Nagaland Minister released, flies to New Delhi

Kathmandu: Home Minister of Indian state of Nagaland Imkong L Imchen, who was held at the Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu for flouting a currency ban, flew to New Delhi following his release from the police detention on Wednesday afternoon. He boarded a Jet Airlines flight to go to the Indian Capital this afternoon after spending eight hours in the detention.
Nepal Police had arrested Imchen at the TIA for possessing contraband Indian bank notes in denomination of Rs. 1000 and Rs. 500 during a security check this morning.
Police confiscated about IRs. 9 lakh from his possession. Imchen claimed that he was unaware about the ban.
Talking to the media at the TIA, Indian Ambassador to Nepal Rakesh Sood said that the Indian Embassy coordinated with the Nepal government for Imchen’s release after it was informed about the detention.
The Indian VIP was on a personal visit to Nepal along with his family members.
30/06/10 Keshav P. Koirala/The Himalayan

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Expats face pay cuts as companies trim costs

New Delhi: Wolfgang Prock-Shauer, the genteel Austrian who runs India’s Jet Airways, had probably never bargained for turbulence hitting his salary. At least not after spending 25 years in the global aviation business and in a world starved of good managers.
But that belief was to be proved wrong. As corporate travelers swapped airport lounges for videoconferencing rooms and low-cost carriers ate into the rest of the business, Jet and other full-service carriers found cash hard to come by and debts started piling up. India's fledgling aviation industry stared at a cumulative annual loss of Rs 10,000 crore.
Mr Prock-Shauer was forced to clean up, and started it with himself. The 52-year-old took a voluntary pay cut of 10% and set an example for the rest. Last November, Jet sacked 32 foreign pilots to save costs as part of its plan to replace all expat pilots, more than a quarter of Jet’s 1,100 pilots are expats, with Indians by March 2010. A foreign pilot is, on an average, paid a monthly salary of Rs 5 lakh a month plus an accommodation allowance of Rs 2 lakh. An Indian pilot is paid just half.
Mr Prock-Shauer and Jet’s foreign pilots may be victims of the peculiar conditions that the company and the Indian aviation sector finds itself in, but thousands of other managers on so-called “expat” postings across sectors are finding that their condition is no better.
31/07/09 Shreya Biswas & Bhanu Pande/Economic Times

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Nepal to open new air route to New Delhi soon

Kathmandu: The government is soon opening a new air route to fly to New Delhi and some of the international sectors, which is expected to shorten flight time and slightly reduce air fares.
The new one-way air route -- dubbed L626 -- was developed around three years ago. It links Kathmandu with New Delhi and other destinations in west like, Middle East and Europe, via Mahendranagar, located in far-western Nepal. However, it hasn´t come into operation till date due to the delay by Nepali government in installing necessary communication equipment.
"We now have everything in place, including remote control air-ground communication and satellite equipment," said Mahesh Basnet, deputy director, Air Traffic Management, Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal. "We are now waiting to sign the agreement with Airports Authority of India to commence the operation of the route."
Nepal needs to sign an agreement with India to start traffic flow on this route, as all the flights will have to use the Indian airspace soon after crossing Mahendranagar.
A source at the Ministry of Tourism and Civil Aviation told Republica that the cabinet of ministers had already given approval to initiate talks with India. Although the date for the meeting is yet to be fixed, government officials are expecting a positive outcome as India has been insisting Nepal to sign an agreement in this regard since long.
One of the reasons why India wants to commence operation of this route as soon as possible is to reduce the congestion in its airspace.
Currently, all the flights bound for New Delhi and other western destinations enter into the Indian sky after flying for around 20 minutes in Nepali territory. But once the new route is opened, all airplanes bound for India and other international destinations will have to fly in Nepali sky for at least 45 minutes.
31/07/09 Rupak D Sharma

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Jet, Kingfisher bet on global routes for forex advantage

New Delhi: Have seats, go phoren. Notwithstanding the economic downturn, two private airlines are going international all out to shore up their bottomlines.
It makes a lot of business sense to add to international operations. Industry sources point out that not only is the cost of aviation turbine fuel in South-East Asia and the Gulf (West Asia) region almost 40-50 per cent lower than here but airlines earn foreign exchange too.
Jet Airways officials, however, maintain that high passenger demand is driving the launch of more flights. For the airline, international revenues in the first quarter accounted for 56.9 per cent of the operating revenues against 48 per cent in the same period last year.
It has indicated that earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation margins for the first quarter of 2010 from international operations will be 22 per cent compared with 9 per cent from domestic operations.
Kingfisher too has announced that it will launch eight new international flights, but has not indicated the date for commencing most of them. The airline has said it will connect Mumbai with both Singapore and Hong Kong through daily flights in September.
28/07/09 Business Line/Moneycontrol.com

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Final Air India draft complete

Vancouver: Decades of waiting for answers in the 1985 Air India bombing may soon be over for families of the 329 people who died on board the flight.
The Ottawa-based Air India Inquiry announced Tuesday it has completed a draft of its final report and should be releasing it shortly.
Inquiry spokesman Michael Tansey said in a news release that the “legal work is finished and the commissioner has reviewed and amended the text, verified the conclusions and recommendations, and approved the final draft.”
But he said there is still a lot of prepublication work to be done before the report is printed and provided to Prime Minister Stephen Harper.
The five-volume document must be copy edited, translated and submitted for a national security review in both English and French to a variety of government agencies before it can be printed, Tansey said.
That process is expected to take at least two months.
Lawyer Jacques Shore, who represents the Air India Victims’ Families Association, said the completion of the report is “a very significant development for us.”
He said hopefully there will be time for the report to be accepted by Parliament, and its recommendations acted upon, before the 25th anniversary of the bombing next June.
“Our hope is that on the 23rd of June, 2010, we will be looking at something that is complete, concluded and will be closure to the families,” Shore said.
The first volume will be an overview of all the evidence heard during 19 months of public hearings and a few months of additional written submissions between parties.
The other volumes will consist of the pre- and post-bombing phases of the investigation, the problems with information-sharing between the RCMP and the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, witness protection and the difficulties of running terrorism trials. Aviation security issues make up volume four, while the final volume covers terrorism financing.
Relatives of those who died in the bombing of Flight 182 on June 23, 1985, had for years called on the Canadian government to hold a judicial inquiry into how the bombing plot was carried out under the noses of law enforcement agencies.
28/07/09 Kim Bolan/Vancouver Sun/Ottawa Citizen

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Jet Airways’ introduces an ‘amazing fare’ to mark the launch of its second Mumbai – Bangkok frequency

Mumbai: Jet Airways, India’s premier international airline announces an amazing special economy class return fare of INR 4388 to mark the launch of its Mumbai - Bangkok service 9W 68, a second frequency to the Thai capital, effective 16th August, 2009.
Jet Airways’ guests may avail of this fare, specifically introduced for them, applicable only on outbound travel on 9W 68, from Mumbai to Bangkok, with an option to choose any other flight on the return Bangkok – Mumbai sector.
This fare is valid for sale with immediate effect until August 05, 2009, whilst outbound travel must commence on or before October 15, 2009.
Jet Airways has also re-introduced a special Premiere fare of INR 25000 (one way) valid for sale and travel with immediate effect until September 30, 2009, on this second frequency.
With the introduction of this flight, Jet Airways’ leisure and business travelers now have a choice of flights to Bangkok either late at night or in the afternoon and return in the evening or the following morning. Taxes and surcharges extra

Schedule for New Flight

FLIGHT NO. SECTOR DEP ARR Days
9W 68 Mumbai Bangkok 1305 1855 DAILY
9W 67 Bangkok Mumbai 2055 2340 DAILY

28/07/09 PRESS RELEASE/Jet Airways

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Nepal to revise air service deal with India, Qatar

Kathmandu: Frequency of flights from Nepal to Qatar and India may soon increase as the government is all prepared to review air service agreements with the two countries.
The Ministry of Tourism and Civil Aviation has recently received nod from the council of ministers to initiate the process. But it is yet to fix the dates for meetings with the two countries.
The last time Nepal had revised air service agreement with India was in 1997. Similar agreement with Qatar was signed in 2002.
Currently, Indian airline companies are allowed to bring in only 6,000 passengers per week from India. The same ceiling has been fixed for Nepali airline companies. Qatar´s airline companies, on the other hand, are only allowed to conduct 11 flights per week from their country and the same cap has been imposed on Nepali airline companies flying to Qatar.
The source also told that the government would hold talks with Nepali airline companies conducting international flights and seek their advice on appropriate number of flights that Nepal should agree on.
28/07/09 Republica, Nepal

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Air Astana’s India office to organise FAM trips for trade and media to Almaty

New Delhi: In an effort to promote Almaty in Kazakhstan as a leisure destination in India, Air Astana’s India office will organise familiarisation (FAM) trips for the travel trade and media from India to Almaty in the coming months. This is the first time the airline is hosting a FAM trip for media to Kazakhstan’s second biggest city and commercial capital. The trip will be organised in association with the Kazakhstan Tourist Association (KTA), the national body of Kazakhstan for the promotion of tourism. Chander Mulchandani, Manager – Sales & Marketing, Air Astana in Delhi, informed that two FAMs will be organised separately. “The trade FAM is almost finalised and is scheduled for next month, while the media FAM will be held some time in November this year. Dates will be announced once we receive confirmation from the KTA office in Almaty,” he said.
Air Astana is looking at hosting ten delegates as part of each FAM. Further elaborating on the FAMs, Mulchandani said, “We are trying to promote Almaty as a leisure destination in a big way big way with the support of the Kazakh Embassy in Delhi as well as hoteliers in Almaty.” At present, the leisure traffic from India to Almaty is just two per cent of the total traffic, and according to Mulchandani, promotional activities are also aimed at enhancing the awareness level about the destination in the Indian market besides promoting Almaty as a leisure destination.
29/07/09 P Krishna Kumar/HospitalityBizIndia.com

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AirAsia to fly to Tiruchi twice daily from Sept 1

Petaling Jaya: Good news for those who travel often to Tiruchirapalli as low-cost carrier AirAsia will be adding a second daily flight to the Indian district starting Sept 1.
To celebrate the introduction of the flight, AirAsia will be offering an all-in fare of RM129.00 for a travel period between Sept 1 this year and April 30 next year.
The booking period for the flight will be from Tuesday to Aug 2.
AirAsia Group commercial regional head Kathleen Tan said the airline was proud to be servicing an underserved route and opening up this market to the world.
Tiruchirapalli was AirAsia’s first destination in India since its inception on Dec 1 last year.
AirAsia is also offering its guests free rooms in various destinations when they book at its partner hotels via goholiday.airasia.com.
27/07/09 Yuen Meikeng/The Star, Malaysia

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Bird hit grounds Emirates flight at IGI

New Delhi: A bird flying over Runway 28 of the Indira Gandhi International Airport forced an Emirates flight, EK 510, to land under emergency conditions after being hit on its right engine. The flight was able to land safely at the airport, sources said, adding that the aircraft has been grounded for repairs and is still in Delhi. According to ATC sources, the Dubai-Delhi flight was scheduled to land at 9.05 am when the pilot suspected the bird hit. The pilot informed ATC about the same and later a dead bird was found on Runway 28.
Airport sources said the incident delayed the return Delhi-Dubai flight, and passengers had to wait several hours. Sources said Runway 28 had to be shut for sometime after the dead bird was found. Orhan Abbas, Emirates vice-president for India and Nepal, has confirmed the incident. He said an inspection of the flight has been carried out and it has now been cleared for departure.
26/07/09 Indian Express

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No FIR on Kalam check yet because Govt can’t figure out which law to invoke

New Delhi: Contrary to the Government’s claim, no FIR has been registered so far by the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security against Continental Airlines over ex-President A P J Abdul Kalam’s security check.
Not because the Government has had a rethink over its VIP obsession but because it can’t figure out which law is being violated. The Ministry of Civil Aviation had said that the FIR would be registered for “gross violation of BCAS Circular No.6/2008, which exempts specified VVIPs/VIPs from pre-embarkation security checks.”
This circular, however, doesn’t fall under the purview of The Aircraft Act and officials are exploring how to take legal action.
When contacted, Joint Commissioner of Police (Operations) Satyendra Garg said: “No FIR has been registered yet.”
Incidentally, the US Transportation Security Administration has already made it clear that the airline followed its rules and that India’s VVIP list doesn’t meet TSA norms under which all US-bound passengers — even former Heads of State — flying in on US commercial planes have to go through pre-boarding security checks.
25/07/09 Geeta Gupta/Indian Express

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Kalam frisking: Continental top brass summoned

Peeved at the US stand that the Indian policy of exempting dignitaries from frisking at airports was not mirrored in its security policy of frisking everyone flying to the US, the civil aviation ministry on Friday summoned the top brass of Continental Airlines. The airline, which had recently asked ex-President A P J Abdul Kalam to take off his shoes and undergo frisking just before boarding a plane to Newark, was asked to get its country’s authorities to reconcile to Indian laws.
According to highly placed sources, officials of the US Transport Security Administration (TSA) — which had on Thursday said that Dr Kalam was required to undergo preboard screening in accordance with TSA regulatory requirements immediately prior to boarding the aircraft — could be in India soon to discuss this issue.
‘‘TSA rules may mandate frisking for all but we also have a list of dignitaries who are exempt from security checks at airports. Now, there seems to be confusion as to whose rules will prevail at the aerobridge of an American plane at an Indian airport? The TSA has officials posted in Singapore and we expect them to be here to sort this issue out in a way that reconciles with requirements of all,’’ said a source. The TSA team would hold talks with their Indian counterpart, the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security.
25/07/09 Saurabh Sinha/Times of India

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Four US airline officials booked for frisking Kalam

New Delhi: The Government has filed an FIR against four employees of a US airline for frisking former Indian president Dr A P J Abdul Kalam at the Delhi airport on April 21.
Continental Airlines has apologized to Kalam for the incident. Kalam was made to take off his shoes, hand over his belongings for scrutiny, and asked to wait before being frisked.
The airlines called the incident a misunderstanding/inconvenience after the government filed an FIR against it for allegedly breaching Indian aviation rules. "Our intention was never to offend Dr Kalam or the sentiments of the people of India. Continental Airlines takes great pride and is honoured to have flown a respectable leader such as Dr Kalam," said the airlines on Wednesday.
CNN-IBN learns the FIR has been lodged against Laurent Recoura, country director, Allen Field, station manager of Continental, Cynthia Carlier, area security manager, and Jaideep, security in-charge.
24/07/09 CNN-IBN

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Air India awaits Boeing Dreamliner's takeoff

Washington: Boeing Co has reported better-than-expected second-quarter results but failed to answer when will its troubled 787 Dreamliner, 27 of Boeing 787 . The 787 is Boeing's first new aircraft since the 777 which have been ordered by Air India, fly for the first time.
Boeing has determined how to fix a 787 wing-body problem, discovered in late May, but it still doesn't know how long the modifications will take, according to Chairman and Chief Executive Jim McNerney cited by the Wall Street Journal.
Problems on the Dreamliner, which was Boeing's hottest-selling commercial aircraft ever, already have pushed the first deliveries of the plane back nearly two years and cost the company millions of dollars in penalties and concessions to customers.
During its earnings conference call, analysts pressed McNerney and Chief Financial Officer James Bell for additional details on the programme's timetable and the cost impact on the programme and the company at large, the Journal reported.
"The delays are obviously putting pressure on the programme's profitability," said Bell. So far, the company has indicated the programme has been profitable, though analysts are looking for signs that Boeing could take a charge in the coming quarters once it updates cost estimates, the leading US financial daily said.
The company left intact its projection for 2009 earnings to come in at $4.70 to $5 a share but said that could change based on an updated analysis of the 787's costs.
24/07/09 IANS/Economic Times

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Airline followed rules, India’s VIP list irrelevant: US

New Delhi: Two days after the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) — directed by the Ministry of Civil Aviation — registered an FIR against US carrier Continental Airlines for carrying out a pre-embarkation check of ex-President A P J Abdul Kalam, the US Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has come out squarely behind the airline. And made it clear that it couldn’t accept India’s list exempting select VIPs from airport checks.
Referring to India’s list which exempts VIPs and their spouses from pre-board screening procedures, the TSA said that “such a list does not mirror US requirements for passengers that are exempted from pre-board screening when traveling aboard US commercial aircraft.”
The US agency also clarified that as per its rules, former Heads of State and other VIPs traveling from an international location to the US on a US commercial aircraft were “screened according to the same screening procedures as for any other passenger”.
“If requested, private screening can be provided,” the TSA said. The TSA said that only “active Heads of State” travelling “under protective escort of the US Secret Service or “high level active foreign dignitaries under the protective escort of the US Diplomatic Security Service” and “vetted through the Department of State and TSA,” were exempted from the screening process.
24/07/09 Raghvendra Rao/Indian Express

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The Continental defence

If Continental Airlines really gets to a stage of needing a defence of its frisking of our former President, it might not do too badly to point
out that it was actually acting in perfectly good faith. The rules of passenger profiling and the criteria of various terror watchlists that US airlines follow would make Dr APJ Abdul Kalam a prime candidate for the kind of secondary screening that the he was forced to undergo.
South Asian? Check. Muslim? Check. Unusual amount and style of hair? Check. Grew up in a small town known for its places of worship? Check. Attended Arabic school to learn the Koran as a child? Check. Technical post-graduate degree? Check. Worked with ballistic missiles? Check. Played a significant role in nuclear weapons programme of third world country? Check.
Kalam, mercifully, does not carry the surname Khan, which has been the bane of other Indian celebrities who had earlier been at the receiving end of US immigration authorities. So in terms of basic profiling, Kalam would be a sitting duck.
All of this pales before the fact that the subject was a former President, and as per protocol, exempt. But to that defence, may we suggest that he was a Head of State who isn’t elected by the popular vote, and a Head of State of a large and fractious developing country with at least two domestic terror insurgencies that it is struggling to control.
So Continental seems perfectly justified in picking on Kalam.
24/07/09 Economic Times

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Boeing remains bullish on India, sees air travel bouncing back

New Delhi: Aerospace major Boeing forecasts that the Indian market will require 1,000 commercial jets in the next 20 years, which will represent over 3 percent of Boeing Commercial Airplanes’ forecasted market worldwide. This makes India a $100 billion market in 20 years.
Boeing India President Dinesh Keskar shared the company’s market data and forecast on Tuesday at a media conference focused on Boeing’s view of India’s commercial airplane market.
India’s economy has averaged 7 percent annual growth over the past 10 years and the country’s economic growth remains among the strongest in the world. The record growth in air travel, which expanded rapidly in the past eight years due to liberalisation and favorable economic conditions, is now tracking at 2007 levels, Boeing said in a media statement.
Keskar said air travel in India, tied closely to the country’s economic growth, will rebound. “There is strength and resilience in the India commercial aviation sector over the long term,” Keskar said. “The potential for future growth of air travel, both domestically and internationally, is among the greatest in the world.”
Recent market forces and recession in many parts of the world have led to a contraction of India’s commercial aviation sector, with consolidation of airlines and an overall reduction of capacity.
23/07/09 Business Standard

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In deep red, A-I billion-dollar Boeing order in peril

New Delhi: Delayed salaries, reduced flights, possibly a bailout -- Air India is looking at ways to stem the sea of red in its balance sheet.
But it's yet to do something that could save it $12 billion, cancelling or deferring the largest airplane order ever made, for 68 Boeing aircraft.
''Air India has placed the biggest order in the history of aviation. It is still the largest order and they are our partners in business and we will do everything to help the. But they have not yet come up with any specific proposal,” says President, Boeing India, Dinesh Keskar.
Boeing's second largest Indian customer, Jet Airways, has deferred an order for seven aircraft. But Boeing is optimistic about the future of the country's aviation industry, though it has scaled down growth forecasts by $ 9 billion.
24/07/09 Sonal Joshi/CNN-IBN

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Kalam episode demeans whom?

The political and official outrage at ex-President Abdul Kalam having to undergo an airline security check, like everyone else has made all-India news. The incident, as reported, happened in April at a Delhi airport before he took a US flight; the check was by airline personnel.
There is a clash of cultures: that rules are to be impartially applied to all is an alien concept to us. No one expects a minister or an IPS officer to use public transport or do his or her own shopping, unless occasionally from a chauffeured car. For that matter, if the boss in a non-government office joined the lunch queue counter, waiting his turn, it would make most people around uneasy, or be seen as condescending. The concept of an official circular which exempts large sections from any queue or security procedures comes naturally to us, unlike many other societies. Is this state of affairs desirable? We disagree, strongly. Kalam himself didn’t object to the frisking here and complied with the same procedure when he disembarked there, as did everyone else. Our point remains, though, even if he had thrown a tantrum at one or both ends; we commend the airline for not making an exception for a VIP. We are clear on the allied point, that a democracy uncomfortable with the equal and impartial application of rules is storing no small degree of peril for itself. Besides ensuring lack of needed change, many things are unsatisfactory since rule-makers are never at the receiving end. The Kalam episode looks like reinforcing VIP privileges; it should be a signal to mobilise against such notions.
22/07/09 Editorial, The New Indian Express/ExpressBuzz

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Frisking issue before Parliament, how can I comment: Kalam

Kochi/New Delhi: "I am smiling," quipped former President A P J Abdul Kalam on Thursday apparently not wanting to make much fuss over frisking by staff of an American airline at the Delhi airport.
"It is true that such a thing (frisking) has taken place," Mr. Kalam told reporters in Kochi.
But "the issue has been discussed in both Houses of Parliament. It is before Parliament now. How can I comment?"
The 77-year-old former President, who is among those exempted from security checks at airports, was replying to questions on whether he felt insulted on being subjected to a security check by staff of Continental Airlines on April 21.
"I have not yet received it," said Mr. Kalam, who is on a visit to Kerala, when asked about the apology sent by the airline.
When contacted, Continental Airlines today said it had sent the apology letter to Kalam's Delhi office as directed by his official staff and since the former President was travelling, his staff may not have been able to communicate to him about the letter.
"We are waiting for him to return to Delhi so that we can apologise to the former president in person," a spokesperson of the airline said in Delhi.
23/07/09 PTI/The Hindu

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Much ado about minor breach

The pre-embarkation check of Kalam was in violation of a BCAS circular that exempts certain VVIPs/VIPs from security checks. Civil aviation minister Praful Patel has gone so far as to call the breach in protocol "unpardonable".
It seems simple on the face of it there exists a law to deal with precisely such violations and which lays out punishment. But consider that in India, more VIPs are exempt from security checks than any other democracy in the world. In the US and Europe, the general rule is that only heads of state travelling by their own aircraft are exempt from these checks. In India, on the other hand, the VIP list has become a status symbol. It includes the president, vice-president, prime minister and cabinet ministers, former presidents, Lok Sabha Speaker, chief ministers, chief justices of the Supreme Court and high courts and also the Dalai Lama. Congress president Sonia Gandhi and her family members are on the roster too, as are the three services chiefs. Robert Vadra, Priyanka Gandhi's husband, is also exempted when travelling with SPG cover.
The question is, why should there be such a long list of exclusions? Not only that, while most exclusions are by dint of the posts they hold or once held, why should Robert Vadra be mentioned by name? In these terror-struck times it's important that security protocols be taken seriously, and VIPs themselves should set an example in this regard.
23/07/09 Times of India

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Frisking national icon outrageous

When it became known that the people's president as former president A P J Abdul Kalam is popularly known was subjected to frisking before he boarded a Continental Airlines flight to the US, it's but natural that the Indian public was miffed. The issue rocked Parliament this week with members cutting across party lines condemning the incident and the media has splashed the story all around. Are we overreacting? Not quite.
The outraged responses are a reflection of the immense popularity Kalam enjoys with the Indian public, as well as against what is perceived as a blatant violation of ground rules by a foreign airline. Indian law clearly mandates that certain people are exempt from body checks before they board an aircraft. These include the head of state, and an assortment of politicians and other public personalities.
The airline claims that it was following standard operating procedure, which requires passengers to be frisked if they are flying to the US. But the aircraft was taking off from Indian soil, and therefore had to abide by the regulations that are binding in this country. All international airlines are given a list of people exempt from body checks by the Indian authorities, and they ought to know that Kalam was one of them.
Not following Indian rules in India is a calculated insult to the nation. Imagine what would have happened if Barack Obama were to be frisked by Air India crew. Now that would create quite a hullabaloo, wouldn't it?
23/07/09 Kaurvaki Rao/Times of India

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Fernandes demands public apology from US for Kalam frisking

New Delhi: Former Defence Minister George Fernandes has demanded a public apology from the United States in the wake of reports that a US airline recently subjected former president A P J Abdul Kalam to a physical search at the Indira Gandhi International Airport.
Fernandes said in a statement here on Tuesday that it was ironic that while “India hosts Hillary Clinton like a visiting queen and provides massive security to protect her,” a US airline (Continental Airlines) had “subjected our greatly loved and respected former president Abdul Kalam to a humiliating security check.” Fernandes recalled that he was subjected to similar treatment when he was travelling to the US as India’s Defence Minister. He said, “While Indians are expected to take such insults graciously, and I believe that VIPs must not expect special privileges, in the case of someone with the stature and credentials of Kalam, the US administration should publicly apologise to India for their crass and disrespectful behaviour.”
22/07/09 PTI/Indian Express

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Govt knew about Kalam incident, had issued show cause notice

New Delhi: A day after the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security filed an FIR against Continental Airlines for frisking former President A P J Abdul Kalam, the government on Wednesday said it knew about the incident and had issued a show cause notice to the airline on July 9. "The BCAS after getting the information in time, first conducted an inquiry and then issued the show cause notice on July 9 and yesterday they filed an FIR also (against Continental Airlines)," Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel told reporters here. "BCAS was doing its job, whatever was necessary and that is why I said that yesterday was only July 21, the show cause notice had been issued already on July 9. This shows that the preliminary inquiry was being done and based on that, further action is being taken," he added.
The 77-year-old former President was frisked in violation of the mandatory protocol at Delhi International airport before he was to board the US-bound Continental Airline flight on April 21.
22/07/09 Indian Express

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‘Indian airline industry bit more than it can chew’

Dinesh Keskar, president of Boeing India, a civil aviation industry veteran who has been dealing with airlines in India for decades. In an interview with ET NOW, he said Boeing has managed to avoid aircraft order cancellations till now and new orders are unlikely now. Excerpts:
Is overcapacity the one of the key factors that has landed Indian airline companies in trouble?
Most certainly. In fact, we have been saying that. While the growth was very good about three years ago, it (Indian airline industry) did bite more then it can chew. The industry got too many airplanes in a hurry and that caused a significant increase in capacity. The growth rate was in excess of 40%, but half of that growth was what I consider was organic growth... meaning it was real, but the other half was stimulated by very low fares and that gave a false sort of expectation that India is going to grow very big. Even now, there is overcapacity to the tune of 15-20%, which is forcing everybody to put the fares down and creating a situation where nobody is making any money.
Does that mean cancellation of orders for aircraft manufacturers like Boeing?
Well, we have been fortunate. First of all, we picked and chose our customers very carefully in India. We don’t expect any cancellation. We haven’t had any so far. We had some deferrals in the past. Of course, when economy gets so bad worldwide, clearly there is going to be some implication, but we have been very successful so far in not getting any cancellation.
Do you expect Air India to retain its orders despite its mounting losses?
Well, again as I mentioned, we have not had any cancellation, we have not heard from Air India that they would like to cancel anything. We share the pain that Air India is going through. In fact, Air India is not the only airline in the world that is suffering. I was at a meeting in Kuala Lumpur past month, where every major airline in the world was complaining about the traffic going down. Air India is no exception, but they are creating a modern fleet and I think they will stick to their plan, if they have to reschedule some deliveries, we will certainly be able to talk to them. So far, we have not seen any communication from them on the subject yet.
What about other customers?
We have been very fortunate. We have done business worth $25 billion with India, between Air India, Jet Airways, SpiceJet and three very prestigious Boeing business jets for VVIP fleet, which is flown by Indian Air Force for top people like the Prime Minister. As I said, we are focused on keeping the orders that we have sold and working through the cycle. I think we are very well placed for the future, but in the near term, we don’t expect any orders, but we are not expecting any cancellation either.
23/07/09 G Ganapathy Subramaniam/Economic Times

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No talks on deferring aircraft delivery, says Boeing

New Delhi: The US-based aircraft manufacturer Boeing, on Wednesday night, said that there has not been any talk with the State-owned carrier, Air India, for deferring delivery of aircraft.
“It is an option, but no talks have taken place as yet,” the Boeing India President, Mr Dinesh Keskar, said.
Earlier this month, the Union Minister for Civil Aviation, Mr Praful Patel, informed Parliament that cancellation and deferring aircraft deliveries were the options being examined by the airline to cut its losses.Air India had ordered 68 Boeing aircraft worth about $12 billion.
22/07/09 Business Line

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Boeing Cuts India Commercial Aircraft Sales Forecast

New Delhi: Boeing Co.(BA) Wednesday cut its commercial aircraft sales forecast for India saying it expects the country's carriers to buy up to 1,000 planes by 2029 for as much as $100 billion.
The U.S.-based aircraft manufacturer previously forecast India would need 1, 001 aircraft worth $105 billion by 2027.
"India is economically better than the rest of the world but the aviation industry here is equally affected as companies globally," Boeing India President Dinesh Keskar told reporters.
He said last year's forecast was that large airplanes' share in the overall market would reach 11% but it now expects it to be 8%.
The company now expects higher orders for small planes, so it has scaled down its forecast for India by $9 billion.
Keskar said air travel has started recovering and he expects the local aviation market to turn around in nine to 12 months.
Higher operating costs, the global economic downturn and lower consumer spending has hurt air travel in India.
Air passenger traffic fell about 5% in 2008. Air traffic declined 8.06% to 21.09 million passengers during the first six months of 2009.
Jet Airways (India) Ltd.(532617.BY), Kingfisher Airlines Ltd.(532747.BY) and Air India have cut capacity and deferred and cancelled deliveries of new planes from Boeing and its rival Airbus due to the decline in passenger numbers.
Boeing's customers in India include Jet Airways, Air India and low-fare carrier SpiceJet Ltd.
22/07/09 Nikhil Gulati and Anirban Chowdhury/Dow Jones/CNN Money.com

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Jet Airways to launch Kochi-Sharjah service

Mumbai: Jet Airways, India’s premier international airline, will launch services to the Gulf emirate of Sharjah, with the launch of its daily service from Kochi, effective September 1, 2009.
The airline will launch services to Sharjah aboard a state-of-the-art Boeing 737-800 aircraft.
This will be Jet Airways’ fourth daily service to the Gulf from Kochi, complementing the airline’s existing daily services on the Kochi- Doha, Kuwait and Muscat sectors.
Effective September 1, 2009 to October 24, 2009 and from March 28, 2010 to October 30, 2010, flight 9W 562 will depart Kochi at 1045 hrs, arriving in Sharjah at 1305 hrs. Flight 9W 561 will then depart Sharjah at 1415 hrs, arriving in Kochi at 1945 hrs.
However, effective October 25, 2009 to March 27, 2010, flight 9W 562 will depart Kochi at 1045 hrs, arriving in Sharjah at 1325 hrs. Flight 9W 561 will then depart Sharjah at 1425 hrs, arriving in Kochi at 1945 hrs.
Jet Airways currently flies to seven destinations in the Gulf including Kuwait, Bahrain, Muscat, Doha, Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Jeddah from several Indian cities. The airline will also launch services to Riyadh, its second service to Saudi Arabia, on August 6, 2009.
21/07/09 PRESS RELEASE/Jet Airways

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One held at airport for smuggling three primate species

Mumbai: One person has been arrested at the Mumbai Airport for allegedly smuggling three primate species into India, Customs' authorities said.
The accused, Thomas Ignatius Fernandes, who arrived from Bangkok by a Thai Airways flight, was arrested yesterday by the Air Intelligence sleuths after they found one live and two dead primate species in his possession, a release said.
22/07/09 Press Trust of India

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Government to rethink protocol after Kalam frisking

New Delhi: Was former president APJ Abdul Kalam frisked by an American airline because his name implied a particular religious identity or is India particularly generous to foreign dignitaries without other countries returning the favour?
Whatever the case, the government has promised a re-look at the "meet and greet" protocols at Indian airports for foreign dignitaries after MPs cutting across party lines protested the outrage to India's honour.
Civil aviation minister Praful Patel said he would be speaking to his external affairs counterpart SM Krishna to modify protocol rules. "Protocol rules are drawn after consulting the external affairs ministry. I will refer the matter to him," he said.
Taking serious note of the incident, BJP leader Arun Jaitley said, "Why are our dignitaries mistreated every time they travel on another airline or to another country when we take cars up to the tarmac to pick them up and bypass all security checks?"
CPM leader Sitaram Yechury had another take on the matter. "Was he frisked because his name is Abdul Kalam? If so, this is a serious matter," he said.
Government sources, however, said the matter was of grave importance as Kalam had been frisked not on foreign soil but in India. "Then why should we roll out a red carpet for their dignitaries?" a senior minister said.
22/07/09 Nistula Hebbar/Daily News & Analysis

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Continental Air Apologizes to India's Ex-President

New Delhi: Continental Airlines Inc. Wednesday apologized to India's former president, APJ Abdul Kalam, for frisking him before he boarded a flight to New York.
The apology comes a day after the country's Bureau of Civil Aviation Security filed a complaint with the local police against the Houston-based carrier for "wrongfully" frisking Mr. Kalam on April 21, in contravention to bureau rules that exempt specified VIPs from such body checks.
The bureau, which is part of the civil aviation ministry, is responsible for laying down standards of pre-embarkation security and antisabotage measures for all civilian flights in India.
The filing of the first information report by the bureau followed strong protests by lawmakers in the Parliament earlier Tuesday over the frisking of the former president.
Continental said in a statement that it has formally apologized to the former president for any "misunderstanding and/or inconvenience related to the security screening on April 21."
"Our intention was never to offend [Mr.] Kalam or the sentiments of the people of India," a spokesman for Continental said.
Separately, Praful Patel, the country's civil aviation minister, said he isn't aware of the apology tendered by Continental to Mr. Kalam.
"The steps that were required to be taken have been taken by BCAS (bureau of civil aviation security)," Mr. Patel told reporters on the sidelines of an industry conference. "This is entirely a legal process and the law will take its course."
Tuesday, Laurent Recoura, Continental's senior country director in charge of India said the frisking was done because it had to follow the rules of the Transportation Security Administration/U.S. Department of Homeland Security for all carriers flying to the U.S. from most of the countries and there isn't any exemption to the rule.
The police complaint was filed after Continental failed to respond to a show-cause notice issued by the bureau July 9, seeking an explanation within the stipulated seven days.
22/07/09 Santanu Choudhury/Nikhil Gulati/Dowjones/Wall Street Journal

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Airport misery for passengers

Air India passengers were left stranded for more than an hour last night after their flight was temporarily refused permission to land in Bahrain, the GDN has learnt.
Bahrain International Airport (BIA) officials informed Air India representatives that the IC997 flight from Calicut to Bahrain, via Doha, would not be able to land on its allotted time due to a lack of parking space.
The scheduled flight was due to take off from Doha at 5.40pm and arrive at 6.20pm, but as the plane taxied down the runway, officials revealed there was no landing space for the plane at the BIA.
The passengers on-board - believed to be around 20 - had to wait more than an hour before finally arriving in Bahrain at around 7.30pm.
Air India's country manager for Bahrain Meenakshi Mallik told the GDN last night that the situation at the BIA was totally unheard of.
"It is unimaginable and we have informed BIA authorities that if this continues, we will have to reconsider whether Air India wants to fly to the BIA," she declared.
22/07/09 Daniel Munden/Gulf Daily News, Bahrain

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Air India announces flights between Mumbai and Pune thrice a week

Pune: With a view to save Mumbai-Pune travellers from the traffic snarls due to rains, the Air India Express of the National Aviation Company of India Ltd has announced flights thrice a week between these two cities at Rs 999. These flights will operate between Mumbai-Pune-Dubai route and vice versa.
“Monsoon has set in and more and more passengers prefer flying rather than traveling by road between Mumbai and Pune in order to avoid the monsoon traffic snarls. Therefore, Air India Express flights will provide services at Rs 999 for the ease of passengers,” said station manager of Air India Dhairyashil Vandekar.
Flight number IX 211 will take off from Mumbai at 2.30 pm, which will arrive Pune at 3 pm. It will operate on are Wednesday, Friday and Sunday. From Pune, it will leave for Dubai at 4.5 pm which will reach Dubai at 5.30 pm.
Another flight, IX 212, will depart from Dubai at 6.30 pm and arrive Pune at 11.40 pm.
It will leave for Mumbai at 12.35 am and reach Mumbai at 1.05 am. This flight will operate on Thursday, Saturday and Monday.
22/07/09 Indian Express

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Sizzling Thai-India traffic sparks race

While air travel demand on routes linking Thailand and other regions is slumping due to the economic slowdown and the H1N1 pandemic, traffic between Thailand and India seems to be buzzing.
Kingfisher will use an Airbus A320 jetliner for its debut Bangkok service.
The demand growth has prompted two Indian carriers to move aggressively to tap the potential of the market, which has been keenly eyed by several airlines.
Kingfisher Airlines is to start its first scheduled flight to Bangkok from Kolkata on Aug 14, while existing player Jet Airways is adding a second daily service between Bangkok and Mumbai on Aug 16.
Plans are also afoot for Kingfisher to start services between Mumbai and Bangkok in October, while the budget carrier Thai AirAsia hopes to inaugurate flights from the Thai capital to Mumbai and New Delhi around December.
They will be competing with Thai Airways International and Air India, which have the lion's share of the market.
Thailand has been on Kingfisher's radar screen for quite a while and its debut flight from its base in Bangalore to Bangkok was delayed from March due to aircraft availability constraints.
Kingfisher spokesman Prakash Mirpuri said the launch of flights to Thailand, among the airline's eight new international routes, is consistent with a goal of redeploying capacity on routes with better yields compared to domestic Indian sectors.
Industry sources said Kingfisher's decision to launch its service to Thailand may have been triggered by its arch-rival Jet Airways' move to step up its Thailand-India profile with the ramp-up of its frequencies.
Jet Airways, marketing itself as India's premier international airline, will use Boeing's B737-800 aircraft on the second Bangkok-Mumbai daily service, and is to offer two flights a week between Bangkok and Gaya on Oct 6, according to the airline's Bangkok office.
Jet Airways already runs daily flights from Bangkok to Delhi and Kolkata.
22/07/09 Boonsong Kositchotethana/Bangkokpost.com

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Kalam issue: Continental Airlines served show cause notice

New Delhi : Taking a serious note of the "unpardonable" act of frisking of former President A P J Abdul Kalam at the Indira Gandhi International Airport here, government has slapped a show cause notice to the US-based Continental Airlines for violating guidelines.
"Not only the preliminary inquiry has been ordered but we also have a preliminary report on the basis of which the Continental Airlines has been issued a show cause notice why action for wilful violation should not be taken," Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel said the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday.
Mr. Kalam was frisked by the Airlines at the embarkation point some time back when he was going to the US.
21/07/09 PTI/The Hindu

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Praful says Kalam frisking will be probed

New Delhi: Union Civil Aviation minister for State (Independent charge) Praful Patel today has said that a probe into conducted in the alleged mesbehavior by an American Airlines' officials with former President APJ Kalam when he reached IGI to catch a New York bound flight.
"Whatever is needed, the government will do. I have just been told about this issue. If anybody is found wrong, they will have to tender an apology," Patel told reporters.
The former president was reportedly subjected to a full body check and even asked to remove his footwear as he waited on the aerobridge of the Newark-bound flight at the Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) recently.
21/07/09 Sudhir Kumar/SamayLive

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Dr Abdul Kalam frisked at Delhi airport

In what is seen as a clear violation of protocol, former President APJ Abdul Kalam was treated as a commoner as he was frisked by the ground staff of Continental Airlines at the Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGI) on April 24, 2009 at the insistence of the company's American boss. The former President was on his way to Newark on Continental Airlines Flight CO 083.
Kalam was reportedly forced to wait on the aerobridge even as the airlines security personnel debated whether to put him under the security scanner or not. Kalam was asked to surrender before the security officials for a complete body check and remove his footwear as well.
However, the Continental Airlines defended the same saying that it was a regular security check as the policy of the company is to frisk everyone. They also went on to add that there is no special rule for VIP or VVIP's.
In fact, Kalam was cooperative and underwent the entire process which happened over a month ago," said the Public Relation Officer of Continental Airlines.
Meanwhile, Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel said, "We will ask for correction action from the airlines and in case they are proven wrong, we will ask them to tender and apology."
Any airline operating in India is given a set of guidelines, which includes the point that our presidents and former presidents are on the VIP list and are exempted from security checks-let alone frisking.
21/07/09 Times of India

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Flight overseas likely to get easier for airlines

Mumbai: Budget carriers such as SpiceJet and Indigo can take heart. The civil aviation ministry has once again got around to the view that the eligibility criterion for allowing domestic carriers to fly abroad should be relaxed to three years.
At present, any carrier wishing to fly overseas must have completed at least five years of domestic operations (besides some other criteria on fleet size etc) before it can seek permission to fly out of India.
Official sources confirmed on Monday that the ministry could soon send a note to the Union Cabinet, reiterating its support of the three-year domestic operation clause which forms an important aspect of the much delayed civil aviation policy. The renewed thrust on allowing more Indian carriers to fly abroad comes when the ministry had already revived a proposal to allow foreign airlines to pick up equity in Indian carriers.
It also stems from the thinking that any domestic carrier which can fly domestic long haul such as Delhi-Thiruvananthapuram is also eligible to fly routes on the Middle East and Far East sectors from most destinations within India.
Sources said the ministry had forwarded this very opinion to the Cabinet earlier also, but the Cabinet had then referred this matter to a Group of Ministers (GoM). Now, with the new government in place, that GoM stands dissolved and, therefore, this crucial aspect of the civil aviation policy hangs in balance.
In the last round, civil aviation minister Praful Patel had, at one point, suggested a case by case approval for any airline which has not completed five years of domestic operation but wants to fly overseas. But the old GoM, headed by Pranab Mukherjee, had wavered since many of its members had opposed any relaxation in norms. Though many had hinted that any relaxation in norms at that point would only favour Kingfisher Airlines, Kingfisher then went ahead to merge Air Deccan with itself and thus got rights to fly overseas last year.
21/07/09 Sindhu Bhattacharya/Daily News & Analysis

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Raytheon Selected to Deliver GPS-Aided Indian Air Navigation System

Washington: The Indian Space Research Organization has awarded an $82 million contract to Raytheon Company to modernize the Indian air navigation system.
Raytheon will build the ground stations for the GPS-Aided Geosynchronous Augmented Navigation System, and ISRO will provide the space segment and additional ground equipment. GAGAN will provide satellite-based navigation for civil aviation over Indian airspace and adjoining areas in South and East Asia.
"GAGAN will be the world's most advanced air navigation system and further reinforces India's leadership in the forefront of air navigation," said Andy Zogg, Raytheon Network Centric Systems vice president of Command and Control Systems. "GAGAN will greatly improve safety, reduce congestion and enhance communications to meet India's growing air traffic management needs."
Raytheon plays a major role in designing innovative solutions for air traffic management. The company offers a broad range of automation and surveillance systems in use today in more than 50 countries around the world. GAGAN will be the newest addition to the ATM portfolio.
Raytheon is the only company that has delivered satellite-based augmentation systems that have been certified for safety-of-flight operations. The company developed the Federal Aviation Administration's Wide Area Augmentation System and was engaged in the Japan Civil Aviation Bureau's Multi-Function Transport Satellite Augmentation System.
Raytheon will continue the work it began several years ago and expects to have the GAGAN system fully functional by 2013.
20/07/09 PRNewswire

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Indo-Bangla connectivity in spotlight

The visiting high-powered Indian business delegation yesterday urged the government to increase connectivity between the two countries to enhance bilateral and regional trade.
The members of the delegation said Bangladesh and India can boost both value and volume of trade through border trade, eco-tourism and aviation business.
"But, first of all we need people-to-people, business-to-business, cultural and road connectivity between the two countries to achieve the benefits," said Harsh C Mariwala, leader of the delegation, at a seminar at Pan Pacific Sonargaon hotel in Dhaka.
At the seminar on "Bangladesh-India Economic Relations", Mariwala, also vice president of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), urged the political leaders of both the countries to remove barriers to cementing bilateral trade relationship.
The Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI) and the FICCI jointly organised the seminar.A 50-member business delegation of India is now visiting Bangladesh to explore bilateral business potential. As the chief guest at the inaugural session, Commerce Minister Faruk Khan termed political barrier the main obstacle to developing bilateral trade between the two countries.
Inviting the country's apex trade body, FBCCI, to work jointly with the FICCI for increasing business-to-business connectivity, Secretary General of the Indian chamber Dr Amit Mitra called for exploiting potential of border trade, eco-tourism and aviation business between the two countries.
"Although we have cultural connectivity, we are yet to do good business between us," Mitra said.
Underscoring the need for connectivity, FBCCI President Annisul Huq said: "The borders must become porous, visa issuance needs to be addressed quickly and media must be visible in both of the lands."
21/07/09 The Daily Star, Bangladesh

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Delhi fifth worst airport to sleep in, Mumbai seventh

From flea infestations to filthy toilets, overzealous security guards and bird poo, travellers have revealed the world's top 10 worst airports to sleep in.
Website www.sleepinginairports.net has given travellers a voice, allowing them to review the best and worst airports around the world for travellers needing some shut-eye.
While Paris’s Charles de Gualle was voted the worst airport to sleep in, airports in Europe, the US and India were also mentioned.
The website has received more than 6200 reviews and was created by frequent traveller Donna McSherry, a former travel agent from Canada.
1. Charles de Gaulle Airport, Paris
Slammed by travellers as the dirtiest airport in the world and "worse than a Third World airport", Paris’s Charles de Gaulle Airport is reportedly smelly, hot, full of homeless people, lacks comfortable seating and is prone to losing luggage.
"I could not believe the filth from hell, the bathrooms were worse than some I have seen in Africa! Smell of Urines all over the floor, faeces on the walls, toilet papers all over the place and rude workers," Baron Kodjo said.
"All the terminals were full of homeless people who smelled bad and touched themselves in inappropriate places," Briggew said.
2. Sheremetyevo Airport, Russia
This airport has been described as a dark, dirty cave with limited and uncomfortable seating, long lines, unhelpful staff and expensive food. One traveller dubbed it “hell on earth”.
“(My wife) moved from her bench after a woman nearby vomited. Several hours later my wife passed the spot and the vomit had not been cleaned," Gibby said.
3. JFK Airport, New York City
Travellers found this airport overcrowded, dirty and uncomfortable.
"JFK was probably the most confusing and filthy airport terminal I have ever been in," Amy said.
4. Los Angeles Airport
Reviewers said Los Angeles Airport has dirty bathrooms, metal benches, is cold, and there are frequent and loud announcements.
"At 1am a security guard woke me and told me I had to leave because the 'airport was closed'," Savvy said.
5. Delhi Airport
This airport has been described as being full of mosquitoes and birds, filthy, crowded, has poor signage and frequent announcements that increase at night.
"Had to change in the toilet which made the one in Trainspotting look like the Ritz," Moray said.
"It was dirty, with all pervasive smell of sweet over powering phenyl which they use for disinfecting. The departure lounge has this odour mixed with that of cigarettes," Amit Mathur said.
6. O’Hare airport, Chicago
Sleepy travellers have been warned away from this “dirty” and noisy Chicago airport.
"I believe it would be easier to sleep in the engine of a plane than to sleep in this place," Derek Blice said.
7. Mumbai Airport
A lack of food and shops open at night, “beyond disgusting” toilets, and poor air conditioning turns travellers off this airport.
"The heat and smell was ominous as soon as I left the plane," Amanda Hillis said.
“There is nothing to do at the Mumbai airport. There are no shops in the main part of the terminal. Chilled (sweated, actually) on a chair for about 10 hours...the seating area was rather dirty,” Laura P said.
8. Manila Airport
If visiting this “chaotic” airport be prepared for people wanting bribes, tourists warn.
"Everywhere everyone asks for bribes. Never offer them anything. Act as if you do not know what they are saying and just walk past them," Native Filipino said.
9. Rome Airport, Fiumicino
Frequent announcements, bird poo and the tendency to be kicked out at night have turned travellers off this airport.
"Birds live in the ceiling so look out for falling bird crap and bird crap on the seats,” TH said.
10. Heathrow Airport, London
Several travellers complained about flea infestations as well as smelly carpets, confusing signs, a general dirtiness and lack of places to lie down.
"My god... I would sooner eat my own face than sleep here again. I was contemplating suicide at 3.30am," one traveller said.
Worst airports by region
South Pacific/Oceania: Tonga
Asia: Delhi, India
Africa: Abuja, Nigeria
20/07/09 Kate Schneide6/News.com, Australia
Middle East: Sanaa, Yemen
South America: Buenos Aires Aeroparque, Argentina
North America: Los Angeles, USA
Europe: Paris Charles de Gaulle, France
20/07/09 News.com, Australia

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AI may shell out Rs 125 cr as penalty to Boeing & Airbus

Mumbai: Air India, the national carrier and the country’s largest by fleet size, may have to pay a penalty of Rs 125 crore to Boeing and Airbus
for deferring and cancelling earlier orders for buying aircraft from the two international companies.
A total of 70 aircraft from Boeing and Airbus will be deferred and a few orders will be cancelled, according to two people close to the development, resulting in a penalty of about Rs 125 crore.
Air India will also stand to lose Rs 15-20 crore additionally as interest, because National Aviation Co of India (Nacil), the holding company for the carrier, had made pre-delivery payments to Airbus and Boeing. All these aircraft was supposed to be added to Air India’s fleet by 2011 and now will be deferred till 2015, the persons added. When contacted, an Air India spokesperson said the company would inform once a decision is taken. An Airbus spokesperson said delivery timetables and other contractual issues with customers are confidential.
The Air India penalty payment comes at a time when Tata Motors is also likely to pay Rs 300 crore for JLR’s breach of a raw material purchase contract with Ford. As in all contracts, when carriers sign aircraft purchase agreements with manufacturers such as Boeing and Airbus, there are penalty clauses, if the purchaser fails to pay or if there is any deferment in the order. With Air India currently passing through one of its most trying times, the company has decided to defer and cancel few future deliveries, triggering the penalty clause.
“The cancellation and deferment will happen in phases,” said one Air India official. “In the first phase, the company has delayed purchase of seven Boeings, which otherwise would have seen a payment of about Rs 8,000 crore. Next, the company may defer 15 new Airbus planes, which were scheduled to be inducted toward the end of fiscal 2010,” the official added.
20/07/09 Mithun Roy/Economic Times

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Lufthansa seeks nod to fly in A-380

New Delhi: Hope for the best and prepare for the worst. German airline Lufthansa is adopting this strategy for its India plans. While it will seek permission to fly in the world’s largest commercial airliner, Airbus A-380, into Delhi, the airline has sharply reduced business seats in the Boeing 747s flying here. In wake of corporate travellers giving up business class for cost-cutting reasons, the number of economy seats has been increased in the biggest plane in its fleet at present, the Boeing 747.
Lufthansa has ordered 15 of the world’s biggest commercial airliner that would start joining its fleet from early next year. “We need two things — government clearance under bilateral agreement to fly this plane and an airport that’s ready for it. Delhi is an interesting destinations for this aircraft to be deployed in. Once we have the clearance and Delhi airport terminal can receive this plane, our planning team will decide when to get the same here,” said Axel Hilgers, Lufthansa’s director (south Asia). The superjumbo is likely to be used for commercial purposes next summer.
12/07/09 Saurabh Sinha/Times of India

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Airbus upbeat on India demand

New Delhi: Notwithstanding the turbulence in the Indian aviation sector, European aircraft manufacturer Airbus is bullish and does not see any downward revision in its long-term outlook for aircraft demand in the country. The aviation giant expects a turnaround of the domestic aviation sector in 2010.
“In the long run, we are bullish on Indian aviation sector with the economy growing at 7.5% on an average. The aviation infrastructure are being put in place. Over the next 10-15 years, the industry would go strength to strength. We have already seen the bottoming-out,” Airbus executive VP (sales and marketing) Kiran Rao said. Airbus has forecast that India would require 992 aircraft with a total value of $120 billion by 2026. In its 2008 market projection for India, Airbus said the total fleet would comprise 670 single-aisle aircraft and 227 twin-aisle aircraft.
“We do not see any downward revision in our earlier projection. Passenger demand would remain strong in the long run,” Mr Rao said.
20/07/09 Economic Times

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How about flying from Jeddah to Surat?

Surat: Preliminary inquiries by Air India (AI) about starting a flight from Surat to Jeddah in Saudi Arabia has brought a smile on the faces of many Surtis, who want to see the city airport as a thriving hub. Local officials point out that Ahmedabad too had started flights to Jeddah before turning into a full-fledged international airport. Sources said AI was looking to cater to the huge demand of Haj pilgrims from south Gujarat with the new service.
"Local AI officials approached us about starting the flight," said Ashok Gupta, Surat airport manager. "We can now operate international flights as we have installed night landing facility and our runway length has been increased."
He added that the only problem would be setting up immigration and customs facilities required for international landings and take-offs in time for the Haj season, an aspect that is not in their hands. "Normally, Ahmedabad airport handles the entire rush during Haj. If the Surat airport is allowed to operate flights to Jeddah, it would reduce the pressure on Ahmedabad substantially," he added.
Surat collector Dilip Rawal said, "If an operator comes up with a viable plan to operate flights from Surat to Jeddah, we will ensure that immigration and customs facilities are set up. If all goes as planned, Haj pilgrims of south Gujarat will be able to fly to Jeddah from Surat airport from next year."
19/07/09 Himanshu Bhatt & Melvyn Thomas/Times of India

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Jet Airways Sharjah-Kochi flights from September 1

Jet Airways will launch operations from Sharjah International Airport on September 1, 2009, with a daily direct service from Sharjah to Kochi, according to a senior Jet Airways executive.
"Jet Airways will begin the Kochi-Sharjah service from September 1 this year, making it the airline's first flight out of Sharjah," Shakir Kantawala, Jet Airways' General Manager for Dubai and Northern Emirates, told Emirates Business.
For the Indian carrier, which is already operating twice-daily services to Dubai from Mumbai, and daily services from Delhi and Chennai besides daily direct flights to Abu Dhabi from Mumbai and Delhi, this would be its first flight from the UAE into Kerala.
Asked why Jet Airways chose Sharjah International Airport to start Kerala services over Dubai or Abu Dhabi, Kantawala said: "Our plan to operate out of Sharjah, subject to all government approvals being in place, stems from the fact that there is a large Keralite community residing in Sharjah and the Northern Emirates, who would like to travel on a full-service premium airline, which offers very good value for money."
While Kantawala did not divulge the exact fares for the route, he said Jet Airways, which would deploy a Boeing 737-800 aircraft on the route, will offer its services on the ground and in the air, at "affordable and competitive fares".
He added that the airline will reveal its pricing strategy and introductory offers in the next two to three days.
20/07/09m Shweta Jain/Emirates Business 24-7, UAE

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Jet Airways to fly to more Gulf cities

In a move to consolidate its network in the Middle East, Jet Airways has decided to introduce a daily direct service from Hyderabad to Dubai starting August 16.
The Indian carrier has started services to Saudi Arabia, with the introduction of its daily flight from Mumbai to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia's second largest city as well as a commercial hub.
The company is looking at rolling out services to Riyadh very soon.
The carrier is already functioning 17 frequencies to seven destinations in the Gulf, enatiling Kuwait, Bahrain, Muscat, Doha, Abu Dhabi, Jeddah and Dubai from several Indian cities.
18/07/09 Malini Ranade/TopNews.in

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Two huge airport drug busts in 24 hours

A total of R107 million worth of drugs and chemicals to make drugs had been seized at OR Tambo Airport over the past 24 hours, the SA Revenue Service said on Saturday.
This followed a second drug bust at the airport on Saturday which saw chemicals used to make "designer drugs" to the value of R50 million being confiscated, said SARS spokesman Sibabalwenathi Mfabe.
"The dog unit officials confiscated two drums containing a mixture of ephedrine and cocaine in powder form weighing 20kg and one drum of ecstasy weighing 50kg, with estimated street value of R10 million and R40 million respectively."
He said the chemicals were transported into South Africa on flights from India.
No arrests have been made and the case has been handed over to the police. On Friday, at least R57 million worth of chemicals used in the manufacturing of narcotics was also seized at the airport.
"The chemicals were transported into South Africa on flights from India and Dubai to OR Tambo International Airport as cargo shipments," said SARS spokesman Adrian Lackay at the time.
"It is believed that the cargo was in transit and destined for Brazil and Columbia."
18/07/09 iOL, South Africa

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AI plans lease-buyback model to clean up books

New Delhi: In an attempt to clean up its balance sheet, Air India plans to sell some of its new aircraft to a separate company and then lease them back, in line with a practice followed by several private carriers.
The state-run airline expects to end 2008-09 with a cumulative loss of Rs 7,200 crore, according to a statement by civil aviation minister Praful Patel in Parliament on Wednesday. The company is yet to finalise its balance sheet for the year. Its stand-alone losses last fiscal were around Rs 5,000 crore.
The sale and leaseback strategy will free up capital to help the beleaguered airline turn around in a difficult aviation market. Globally, the combined losses of all airlines exceeded $9 billion, according to the International Air Transport Association.
“We will get into sale and leaseback of planes eventually. That is the model private carriers are following. It will help in taking capital costs out of the company’s books. Of course, lease rentals will have to be paid,” Patel said in an exclusive interview with FE on Wednesday.
Simultaneously, the airline’s equity will also have to be raised to around Rs 2,500 crore from the current base of Rs 145 crore. According to Patel, bailout estimates of Rs 10,000-15,000 crore were unfounded. “There are a lot of projections, but I am confident that is not the kind of money required.”
16/07/09 Sunny Verma/Fiancial Express

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First greenfield merchant airport by 2011-12

Kolkata: India’s first greenfield airport to be set up as a joint venture with Changi Airports International (CAI) of Singapore will be ready by 2011-12. The project is set to come up as part of a Rs. 10,000-crore airport city in Durgapur.
CAI, through its subsidiary, Changi Airports India Pte Ltd, has already picked up a 26 per cent stake in Bengal Aerotropolis Projects Ltd (BAPL) which will implement the project, making it the first investment by CAI in an Indian company.
The CEO of CAI Wong Woon Liong and Deputy CEO Eugene Gan have joined as directors of BAPL.
BAPL is promoted by a joint venture company of HUDCO — Pragati Social Infrastructure & Development Limited (PSIDL) — and its other shareholders are: Citystar Infrastructures Limited, Lend Lease Company (I) Limited and Pragati 47 Development Limited.
Earlier in February 2008, BAPL had signed a technical services agreement with CAI, under which CAI is providing advisory services to BAPL in planning, supervising, executing and commissioning of the proposed airport. The BAPL board is headed by Arvind Pande, former chairman of Steel Authority of India Ltd.
The total land area of the aerotroplis will be 2,300 acres of which a minimum of 650 acres will be used for the airport, which would have the ability to handle Airbus category of aircraft.
18/07/09 The Hindu

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Air India, SAA sign code-share agreement

Mumbai: National air-carrier, Air India, and South African Airways (SAA), have signed a code-share agreement, which they said would improve travel options between their respective countries.
The agreement allows Air India passengers to code-share on SAA's route between Johannesburg and Mumbai, as well as on the domestic sectors between Johannesburg-Durban and Johannesburg-Cape Town, a press release issued said.
SAA, in return, will code-share on Air India's domestic operations between Mumbai and Delhi as well as operations between Bangalore, Chennai, Trivandrum and Hyderabad to Mumbai, the release said.
The partnership was effective from June 18 and allows for improved and expanded connectivity between each other's networks.
17/07/09 Indian Express

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Air India’s ground-handling JV by September

After numerous hiccups, Air India is likely to finalise the ground-handling joint venture with Singapore Air Terminal Services’ (SATS) subsidiary by September this year, according to a top official.
The JV, in which National Aviation Company of India Limited or Nacil has 50 per cent stake, is slated to be one of the three mandatory ground-handling service providers at the six metro airports of Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Bangalore and Hyderabad, and any greenfield airport that comes up in future.
Air India has been trying to sort out the matters and operationalise the agreement well before the new ground-handling policy takes effect in December this year. The joint venture had run into trouble after SATS insisted that Nacil should sign the JV agreement with its newly formed subsidiary SATS Investments Pvt Ltd. It had a capitalisation of just $2, which had also posed a problem. “The issue of capitalisation has been resolved as they have been asked to put in half a million dollars,” said a senior official.
Earlier, in February the Cabinet had given the go-ahead to Nacil to form a JV with SATS.
18/07/09 Smita Aggarwal/Indian Express

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Update on Influenza A (H1N1) as on 17th July 2009

World Health Organization has reported 94,512 laboratory confirmed cases of influenza A/H1N1 infection from 135 countries as on 6th July 2009. There have been 429 deaths. There is no further update.
Health screening of passengers coming from affected countries is continuing in 22 International airports. 51167 passengers have been screened on 16.7.2009 of which 38273 passengers were from affected countries. 224 doctors and 112 paramedics are manning 81 counters at these airports. A cumulative total of 3460956 passengers have been screened.
Eight new laboratory confirmed cases have been reported today: Delhi (2), Amritsar (1), Chennai (1), Trivandrum (2) and Pune (2).
Out of the two cases in Delhi, one is a 13 year old female who is a contact case of one earlier reported positive case. She reported with symptoms of fever and cough on 15th July at the identified health facility where she is admitted. The second case is a twenty eight year old male who travelled from Bangkok by Cathay Pacific Flight CX 751 reaching Delhi on 15th July 2009. He reported with symptoms of fever and cough on 16th July to the identified health facility where he is admitted.
The case in Amritsar is a 26 year old male who travelled from Birmingham, UK by Air India Flight AI-188 reaching Amritsar on 15th July 2009. As he was detected having fever and sore-throat during the screening at the airport, he was admitted in the identified health facility.
In Chennai, a five year old female child who travelled from Singapore by Indian Airlines Flight IA 556 reaching Chennai on 15th July 2009 was found to be having fever and cough during the screening at the Airport and is admitted in the identified health facility. In Trivandrum, a 4 year old female child who travelled from London by Emirates Flight EK 522 transiting Dubai reached Trivandrum on 15th July 2009. She reported with sore-throat at the identified health facility on the same day and was admitted. The other case is a 17 year old male and is a contact case of an earlier reported positive case from Trivandrum. He is admitted in the identified health facility.
18/07/09 Press Information Bureau

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Changi buys 26% in India's first airport city project

Kolkata: After one failed attempt, Singapore-based Changi Airport International (CAI) finally made an entry into India’s airport development business by announcing that it had bought 26 per cent for $20 million (approximately Rs 96 crore) in Bengal Aerotropolis Projects Ltd (BAPL).
BAPL is a special purpose vehicle that is developing India’s first airport-city project at Andal, around 200 km from Kolkata, at a cost of around Rs 10,000 crore. The company has been promoted by Pragati Social Infrastructure and Development Ltd, Lend Lease Company (India) Ltd, Citystar Infrastructures Ltd and Pragati 47 Development Ltd.
“This is CAI’s first investment in any airport project in India. We have gone beyond a planning and development consultancy partnership. CAI will have a larger role to play in the development of the airport that will be a showcase project for Bengal and India,” Wong Woon Liong, chief executive officer of CAI, said.
He added that CAI saw attractive returns on investment in the medium and long term from the Andal airport-city project.
Wong and CAI Deputy Chief Executive Officer Eugene Gan were inducted into BAPL’s 10-member board today.
CAI and BAPL had signed a technical services agreement (TSA) in February 2008, according to which CAI would review the master plan of the greenfield airport and supervise the execution of the project. It would also train the senior management of BAPL at the Singapore Aviation Academy.
The debt-equity ratio for the project was 1:2.25 for the initial investment of Rs 675 crore in the first phase, of which the airport alone would require an investment of around Rs 230 crore. The land required for the total project is 3,100 acres. The West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation Ltd is in the process of acquiring the land.
17/07/09 Business Standard

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After Spice, Ross eyes JetLite

Mumbai: Many a questions were raised when American billionaire investor Wilbur Ross announced that he was putting his money to bail out the Indian low cost carrier SpiceJet.
However, the vulture investor as he is known, Ross definitely had a bigger game plan for the Indian skies and that is consolidating the low cost segment space.
That's where Ross decided to bet big and it’s no surprise then that another beleaguered low cost airline JetLite is now catching the investor’s attention.
NDTV learns from sources that a due-diligence has been initiated by SpiceJet for assessing the equipment and the airport infrastructure through a supplier and there have been official meetings for a possible equity divestment by JetLite.
Well, picking up stake is a part of a bigger game plan for Ross. Jet and has not been able to turnaround JetLite ever since it acquired it from Sahara in 2007. To top it all, the ongoing legal battle has put a big question mark on the game plan Jet has for this airline by launching a new low cost service as Jet Konnect. It also signals a weaning away from Jet brand.
Meanwhile, a beaten down valuation is what Ross would be interested in. He has the money, some $400 million that he still wants to invest in India.
16/07/09 Manisha Singhal/NDTV.com

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Macau can benefit with India flights

Macau could benefit from a direct route to India, Antonio Rato, senior assistant to the chairman and Macau International Airport’s (CAM) marketing director, told the media on the sidelines of the Yunnan sister airport signing agreement yesterday.
“Viva Macau, if they have the new aircraft available, India is a good market to operate to, and so is Moscow”, he said.
Rato said that opening a route between India and Macau would be beneficial because of the size of the Indian market and the increased frequency of Indians visiting Macau today. “They have to arrive in Hong Kong or Guangzhou and as the number of people looking to come to Macau is increasing, it's just natural that they'll generate that market.”
From CAM's standpoint, India is one of the company's top markets to explore, as well as Japan and Korea in the upcoming months.
“It's also the target market for tourism and it's a pity that Air Macau doesn't have direct flights there, so we are relying on Viva, but they are also talking with their India counterparts to try to get some of them interested in flying to Macau starting next year”, Rato added.
16/07/09 Fernando Ferreira/Macau Daily Times

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Air India plans to cut flights on local, global sectors

Mumbai: National carrier Air India is likely to cut flights on nearly a dozen unprofitable domestic and international routes. The airline is currently reviewing its yields across routes in an attempt to cut losses, according to a senior airline official who did not wish to be named.
The Srinagar-Dubai route, which has a load ranging from just 20 to 40 passengers, is among those that may be scrapped. The Delhi-Raipur route, on the other hand, could now operate with a relatively smaller turbo-prop aircraft. In the international segment, Air India may reduce the frequency of flights to New York and Los Angeles.
The official said a team of senior executives was figuring out routes where flights needed to be rationalised, said the official, adding the airline will soon submit these plans to a committee comprising government officials. Once it is approved, the panel will periodically review Air India’s progress. Air India flies 155 aircraft to 70 destinations within the country and 47 outside India. The airline is also considering the option of outsourcing some services like its canteen, where about a 1,000 people are employed.
An Air India spokesperson said, in an emailed reply to ET, that the air-line will revert once a decision is taken. He added there were no plans to pull out Air India Express’ overseas flights.
16/07/09 Mithun Roy/Economic Times

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Flight mystery yet to be cracked

Kolkata: Mystery still shrouds the temporary disappearance of a Singapore Airline (SA) flight that went missing for 35 minutes after Kolkata air traffic control jurisdiction early on Monday.
While officials of the Airports Authority of India and Directorate General of Civil Aviation claimed it to be a fault with aircraft transponder, SA said that a post-flight check-up revealed there were no defect with the transponder.
"Checks were carried out on the aircraft as part of our pre-departure routine before and after the flight and no defects were found," said an airline spokesperson on Tuesday. However, Airports Authority of India officials stuck to their claim that the problem was with the transponder of the aircraft.
SQ377, flying from Milan to Singapore, entered the Kolkata air traffic jurisdiction at 1.05 am on Monday somewhere around 100 nautical miles southwest of Jamshedpur. For the next 35 minutes, the flight remained untraceable on the Monopulse Secondary Radar (MSSR) before it blinked when the aircraft crossed almost 160 nautical miles east of Bhubaneswar and was over the Bay of Bengal.
"The commander of the aircraft was informed by Kolkata air traffic controllers that they had lost radar contact with our aircraft. Crew and Kolkata ATC maintained voice contact through the duration in which radar signals were not there," the SA spokesperson added.
DGCA officials said neither ATC nor the airline had reported the incident to them.
According to aviation experts, it is difficult to state wether the problem was with the aircraft transponder or the radar. There were 10 other aircraft over the region at that time. All were visible. On the other hand, the particular aircraft was very much visible on the MSSR of other airports it overflew. Only detailed investigation can reveal the exact cause of the incident.
15/07/09 Times of India

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No foreign hotel stays for AI pilots, crew

New Delhi: Air India pilots and air hostesses may soon fly to overseas destinations and come back — as passengers — on the return leg of the flight to avoid huge hotel expenses abroad. What’s more, the temporary postings of AI engineers abroad to check the aircraft may also be scrapped.
The aircraft engineers could also fly on the plane and check it before the return leg and avoid the huge expense of being posted abroad.
‘‘Some unions representing pilots, cabin crew, and engineers have themselves come forward with this cost-cutting move. Hotel tariffs abroad are in the range of $200-400, in addition to $200 as daily allowance. The foreign stay of crew costs a huge amount and if they return on the same flight, the savings will be enormous,’’ said highly placed sources.
This new concept could be introduced on almost all AI international flights except the ultra-long haul Delhi/Mumbai-New York that have a flying time of over 16 hours. This aircraft reaches JFK Airport in the morning and then takes off late evening. Clearly, such a long return trip, within the space of 12-13 hours is not possible for the crew or engineers. Other flights, like India-Frankfurt or London, could however be under the ambit of the proposed change.
In fact, Jet Airways has some months back started this policy on nearby Gulf and Southeast Asia sectors. The idea — save hotel accommodation and daily allowances.
Apart from this, the problem of having an unduly large number of Indian Airlines pilots positioned in Delhi and Mumbai could also be resolved by an equitable distribution all over the country.
15/07/09 Saurabh Sinha/Times of India

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Open skies policy: Flight fights

The postponement of flights by flydubai to India this week comes amid calls by Air India (AI) to the government of India to review its open skies policies and freeze capacity of foreign airlines flying into the nation.
Flights by flydubai have been postponed because of “operational issues”, the budget airline has said.The low-cost carrier halted its inaugural flights this week to Lucknow, Coimbatore and Chandigarh, but said it may resume them in future.
Other Dubai-based carriers are still flying to India.
Media reports cited AI as assembling a Dh11.5 billion bailout request from the government to help it survive. According to the Indian Ministry of Civil Aviation, however, the government cannot breach long-standing existing bilateral agreements with foreign airlines to help the ailing AI.
Majid Al Mualla, Vice-President of Emirates airline, West Asia and Indian Ocean, said: “Emirates launched its operations worldwide in 1985 with the start of services to New Delhi and Mumbai. Since then we have been serving India and continue to be strongly committed to it. At present, when many airlines are reducing capacity to India, Emirates is enhancing its operation.”
In May, Emirates added 22 weekly flights to India, taking its total to 185 a week to 10 destinations.
16/07/09 Xpress

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DGCA to make foreign airlines more accountable

New Delhi: Buoyed by the success of making on-time performance (OTP) of domestic airlines public in terms of forcing carriers to stick to schedule, the government has now decided to extend this to foreign carriers flying in and out of India as well. Apart from OTP, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has decided to bring foreign carriers’ under scanner on two more counts — number of flights cancelled and safety issues of aircraft maintenance.
The fear of people choosing more reliable airlines in terms of flights taking off and landing on time has forced the airlines to improve their performance. ‘‘Certainly, there are constraints of infrastructure at the busy Mumbai airport and long taxiing time in Delhi, but not all delays can be blamed on these two factors as airlines can do a lot to cut delays. For instance, one regional airlines OTP went up from first survey’s 26% in February-end to 67% in June. So we decided to extend this OTP study to foreign carriers also,’’ said a senior official.
The aviation ministry is also going to monitor the frequent cancellations of flights by foreign carriers that leads to long delays.
15/07/09 Saurabh Sinha/Times of India

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SATS expansion in India delayed again

Plans by Singapore Airport Terminal Services (SATS) to expand its passenger and cargo-handling business in India have hit yet another hurdle, the Straits Times reported.
SATS was counting on a new policy coming into force that would have stopped private carriers such as Jet Airways and Kingfisher Airlines handling their own baggage and cargo. This would have opened the door to companies like SATS. But the policy, due to come into effect earlier this month, has been delayed a second time.
India's Civil Aviation Ministry said recently the deadline for carriers to exit this particular market has been extended for another six months to the end of December.
Civil Aviation Secretary M Nambiar was quoted by local media as saying that there were issues to be sorted out.
The stakeholders will try to resolve the issues in the next few months, he added.
15/07/09 CargoNews Asia

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Hot competition on KL-Chennai air route

Petaling Jaya: With four airlines competing in the Kuala Lumpur-Chennai route, passengers are benefiting from the increasingly attractive fares.
After the KL-Delhi route, the KL-Chennai route is said to be the busiest for point to point travel from KL to India. Chennai, formerly known as Madras, is the fifth largest city in India and capital of Tamil Nadu state.
MAS, Jet Airways, Indian Airlines and Air-India Express offer direct services. Flights originating from KL to Chennai via Singapore (Singapore Airlines and Tiger Airways), Bangkok (Thai Airways) and Colombo (Sri Lankan Airlines) are also popular. Most of the carriers offer daily flights to Chennai, an almost four-hour journey direct from KL.
Jet Airways regional general manager for Malaysia and Thailand Kavin Martinus said fares on the KL-Chennai route had dropped by 20% to 30% over the past two months.
These days, one can get a return all-inclusive economy-class airfare for just over RM800 online provided you book early. But the cheapest fare thus far is from Sri Lankan Airlines at RM788 for an all-inclusive return airfare if you book direct with the airline. This fare is available till Aug 30.
Sri Lankan Airlines flies via Colombo which means you spend three hours waiting for your connection to Chennai. But if you travel on Sunday, you have to spend a night in Colombo at your own cost. However, from a traveller’s perspective, it is visiting two destinations for the price of one as you have about 16 hours before your connection to Chennai. You arrive after 3pm in Colombo on Sunday and leave for Chennai only at 7.25am on Monday.
A random check on online fares for a one-week trip from Aug 15 to 22 shows that Tiger Airways offers the best deal at an all-inclusive fare of RM807, followed by MAS at RM828. SIA’s return all-inclusive airfare for the KL-Singapore-Chennai sector is pricey at RM2,083. There was no seat availability on the dates for Indian Airlines and the offer is for business class at RM2,360 all-inclusive return airfare.
15/07/09 BK Sindhu

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Jet Airways launches inagural Mumbai-Jeddah service

Mumbai: Jet Airways, India’s premier international airline, today launched its services to Saudi Arabia with the introduction of its daily service from Mumbai to Jeddah. The airline marked the occasion with the customary inaugural ceremony at the Mumbai International Airport.
Jet Airways will operate its maiden flight on the sector aboard a state-of-the-art Boeing 737-800 aircraft.
Flight 9W 522 will depart Mumbai at 2135 hrs, and will arrive in Jeddah at 0001 hrs. Flight 9W 521 will depart Jeddah at 0100 hrs, and will arrive in Mumbai at 0835 hrs.
With the introduction of its services to Saudi Arabia, Jet Airways now flies to 7 cities in the Gulf, including Kuwait, Bahrain, Muscat, Doha, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, and Jeddah.
Jeddah is Saudi Arabia’s second largest city, as well as a commercial hub. It also holds great religious significance, as the principal gateway to Mecca, Islam’s holiest city.
According to Mr. Wolfgang Prock-Schauer, CEO, Jet Airways, “Jet Airways is delighted to introduce its services to Saudi Arabia. Guests on these sectors may now enjoy the quality in-flight product, warm service and seamless connectivity that has made Jet Airways the carrier of choice on the competitive Indo-Gulf sector in a relatively short span of time.”
Jet Airways will also launch a new, daily service to Dubai from Hyderabad, its fifth daily service to the Gulf emirate and second from Southern India; as well as its second daily service to Bangkok from Mumbai, effective August 16, 2009.
14/07/09 PRESS RELEASE/Jet Airways

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Jet, Kingfisher look abroad to slash domestic losses

Mumbai: Jet Airways and Kingfisher Airlines are aiming at improving bottomlines by expanding their overseas operations to relatively profitable routes, which help them subsidise the ailing domestic business hit by a demand crunch and high costs.
The airlines have decided to divert a chunk of their full service capacity in comparatively profitable international sectors. Jet Airways is adding four new flights while Kingfisher is planning eight new overseas sectors.
Jet Airways is starting a flight from Mumbai to Jeddah in Saudi Arabia from Tuesday. A flight to Riyadh will be added soon, it said.Jet is also starting a second daily flight in the Mumbai- Bangkok sector and a flight linking Hyderabad and Dubai from mid-August.
Kingfisher is starting new international flights from Mumbai and Delhi to Singapore, Hong Kong and Bangkok.
13/07/09 Lalatendu Mishra/Hindustan Times

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Kingfisher Airlines Includes HK, Not China, In Expansion Plans

Kingfisher Airlines, which markets itself as "India’s premier five star airline," has included flight services to Hong Kong - but not to mainland China - in its newly announced international route expansion plans.
From September, Kingfisher plans to launch two new flights, between Mumbai–Singapore and Mumbai–Hong Kong. Both services will be daily direct return flights using the new Airbus A330-200 aircraft.
Kingfisher Airlines has applied for approval from the Indian Ministry of Civil Aviation to start flights between New Delhi–London, which would be its first international flights out of New Delhi.
14/07/09 Gary Bowerman/BizChinaUpdate

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Air Arabia offer round-trip tickets to Sharjah

Hyderabad: Air Arabia, a low-cost carrier (LCC) in West Asia and North Africa, has launched a special promotion scheme that offers round-trip tickets to Sharjah, UAE from any of the 13 destinations in India for Rs 12,999 (inclusive of surcharge and exclusive of airport taxes).
The offer, which is valid for travel to Sharjah till July 31 and from Sharjah between July 16 and September 10, also includes a one-month UAE tourist visa from the date of entry subject to approval from the General Directorate for Naturalization and Residence.
Currently, Air Arabia operates direct flights from Sharjah to Bangalore, Ahmedabad, Chennai, Jaipur, Kochi, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Nagpur, Coimbatore, Thiruvanthapuram, Kozhikode, Delhi and Goa.
14/07/09 ExpressBuzz

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AI plans to reschedule 3 intl flights

Mumbai: In a bid to make better use of its existing fleet, national carrier Air India is looking to work around the schedules of three of its 777 aircraft at New York’s John F Kennedy (JFK) and Newark Liberty International Airport.
Currently, these aircraft have a turnaround anywhere between 8 hours and 14 hours as compared to the global average turnaround of 3 hours. Turnaround refers to the time that an aircraft spends between landing and the next take-off.
For instance, Air India has Mumbai-New York-Mumbai flight that arrives to JFK at 7.10 am and returns at 9.30 pm, implying a layover of over 14 hours. Similarly, a Delhi-New York-Delhi flight, which arrives to JFK at 6 am flies out at 5:05 pm, translating to over a 11 hour layover.
As a rule of thumb in the industry, an aircraft has an optimum economic utilisation of around 4,000 hours. At a price of around $250 million per aircraft, the airline, it is estimated, could save over Rs 2,400 crore at current exchange rates. A detailed email sent to the Air India spokesperson seeking comments on the issue remained unanswered.
The total number of aircraft with Air India (which includes owned and leased) is 155. It has ordered 111 new aircraft and has already taken deliveries for 49 planes, which are worth over Rs 14,000 crore.
13/07/09 Mithun Roy/Economic Times

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