Showing posts with label Foreign Mar 2008. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Foreign Mar 2008. Show all posts

Thursday, May 15, 2008

France, Eurocopter plan aviation training school in India

New Delhi: France on Wednesday said it is planning to set up an aviation training school in India together with helicopter maker Eurocopter, even as it seeks technical and business partnership with India in the field of transport. Read On >>

Friday, May 02, 2008

India clears Cayman Island firm’s proposal on airports

New Delhi: The Indian government Thursday gave its approval to a proposal from a Cayman Islands-based company, Agam SPV Six Ltd, to set up new airports and upgrade existing ones in the country with foreign direct investment of up to $300 million. A meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, presided over by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, gave the approval subject to the sectoral regulations notified by the civil aviation ministry.
“The special purpose vehicle (or the holding arm) should make full disclosures of its source of funds,” an official statement issued after the meeting said, adding that the project can be taken up either directly or through subsidiaries.
“The approval will result in foreign direct investment amounting to $300 million being received in the country,” the statement added.
The decision on Agam’s proposal comes just a week after the government approved a new airports policy that summarily bars any new project within a 150 km radius of existing ones. Proposals for airports within 150 km radius is to be decided on the merits of each case.
01/05/08 IANS/Thaindian.com, Thailand

Monday, March 31, 2008

Offloaded Gulf passenger sheds tears on tarmac

Mumbai: If you are not Renuka Chowdhury and if you happen to be boarding a low-cost airline to a ‘labour class' destination like some place in the Middle-East, make sure you reach the departure gate well before time.
A heart-wrenching scene played out on the tarmac of Mumbai airport on Saturday morning, where an offloaded passenger was seen crying with folded hands, pleading in vain to the commander seated in the cockpit, who refused to take him onboard.
The matter pertains to Air India Express Mumbai-Doha-Bahrain flight IX 243 which was to depart at 8.45 am. "Ten minutes before departure, a passenger by the name, P Miranda, who had checked in was not traceable and so the commander was informed about it. But at that very moment the passenger walked in and he was allowed to board the flight. When the commander learnt about it, he told the inflight supervisor to offload the passenger saying he was too late in boarding the flight," said a source.
Since the commander has the last say in his aircraft, the passenger was asked to deplane. What happened next was unexpected.
"The passenger did not throw a tantrum or got violent. Instead he started crying and when he got down the step-ladder, he went to the area below the cockpit and started begging with the commander. As his checked-in bag was being traced and removed from the aircraft belly, he stood there with folded hands, crying looking up towards the cockpit. But Capt Kapoor did not budge. He took off without the passenger," said the source.
" ..it could have to do with the strict service conditions in the Middle-East, wherein he stands to lose his job if he fails to report on a particular day. Or maybe, his visa was to expire. Whatever the reason be, I have never seen someone cry and plead like this," the source added.
31/03/08 Manju V/Times of India

Record flight attempt around globe grounded by India

It took months of meticulous planning, fine-tuning flight routes and international negotiations.
But in one bureaucratic haggle, a 25-year-old New Jersey entrepreneur's attempt to break a world record by circling the globe in his jet plane in under 81 hours, 40 minutes was grounded today by the Indian government.
"The stars were aligned, the winds were right behind us...until we hit a complete disaster," Jared Isaacman said on his cell phone from Doha, the capital city in Qatar in Southwest Asia.
Isaacman, a self-made multimillionaire from Washington Township in Warren County, had set out in his Cessna Citation Mustang, Model 510, late Friday night, with co-pilots Douglas Demko, 26, and Shaun Leach, 27, both of Pennsylvania.
The pilots had raised more than $40,000 in pledges and donations for the Make-A-Wish Foundation of New Jersey. They'd expected to return to Morristown Airport early Monday morning, ahead of schedule, after traveling more than 22,000 miles. They were to make 19 refueling stops across some 15 countries.
That would beat the current record for an around-the-world flight for a jet of 3,000 to 6,000 kilograms, set by M. Naviede, who left and returned to Manchester, England, in 1991.
But today, after a 30-minute refueling stop in Karachi, Pakistan, turned into a 12-hour delay, Isaacman's record-breaking was crushed.
The pilots had touched ground in Pakistan at 12:30 a.m. Eastern Standard time, and awaited permission from Indian aviation authorities to continue through their airspace. Denied the required permits, the pilots were told they could not fly over India until Monday, said Walter Garner, a pilot monitoring the trip from Allentown, Pa.
"It was Sunday, and they had a three-day holiday, and they didn't want to play," Garner said of the Indian authorities. "We tried everything...to try to figure out a way around India, but with the range of the airplane, there was no way."
At about noon today, they flew to Qatar to rest and refuel. They're considering redeparting Tuesday, in an attempt to start over from there.
30/03/08 Julie O'Connor/The Star-Ledger - NJ.com, USA

KLM Says It Knows All About Shamshabad

KLM is refuting a story, carried by news outlets all over the world, including AVweb, last week that said one of the airline’s crews refused to land at a new airport in Hyderabad, India, because they weren’t familiar with it. According to the airline, however, the flight was diverted because weather was below minimums. The MD-11 and its 232 passengers ended up in Mumbai and returned to Hyderabad the next day. “KLM was fully aware of the new airport. Flight 873 departed prepared for the new airport Shamshabad at Hyderabad,” KLM spokesperson Marisca Kensenhuis told AVweb in an e-mail. “In India the weather was below the published limits therefore the crew decided to go to an alternate airport. The passengers and crew stayed in hotels in Mumbai and left the next day for Shamshabad.” Although the newspaper that initiated the report pulled the story from its Web site, it did not publish a correction and KLM has AVweb reader Werner Fischbach’s curious nature to thank for restoring its reputation.
In a letter to AVweb, Fischbach said the reports he read in the German press didn’t ring true to him so he did what hundreds of professional journalists around the world didn’t: He asked KLM.
30/03/08 Russ Niles/ AVweb

Tiger's tough fight in airlines jungle

Sydney: Tiger Airways has lost its second chief financial officer in less than two years, amid speculation that the Singapore Airlines-backed low-cost carrier is also struggling to retain staff in Australia, only four months after it launched services out of Melbourne.
The airline confirmed on Friday that its Melbourne-born CFO, Peter Negline, had resigned because he wanted to "do his own thing" after eight months in the job.
"Perhaps he found that this was not the job for him and he wants to try something different," a Tiger spokesman told Singapore's Business Times.
The move has also raised questions of whether there are serious differences between Tiger chief executive Tony Davis and his management team over the airline's direction.
There are also questions over whether Tiger has stretched its relatively small fleet of 12 Airbus A320 jets too thinly across its 31 destinations in Australia, South East Asia, India and China.
The state of credit markets has also raised speculation about aircraft lessors and whether they will be willing to lease more planes to an airline that wants to pursue aggressive expansion in Australia and Korea, where it will almost certainly encounter heavy losses.
31/03/08 Scott Rochfort/The Age, Australia

JetLite plans daily flights to Pak

New Delhi: Naresh Goyal-owned low cost carrier (LCC) JetLite has filed applications with the government to start daily flights on the Delhi-Islamabad and Mumbai-Karachi routes.
Among Indian carriers, at present, only Indian Airlines a Delhi-Lahore flight once a week. While the flight duration is 40 minutes, the return economy fare is about Rs 12,400.
Now with an LCC planning to operate between the two countries, passengers can look forward to better connectivity and lower fares.
"Recently, India and Pakistan had a bilateral agreement for improved connectivity. We have filed applications for two flights daily as there is no direct connectivity with Islamabad. There is a huge market in this sector and we will open routes to new cities," said Rajiv Gupta, JetLite COO. The recent agreement between the two countries has paved way for improved flight connectivity.
31/03/08 Saurabh Sinha/Times of India

AI leaves 100 passengers stranded

Amritsar: Air India has done it again. On Sunday it took its AI-187 flight to Toronto via Birmingham leaving behind around 100 passengers stranded at the Rajasansi International Airport near here.
Fuming passengers and their associates, who had come to see them off, raised anti-airlines slogans and chased the AI officials, who sensing the mood, managed to flee.
In the absence of senior AI officials, lower staff did not know how to react to the growing anguish of passengers and their supporters, who were hurling abuses and castigating the airlines’ behaviour. The passengers described the situation as worse than a railway station or even a bus stand.
Interestingly, AI repeated its fault within a fortnight of noted journalist Kuldip Nayyar lodging an FIR against the AI for disallowing him to board the plane to New Delhi from this place despite valid booking.
However, AI Station Manager Ashwani Arora claimed that only 56 passengers could not board the plane.
31/03/08 Kuldeep Mann/Hindustan Times

Additional flight starts April 3; ‘Kuwait-Goa-Madras’ sector

Kuwait City: Starting April 3, Indian Airlines will begin operating an additional flight on the Kuwait-Goa-Madras sector. This was disclosed on Sunday by Surender Kumar, the Country Manager of the airline. The flight will depart Kuwait on Thursdays at 12.50 am, while the other two flights on the same sector operate on Saturdays and Tuesdays. With the latest flight, the total number of weekly flights to the said sector stands at three. Kumar went on to explain that the airline was planning to introduce the flight last December, but could not do so due to some constraints. Besides Goa and Madras, the airline operates flights to Ahmedabad, Calicut, Bombay and Hyderabad.
“The airline sees a tremendous potential on the Kuwait-Goa-Madras sector, and we had received overwhelming requests from Indian expats to increase the flight frequency. We are glad that our efforts have come to fruition at an appropriate time,” he added.
30/03/08 Arab Times, Kuwait

Sunday, March 30, 2008

Fly with us & get more, global airlines’ mantra for Indians

Mumbai: With Indians beginning to spend more on international leisure travel like their counterparts in the developed countries, international airlines are crafting innovative methods to tap the lucrative Indian travel market. They are, in fact, designing special travel packages for Indian holidaymakers for the ensuing summer vacation.
“An increasing number of Indians travelling to foreign destinations during the holiday season can change the economics of any destination,” says aviation expert Kiran Yadav. Over seven million travellers took up outbound travel last year, which included a substantial number of leisure travellers.
“Along with the rise in the incomes of the Indian working class, travellers have the hunger to explore newer destinations abroad. Airlines try to cash in on this,” he added. Airlines such as Hong Kong-based Cathay Pacific have come up with interesting offers.
30/03/08 Financial Express

All Nippon Airways to increase India frequency

New Delhi: Japan's All Nippon Airways is increasing its Tokyo-Mumbai service to seven days a week from April 12 from the present six to tap the robust demand on the sector, airline officials say.
"We believe there is a strong demand for business travel on this route," All Nippon spokesperson Rob Henderson said, adding that the airline enjoys a 60 per cent load factor on the sector despite an all-business configuration.
"When the service goes daily and becomes more convenient for business travellers we hope the load factor will increase," Henderson said.
The frequency, he said, was being expanded within seven months of launching the service in a bid to meet the business requirements from Japanese firms on the back of India's rapid economic growth.
Currently, one Boeing 737-700ER aircraft fitted with extra fuel tanks allows the airline to make the 6,700 km journey between Tokyo and Mumbai. The service has 36 business-class seats.
30/03/08 Indo Asian News Service/NDTV.com

Alitalia stops flights to India and China

Mumbai: The very last Alitalia flight from Mumbai took off on Saturday morning. After that, at least for a few months, there will be no direct flights to Italy from here.
For some time now, Alitalia has been making huge losses and there have been reports that it might be bought out by the Air France-KLM group. But even as painful negotiations drag on, Alitalia has run out of cash to lease aircraft to destinations like India and China. The company has taken a decision to shut down operations to both countries from March 31, though official sources are calling it a “temporary” suspension; it has not given up its landing rights nor will it shut its India offices.
None of Alitalia employees at its three offices, two in Mumbai and one in Delhi have been laid-off. As far as restarting operations is concerned, Tomas Fumelli, Alitalia’s general manager in India says, “Air France-KLM-Alitalia will evaluate the re-opening of India operations once the merger is resolved.”
30/03/08 Anita Aikara/Daily News & Analysis

Singapore Airlines to increase frequencies on Delhi and Chennai route

Mumbai: Indian travellers taking to the skies with Singapore Airlines will now have additional frequencies to choose from. Starting March 30, 2008, the airline will be adding two additional flights from Delhi and one flight from Chennai respectively. Currently, Delhi has a daily operation whereas the Chennai frequency is 10 times a week. The airline would also consider increasing flights from Delhi to a double daily, subject to government approval. Says Chai Woo Foo, General Manager India, Singapore Airlines, “Along with Delhi, we are also intending to increase the frequency of our Bangalore flights to a double daily or at least 12 times a week. All these possibilities are subject to government approvals.”
With a surge in the online space, the airline is also considering aggressively promoting the Singapore Airlines website – www.singaporeair.com – thereby increasing online bookings and revenue. This would be done through its promotional and media campaigns.
29/03/08 Krupa Vora/TravelBizMonitor

Saturday, March 29, 2008

Fernandes drills hole in Advani hijack defence

New Delhi: George Fernandes has asserted that L.K. Advani did attend the meeting of ministers which decided Jaswant Singh should fly to Kandahar with the terrorists to be traded off for the passengers of a hijacked Indian plane.
The veteran ally’s remarks left the BJP speechless days after Advani had claimed he was initially unaware of the controversial decision, and came to know of it at the last minute.
“Yes, all of us were present,” Fernandes, the National Democratic Alliance convener, told interviewer Karan Thapar when asked whether Advani was at the meeting.
Fernandes was defence minister and Advani home minister in December 1999 when the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government decided that foreign minister Jaswant should accompany the freed militants to Afghanistan.
When Thapar mentioned Advani’s recent claim, Fernandes suggested the BJP leader might not have been at the meeting “at that point of time” and said he didn’t think Advani was “lying”.
But when the interviewer suggested that Advani’s recollections could be faulty, the Janata Dal (United) leader, according to the transcript, said: “Yes, that can happen.”
29/03/08 The Telegraph

Air India announces India-China direct flight from March 30

Beijing: India's national carrier Air India on Friday announced that it would convert the India-China via Bangkok flights into direct services that would cut travel time from March 30.
With four flights a week, non-stop direct services would be operated from Shanghai to Delhi and onwards to Mumbai, skipping Bangkok, enabling faster travel, the airliner said.
The flights to India would be on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays. The travel time from Shanghai to Delhi would be around six hours and to Mumbai about nine hours, it said in a statement here.
The flight will depart Shanghai at 2200 hrs and arrive in Delhi at 0200 hrs and Mumbai at 0520 hrs, the next day.
On the return leg, it will depart Mumbai at 0800 hrs, Delhi at 1130 hrs and arrive in Shanghai at 2010 hrs the same day, it said.
28/03/08 PTI/Times of India

Air Mauritius to launch weekly flight to India

Nairobi: National flag-carrier Air Mauritius will next month launch a weekly flight to the Indian city of Bangalore, the firm announced on Friday.
The first flight, scheduled for April 28 under a code-sharing agreement with Air India, will take the Mauritius-Bangalore-Chennai-Mauritius route, it said in a statement.
Bangalore will be the airline's fourth destination in India after Mumbai, New Delhi and Chennai.
28/03/08 AFP/Financial Express

IBS acquires major stake in HBSi

Thiruvananthapuram: IBS Software Solutions, a leading provider of IT solutions to the global Travel, Transportation and Logistics industries, based at Technopark here has acquired the majority stake in the Atlanta-based Hotel Booking Solutions Incorporated (HBSi) in a ‘cash and earn out deal’.
Announcing this at a news conference here on Thursday, IBS chairman and CEO V K Mathews told reporters that the acquisition would commence the company’s foray into the hospitality industry. The HBSi comes with more than 30 clients, which includes the who’s who in the hospitality industry in the US and Canada. It is the fourth major acquisition by IBS. The company had acquired TopAir from EDS (Switzerland, 2002), Avient Technologies from Honeywell Corporation (UK, 2003) and Discovery Travel Systems (USA, 2006).
28/03/08 Newindpress

Friday, March 28, 2008

India to partner Berlin Airshow

Bangalore: India’s rapid growth in aerospace industry has attracted global attention. India has been invited as a partner country at the `ILA Berlin Airshow 2008’ scheduled to be held in Berlin, Germany, from May 27 to June 1.
Speaking about India partnering the airshow, Deepika Unni of Indo-German Chamber of Commerce (IGCC) said here on Thursday that "India will showcase the recent developments and present its aerospace products, services and skills.
Being a partner country, the event will create a platform for the Indian aerospace industry in Europe and provide glimpses of the growth story of the Indian aerospace industry."
The event is expected to give the Indian aerospace industry access to European original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and major suppliers in addition to generating higher content in European aerospace projects and programmes for the Indian industry, she said. The event is expected to see participation of many Indian PSUs.
One of the major players in the aeronautical industry, HAL is expected to display three `Dhruv’ Advanced Light Helicopters (ALHs) at the exhibition. Countries like Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand have evinced keen interest in Dhruv and are looking at buying these choppers. The airshow will have over 1,000 exhibitors from over 42 countries, including India.
28/03/08 Newindpress

Jet Airways flights from S.F. to Mumbai start May 5

India's largest domestic airline, Jet Airways, has announced a launch date for its new flights from the Bay Area to Mumbai.
The daily service will start May 5, flying from San Francisco International Airport to India's financial center by way of Shanghai, China.
Departing from San Francisco at 8:45 p.m., the flight will arrive in Shanghai at 1:30 a.m. the next day, then leave at 3:30 a.m. for Mumbai. Arrival time in Mumbai (Bombay) will be 8:20 a.m.
The return flight will leave Mumbai at 11:15 a.m., stop in Shanghai, then arrive in San Francisco at 6:15 p.m. the same day.
Jet Airways will fly Boeing 777-300ER aircraft on the route.
27/03/08 Linda Zavoral

Thursday, March 27, 2008

Emirates to double flights to New Delhi

Dubai: Dubai-based Emirates airline has said it plans to double its daily services to New Delhi and boost its Ahmedabad operation with two additional flights per week, bringing its total frequency on the India route to 108 weekly flights.
Effective from March 30, the Dubai-based carrier will add one flight every Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Sunday to its existing daily service to New Delhi, it said.
In the next phase of expansion, starting July 2, three more flights - one every Monday, Wednesday and Saturday - will be added.
Beginning March 30, Emirates will also add two weekly flights to Ahmedabad, its most recent gateway in India, taking its total frequency on the route to eight flights per week.
27/03/08 Press Trust of India/Business Standard

Time running out to airport codes in .aero domain

Philadelphia: NamesBeyond, the official registrar for .aero and a leader in sponsored and country code top level domain names, today announced that all IATA 3-letter airport codes are now available for registration in the .aero domain name for qualified parties.
"The clock is winding down for airports to secure their 3-letter codes in the .aero domain name," said Uma Murali, President & CEO, NamesBeyond.
"Airports have until November 30 to register their IATA location identifiers at NamesBeyond, after which we will release these unique airport codes to the general public."
In June 2007, the council of aviation associations (Dot Aero Council) decided to allow open registrations of the IATA 3-letter airport codes.
These airport codes are globally recognizable, and several high profile airports including Portland International Airport, Memphis International Airport, Montreal-Trudeau, and Mumbai have already secured their codes (PDX, MEM, YUL, BOM) exclusively with NamesBeyond.
26/03/08 PRNewswire, USA

Kingfisher appoints Built as UK manager

Indian carrier Kingfisher Airlines has appointed Sarah Built as its first general manager for the UK and Ireland.
Kingfisher plans to start flying between Heathrow and India in the autumn but has yet to chose the Indian destinations.
Built’s role will include leading a sales and marketing team and building brand awareness ahead of the launch of the routes.
She has 18 years' experience in the aviation industry, including nine years with Swissair/Swiss and has held senior roles at American Airlines, KLM and Jet Airways.
26/03/08 Chris Gray/TTG live, UK

du testing in-Flight services with Swiss provider OnAir

du, the integrated telecom service provider in the UAE, has begun the testing phase of its in flight connectivity services with OnAir, a pioneering provider of mobile phone services to airlines. The international roaming agreement is in line with du’s commitment to offer innovative and convenient communication services to its users, wherever they are.
Switzerland based OnAir offers passengers in-flight access to their du mobile phones and PDAs. Designed to enable mobile phones to operate at minimum power level, the system has no impact on any of the aircraft systems or subsystems. OnAir currently has agreements in place with Air France, bmi, TAP, Royal Jordanian, Kingfisher Airlines, Shenzhen Airlines Air Asia and Air Asia X.
OnAir enables customers to use their handsets the same way they do when travelling abroad. Passengers can instantly make and receive calls in addition to sending and receiving text messages, from the moment they switch on their mobile phones. They can also send and receive emails using their PDAs, as well as download attachments.
26/03/08 Al-Bawaba, Jordan

DAE Flight Academy to commence 'first officer' training from March 30

Gearing up to welcome the first cohort of cadets by the end of March, 2008, the Dubai Aerospace Enterprise (DAE) Flight Academy is rapidly gaining momentum, having already received its first aircraft and put in place operational faculty and staff. Read On >>

Kemper still can teach US citizens to fly

Following three fatal accidents in five months, Kemper Aviation, Lantana, Florida, on Tuesday permanently closed the portion of its flight school that catered to foreign students, a government agency announced. Read On >>

Wednesday, March 26, 2008

India's Bharat Petroleum eyes wider Sri Lanka market share

India's Bharat Petroleum says it is looking for opportunities in Sri Lanka's aviation and retail fuel sectors after launching its 'MAK' brand lubricants partnering with a top auto dealer in the island.
"We hope that we will also be given an opportunity to enter the main product market which is the petrol and diesel trade," Bharat Petroleum marketing director S Radhakrishnan, told LBO.
"We are already here in a small way doing some bunkering and now lubricants."
Bharat Petroleum was one of the bidders for a third share in Sri Lanka's retail fuel market but the process was abandoned following a change in the country's economic policy after 2004, which ruled out privatization.
"Aviation, if we are given an opportunity, we would also like to start refueling in Colombo and other air ports," Radhakrishnan said
"We are waiting an opportunity from the government do that."
The aviation fuel market is a monopoly of state-run Ceylon Petroleum Corporation, which is also eyed by the Sri Lanka unit of Indian Oil Corporation, which already has a third share of the retail petroleum business in the island.
Lanka IOC has also asked to supply fuel at the planned second international airport in southern Weerawila.
26/03/08 Charitha Fernando/Lanka Business Online, Sri Lanka

New Zealand-based Helipro to make its Indian debut

New Delhi: New Zealand-based helicopter operator, Helipro, plans to tap the Indian market with its maiden launch, the Helipro Aviation Training Institute, in Mumbai or New Delhi. Read On >>

Flight school Kemper gives up pilot training

Two weeks after the co-owner of Kemper Aviation and three Florida Atlantic University researchers died in a Martin County plane crash, the flight school voluntarily surrendered its certificate Tuesday, the Federal Aviation Administration said. Read On >>

IATA against different user fee for global, domestic travellers

New Delhi: The new greenfield airports should not charge different user development fee from domestic and international travelers and such charges should be regulated by a regulatory authority, global airlines body International Air Transport Association said on Tuesday.
"When domestic and international passengers are using the same facility, how can airports justify differential costs for passengers," IATA Corporate Communications Manager (Asia-Pacific) Albert Tjoeng told PTI here.
Also, he stressed that such charges should be monitored and regulated by an airport economic regulator so that the airport operators do not charge in excess.
He also wanted India to hasten the process of establishing the regulatory body. The Airport Economic Regulator Authority Bill is pending before Parliament.
25/03/08 PTI/The Hindu

Tuesday, March 25, 2008

A-I plans 2nd hub in Germany

Mumbai: State-owned Air-India might decide in favour of having two airport hubs in Germany - one at Frankfurt and another in Munich.
The talks for the same are currently in progress with Air-India CMD V Thulasidas likely to announce the choice of hubs officially this week.
“Air India would ideally want to have both Frankfurt and Munich as European hubs as the airline does not want to vacate Frankfurt and also wants to establish Munich as a hub for operations after network expansion plans come through,” said an Air-India official close to the development, not wanting to be quoted.
Air-India is planning to use the Frankfurt hub for its flights to the US originating from Mumbai and New Delhi. It intends to use the passenger traffic from US flying into Frankfurt as a feed for the afternoon flights back to India. The airline currently operates daily flights to Frankfurt.
According to experts, having more than one hub in a country is a practice which is becoming popular with airlines. Such a move, however, is dependent on the availability of slots and if there are bilateral agreements between the countries, it makes all the more sense.
25/03/08 Manisha Singhal/Business Standard

Mallya plans India-China flight

New Delhi: While Naresh Goyal-owned Jet Airways is likely to launch the daily Mumbai-Shanghai-San Francisco flights in first week of May, Vijay Mallya's Kingfisher is exploring the option of having similar flights next year.
Kingfisher executive V-P Hitesh Patel said: "We are getting 10 long-haul planes this year, which will be used for non-stop Bangalore-New York and San Francisco routes and flights to Europe. Next year we will have additional capacity as more planes join the fleet. We are exploring sectors for them and flights in and out of China are being studied."
Kingfisher is getting five Airbus A-330 and an equal number of A-340s this year.
Currently, Air India is the only Indian carrier flying to China while three Chinese carriers - China Eastern, China Southern and China Air - ply on this route. Ethiopian Airlines also has a Delhi-Beijing flight. With its launch in May, Jet will become the first airline to offer a direct non-stop daily China-India flight.
25/03/08 Saurabh Sinha/Times of India

AI faces pressure from Italian seat suppliers as dollar weakens

New Delhi: Air India is facing pressure from its suppliers to be compensated for the weakening of the dollar against the euro. Italy-based aircraft seat manufacturing company Avio Interior has approached the airline for making good the lower realisation arising to it on account of the transaction being invoiced in dollars.
In late 2006, Air India chose Avio Interior to provide seats for the 23 Boeing 777 aircraft being procured by it. The decision to go with the Italian seats was taken not only because the price being quoted was the lowest but also as an eminent panel had recommended it, officials said.
At the time of signing the contract, it was agreed that the billing for the contract would be settled in dollars. Since then, the dollar has depreciated more than 25 per cent against the euro thereby lowering the earning of the Italian company. This has prompted the company to approach Air India for seeking a way out of the financial problem it finds itself in.
25/03/08 Ashwini Phadnis/Business Line

Dragonair reschedules launch of service from Bangalore to Hong Kong

Dragonair today announced that it will reschedule the launch of its new daily service from Bengaluru (Bangalore) to Hong Kong. The original launch date was slated for May 1, the first flight will now operate on May 24 instead. The rescheduling is a result of a decision taken by the Indian Civil Aviation Ministry to postpone the opening of the new Bengaluru International Airport until May 10/11.
Alternative arrangements are now being made for customers who made bookings on Dragonair’s flights to and from Hong Kong before May 24, helping to ensure, they get to their destination with minimum inconvenience.
The Bengaluru launch marks the first time for Dragonair to operate flights from India.
24/03/08 Moneycontrol.com

Monday, March 24, 2008

Mallya readies Kingfisher for international foray

Though as per current regulations Kingfisher airlines cannot go international, Vijay Mallya is evidently putting his blueprint in place so as to lose no time when the time comes.
The airline is setting up bases at several airports outside the country, especially the US and Europe, and is tying up with hotels, caterers, service providers and agents. Senior officials are being sent out to get various clearances from airports and civil aviation authorities of other countries. When the launch comes, the marketing and related services would be well in palce.
Over a 1,000 cabin crew (all female) are being given training in Mumbai and Bangalore to fly in the international sectors.
Kingfisher is currently India’s only airline rated five star by Skytrax. Service is known to be the strong point of Kingfisher Airlines, and Mallya evidently hopes to cash in on this advantage during the international foray.
Kingfisher Airlines would begin taking delivery of its pending order of Airbus A340-500 aircraft in June this year. As many as 136 cabin crew would be attached to each plane, and would begin training with the actual planes when they are received, till they are deployed.
23/03/08 Lalatendu Mishra/Hindustan Times

Boeing logs ambitious business plan for India

New Delhi: Boeing is eyeing commercial aircraft orders worth over $40 billion in the next 20 years and defence sales of another $10 billion to $15 billion over the next ten years from India and has drawn up ambitious plans to source products and services from the country to stay “agile and competitive” in the global marketplace.
In a little over one year, Boeing has inked five agreements with top information technology and engineering companies , which will result in key components for its civilian and military aircraft being manufactured in India.
The most significant of these took place last month when Boeing signed a sourcing deal with TAL Manufacturing Solutions Ltd, a 100 per cent Tata Motors subsidiary, for floor beams made with titanium and composite materials for its 787 Dreamliner.
This will meet a large chunk of the $1.8 billion purchase obligation that Boeing carries for bagging the $11-billion, 67-aircraft deal from Air India.
In addition, Boeing along with Air India will set up a maintenance, repair and overhaul centre at Nagpur and a school for training pilots in Mumbai (the venue could change) at a total cost of $175 million.
24/03/08 Bhupesh Bhandari/Business Standard

Boeing seeks to make India its global partner

New Delhi: While Boeing is interested in selling airplanes to India, its overall goal is to make a global partner out of India. "This integrated enterprise strategy is what differentiates Boeing from its rivals," says Ian Thomas, head of Boeing India. The US aerospace giant is also investing millions to expand India's R&D capability, civil aviation infrastructure and hi-tech manufacturing base.
At one level, Boeing is certainly still interested in selling its products to clients in India. Boeing has sold $ 25 billion worth of civilian aircraft ranging from Air India airliners to three business jets designed to serve as "the Indian equivalent of Air Force One." The future holds even more promise: Boeing estimates India will buy 911 aircraft worth $ 86 billion over the next 20 years.
Then there is the potential for military sales. Besides the F-18 Super Hornet fighter, Boeing also has its P-3C Orion reconnaissance aircraft, Chinook CH-47 helicopter and Apache attack helicopter to offer.
At another level, Boeing is investing heavily in broadening India's capability.
23/03/08 Pramit Pal Chaudhuri/Hindustan Times/Manufacturing Business Technology, US

Passenger given boarding pass but flight takes off without him

New Delhi: A Malaysian national found himself in a spot last week at the Indira Gandhi International Airport after his flight to Kuala Lumpur left without him.
After reaching the airport well in time, Ahmed Yashirasul had already cleared security and immigration checks, besides checking in his luggage. Once handed the boarding pass, he decided to rest for a while in the security hold area, till his flight is announced.
The Malaysian Airlines flight, MH-191, was supposed to depart at 11.10 pm. Yashirasul, however, fell asleep waiting for the announcement and missed his flight that left at 11.30 pm, 20 minutes late.
The airline was equally unaware that one of its passengers, who had already been issued a boarding pass, had not boarded the plane.
Waking up finally at 2 am, a bewildered Yashirasul reached the airline’s help desk only to be informed that his flight had left long ago.
To make matters worse, immigration officials refused to let Yashirasul leave the terminal because the airline had not informed them before taking off that a passenger had not boarded the plane.
The ground handling for the Malaysian Airlines is done by the Indian Airline employees.
Nearly five hours later, Yashirasul was allowed to board the next flight even as his luggage had reached Kuala Lumpur much before.
23/03/08 Sobhana K/Delhi Newsline

Sunday, March 23, 2008

Gulf flights from Srinagar soon

Srinagar: Srinagar, the capital of Jammu and Kashmir will finally find a place on the international aviation map in June this year with the first international operations to Dubai and other Gulf countries.
The modernisation of the only civilian airport in the state, nestling in the lap of the dazzling, snow-capped Himalayas and branded a holiday paradise, will be completed by May 31, Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad said.
It will cost Rs1.1 billion and will have an integrated terminal building for domestic and international passengers with aero bridges.
The new terminal comprising six sections and spread over an area of more than 200, 000 square feet will handle 500 domestic and 450 international passengers simultaneously, Dr. K. Ramalingam, chairman, Airports Authority of India (AAI), said.
23/03/08 Yusuf Jameel/Khaleej Times, United Arab Emirates

Advani: no idea of Jaswant taking terrorists to Kandahar

New Delhi: Even as the 1999 Kandahar hijack drama continues to haunt the Bharatiya Janata Party, its prime ministerial nominee L.K. Advani says he had no idea that the then External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh was accompanying the terrorists on the flight to the Afghan town.
The BJP-led NDA government had to release three terrorists in return for the safety of the 160-odd Indian Airlines passengers held hostage on board IC 814 in December 1999. Mr. Singh accompanied the terrorists including Jaish-e-Mohammad chief Mohammad Azhar.
Mr. Advani, who was Home Minister during the Kandahar crisis, said the decision was taken in consultation with Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
Asked by NDTV in its “Walk the Talk” programme whether Mr. Jaswant Singh going on the plane was his own decision, Mr. Advani said: “I wouldn’t say I would know that. He must have consulted Vajpayeeji, but it was not an issue at all and this issue was also raised by many others many months later.”
23/03/08 The Hindu

DAE University to conduct knowledge sessions

Dubai Aerospace Enterprise University (DAE University), the education and training arm of Dubai Aerospace Enterprise, will conduct a series of knowledge sessions in the UAE to familarise students who are keen to pursue a career in the aviation and aerospace industry about its higher education and training options in aviation. Read On >>

Crash victims identified as investigation continues

Authorities on Saturday identified the two victims killed in Friday’s plane crash at Richard B. Russell Regional Airport. Read On >>

Saturday, March 22, 2008

US instructor and Indian student die in Georgia plane crash

Rome, Georgia, US: Two Atlanta-area residents were killed today when the twin engine plane crashed near Richard B. Russsell Regional Airport in Rome.
Deputy Coroner Ernie Studard confirmed the victims were two males, but said he could not release their names. Read On >>

Kemper flight school closes operation

Palm Beach County: Kemper Aviation has suspended operation of its flight school after a series of fatal air crashes, including one that killed all four on board a small plane last week. Read On >>

Friday, March 21, 2008

Jet gets China approval to fly to Shanghai

New Delhi: After dragging its feet for over a month, the Chinese government on Thursday altered its stance on giving permission to Naresh Goel-promoted Jet Airways to fly to San Fracisco via Shanghai.
The Chinese and Indian civil aviation authorities met on Wednesday and Thursday to discuss a number of issues, including their differences over fifth freedom rights in their air bilateral agreement.
____________________________
Threatened China signs the agreement
New Delhi: India and China have
finally
agreed to allow designated
airlines to
fly to each other’s
countries and beyond,
but only after
officials here threatened
the visiting
civil aviation delegation from
Beijing
that India was prepared to
cancel
the entire agreement, according
to
government officials familiar with the
matter who didn’t want to be
identified.
The Indian side told their
counterparts
that if Beijing was not
willing to reciprocate
the Indian gesture
of allowing the Chinese
cargo carrier,
Great Wall Airlines, to fly to
Mumbai
and Chennai, it might have to call
off the entire exercise.
21/03/08 Jyoti Malhotra and
Tarun Shukla/Livemint
____________________________

The two sides decided that designated airlines from both countries would be allowed to operate to any three points beyond the destination (beyond points), but not more than two points in one region. However, the intermediate points and beyond points and the exercise of traffic rights, to and from these points, require permission from the aeronautical authorities of the two countries.
The Indian authorities specified the US and Canada as one region, Australia and New Zealand as the second region and Asia as the third region for the three beyond points for Indian carriers.
20/03/08 Financial Express

MoU signed between India and China on air service matters

The Aeronautical Authorities of the Republic of India and the People’s Republic of China met in New Delhi on 19-20 March, 2008 for consultations on air service matters.
It has been decided by both the sides that the designated airlines of both the countries will be entitled to operate to any 3 beyond points with not more than 2 points in one region. However, the intermediate points and beyond points and the exercise of traffic rights to/from these points shall be agreed upon by the two aeronautical authorities of the two countries.
The Indian delegation has specified the United States of America and Canada as one region, Australia and New Zealand as the second region and Asia as the third region for the three beyond times for the Indian carriers to operate the agreed services. For China, Africa is one region, Middle-East (including Gulf Area) is a second region and Europe the third for the three beyond points for operations of the Chinese carriers.
It has been agreed that the designated airlines of India may operate beyond China to San Francisco with full 5th freedom traffic rights.
The Chinese side shall be allowed to nominate a beyond point in India with full 5th freedom traffic rights, at their discretion at a later date.
Both sides have come to an agreement that the designated airlines of each country shall be entitled to exercise beyond 5th freedom traffic rights on not more than 14 frequencies to all the beyond points put together.
20/03/08 Press Information Bureau

Barreto arrested at airport with unaccounted dollars

Kolkata: Brazilian football star Jose Ramirez Barreto, who is currently playing with the Mohun Bagan Atheletic Club, was arrested today at the Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose airport. His passport was seized. The customs officials had stopped him after it was found that he was carrying $21000, but had valid papers for only $3000.
Barreto was on his way to Brazil on a long holiday. He was to take an Emirates flight at 9.15 am. Later in the day he was produced at the Barasat sub-divisional magistrate’s court, which granted him bail.
Barreto arrived at the airport around 7.30 am with his luggage. But he was detained during the customs check and questioned throughout the day. Officials of the Mohun Bagan Athletic Club and mediapersons soon arrived at the scene. The club officials tried to negotiate with the customs officials, but the latter refused to budge.
The club’s senior official Arun Chakraborty, who was present at the Barasat court, told The Indian Express: “He was not carrying any illegal money. It was, in fact, his hard-earned money. But he should have been carrying detailed papers. Anyway, he will produce the papers before the court on April 3 and get released.”
All that the dejected Brazilian striker could comment was: “It is like seeing a red card in a match.”
21/03/08 Kolkata Newsline

Bagan stand by ‘innocent’ Barreto

Calcutta: Mohun Bagan, stunned by Jose Ramirez Barreto’s arrest on Thursday, stood by the Brazilian saying he was innocent and that he would come out clean from the latest controversy.
Mohun Bagan secretary Anjan Mitra pointed out that Barreto was not aware of the customs rules and the club would “do whatever possible” to make sure he could join his family in Brazil.
“The season has just ended for us and Barreto got the latest salary cheque only on Wednesday. His wife and two daughters had left for Brazil earlier this month and so Barreto had decided to carry their money as well. The maximum amount of money allowed under Foreign Exchange Management Act changes periodically and even many Indian players don’t know these changes,” Mitra said.
The club secretary, in the absence of president Swapan Sadhan Bose and other senior officials, played a key role in having the player released on bail.Mohun Bagan assistant secretary in charge of football affairs, Debashish Dutta, later held a meeting with Barreto, assuring him that he had the club’s support.
Former players and coaches also think that Barreto made an innocent mistake and that he was not aware of the law.
21/03/08 The Telegraph

I did not know rule, claims Barreto

Kolkata: Customs commissioner (airport) Gautam Ray said Jose Ramirez Barreto was booked for smuggling out foreign currency to set a precedent.
However, there is confusion over how much currency a foreigner working in India is entitled to carry without requiring to declare. While a foreign tourist is entitled to carry $10,000 without declaring, Indian tourists are allowed up to $10,000, of which a maximum of $2,500 can be in cash and rest in travellers cheque.
If the foreigner’s rule is applicable in Barreto’s case, he could have walked out with $40,000, claiming that he, his wife Veronica and daughters Nathalie and Isabella had brought the amount while coming to India. If, however, the rule for Indians is applicable, he was entitled to carry only $10,000 in cash and the remaining $30,000 had to be in travellers cheques.
"His wife and kids had left for Sao Paulo a month ago and did not declare any foreign exchange. So, he was entitled to carry their share. But Barreto’s simplicity was his undoing.
"When confronted by plainclothes intelligence unit officers, he panicked and admitted to having purchased the dollars from unauthorized persons in the New Market area on Wednesday evening. That is an illegal transaction," a Customs department source said.
While being whisked away to the Barasat SDJM court, Barreto blurted out: "I didn’t know carrying foreign currency was a crime."
21/03/08 Times of India

India for improving air connectivity with Africa

New Delhi: With a view to improving connectivity with Africa, India is considering allowing more than one Indian carrier on the various routes to the continent to facilitate easy movement of people.
"We are looking at amending some of the air services agreements to introduce more than one Indian carrier," Minister of State for External Affairs Anand Sharma told reporters here on Thursday.
Noting that Indian Airlines has a shortage of planes and could not operationalise all the routes, he said what has been proposed is that more than one airline is allowed to operate so that private sector airlines can step in.
20/03/08 PTI/The Hindu

Mallya applies for inflight mobile

New Delhi: Vijay Mallaya-owned Kingfisher Airline has sought clearance from government for providing inflight mobile service on its international flights. According to airline's executive vice president Hitesh Patel, the ministry of communication's nod has been sought as the company wants to provide this service from day one of its international services that start in August.
"Our wide-bodied aircraft are coming installed with the required infrastructure for inflight mobile service. Airbus is doing this job and we are seeking regulatory approvals from agencies like the department of telecommunication," he said.
Of the two carriers that currently fly abroad, Jet Airways is yet to decide on providing this service. Air India is studying technological options and plans to install this facility. Leading airlines across the world are in the process of offering inflight mobiles but weigh it against the option of discomfort to other passengers and regulatory issues. People have to pay premium international roaming charges for using this facility.
20/03/08 Saurabh Sinha/Times of India

GMR consortium enters runway at Sabiha Gokcen airport

Ankara: The consortium of GMR Infrastructure, Limak of Turkey, and Malaysia Airports Holdings has signed an agreement with the Turkish defence ministry for developing the second international airport in Istambul. Following this, the Sabiha Gokcen International Airport (SGIA) was officially transferred to the consortium.
The need for a second airport has arisen because the existing Ataturk airport is bursting at its seams.
For GMR, which holds 40% in the venture - Limak holds 40% while Malaysia Airports 20% - the project is a huge boost. It marks the company’s first airport footprint outside the country. While for Turkey - a fast-growing EU aspirant - the deal brings exciting FDI at a time when the country is looking at foreign investments, and the deal would dispel any fears of financial restrictions.
Opened in 2001 as the second international airport of Istanbul, Sabiha Gokcen’s annual passenger capacity now is 4 million but is targeted to zoom to 10 million.
21/03/08 Economic Times

CookieMan lands at Indian airports

Mumbai: Australia’s cookie major CookieMan, through its franchisee Australian Foods India Private Ltd, is contemplating setting up kiosks at three major airports in the country – the newly-opened Hyderabad international airport along with Delhi and Coimbatore airports.
While, other retail majors such as HMS Host, Blue Foods Private Ltd, Café Coffee Day and Hard Rock Café have set up shops at the new Hyderabad airport, McDonald’s and Hog Dog brands will open at New Delhi airport along with Café Coffee Day and Cookie-Man.
Pattabhi Rama Rao, president, Australian Foods India Private Ltd, told FE, “We are planning to set up CookieMan kiosks in upcoming airports.
We also wanted to set up acounter in Mumbai, but could not do so owing to lack of space.”
20/03/08 Shaheen Mansuri, Mona Mehta/Financial Express

Air passenger off-loaded for misconduct at Airport

Kolkata: A Bangladesh born British passport holder air passenger, Mr T Rasid (35), who was on his way to London from Dhaka via Kolkata was off loaded at NSC Bose Airport this afternoon for abusing the security check system at Indian airports and misbehaving with an official of Air India as well as with the CISF personnel.
The man, who came from Dhaka by a flight of Air India express was on transit. Initially, he misbehaved with AI officials who asked him to go through the mandatory procedures including security check. During security check, he objected to being physically checked. He also refused to give his mobile phone for mandatory checks, became furious and started using abusive language. Officials asked him to be quiet or said they would hand him over to the police. The man, however, continued to show temper and criticised the system of security checks at Indian airport.
20/03/08 The Statesman

Thursday, March 20, 2008

Buffett’s NetJets enters Indian market for charters

New Delhi: The world’s largest private jets operator, NetJets Inc., owned by billionaire Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. has joined hands with Mumbai-based Shreyans Motors Pvt. Ltd to sell international air charter services in India.
Earlier this year, Club One Air, until then India’s sole fractional ownership firm, saw new competition emerge from the Tata group, which announced its entry into the emerging business jets market through a stake in Singapore-based BJets Pte Ltd.
Fractional aircraft ownership allows multiple people to “own” a single aircraft and share flying time without having to deal with maintenance and related issues. NetJets and Shreyans will initially start with a revenue-sharing model.
As a franchisee, Shreyans Motors will sell NetJets products and services to Indian customers for long-haul sectors such as Mumbai-London.
In addition to owning a piece of the aircraft, customers can also buy flying time, much like international calling cards. A 25-hour flying time, valid for a year on a light jet, can be bought for about Rs1 crore to start with. That will allow the passenger to be picked up from any small city in India where business jets can land and be dropped at an international destination.
19/03/08 Tarun Shukla/Livemint

Ottawa woman and Indian-origin friend die in plane crash in US

Ottawa: An Ottawa woman and her friend killed this weekend when a small plane carrying them crashed into a remote mountainous region of Virginia.
Margaret O'Brien, 44, of Gloucester, Ont., died immediately, along with her friend and pilot, Aditya "Roy" Sanwalka, of Toronto.
The pair had been travelling from Canada to Jacksonville, Fla., when Mr. Sanwalka radioed Atlanta flight tower control Sunday morning about a problem with his aircraft.
It had rained and was cloudy that day, authorities say.
"He indicated he was having some problems with icing on the wings," said Sgt. Michael Conroy, a spokesman for Virginia State Police.
Shortly afterwards, radar and voice contact disappeared with the 1969 Mooney model M20C plane, Sgt. Conroy said.
While an emergency beacon on Mr. Sanwalka's plane helped guide emergency workers to Smyth County, authorities said they were already dead.
Tuesday, friends and family expressed their grief and shock at the events.
The National Transportation and Safety Board said Tuesday they are investigating the incident.
Keith Holloway, a spokesman for the safety board said investigators have documented the scene and will be analyzing the information. Icing will be among the factors examined in the cause.
He said the preliminary report will be available at the end of the week. The full investigation will probably take from 12 to 18 months to complete.
Tony Tiefenbach, a flying officer with the Ottawa Flying Club, said icing on plane can be dangerous.
18/03/08 Thulasi Srikanthan/Canwest News Service/Ottawa Citizen/National Post, Canada

Istithmar to infuse more funds into SpiceJet

Bangalore: Dubai government-owned investment firm Istithmar PJSC is keen on infusing more funds into budget airline SpiceJet Ltd when it goes for the next round of funding.
Sources said senior Istithmar executives have assured the Kansagra-owned airline that it will be bringing in more funds to maintain its current stakeholding in the company. The firm does not want to dilute its stake in the airline. This was conveyed by Istithmar to SpiceJet at a meeting on Tuesday.
SpiceJet Ltd chairman and CEO Siddhanta Sharma refused to comment on it but confirmed that the Dubai-based firm had committed to invest in the airline to maintain its stake at the current level. Istithmar currently holds 13.42% (as on December 31, 2007) stake in SpiceJet with an investment of Rs 325 crore ($81 million).
The Dubai firm pumped in Rs 125 crore ($ 31 million) into the no-frills airline in the first round of funding and Rs 200 crore ($50 million) in the second. Sources said that Istithmar’s investment would come in when SpiceJet raises money to finance its next tranche of 10 planes.
20/03/08 Praveena Sharma/DNA Money/Sify

India, China meet over air agreement

New Delhi: Civil aviation officials from China and India will meet here later Wednesday to resolve issues related to the air agreement between the two countries.
The two-day talks could prove crucial for India's Jet Airways, which plans to develop Shanghai as its Asia-Pacific hub to fly to San Francisco or Los Angeles in the US.
After Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's visit to Beijing in January, Jet expected to get flying rights to China. But even as India cleared China's Great Wall Airlines to fly to Mumbai, New Delhi and Chennai, Beijing hasn't responded to the Jet.
India operates four flights to Chinese cities. China operates 18 flights to India.
19/03/08 IANS/Sify

Pak not cooperating in IC-814 hijack case: Govt

New Delhi: Pakistan is not cooperating in extradition of militants associated with the 1999 hijacking of Indian Airlines plane IC-814, government told the Lok Sabha on Wednesday.
In a written reply to a question, External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee said the matter was being pursued with the Pakistan government, including through the joint anti-terrorism mechanism and the Home Secretary-level talks on terrorism under the composite dialogue.
Five terrorists hijacked the plane during flight from Kathmandu to New Delhi on December 24,1999. The aircraft, with 157 people on board, was commandeered to Kandahar in Afghanistan and the hostage crisis ended after seven days when India released three hardcore terrorists, all of whom went to Pakistan.
19/03/08 PTI/Economic Times

Sri Lankan Airlines redoubles efforts to bring in tourists from India

SriLankan Airlines has redoubled its efforts aimed at bringing more tourists to Sri Lanka from India, in support of the country’s tourism industry.
SriLankan’s most recent promotion in India offers discounted fares throughout the month of February for Indian travellers below the age of 27 to enjoy exciting holidays in Sri Lanka. One condition of the offer is that travellers must spend a minimum of three days in Sri Lanka. In the past, travel advisories in European countries have led to drops in arrivals from some of the island’s traditional tourism markets, although tourists have never been targeted in the country’s conflict.
The airline has invested heavily in recent years in publicising Sri Lanka as a destination in India, drawing attention to its value for money shopping, wide range of cuisine, superior hotel and convention facilities, cultural wonders, and diverse climates and landscapes.
SriLankan Airlines is the only international carrier to have 100 flights per week to India, serving 11 cities there - New Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Trichy, Trivandrum, Cochin, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Goa, Coimbatore and Calicut.
20/03/08 Daily Mirror, Sri Lanka

Canadian co plans aviation academy

New Delhi: Canada-based Winnipeg Aviation (WAI) is planning to set up a pilot training academy in Maharashtra at an investment of $10-15 million (Rs 40-60 crore) by the end of this year. Read On >>

Emirates Airlines Expands Network to 10 Indian Cities

Dubai: Emirates, the Dubai-based international airline, today announced it will launch six-weekly non-stop services to the south Indian city of Kozhikode (Calicut), starting 1st July 2008.
Boosting air connections between the booming Indian and Arabian Gulf economies, Kozhikode will become the third city in the state of Kerala to be served with non-stop Emirates flights from Dubai, after the airline introduced services to Kochi in 2002 and Thiruvananthapuram in 2006. Kozhikode will also become Emirates’ 10th destination in India.
Dubai-Kozhikode flight schedule, from 1st July 2008:
Mondays, Tuesdays,Wednesdays, and Fridays
EK562 Departs Dubai at 14:15 hours and arrives in Kozhikode at 19:50 hours
EK563 Departs Kozhikode at 21:20 hours and arrives in Dubai at 23:40 hours
Thursdays, Saturdays
EK560 Departs Dubai at 03:30 hours and arrives in Kozhikode at 09:05 hours
EK561 Departs Kozhikode at 10:35 hours and arrives in Dubai at 12:55 hours.
20/03/08 Daijiworld.com

Wednesday, March 19, 2008

Stake in Indian airlines for foreign carriers unlikely for now

New Delhi: Government is unlikely to allow foreign airlines to invest in their Indian counterparts so long as the domestic aviation industry strengthens itself, a top Civil Aviation Ministry official said on Tuesday.
"We want the (Indian aviation) industry to reach a certain level of comfort before allowing any such investment," Civil Aviation Secretary Ashok Chawla said in reply to questions on whether foreign airlines would be allowed to pick stake in Indian carriers.
The government has been of the opinion that allowing foreign carriers to invest in their Indian counterparts, when they were growing, would not be in the interest of the local aviation industry.
However, it has allowed FDI with a cap of 49 per cent and 100 per cent from NRIs in the domestic scheduled passenger airlines. The FDI component has to be from those who are not directly or indirectly connected with airlines.
18/03/08 PTI/Economic Times

Emirates to launch new budget airline

Dubai: A new low-cost airline will be launched in the UAE following an order issued by His Highness Shaikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai. The airline is being launched in response to the growing number of passengers travelling to and from the UAE, according to the official news agency Wam.
The statement also said that the new airline would be pricing its services to passengers based on their “economic and living conditions to suit their incomes”.
Emirates, the Arab world’s largest carrier, will be running the new low-cost airline.
The new airline plans to lease or buy single-aisle aircraft and will begin operations within a year. It will also be flying to destinations between four to four and half hours away from Dubai, Shaikh Ahmed said.
Other airlines operating in the region have responded positively to the decision to launch a new budget carrier.
19/03/08 Lucia Dore/Khaleej Times, United Arab Emirates

Small plane piloted by Indian crashes in Ontario

Espanola, Ontario: At 3:15 p.m. members of the Espanola OPP Detachment responded to a plane crash in a farmer's field on Van Alstine Road, McKerrow.
Investigation reveals that the male pilot left Guelph and was en route to Elliot Lake.
The licenced pilot is identified as Chitranshu Kalra, age 25, who is from New Dehlhi, India but is temporarily residing in Guelph.
Prior to his departure, he calculated that he would have three hours and thirty-six minutes of flying time.
After two hours of flying, the pilot noticed that his fuel gauge was reading "empty" and at this time, he called in a distress call and looked for a place to land.
As he set the plane down in the field, the front wheel got caught in the snow and the plane flipped over on its roof.
He managed to crawl out the window and was assisted by the owner of the property.
The pilot, who was the lone occupant, was treated for minor back injuries and released from the Espanola General Hospital.
18/03/08 SooToday.com, Canada

India-New Zealand direct flights may commence next year

New Delhi: Direct flights between India and New Zealand is likely to commence by next year as the airlines in the island country start taking deliveries of long-range aircrafts in 2009.
"Direct flights between the two countries may start next year as the airlines in New Zealand starts taking deliveries of long-range aircrafts then. We will start negotiation with the Indian Government next year," New Zealand's Trade Commissioner for South Asia Paul Vaughan told reporters at an aviation event here.
He said there is no impediment for direct flights as there is an Air Services Agreement involving India, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Singapore and Australia.
There are about 25,000 Indian tourists visiting the island nation every year apart from about 4,000 students going there annually, he said.
18/03/08 PTI/The Hindu

Alitalia to suspend India, China operations

Mumbai: Mounting losses have forced Italian carrier Alitalia to pull out from India and China even as global carriers are spreading their wings over the lucrative South Asian sectors in a big way.
Alitalia general manager for India Tommaso Fumelli said, "The move is in full coherence with recent negotiations held with Air France-KLM group" which Alitalia is planning to join.
"We have decided to temporarily suspend operations to India and China starting with the next summer schedule. We will evaluate the re-opening of India operations once Alitalia profitability conditions will be reinstated," Fumelli told IANS.
Alitalia currently operates a total of 14 daily flights connecting Milan with Mumbai and New Delhi.
Fumelli said the decision was taken on the current route performance, fleet plan and the future set up of the network.
"Alitalia will focus more on North and South America, Japan and Mediterranean countries," he said while explaining the reasons to withdraw from India and China.
18/03/08 Varada Bhat/Indo-Asian News Service/Hindustan Times

Alitalia Accepts $215M Offer

Air France-KLM, the world's biggest airline, is expected to close down Alitalia's cargo operations if its takeover bid for the ailing Italian carrier succeeds.
The Franco-Dutch airline made a 138-million euro [$215-million] offer for Alitalia over the weekend which the state-controlled Italian airline immediately accepted even though it was an 80-percent discount to its share price on Friday.
Alitalia's cargo operations are among the divisions Air France-KLM is expected to shut down, according to Italian press reports, as part of a restructuring aimed at returning the airline to an operating profit in 2011 -- its first since 1998. It also plans to cut its passenger fleet from 185 planes to 137 planes. The cargo unit, which operates five MD-11 freighters, saw volume in January fall by 3.8 percent from the previous year as the carrier slashed freight capacity by 7.6 percent.
Alitalia offers freighter service to the United States, India, China, Japan, South Korea and Africa.
18/03/08 aircargoworld, USA

Air India Documentary Premieres Hot Docs 2008

Toronto: Air India 182, Sturla Gunnarson´s provocative film about the 1985 Air India tragedy, will have its world premiere at Hot Docs 2008 as the Festival´s Canadian Opening Presentation. A deeply affecting look at the world´s deadliest air-terror attack before 9/11, Air India 182 will screen on April 17 at Toronto´s Winter Garden Theatre.
Air India 182 is a first-person account of the Air India conspiracy and its tragic aftermath. The story is told by those who were directly involved, including families of those who died, key CSIS and RCMP investigators and the conspirators themselves. Their testimony is intervoven with reconstructions of key moments in the conspiracy, based entirely on court documents, de-classified CSIS reports and wiretaps. The film counts down the final weeks and hours before Air India 182 disappeared off Irish radar screens.
The film will air nationally on CBC Television in early summer.
18/03/08 Market Wire

Indian students walk away from NZ crash

Two aviation students yesterday walked away after their plane flipped and landed upside down on an area of runway ploughed for resowing at Omaka Aerodrome near Blenheim. Read On >>

Piloting a course to airlines' future

Daytona Beach: In a sharp turnaround, the American airline industry has gone from cutting thousands of jobs after Sept. 11 to scrambling for pilots -- a problem that might seem pretty good from the perspective of Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. Read On >>

Cheap Flights to India from Bangkok

New Delhi: In order to meet out the needs of so many people of both the nations, several regular flights are flying from Bangkok to India and vice versa.
Cheap flights for India from Bangkok are offered by Jet Airways from Thailand to Kolkata and the flight fare is approximately GBP 177.80 (including taxes). Again Thai Airlines offer cheap flights for India from Bangkok which usually lands in Kolkata and the flight fare for a single adult is GBP 254.80. Srilankan Airlines also provides cheap flights provision from bangkok to India and vice versa. These flights fly from Thailand to New Delhi and the flight charge for one adult person is GBP 257.20. Some of the cheap flights by Srilankan Airlines land in Mumbai and the cost is somewhat around GBP 257.20. Etihad Airways offer cheap flights for India from Bangkok which land in Mumbai and the flight fare is GBP 552.80.
18/03/08 Agencies/MorungExpress

Kale Consultants inks pact with Finnair Cargo

Pune-based, Kale Consultants Limited (KCL) has signed a contract with Finnair Cargo, one of Europe's leading air cargo carriers, for providing complete airmail cargo revenue accounting services.
This service will be carried out at Kale`s Managed Process Services (Kale-MPS) centre in Mumbai, India. In addition, the service will include the full revenue accounting and production of management information for mail operations.
KCL provides software solutions and outsourced services to the travel and transportation industry worldwide.
18/03/08 Sarika Valecha/Stock Watch

Tuesday, March 18, 2008

DHL to step up India investment, expand biz

Germany-based logistics company DHL Express plans a major expansion in India to take advantage of the growth and penetration of retail business in the country, by increasing its exclusive outlets and strengthening road network.
The company is set to open 1,000 retail points across the country by 2010, up from the 150 centres that currently offer its products. DHL, which owns an 81.03% stake in Mumbai-based air express and transportation company Blue Dart Express Ltd, will also start at least 100 transportation hubs to help link the company to smaller towns and non-metro cities and towns.
“We will make significant investments for opening retail points and strengthening ground transportation. With the help of Blue Dart, we should be able to connect across the country,” said Daniel J. McHugh, chief executive officer, DHL Express (Asia Pacific). He did not divulge details of the investment, but over the past four years, DHL has invested more than $300 million (Rs1,224 crore) in India including $163 million for the Blue Dart stake.
The Indian logistics market is expected to reach $122 billion by 2015 from $45 billion today, according to market estimates.
17/03/08 P.R. Sanjai/Livemint

Monday, March 17, 2008

Close shave for Chinese airliner

Kolkata: China Eastern Airlines flight from Kolkata to Kunming was saved from what could have been a disaster at NSC Bose Airport early today.
The flight with 42 persons on board left Kolkata for Kunming at about 12.30 am. After flying for about 15 minutes the pilot contacted Air Traffic Control officers and said it wanted to land because the undercarriage was not retracting. All emergency arrangements were kept ready. The plane had fuel to fly for one hour 50 minutes. It went over Bay of Bengal, flew for nearly one hour 10 minutes and reduced the fuel. Then it came overhead Kolkata to land. Meanwhile a flight of Air India had also come to land. The AI flight was cleared to land first after which the China Eastern Airlines flight was asked to land with fire brigade, ambulance and other arrangements ready to tackle any emergency. The flight landed at about 2.20 am.
The flight was cancelled and the aircraft grounded. A Boeing flight will come from Kunming today to carry the stranded passengers and the Canadian Royal Jet-2 aircraft will be ferried to Kunming after repair.
16/03/08 The Statesman

British Airways flies empty jets 15,000 miles

British Airways has been criticised for operating at least three long-haul "ghost flights" totalling 15,000 miles with no passengers on board in little over a week.
It flew empty 747-400s - the biggest planes in its fleet - to Hong Kong and Mumbai despite having nobody but the aircrafts' crews on board.
BA defended the flights, saying extra freight was loaded on to the planes so they were not "empty"
Last Sunday, it flew one of its 300-plus seater jumbo jets 6,000 miles to Hong Kong, burning about 140 tons of fuel and emitting 329 tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.
Passengers hoping to board the plane at Heathrow were told that there were not enough cabin crew available and they took a later flight.
Today the airline continued with a flight to Mumbai in India - and the return leg - despite there being no passengers on either sector.
Peter Ainsworth, the shadow environment secretary, described the "ghost flights" as "utterly ludicrous".
He said: "This is a stark example of the perverse way in which the aviation industry works.
17/03/08 Stephen Adams/Telegraph.co.uk, United Kingdom

Passenger prank delays India flight

Sharjah: A passenger baggage labelled with a hoax bomb threat in Malayalam delayed a Calicut-bound Air Arabia flight from Sharjah for two hours yesterday morning.
The drama started when security officials were checking the baggage of Calicut-bound passengers of Air Arabia flight G9 595. “The officials spotted the message written in Malayalam on a Sakkaria Kunjabdullah's, baggage which mentioned that the bag contains bomb. Some slogans were also written on the baggage,” said the source.
“When the security officials spotted the message, all the passengers who had checked in were stopped from boarding the aircraft,” the source added.
Further checking, the source said, proved that the message was hoax.
The flight was scheduled to leave at 8.30am but left after two hours following the incident.
Sakkaria Kunjabdullahwas arrested by the airport police, the source added.
17/03/08 Riyasbabu/Khaleej Times, United Arab Emirates

Pandit to pay for personal use of Citi corporate jet

New York: Citigroup, which is going through its worst-ever financial crisis, allows its India-born CEO Vikram Pandit to fly anywhere in its corporate jet, but he will have to pay the company back for any personal use of the aircraft.
In an annual meeting notice being sent to all its shareholders, Citigroup has revealed that Pandit signed a pact on December 12, under which, he would have to reimburse the company for any personal use of the Citi's corporate aircraft.
The agreement was signed just a day after Pandit assumed office as CEO of Citigroup with effect from December 11.
However, his busy official schedule ever since taking over from his predecessor Charles Prince charge of the embattled Wall Street giant does not seem to have given Pandit any chance for a personal use of the aircraft, as he has not made any such reimbursement as yet.
16/03/08 PTI/Economic Times

Man admits trying to kill witness tied to Air India case

Metro Vancouver: A 33-year-old Surrey truck driver has pleaded guilty to attempted murder for plotting to kill a witness who provided police with information about the unsolved murder of Tara Singh Hayer.
Rajinder Singh Soomel was arrested last October by the special RCMP task force probing the assassination of the newspaper publisher and prospective Air India witness.
He was charged with attempted murder after the RCMP obtained evidence of an unfolding conspiracy to kill Hardip Singh Uppal.
Uppal had come to investigators with information about a series of gangland hits - some allegedly involving Soomel's brother Robbie - as well as the November 1998 shooting death of Hayer, the publisher of the Indo-Canadian Times.
A sentencing hearing for Raj Soomel is scheduled for Surrey Provincial Court on March 28, Neil MacKenzie, of the attorney-general's Criminal Justice Branch, told The Vancouver Sun.
MacKenzie said Soomel pleaded guilty during a court appearance March 13.
The charge against Soomel is the second laid since last August by the special team involved in the multi-murder investigation dubbed Project Expedio.
In August, Soomel's younger brother Robbie, 28, and 35-year-old Tajinder Singh (T.J.) Bains were charged with first-degree murder in the November 1997 targeted shooting of Jason Herle in Abbotsford.
Robbie Soomel remains a suspect in the Hayer slaying, alleged details of which emerged in explosive testimony in an unrelated gang murder trial four years ago.
Insp. Kevin Hackett, the RCMP officer in charge of the task force, said Sunday that the Raj Soomel plea is good for the continuing investigation.
Raj Soomel has been in custody since being arrested Oct. 5. He was denied bail in late November. Before that, he lived with his wife, young child and his parents, Iqbal and Mohinder, in the Fleetwood neighbourhood of Surrey.
He and his brother grew up in south Vancouver in a house targeted by gunmen in September 2000. Raj and a friend suffered gunshot wounds in the attack. When Vancouver police arrived, investigators found several shell casings and an AK-47 assault rifle at the scene.
No charges were ever laid, but a few days later, a suspect in the shooting, Gurpreet Singh Sohi, was gunned down in his Delta basement suite.
It was during one of the trials related to Sohi's murder that alleged details of the Hayer murder plot were publicly revealed.
The trial heard that the alleged Hayer killers were hired by the Babbar Khalsa terrorist group in Kamloops to murder the publisher for $50,000. The Babbar Khalsa has been linked to the Air India bombing.
17/03/08 Kim Bolan/Vancouver Sun/Canada.com, Canada

Sunday, March 16, 2008

Cochin airport company no more interested in Lankan airport project?

A final decision on the building of a second International Airport at Weerawila in close proximity to the Bundala bird sanctuary is expected next month, nearly one and a half years after President Rajapaksa laid the foundation stone for the project in November 2006.
Chairman of the Central Environmental Authority, Udaya Gammanpila told The Sunday Times earlier this week that all the information called for was submitted for the project and they would evaluate the material and arrive at a final conclusion within next month.
There was much hope of Indian involvement in the project early this year when a delegation from the highly successful privately run Cochin International Airport toured Weerawila. Sources however said they were not interested in investing in the Lankan venture.
Informed Civil Aviation sources said the authorities were now keen on implementing the project on a much reduced scale due to constraints brought on by the inability to raise more than US$100 million required to implement it.
As a result the runway is to be reduced to 3500 metres from the originally planned length of 4000 metres and the terminal is to be a basic structure. Sources however assured that it would still be able to accommodate even the largest passenger aircraft Airbus A-380 in an emergency as they would not be compromising on the width of the runway, which will be 75 metres.
With the scaled down plans, they said they hoped to build a basic airport within a budget of about US $70 million and the bulk of the funds coming from the Airport and Aviation Services Ltd to the tune of about US$ 50 million and the balance from the Treasury.
Concerns are being raised over the construction of the Weerawila airport and possible harm that could come to the wildlife at the Bundala bird sanctuary situated nearby.
This evaluation comes after the authority was not satisfied with even the second Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) submitted for the project.
On February 7 when the Technical Evaluation Committee got down to evaluating the fresh EIA, it is learnt one of its members Dr Sarath Kotagama, an ornithologist and a wild life ecologist raised concerns about the plight of the birds at the sanctuary which had not been adequately considered in the report that had been compiled over a period of more than one year.
16/03/08 Rohan Abeywardena/Sunday Times.lk, Sri Lanka

Airhostess accuses pilot of sexual harassment

Hyderabad: There is turbulence at Air India with pilots on the warpath against a senior airhostess, who accused a senior pilot of sexual harassment. The fallout is that pilots have refused to fly with her, even though she was scheduled to be on flight duty.
Senior airhostess Amrita Ahluwalia has been grounded. The Indian Commercial Pilots Association has asked its 600 pilots not to fly with Amrita because she has levelled charges of sexual harassment against a senior pilot.
Amrita claims her pilot allegedly made indecent overtures to her after a flight to Dubai on February 9.
Amrita Ahluwalia, In-flight Services Officer, Air India, filed an FIR with the Hyderabad police and complained to the Air India management.
The association did not speak to NDTV on camera but said Amrita has indulged in character assassination and having her as part of the crew would mean risking flight safety as the pilots would be scared about what allegation she could level against them.
The inquiry commission will meet in Delhi on Monday where Amrita will present her case.
15/03/08 T S Sudhir/NDTV.com

Australian pilot goes missing

New Delhi: An Australian pilot employed with a private civil aviation company in Delhi has reportedly gone missing alongwith several official documents, including a Bureau of Civil Aviation security pass, and some cash for a week now. The police have registered a case against the pilot and are looking for him.
The pilot, identified as Peter Anthony Hanley (35), was employed with SRC Aviation Private Limited, which has a office in Vasant Kunj. For the past one week, Hanley has been allegedly missing along with several documents, following which, one of the officials of the company, Brigadier M K Idnani, filed a complaint with the police. A case has been registered at the Vasant Kunj police station under various sections, including criminal breach of trust, against Hanley.
Hanley, said the police, was employed with the aviation company since December 2007. He had come from Meekatharra in western Australia on a work visa. The police added that the mobile allotted to Hanley is missing and the number can’t be reached. It has come to light through technical surveillance that he flew abroad during the first week of March.
He had a passport issued from Melbourne in Australia, the cops added.
16/03/08 Rahul Tripathi/Times of India

Singapore Airlines expansion cloud after cargo mess

Calcutta: Singapore Airlines today said it might put on hold its plan to introduce an additional freighter to Calcutta after the trouble over cargo stuck during the airport employees’ strike and the subsequent demand for a fine.
The Airports Authority of India had shocked airlines yesterday by asking them to pay a late fee or demurrage for keeping goods in its warehouse during the March 12-13 ceasework. The airlines said the cargo could not be cleared because of the airport’s own staff and lodged a protest.
The fine was waived today following the intervention of airports authority chairman K. Ramalingam in Delhi but the airlines and agents suffered losses running into crores.
“We are reviewing the decision to add another freighter to Calcutta from April. Strikes will happen again and business will suffer,” said Amin Khan, the eastern India manager of Singapore Airlines Cargo.
The airline has three freighters and four passenger flights to the city.
15/03/08 The Telegraph

Govt to airlines: Make room for desi co-pilots

New Delhi: A majority of the 134 foreign co-pilots working with Indian carriers could soon be packing their bags and returning home from June onwards. Read On >>

‘India needs better standards in flight training’

Jeff Roberts, Group President, Innovation and Civil Training & Services, CAE, doesn’t get much time to fly aeroplanes. But flying still remains his first love, and it was to ensure that more Indian pilots get world-class training that he was recently in the Capital. Read On >>

Congressmen call on FAA to act against flight training school

Lantana, Fla.: A pair of South Florida congressmen are urging the Federal Aviation Administration to take immediate action against a flight school that has been involved in three fatal crashes since October. Read On >>

Air Deccan gets in-principle nod to fly abroad

New Delhi: After Jet Airways, Air Deccan will be the second private airline from India to fly abroad. The Government has given Air Deccan an in-principle approval to start its international operations from August this year.
Meanwhile, in case the merger process between Air Deccan and Kingfisher Airlines formally goes through, the rights to fly abroad would immediately be eligible for transfer to Kingfisher.
Official sources told Business Line that with the approval letter, Air Deccan would now be able to approach various airports abroad and seek slots for starting flights from India.
The airline becomes eligible to start international services on August 26 when it completes five years of domestic operations.
At the moment, Jet Airways and its low-cost wing, JetLite (which was earlier called Air Sahara), are the private sector airlines that are permitted to operate flights abroad.
15/03/08 Ashwini Phadnis/Business Line

Saturday, March 15, 2008

US air crash: Spotlight on Indian trainees

Mumbai: Three American researchers and Capt Jeff Rozelle, one of the partners of Florida's Kemper Aviation, died in an air crash on Thursday. Read On >>

Revamp of MAHB nearly done

Hyderabad: Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB) expects the Government to finalise the group’s restructuring plan by year-end, chairman Tan Sri Dr Aris Othman said.
“Negotiations have been completed and we hope to hear from the Government as soon as possible. We hope it (the completion of the restructuring plan) would be this year,” he told reporters beforethe opening of the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport (RGIA).
MAHB, in which Khazanah Nasional Bhd holds nearly 73% stake, is in the midst of restructuring accrued payments of about RM790mil the airport manager owes the government.
The finalisation of the restructuring plan has dragged on for at least two years.
The payment accrued is said to be due to certain operational issues such as landing charges that differ from that in the original master plan drafted in 1993, hence the group could not meet its financial commitments.
15/03/08 Kathy Fong/Malaysia Star, Malaysia

Friday, March 14, 2008

Alleged heroin smugglers arrested at Brisbane Airport

A Nigerian man and a Thai woman have been arrested for allegedly trying to import almost 1.4 kilograms of heroin into Australia through Brisbane, Australian Federal Police have confirmed.
The 27 year old woman was stopped at Brisbane International Airport on Sunday after flying in from India.
An x-ray of her bag allegedly revealed a possible concealment of narcotics, and white powder was allegedly discovered when Customs officers drilled inside.
Preliminary tests confirmed the substance was heroin.
She was then arrested and charged with importing a marketable quantity of a border-controlled drug.
The 38 year old man was arrested yesterday after travelling from Sydney to Brisbane.
14/03/08 IBN News, Australia

Jet eyes 2nd European hub

New Delhi: Jet Airways is looking at a second European hub for its flights to the US. Paris, Munich and Milan have been identified so far.
Speaking on the sidelines of a conference on aviation in New Delhi, Saroj Datta, executive director, Jet Airways, said, “We are looking at how traffic in these three places shape up before making a final decision on which city we choose as a second hub.”
At the moment, Jet has Brussels (Belgium) as its main hub. The carrier is also planning to set up a hub in Shanghai for which discussions are expected to be held with the Chinese authorities next week.
The advantage, of course, is that flights from India going via Shanghai to the West Coast would save two to three hours of flying time compared with flights via Singapore and Hong Kong.
Datta also pointed out that international business would constitute over 50 per cent of its business in the next two to three years. Currently, international business contributes 37 per cent to the business. He also said that it took 12-18 months to break even on international routes, though it was quicker for West Asia.
14/03/08 Business Standard

Flight school plane crashes in Martin County; School owner and three others die

West Palm Beach, Florida: A flight school owner who defended his business despite its poor safety record died along with three Florida Atlantic University researchers today in a single-engine plane crash in western Martin County. Read On >>

Kemper Aviation owner defended safety of planes

Jeff Rozelle insisted his planes were safe until the day he died while flying one.Last year, some flight instructors at Rozelle's flight school, Kemper Aviation, grumbled that the airplanes reeked of gasoline or had sputtered or broken down in the past. Read On >>

Thursday, March 13, 2008

US aircraft manufacturer signs marketing agreement with Texas aircraft broker

San Antonio, TX: J.P. Murphy, president of Pro Aero Solutions in San Antonio Texas announces that they have been contracted by Interceptor Aircraft Corporation to negotiate the sale of the Meyers Aircraft Company. Murphy says, “The Meyers Aircraft Company is the best kept secret in the aviation industry today”.
Interceptor Aircraft Corporation (formerly Prop-Jets, Inc.), a Texas based company, owns the Meyers Aircraft Company to include the Type Certificate 3A18 for the Meyers 200 series and I-400 series aircraft, all manufacturing tooling, drawings, parts, and the second (and only existing) full production Interceptor 400.
The Meyers 200 series has a 4130 chrome-moly steel frame structure. This consists of what is known as the "bridge" section which extends from one main landing gear, across the underside of the cockpit area, to the other main landing gear. The 4130 also surrounds the cockpit area for unequaled protection. It exceeds 200 kts in cruise, is single piston engine powered, 4 place, and has never had an airworthiness directive (AD) issued against any major components by the FAA. There has never been an in-flight structural failure of a Meyers aircraft.
The Type Certificate also includes the Interceptor 400 (I400) which was the first single- engine prop-jet certified in the U.S. It is a pressurized, air-conditioned, all metal aircraft with 4130 chrome-moly steel frame and a cruising speed of over 300 kts at 24,000 feet. “The I400 is prime for today’s third world defense markets”, says Murphy.
Murphy says, “Although the aircraft industry represents billions of dollars annually it is in fact a small world industry, and we anticipate that the news of Meyers Aircraft Company’s availability will certainly attract global interest”. “We are already receiving interest from corporate and private sectors and currently have a major U.S. manufacturer showing serious interest”.
“With the phenomenal growth of foreign general aviation, especially in India, I feel a number of foreign manufacturers and investors will soon prove to be strong competitors as well”.
“We have also recently been approached by a U.S. Aerospace/Defense engineering firm with overwhelming statistics for replacement of military training aircraft here in the U.S and abroad, and they feel that both of the Meyers aircraft are of consideration to supply those needs” says Murphy.
“So with all this in mind it appears the timing truly is right for a Meyers to return to production. I am personally very excited about the future of Meyers Aircraft Company, as it is thought by many to be one of the best aircraft ever built. Once production begins, the Meyers will certainly be at the top of its class”.
For more information about the Meyers line of aircraft and the company you can visit their web site http://www.meyersaircraft.com/