and more than 100 victims paid a combined total which exceeds $300,000 for tickets, said police.
“All transactions took place online or over the phone. There was never any face-to-face meetings,” Dolan said.
Talha Choudry, 34, of no fixed address, faces numerous fraud charges.
11/02/11 Toronto Sun/Sharon Lem

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Suicide bid by 'frustrated' US man

New Delhi: A love triangle, a visit to India, paranoia, a 20-hour wait at the airport and attempted suicide. This is the story of 37-year-old Tyrome Torand Redmon who tried to kill himself by jumping off the departure ramp at IGI airport's Terminal 3 on Thursday.
Redmon, who was slated to fly to the US on Wednesday afternoon, ran out of gate no 8 at 7.15am on Thursday, crossed the road, climbed the railing and remained perched there till 11.30am. A team from the US embassy had to be called in to persuade Redmon to come down.
According to eyewitnesses, he ambled up and down the 2-feet wide ledge, smoked and shouted once in a while before he was persuaded to come down. "Officials managed to get near him on several occasions but he would threaten to jump. Eventually, he came down but a second later climbed up again and jumped. At the last minute, someone caught hold of his leg and pulled him back," said an eyewitness.
Redmon, against whom a case of suicide under Section 309 has been filed, was interrogated by a joint team of Delhi Police, information bureau and the US embassy. Police sources said: "Initially, Redmon was quite shaken up and refused to talk. His passport revealed that he was born in September 1973 and had a 6-month multiple entry visa for India. He arrived in Delhi with an NRI friend, Neelesh Patel, on February 2 and left for Vadodara where Patel has family. Redmon claimed that both of them were interested in one girl and he was scared that Patel would either have him killed or implicated in a police case so he wanted to hurry back to the US. He returned to Delhi with Patel around 11.30pm on Tuesday. Patel later left by train for Vadodara and Redmon went to board his 1.30pm Virgin Atlantic flight to Newark the next day. We have summoned Patel to Delhi verify this story."
10/02/11 Times of India

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Embraer bets big on Indian economy

Chennai/ Bangalore: With India being one of the fastest-growing economies, the sales of business jets are picking up pace. Business jets manufacturers like Embraer are betting big on the market. Over the next two years, Embraer will be delivering 20 of its business aircraft. As of now, the aircraft manufacturer has three aircraft in the country. Though the country has only three aircraft in the country today, it is preparing the infrastructure for the maintenance, repair and overhaul of more aircraft. It has tied up with Airworks, a MRO player, for providing MRO services to its customers. “It is a customer-driven move,” Andre Sousa, director-customer support (executive jets), Embraer Asia Pacific Lte Ltd, told Business Standard. Embraer, the Brazilian aerospace firm that is one of the biggest small and medium jets, is setting up customer support and is widening its customer support base with its tie-up with Airworks. Airworks will provide its support at four centres, New Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore and Chennai.
Airworks on its part will stock spare parts, most of which are parts that require more frequent replacements. “We will bring the parts from Singapore and Dubai the other parts that require fewer replacements,” said a top ranking sources from Airworks.
10/02/11 Praveen Bose/Business Standard

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Helicopter assembly facility at GMR Park

Hyderabad: GMR Hyderabad Aviation SEZ Ltd, part of GMR Group, said Indian Rotorcraft Ltd (IRL) will set up a helicopter assembly and flight testing facility at GMR Aerospace Park. The proposed facility will assemble the 8-seater AW119ke, a top-of-the-range helicopter in the single engine market and the first aircraft is scheduled for delivery in 2012.
The company didn’t disclose the nature of investments in the upcoming facility. IRL is a joint venture between holding company Tata Sons Ltd and Italy-based Finmeccanica SpA’s helicopter unit AgustaWestland. The Tata group has a 74 per cent stake and Ratan Tata is the chairman of the country’s first private helicopter assembly line. GMR said it had alloted 10 acres for the facility, for which construction will commence after seeking necessary approvals from the government.
The AW119Ke assembly line, the first of its kind in private sector in India will provide remarkable industrial opportunities in the aerospace sector in India and will enable the company to play an increasing role in the development of the Indian helicopter market.
09/02/11 ExpressBuzz

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Is India Ready for the A380?

New Delhi’s swanky Terminal 3 has only had a fleeting visit from the world’s largest and most modern passenger aircraft, the A380 super jumbo.
So what’s stopping airlines from flying the big bird to India?
The simple answer is India’s Ministry of Civil Aviation, which is doing the equivalent of flashing the dreaded yellow and red lights that keep aircraft on hold, interminably.
The ministry has held back permission without citing any reasons, but aviation circles are rife with speculation that the motive is to protect Indian carriers. Some domestic airlines that fly to Europe are worried that the A380 would take away passengers from their routes, with travelers lured by the new aircraft and attractive fares that are possible with the larger, more economical plane.
If true, such a deliberate delay would be short-sighted and ultimately against India’s own interests. Indian carrier Kingfisher has five A380s on order and the option to buy five more. Air India, which has a strong partnership with Lufthansa, could also make the A380 available to its customers through its existing code-share agreement with the German carrier on the Delhi-Frankfurt route.
Lufthansa was expected to start flying the A380 on the Delhi-Frankfurt route with the opening of T3. The airline announced as much, but then it wasn’t allowed to fly the super jumbo to India, and instead had to deploy it elsewhere.
09/02/11 Ansgar Sickert/Wall Street Journal

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Air India bomber appeals perjury conviction

Vancouver: Air India bomb maker Inderjit Singh Reyat is appealing both his perjury conviction and his nine-year prison sentence.
According to documents filed Feb. 4 in the B.C. Court of Appeal, defence lawyer Ian Donaldson claims B.C. Supreme Court Justice Mark McEwan made several mistakes, including misdirecting the jury and failing to direct jurists that there was no evidence to support portions of the Crown’s closing address at Reyat’s five-day perjury trial last year in Vancouver.
Reyat was the only person convicted in the June 23, 1985, bombing that killed all 329 people on board Air India Flight 182. A second bomb, meant for another Air India flight, killed two baggage handlers that same day at Tokyo’s Narita airport.
Reyat later pleaded not guilty to lying while under oath at the trial of Ripudaman Singh Malik and Ajaib Singh Bagri, who were acquitted in the bombings in March 2005.
08/02/11 QMI Agency/Toronto SUN.com

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Air Canada ties up with Jet to protect its India traffic

Toronto: After Ottawa's refusal to grant additional flights to Emirates Airline last year to protect traffic on the India-Canada corridor for its national carrier, Air Canada has entered into a sharing agreement with Jet Airways till it gets long-haul Boeing 787 Dreamliner to resume India operations.
Under a three-year agreement starting February 21, passengers booking for India will travel on Air Canada flights to London's Heathrow Airport where they will be connected to Jet flights for Mumbai.
Air Canada stopped its direct India flights via Zurich in 2007 after it faced severe economic crunch. It entered into a sharing agreement with Lufthansa with Frankfurt as the hub for passenger transfer on the Canada-India sector.
With its deal with Jet Airways, Air Canada aims to safeguard its traffic on the growing India-Canada corridor till it gets its fuel-efficient, long-haul Boeing 787 Dreamliner in 2013 to re-start direct operations to India, according to reports.
08/02/11 IANS/Sify.com

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INDIA-US Aviation Cooperation Programme

Mr. Vayalar Ravi, Minister for Civil Aviation met Mr. Gary Locke, the US Commerce Secretary on 7th February 2011 and both sides acknowledged the excellent cooperation through the Memorandum of Agreement and India-US Aviation Cooperation Programme (ACP).
The ACP bilateral partnership which was launched in 2007, targets mutual interests in supporting modernisation requirements of India’s rapidly growing Aviation Sector. The United States Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) is the lead sponsor of the ACP and funds technical assistance programmes for the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) and Airports Authority of India (AAI). Mr. Vayalar Ravi thanked Mr. Gary Locke for the projects already underway which have helped the Indian Civil Aviation Sector as a whole. Both sides exchanged views on how to further this cooperation.
Mr. Vayalar Ravi also informed that the Executive Agreement for the Bilateral Aviation Safety Agreement between the two sides may be signed very soon once it receives the internal approvals in India.
The two sides discussed the benefits of the ACP partnership in being able to identify and executive priority technical collaboration projects. The Indian side expressed that projects in the pipeline such as the grant agreement for the Inspector training programme or TMODT for the DGCA may be given priority.
Mr. Vayalar Ravi thanked Mr Gary Locke for committing to fund a technical assistance programme for the AAI for the installation and operational certification of a pilot Ground Based Augmentation System at Chennai International Airport which will help to improve the safety and efficiency of India’s air traffic management systems.
The two sides agreed to hold the 3rd India-US Aviation Summit sometime during 2011, in India, at a date mutually convenient.
The two Ministers also presided over a business delegation in which business heads of various companies participated.
07/02/11 PRESS RELEASE/Press Information Bureau

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Air France to tap India market, use bigger planes, forge alliances

New Delhi: Air France-KLM group, Europe’s largest carrier, plans to expand India operations over the next two years by flying bigger aircraft and forging alliances with local airlines to tap growing demand.
The carrier, which scrapped flights from Chennai and Hyderabad during the 2008-09 economic slowdown, now wants to upgrade its aircraft on high-traffic routes linking Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore with hubs in Paris and Amsterdam, said Pieter de Man, general manager, Indian subcontinent.
These routes are currently served by Airbus A330 or A340 aircraft; Air France-KLM plans to introduce the larger Boeing 777 on them before starting talks with the government to ply the biggest passenger jet, Airbus A380, to India.
“I think we have two airlines that are ahead of us in discussions with the government for A380, Emirates and Lufthansa. They will probably operate an A380 earlier than we will,” Man said. “I foresee that the A380 discussion will not take place in the year 2011, maybe in 2012.”
The airline will ask for permission to operate the A380 to connect airports ready for the plane. “If we were to operate, it would have to be a toss between Paris to Delhi or it could be Mumbai,” Man said.
08/02/11 Tarun Shukla/Live Mint

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Garuda to fly to India

PT Garuda Indonesia will begin direct flights between Indonesia and India in the second half of 2011, subject to regulatory approval.
According to Tempo Interaktif, the airline hopes to cash in on the high volume of traffic between the two nations, which in recent years has grown due to increased trade and the large number of Indians working in Indonesia.
Garuda’s information technology and strategic director, Elisa Lumbantoruan, says that at present the market is “very open” as no airline offers direct flights between the two nations.
08/02/11 eTravel Balckboard

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Runaway man hits runway

Calcutta airport faced a security scare this weekend with armed guards in pursuit of an intruder sprinting down the tarmac after jumping off a taxi and entering the restricted area through a gate meant for authorised vehicles.
“An inquiry has been ordered. We will take strong action against the guards who were on duty,” Jayati Ghosh, the CISF commandant at the airport, told Metro on Sunday.
Pintu Kumar Singh, 25, from Murera village in Bihar’s Gopalganj district, had been refused entry into Thailand because of his allegedly abnormal behaviour and put on a flight back to the city on Saturday. Some relatives were escorting him back from the airport around 11.10pm when he opened the door of the taxi and jumped off.
“Pintu had gone to Bangkok on February 4 as a goods carrier for his employer. He was to return to the city on February 13 but he didn’t make it beyond the immigration counter at Bangkok airport,” an official said.
By the time one of the Calcutta guards spotted Pintu go past them on Saturday night — gate number four had been opened to let a vehicle pass — he was headed for the primary runway. The relatives who were running after him were stopped at the gate.
The guards later told officials that they did not fire at the intruder because his relatives pleaded with them not to, saying he was a mentally unstable man.
As the guards chased Pintu, the pilot of a Kingfisher Airlines flight from Hyderabad that had just landed spotted him at the crossing of the Golf and Fox taxiways.
“The pilot immediately informed air traffic control about the intruder in the apron area and also alerted the airline’s security staff,” said an official.
“When the guards caught up with him, he pushed two of them to the ground. It was only after the CISF’s quick-reaction team arrived that he could be pinned down,” an official said.
“He was suffering from extreme anxiety and looked scared when he was not violent. He seemed to be wanting to run away from his family members,” said a doctor who examined him.
07/02/11 The Telegraph

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Air India Signs OnPoint Solution Agreement for Its GE90 Engine Fleet

Dubai: GE Aviation and India’s national carrier Air India have signed a 20-year OnPointSM solution agreement that covers its GE90 engines. The value of the agreement is not being released.
Air India will expand its maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) capabilities at its Mumbai, India facility to include GE90 engine overhaul. The current schedule calls for the Mumbai facility to be certified for basic GE90 MRO by 2012. Eventually, Air India plans to build a new MRO facility in Nagpur, India, that will include GE90 testing capabilities.
As part of the OnPoint solution agreement, GE will provide Air India with comprehensive material support, training and assistance on overhaul workscoping. While Air India develops its GE90 MRO capabilities, GE will provide the airline with overhaul services at GE’s MRO facilities to support the carrier’s GE90 engine fleet.
“Air India has more than 40 years of providing high-quality MRO services in India,” said Nalin Jain, country director for GE Aviation. “Adding GE90 engine overhaul service is the perfect expansion of Air India’s MRO capabilities.”
06/02/11 IEWY news

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Etihad plans to expand its wings in India

Mumbai: Sharjah-based budget carrier Etihad plans to expand its wings further across India with a view to benefit from the growing air passenger traffic in the world's second-fastest growing major economy.
The airline is looking at adding a few more destinations in India besides adding capacity from Delhi and Mumbai, Etihad Airways sources said here.
"India, a fast-growing market, is very important for us. We are looking at a progressive but very reasonable increase in our services in years to come," they told media.
The airline is evaluating cities such as Amritsar, Ahmedabad, Kolkata and Jaipur to add in its network, if it gets the required regulatory approvals, in the current calender year, they said.
"In addition, Goa is also on Etihad's radar as another prospective destination. We are also mulling to reallocate some of the existing seats to the Mumbai and Delhi to scale up frequency from the two cities " sources said.
Most of the Gulf airlines operating out of India had huge seat capacity under the air traffic rights, they said, adding "We are the one with least number of seats."
Under the UAE-India air traffic rights bilateral agreement, Etihad can operate 13,330 seats per week on the India-Sharjah route. "UAE is negotiating with the Indian Government to increase the present allocation of seats. we hope it happens sooner than later," they said.
06/02/11 PTI/Economic Times

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Tamworth man left stranded at Heathrow after Air India loses his wheelchair

A disbaled Staffordshire man’s dream trip to Thailand turned into a nightmare when an airline lost his wheelchair on his flight home.
Paul Phipps, who suffers from multiple sclerosis, said Air India left him stranded at London Heathrow after he waited three hours in the baggage reclaim area for his wheelchair, which had vanished.
The 41-year-old, from Tamworth, was then left housebound for a week and has been forced to hire a temporary wheelchair to get around as the airline has still not replaced his.
Paul had just returned from a relaxing break with his wife Duean and their daughter Katie, aged four, and spent £1,500 on flights. The wheelchair disappeared on his connecting flight from Delhi. He said that none of the airline staff helped him on January 3.
And he was forced to pay a porter to help him to a minibus to return home.
“I had to cancel a doctor’s appointment because I couldn’t get there. It’s like having a part of your life taken away from you.
“I tried calling Air India repeatedly but couldn’t get through. I’ve had to hire a wheelchair myself.
“Someone called saying they would get one to me by January 14 but nothing has come of it.
“I feel that the least they could do is cover the cost of hiring a wheelchair while they continue to search for the one they lost,” Paul said.
Nick Harris, head of Holiday Travel law Simpson Millar LLP has been helping Paul with his case.
Air India spokesman Ramu Masti said Paul’s wheelchair had still not been found but the company was sending a cheque to reimburse him.
05/02/11 Sophie Cross/Birmingham Mail.net

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Cathay Pacific to boost cargo carrying capacity in Asia

New Delhi: Hong Kong-based Cathay Pacific airlines is all set to boost its cargo carrying capacity in the Asian region, including India, after creating a joint venture with the behemoth Air China Cargo company recently.
The airline is also looking forward to enhance its cargo capacity with 10 new generation Boeing 747-8 freighter aircraft to begin operations during this year. The airline currently has 25 freighters in its fleet and carries two-way cargo from big Indian airports like Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai and prominent foreign destinations in Asia like Dhaka, Dubai, Osaka, Singapore, Tokyo and Shanghai.
"The airline has grown to become one of the world's top ten international air-cargo carriers. The airline is also planning to expand the service options to cater to large number of businesses and customers in the Asian and Indian region," an airline source said.
The tie-up with the Air China Cargo Company (ACC) would help the airline move forward on this front and enhance competition in the region, they said. The airline has also launched a series of new innovative schemes to attract passengers. For fliers, who want to air-dash over the world on a free ticket for 80 days, the airline has brought a contest.
06/02/11 PTI/Deccan Herald

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Check-in on the tarmac

Vinod Angolkar had never flown in a near-empty plane before. Neither had he flown business class. Till that Sunday, when the 56-year-old deputy duty manager, a member of Air India’s ground staff at Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji Airport, was put on an “unscheduled flight” to Cairo. As the plane began to descend at 8.30 p.m. local time, Angolkar sat on the edge of his seat, his nose against the window, trying to spot the signs of chaos he had only just heard of. As the yellow lights of Cairo filtered in through the window of the dark plane, Angolkar remembers looking down at a deserted capital city. “There wasn’t a single person on the street, not one car on the roads,” he says. President Hosni Mubarak had imposed a curfew in the city—from 4 p.m. to 8 a.m.—and the airport area, Heliopolis, was one of the few parts of the capital where the curfew had been effective.
As millions took to the streets in protest against Mubarak’s 30-year-old reign, Cairo International Airport was gridlocked. People spent nights at the airport, desperate to flee the chaos. On January 30, the Indian government decided to send a special Air India plane to Cairo to bring back Indians stranded in the city. And so, AI 800 made that journey.
Since no Indian carrier flies to Cairo, AI 800 was an “unscheduled flight”, which meant that there was no ground staff to usher the passengers into the plane. It’s a job Angolkar has been doing for 31 years, so when he got a call that Sunday at the end of his eight-hour shift, asking if he would go to Cairo to check in passengers, he agreed.
06/02/11 Alia Allana/Indian Express

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Pilot descends 2000 feet, averts disaster

Two aircraft, one flying from Calcutta to Imphal, came on a collision course on Thursday afternoon but a disaster was averted as one of the pilots made a rapid descent following an on-flight alert.
Sources at the Calcutta airport suspect an oversight by the Dhaka airport authorities, in whose airspace the flights came too close to each other.
The Air India flight from Calcutta was carrying 102 passengers. The other flight, of China Eastern Airline, was from Kathmandu to Shanghai.
Sources at the Calcutta air traffic control (ATC) said the Air India flight, an Airbus 319, had taken off around noon and flew 30 nautical miles (55.56 km) before entering the flight information region of Dhaka airport.
“The Calcutta ATC approved a flying height of 31,000 feet for the aircraft. The pilot was flying at that height but he apparently told the Dhaka ATC that Calcutta had approved him 33,000 feet,” said an official at the city airport.
“The Dhaka ATC then told the pilot to ascend to its allotted height of 33,000 feet. We had information — and the Dhaka ATC, too, apparently knew — that the China Eastern Airline was at 33,000 feet.”
The flight from Kathmandu was approaching the Air India Airbus flight path at an angle of 45 degree from the left. “When the two came too close to each other near Comilla in Bangladesh around 12.30pm, the on-flight Traffic Collision Avoidance System (Ticas) issued an alert that they were on a collision course. The Air India pilot immediately descended 2,000 feet,” the official said.
If two aircraft are on a collision course, the Ticas issues various types of alerts depending on their proximity.
“If two aircraft are in less than 40 seconds of Ticas gives a resolutionary advisory, asking the aircraft either to climb or descend away from conflicting aircraft. If its more than that then a mere traffic advisory is given,” said a pilot.
While Calcutta ATC is probing whether actually the Air India pilot was instructed to fly at 31,000 feet. “Dhaka ATC personnel knew that the China Eastern flight was also flying at 33,000 feet so it’s a mystery how they allowed both flights at same level,” said the official.
05/02/11 Sanjay Mandal/The Telegraph

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Air Canada moves to protect Mumbai route

Air Canada has renewed its partnership with Jet Airways (India) Ltd., a strategic move designed to keep their Canada-India route competitive against Emirates Airline.
Effective Feb. 21, a new three-year pact kicks in, ensuring that travellers will be able to continue booking seats on an Air Canada plane from Toronto to connect onto Jet at London’s Heathrow Airport, from where Jet then flies to Mumbai. Air Canada and its Star Alliance partner, Germany’s Deutsche Lufthansa AG, also serve the Canada-India market through their Frankfurt hub.
Air Canada signed its first partnership pact with Mumbai-based Jet in 2008, clearing the way for the carriers to sell tickets on each other’s flights on the Toronto-Mumbai route. But Emirates, which launched its Toronto-Dubai service in October, 2007, introduced the Airbus A380 double-decker aircraft to the route in mid-2009, stepping up the battle against Air Canada and its allies.
Emirates, owned by the Dubai government, competes for passengers by offering service between Toronto and India via the Gulf carrier’s Dubai hub. Last fall, Ottawa rejected requests from the United Arab Emirates for more Canadian landing slots. Emirates currently has three flights a week on the Toronto-Dubai route, but wants daily landing rights at Canada’s largest city.
Emirates has said that its expanded presence in Canada would broaden consumer choice and generate a wide range of spinoff benefits for the Canadian economy.
04/02/11 Brent Jang/Globe and Mail

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'If we can't pay up, we will forfeit our passports'

Mumbai: This is the note cash-strapped Indians had to sign at Cairo airport, in return for travelling back on AI's special flight, as banks were shut in the troubled land
Indian nationals, trapped in the turmoil in Egypt without a penny to pay for travel, could return to the safety of their homeland only after pledging to pay the carrier as soon as they landed.
Desperate to get out of the country where ATMs are out of order, banks shut, and normal life uprooted, they signed promissory notes to AI officials at Cairo airport, so they would be allowed to board the special ferry aircraft.
Being the designated national carrier, Air India has been pressed into service to bring back Indian nationals like these left out on a limb in Egypt
"If we fail to make the payment after landing in India you may forfeit our passport," the notes read.
"As Egyptian airlines ceased operations, we had one option - to board the Air India special flight.
We didn't have any cash to buy the ticket. The ATMs were shut, banks closed and no credit card facilities were available.
So we gave written assurances that if we failed to make the payment after reaching India, our passports may be forfeited," said Pankaj Sharma (37).
He boarded the first rescue flight after signing an assurance that he will pay the airline Rs 45,000 for his ticket.
Sharma was staying at a hotel close to Tahrir Square, the area that witnessed violent upheaval, where Egyptian authorities detained many journalists to remove witnesses to the anti-government protests.
05/02/11 Bipin Kumar Singh/MiD DAY

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Etihad Airways team in India to strengthen ties

Abu Dhabi: An Etihad Airways delegation led by chief executive James Hogan arrived in India, and met with key civil aviation officials and trade partners in the nation's capital, New Delhi.
Hogan met with the Indian Minister for Civil Aviation Vyalar Ravi and other authorities to discuss growth opportunities in the Indian aviation market.
He said: "India is a cornerstone market and the largest market we serve, with eight destinations. The scope of our Indian operation today reflects the historic ties between the UAE and India, and is also indicative of the great potential for the region and our confidence in its future growth."
Hogan added: "We see enormous opportunity to expand and diversify our services in light of the unique mix of traffic and both countries' growing position as world-class business and holiday destinations.
05/02/11 Gulf News

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Etihad seeks government's permission to extend pact with Jet Airways

New Delhi: Etihad Airways, UAE's national airline, has sought the government's permission to extend its code-share agreement with Jet Airways to include additional routes to enhance its network capabilities.
"We are looking at a domestic code-sharing agreement on more routes with Jet Airways to help passengers travel seamlessly from other parts of the world into all points in India. We are awaiting the government's approval for implementing this," Etihad Airways CEO James Hogan told ET.
Such an arrangement will enable a person to fly on Etihad's network across the globe seamlessly. A code-share agreement is a business arrangement where two airlines share the same flight code. A seat can be purchased on one airline but is operated by a cooperating airline under a different flight number or code.
04/02/11 Anindya Upadhyay/Economic Times

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Karnataka to hard-sell Aerospace Park at Aero India 2011

Bangalore: The Karnataka government is set to hard sell its Aerospace Park coming up near Devanahalli during the biennial five-day Aero India show commencing on February 9.
The government, for the first time, will set up a stall to woo global aviation majors to the state.
It has already contacted aviation leaders with a request to consider Bangalore as their favourite destination while implementing their future plans.
“We have already fixed exclusive one-on-one meetings of delegations of nine most prestigious aerospace firms with chief minister BS Yeddyurappa and chief secretary SV Ranganath,” commissioner of Industries and commerce department Rajkumar Khatri said.
Rolls Royce India head Anil Sharkhande, Lockheed Martin country head Jagmohan Singh, a delegation from US-India Business Council led by its president Ron Somers were scheduled to hold separated meetings with the chief minister.
Representatives from Boeing, Raytheon and Honeywell would be in the delegation headed by Somers.
04/02/11 Hemanth Kumar/Daily News & Analysis

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GE Aviation, Air India sign 20-year MRO pact

GE Aviation has signed a 20-year engine maintenance agreement with Air India. The agreement covers the maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) of GE90 aircraft engines.
"Air India will expand its MRO capabilities at its Mumbai facility to include GE90 engine overhaul. The current schedule calls for the Mumbai facility to be certified for basic GE90 MRO by 2012. Eventually, Air India plans to build a new MRO facility in Nagpur that will include GE90 testing capabilities," said a release from GE Aviation.
"Air India has more than 40 years of providing high-quality MRO services in India. Adding GE90 engine overhaul service is the perfect expansion of Air India's MRO capabilities," said Nalin Jain, country director for GE Aviation.
While Air India develops its GE90 MRO capabilities, GE will provide the carrier with overhaul services to support the carrier's GE90 engine fleet.
04/02/11 Rediff Business

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Gulf carriers take on desi budget airlines

New Delhi: As more Indian budget carriers get ready to fly overseas from this year, especially to Gulf, international full service airlines are gearing up to meet their challenge. Etihad, UAE's luxury national airline, plans to counter the challenge by having all-economy class flights between its hub Abu Dhabi and Indian cities on sectors where LCCs could dominate. What's more, the airline says it will offer "competitive" fares with the LCCs and offer free meals along with inflight entertainment (IFE)-something that most LCCs don't boast of.
Apart from this, Etihad CEO James Hogan said here on Thursday that the airline is requesting for permission to have code share on domestic Indian routes with Indian carriers. A team of airline officials will meet aviation ministry officials with request for more cities to be served in India.
"We are allowed to have code share with Indian carriers on routes that both of us may be serving but not for domestic routes. We are requesting the government to allow this as that would allow passengers the convenience of booking one ticket between anywhere in the world via Abu Dhabi and any Indian city on global distribution system. So on one ticket a person can fly from Abu Dhabi to an Indian city like Patna by catching an Indian carrier after landing in Delhi or Mumbai on our flight. Travel would become seamless on code share on domestic Indian routes," Hogan said.
04/02/11 Saurabh Sinha/Times of India

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India's Flyington cancels A330 freighter order

India's Flyington Freighters has cancelled its order for 12 Airbus A330-200Fs, four years after becoming one of the type's initial customers.
Flyington had been intending to equip its A330 freighters with Pratt & Whitney PW4000 engines.
The start-up carrier had been the first cargo operator to sign up to the new type when it ordered six in 2007, before doubling its commitment later the same year.
Airbus' latest order and delivery figures, covering January 2011, confirm the cancellation of a dozen A330 freighters, and the airframer no longer lists Flyington as a customer.
Gross orders for 32 aircraft were recorded by Airbus in the first month of the year, including six A380s ordered by South Korea's Asiana Airlines on 6 January.
03/02/11 David Kaminski-Morrow/Flightglobal

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Asia a hotbed of budget carriers

Singapore : Low-cost carriers (LCC) are thriving in Asia-Pacific so much so that they would represent 33-40% of combined airline seats in the region by 2015 or 2016 from less than 20% currently, according to an aviation expert.
With two huge economies - China and India - embedded in the region, Asia-Pacific will unquestionably become the world's largest LCC market and the penetration of the LCC sector into the total airline industry will be relentless.
Asia-Pacific's total air transport market is growing at 7-8% a year, twice the rest of the world, and the LCC sector is going to grow much faster than that, said Peter Harbison, chairman of Centre for Asia-Pacific Aviation (Capa), a Sydney-based aviation research body.
What is happening here is consistent with the global trend in which no-frills airlines accounting for 23.4% of the world's total seat capacity last year, the Capa statistics show.
Asia-Pacific is catching up with other geographical areas where the LCC industry has become more mature. In Europe, LCCs represented 35.3% of the total capacity last year. The figures were 28.6% in North America and 29.9% in Central and South America.
"If you look at the aircraft orders, and taking China out, over half of all the new seats on orders are by LCCs, underlying the growth (in Asia-Pacific)," Mr Harbison told the Bangkok Post.
03/02/11 Bangkok Post

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GE to set up Rs 1Kcr workshop in Mihan?

Nagpur: Heavy industries minister Praful Patel, who had held the civil aviation portfolio until a few weeks ago, told the media on Wednesday that GE and Air India would set up a jet engine workshop in Mihan.
Air India officials, however, said that deliberations were on but nothing concrete had taken shape. Maharashtra Airport Development Company (MADC) officers too said that the project was in preliminary stages. "We had not made any announcement regarding this project because it was too early," he said.
03/02/11 Times of India

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Third AI flight takes off for Cairo to rescue stranded Indians

Mumbai: An Air India plane departed for Cairo on Wednesday to rescue Indian nationals and tourists still stranded there. The empty aircraft, which took off in the afternoon, is the third such flight being operated by the airline following mass protests in Egypt to oust President Hosni Mubarak.
An Air India (AI) flight left Mumbai in the afternoon, all empty except for the required crew, to bring back passengers from Egypt. This is the third special flight operated by the airline on government orders.
According to an official, there are 3,000 Indians still stuck in the crisis-ridden country, most of whom are on business trips or their honeymoon. "The Indian embassy is in touch with all those stranded there, collecting requisite documents and making arrangements to fly them home," the official said.
"The Boeing 747-800 that took off from the Mumbai airport at 2.40 pm is expected to return early on Thursday. We can operate more such flights if the government wants us to," an AI official said, adding that the turnaround time of the flight would depend on the conditions in Cairo. "An international flight has to hold for three hours before it can start again,'' he said. "Even for this flight, passengers will have to pay double the usual (ticket) cost. Those who do not have ready cash will have the option of signing a bond with AI promising to pay the amount within a stipulated time frame." a senior official said.
03/02/11 Chinmayi Shalya/Times of India

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Dhruv simulator cockpit arrives at HATSOFF

Bangalore: The Helicopter Academy to Train by Simulation of Flying (HATSOFF) today announced that its simulator cockpit for the civil or conventional variant of the Dhruv helicopter has arrived at its training centre here following design and manufacture in Montreal, Canada. "This is the world's first simulator representing the indigenously developed HAL Dhruv helicopter and we are excited to begin offering simulation-based training that will undoubtedly prove to be a safe and cost-effective method for training Dhruv helicopter air crew," Wing Commander (Retd) Chandta Datt Upadhyay, CEO of HATSOFF, said.A joint venture of Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) and CAE, a leading Canadian maker of flight simulators, HATSOFF began operating here in 2010.The Dhruv simulator cockpit will be installed and integrated with the CAE-built full-mission simulator currently in operation at HATSOFF, a release said.
02/02/11 PTI/IBN Live

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