US FAA downgrades DGCA over aviation safety fears

New Delhi:Exposing the gross inadequacy of our aviation regulator to ensure safe air travel here, the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has downgraded India's aviation safety ranking.
India has now been put in category II of safety ranking, from category 1 that directorate general of civil aviation (DGCA) was in earlier.
The decision was conveyed to DGCA's new chief Prabhat Kumar by an FAA delegation on Friday. The downgrade means that Indian carriers will now not be able to add flights to US. Also aircraft of Indian airlines that fly there — Air India and Jet Airways — can be be held indefinitely for checks there, which will make it difficult for them to adhere to schedule.
The first to be hit could be Air India which is supposed to join Star Alliance this summer. A number of US carriers are also part of this alliance but American laws prohibit them from entering into commercial relations like code share — a vital part of an alliance. So now if they will be able to do so with AI or not remains to be seen. Jet already has a code share with United.
31/01/14 Saurabh Sinha/Times of India

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India 'disappointed' after US downgrades air safety ranking

New Delhi:  US aviation authorities have downgraded India's safety ranking in a "disappointing" and "surprising" move that will hit air links between the countries, India's aviation minister said on Friday.
The US Federal Aviation Administration downgraded India after conducting an audit last year of India's aviation regulator that found 31 areas of concern, a statement said.
The areas of concern include better recruitment and training of professional and technical staff for India's aviation regulator, responsible for the safety of the country's airlines, the statement.
"They have downgraded us to category 2, which is very disappointing and also surprising," Aviation Minister Ajit Singh said at a press conference in New Delhi.
The minister said 95 percent of issues raised by the FAA have been resolved, while the remainder were expected to be resolved by March, adding it was the first time India had suffered a downgrade.
31/01/14 Agence France-Press/NDTV

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Omar asks DGCA to focus on getting aviation safety ranking back

New Delhi: Questioning the government’s controversial move to ask private airlines to give special privileges like lounge access to MPs, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has said that the DGCA should instead focus on getting  category 1 rating back.
“Instead of wasting time on ordering VIP handling for elected representatives perhaps DGCA should focus on getting our Cat 1 rating back,” Omar said on twitter.
According to reports, US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has downgraded India's aviation safety ranking. India has now been put in category II of safety ranking from category 1 that directorate general of civil aviation (DGCA) was in earlier.
The downgrade means that Indian carriers will now not be able to add flights to US. Also aircraft of Indian airlines that fly there, Air India and Jet Airways, can be held indefinitely for checks there, which will make it difficult for them to adhere to schedule
31/01/14 Jagran Post

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Now, Indian firms face global watchdogs

The Flip side of globalisation, as many Indian companies and even sectoral regulators would testify, is the increased levels of scrutiny by foreign regulators, especially US watchdogs.
On Wednesday, the government was forced to approve the creation of 75 crucial posts in the domestic aviation sector regulator DGCA to carry out safety inspection of airlines and private charter companies, largely under pressure to avoid a downgrade by the US regulator — the Federal Aviation Authority (FAA).
The non-implementation of these could have resulted in the downgrade of the DGCA on aviation safety count from the top Category I to a lower ranking, which would have implied that Air India and Jet Airways, which fly to the US, would not be allowed to hike the existing number of flights they operate and subject themselves to greater safety supervision in the US.
31/01/14 Anil Sasi/Financial Express

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Drukair to launch flights on Paro-Mumbai route on May 1

Mumbai: Drukair, the flag carrier of the Kingdom of Bhutan, is set to launch flights from Paro to Mumbai on May 1, 2014. An official announcement in this regard will be made at the Tourism Council of Bhutan’s (TCB) roadshow to be held at Vivanta by Taj President in Mumbai on February 5. TCB and Drukair, Taj Tashi Bhutan along with few other local tour operators will conduct roadshows in Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata next week to promote Bhutan as an up-market destination and also network with travel trade members.
Mumbai will be the sixth destination on Drukair’s network in India. The three-hour flight between Paro International Airport and Mumbai Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport will operate twice weekly, on Thursdays and Sundays. Flight number KB206 will depart from Paro at 0730hrs to reach Mumbai at 1010hrs while flight number KB207 will leave Mumbai at 1110hrs to reach Paro at 1440hrs. The aircraft will offer 16 seats in business class and 102 seats in economy class.
31/01/14 TravelBizMonitor

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UAE aviation chief doubtful RAK Airways will fly again

RAK Airways is not expected to operate again, the director general of the General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) said yesterday.
“I don’t think that they are coming back,” Saif Mohammed Al Suwaidi said at the GCAA’s launch of a new strategic plan for the sector until 2016.
When asked if the airline could sell its licence or whether that was the purview of the GCAA, he replied: “I will announce something regarding that next week.”
Representatives of RAK Airways were not available for comment yesterday.
Ras Al Khaimah’s only airline suspended all its flights in December for the second time in five years.
Launched in 2006, RAK Airways stopped operations for a first time in 2009 amid a global downturn, but resumed services a year later.
Mr Al Suwaidi said he expected the aviation sector to contribute 15 per cent of the country’s total GDP by 2016, which coincides with the end of GCAA’s three-year strategic plan.
30/01/14 Shereen El Gazzar/The National

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Businesswoman smuggled in Rs 30cr jewellery in 2 years

Mumbai: Businesswoman Vihari Sheth, arrested last August for trying to smuggle in diamond-studded gold jewellery in her innerwear and a high-end wristwatch collectively valued Rs 2.05 crore, had formed a syndicate with her uncle Jiten Seth, Directorate of Revenue Intelligence's show-cause notice said.
Vihari, partner of Singapore-based Vihari Jewels Pte Ltd, was arrested on her arrival at the Mumbai airport. She apparently indulged in smuggling of diamonds and diamond-studded gold jewellery worth Rs 30 crore in the past, the notice said. Vihari has made 32 visits to Mumbai in 28 months, beginning March 2011, and evidence show that she was "in the habit of smuggling gold jewellery or diamonds from Singapore". Vihari has been employed as a conduit by her family in India and Singapore to smuggle in jewellery and sell them through their family showroom in Mumbai, the notice said.
30/01/14 C Unnikrishnan/Times of India

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600 grams gold ingots seized at Coimbatore airport

Coimbatore: Gold ingots, weighing 600 grams and valued at Rs 20 lakh, were today seized from a passenger at the city airport, police said. During a routine check, customs department officials grew suspicious about the movement of a passenger, Mohammed Abdullah and on searching him, they found six biscuits concealed in his underwear, police said.
30/01/14 The Hindu

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India biggest destination country for Dubai airport

Dubai: India continued to be the biggest destination for the Dubai International Airport, the world's second busiest international airport hub, in 2013, according to a report.
India retained its top spot with 8,401,253 passengers, a year on year growth of 14.3 percent compared to 7,347,270 in 2012, according to the annual traffic report issued by operator Dubai Airports Tuesday.
Britain came second with 5,099,843 passengers (+19 per cent) followed by Saudi Arabia at 4,825,114 (+34.2 per cent).
"It was truly a historic year for Dubai's aviation sector highlighted by the successful opening of Concourse A, the world's largest and only facility built for the Airbus A380," Paul Griffiths, chief executive of Dubai Airports, said in a statement.
The airport registered another banner year with annual passenger traffic reaching 66,431,533 in 2013, up 15.2 per cent compared to 57,684,550 recorded during 2012.
30/01/14 IANS/Business Standard

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Passengers refuse to leave plane after flight is cancelled

Mumbai:  At least 60 upset passengers in Mumbai have refused to get off a Jet Airways plane in protest after a technical snag forced the airline to cancel the flight to Singapore.
The flight was to have taken off from Mumbai at 9.50 this morning. Passengers complained that after waiting for three hours on the plane, they were asked to get off.
They also alleged that the private airline has refused to put them on other flights to Singapore.
30/01/14  Deepshikha Ghosh/NDTV

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Lufthansa to begin Airbus A380 flights to India in 2014

New York:  The head of Lufthansa said the German airline plans to begin flying Airbus A380 superjumbo jets on routes to India later this year. On Monday, India lifted a ban on landing the aircraft in the country, enabling carriers such as Singapore Airlines, Lufthansa and Emirates airline to fly the jets into the world's second-most populous nation. Lufthansa had earlier said it had no immediate plans to use the jet on those routes."We are interested to use the A380 also for the major Indian markets," Christoph Franz, CEO of Deutsche Lufthansa AG , said on Wednesday in an interview in the Reuters Global Markets Forum, an online community for financial professionals.
30/01/14 Reuters/Business Standard

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HAL team’s visit to Dassault facilities in France on hold

New Delhi: The visit by a HAL team to Dassault facilities in France has been put on hold amid efforts by the government to verify the linkages between AgustaWestland's parent firm Finmecannica and other European defence companies. The defence ministry earlier this month scrapped a deal with AgustaWestland for procuring 12 VVIP choppers after charging it with breaching contractual obligations.
A high-level team of HAL was scheduled to visit France to visit the facilities of the Rafale fighter jet as part of the ongoing negotiations between the two sides for jointly producing the aircraft but it was cancelled at the last moment, said defence ministry sources in New Delhi. The HAL team was also scheduled to meet other aerospace companies such as Eurocopter and Turbomeca for exploring potential to work on ongoing and future projects, they said. The visit has been put on hold at a time when after cancelling the VVIP chopper deal, India is verifying linkages between European firms and the Finmkecannica group.
29/01/14 First Post

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Direct Delhi-Maldives chartered flight shortly

New Delhi: Eyeing the increasing number of outbound Indian tourists, the national air carrier of Maldives will begin chartered flights from here shortly to the island country in the Indian Ocean.
"The national carrier Island Aviation will be shortly operating chartered flights from here to our country. This is being done to provide direct flight service from here to Maldives to attract more tourists," Deputy Tourism Minister of Maldives Hussain Lirar said on Wednesday.
Currently the direct flight from India to Maldives is operational only from Thiruvanathapuram and there is no direct flight from Delhi and Mumbai to the island country.
Admitting the absence of direct flight from Delhi and Mumbai, Lirar said, "Chartered flights will be available from Delhi shortly and depending upon the volume of traffic we will consider launching a regular scheduled flight from here."
29/01/14 Jagran Post

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Gold smuggler lands in DRI net at Ahmedabad airport

Ahmedabad:  The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) busted a racket in which a businessman was smuggling gold into the country by mixing it with other metals and passing it off as gold ore concentrate. While concentrate can be freely imported, gold invites a hefty 10% duty.
Acting on a tip-off, DRI on Wednesday seized a consignment of 16 kg gold ore concentrate which contained 5 kg gold of 995 purity. Sleuths arrested Sanjay Patel, 49, a resident of Khambat, who is believed to be to the mastermind.
The consignment arrived from Dubai at the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport's air cargo terminal on January 23 and belonged to the Patel-owned firm, Mulchand M Zaveri.
Natural gold ore concentrate is a mix of silver, zinc, copper and gold mined in African countries. Only about 2.5 grams of pure gold can be extracted from 1,000 kg of the concentrate.
30/01/14 Times of India

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2kg gold seized from 6 flyers

Mumbai:  Mumbai airport Customs officials on Wednesday intercepted 2 kg gold worth Rs 52 lakh in six smuggling cases.
In the first case, a flyer, Mansoor Ali B M Kunhi, had concealed 332gm jewellery in fluorescent tubes. In another case, one Mohammed Hanif Habib Shah had concealed a gold bar worth Rs 4.4 lakh in the battery cavity of a cellphone. In the third case, a 116 gm gold bar worth Rs 2.9 lakh was found in the pocket of a passenger, Mohammed Iqbal. Another passenger, Ismail Deshmukh, had hid a 500 gm gold bar in his pant pocket. One Abdul Hameed Jahir Hussain had concealed six gold bars, weighing 600 gm and worth Rs 15 lakh in his rectum. A flyer, Mohammed Aliyar Jinna, had concealed four gold bars, 100 gm each and worth a total of Rs 10 lakh in his footwear.
30/01/14 Times of India

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2 gold carriers held at Kolkata airport

Kolkata: The arrest of two gold carriers at Kolkata airport on Wednesday has led central intelligence agencies to believe that smugglers have changed the modus operandi of sneaking gold into India. Customs and the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) say the ringleaders are getting "lowly-paid" Indians in southeast and Arabian countries to agree to carry gold in to India. "Instead of depending on an expert carrier, these persons are asked to carry small amounts of gold to various destinations in India. While gold from Dubai enters airports like Mumbai and Kozhikode, carriers from Southeast Asia, especially Bangkok, target airports in Kolkata and Chennai. The entire smuggled booty is then assembled through 'contacts'," said a top source.
30/01/14 Dwaipayan Ghosh/Times of India

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A380 landing may not impact airline industry

Mumbai: The move by the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) on Monday of lifitng the ban on Airbus A380s may not have a major impact on the Indian airline industry.
The A380s would now be allowed at airports at Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad and Bangalore, which are currently equipped to handle them and have the required infrastructure, while Mumbai's Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport (CSIA) will be the first to benefit out of this decision as the services of jumbo aircraft is expected to start from here first; probably in over a month.
Kingfisher Airlines was the only domestic airline that placed an order for jumbo A-380s. Experts said that the domestic carriers will slowly take a decision on deploying the same, depending on the profitability of the route.
"The cost of acquisition of the aircraft (A380) is higher and also the airlines will have to spend an additional cost on training the staff on the same. Hence deploying an aircraft like this will require lot of analysis, on whether it will be profitable to introduce, replacing the existing ones," said an aviation expert who refused to quoted.
Major international airlines like Singapore Airlines, Emirates and Lufthansa are likely to introduce these aircraft in the Indian skies.
29/01/14 Daily News & Analysis

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Entry of A-380s puts Indian carriers in a spot

Mumbai: The decision of the Civil Aviation Ministry to allow A-380 aircraft to fly into India is expected to benefit Indian tourism, but the move will hurt the interest of Indian carriers such as Air India and Jet Airways, according to analysts.
The fares to be offered by foreign airlines having A-380 aircraft in their fleet, including Singapore Airlines, Emirates and Lufthansa, would be much cheaper than the fares of Indian carriers who have B-737s, A-320s and B-787 aircraft in the fleet and flying to Singapore and Dubai, to name some destinations.
A-380 called the Superjumbo has capacity to accommodate over 850 passengers in an all-economy class configuration and 555 passengers in three-class configuration. The capacity offered by the Indian carriers is no match to them.
“Of course, the entry to A-380 will affect Indian airlines like Air India, Jet Airways and Indigo. They cannot match the fares to be offered by airlines operating A-380s. But they should have worked out their strategy well in advance as they knew that A-380s would be allowed. In a global environment, one cannot prevent A-380 from entering India for long time. For the time being, Indian carriers will be affected,” said Iqbal Mulla, President, Travel Agents’ Association of India.
28/01/14 Lalatendu Mishra/The Hindu

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Domestic Help Delivers Baby Boy on Flight from Kuwait, With Doc On Board

Chennai: Fifteen minutes before a Kuwait Airways flight could land at the Chennai airport, Radha (37), who was eight-and-a-half months pregnant delivered a male child in the plane. Luckily for her, there was a doctor flying on the same aircraft and was able to help her undergo a normal delivery in the plane, without complications.
She was flying home on Kuwait Airways flight KU 343 to give birth to this child in her native village. Scheduled to land at 4.20 am, she went into labour at around 3.45 am and gave birth by 4.16 am. The plane circled for a few minutes before landing at 4.30 am, so that passengers and crew could strap in for landing.  Radha and her husband Subramani, from Pulapatharu Rajampet village near Cudappah, had gone to Kuwait to seek work last year.
An official from AAI said that the pilot asked passengers if anyone had medical experience on board and the doctor volunteered, "The doctor took the woman to the rear of the plane and tried to stave off the contractions till they landed but Radha's labour was advanced and they managed the delivery with limited instruments on board," he said. The doctor even severed the umblical cord and had the child secured in a warm blanket before the plane touched down.
Surprisingly, the pilot opted not to make an 'emergency' call to Air Traffic Control, opting to inform the Kuwait Airways ground staff in Chennai to have a medical team and ambulance ready, said an Air Traffic Controller on duty.
The child and mother were checked and then they were transferred to the Apollo Paediatric Hospital," said a doctor at the airport.
29/01/14 Daniel Thimmayya/New Indian Express

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Bangladesh Biman to Fly Twice a Week to Guwahati From Dhaka

Shillong: To increase air connectivity between the North East states and Bangladesh, the government of the neighbouring country has approved the proposal of its national air carrier, Bangladesh Biman to fly twice a week from Dhaka to Guwahati starting from July 1 this year.          
"I am happy to say that Bangladesh Biman Airlines officers called on me last week and informed that they will start twice weekly flights from Dhaka to Guwahati from July 1," Bangladesh High Commissioner to India Tariq A Karim told reporters here.        
Karim who called on Meghalaya Chief Minister Mukul Sangma expressed his country's keen interest in creating a connection with India's North East and Meghalaya in particular in view of their close proximity.  
29/01/14 New Indian Express

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Jet Airways hooks up with Paris

New Delhi: Jet Airways will commence a daily service from Mumbai to Paris' Charles de Gaulle airport on May 14, pitting it directly against Air France.  
The carrier will deploy an Airbus A330-200 for the route, offering 235 economy and 18 premium flatbed seats. It is also the only evening departure from continental Europe to Mumbai.
 Gaurang Shetty, vice president commercial of Jet Airways, said that the airline would now be able to offer seamless travel between Europe and India with onward connections to Colombo, Dhaka and Kathmandu.
Sonal Swamy, director of Mumbai-based Syrisa Travel, pointed out that the “convenient departure and arrival times and short-transit connections beyond Paris will ensure that (the flight) will succeed”.
29/01/14 Shekhar Niyogi/TTG Asia

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Got a handwritten passport? Renew it this year

Bangalore: Come November 2015, and your handwritten passport won't take you on a foreign holiday. Neither can you fly out if your little blue book has 20-year validity. This is in keeping with the norms of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), which has decided to do away with non-machine readable (handwritten) passports globally. India is part of the ICAO. This rule will come into effect from November 25, 2015. Countries under the ICAO will not issue visas to persons holding passports which are handwritten or valid for 20 years.
29/01/14 Aparajita Ray/Times of India 

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Visa at doorsteps for Emirates passengers

Thiruvananthapuram: Emirates customers can now directly arrange their visas online at www.emirates.com/in for 10 international destinations at the click of a button. These destinations are the UK; the US; Canada; Switzerland; France; Germany; Italy; The Netherlands; Nigeria; and South Africa.
The service will initially be offered from 10 Indian gateways of the airline in Mumbai; New Delhi; Chennai; Kolkata; Ahmedabad; Bangalore; Cochin; Kozhikode; Hyderabad; and Thiruvananthapuram.
It will also be available in Baroda; Pune; Goa; Jaipur; Lucknow;and Mangalore, where Emirates does not operate direct flights.
28/01/14 Business Line

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Bangladeshi nationals arrested at Lucknow airport, fake passports seized

Lucknow:  Four Bangladeshi nationals were arrested from Chowdhury Charan Singh Airport in Lucknow while they were allegedly trying to fly to Saudi Arabia on fake passports, police said today.
The arrests were made yesterday when Mintu, Zainul Ali Khan, Lakhu Miyan and Mukhtar entered the airport to board a Saudi Arabia bound flight.
29/01/14 PTI/NDTV.com

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Airbus superjumbo will be a boon for limited capacity Mumbai airport: Experts

Mumbai: Aviation specialists say the A380 can bring respite to the congested, land-starved Mumbai airport.
On Monday, the ministry of civil aviation allowed foreign airlines to launch commercial A380 flight operations in India. Aviation sources said Mumbai airport is likely to be the first to handle the aircraft. A foreign airline has had a meeting with the airport's operators in this regard.
Capt G R Gopinath, founder of the now-defunct Air Deccan, India's first low-cost airline, said, "If an airline puts only economy seats all throughout the A380, it can ferry 853 passengers. The Rajdhani Express, on the other hand, carries only 750."
Amber Dubey of global consultancy KPMG said, "The only way Mumbai can improve capacity is by encouraging large aircraft like the A380."
The problem with Mumbai airport is that unlike other major airports that service metro cities the world over, it cannot have parallel runways because of land constraints. With its cross runways, it can at best handle only 50 landings or take-offs per hour. Thus, A380s can increase Mumbai airport's efficiency.
29/01/14 Manju V/Times of India

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Air Seychelles chief connected with Jet Airways after stepping down

Etihad Airways’ partner airline Air Seychelles yesterday announced the resignation of Cramer Ball, its chief executive, amid speculation he will take the top job at India’s Jet Airways.
Air Seychelles, in which Etihad owns a 40 per cent equity stake, said that Mr Ball would step down from his position when the airline announces its full financial results late next month.
Mr Ball is regarded as a possible CEO for Jet, in which Etihad owns a 24 per cent stake, following the resignation of Garry Toomey on January 16 after just six months in the job.
“Certainly Cramer has demonstrated his ability to turn an airline around and grow it while keeping close links with Etihad,” said Will Horton, senior analyst at Capa - Centre for Aviation.
“It wouldn’t be surprising for him to stay within the greater Etihad family.”
28/01/14 John Everington/The National

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In India, 2,500kg of gold is being flown in every month

New Delhi: High customs duty on gold has skewed the jewellery market in such a way that not only is the yellow metal being smuggled in huge quantities, a fact admitted by finance minister P Chidambaram, but there has been an unprecedented rise in legal import of gold through air passengers.
December saw 2,500kg of gold brought in this way. Sources said gold brought in legally by passengers flying into India never crossed 30-40kg a month. Financial agencies said this reflected that there was huge premium in the market on gold due to high demand and short supply.
Air passengers, living abroad, are allowed to carry 1kg gold into India after paying duty. Many jewellers, instead of risking smuggling, are tapping such frequent flyers, paying for their ticket and making them carry gold legally.
29/01/14 Deeptiman Tiwary/Times of India

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9kg of gold seized in airport over 6 days

New Delhi: The biggest gold haul at Delhi airport so far this year—of 6.23kg—was intercepted last Thursday. This came five days before another seizure on Tuesday of 2.9kg of gold. This brings the combined gold intercepted in last six days to nearly 9kg and the estimated worth of seized gold to Rs 2.3 crore.
Officials at the airport who oversaw the seizure of 6.23kg gold said it was for the first time they saw such a sophisticated level of coordination between the smugglers. In the first case, smugglers, landing from different flights to Delhi, divided up the gold between themselves. In the second, gold was being smuggled by a woman.
"Four passengers were found coming from four different airports.
29/01/14 Times of India

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Four held with gold worth over Rs 1.50 crore at airport

New Delhi:  Four people have been arrested for allegedly trying to smuggle into the country gold bars valuing over Rs 1.50 crore at the airport here, customs officials said.
The accused were intercepted by customs officials upon their arrival on January 23 from different international and domestic flights-- one from Bangkok and three from Hyderabad, Mumbai and Amritsar respectively.
One of the accused had hidden 600 gms of gold in his mobile while another passenger wad hidden it in his innerwear. Rest were hiding gold in their baggage being carried out by them, the officials said.
The accused were carrying ten gold bars collectively weighing about 6.2 kgs worth Rs 1.57 crore, they said.
28/01/14 Times of India

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Five held with gold worth over Rs 2.3 crore at airport

New Delhi: Five persons, including a woman, have been arrested for allegedly trying to smuggle into the country gold valuing over Rs 2.30 crore in separate incidents at the airport here.
The seizure, made during the last one week, is a result of heightened vigil at the airport, customs officials said.
In the first incident, a woman was intercepted after her arrival here yesterday from Bangkok. On her detailed examination, eight enamelled gold bangles weighing about 3 kgs were recovered which she was wearing in her hands, customs officials said.
The accused, who is in her late twenties and hails from Punjab, was arrested and the recovered gold was seized. The value of the gold is Rs 75.58 lakh, they said.
In another incident, four accused were intercepted by customs officials upon their arrival on January 23 from different international and domestic flights-- one from Bangkok and three from Hyderabad, Mumbai and Amritsar respectively.
28/01/14 PTI/Business Standard

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India Removes A380 Restrictions but Obstacles Persist

India has lifted restrictions on the Airbus A380 airliner to land at four Code F compliant airports, the country’s Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) announced Monday. But while the industry has applauded the move, the government has not made it an effortless exercise, as major carriers wanting to fly their A380s to India run short on service entitlements.
“Bilateral air service agreements (ASAs) that prohibit operation of A380s to India will need to be amended before permission is granted,” the MoCA said in a statement.
“Rationalization of traffic rights from services per week to seats per week shall be done through mutual negotiations through memoranda of understanding.” Airports will require Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) certification and “make adequate preparation in terms of various services required,” the statement added.
“In India everything takes time; ASAs are not easy to arrange overnight,” a senior airline official told AIN. “This looks like an attempt by the government to show it is moving things. In reality, national carrier Air India will get more breathing space.”
27/01/14 Neelam Mathews/AINonline

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Airbus A380: Passengers to benefit

New Delhi: More travel options and lower fares await air passengers after the government Monday allowed Airbus A380, the world's largest passenger aircraft, to fly into the country.
The civil aviation ministry lifted the ban imposed in 2008 on the ground that operation of A380s could work against the interest of Indian carriers.
Industry insiders said not just passengers, but airport operators also are expected to benefit from the revocation of the ban on Airbus A380s' operations in India.
It is expected that A380s operations will increase airport revenues and help in decongestion during the peak travel season.
"A380s will help bring down fares and improve the cost competitiveness of the Indian tourism sector. They will improve the efficiency and capacity utilisation at Indian airports," Amber Dubey, partner and head - aerospace and defence, KPMG, told IANS.
The super jumbo which can accommodate up to 853 in a single-class configuration is expected to increase the parking, housing and landing (PHL) component of airport's operators' revenues.
27/01/14 IANS/Business Standard

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Air India Express set to reinstate two Salalah-Kerala flights

Muscat: The Indian expatriates from Kerala residing in Oman can heave a sigh of relief as Air India Express, the budget airline of Air India, is going to reinstate the two flights from Salalah to Kerala that were suspended, and will also add two more flights from Muscat to Thiruvananthapuram from March, a senior official from the airline's office in Muscat said.
"The airline had cancelled its two services, Salalah-Thiruvananthapuram (IX541) and Salalah-Cochin-Thiruvananthapuram (IX544), in January this year. Now, we are going to reinstate them from March-end as part of the summer schedule. It will ease the woes of those travelling to south Indian destinations," Amresh Choudhary, Air India's Oman country manager, told Times of Oman.
"The two main reasons behind the cancellation were that there was not much load from Salalah at that time and there was also unavailability of aircraft," airline's country manager said.
Keralites in Oman were up in arms after the airline suspended two flights from Salalah to Kerala.
28/01/14 Rejimon K/Times of Oman

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Foreign trips to get cheaper, as A380s allowed to land

Mumbai: The civil aviation ministry has lifted a prohibition on the Airbus A380s to land in India. This may lead to a drop in international airfares, possibly at the cost of Indian carriers flying abroad.
These planes have been cleared for landing at Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore and Hyderabad airports, the only ones equipped to handle the A380. The ban stemmed from concerns that foreign airlines operating A380s will grab a larger share of international traffic, thereby hurting Indian players, especially Air India.
Earlier this month civil aviation minister Ajit Singh said his government was considering removing the restriction. A statement from his ministry on Monday and quoted by Reuters said, “Flights of the A380 to India will be allowed to airports equipped to handle them… The operations of the A380 will be subject to overall traffic entitlements within bilateral air service agreements with different countries.”
27/01/14 Soumonty Kanungo/mydigitalfc.com

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Lufthansa, Emirates, cautious about flying A380 in Indian skies

No major global airline seems to be keen to immediately fly the Airbus 380 into India, despite the country lifting a ban on this aircraft today. German flag carrier Lufthansa welcomed the Indian Government's move but said it had no immediate plans to bring in this aircraft. Lufthansa is among the few global airlines which operate A380 in other markets such as USA, China and Japan and had been lobbying the Indian Government for permission to bring in this aircraft for years.
Singapore Airlines, another carrier, which has A380 in its fleet and was earlier keen to deploy it on flights to India, also played it safe. General Manager India for the airline, David Lau, said,"Singapore Airlines will evaluate the commercial viability of this recent development based on available traffic rights and resources."
Emirates, the Dubai based airline which already carries the largest number of outbound passengers from India and has a little over 54,000 weekly seats, also gave a tepid response to the A380 largesse. "We welcome the decision of the Indian aviation authorities to allow A380 operations. Any decision to deploy an A380 on our network is dependent on passenger demand on that particular route as well as the ability of airports to handle the aircraft...We will be reviewing our existing operations, and look forward to serving Indian travellers with our flagship aircraft in the near future."
27/01/14 Sindhu Bhattacharya/First Post

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India Lifts A380 Ban Paving Way for Emirates Jumbo Jets

India lifted a ban on Airbus Group NV (AIR) A380s from flying into the country, a move that will allow Deutsche Lufthansa AG (LHA) and Emirates to send the double-decker plane to the world’s second-most populous nation.
Airlines will be allowed to fly the world’s biggest passenger jet to four Indian airports, including New Delhi and Mumbai, the Civil Aviation Ministry said in a statement today. A380 services will be subject to traffic entitlements within bilateral agreements, it said.
Singapore Airlines Ltd. (SIA) is also interested in operating the plane to India, the ministry said. Under previous rules, carriers were banned from operating aircraft bigger than the Boeing Co. (BA) 747 because of concerns that passengers may desert state-run Air India and local operators already struggling with the region’s highest fuel charges and cut-throat competition.
Emirates, the biggest customer for the A380, Lufthansa, and Singapore Air, the superjumbo’s first operator, all welcomed India’s decision. Emirates said it will be reviewing its existing operations and “look forward to serving Indian travelers with our flagship aircraft in the near future.”
27/01/14 Anurag Kotoky/Bloomberg.com

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Govt waves in the Airbus A-380, but with riders

New Delhi: The Government lifted its ban on allowing the world’s largest commercial aircraft, the A-380, to operate scheduled flights here on Monday.
To protect the interest of Indian carriers, the Government has stipulated that A-380 flights will be allowed from countries with which India has exchanged bilateral air services agreements (ASAs) based on seats and the number of flights a week. Where the ASA is based on flights, this will be changed to seats before the airlines are allowed to the A-380.
Monday’s move is likely to benefit Singapore and Dubai, the two countries with which India has exchanged bilaterals based on the number of seats.
It could be some time before, say Russian airlines, can operate the A-380 to India as the India-Russia bilateral is based on the number of weekly flights, not on seats.
At the moment, airports in Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad and Bangalore can accommodate the double-decker aircraft.
27/01/14 Business Line

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Desi airlines against 5/20 rule removal to fly abroad

New Delhi: The government's proposed move to completely do away with the requirement that an Indian airline must complete five years in service and should have a fleet of at least 20 planes before it is allowed to fly abroad, has led to strong opposition from domestic airlines. The objection comes essentially from the fact that the removal of this rule will help the soon-to-belaunched Tata Sons airlines — a full service carrier with Singapore Airlines and a budget one with AirAsia — and will enable them to fly abroad right after launch whereas all existing players had to pass the 5/20 condition to get access to the lucrative overseas routes.
At present, all Indian carriers meet this requirement except Wadia Group's GoAir, which has completed five years in service and will have 20 aircraft in its fleet by July, 2014. The proposed policy change is only for the benefit of the new players even as existing players bled heavily to first fulfil this requirement before flying abroad, domestic airlines said. The Federation of Indian Airlines, (FIA) a representative body of Indian airlines, wrote to aviation secretary Ashok Lavasa earlier this week, expressing "serious concern and to lodge strong protest" over the proposed abolition of the 5/20 rule.
28/01/14 Times of India

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Odisha a step closer to gaining international flights

Kolkata: The Odisha government is inviting more airlines to fly into capital city Bhubaneswar, which is presently not serviced by any international carriers.
 GoAir is scheduled to begin flights from Bengaluru and Mumbai to Bhubaneswar in May, while AirAsia will fly from Kuala Lumpur from March pending approval, according to Sharad Kumar, director of Biju Patnaik International Airport, which met with representatives of 20 international airlines last week.
The Odisha government also recently reduced aviation fuel taxes from 20 per cent to five per cent. “The response of airlines was positive. We expect more airlines to be interested in running operations here by February,” said Kumar.
 Carriers such as Qatar Airways, SilkAir, Air Arabia and Flydubai are reportedly keen to start services to Bhubaneswar.
27/01/14 Shekhar Niyogi/TTG Asia

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Immigration bureau's claim opposed in Kerala high court

Kochi:  The Kerala manpower exporters association has opposed Bureau of Immigration's (BoI) claim at the Kerala high court that human trafficking through the Nedumbassery airport is continuing, with rackets now operating with commercial visit visas.
BoI had told the court earlier that a large number of passengers had been found travelling on commercial visit visas for short-term employment.
BoI was responding to a petition filed by four persons from Pathanamthitta alleging that BoI is not permitting them to attend job interviews abroad for working as carpenters in a Kuwait defence-related project.
Opposing BoI's claim, the association has now filed a counter affidavit. The affidavit stated, "The wild allegation that travel agents are circumventing the existing rules for illegal migration and human trafficking are without any basis and most unfortunate."
28/01/14 Times of India

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Afghan man misses flight, assaults CISF staff at IGI Airport

New Delhi: A 25-year-old Afghan national was arrested for allegedly misbehaving with Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) personnel at the Indira Gandhi International Airport.
The man allegedly tore the uniform of a CISF constable before attempting to snatch the gun of a CISF Inspector and attempting to run to the air side.
According to airport officials, the incident was reported a week ago when the Afghan man, identified as Ashmatullah Hashmi, was due to fly to Kabul. Sources said Hashmi, a student, was scheduled to board an Air India flight to Kabul which was scheduled to depart at 12.35 pm. However, due to technical reasons, the flight was delayed and rescheduled.
Sources said Hashmi, who was allegedly inebriated, fell asleep in the security hold area and missed the rescheduled flight. His check-in baggage had been offloaded by the airline by then.
28/01/14 Shalini Narayan/Indian Express

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Ban on Airbus A380 superjumbos lifted

New Delhi: India will lift ban and allow Airbus A380 planes to land at the country's four main airports, the civil aviation ministry said on Monday, lifting restrictions on the superjumbos flying into the country, which may end up hurting domestic carrier Air India.
The four airports equipped to handle the A380s are in New Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore and Hyderabad, the ministry said.
The ban on A380s was mainly due to concerns that foreign carriers may further hurt state-run Air India by grabbing a larger share of international traffic.
The rule change will benefit carriers like Singapore Airlines, Emirates, Lufthansa and British Airways that operate the super-jumbo and fly to India, as well A380 customers like Etihad and Qatar Airways who have yet to take delivery of the aircraft.
Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh said earlier this month the government was considering removing the restrictions.
"Now, flights of A380 to India will be allowed to airports which are equipped to handle them," the civil aviation ministry statement said.
"The operations of A380 aircraft would be subject to overall traffic entitlements within the bilateral Air Service Agreements (ASAs) with different countries," it said.
24/01/14 Reuters/Financial Express

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Airbus A380 superjumbos can now land at 4 airports

New Delhi: India lifted a landing ban on Airbus A380s on Monday, enabling carriers such as Singapore Airlines and Emirates to fly their superjumbos into the world's second-most populous nation.
A380s will be allowed to land at the country's four main airports - New Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore and Hyderabad - which are equipped to handle the planes, a decision welcomed by foreign carriers looking to tap India's fast growing air travel sector.
"The operation of A380s will help airports to generate more revenue, give more comfortable and luxurious travel to passengers, (and will) liberalise the civil aviation milieu in India," the civil aviation ministry said in a statement.
The ban on A380s was imposed due to concerns that foreign airlines could grab a high share of international traffic, hurting state-run Air India.
27/01/14 Reuters/NDTV

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Jet Airways to launch flights from Bangalore, Hyderabad to Abu Dhabi

Bangalore: Jet Airways has launched two new international flights - Bangalore to Abu Dhabi and Hyderabad to Abu Dhabi, effective March 1.
According to Gaurang Shetty, Senior Vice President – Commercial, Jet Airways, these two new routes will be serviced by Boeing 737 – 800 aircraft and also enhances flight connectivity beyond Abu Dhabi to destinations in West Asia, North America, Europe and Africa.
Jet Airways operates a daily flight each from Delhi, Kochi and Chennai and 11 flights a week from Mumbai to Abu Dhabi.
The new route from Bangalore will be Jet Airways’ first international flight from Bangalore to the Gulf. Flight 9W 504 will depart from Bangalore at 8.30 p.m., and arrive at Abu Dhabi at 11.30 p.m. (local time).
On the return journey, the flight 9W 503 will depart Abu Dhabi at 10.30 a.m. (local time) and arrive in Bangalore at 4.20 p.m.
27/01/14 Business Line

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Case against GMR strong, insists Maldives

The Maldives' case in the arbitration row with India's GMR over Male airport is strong, newly appointed Attorney General (AG) Mohamed Anil said Sunday.
In an exclusive interview with Haveeru, Anil said arbitration is going on in Singapore at a fast pace, and that if things move as they are scheduled now, hearings will be ready by April or May. The arbitration shall be over this year, he added.
Anil noted that discussions are going on with GMR outside the arbitration in order to go for an out of court settlement. He said these discussions are held to prepare for the upcoming formal meeting to decide on specific terms of the settlement.
"The first thing is to decide on an amount. At the same time, to contemplate what shall be given along with it. For example, if the financial amount should be paid at once or in instalments; if something else can be arranged for the company in Maldives in relation to the restoration compensation and assess the options, -all non relative to the airport", Anil said, in his first interview since assuming office in November.
27/01/14 Azhar Abdul Azeez/Haveeru Online

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Movie on India air crash to be shot in Dubai

Dubai:  The horrific air tragedy at India’s Mangalore International Airport in 2010, which killed 158 passengers and crew, is the backdrop of an upcoming Malayalam feature film to be partially shot in Dubai.
Since the tragedy involved passengers from Dubai to Mangalore, part of the film’s story will be based in Dubai and other parts of the UAE, said director Shaheer Ummer, who was an expatriate Keralite in the UAE for several years.
The film titled Eni Mazhayulola Nattilekku (Now, Towards a Rainy Abode), has several Dubai-based talents working behind, including cinematographer Anil Vadakkekkara.
“The film is an attempt to reveal what really happened to the victims and their families, who are still waiting for compensation according to international regulations even after four years. I have personally visited the families of several victims who are still living under extreme pressure from several corners. Some of them received part payment and some others very little,” Ummer, the general secretary of Human Rights Youth in Kerala, said.
27/01/14  Mohan Vadayar/Gulf Today

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Customs gold seizure run at MIA continues on Sunday

Mangalore: Officers of Customs at Mangalore International Airport at Kenjar near here on Sunday in two separate cases seized gold weighing 821.57 grams valued at Rs 24,81,142. During the last one week, the customs officers at MIA have totally detected four cases of concealment of gold in different modus operandi and the total gold seized in these cases is Rs 58,09,336 weighing 1,929.59 grams, D Purushottam, commissioner of customs stated.
In the first case, officers seized seven gold objects, comprising three gold strips, one silver colour painted key made of gold, one silver colour nail cutter made of gold, one square block of gold and a silver colour painted elected shaver head piece made of gold, weighing 558.590 grams valued at Rs 16.86 lakh. This was recovered from carton box in the possession of passenger Mohammed Azharuddeen, a resident of Fashitha Manzil, Kunnil in Kasargod district.
26/01/14 Jaideep Shenoy/Times of India

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Gold Seized at Airport

Kochi: The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) on Saturday seized 1 kg of gold from a passenger at Kochi international airport.
The gold was seized from a passenger from Dubai. DRI officials seized the gold from P Mohammad Salim, a native of Kasargod. Officials said Salim had cut a gold bar into pieces and concealed it in the batteries of a LED light in his baggage.
26/01/14 New Indian Express

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Flyer hides 1kg of gold in rectum, held

Trichy:  Trichy airport custom officials arrested a 58-year-old man for smuggling 1kg of gold which was found hidden in his rectum.
He was arrested on Saturday. A Dubai national was also arrested for carrying gold of similar quantity.
The person has been identified as Muthukumar S.
27/01/14 Times of India

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Public Accounts Committee to ask Centre to claim compensation from Boeing

New Delhi: A Parliamentary panel is likely to ask the government to take urgent steps to infuse equity in Air India and claim compensation from Boeing for delay in aircraft deliveries as well as grounding of the Dreamliners.
The Public Accounts Committee has concluded deliberations on the performance of the civil aviation sector in the country with specific reference to Air India and is likely to meet soon to adopt a report on the matter.
The Committee is learnt to have decided to ask the government to infuse Rs 30,231 crore in an expeditious manner in order to bail out the national carrier, saying it was a matter of paramount importance.
Among several major issues, the panel headed by senior BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi discussed the global grounding of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft in January last year, when Air India had six of them in its fleet.
26/01/14 PTI/Economic Times

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Emirates joins India Republic Day celebrations

Dubai: Emirates, a global connector of people and places, joins Indians around the world in celebrating the 65th Republic day of India which will be marked on January 26.
To celebrate the occasion, the Dubai carrier will provide passengers across all Emirates cabins upto 1,600 channels of the latest movies, with a large selection of Indian movies and dedicated TV channels in all Indian languages as well as music section featuring today’s most popular Indian artists.
The inflight experience also includes Indian dining menus offering a different regional menu on each Indian route, said the airline in its statement.
 “Since the launch of our first flights to Mumbai and Delhi in 1985, Emirates has been fully committed to the Indian market and has carried over 19 million passengers to its global destinations across the network,” remarked Sheikh Majid Al Mualla, the Emirates divisional senior VP (Commercial Operations – Centre).
25/01/14 Trade Arabia

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Gold worth Rs.98 lakh recovered from air passengers in 3 cases

Mumbai: The Air Intelligence Unit (AIU) of the Customs on Saturday detected three cases of gold smuggling and recovered gold collectively worth Rs.98 lakh which were being taken out of the airport without paying the mandatory duty.
In the first case, the sleuths stopped Mohammed Rafeeq who came from Dubai and examination of his baggage led to the recovery of 696 grams gold worth Rs.17 lakh. According to AIU officials, he had concealed the yellow metal in a toy. In the second case, the Customs officials stopped two passengers, identified as Mohamed Rimsan and Mohamed Hanifa, and upon a thorough check, they recovered two kilograms of gold valued at around Rs.50 lakh from them.
25/01/14 PTI/India Today

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Customs officials seize six gold bars at Mangalore airport

Mangalore: Officials of customs at Mangalore International Airport (MIA) at Kenjar near here have seized six gold bars weighing 10 tolas from a passenger who arrived from Dubai on Saturday. The gold bars weighing 699.84 grams valued at Rs 21.13-lakh were concealed in a carton box that Mohammed Noufal Naimarmoola Hassainar, Kasargod, commissioner of customs D Purushottam stated.
25/01/14 Jaideep Shenoy/Times of India

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US firm Textron offers VVIP choppers to India

After India scrapped a contract for procuring VVIP choppers from AgustaWestland, American firm Textron on Friday said it is ready to offer its unique V-22 Osprey helicopter to India for ferrying its dignitaries.
"We are ready to offer to India the V-22 Osprey in the VIP configuration through the Foreign Military Sales route. It is a unique and competitive product," Textron India President and Managing Director Inderjit Sial told PTI. He was asked about the possibility of offering any chopper of Bell Helicopters, an arm of Textron, for meeting the VVIP chopper requirements of the IAF.
The government scrapped the contract with AgustaWestland, accusing it of breaching a pre-contract integrity pact and other contractual obligations in the Rs 3,600 crore contract. India has so far received only three choppers from the Anglo-Italian firm and is considering the option of using Mi-17V5 choppers being procured from Russia for the purpose.
25/01/14 IBN Live

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Govt stops Finmeccanica's participation in defence expo

New Delhi: Even as the defence ministry contemplates blacklisting AgustaWestland after scrapping the VVIP chopper contract, it has ousted the helicopter-manufacturer's parent company Finmeccanica from the biennial military exhibition Def-Expo beginning here from February 6. Officials on Friday said the Italian conglomerate Finmeccanica had booked exhibition space at the show for its several companies to hawk their military hardware and software but its participation had now been cancelled. The MoD has a clear policy that armament companies that have been banned - there are 15 companies on the "de-barred" list — or have corruption cases pending against them cannot exhibit their wares at the Def-Expo, where over 455 companies are expected to participate this year. The MoD is yet to taken a decision on whether to blacklist AgustaWestland, the UK-based subsidiary of Finmeccanica, or the entire conglomerate with its different subsidiaries.
24/01/14 Rajat Pandit/Times of India

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India reportedly disappointed with stealth fighters from Moscow

Despite initial high expectations, the Indian Air Force appears to be souring on a joint development deal with Russia for a new fifth-generation fighter jet, according to the Business Standard, a major Indian business publication. The Russian prototype is "unreliable, its radar inadequate, its stealth features badly engineered,” said Indian Air Force Deputy Air Marshall S Sukumar at a Jan. 15 meeting, according to minutes obtained by the Business Standard.
That contrasts sharply with high hopes voiced by the Indian government when the joint project, to which the Indian government has contributed $6 billion, began.
“[The new plane] will have advanced features such as stealth, supercruise, ultra-maneuvrability, highly integrated avionics suite, enhanced situational awareness, internal carriage of weapons and Network Centric Warfare capabilities,” the Indian government said in a December 2010 press release. Those are all hallmarks of “fifth generation” aircraft.
The Indian Air Force did not respond to a request for comment.
24/01/14 FoxNews

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GMR Infra looks to raise up to Rs 2.5k cr

Bangalore: Fresh from shedding some of its key global assets, including an airport in Turkey and a power project in Singapore, GMR Infrastructure is gearing to raise up to Rs 2,500 crore even as it is close to clinching an airport-modernisation project in the Philippines.
The board, which met late on Friday, said they had authorised the company to raise these resources through various options, including foreign currency convertible bonds, a follow-on offer, a further public offer and private placement, among others.
The company, under debt of Rs 40,000 crore and with a gearing of 3.5 times, has been shedding assets to generate cash and to meet its debt obligations. GMR Infra had during 2010 raised $350 million through the qualified institutional placement (QIP) route. Till now, the company has not used an FCCB route to raise funds.
25/01/14 Business Standard

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AVIAREPS introduces Global PR Platform for tourism, airline entities

Mumbai: AVIAREPS recently launched a Global Public Relations (PR) Platform for tourism, hospitality, airline and trade promotion entities seeking economical PR solutions. The launch took place at the ongoing International Tourism Trade Fair (FITUR) in Madrid, Spain. Global PR Platform provides effective brand, product and service awareness activities among key industry players around the world, according to a release.
 Michael Gaebler, Chairman and CEO, AVIAREPS Group, said, “The AVIAREPS Global PR Platform now makes it economically viable for all tourism and hospitality entities, big or small, to have a truly international PR footprint. We are able to offer such a professional yet economical PR service where others can not, as our offices around the world are self-owned, the professional skill sets we hold are in-house and not outsourced, and because of our tourism and aviation specialisation, each of our offices is naturally in regular contact with the local travel trade and industry-related media in each of their markets of expertise.”
25/01/14 HospitalityBiz

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Airfare deals for last-minute international flyers up for grabs

Mumbai: These are good times for procrastinators. Currently, around half a dozen foreign airlines have lined up various discount fare offers for last-minute travel and even up to summer. The catch is that not many seats are up for sale under these offers and, in most cases, fares on flights to the West are cheaper only by a few thousand rupees. Despite these drawbacks, compared with the previous year, there are savings in store for the astute bargain hunter.
On Friday, Dubai-based full-service carrier Emirates and Kuala Lumpur-based low-cost airline Air Asia announced schemes to promote travel during the coming three months.
Qatar Airways started the trend early this week, but currently, they have offers only on business class tickets. Other airlines such as Virgin Atlantic, British Airways and Air India, too, have discount offers going on, all of which has brought down the cost of a last-minute return ticket on the Mumbai-London route to as low as Rs 44,000.
25/01/14 Times of India

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Now, foreign airlines Emirates and Air Asia offer special fares to Indians

Mumbai: Taking a cue from price war in the domestic sector, two foreign carriers - Emirates and Air Asia - have cut fares for Indian travellers so as to beat the March quarter blues.
Gulf carrier Emirates announced special fares starting Rs 41,867 for economy, and Rs 1.14 lakh for business class from India to Europe, Africa and South America for Indian travellers.
Malaysia-based Air Asia too rolled out similar offers. Emirates said its offer is part of India's Republic Day celebrations and commences from today. It is valid for travel up to April 10 and can be booked both on and offline.
AirAsia announced all-inclusive fares of low as Rs 4,000 from Kochi, Kolkata and Tiruchirappalli to Kuala Lumpur and called its special offer as 'Valentine Day' fares.
As part of the discounted fares offer, travel from Chennai and Bangalore to Kuala Lumpur will now cost only Rs 6,499 inclusive of taxes, the airline said in a release.
24/01/14 PTI/Economic Times

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Boeing says Dreamliner reliability still not satisfactory

Oslo: The reliability of Boeing's 787 Dreamliner is slowly improving but it is still not at a satisfactory level and the firm is working to improve the jet's performance, Mike Fleming, Boeing's vice president for 787 support and services said.
The Dreamliner's reliability rate is now around 98 percent, meaning that two out of every 100 flights is delayed, above the 97 percent reported in October but still short of the firm's target, Fleming told a news conference in Oslo.
"I'll tell you that's not where we want the airplane to be, we're not satisfied with that reliability level of the airplane, the 777 today flies at 99.4 percent ... and that's the benchmark that the 787 needs to attain," Fleming said.
The Dreamliner was supposed to be a game-changer for the aviation industry as its lightweight body and sophisticated engines cut fuel consumption by 20 percent.
But it has been beset by problems, including a battery fire that grounded the model for three months last year and forced Boeing to redesign the battery.
24/01/14 REuters/Financial Express

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Emirates Says “Namaste India” on the Nation’s 65th Republic Day

Mumbai: Emirates, a global connector of people and places, joins Indians around the world in celebrating the 65th Republic day of India which will be marked on 26th January.
To mark this special occasion, Emirates has also launched celebratory fares for travellers in India to a number of exciting destinations across its European, African and South American network.  Starting today until 26th January, return fares begin from INR 41,867 in Economy Class and INR 114,649 in Business Class for travel up to 10th April 2014, available via emirates.com/in or your preferred travel agent.
 “Since the launch of our first flights to Bombay and Delhi in 1985, Emirates has been fully committed to the Indian market and has carried over 19 million passengers to its global destinations across the network”, said Essa Sulaiman Ahmad, Emirates’ Vice President, India and Nepal.
 “We will work hard to continue providing Indian travellers with the best possible service, to be the airline connector of choice and to hopefully expand our flights to and from India,” he added.
 The airline currently employs more than 12,500 Indian nationals in a variety of roles across the Emirates Group, including 69 pilots and 882 Cabin Crew.  The cabin crew members who starred in the video were selected for their proficiency in Hindi, Punjabi, Marathi, Malayalam, Kashmiri, Kannada, Gujarati, Tamil and Bengali. Their Indian language abilities complement Emirates’ global mix on-board where crew converse with customers in over 55 languages.
24/01/14 Business Wire

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GVK may sell stake in Indonesia airport projects: Sources

Hyderabad-based GVK Group is likely to sell its stake in Indonesia airport projects, reports CNBC-TV18, quoting sources. The private airport operator is looking to raise up to USD 500 million through the stake sale. Sources say  GVK may sell part stake in two of its Indonesia airport project. In January 2011, GVK had signed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Indonesian government for developing two greenfield airports - one in Yogyakarta and another in North Bali. GVK has completed the feasibility analysis for both airports and is in the process of preparing a master plan. The company is in initial talks with projective bidders for the sale. Sources tell CNBC-TV18 that some local players have expressed interest. A consortium of private equity players is also eyeing the stake. The move is part of the company’s strategy to bring down its Rs 18,500 crore debt.
24/01/14 Kritika Saxena/CNBC-TV18/moneycontrol.com

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Air India 777- the ultimate PAPER airplane?

A real Boeing 777 takes 50 days hundreds of people to build, but one student has created an impressive miniature paper version of the jetliner.
Luca Iaconi-Stewart crafted the incredible replica aircraft using only glue and manila cardboard folders, and it contains tiny details from padded airline seats, to fan blades in the engines and even retractable landing gear.
The 22-year-old thinks he could have finished the model - which is almost complete – if he had worked on it non-stop for a year, but said it would have been ‘a hellish experience.’
Instead, Mr Iaconi-Stewart has spent over five years building the 1:60-scale jetliner in his spare time, while attending college.
He first learned to build models out of paper at high school and his love of airplane led to his mammoth project.
‘I was lucky enough to go to a high school with an amazing architecture department, which was a huge source of inspiration,’ Mr Iaconi-Stewart told MailOnline.
After finding a detailed diagram of an Air India 777 online, Mr Iaconi-Stewart started drafting his own plans for the model using just a pencil and paper.
'I traced a can to make the perfectly circular fuselage cross-section, but I soon hit a wall, where it became impractical to keep designing this way, which forced me to start using the computer,’ he explained.
‘These days, I look at photos and/or engineering drawings and use them to draw up my own plans in 2D.
‘I use Adobe Illustrator -  though it isn't at all intended for my purposes - and I then print onto the folder, cut out the parts,\ and assemble,’ he said.
24/01/14 Sarh Griffiths/Daily Mail

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AirAsia chief is 'Leader of the Year', optimistic about Indian venture

Kuala Lumpur: AirAsia group chief executive officer Tan Sri Tony Fernandes has been named “Airline Industry Leader of the Year” at the Aviation 100 Awards held in Dublin, Ireland.
In a statement yesterday, AirAsia said Fernandes was recognised for pushing the boundaries of the aviation industry.
Fernandes said this achievement would not have been possible without the hard work and dedication of all the nearly 12,000 AirAsia “AllStars.”
“It has been a great journey for us at AirAsia this past 12 years,” he said.
Meanwhile reports from New Delhi said: AirAsia Bhd group chief executive officer Tan Sri Tony Fernandes is optimistic about his India venture taking off soon as well as changing the travel mood of the country with a population of 1.3 billion people.
He sees this as good time to enter the Indian market, according to CNBC-TV18.
24/01/14 The Star

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Air India says CCI failed to send crucial documents on Jet-Etihad deal

New Delhi: National carrier Air India was not provided some important information on the Jet-Etihad deal when it was framing its reply to the competition regulator's directive to comment on the proposed alliance's impact on the Indian aviation market, according to documents reviewed by ET.
On November 8, four days before the Competition Commission of India (CCI) cleared Jet Airway's plan of selling 24% stake to Abu Dhabi-based Etihad Airways, Air India had written to the regulator saying that had not provided some crucial documents pertaining to the deal, including the shareholder agreement and the commercial co-operation agreement.
The letter, a copy of which was reviewed by ET, is part of the competition regulator's reply to an RTI application filed by former Air India executive director Jitendra Bhargava. Last month, Bhargava had appealed against the CCI clearance, alleging that the deal would adversely impact competition in India.
24/01/14  Debabrata Das/Economic Times

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Russian woman caught with sat phone at KIA

Bangalore: A Russian woman was on Thursday morning detained at Kempe Gowda International Airport after security personnel found her carrying a satellite mobile phone allegedly without a valid licence and related documents.
CISF personnel detained Volga Datekshaya, 31, during a security check. "Carrying a satellite phone into the country is an offence, without a valid licence from Indian authorities. She's been booked under the Indian Telegraph Act as per the complaint lodged by CISF security personnel," said DCP (northeast) TR Suresh.
Volga claimed she had visited Kerala last month and was carrying the same phone with her, without seeking permission from the Indian authorities. She came to Kerala to undergo ayurvedic treatment, and is continuing with it in a city hospital.
24/01/14 Times of India

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2 Nepalese citizens held; hashish worth Rs 6 lakh seized

Kolkata: Two Nepalese citizens were arrested after hashish worth Rs 6 lakh was found in their possession at the international airport here.
The two were prevented from boarding a China flight last night after hashish weighing 8 kg was found in their possession, airport sources said.
24/01/14 PTI/Business Standard

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New flights a win for Malaysia-India traffic

Indian buyers are cheering Malindo Air's new daily services from Kuala Lumpur to New Delhi and Mumbai, which will help them offer more competitive packages to Malaysia.
 The Malaysian low-cost carrier, which has some full-service offerings, kicked off a New Delhi service on December 30, 2013, while flights to Mumbai will commence on February 15, 2014 (TTG Asia e-Daily, December 3, 2013). This will increase seat capacity on these routes and provide an alternative to flying on Malaysia Airlines (MAS), which has enjoyed a monopoly on these routes since AirAsia suspended operations to Mumbai and New Delhi in 2012.
 Rajendra Dhumma, director of Classis Travels & Tours Mumbai, said he would be able to lower package prices to Malaysia from Rs60,000 (US$973) to Rs45,000 for a four-day package based on twin-sharing at three-star hotels.
23/01/14 S Puvaneswary/TTG Asia

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Airport firm to expand after net profit takes off

Macau International Airport Co Ltd (CAM) wants to increase the number of international flights to the city after reporting a 171-percent increase in net profit last year.
The company said it would increase the number of international routes from 12 to 18, starting with a new service to Vietnam.
The ambitious plan comes after the airport company reported a second consecutive year of profit, after struggling through red ink since its foundation.
A much-anticipated route between Macau and the Indian capital of New Delhi may also be launched this year, a source within the airport company told us. The source said there could be good news “in the first half of this year”.
Indian low-cost carrier SpiceJet Airlines Ltd expressed an interest in flying the route in 2012.
India’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation approved the airline’s application last year, one year after it was first filed.
But the Civil Aviation Authority here said it had yet to receive a formal application. “We did not receive any flight application from SpiceJet for operating air services between Macau and any Indian cities,” said the aviation regulator.
23/01/14 Tony Lai/Macau Business Daily

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Indian woman may face death penalty in Indonesia

Jakarta: An Indian woman, who was arrested at Juanda International Airport in Indonesia's second-largest city Surabaya for carrying 1.7 kg of banned drugs in her luggage, may face the death penalty.
The woman, who was arrested Jan 19, was charged with trafficking more than a kilogram of drugs and under the nation's strict drug laws she could face the death penalty, the Jakarta Globe quoted an official as saying Thursday.
Customs officers noticed a suspicious package while X-raying the luggage of the 40-year-old woman, who had arrived in Surabaya on a flight from Hong Kong, and brought a sniffer dog for an inspection.
Following the positive indication from the dog, the officers searched the suitcase and discovered crystal methamphetamine hidden in the luggage.
23/01/14 IANS/Business Standard

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Narcotics, gold seized at Mumbai international airport

Mumbai: In two separate cases, a Zambian national and an Indian were arrested today from Mumbai International Airport for alleged smuggling of narcotics and gold collectively valued at Rs 7.74 crore, a senior Customs official said.
In the first case, a Zambian national named Ngona Joyce, who was scheduled to take a South African Airways to Johannesburg at about 2 AM today, was intercepted for suspicious movement at Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport, Additional Commissioner (Air Intelligence Unit, Customs) Milind Lanjewar told PTI.
In the second case, Indian passenger M K Sathar, who arrived here on a flight from Dubai, was intercepted in the wee hours today and one kg of gold, valued around Rs 26.45 lakh, was found cleverly concealed in boxes of talcum powder in the form of metallic sheets, the officer said.
22/01/14 PTI/Business Standard

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Man held with Rs 26 lakh gold in talcum powder

Mumbai:  A passenger tried to smuggle over a kg of gold worth Rs 26 lakh in talcum powder containers but was arrested by Mumbai airport Customs officials on Wednesday.
The interception happened after the IndiGo passenger, who flew in from Dubai, failed to reply to questions posed by Customs officials. The passenger, M K Sathar, was arrested and later released on a bail of Rs 50,000.
"The gold was very cleverly concealed inside talcum powder containers. Gold, shaped to the form of sheets, was painted silver and was rolled into these containers along with talcum powder,'' said a Customs department official. The interception was one of the best by the Customs in recent times as metal hidden in talcum powder is not easy to detect on an X-ray machine. Talc is a mineral made of hydrated magnesium silicate and on the X-ray screen the powder container shows up as a black spot, which is very much similar to what metals appear like on screen.
23/01/14 Times of India

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BOC to lease Airbus jets to new Tata-SIA airline: Sources

Dublin: Singapore-based BOC Aviation looks poised to supply aircraft to India`s latest airline as new players jostle to capture growth in Asia`s third-biggest economy, two industry sources said.
The move is an important step in plans by Tata Sons and Singapore Airlines to set up a full-service airline to compete for business amid India`s crowded low-cost market.
Reuters first reported last week that the new Tata-SIA venture had opted to use Airbus A320 jets in preference to Boeing`s 737.
The fleet of 20 planes would initially be sourced from leasing companies, rather than purchased direct from Airbus.
That decision triggered a race for the lucrative mandate between aircraft leasing companies gathering in Dublin for annual industry meetings this week.
Industry sources who asked not to be named said the deal, or a significant part of it, was expected to go to BOC Aviation, the aircraft leasing subsidiary of Bank of China.
22/01/14 PTI/ZeeNews

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Jet Airways to launch daily service from Mumbai to Paris

Mumbai: Jet Airways, has announced a daily direct service from Mumbai to Paris with effect from May 14, 2014. This new flight from India’s financial capital Mumbai, to Paris, the world’s most popular tourist destination, will be operated by Airbus A330 aircraft.
Gaurang Shetty, vice president commercial, Jet Airways, said, “Jet Airways is delighted to launch its maiden service to Paris, one of the world’s top destinations and a key gateway point for airline guests travelling between India and France while they experience Jet Airways’ hallmark in-flight service. By offering enhanced connections to several European cities from Paris with our code share partners, we are confident that this new flight would prove immensely popular with our guests. Furthermore, Jet Airways would be able to offer guests seamless travel between Europe and India, and onwards to SAARC destinations including Colombo, Dhaka and Kathmandu and vice versa”
22/01/14 Financial Express

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Hunting gun, bullets seized from passenger

Chennai: A 27-year-old man, who arrived here from Dubai, was today detained for carrying a hunting gun and six bullets, airport sources said.
The passenger was detained by Customs officials at the Anna International terminal here after they become suspicious over his movement.
22/01/14 PTI

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Two new airlines to start ops in Bhubaneswar

Bhubaneswar: Two new airlines - one for the domestic and another for the international circuit - are soon going to start operations from Biju Patnaik Airport, sources said.
While Go Air will start domestic operations from Bhubaneswar to Mumbai and Bangalore in May, Air Asia is slated to start international operations in March. This was decided during meetings of the representatives of 20 fliers at the AAI Kolkata regional office on January 20.
"The airlines have to seek permission from the ministry of civil aviation to start the operations. We have discussed all modalities including the services to be provided by us to the fliers," said airport director Sharad Kumar.
Air Asia will fly to Kuala Lumpur from here. "Both the airlines have Boeing aircraft, which can accommodate more than 150 passengers. Go Air will help us resume services to Bangalore, which was stopped after Jet Airways withdrew in October," said the director.
22/01/14 Riyan Ramanath V/Times of India

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Man died after flying on drugs

A coroner is questioning how a man so intoxicated he later died was able to slip through airport security and onto two flights.
Suman Dahya, of Paraparaumu north of Wellington, died at his home on December 30, 2011, after ingesting a lethal concoction of methadone and diazepam.
The 53-year-old died of the lethal overdose just hours after flying home from a holiday to India.
He was found by security slumped in Wellington Airport and started coughing up blood after being taken home by his wife.
Prior to being found in this state, Dahya had managed to board his flight in India, get through customs in Auckland and board another flight to Wellington.
Coroner Ian Smith said he was surprised the man was allowed onto planes, both in India and later while transferring to a domestic flight in Auckland.
22/01/14 Stuff.co.nz

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All safety issues addressed: DGCA to FAA

Warned of a downgrade by Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), aviation regulator DGCA has filed a status report with its US counterpart, saying concerns over all aviation safety issues have been addressed, official sources said today. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation filed its report with FAA last night after the Union Cabinet approved a Civil Aviation Ministry proposal to allow the regulator to hire a large number of experienced professional and technical hands directly from the market instead of going through the UPSC recruitment route and pay them salaries at market rates. Indian Ambassador to the US, S Jaishankar, was also in constant touch with the US Department of Transport on the issue, the sources told PTI, adding that the seven remaining safety issues have now been addressed.
21/01/14 moneycontrol.com

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Is Etihad manoeuvring a $2.5bn aircraft order for Jet Airways?

Dubai: India’s Jet Airways may be about to purchase 50 Boeing 737s, Bloomberg reported on Tuesday, raising speculation that Etihad Airways could be behind the deal.
Two months ago Etihad announced at the Dubai Airshow it was ordering 10 Airbus 320s, a single aisle aircraft much like the Boeing 737. But a few days later, it was revealed that the order was for Air Serbia, in which Etihad holds a 49 per cent stake. Etihad simply used its buying power to negotiate a better deal for its equity partner. And in Jet Airways it has 24 per cent stake.
The 737 order, valued at $2.5 billion (Dh9.19 billion), could help Jet Airways fend off looming competition from East Asia with Singapore Airlines and Air Asia planning their own India-based carriers.
21/01/14 Gulf News

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Air India likely to become a member of Star Alliance this summer: Mark Schwab

New Delhi: National carrier Air India is set to complete all the work required to become the first Indian member of a global airline alliance by this summer. Mark Schwab, chief executive of the 28-member Star Alliance, said the airline's joining process was on track.
"Over the past few years, Star Alliance has brought down some of its membership requirements and Air India has done a lot of work to fulfill those requirements," said Schwab, who was in India to check on the progress made by Air India. "I think by this summer the work should be complete. We have identified some requirements. For example, the airline's staff needs to be trained to Star Alliance standards and that will take some time."
According to Air India officials, about 8,000 of Air India's ground and cabin staff will be retrained over the course of the coming months. Apart from training, once the airline's membership is confirmed, Air India will also need to repaint its planes to have the Star Alliance logo.
21/01/14 Economic Times

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Russia can't deliver on Fifth Generation Fighter Aircraft: IAF

Mumbai: The Indian Air Force (IAF) has done a stunning about-turn, sharply criticising the showpiece Indo-Russian project to co-develop a futuristic Fifth Generation Fighter Aircraft (FGFA). Even as New Delhi and Moscow finalise a $6 billion deal to co-develop an FGFA with capabilities tailor-made for India, the IAF has alleged the Russians would be unable to meet their promises about its performance.
So vital is the FGFA considered for the IAF's future that Defence Minister A K Antony has publicly rejected any prospect of buying the American fifth generation F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, declaring the FGFA would suffice. In 2007, New Delhi and Moscow highlighted the fighter's criticality by signing an Inter Governmental Agreement (IGA) placing the project above MoD procurement rules. Moreover, Indian scientists say the expertise gained from the FGFA will provide crucial momentum for developing an all-Indian fifth generation fighter, designated the Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA).
21/01/14 Ajai Shukla/Business Standard

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US all set to downgrade Indian civil aviation

Mumbai: The Federal Aviation Administration, the American aviation watchdog, is set to downgrade India's civil aviation sector to Category II from its current Category I status based on an audit of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation.
The audit revealed serious conflict of interest in the DGCA, whose flight operations inspectors were found to be management pilots on the rolls of the very airlines they are supposed to monitor, top government officials told this newspaper.
While government sources said a formal announcement is expected next week, FAA refused comment. "We have no comment at this time," an FAA spokeswoman said in an email from Washington, DC.
The most crucial repercussion of the downgrade will be that carriers like Jet Airways and Air India will be barred from introducing new services to the US and will have to terminate any code-share agreements they have with American airlines.
This is because FAA does not support reciprocal code-share arrangements between air carriers of Category II States and American carriers. A senior FAA official said the downgrade will also mean carriers from India will not be allowed to introduce new services to the US till the DGCA takes corrective action.
21/01/14 Aditya Anand/Mumbai Mirror

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Snag forces Air India 787 to return to London

New Delhi:  An Air India B-787 flying from London to Delhi on Sunday night saw its transponders failing. The aircraft, which was over Germany after flying for about two hours from UK, then had to return to Heathrow. It barely made it there in time for the night curfew to kick in at Heathrow.
This vital equipment plays several crucial roles: it gives a collision warning to the pilot if another aircraft gets too close for comfort; pilots can use it to send distress signal discreetly to ATC and finally, it gives all details of the aircraft on the blips that appear on ATC radars. The emergency situations that transponders are used to warn ground controllers about are communication failure, hijack and any other emergency.
This is incidentally the second time Dreamliners with AI had transponder failure. On December 19, Boeing-787 flying from Delhi to Paris suffered the same snag due to which Charles de Gaulle Airport did not know which plane is approaching it. It was only after the ATC contacted the aircraft that they found that the plane was on a regular schedule flight to Paris!
21/01/14 Saurabh Sinha/Times of India

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Jet Airways, Etihad Airways Rs 2,060-cr deal under scanner again, this time Sebi's

New Delhi: Capital market regulator Sebi is taking a fresh look at the Rs 2,060 crore Jet Airways, Etihad Airways deal following observations made by fair trade watchdog Competition Commission.
Abu Dhabi-based Etihad Airways' acquisition of a 24 per cent stake in Naresh Goyal-led Jet Airways, the first foreign direct investment (FDI) in an Indian carrier by an overseas airline, was announced in April 2013 and approved by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) last year.
Sources said Sebi is looking afresh at the deal after the Competition Commission of India (CCI) made observations regarding control over Jet Airways. The CCI, while giving its green signal to the transaction in November, had said there were no anti-competitive concerns.
"It is observed that the parties have entered into a composite combination comprising inter alia the IA (Investment Agreement), SHA (Shareholder's Agreement) and the CCA (Commercial Co-operation Agreement), with the common/ultimate objective of enhancing their airline business through joint initiatives.
20/01/14 PTI/Financial Express

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AI to join Star Alliance this summer, will IndiGo, SpiceJet be next ?

New Delhi:Will India become the first market where global airline grouping Star Alliance looks to partner a low cost carrier (LCC)? This prestigious grouping has already decided to take Air India into its fold after an earlier failed attempt and makes no bones about wanting a second airline from India to also join in. CEO Mark F Schwab made it clear that the new full service airline, being set up by Tata Sons and Singapore Airlines, is not an obvious choice for the Alliance. AI should get integrated into the alliance by the summer of 2014 and then, the field will be open for LCCs like IndiGo, SpiceJet to woo Star Alliance. Will they? More importantly, will Star Alliance want its first ever LCC member from India? This alliance comprises 28 of the world's powerful airlines like Singapore Airlines, Air Canada and Lufthansa and has no LCC member till now. Through the alliance, AI will get enhanced connectivity and greater passenger revenue besides opportunity to code share with big global airlines.
20/01/14 Sindhu Bhattacharya/First Post

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Air India seeks $230 mn loan for Boeing 787 Dreamliner buy

New Delhi: Air India Ltd is seeking a bridge loan of up to $230 million for taking delivery of two Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft from an ongoing order, according to a tender document on the Indian carrier's website.
Air India, which is due to take delivery of two 787 aircraft in February and March, has invited offers from banks or financial institutions to arrange the bridge financing for a period of six months to one year.
The state-run airline is offering the aircraft as security, and will repay the loan after it concludes a sale and leaseback arrangement, it said, adding there will be no government guarantee for the loan.
20/01/14 Reuters/Financial Express

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Jet Airways to fly daily on Mumbai-Paris sector from May 14

Mumbai: Jet Airways on Monday announced a daily direct service from the city to Paris from May 14, making the French capital its 21st international destination.
The Paris-bound flight will depart from here at 1200 hrs and arrive at the Charles de Gaulle airport at 1750 hrs local time. The return flight will depart at 2110 hrs (local time) and arrive in Mumbai at 0945 hrs the following day, the private carrier said in a release here.
20/01/14 PTI/Economic Times

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SEBI to issue fresh order in Jet-Etihad deal shortly

New Delhi: The market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) will issue a fresh order on the Jet-Etihad deal shortly.
“Jet Airways will be given enough opportunity to explain on issues that emerged after the Competition Commission’s order and show cause notice,” a senior SEBI official told Business Line.
The Competition Commission in its order on November 12 had observed that parties (Jet and Etihad) have entered into a composite combination comprising investment agreement, shareholders agreement and the commercial cooperative agreement, with the common/ultimate objective of enhancing their airline business through joint initiatives.
The effect of these agreements including the governance structure envisaged in the, “Combination comprising investment agreements establishes Etihad’s joint control over Jet, more particularly over the assets and operations of Jet.”
19/01/14 Shshir Sinha/Business Line

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With Agusta deal scrapped, Mi-17 choppers may ferry VVIPs

New Delhi: With IAF set to begin phasing out this year its fleet of choppers used for ferrying VVIIPs, the Defence Ministry is considering the option of utilising the Mi-17V5 helicopters being procured from Russia for the task.
The Defence Ministry scrapped the contract for the 12 VVIP choppers with Agustawestland and the process to phase of the vintage fleet of Mi-8 choppers will start by the end of this year.
"We have told the Air Force to find solutions to address the issue. We are also looking at the Mi-17V5s as one of the options for ferrying VVIPs," highly placed Defence Ministry sources told PTI here.
The Defence Ministry had signed a contract with AgustaWestland in 2010 for procuring 12 AW-101 choppers to replace the Mi-8s but the contract was scrapped on January 1 this year after the government found that there was a breach of the pre-contract integrity pact by the Anglo Italian firm.
19/01/14 PTI/Zee News

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Air India, others plan direct flights to top global destinations

New Delhi: These are some of the hottest international destinations and 2.42 million people visit these from India every year. But passengers flying to these 15 - San Francisco, Los Angeles, Milan-Malpensa, Washington-Dulles, Vancouver, Boston, Rome-Fiumicino, Jakarta, Seattle, Lagos, Manila, Tel Aviv, Brisbane, Auckland and Barcelona - are forced to take transit flights from other international hubs in the absence of direct flights from the country.
That is set to change soon, with state-owned Air India (armed with its Dreamliners) and some other leading international airlines negotiating with Delhi International Airport Ltd (DIAL) to operate direct flights to seven of these destinations - Milan-Malpensa, Rome-Fiumicino, Jakarta, Lagos, Manila, Tel Aviv and Barcelona - and cash in on the large untapped market.
So far, flyers from India to the US' western coast, Europe, Africa, Southeast Asia and Australia have to transit via other international hubs. According to Centre for Asia-Pacific Aviation (Capa), close to 40 per cent of India's international traffic reaches its final destination via an intermediate offshore airport - almost half of the traffic takes transit flights from West Asian hubs.
20/01/14 Sharmistha Mukherjee & Surajeet Das Gupta/Business Standard

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Etihad Airways launches Etihad Regional

Zurich: Etihad Airways launched a new brand, Etihad Regional, for travellers in Europe, last Thursday in Zurich, Switzerland.
Etihad announced that is was acquiring a 33.3 per cent equity in Switzerland’s Darwin Airlines, which will operate Etihad Regional, last year at the Dubai airshow.
Their code share with Etihad Airways started on January 17.
Etihad Regional offers year-round flights to 15 destinations in Europe using a fleet of 10 Saab 2000 turbotop aircraft.
By mid-2014, the number of destinations will increase to 34.
Etihad Regional’s network will include seven European gateways: Geneva, Amsterdam, Paris, Dusseldorf, Belgrade, Zurich (June 2014) and Rome (July 2014).
“Etihad Regional will provide a unique opportunity to strengthen vitally important regional networks and connect them to the rapidly expanding global network of Etihad Airways,” said James Hogan President and CEO of Etihad Airways.
19/01/14 Suchitra Chaudhary/Gulf News

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Tongue-tied Russian airline fined Rs 60K

Chandigarh: coupled with language barrier proved costly for Russian airline as the district consumer disputes redressal forum slapped a fine of Rs 60,000 on Aeroflot for deficiency in service towards a couple residing in Sector 9 of Panchkula.
Bhai had purchased two tickets for him and his wife to travel from Delhi to Paris via Moscow and return from Latvia to Delhi via Moscow. When the complainant inquired about boarding passes for the flight at the Delhi airport, he was told that they would be given to them at Moscow. "On reaching Russia's capital, the couple were sent to the boarding gate for the connecting flight to Paris. When they inquired about their boarding passes, the staff at the counter gave no answer and signalled them to await the display of the flight name and its number on the screen. But there was no such display nor any verbal announcement or call in English. Each time the staff members were asked for the flight, their reply was 'No English'," said lawyer of Bhai.
Eventually, the couple missed the flight. Stranded at Moscow airport, they asked the airline to make arrangements for them in another flight on the same air tickets, a request that was denied. They had to finally spend Rs 46,280 on fresh tickets to reach Paris.  "Their luggage had not arrived, forcing them to make international phone calls worth Rs 29,590," the lawyer said.
20/01/14 Times of India

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Man held at airport for smuggling gold bars

Tiruchirappalli: A 28-year old man was arrested at the airport here for allegedly attempting to smuggle one kg of gold by concealing it in his rectum.
Abubaucker of Thiruvadanai in Tamil Nadu, who arrived from Malayasia by an Air Asia flight around midnight, was subjected to a thorough check by customs officials after they grew suspicious about his movement, officials said.
19/01/14 PTI/Business Standard

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Gold biscuits weighing 487 grams seized

Tiruchi: Officials of Customs Air Intelligence Unit seized gold biscuits totally weighing 487 grams valued at Rs. 14.50 lakh from three international passengers at Tiruchi airport on Friday night.
In the first instance, one gold biscuit weighing about 100 grams found concealed in an emergency lamp was recovered from Lakshmanan from Melur, who arrived here from Singapore by a Tiger Airways flight.
19/01/14 The Hindu

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Tripura man held for fake passport racket

Agartala: A man has been arrested for involvement in a fake passport racket, police said here Saturday.
"Maharashtra police arrested Mansoor Ahmed, 47, at the Mumbai airport Jan 5 with a fake passport while he was flying to Dubai. Ahmed told police that he is a Bangladeshi citizen and one Mushayed Ali, 49, in Agartala helped him to get the fake passport," a Tripura police spokesman said.
18/01/14 IANS/Business Standard

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Another Indian arrested with gold in Nepal

Kathmandu: An Indian has been arrested with two-and-a-half kg of gold from Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu Friday as gold smuggling from Nepal to India has surged in recent days.
Bikram Kumar Bisandar Chaitramani from India's Maharashta state was arrested here by airport police after he flew in from Dubai on a Flydubai flight.
Superintendent of Police Bidur Chaudary said that Chaitramani had concealed two kg of gold in his shoe and worn the remaining 500 grams as a bracelet. To hide the identity of the metal, the bracelet was painted silver.
He was carrying a passport bearing the number 124205. He was taken into custody for further investigation.
Just in a week, Nepal police have seized 14 kg of gold from an Indian and 8 kg from a Chinese which were supposed to be smuggled from the Nepal-China border for onward smuggling to India.
18/01/14 IANS/Business Standard

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Airbus to highlight choppers, aircraft offered to India

New Delhi: Helicopters and transport aircraft offered to Indian Armed Forces would be the focus of the European Airbus Group at the four-day DEFEXPO 2014 starting February 6.
In a statement, Airbus said in its first participation in any defence show under its new brand-name Airbus, Airbus Defence and Space, and Airbus Helicopters, it will highlight its AS550 C3 Fennec and AS565 MBe Panther choppers, which are in race for Army and Navy tenders respectively for replacing their light helicopter fleet.
"Defexpo is an important land, naval and homeland security exhibition for us as it provides an excellent platform to interact with customers and potential partners. From January 1, EADS has rebranded and reorganised to Airbus Group, this will be our first international show under the new brand," said Yves Guillaume, President India, Airbus Group.
17/01/14 PTI/Economic Times

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Illegal possession of live bullets: HC acquits American

Cuttack:  The Orissa high court on Friday quashed the FIR and criminal proceedings against American national William Michael Hurtubise, who was arrested in Bhubaneswar on September 18 last year, for alleged illegal possession of live bullets.
Justice S C Parija acquitted the 27-year-old engineer and directed the trial court (SDJM court, Bhubaneswar) to return his visa, passport and the surety of Rs 50,000, which he had deposited before the court for his bail, immediately. The techie was booked under the Arms Act.
"According to a Supreme Court order, police cannot detain or arrest a person unless s/he is guilty of consciously possessing arms. William had clearly stated that he carried the bullets unknowingly. Moreover, he was not carrying any firearm. The court took note of our arguments and granted us relief," said petitioner's counsel Sarat Kumar Gajendra.
18/01/14 Times of India

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Ramco Systems adds 5 clients in Europe

Chennai: Ramco Systems, part of the $1-billion Ramco Group, added five companies to its European clientele during the quarter ended December, according to a press statement from the company.
Its Enterprise Resource Planning and Aviation Management suite has been bought by aircraft operators Denmark-based DanCopter; Iceland’s Eagle Air; Ellinair of Greece; Aerogulf Sola Engine Centre in Norway; and the UK-based electrical engineering company Enspec Power.
A company spokesperson declined to disclose the size of business. Ramco introduced its cloud-based aviation software in March 2013. It moved its entire range of offerings to the cloud in 2008.
17/01/14 Business Line

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Air-India 787 warned off wrong Melbourne airport landing

An Air-India Dreamliner 787 was at low altitude  on Tuesday morning and about to touchdown at the wrong Melbourne Airport, Essendon rather than nearby Melbourne International, when it was warned off by AirServices Australia.
A full and well illustrated account of the sub-standard flight safety standards displayed by the Air-India crew has been published on the Carry On site.
It nearly made Melbourne the setting for a fourth high profile wrong airport landing in recent times, as outlined on Carry On.
Or even a fifh if the Ethiopian landing of a 767 at the wrong airport near Mt Kilimanjaro in December is included in what looks like an epidemic of in-flight clumsiness to the general media,  yet is statistically insignificant given the overall volume of safe world wide air traffic movements.
The ATSB has confirmed that it has been notified of the Air-India incident but has decided that it will not launch on inquiry.
17/01/14 Ben Sandilands/Crikey

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