Gujarati couple gets Rs 46,000 damages from British Airways

Ahmedabad: British Airways has been asked to pay Rs 46,000 in damages to two Gujarati passengers after they were made to wait at the Heathrow airport for close to 20 hours in June 2007.
Consumer Dispute Redressal Forum of Vadodara has ordered the airways to pay damages to Himanshu and Rimjhim Shah from Vadodara, who not only suffered a day-long wait but also lost cash and valuables during their time at the airport on June 15, 2007. On arrival in India, they filed a case against the airline seeking damages.
The couple had booked a ticket from Heathrow to Mumbai, but the flight developed a technical snag and passengers were made to wait for 20 hours. They were not provided accommodation or transportation. The next day, the airline gave them a letter saying that they were eligible to receive $175 towards accommodation, transportation and food expenses for the day's wait.
27/02/13 Chitra Unnithan/Times of India

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Delhi's IGI airport wins International health, safety award

New Delhi: The IGI airport here, operated by DIAL, has become the first Indian facility to bag the 'International Safety Award' from British Safety Council.
"This makes Indira Gandhi International airport (IGI), as the first and the only airport in India to win this prestigious award in field of health and safety. The award benchmarks health and safety performance of an organisation on an international level to recognise the leaders in this field," a spokesperson of Delhi International Airport Limited said.
British Safety Council is one of the largest independent occupational health, safety and environmental organisations in the world.
The International Safety Awards are open to all companies across industries globally and the applicants are adjudged across 12 parameters related to health and safety management.
28/02/13 Economic Times

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After Mallya, the bell tolls for Naresh Goyal of Jet

New Delhi: India’s aviation czar Naresh Goyal could soon take his place in history books. After the recent eclipse of Vijay Mallya‘s Kingfisher, it may be the turn of Goyal.
For years, Goyal kept on opposing any move by the government to get foreign airlines to invest in Indian carriers. But the moment FDI was opened up, he sidled up to long-time friends in Etihad Airways to get money for his troubled airline.
However, now even his friends have second thoughts. Etihad is apparently driving a hard bargain and Goyal seems unwilling to give up more than 26 percent equity in his beloved Jet Airways.
The arrival of AirAsia with 49 percent foreign equity, and with the Tatas as junior financial partners, has sent a powerful message to the likes of Etihad. There is no reason why an Etihad should choose to play second fiddle to Goyal in Jet, when it is putting up all the cash.
Goyal is now caught between a rock and a hard place because if the Etihad deal slips through his fingers, he is staring at a bleak future for Jet Airways, which has lost passengers rapidly last year and is now third (standalone) in terms of domestic market share behind IndiGo and Air India.
27/02/13 Sindhu Bhattacharya/First Post.com

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Etihad Buys Jet Air's Heathrow Slots for $70 Million

Mumbai: Etihad Airways , which is in talks to acquire a stake in Jet Airways (India) Ltd. (532617.BY), has bought the Indian carrier's three pairs of landing and departure slots at London's Heathrow airport for $70 million.
The transaction, and expectations that the two companies are close to announcing a deal on Jet's stake drove the Indian carrier's shares up more than 19% to close at 534.85 rupees on the Bombay Stock Exchange, where the benchmark index rose 0.7%.
The agreement for the landing and departure slots was signed Tuesday, Etihad said in a statement. Jet will continue to use the slots on lease, the Abu Dhabi-based company said.
Takeoff and landing slots at Heathrow, the busiest airport in the world, are a highly prized commodity and sell for millions of dollars as the airport is running at full capacity.
27/02/13 Anirban Chowdhury/Dow Jones Newswires/Zawya

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Govt forms JPC to probe helicopter scam, BJP walks out of Rajya Sabha

New Delhi: A Joint Parliamentary Committee will probe the controversial chopper deal, with the government on Wednesday asserting that there will be "no cover up" as it was determined to go to the root of the scam and give maximum punishment to the guilty.
The setting up of the 30-member JPC was decided through a government motion passed by the Rajya Sabha after a walkout by members of most of opposition parties like BJP, JD(U), Trinamool Congress, CPI and AGP.
Moving the motion, parliamentary affairs minister Kamal Nath said the JPC would submit its report within three months of its first sitting and rejected the Opposition contention that the decision would amount to putting the issue on the backburner.He attacked the opposition for walking out, saying they were "running away".
27/02/13 PTI/Times of India

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6-year-olds detained at airport, govt to pay Rs 10L

New Delhi: A city court has ordered the Centre to pay Rs 10 lakh compensation to two children who were "illegally" detained at the IGI Airport for over 20 hours in January 2010 and denied information as to the reasons for their detention.
The case pertains to twins Rumit and Alisha, six years old then, who had landed at the Delhi airport with their mother and two older siblings. They were stopped from exiting, though their family members were allowed to go.
The petition claimed that on January 31, 2010, the twins had landed at the IGI airport from Germany at 11 pm. The Assistant Foreigners Regional Registration Officer (AFFRO) at the IGI airport had stopped the children on the ground that the twins, who are German citizens of Indian Origin, were trying to enter India in less than two months of their earlier visit to India.
The children who were separated from their mother claimed that they were not provided food or sanitation facilities during their detention.
27/02/13 Aneesha Mathur/Indian Express

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IBS Software inks pact with Turkish Cargo

Thiruvananthapuram: The city-based IBS Software has signed a 10-year, multi-million dollar contract with Turkish Cargo, a cargo division of Turkish Airlines.
The contract is for implementation of iCargo, the flagship product from this leading player in the travel, transport and logistics sector.
The deal was announced in Istanbul, said Sankalp Saxena, President and Head of Aviation Operations Services, IBS Software Services. iCargo supports the requirement of airlines’ freight business providing Web-enabled features that optimise operations, enhance profitability and provide scalability.
27/02/13 Vinson Kurian/Business Line

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Direct flights from India to Phuket to start soon

Phuket: Destination weddings and holidays in the resort island of Phuket in Thailand could become easier with the launch of direct flights to New Delhi and Mumbai by budget airlines THAI Smile beginning next month.
The sister airline of national carrier Thai Airways International will begin direct flights from Phuket to Mumbai on March 31, with flights to New Delhi to start on April 2.
THAI Smile will operate four return flights a week to both the destinations.
Announcing this at a reception organised for INS Sudarshini, Indian envoy to Thailand Anil Wadhwa said these "flights will lead to a marked increase in the number of Indian tourists coming here".
27/02/13 PTI/Economic Times

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FAA:reports of Boeing 787 test flights "completely inaccurate"

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said it is not close to approving test flights of Boeing's 787 Dreamliner with a proposed fix for the plane's troubled batteries, denying news reports that such tests could start as early as next week.
"Reports that we are close to allowing 787 test flights are completely inaccurate," spokeswoman Laura Brown said.
Boeing declined to comment.
Batteries overheated on two jets last month, prompting regulators to ground the 50 Dreamliners in service worldwide.
27/02/13 Reuters/Indian Express

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AirAsia India – potential route network evaluated

Although routes are yet to be divulged, Tony Fernandes, Founder and Group CEO, AirAsia, has already said he won’t serve some of the larger Tier 1 Indian airports in his statements on the start-up of AirAsia India, the seventh operation under the over-arching AirAsia low-cost mega brand (following AirAsia, Thai AirAsia, Indonesia AirAsia, AirAsia Philippines, AirAsia X and AirAsia Japan): “Certain airports we will avoid due to their high charge structure.” Specifically Fernandes says: “We wouldn’t see Mumbai as a main destination.” However, he does acknowledge that: “Delhi has a kind of low-cost terminal offering.”  It would therefore seem that AirAsia India will initially link smaller, Tier 2 cities to Chennai and will also look add some competition on the largest international markets in the medium-term. Here anna.aero investigates the potential target markets.
What we do know is that AirAsia India will be based at Chennai International Airport, India’s third largest. As low-cost airlines typically like to “join-the-dots”, Bengaluru and Kolkata would seem to be the most likely Tier 1 opportunities, as AirAsia already flies to both destinations from Kuala Lumpur. Competition on the Kolkata route will be against Jet Airways, SpiceJet, Air India and IndiGo – a combined 56 weekly flights – and it will be fiercer on Bengaluru, where the same four airlines fly 101 weekly services! Ignoring the remainder of the Tier 1 cities (Mumbai, Delhi, and Hyderabad), all of which have in excess of 10,000 weekly seats, eight Tier 2 airports are currently served from Chennai.
27/02/13 anna.aero

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AirAsia's model faces fuel, airport cost hurdles in India

AirAsia's unique selling proposition (USP) is its low fares and the airline can afford to offer those round-the-year because its unit costs are among the lowest. The airline earns 18 per cent of all revenue from ancillary sources. Experts say replicating the business model in India will be a challenge because of a high-cost structure and taxes.
AirAsia's unit costs are significantly lower than Indian carriers on low-cost terminals, lower distribution costs, single aircraft type operation, higher aircraft utilisation, etc. Unit costs or cost per available seat kilometre (CASK) refers to expenses on flying a seat (filled or empty) over a kilometre. A J P Morgan report shows AirAsia's Cask as very low. One of the reasons for low operating costs is that fuel is not taxed in Malaysia.
So, how does the airline keep its cost under control? About 85 per cent of AirAsia tickets are sold through its website, limiting agents' commission. (In India, 70-80 per cent of tickets are sold through offline agents and portals). In Kuala Lumpur and Bangkok, AirAsia flies to low-cost terminals (there are none in India).
26/02/13 Aneesh Phadnis/Business Standard

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AirAsia steps up pan Asian ambition

Kuching: AirAsia Bhd (AirAsia) is awaiting the decision from Indian Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) for the setting up of a new airline joint venture (JV) with Tata Sons Ltd (Tata) and Telestra Tradeplace Pvt Ltd (Telestra).
According to the research arm of MIDF Amanah Investment Bank Bhd (MIDF Research), with the initial investment cost of US$30 million to US$50 million, AirAsia would hold 49 per cent stake in the new JV while Tata and Telestra would each hold 30 per cent and 21 per cent respectively.
The research house noted that AirAsia, as part of its corporate strategy, was always on the lookout for new emerging market particularly among Asian countries with high population and rising middle income group.
Both China and India were coveted markets for AirAsia future expansions. However, China’s domestic airline market was yet to be accessible to foreign players. In addition, its growing High Speed Rail network might compete with the budget airlines, it noted.
“India’s aviation market is difficult to operate due to the restriction of foreign ownerships, inconsistent regulator policies, unreasonably high airport taxes (tax rate is varying according to states) and tax levied on the usage of jet fuel,” the research house explained.
26/02/13 Borneo Post

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For AirAsia, it's going to be a fare game

New Delhi: is airline has been synonymous with rock-bottom fares that cannot be easily undercut by rivals. So, when Tony Fernandes, chief executive of AirAsia, announced last week that he was setting up a joint venture with the Tatas to enter the Indian skies, no one in the aviation business was amused, except, of course, the millions of passengers who expect the new entrant to unleash a fare war that could force other domestic carriers to follow suit.
After taking over the near bankrupt airline in 2001, Fernandes changed the rules of the game by challenging Malaysian Airlines with fares of just 1 ringgit (Rs 17.42) from Kuala Lumpur to various destinations in Southeast Asia. It is a strategy which Fernandes has replicated across Southeast Asia. AirAsia's tickets are priced at nearly half (on Kolkata-Kuala Lumpur route) to a sixth (on Singapore-Kuala Lumpur) of its nearest rivals. And the tried and tested strategy is reaping results. The company posted a profit of $291 million in 2011.
Fernandes,48, who has spent several years in Kolkata, makes no bones that he plans to reprise his winning strategy, which has made him the undisputed king of low-cost carriers in Southeast Asia, this time too.
25/02/13 Surajeet Das Gupta/Business Standard

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AirAsia profit soars, bullish on outlook

AirAsia, Asia's largest low-cost carrier by fleet size, says its fourth-quarter profit has jumped 168 per cent year-on-year amid increased passengers.
AirAsia said in a statement that net profit for the quarter ending December 31 stood at 350.65 million ringgit ($A111.42 million), up from 130.68 million ringgit in the same quarter the previous year thanks to "a seasonally strong quarter".
Revenue for the quarter was a record 1.41 billion ringgit, up 10 per cent, as more people flew the airline, which increased its aircraft in Malaysia to more than 60.
"It has been another good quarter and overall a great year for AirAsia as we continue to defy the industry in terms of operational and financial performance," said Malaysia AirAsia chief executive officer Aireen Omar.
For the full financial year, AirAsia recorded a 238 per cent jump in net profit to 1.88 billion ringgit despite a 1.0 per cent rise in the average fuel price this year.
27/02/13 AAP/The Australian

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Japan's ANA plans to make India a gateway to US

New Delhi:  After the Middle East and South East Asian airlines it is now Japan's All Nippon Airways, which has declared its ambitions of becoming the next gateway carrier for India, aiming to scoop up the US-bound passenger and take them to their destination via its transit hub in Tokyo.
In the near future, All Nippon Airways (ANA) not only plans to add a couple of more Indian cities to its network but also quadruple capacity to Mumbai, where it has daily flights.
"Without India market we can not survive. Our location is very good for connections as from Narita airport in Tokyo it takes only two hours to reach the US west coast. Also, we would take lesser time than Gulf carriers to fly to the US," All Nippon Airways General Manager (India) Kenji Sugino told ET.
26/02/13 Economic Times

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Airbus upbeat on India demand despite airline

Singapore: Airbus is sticking to upbeat forecasts for aircraft demand in India in the face of financial woes creeping across its airline sector, the European planemaker's sales chief said on Monday.
"I think that you'll still see a lot of growth. Will there be occasional hiccups along the way? Probably. In any rapidly growing market, you'll have some problems," John Leahy told reporters in Singapore.
The Indian aviation industry lost a combined $2 billion last year and all but unlisted IndiGo - an Airbus customer - lost money, complaining of high taxes on jet fuel, expensive airports and subsidies to state carrier Air India.
Another Airbus customer, Kingfisher Airlines (KING.NS), plunged further into difficulty on Monday when the Indian government announced plans to scrap its domestic slots and international flying rights.
25/02/13 Reuters

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CAG to submit reports on a slew of issues including AgustaWestland

New Delhi: Government auditor CAG is likely to submit about half a dozen reports on a slew of issues,including Agusta Westland helicopter deal, Airport Metro Express Line project and farm loan waiver of PSU banks, in the ongoing Budget session of Parliament.
The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG), according to sources, is also readying the performance report on Centre's key flagship programme Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee scheme and National Disaster Management Authority.
These reports are likely to be submitted in the first half of the Budget session, which began with the President's address to the joint sitting of Parliament on February 21. As per the schedule, the first half will end on March 22. CAG Vinod Rai had already indicated earlier that the official auditor was looking into Agusta Westland helicopter deal of over Rs 3,600 crore.
25/02/13 PTI/Indian Express

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Why aircraft lessors should be able to take their planes back

The Ministry of Civil Aviation, it is said, may soon allow global aircraft lessors to retrieve their planes from Indian airports if they have been de-registered by the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). If the ministry, led by Ajit Singh, indeed issues a notification to that effect, it will be doing a world of good to the likes of IndiGo, Jet Airways and SpiceJet.
If they are able to get their planes back easily, aircraft leasing firms are likely to ease the terms of their rental agreements with airlines. Carriers may not have to pay advance lease rentals. There is even a likelihood of the rentals falling in the coming days. This will ease the cash flow problems of airlines.
The grounded Kingfisher Airlines owes the Airports Authority of India (AAI) around Rs 390 crore in airport charges. It has also defaulted on paying lease rentals to aircraft leasing firms. After receiving letters from overseas leasing firms, the DGCA de-registered the planes and the lessors were supposed to take them back.
The AAI, however, rebuffed their attempts to take control of the planes, insisting that Kingfisher had to clear its dues before the aircraft could be flown back.
25/02/13 K.R. Balasubramanyam/Business Today

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Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd ready to rope in entrepreneurs to make Sukhoi spare parts

Nashik: Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL), a premier state-owned aeronautical company, is open to involving local entrepreneurs for manufacturing spare parts required for Sukhoi aircrafts, a senior official said today.
"Nashik-based entrepreneurs will get an opportunity to produce Sukhoi spare parts, its milling and griding components, electrical circuits, among others, for the HAL," president of Nashik Industries and Manufacturers Association (NIMA) Dhananjay Bele said here today.
"HAL is ready to provide technology to local entrepreneurs," HAL General Manager (Indigenisation) Poonam Srivastav said while interacting with reporters here after an event.
26/02/13 PTI/Economic Times

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Empire Aviation Group takes Gulfstream G450 under management for a private owner in Dubai

Dubai, United Arab Emirates: Empire Aviation Group ( EAG ), the Dubai-based aircraft sales and aircraft management specialist and operator of the region's largest fleet of business jets, has taken its first new aircraft of the year under management. The Gulfstream G450 is an advanced large-cabin, long range business jet and joins EAG 's extensive fleet operating out of Dubai International airport. The aircraft will be managed by EAG on behalf of a private owner for personal use.
The Gulfstream G450 can reach a maximum operating speed of Mach 0.88, and can carry eight passengers and crew up to 4,350 nautical miles (8,056 km) at the normal cruise speed of Mach 0.80. The G450 offers intercontinental range, easily linking Dubai-London and Mumbai-Geneva, non stop, and can access high altitude airports. The aircraft offers an array of advanced avionics and navigation suite in the cockpit (including Enhanced Vision System and Heads-Up Display) and onboard technology in the cabin, enhancing control for pilots and comfort for passengers - including fresh air and soundproofing. The G450 incorporates the advanced Elite Interior design which includes premium features such as the most advanced cabin technologies, including iTouch cabin controls. The aircraft can be configured for up to 13 passengers with berthing for six.
26/02/13 Zawya.com

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Kingfisher loses flying slots

New Delhi: The Union Civil and Aviation Ministry, on Monday, stripped the beleaguered Kingfisher Airlines of international and domestic flying slots.
The move is likely to make available 25,000 additional seats for passengers.
The Civil Aviation Minister, Ajit Singh, has directed the Airports Authority of India (AAI) to take action to allot the domestic slots of Kingfisher Airlines to other domestic airlines. Similarly, various international routes will now be offered to the rival airlines, an official statement here said.
The move comes close on heels of a decision taken by the consortium of bankers to start recalling their loans amounting to Rs.7,500 crore. “The government has decided to withdraw all international bilateral traffic rights allocated to Kingfisher Airlines with immediate effect,’’ the statement added.
Under the said rights, Kingfisher Airlines was allowed to fly the sky of eight countries, namely, Bangladesh (14 services a week), Hong Kong (14 services a week), Nepal (7 services a week), Singapore (7 services a week), Sri Lanka (14 services a week plus 21 services a week from unlimited 18 destinations), Thailand (21 services a week), UAE Dubai (21 services a week) and Great Britain (7 services a week each from Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore).
25/02/13 Sujay Mehdudia/The Hindu

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Farnair to hike stake in Tata-funded Quikjet

Mumbai: The meeting of the Foreign Investment Promotion Board next month won’t just take up Air Asia’s proposal of a maiden foreign direct investment (FDI) by an airline in a domestic passenger airline being co-promoted by the Tatas.
It will also discuss a proposal from Farnair Switzerland AG to hike its investment in Quikjet Cargo Airlines, where the Tatas are co-investors.
While foreign airlines were allowed only in September last year to acquire up to 49% stake in local carriers, they have been permitted since 2008 to buy up to 74% in cargo airlines.
Quikjet was formed in 2007, promoted by AFL Pvt Ltd, one of the largest players in the domestic logistics industry, along with Cardinal Aviation Pte Ltd, a private equity based out of Singapore.
25/02/13 Sumit Moitra/Daily News & Analysis

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Finally airborne

New Delhi: The Tata group will reportedly soon enter civil aviation after a break of 60 years, though as a junior partner to AirAsia. Ratan Tata, the former chairman of Tata Sons, had wanted to set up a domestic airline, in association with Singapore Airlines, way back in 1995 but his efforts were stymied. The rules were changed in such a way that foreign airlines were barred from investing in Indian carriers. Since Tata Sons couldn’t have run an airline on its own, this killed all plans it had for the sector. Last September, the government finally allowed foreign airlines to own up to 49 per cent in Indian carriers. That has given Tata Sons the opportunity to get into a business it has eyed for a long time, though after a delay of 18 long years.
What has anybody gained by the delay? The story of civil aviation so far has been one of pain. The list of airlines that have gone belly-up is long: East West, Damania and, of course, Kingfisher. Air Deccan got sold to Kingfisher after recurring losses had made its operations unsustainable.
24/02/13 Business Standard

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AirAsia, the Tatas and the Arun Bhatia JV locks in promoters for long term

New Delhi: The partnership between AirAsia, the Tatas and the Arun Bhatia family is set to be a long-term one. The three-way joint venture agreement to run low-fare air services in India will bind all the entities under an exclusivity clause that bars them from relinquishing their shareholding to any other entity including forging an alliance with a domestic airline company during the term of the joint venture.
However, the terms of the agreement allows Tata Sons and the Bhatias-owned Telestra Tradeplace freedom to pick up 5% equity capital of any airline if the investments are made jointly without getting any management control in the target company.
“During the term of this Memorandum of Agreement, AirAsia Berhad, AirAsia India Ltd and their affiliates shall not directly or indirectly initiate, assist, solicit, negotiate or accept any offer or inquiry from any person regarding an investment, partnership, participation, association, brand licensing with any person in India engaged in the business,” the exclusivity clause in the memorandum of agreement, as reviewed by FE, states.
25/02/13 Subhash Narayan/Debabrata Das/Financial Express

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Air Asia's business model may face challenge in India

Mumbai: Air Asia's USP is in its low fares all year round. The airline can afford the low costs because its per unit costs are amongst the  lowest amongst all airlines and earns about 18% of all revenue from ancillary sources. However, experts say replicating the business model in India will be a challenge because of high cost structure and taxes.
Air Asia's unit costs are significantly lower than Indian carriers due to use of low cost terminals, lower distribution costs, single aircraft type operation and higher aircraft utilisation amongst others. Unit costs or cost per available seat kilometre (CASK)  refers to expenses incurred on flying a seat (filled or empty) over a kilometre.
A J P Morgan report shows Air Asia's CASK is (4.4 cents) is lower than SpiceJet (6.4 cents), JetLite (7.5 cents) and Jet Airways (9 cents). Air Asia claims that its CASK (along with Ryan Air) is the lowest amongst all airlines. One of the reasons for low operating costs is that aviation fuel is not taxed in Malaysia.
25/02/13 Aneesh Phadnis/Business Standard

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All Nippon wants to be next gateway carrier for India

New Delhi: After the Middle East and South East Asian airlines, it is now Japan's All Nippon Airways, which has declared its ambition of becoming the next gateway carrier for India, aiming to scoop up US-bound passengers and taking them to their destinations via its transit hub in Tokyo.
In the near future, All Nippon Airways (ANA) not only plans to add a couple more Indian cities to its network, but also quadruple capacity to Mumbai, where it has daily flights.
"Without the Indian market, we can not survive. Our location is very good for connections as from Narita airport in Tokyo, it takes only two hours to reach the US west coast. Also, we would take lesser time than Gulf carriers to fly to the US," All Nippon Airways general manager (India) Kenji Sugino told ET.
25/02/13 Anindya Upadhyay/Economic Times

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Air India wants Dreamliner back in air in April

New Delhi: Air India, which grounded six Boeing-made 787 Dreamliners on January 16 after the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) directive to suspend all flights of the aircraft pending completion of a safety review related to battery malfunctions, is hopeful that things will settle down by April and the aircraft would take wings once again.
“Air India engineers are of the view that the Dreamliner should be back in air sometime in April,’’ Air India chairman and managing director Rohit Nandan said.
The airline ordered a total of 27 Dreamliners in January 2006 and the six were delivered, though several years behind schedule. The cash-strapped airline was scheduled to get delivery of Dreamliners in January and February, but deliveries have been held back by Boeing in view of the air safety issues.
Air India had weaved revival of its fortunes by acquiring the fuel-efficient Dreamliners and laun
24/02/13 The Hindu

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Kerala to benefit from price war in aviation sector

It seems that Kerala would be able to reap benefits from the ongoing price war between low-cost aviation companies. The newly proposed joint venture between AirAsia and Tata Group that would commence operations late this year would have destinations in the state in its itinerary.
“The airline is going to be a domestic service. We would look at destinations in Kerala to operate from, once we commence our services,” Suresh Nair, Regional Head of AirAsia, India, told Express.
Though the airline would cater to the domestic market in the initial period, experts in the aviation sector feel that the company would soon foray into the international market.
At present, for an airline to operate in the international market, the rules stipulate that the company should have operated for a minimum of five years old and have at least 20 aircraft.   There are reports that the state-run Air India could get into the fare war initiated by low-cost carriers, including SpiceJet, IndiGo and Jet Airways. Kerala, home to a large expatriate community, would benefit from this, if it were to be a reality.
25/02/13 Pramod Thomas/New Indian Express

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Aircraft design workshop at IIST from March 23

Thiruvananthapuram: The Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology (IIST) here is to organise a “biplane design, fabrication and flying” workshop as part of ‘Conscientia,’ a technical festival to be held here from March 23 to 25.The workshop is aimed at developing an aircraft with innovative design and providing experience in different areas of aircraft engineering for students, according to a press release here.
25/02/13 PTI/Business Line

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UAE Etihad’s Pause Highlights India Investment Risk

The sudden display of caution by Etihad Airways over taking a stake in Jet Airways is the legacy of a string of failed forays by Gulf investors into India.
Etihad’s chairman, who is also head of Abu Dhabi’s sovereign wealth fund, told Reuters this week the Jet deal needed to be revised and it was too soon to say when a final agreement will be struck.
The backtracking on a deal reported to be near completion highlighted investor apprehension about India and recalled how the UAE’s biggest telecom operator Etisalat was badly burned by a recent tilt at the south Asian country.
“It’s a very difficult market to invest in and many investors have had their fingers burned,” said Khuram Maqsood, executive director and head of private equity at Dubai-based Al Murjan International Holding.
24/02/13 Reuters/Gulf Business.com

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FIPB to take up 2 aviation investment proposals on March 6

The Finance Ministry will take up on March 6 for consideration an investment plan of Farnair Switzerland AG, an European cargo airline, along with 24 other proposals.
The investment application by Malaysia's AirAsia, which plans to enter Indian airlines space through a joint venture with the Tata Group and another company, will also come up for consideration of the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) headed by Economic Affairs Secretary Arvind Mayaram.
Farnair Switzerland AG had bought a majority stake in Quikjet last February. Tata Capital Ltd is one of the key investors in Quikjet Cargo.
Quikjet Cargo, which started operations in February 2012, carries out commercial operations within the country with a small ATR-72 turboprop plane and is in the process of expanding its fleet to have a pan-India network.
24/02/13 PTI/Business Standard

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Funds-flushed Emirates, Etihad, Qatar well placed to catch the tailwinds on Indian flight path

Even for an industry that has always been inherently vibrant, last week was unusually eventful for aviation. It began with the news that a sale of stake by Jet Airways, India's second-largest carrier by passengers carried, to Abu Dhabi's fast-growing airline, Etihad Airways, will be delayed. If the news was disconcerting, Jet didn't show it.
The airline cut fares by nearly a half on Tuesday, mimicking a move by budget carrier SpiceJet in January, when Indian air travellers had become accustomed to the idea that the era of cheap airfare was history. A day later, the Tatas said they were taking another shot at aviation partnering Malaysian budget carrier AirAsia. Turns out runaway airfares will be history.
Understandably, in the euphoria over lower airfare, the news concerning Jet receded into the background. Yet for Indian aviation, a Jet-Etihad deal trumps the other developments in significance. Falling airfares are a flash in the pan. SpiceJet's offer was a buffer against a lean travel season and Jet's price cut was nothing but a counter. As for the Tatas and AirAsia, these are early days to ascertain the success of their venture.
24/02/13 Binoy Prabhakar/Economic Times

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Air Works seeks slashing of import duty on plane spares

Major Indian aircraft maintenance firm Air Works has sought slashing of import duty on airplane spares and service tax on MROs in the upcoming budget 2013-14.

Expanding its portfolio, the company had announced the acquisition of French aircraft repainting company Aero Technique Espace (ATE) last month.
This is Air Works' second such acquisition since it bought off UK-based Air Livery almost two years ago, becoming "one of Europe's largest providers of aircraft paint services", its Managing Director Vivek N Gour told .
Air Works, which had acquired business aviation services company Empire Aviation last year, is also a one-stop shop providing a wide range of manpower and services -- from pilots, cabin crew and maintenance to getting flight permissions, landing rights and refuelling aircraft finance and insurance to customers in India and the Gulf.
"If an aircraft owner wants to fly out urgently, he or she has to give us only a three-hour notice to put everything in place," Gour said.
24/02/13 Samy Live

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The ghost of the helicopter past

Chennai: When the Italian newspaper Lettera 43 published a story that referenced the father of the main commission agent in the AgustaWestland chopper scam, Wolfgang Max Michel Richard, it unwittingly pointed to a relationship that India and Westland Helicopters shared back in the mid-1980s.
“It is believed that British citizen Michel received 60 per cent of the kickback amount of Rs. 360 crore from Finmeccanica, the manufacturers of AgustaWestland choppers. His contacts are stronger especially with the Indian Defence that he has inherited from his father, Wolfgang Max Michel Richard, a British businessman, who was very active in India between 80s and 90s and was close to the Congress party,” the report stated.
Back in 1985, India bought 21 Westland helicopters after Margaret Thatcher (then British Prime Minister) persuaded her Indian counterpart Rajiv Gandhi to ignore the advice of his experts, who were against the sale. The money for the deal, put at nearly £65 million, came out of Britain’s aid budget, and was given to India specifically for purchasing the helicopters.
24/02/13 KT Jagannathan/Anuj Srivas/The Hindu

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3-hour Abu Dhabi flight turns into 16-hour ordeal

Mumbai: Recently, a frequent Jet Airways flyer and his family had a harrowing time as his daughter's three-hour flight, from Mumbai to Abu Dhabi, turned into a 16-hour ordeal.
Trilok Kamble reached Abu Dhabi airport around midnight to receive his daughter, Noopur (21), who was travelling on the flight, scheduled to land at 2am (all timings in IST). The flight 9W 586 left on time, at 10.40pm, but en route, its commander diverted it to Muscat-an alternate airport listed on the flight plan-due to inclement weather in Abu Dhabi.
"It was displayed that the flight was delayed. At 3.30am, my daughter called me and said her flight had been diverted to Muscat," said Kamble. "I called up a Jet official in Muscat, who told me the flight will depart for Abu Dhabi soon. But, my wife, who was in Mumbai, was told that the flight would return to Mumbai," he said.
At Muscat, all passengers were made to sit in the aircraft because of visa restrictions and since Noopur had exhausted the facility to make an ISD call from her phone, her parents remained clueless. Finally, at 8am, Kamble learnt that the flight had returned to Mumbai.
The flight landed in Mumbai at 8.10am and Noopur decided to disembark. Her mother reached the airport to pick her up.
24/02/13 Times of India

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Singapore-based Tiger Airways in talks with domestic airlines for hub alliances

Hyderabad:  Singapore-based low-cost airline Tiger Airways is in talks with domestic carriers including Spicejet and Indigo to forge alliances to help passengers in smaller cities routed through Hyderabad for their Singapore travel, said a top official.
The strategy is part of the hub-and-spoke model where passengers from nearby smaller cities of Andhra Pradesh and neighbouring states travelling to Singapore were carried by the domestic airlines to Hyderabad so as to get into international flights of Tiger Airways.
Tiger Airways' commercial director Kaneswaran Avili told ET that the airlines hopes to forge alliances with domestic carriers in couple of months. The Singapore carrier, which now enjoys over 80% load factors in international passenger traffic from India, is also looking at significantly increasing the flight frequency from India.'
23/02/13 Raji Reddy Kesireddy/Economic Times

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Govt may not allow detention of deregistered aircraft

New Delhi: In a move that could give an impetus to the Abu Dhabi-based Etihad Airways buying a stake in Jet Airways, the Government is planning to issue directions that an aircraft de-registered by the Indian aviation regulatory authority, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), can leave the country even if the company that has imported the aircraft has unpaid dues.
This move will also help companies that have leased aircraft to now-grounded Kingfisher Airlines and are having problems taking them back.
“Till now, the Government was not interfering as we looked at it as a commercial issue between various parties. But now, it has become a burning issue. So a meeting was held with the DGCA and the considered opinion was that India will be in violation of the Cape Town Convention on leasing of aircraft if it does not allow a de-registered aircraft to leave the country because of unpaid dues,” a senior Government official said.
This is said to be one of the issues on which Etihad wants clarity before it takes a decision on whether to pick up a stake in Jet Airways.
23/02/13 Ashwini Phadnis/Business Line

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AirAsia Tata airline: Decision on JV next month

New Delhi: Amid a debate whether its entry will impact airfares, the Finance Ministry is likely to take up next month the investment proposal of Malaysian budget carrier AirAsia which seeks to enter India through a joint venture with the Tata Group. The Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) is holding a meeting on March 6 and the proposal of AirAsia Investment Ltd, Malaysia, has been listed on the agenda. AirAsia has applied to FIPB to take 49 percent in a venture with Tata Sons Ltd and Arun Bhatia's Telestra Tradeplace Pvt Ltd, the Malaysian company had announced this week. This will mark the return of Tata to aviation. State-owned Air India had grown out of Tata Airlines, which began flights in 1932.
This will be the first entry of an foreign carrier in the domestic airlines after the government liberalised the aviation FDI policy in September. The new policy allows foreign carriers to invest in Indian airlines.
23/02/13 One India

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A test for aviation reforms

The government’s intentions on reforms in the aviation sector will be tested in the stand it finally takes on permitting the AirAsia-Tata joint venture to take off in Indian skies. The civil aviation ministry has to finally give the airline a licence to fly.
Union aviation minister Ajit Singh has been quoted earlier as saying that new licences would not be issued as there is a mismatch between demand and supply. This logic is skewed as the domestic airlines are still expanding.It is a well-known fact that some powerful existing players had scuttled the attempt by the Tatas to set up an airline way back in 1995. Ratan Tata had proposed to set up a joint venture with Singapore International Airlines. He gave up in disgust after two years and only last year in an interview indicated there were hidden forces that worked against his getting an airline licence.
23/02/13 Asian Age

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Would have been nice if Tatas set up own airline: Ajit Singh on AirAsia deal

New Delhi: Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh said he was "not opposed" to Malaysian airline AirAsia's alliance with the Tata Group to set up a new low-cost carrier in India, but indicated he would have preferred the country's pre-eminent conglomerate to start its own airline.
In his first comments on the development, Singh also said the main purpose of a recent policy change in the civil aviation sector, which allows foreign airlines to own up to 49% stake in an Indian carrier, was to increase investment in existing Indian carriers. "I'm not opposed to the (AirAsia-Tata) alliance... The idea of the policy was to increase investment in Indian carriers. It would have been nice had the Tatas, with their kind of resources, started a new airline," he told ET in an interview on Thursday.
The proposed alliance among AirAsia, Tata Sons and the New Delhi-based Bhatia family (the Bhatias are relatives of steel baron LN Mittal), if approved by the government, will introduce a formidable new entrant into India's airline industry, where the dominant narrative has been one of pain, exemplified by the collapse of one-time leader Kingfisher Airlines.
22/02/13 Anindya Upadhyay/Economic Times

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Capt Gopinath hopes AirAsia will accomplish what Indian budget carriers couldn't

New Delhi: Captain GR Gopinath, who founded India's first budget airline, thinks the proposed joint venture between international budget carrier AirAsia and the Tata Group will "stimulate" the market by opening new routes.
"They will break the 'cozy cartel' and offer cheaper fares. True low-cost carriers stimulate the market and expand the consumer base," Gopinath told ET.
Referring to the contraction in air traffic growth due to high fares, Gopinath said low-cost players had failed to create growth. "Indigo airlines, a well-run airline, grew by cannibalising passengers from other airlines, especially Kingfisher, Air India and even Jet, but not by creating a new market. That is not sustainable in the long run."
AirAsia is expected to own 49% of the new venture, with Tata Sons and Bhatia-controlled Telestra Tradeplace owning 30% and 21%, respectively.
21/02/13 Anindya Upadhyay/Economic Times

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AirAsia wants Ratan Tata to head JV

New Delhi:The chairman of AirAsia Bhd, the low-cost airline which is entering India through a joint venture with Tata Sons, has said that he will try to persuade Ratan Tata to become the chairman of the new carrier.
"Mr Tata would be the right person as he would bring tremendous confidence to the regulators, to the consumers and to the government as well. Over the next few weeks we will start serious discussions with Mr Tata on the subject. He has neither said 'yes' nor said 'no' till now," AirAsia Chairman Anthony (Tony) Fernandes said in a conference call on Thursday.
The joint venture between Asia's largest low-cost airline and Indian companies, Tata Sons and Telstra Tradeplace, will be set up with a capital base of $30 million (163.5 crore) with AirAsia giving the JV company its consent for the use of 'Air Asia' name and corporate logos, according to the application to the foreign investment promotion board (FIPB), the nodal agency that clears foreign direct investments in India.
22/02/13 Ecpnomic Times

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Tata-AirAsia JV: Will Ajit Singh throw spanner in works?

Is Aviation Minister Ajit Singh micro-managing the sector too much?
At least for the players, there are reasons to believe he is. When SpiceJet started selling tickets at discounts, ministry officials had expressed their displeasure and even asked other airlines to resist from competing.
Media reports had also suggested that the minister had a say in the aircraft purchases of IndiGo.
Now, he has said that it would have been nice if Tatas could set up an airline on their own, which sounds like a cold response to the three-way joint venture between Tata Sons, Air Asia and Telestra Tradeplace proposed on Wednesday.
It is highly unlikely that he will oppose the deal, given the huge positive response the joint venture announcement has got. Even if Singh may want to oppose it, there are other quarters who may strongly favour the investment.
22/02/13 First Post

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Air Asia to skip high-cost airports

Mumbai: With a strong focus on cost efficiencies Air Asia will  start its India operations with 3-4 airbus A320 planes from Chennai and will not fly to high cost airports like Mumbai, airline chief executive Tony Fernandes said on Thursday.
Air Asia will be investing $30-60 million in its Indian airline and will announce its chief executive officer in next 2-3 weeks.
Last year Air Asia had pulled out of Mumbai and Delhi routes citing steep aeronautical tariffs and taxes and its Indian operations will have clear focus on tier II and III cities using airbus planes. Fernandes also ruled out using turbo prop planes like Bombardier Q-400s or ATR-72s flown by other airlines in India.
On Wednesday the Malaysia-based airline announced it had submitted an application to Foreign Investment Promotion Board to invest 49% into a proposed Indian joint venture together with Tata Sons Limited and  Arun Bhatia of Telestra Tradeplace Pvt. Ltd..
"Our initial capital will be $30-60 million. We have a strong distribution system, network  and we have low cost structure,'' Fernandes said. He said he airline will start its operations from Chennai and hopes to start operations by last quarter of the year.
22/02/13 Business Standard

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AirAsia to invest up to RM186m into Indian airline venture

Kuala Lumpur: Malaysia’s AirAsia Bhd , Asia’s biggest budget carrier, will invest between US$30 million to US$60 million (RM93.17 million to RM186.34 million) into its new airline venture in India, said chief executive Tony Fernandes on a conference call with the media yesterday.
The company has sought approval to establish a new airline with unlisted Indian firms Tata Sons Ltd and Telestra Tradeplace Pvt Ltd.
AirAsia, through its investment arm, AirAsia Investment Ltd, intends to own 49 per cent of the venture with the remaining stake held by the two Indian firms. The venture plans to operate from Chennai in southern India and provide domestic flight options.
21/02/13 The Malaysian

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Why AirAsia's entry is bad news for Indian carriers

The news broke in the midst of the latest price war in India's aviation sector. Malaysia-based AirAsia and the Tata Group are joining hands to launch a budget airline in India. Delhi-based businessman Arun Bhatia is also part of the venture. The smiles on the faces of India's middle-class, already enjoying the low fares raining down on them, just got wider. They're cheering as much as they did when Captain Gopinath's low-cost airline, Air Deccan, allowed them to fly paying train fares.
However, the entry of another airline at a time when all the big Indian carriers are struggling financially - though they have had a couple of good quarters after Kingfisher Airlines was grounded - is not good news. If AirAsia gets all the requisite permissions and launches operations, its entry will put a greater strain on their financials.
Budget airlines have cornered 54 per cent of the Indian market, which is growing fast because of a huge middle class and very low penetration. The advent of AirAsia in the budget/low-cost carrier (LCC) segment will check any rise in fares over the next few years.
21/02/13 Anand Adhikari/Business Today

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AirAsia-Tata alliance: How the Cats lost out to the Monkeys

There is this story of two cats fighting over a piece of cake. As they fight, a monkey appears on the scene and offers to divide it equally. He first slices it into two, but one slice appears bigger. He bites off a bit from the bigger piece, and now the smaller piece appears bigger. Whenever once piece of the cake appears bigger, the monkey himself takes a bite, and soon there is no cake left for the two cats themselves.
The story of Indian aviation is beginning to resemble this story of cats losing out to the monkeys.
The sector has been run into the ground by players who were so busy fighting that they used (or allowed) the monkeys – usually politicians, the regulators and canny global airlines – to destroy the cake itself.
Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh’s comments on the AirAsia proposal to start a domestic airline with 49 percent stake (with the Tatas as financial investors with a 30 percent) confirms the suspicion that ministers have largely been playing monkeys to the resident and non-resident cats of the aviation sector.
22/02/13 R Jagannathan/FirstPost.com

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Jet-Etihad deal hits headwinds on investment safety

Indian track record in protecting overseas investments, especially in the aviation sector, is a matter of concern for Etihad, say sources. The Gulf-based airline is currently in the process of carrying out due diligence for picking up a stake in Jet Airways.
To begin with, Etihad will have to clear Arab misgivings about India’s investment protection regime. With some past investments from the United Arab Emirates into India, including Etisalat, DP World and TAQA, running into difficulties, it is possible that Etihad wants to have a watertight case before investing in Jet Airways.
According to industry analysts, Etihad might be worried that if it were to invest in Jet and the Indian carrier ran into financial difficulties it would have repercussions for the Gulf carrier.These fears possibly stem from what is happening to another Indian carrier — Kingfisher Airlines. Though Kingfisher stopped operations in October last year, leasing companies are finding it difficult to take back the aircraft that they had leased out to the airline because entities like airport operators, who have also lent money to Kingfisher Airlines, want their debts to be cleared before allowing the aircraft to leave Indian shores.
22/02/13 Ashwini Phadnis/KR Srivats/Business Line

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Air Asia to make strong sales pitch, ties up with portals, agents

Mumbai: A poor sales network was one of the factors behind Air Asia's limited success to India but that is set to change now. Air Asia is expanding its distribution network increasing its offline travel trade partners. The company has already tied up with online portals including MakemyTrip.com and Yatra.com.
 On Thursday Air Asia's chief executive officer Tony Fernandes said the airline will start operations in India from Chennai with 3-4 Airbus A320 planes by last quarter of 2013.
 The airline will serve tier II-III cities and skip high cost airports like Mumbai. The airline had to withdraw flights from Mumbai and Delhi last year citing high aeronautical charges and poor loads especially on its Malaysia-India flights.
 Currently Air Asia flies into six cities in India from Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur. Its distribution network is limited and sells tickets through its own website, select 20-25 travel agents across country and online portal Expedia with which it has a joint venture arrangement.
22/02/13 Aneesh Phadnis/Business Standard

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Tata, AirAsia JV to constitute 6-member board

The board of the proposed new joint venture between AirAsia and Tatas to start a domestic airlines will be constituted with six members which includes entrepreneur Tony Fernandes.
AirAsia with a 49% stake will have two board members which includes Kamarudin Bin Meranun apart from Fernandes. Tata Sons with 30% will also have two members which include R Venkataramanan and Bharat Vasani and Telestra Tradeplace with 20% stake will be represented in the board by Arun Bhatia. The sixth board member shall be an Indian national who will be appointed as non executive chairman of the board upon agreement of all the three shareholders.
Fernandes is trying to rope in Ratan Tata for this slot.  The move of having four of the six members in the board as citizens of India is in consonance with the FDI policy that permits foreign carriers to invest up to 49% only if the board is made up of majority of Indian citizens. In its application to the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB), the three partners have committed that they will, not later than fourteen days, infuse an amount of Rs 50 crore ( US $9 million) in the proportion set of their shareholding to set up the  joint venture company.
21/02/13 Surajeet Das Gupta/Business Standard

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AirAsia-Tata deal is positive for Indian aviation

Malaysian no-frills carrier Air Asia’s announcement of its Indian joint venture comes at a time when airline companies in India are engaged in a fierce fare war. Is this just coincidental? There is no evidence to prove otherwise.
Jet Airways, SpiceJet, IndiGo and Air India are fighting a declining passenger traffic and in their bid to keep their “head above water”, as explained in this Firstpost analysis, are engaged in a “new round of bloodletting”.
This is just one of the bad news from Indian aviation. The government has not made much headway in making its aviation policy friendly for the companies.
Almost dead Kingfisher Airlines itself is a grim reminder of the troubles in the sector.
Though most of the travails of Kingfisher are Chairman Vijay Mallya’s own creation, there are a few, like irrational fuel taxes and airport charges, which the government also has to take the blame for.
Despite this abundance of troubles in Indian aviation, AirAsia Chief Executive Officer Tony Fernandes is positive about the sector.
He thinks he can change people’s lives here. In an interview in Mint newspaper today, he has said that it is the driver whom he hired during his travel in India who gave him this confidence.
21/02/13 Malaysia Chronicle

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Air Asia-led joint venture could face regulatory challenges: CAPA

Mumbai: Air Asia-led joint venture in India could face regulatory challenges, says Kapil Kaul of Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation.  Air Asia announcement on expected lines and not surprising.
However, surprised with TATAs agreeing to be part of the JV without  taking a lead role in the consortium. This will be a Air Asia led consortium which might face regulatory challenges.
"It is not  clear if government will clear their license as there is no clarity on the issue of new licenses," he said.
Air Asia announced today it is applying to foreign investment promotion board to invest in a joint venture in partnership with the Tata group and Arun Bhatia of Telestra Tradeplace.
20/02/13 Aneesh Phadnis/Business Standard

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Tata partners AirAsia to fly back into civil aviation

New Delhi: Making its third foray into civil aviation in 16 years, the Tata group has picked up a 30 per cent stake in a three-way joint venture with Malaysia's AirAsia to start a low-fare domestic airline in India.
An AirAsia statement said Wednesday that it had filed an application with the FIPB to invest 49 per cent in the venture that includes Tata Sons and Arun Bhatia's Telestra Tradeplace.
The proposal is the first since the government last September allowed 49 per cent FDI in civil aviation from foreign carriers. AirAsia is Asia's largest budget airline with 118 planes.
"This is an AirAsia initiative. When (they) approached Tata Sons with the proposal, Tata Sons concluded that given their reputed business model, AirAsia could be a relevant and successful service provider in the domestic sector. That is the reason for (our) investment in the venture," a Tata spokesperson said.
21/02/13 Indian Express

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‘AirAsia entry will bring down airfares’

Mumbai: AirAsia, if allowed to start an airline in India along with the Tata Group and Arun Bhatia of Telestra, would pose serious competition to the incumbents, more specifically IndiGo and Jet Airways Group which, in turn, would benefit air passengers. Airfares are expected to remain low as witnessed in the past few years, except for last year.
“This announcement is on expected lines and not surprising. However, (I am) surprised with Tatas agreeing to be part of the joint venture without taking a lead role in the consortium. This will be an AirAsia-led consortium which might face regulatory challenges,” Kapil Kaul, CEO, South Asia, Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation (CAPA), told The Hindu.
“It is not clear if government will clear their licence as there is no clarity on the issue of new licenses. Overall, CAPA welcomes strong and well capitalized airlines as it will be positive for the overall sector,” Mr. Kaul added.
20/02/13 Lalatendu Mishra/The Hindu

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AirAsia's India foray good news; see more competition: KPMG

Asia’s leading low-fare airline AirAsia Bhd is looking to enter the Indian aviation market along with the Tata group and Telestra Tradeplace, the firm said on Wenesday. This comes in the backdrop of the Indian government easing rules to allow overseas carriers to invest upto 49 percent in local carriers late last year.
Amber Dubey, head (aviation), KPMG India told CNBC-TV18 that he is extremely positive on AirAsia's plan to invest in India. "After the policy (FDI) change in September, we had predicted that there will be at least two-three equity infusions in existing airlines and there could also be one or two start ups," Dubey says.
Dubey feels that the deal will expand connectivity into regional routes on the tier 3-tier 4 sectors. "Passengers will see yet another fare war and ultimately over the next one or two years we may also see some consolidation in the Indian aviation sector," he told the channel.
20/02/13 CNBC TV18/moneycontrol.com

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AirAsia Tata JV to take to the skies in Q4

Kuala Lumpur: AirAsia India, the newly proposed joint-venture airline to serve the Indian population of 1.2 billion, is expected to begin its operations in the fourth quarter of the year.
Founder and Group Chief Executive Officer of the Malaysian-based frills-free airline Tan Sri Tony Fernandes said the timeframe was subject to all regulatory approvals being obtained from the Indian authorities.
Asked on the cost of investment for AirAsia India, Fernandes said it was still early to confirm, but went on to say that the cost of starting a new airline was usually around US$30 million to US$50 million.
"We have to get through the process. I hope we can get the approvals and start operations sometime this year, or maybe in the fourth quarter," Fernandes told Bernama via telephone from London.
21/02/13 Bernama/MYsinchew.com

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Will Tata be 3rd time lucky as financial investor of Air Asia?

New Delhi: With the announcement of a three-way joint venture to begin a new airline, Tata Sons has heralded its entry into the aviation business. This surprise announcement comes barely a month after Ratan Tata‘s retirement from the helm.
Ratan Tata‘s initial love and subsequent aversion to the aviation business is well known, founded as it was on bitter experiences the group faced not once, but twice, with wayward policy.
The first time was when the Tata group tried to enter aviation by starting an airline in the early nineties in collaboration with Singapore International Airlines (SIA). And then again when he wanted to participate in the strategic disinvestment of Air India, again in collaboration with SIA. Both times, fierce competition and unscrupulous players in the business thwarted Tata’s plans.
According to today’s announcement, Malaysian low-cost airline AirAsia will hold a 49 percent stake in the airline JV, the other two partners being Tata Sons and Arun Bhatia of Telstra Tradeplace. The shareholding of the other two partners is not known.An Economic Times story quoted unnamed Tata officials as saying that their investment in this venture would be purely a financial one. But it still begs the question: why are the Tatas returning to try their luck in the aviation business?
20/02/13 Sindhu Bhattacharya/Firstpost.com

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Betting on partners, expertise & govt support: Air Asia

AirAsia, CEO, Tony Fernandes explains to CNBC-TV18 that the he plans to start operations with 3-4 planes and will scale up as per market needs. "We have plenty of aircraft deployed in the market and not deterred by Indian regulatory climate, the high ATF rates and airport charges in India. A progressive government keen on a growing economy is key and we will operate differently from other airlines in India."
Fernandes hopes to get all clearances and is confident the government will move as quickly as it can while refraining to comment on the timeline for clearances.
"We have got two illustrious partners and it too early to say what role Ratan Tata will play in the joint venture. I have a lot to learn from Ratan Tata and would love him to play whatever role he can in the JV."
Indian parties will play major role in running the airline and board representation will be proportional to investment. "We hope to start operations with USD 30-50 million and the big opportunity for us would be to devise a cost structure that will stimulate market.We are here to create a new market and address new routes."
Though the airport charges in some airports were very high, Fernandes asserts that the Indian aviation market is not all gloom and doom.
20/02/13 moneycontrol.com

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Most of diamonds robbed at Brussels airport were headed for Surat

Surat: Most of the Rs 250 crore worth rough diamonds robbed in the daring heist at Brussels airport on Monday night were to come to Surat via Switzerland for cutting and polishing.
The diamonds were to be delivered to small and medium diamond unit owners, who usually source their rough stones from Antwerp.
Dinesh Navadia, president, Surat Diamond Association (SDA) told TOI: "We are gathering the list of people to whom these rough stones diamonds were to be delivered in Surat. It is estimated that around 90 per cent of the goods were bound for Surat via Switzerland."
According to Navadia, the diamantaires in Antwerp, majority of them Indians, are in a shock following the armed robbery in the high-security area at the Brussels airport. In the past two years, two DTC sightholder Indian companies have been targeted by the gangs in thefts worth over Rs 200 crore.
21/02/13 Melvyn Reggie Thomas/Times of India

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Boeing to offer redesigned 787 batteries: Report

Washington: US aerospace giant Boeing is set to propose Friday repairs to the battery problems in its grounded 787 Dreamliner jets that could have them fly again within two months, The New York Times said Thursday.
The Times, citing industry and federal officials, said Boeing has narrowed down the ways in which the lithium-ion batteries could fail, concluding that they would be safe to use after making changes such as adding insulation between the battery cells.
Boeing commercial airplane division chief Raymond Corner plans to unveil his plans in a meeting Friday with the head of the Federal Aviation Administration, Michael Huerta, according to the Times.
Although Huerta is unlikely to immediately approve the changes, the meeting is set to launch a "high-level discussion" on the standards Boeing must meet in order to have its planes back in flight, the newspaper said.
21/02/13 AFP/Economic Times

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Reports: Boeing close to battery fix for Dreamliner

Boeing may have found a solution to fix the battery problems that have grounded its Boeing 787 Dreamliners for more than a month, Reuters says in a report that cites an unnamed "source familiar with the U.S. company's plans."
"The gaps between cells will be bigger. I think that's why there was overheating," Reuters' unnamed source says.
A spokeswoman for the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board would not comment to Reuters on reports of a Boeing plan to return the 787s to the air.
"The decisions to return the airplane to flight will be made by the FAA and only after Boeing has demonstrated to them that the solution is adequate," Kelly Nantel tells Reuters. "We continue to investigate the cause of the short circuiting."
Meanwehile, Reuters report comes amid a near simultaneous report from Bloomberg News that says Boeing officials will meet with U.S. regulators on Friday (Feb. 22) to discuss proposed "fixes" to the grounded 787 Dreamliner.
20/02/13 Ben Mutzabaugh/USA TODAY

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Choppergate: Defence Ministry failed to order departmental probe

New Delhi: The Defence Ministry may have quickly ordered a CBI probe on the bribery charges in the VVIP chopper deal in a damage control move but for over a year, it did not order any departmental inquiry into the matter.
After seeking reports from the Italian and the UK governments through the External Affairs ministry following media reports in February last year the Defence Ministry did not order a departmental probe in to the matter during this period, sources said on Wednesday.
Prior to a CBI probe, departmental inquiries are usually ordered to find out the seriousness of the allegations of corruption, they said.
20/02/13 PTI/Daily News & Analysis

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AgustaWestland probe may threaten Indian military modernisation plans, senior officers warn

India's military modernisation could be threatened if the government responds to corruption allegations surrounding the purchase of 12 AgustaWestland AW101 helicopters by banning Italian parent company Finmeccanica from the national market.
Concerned service officers told IHS Jane's that proscribing AgustaWestland or Finmeccanica, which is under "serious" consideration by the Ministry of Defence (MoD), will degrade the country's operational preparedness.
"The MoD's move to cancel the helicopter contract is the first step in blacklisting its manufacturer," a senior military officer said.
20/02/13 Rahul Bedi/IHS Jane's

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Air Menzies launches in India

Air Menzies International is moving into Mumbai, India – and introducing air cargo wholesaling to the country for the first time.
AMI, the world’s largest trade-only airfreight and express wholesaler, has created this regional division to begin its development in India.
Before AMI India, air cargo wholesale activity in India had been limited to co-loading among freight agents.
AMI India will direct import traffic from AMI branches in the U.S., the U.K., Europe, South Africa, Asia and Australia to key points in India.
20/02/13 Adina Solomon/Air Cargo World

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Flemingo to get into retailing at airports

Mumbai: Dubai-based duty-free retailer Flemingo plans to get into retailing at the airports and buttress its diplomatic services business in India.
Flemingo already operates its duty-free stores in 11 airports including Chennai, Pune and Kolkata, eight seaports, and one near the India-Pakistan border. It now plans to open stores where duties are paid by passengers and shoppers.
Amit Butani, vice-president, diplomatic division, Flemingo, said the company was looking at opening stores of travel bags and accessories, and coffee bars at the airports, where it had concession agreements.
21/02/13 Raghavendra Kamath & Aneesh Phadnis/Daily News & Analysis

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MIAL ties up with Belgian firm to ensure smooth traffic at T2

To ensure smooth flow of traffic at T2, a new airport terminal expected to become operational in December, the GVK-controlled Mumbai airport has entered into a 10-year agreement with a Belgian firm that provides communication and information technology services to airports worldwide.
Mumbai International Airport Limited (MIAL) becomes first in the country to avail SITA iValidate application that will see to it that every passenger is on the right path and at the right gate.
"This application is important from security point of view. It is an additional layer to check duplication, forgery. There was no system to track passenger movement at every stage earlier," said Maneesh Jaikrishna, vice-president of India and sub-continent at SITA.
21/02/13 Indian Express

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AirAsia plans Indian JV

Promotion Board (FIPB) to seek approval for AirAsia Investment Ltd to invest 49 per cent into a proposed Indian airline joint-venture.
In a statement, AirAsia said the joint-venture would be between AirAsia Investment, Tata Sons Ltd and Arun Bhatia of Telestra Tradeplace Pvt Ltd.
The proposed joint-venture company, subject to FIPB's approval, would make an application to Indian aviation regulators for the Air Operators Permit.
"The parties have signed a memorandum of agreement that details high-level terms with regards to the proposed partnership.
"We believe Indian aviation has enormous long-term growth potential and is expected to produce tremendous upside for first movers.
"The joint-venture plans to operate from Chennai, Tamil Nadu, focused on providing domestic tier II/tier III city connectivity to Indian travellers.
Founder and Group Chief Executive Officer Tan Sri Tony Fernandes said the group had carefully evaluated developments in India over the last few years.
20/02/13 Bernama/MYsinchew.com

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AirAsia Says It Plans Indian Airline Venture With Tata Sons

AirAsia Bhd., Southeast Asia’s biggest budget airline, said it plans to start an airline in India with the Tata Group after the country eased rules last year to permit overseas carriers to invest.
AirAsia made an application to India’s Foreign Investment Promotion Board to invest 49 percent in a joint venture with Tata Sons Ltd. and Arun Bhatia of Telestra Tradeplace Pvt., the budget airline said in a statement to the stock exchange in Kuala Lumpur.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s government in September eased foreign investment rules to allow overseas airlines to directly invest in local carriers. After the move, Jet Airways (India) Ltd. began discussions with Middle East carrier Etihad Airways for an investment.
20/02/13 Barry Porter/Bloomberg

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Air India adding to Boeing's parking headache

Paine Field Airport, next door to Boeing Co's widebody plant north of Seattle, is getting crowded as 10 new 787 Dreamliners flank the runway, sparkling with contrasting and colorful liveries, including Poland's LOT, Britain's Thomson Airways and China Southern Airlines.
It is a similar story several thousand miles away, outside the company's North Charleston, South Carolina final assembly building, where space is taken up by four 787s destined for Air India.
A month after the global fleet of the carbon-composite jets were grounded as US and Japanese regulators carry out investigations into overheating batteries, the parked airliners are a stark symbol of deepening problems this is causing Boeing.
At Paine Field in Everett, Boeing plans to move some of its other planes around to make room for new 787s coming off its two production lines, and says it has room to store all the 787s it is making.
20/02/13 Reuters/moneycontrol.com

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Air India says Boeing hopeful of getting Dreamliners back in service by April

New Delhi: The chairman of state carrier Air India said on Wednesday that Boeing Co is hopeful of getting their Dreamliner aircraft back in service by early April.
"They said that these planes should start flying again from early April. They can't be sure but they are hopeful," Rohit Nandan said.
Boeing's 50 Dreamliners in service have been grounded since mid-January following two incidents involving battery problems.
Air India has six Dreamliners and has ordered 21 more. The issue of the airline seeking compensation from Boeing for the jet's glitches would be taken up once the aircraft are flying again, Nandan said.
20/02/13 Reuters/Economic Times

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Air India to be compensated by Boeing for Dreamliner battery trouble

Air India would get compensated by Boeing for the battery trouble plaguing its latest Dreamliner planes, all of which have been grounded, but discussions on the issue would take place later.
"There will be some compensation. ...Let us wait a while. We will discuss with Boeing only when the things settle down," civil aviation minister Ajit Singh told reporters here.
He ruled out a time-frame for the discussion on compensation saying, "there can't be a last date. Safety is important. (After the problems are fixed) the FAA (US Federal Aviation Administration) has to certify the planes. The DGCA has also to certify them."
20/02/13 PTI/Daily News & Analysis

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As parked 787s multiply, Boeing cash drain worries grow

Everett,Washington/North Charleston, South Carolina: Paine Field Airport, next door to Boeing Co's widebody plant north of Seattle, is getting crowded as 10 new 787 Dreamliners flank the runway, sparkling with contrasting and colorful liveries, including Poland's LOT, Britain's Thomson Airways and China Southern Airlines.
It is a similar story several thousand miles away, outside the company's North Charleston, South Carolina final assembly building, where space is taken up by four 787s destined for Air India.
A month after the global fleet of the carbon-composite jets were grounded as US and Japanese regulators carry out investigations into overheating batteries, the parked airliners are a stark symbol of deepening problems this is causing Boeing.
At Paine Field in Everett, Boeing plans to move some of its other planes around to make room for new 787s coming off its two production lines, and says it has room to store all the 787s it is making.
20/02/13 Reuters/Business Standard

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Within India’s reach after deals, secret air-security info from US and Europe

New Delhi: India is set to gain access to sensitive information from agencies looking after aviation security in the United States and a group of European countries. The government is expected to sign soon a sensitive security information (SSI) agreement with US authorities, and an MoU each with the 44-member European Civil Aviation Conference (ECAC) and the United Kingdom.
These will facilitate sharing of information on potential terror threats to flights and on technology needed at airports to counter these, including the secret database maintained by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), a US government body, and the ECAC, which has 44 European countries as members. The agreement to be signed with the UK is expected to take longer.
The Ministry of Home Affairs and the Intelligence Bureau have given the go-ahead to the Ministry of Civil Aviation to sign the SSI agreement with the US, which will now be put up before the cabinet for final clearance, a top official said. The MoUs with the ECAC and the UK will follow after this.
20/02/13 Ajmer Singh/Indian Express

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AirAsia to start daily flights fromKolkata to Kuala Lumpur

Kolkata: Come March, low-cost carrier AirAsia will operate daily flights to Kuala Lumpur, up from the current three flights-a-week frequency. This is the first instance of an airline operating daily to Kuala Lumpur. The move follows from a steady rise in demand, particularly among leisure travellers.
An AirAsia official said daily flights to the Malaysian capital will commence from March 25. To ensure good loads right from the beginning, the airline has announced promotional return fare of Rs 9,999. Bookings for promotional fare tickets will be open till March 3 for travel till July 31.
20/02/13 Times of India

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Emirates announces ‘share a smile’

Thiruvananthapuram: Emirates, one of the world’s premier airlines, on Tuesday unveiled ‘Share a Smile’, a new campaign showcasing the lighter side of language. The airline has created 29 videos in 14 languages featuring members of its cabin crew expressing quirky and unusual expressions and greetings from around the world.
 The campaign was created by Emirates to help ‘globalist-as’ connect with each other through watching the videos and sharing them with their friends and family. ‘Share a Smile’ is the latest step in Emirates’ global brand campaign ‘Hello Tomorrow’, launched in April 2012, aiming to inspire people across the world to explore and connect with various cultures and borders.
 Through the set of light-hearted 15-second animated videos designed to make people smile, Emirates’ multilingual crew will explain the meaning behind popular local phrases like ‘Don’t make an elephant out of a fly’ (Russian), ‘You’re so pretty it made a bang’ (Cantonese) and ‘You’re the cat’s whiskers’ (English).
20/02/13 New Indian Express

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Chopper deal: Joint team of CBI, MoD, MEA to meet AgustaWestland officials today

Milan: A joint team of the Central Bureau of Investigation, Defence Ministry and the External Affairs Ministry will meet the officials of AgustaWestland and its parent company Finmeccanica in Italy on Wednesday.
This comes a day after visiting British Prime Minister David Cameron said that the UK needs evidence to proceed against AgustaWestland. Meanwhile, just a day ahead of the Budget Session of Parliament, the government said it's ready for a JPC probe.
Defence Minister AK Antony also rejected reports of a divide within the government over the decision to scrap the chopper deal and ruled out his resignation over the controversial deal.
20/02/13 Sanjay Suri/CNN-IBN/IBN Live

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AgustaWestland: Antony rules out resignation, says ready for Parl session

Bracing to face Opposition heat over chopper scam in Parliament, Defence Minister A K Antony today said the government has "nothing to hide" and is prepared for a discussion even as he played down reports of his resignation.
"I will do my duty. I am now getting ready for the Parliament session. We will explain everything to Parliament. We have nothing to hide. Our hands are very clean," Antony told reporters on being asked whether he would resign.
Reacting to BJP's allegations that the Defence Ministry was "sleeping" over the reports of corruption in the Rs 3,600 crore deal for 12 VVIP choppers, he said, "I cannot wake up anybody who is sleeping".
The Defence Ministry had started taking action on the issue from day one when first media reports in this regard came in, Antony said.
19/02/13 PTI/Indian Express

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AgustaWestland chopper deal: CBI meeting with lawyer 'useful'

New Delhi: The CBI team which reached Italy on Tuesday to probe role of Indians in the alleged Rs 3,600 crore VVIP helicopter deal scam met its lawyer and described the meeting as "useful." High level sources in CBI said the team had a meeting with the lawyer engaged by the agency to represent India's case with the Italian government and the local courts to find out the role of Indians in the alleged Rs 3,600-crore VVIP helicopter deal scam in which Giuseppe Orsi, the chairman of Italian air defense group Finmeccanica, was arrested there.
It was a "useful" meeting, they said. The sources said the assistance of a lawyer has been taken to understand the Italian law and how quickly the documents from the helicopter supplying company could be taken.
The lawyer, if necessary, would be approaching the court in Italy for procurement of documents, they said. The team comprises a CBI DIG, a law officer of the agency, a Joint Secretary level officer of Defence Ministry and an official of the External Affairs Ministry.
19/02/13 PTI/IBN Live

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Etihad cools Jet Airways tie-up

Mumbai: Shares of Jet Airways slid, Monday, amid reports that Abu Dhabi-based airline Etihad wanted to revise its deal to buy a stake in India’s biggest private carrier.
Last month, Jet Airways announced it was in discussions with Etihad Airways.
But at the weekend, Etihad Airways chairman, Sheikh Hamed bin Zayed al-Nahayan, was reported to have said the Gulf carrier needs to revise its planned agreement to buy a stake in Jet Airways and it was too early to say when a deal would be struck.Shares in Jet Airways plunged nearly 9% before clawing back some of their losses to close down 7.7% at 570.75 rupees.
Several Indian airlines have been in talks with foreign carriers after the government last year opened up the aviation sector further to allow non-Indian airlines to invest in their counterparts in the country.
Indian carriers need money to fund expansion and cut debt after years of losses caused by intense fare battles and rising fuel costs.
19/02/13 AFP/TRweekly

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Cameron offers to cooperate with India on graft probe

New Delhi: British Prime Minister David Cameron promised full cooperation on Tuesday with an Indian investigation into alleged corruption in a helicopter deal, an issue which has clouded his trip to New Delhi.
Cameron arrived in India on Monday with what he called the biggest-ever British overseas business delegation, pushing for better access to the booming market of 1.2 billion people and greater trade.
While keen to persuade India of the merits of the part-British Eurofighter jets, he has been dogged by another aviation deal involving the Anglo-Italian helicopter maker AgustaWestland.
Italian authorities made arrests last week during an investigation into bribes allegedly paid to secure the $750 million Indian government contract in 2010. Press leaks indicate one of the accused middlemen is based in London. The helicopters are being made in southwest England.
19/02/13 SaudiGazette

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False alarm? Oman Air pilot makes priority landing in Mumbai

Mumbai:  An Oman Air Flight was diverted to the Mumbai airport on Monday night after the pilot claimed to see smoke in the cockpit and made an emergency landing.
The flight, WY 254, had taken off from Chennai and was on its way to Muscat.
The aircraft was flying over Mumbai when at 9.39pm, the pilot reportedly saw smoke in the chamber.
Airport officials said the commander immediately contacted the Air Traffic Control at Mumbai and asked for a priority landing. The pilot also asked for emergency services to be ready.
19/02/13 Times of India

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Defence ministry puts 197 light chopper deal on hold

New Delhi: The defence ministry has put the proposed acquisition of 197 light utility helicopters in cold storage in the wake of explosive bribery allegations in the VVIP chopper contract, even as the Army is yet to find any tangible evidence against a brigadier named in the ongoing Italian probe.
The long procurement sagas behind the inking of the Rs 3,546-crore contract for 12 VVIP helicopters in February 2010 and the long-delayed Rs 3,000-crore project for 197 light helicopters have several similarities — from "tweaking of technical parameters" to allegations of corruption.
The two also interestingly intersected when Italian investigators, probing the 51 million euros bribes paid to swing the 556 million euros VVIP chopper contract in AgustaWestland's favour, seized a document that showed a "Brigadier Saini" allegedly demanded over $5 million to favour the company in the 197-helicopter deal as well.
19/02/13 Times of India

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China, India drive Etihad Cargo tonnage growth

Dubai: Aided by an increased demand from China and India, Etihad Cargo, a division of Abu Dhabi-based Etihad Airways, has registered a record 27 per cent growth at 32,613 tonnes for January this year.
This was 27 per cent higher than 25,600 tonnes carried during the same period of 2012.
Etihad Cargo, in its annual results, reported a tonnage growth of 19 percent for 2012 on the back of a capacity increase of 14 percent in Available Tonnage Kilometres (a measure of an airline's cargo and passenger capacity).
19/02/13 PTI/Economic times

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Govt divided over move to cancel VVIP chopper deal

New Delhi: The UPA government’s trepidation over the fate of the Rs 3,546 crore contract to buy 12 AugustaWestland VVIP helicopters is out in the open after Foreign Minister Salman Khurshid expressed his reservation on the defence ministry’s plan to scrap the deal.
A leading English newspaper reported on Tuesday that Khurshid is of the view that caution must be exercised against overreaction as what is of primary importance is that the issue should not affect India’s defence preparedness.Khurshid also stressed that the final decision would be taken when the issue would be brought before the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS), the highest decision-making body on defence-related matters.
19/02/13 ZeeNews

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AirAsia to start Kuala Lumpur-Kolkata daily flights from Feb 25

Chenai: Low cost airline AirAsia will offer daily flights connecting Kuala Lumpur and Kolkata with effect from February 25.
The airline has been operating three flights connecting Kuala Lumpur and Kolkata on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.
The new additional flight frequencies include a daily flight connecting the two destinations from February 25, an official release here said.
"We are happy to fulfill the increasing demand from our guests, for travel on the Kuala Lumpur-Kolkata route by introducing additional flight frequencies," Air Asia Group, Chief Commercial Officer, Siegtraund Teh said.
19/02/13 PTI/Economic Times

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Finmeccanica's India troubles poorly timed

Sao Paulo: Italian aviation manufacturer Finmeccanica's troubles in India over an alleged bribery scandal are poorly timed amid ambitious plans for expansion in Latin America.
Only last month the Italian conglomerate's Anglo-Italian company, helicopter maker AgustaWestland, announced it is teaming with Brazilian aviation giant Embraer to start a production and assembly line in Brazil.
Finmeccanica has extensive operations through subsidiaries and partners in Brazil and smaller but significant business in Argentina and elsewhere in Central and South America.
"Finmeccanica sees Brazil not simply as a new market for the group's products but rather as a skilled counterpart with which the group can initiate stable and strategic partnerships involving local companies," the conglomerate said, outlining its plans for the region.
19/02/13 UPI

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We are ready to face Parliament on chopper scam: Antony

New Delhi: Bracing to face opposition heat over chopper scam in Parliament, Defence Minister A K Antony today said government has "nothing to hide" and is prepared for a discussion even as he played down reports of his resignation.
"I will do my duty. I am now getting ready for the Parliament session. We will explain everything to Parliament. We have nothing to hide. Our hands are very clean," Antony told reporters on being asked whether he would resign.
Reacting to BJP’s allegations that the Defence Ministry was "sleeping" over the reports of corruption in the Rs 3,600 crore deal for 12 VVIP choppers, he said, "I cannot wake up anybody who is sleeping".
The Defence Ministry had started taking action on the issue from day one when first media reports in this regard came in, Antony said.
19/02/13 PTI/Deccan Herald

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Are we losing out on the Indian market?

Moscow showcased its state-of-the-art export models of aircraft engineering and air defence facilities at the Aero India 2013 show, which was held in Bangalore from 6 to 10 February 2013. There is a popular belief that Russia is losing the Indian market for combat aviation to the West but is this true?
To answer this, we must analyse not only the current market environment but also the events of the last five decades, for this is how old the relationship between Russia and India in military aviation is ? it started in 1963, when Russia first supplied MiG-21F-13 fighters to the Indian Air Force.
For a comparatively short period, the MiG-21 was the backbone of the Indian fighter fleet. The machine helped tip the scales in favour of India in military conflicts with Pakistan, which operated western, mostly American-made machines. The battle-tested fighter won the trust of the Indian Air Force, paving the way for further engagement.
19/02/13 Mikhail Hodarenok/RBK Daily/Russia & India Report

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Direct flight from Indore to Singapore on the horizon

Indore: If things go the Changi Airport Group way, Indore will soon boast of direct connectivity with Singapore. The group that operates the island country's Changi Airport, is planning to start a direct flight from Indore to its nation's capital to explore business potential and available opportunities in Madhya Pradesh, said Phau Hui Hoon, senior manager of the group, here on Monday.
Hoon , who along with his team of the group, was in the state to explore Indore's potential for the direct flight, met government officials and state business leaders in Bhopal. He sounded quite positive about starting the flight at the earliest. "Changi Airport is one of the largest airports in Singapore in terms of air traffic and number of passenger. We are looking forward to expansion of our services especially in central India," he said.
19/02/13 Bagish K Jha/Times of India

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Baby born mid-air, Filipino mother concerned

Kolkata: A Philippines national who gave birth to a baby girl out of wedlock on board a flight is worried about her daughter's future.
Kyamko Jina Sepulvuda, who gave birth to the child on board the Manila-bound Emirates Airlines flight from Dubai on February 7, is concerned about the baby, who is currently being monitored in a private hospital in the city.
"The father has been informed. He has said he will help to take care of the baby, but I am not sure what will happen in the future," Sepulvuda, 30, said.
Sepulvuda, who went into labour mid-air, was admitted to the Charnock Hospital of Kolkata after pilots of the Emirates flight EK 332 made a priority landing at the Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport following the birth of the infant aboard the aircraft.
19/02/13 Daily News & Analysis

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Jet Airways, Etihad keen on partnership: Anand Sharma

Abu Dhabi: Etihad and Jet Airways are keen on building a partnership, Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma said today, amid reports of the UAE-based carrier seeking to revise a proposed deal with the Indian carrier.
Etihad and Jet have been in talks for quite some time now for a possible deal involving a stake purchase in the Indian carrier, but the Chairman of Abu Dhabi-based carrier yesterday said that the deal is being revised and might take some time to consummate.
There have also been reports that Etihad officials would meet Sharma, who is here for an international conference.
While there was no official word on Sharma's meeting with Etihad officials here, the minister told reporters that he also discussed issues related to aviation sector during his meetings with the government representatives and business leaders of of UAE.
18/02/13 PTI/Economic Times

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Cameron tries to snatch India's £6 billion jet contract

David Cameron will attempt to steal a £6billion Indian defence contract from under the nose of Francois Hollande next week.
The Prime Minister will use a trip to India to try to persuade the New Delhi government to buy more than 100 Eurofighter jets after the French President left empty-handed this week.
French contractor Dassault Aviation was chosen last year as the preferred bidder for the contract to supply Rafale jet fighters to the Indian air force - a blow for the UK-German-Spanish-Italian consortium, which includes Britain’s BAE Systems, which builds the Eurofighter.
But Mr Hollande’s hopes of signing a final contract came to nothing this week - despite him squeezing in a visit before the Prime Minister. The French premier also failed to secure any major trade deals.
That has sparked hopes in Downing Street that Mr Cameron can persuade the Indian authorities to rethink the deal and buy the Eurofighter instead.
Officials made clear that the Prime Minister wants to steal a march on Mr Hollande, who has repeatedly clashed with Mr Cameron.
The PM angered the French by offering to put out a ‘red carpet’ for entrepreneurs fleeing Mr Hollande’s new 75 per cent top rate of tax, while the French government retaliated with the same offer for British businessmen if the UK quits the EU in the referendum Mr Cameron has offered.
A government source said: ‘Hollande was in India this week and a deal has not been signed so we will want to find out from the Indians how their talks are progressing with the French,” a Government source said.
16/02/13 Tim Shipman/Mail Online

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AgustaWestland helicopter deal charges set to fly in budget session

New Delhi: On the face of it, the political sides about to meet across the parliamentary divide of the Opposition and the Treasury benches for the Budget session from February 21 are getting at the same issue: Who made money in the Rs 3,700-crore VVIP AgustaWestland. helicopter deal?
The Opposition believes it has been served defence bribery sizzler on a platter, a case in which 51 million Euros changed hands through ‘foreign’ intermediaries: an (Italian and US) dual passport holding businessman Guido Ralph Haschke arrested and released in Switzerland on Friday in connection to the case (who got paid 20 million Euros); his partner Carlo Gerosa at whose daughter’s wedding the former met his first Indian contact in the deal Julie Tyagi (cousin of ex-Air Chief Marshal S P Tyagi); and a mysterious British consultant Christian Michel now reportedly operating out of Dubai and who came into the deal later and walked off with 30 million Euros. With all this and more, the BJP-led NDA is waiting to pounce on the UPA.
17/02/13 Suman K Jha & Santwana Bhattacharya /New Indian Express

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‘Saint' Antony's unsaintly slumber

New Delhi: Indecisiveness has been the hallmark of Defence Minister AK Antony’s seven-year tenure spread across UPA-I and UPA-II. Major Defence scams, the latest being the AgustaWestland chopper deal, continued to hit the establishment under him at regular intervals. But Antony acted, or rather was forced to act, only after the media zealously revealed the scandals.
Intriguingly, even though the Defence Ministry has a vigilance machinery in place to keep track of wrongdoings, Antony opted to go slow till these scandals blew up. He shied away from ordering probes promptly despite the media regularly exposing the scams.
Moreover, Antony cannot pass the buck to his predecessor Pranab Mukherjee for changing the specifications of the tender for the VVIP helicopters as the flight trials, technical evaluation and commercial negotiations were carried out during his own tenure.
The trials started in 2007 and the remaining processes followed with the deal finally inked in 2010.Antony has been at the helm throughout the period. He took charge as Defence Minister in 2006 when Mukherjee moved to External Affairs.
17/02/13 Daily Pioneer

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Etihad needs to revise Jet Airways deal - chairman

Abu Dhabi: Etihad Airways needs to revise its deal to buy a stake in India's Jet Airways (JET.NS) and it is too soon to say when a final agreement will be struck, the Abu Dhabi airline's chairman told Reuters on Sunday.
Sheikh Hamed bin Zayed al-Nahayan, speaking on the sidelines of a defence exhibition in the UAE capital, said officials would meet with Indian Trade Minister Anand Sharma to discuss the matter.
17/02/13 Reuters

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Nextant Aerospace to woo Indian entrepreneurs with business jets that cost less & fly more

American company Nextant describes itself as "the world's only business jet remanufacturer". For lack of a better business allegory, let's say the company is to the business jet market what the neighbourhood mechanic is to an automobile aficionado. It replaces the innards of business jets that have run their course to produce, or rather reproduce, a new jet. Out come those well-worn engines and instruments and in go spick-and-span replacements. Put simply, Nextant restores worn-out jets.
Importantly for the customer, the fruits of its labour are attractive from a cost perspective. At $4.5 million, the "remanufactured" jets are roughly half the price of comparable new jets, according to the company. However, Nextant works only on one brand of jets - the Hawker Beechjet 400A/XPs.
The company is preparing "a massive push" into the Indian market where, it says, its Nextant 400XTs (as the jets are known) could have a strong impact on the region's business aviation market because not only are these a cheaper alternative to new planes, but they also improve operating costs by 30%.
17/03/12 Binoy Prabhakar/Economic Times

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