Bahrain Air to launch Abu Dhabi, Calicut flights

Manama: Bahrain Air is set to launch direct flights from its base in Manama to Abu Dhabi and the South Indian city of Calicut, Kerala, starting from March next year.
Announcing this on Saturday, the airline's managing director Ibrahim Abdulla Al Hamer said, “Bahrain Air will operate eight weekly flights to Abu Dhabi starting from March 23. It is the second UAE destination after Dubai.'
'The carrier will fly thrice a week to Calicut with the first flight taking off on March 16,' he noted.
Calicut is the airline's second Indian destination after it began operations from South Indian city of Kochi.
'The airline plans to expand as per the business plan which is approved by the board members and the executive management of the company,' he observed.
By increasing the number of stations in the Indian market and in the UAE, Bahrain Air can strongly enter the promising market, he noted.
'Last week we celebrated the inauguration of our 11th station, Kuwait and the operation of both Asyut and Luxor in Egypt, and we are waiting for December 16 to inaugurate the 14th destination, Khartoum the Sudanese capital.
29/11/08 Trade Arabia, Bahrain

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Business travel to India on hold

Companies in Philadelphia and worldwide were clamping down on travel to Mumbai yesterday, as the terrorist attacks in India reverberated on many fronts.
GlaxoSmithKline P.L.C., which is based in London and has large operations in the Philadelphia area, said it had suspended employee travel to India for now.
AstraZeneca P.L.C., which has extensive operations in Wilmington and a research and development facility in Hyderabad, India, said it had suspended employee travel to Mumbai.
Merck & Co. Inc. also said it had suspended travel to Mumbai. Merck, which is based in Whitehouse Station, N.J., and manufactures vaccines in West Point, could not provide information about its Indian operations because the company was closed in the United States for the Thanksgiving holiday.
AppLabs, an information technology outsourcing company with offices in Philadelphia, employs 1,600 people in Hyderabad, about a one-hour flight from Mumbai. The company said its employees were safe.
The University of Pennsylvania's Wharton school said two employees for the Indian edition of its Knowledge@Wharton online publication were safe. Editor Mukul Pandya said one employee had left the office just a half-hour before the attack.
The attacks hit India's tourist industry at the start of peak season, compounding problems for airlines and hotels facing the slowest growth in visitor numbers in five years.
Terrorist attacks aimed at foreign tourists, such as the Mumbai assaults, may hurt hotel bookings and airline-ticket sales for more than a year. The island of Bali, which accounts for one-third of all foreign tourists to Indonesia, had not recovered a year after the 2002 bomb that killed 202 people, according to a World Bank report.
29/11/08 Miriam Hill/Philadelphia Inquirer, USA

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SAA crew get trauma counselling

The remaining seven South African Airways (SAA) crew members have arrived back home safely this morning, the airline said.
The crew members were stranded in Mumbai amid terrorist attacks which have left over 195 people dead.
"The flight landed after 9am at OR Tambo International Airport, and all seven were receiving trauma counselling before reuniting with their families," SAA general operations manager Chris Smith said.
"I met the crew members on their return to South Africa and was happy to find them to be a close unit... they have obviously had an incredibly frightening experience, and they are extremely happy to be home," he said.
Department of foreign affairs spokesman, Ronnie Mamoepa, said that the department was still in liaison with authorities in Mumbai, to verify if there were any other SA tourists still in the Indian city.
"We have received a lot of calls and are busy verifying the data, so we can help all those who may still be in Mumbai," he said.
The first five crew members arrived home on SAA flight SA285 on Friday morning.
29/11/08 Sapa/The Times, South Africa

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Airlines cut down flights to and from Mumbai

New Delhi: Domestic airlines have cut back flights to and from Mumbai in the wake of the recent terrorist attack. The government on its part has
put all airports in the western region of the country on high alert.
The UB Group owned Kingfisher Airlines has combined some of its flights operating out of Mumbai. “We have decided to operate some of the flights jointly as we did on Friday. Our Mumbai-Delhi flight IT 331 may be combined with another Delhi flight IT 312. Similarly some of our daily flights to Bangalore- Mumbai and Bangalore- Delhi will also be merged together,” the airlines spokesman said.
Other domestic carriers Jet Airways and Air India have re-scheduled few of their flights out of Mumbai. Domestic carriers have reported an average 20-30% less boarding from various destinations for Mumbai-bound flights. According to airlines officials, the passengers load for the Mumbai-bound flights was much below the average forcing them to combine some of their flights.
Meanwhile few international carriers have already re-scheduled and cancelled their flights. Most of these are the East Asian carriers — Thai Airways, Malaysian Airlines, Cathey Pacific, Singapore Airlines — which have cancelled their flights due to the closure of Suvarnabhumi airport at Bangkok.
29/11/09 Economic Times

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Delta Cancels Mumbai Flights, Cargo Delayed

Several airlines, including Delta Air Lines, canceled flights to Mumbai in the aftermath of terrorist attacks targeting Western tourists that began on Wednesday. Other airlines like Lufthansa and Air France-KLM also canceled scheduled flights. However, it appears that as of Friday afternoon, all airlines are resuming international flights, although cargo shipments may still be delayed.
United Parcel Service Inc. said international service has been stopped temporarily, DHL said there would be a 48-hour delay and FedEx said its cargo business was also experiencing problems and expected delays.
Delta is also offering refunds or itinerary changes on its Web site for those customers flying to or from Mumbai between Nov. 26 and Dec. 3.
28/11/08 Barbara E. Hernandez/BNET, USA

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Crew held hostage, airlines cancel flights

Mumbai: Three international flights, Lufthansa, North-West and Air France, had to be cancelled because their crew were stuck in Hotel Taj and Hotel Trident. They were rescued on Friday.
On November 27, the 3.25am Mumbai-Frankfurt Lufthansa airlines flight LH 757 was cancelled. “The crew that were to take the flight to Frankfurt was held up as hostages in Hotel Trident where they stay officially,” said an airline source from Mumbai airport.
But by Thursday evening the 27 crew members were rescued by the armed forces and taken to the international airport in Sahar. “One of them was slightly injured. The airline had sent a special aircraft to take them back. But they could not go as their passports and other documents were at the hotel.”
The 2.40am Air France Mumbai-Paris flight AF 135 was cancelled as 15 crew members were in Hotel Taj. “The flight will leave on Friday morning along with the passengers of Thursday and Friday,” said an official from the airline’s counter.
29/11/08 Navita Singh/Daily News & Analysis

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Plane carrying 77 European survivors leaves Mumbai: France

Paris: A French plane carrying 77 survivors of the Mumbai attacks that killed at least 155 people left India early Saturday, the French foreign ministry announced.
The Airbus A-310, equipped with full medical facilities, was transporting 29 French nationals, 19 Italians, 17 Spaniards, five Germans and one each from Algeria, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Greece, Kazakhstan, the Netherlands, Poland and Switzerland.
None of the passengers had been injured during the attacks or the ensuing hostage drama.
The plane left Mumbai at around 2200 GMT Friday, and was due to land at Paris Charles de Gaulle airport around midday (1100 GMT) Saturday, following a stopover in the Middle East.
As the plane took off, Indian commandos were still battling it out inside Mumbai's historic Taj Mahal hotel, where a tiny group of heavily armed gunmen were engaged in a fight to the death as the more than 52-hour-old battle entered its final stage.
29/11/08 AFP/Times of India

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Mumbai Air Freight Disrupted; Airlines Flying

The largest international package delivery companies said Friday that disruption to Indian services is expected to continue in the wake of the terrorist attacks on Mumbai, though all staff have been accounted for and no injuries were reported.
International commercial airlines are resuming services to India's commercial capital after halting some flights Thursday.
DHL, a unit of Deutsche Post (DPW.XE) and one of the largest operators in India, said it expected the impact on shipments to continue over the next 48 hours, though none of its own offices or those of local affiliate Blue Dart had been affected by the attacks.
TNT NV (TNTTY) said it had closed one office in Mumbai, affecting pickup and deliveries in the south of the city where the terrorist incidents occurred. The Dutch company said it was rerouting some shipments from Europe via Delhi.
FedEx Corp. (FDX) said Friday that disruptions to service would likely continue Friday, with no pickups or deliveries in some areas of Mumbai due to local restrictions. Spokeswoman Sandra Munoz said that scheduled air service has resumed. The company sponsored a trade mission to the city two weeks ago.
United Parcel Service Inc. (UPS) said Friday that operations in and out of Mumbai have been temporarily suspended, but service to the rest of India is proceeding normally.
Commercial airlines have continued or resumed flights to what has been one of the fastest-growing international markets.
28/11/08 Doug Cameron/Dow Jones/CNNMoney.com

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BA keeps up flights to Bombay

British Airways has received a boost to business following the chaos in Bombay by maintaining its schedule to the Indian city throughout the terror attacks, The Times has learnt.
Along with Virgin Atlantic but almost alone among major European carriers, BA also kept its route open from London’s Heathrow airport on Wednesday night as news of the terror attacks was breaking.
BA carries up to 600 people to and from Bombay every day on its two routes — which are among the busiest and most profitable in its schedules.
The airline is understood to have been inundated with requests after Air France, Alitalia and Lufthansa cancelled flights on Thursday.
A spokesman said: “We’ve kept our two days going as normal and are filling them up. They were pretty full anyway but there are plenty of people, mainly business people, who still need to get to Bombay.”
He said that, like Virgin Atlantic, BA was allowing customers who had already bought flights to Bombay, but who had changed their minds about travelling to the city, to rebook to alternative destinations in India at no additional cost.
Cathay Pacific, which runs three daily flights to and from Bombay on a daily basis, has also waived its usual re-booking and re-routing charges to customers.
Jet Airways, which flies direct to Bombay from Heathrow, is offering free cancellations on flights until today and is offering free re-routing, as is Air India, which has kept its schedules unchanged.
Lufthansa cancelled two flights to Bombay from Frankfurt and Munich on Thursday but resumed its service yesterday.
Air France — which had 20 cabin crew rescued from the Oberei hotel yesterday — also cancelled two flights on Thursday. Alitalia has cancelled all flights until further notice.
28/11/08 Ian King/Times Online, UK

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International air traffic will be hit hard

New Delhi: International airlines, that have seen their business out of India grow 12-17% annually for seven of the past eight years, will bear the brunt of the impact of the terror attacks in Mumbai as foreign travellers defer travel to the popular destination.
One in five air passengers in India fly through or from Mumbai, the country’s financial capital. International passenger traffic, expected to grow almost 10% through March 2009 even as domestic passenger traffic is falling, may now moderate to single-digit growth.
The only time international growth contracted—by 2.4% —year-on-year was in fiscal 2002 after the September 2001 terror attacks in the US.
“They (terrorists) are like small military units going around...just to dissuade people (from coming) to India,” insists Robey Lal, former country head for International Air Transport Association (Iata), a travel industry group. “Even when people are coming (travelling) on business, and they can do it on phone, they would much rather do that than show up in person. It will impact everything.”
Around 70% of India’s inbound tourist traffic, itself one-third of India’s total international passengers, is in the September-March period, according to the Centre for Asia-Pacific Aviation (Capa).
This busy season may see a significant drop for at least the next “two-three weeks”, the aviation research and consultancy firm said.
28/11/08 Tarun Shukla/Livemint

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Major airlines keep Mumbai linkage intact

Dubai: Major airlines in UAE said on Thursday that they will be operating on schedule to Mumbai but did not rule out changes and delays if the situation in Indian commercial capital worsens.
Indian Airlines, Emirates and Etihad Airways will be operating their flights to Mumbai on schedule and there have been no cancellations.
Anand Kumar Pandey, Country Manager, Indian Airlines, said: "Two flights left for Mumbai on Thursday and two will fly on time on Friday."
An Emirates spokesperson said: "Currently our flights to and from Mumbai are operating as per schedule. We will continue to closely monitor the situation. The safety of our passengers and crew is of utmost importance." Emirates operates four flights a day to Mumbai.
Thomas Clarke, a public relations official at Etihad Airways said: "There are no flights cancelled but for the next four days, we will reduce the on-ground time of our flights at the Mumbai Airport. For this, the departure of our flights to Mumbai will be delayed for five hours from Abu Dhabi. In addition, on Friday and Saturday, we will be operating the A330 Airbus instead of A320 to accommodate more passengers."
Jet Airways in a statement said in view of the recent turmoil in the city, Jet Airways advises its passengers to carry valid photo-identification and report at the airport well before the scheduled departure of their respective flights, in compliance with enhanced security requirements.
Air Arabia has two flights daily to Mumbai and is operating on schedule.
27/11/08 Sunita Menon/GulfNews, United Arab Emirates

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Bombay flights continue despite travel ban

Flights are operating between the UK and Bombay despite a Foreign Office statement advising Britons against travel to the city.
British Airways, Virgin Atlantic, Air India and Jet Airways are all operating London-Bombay (Mumbai) flights as normal.
The only flight cancellations so far have been among European and US carriers. Alitalia has cancelled all Bombay flights until further notice, while Lufthansa has cancelled two flights, from Frankfurt and Munich to Bombay today.
Air France cancelled one service between Paris and Bombay, but said Friday flights would operate as normal. Delta Airlines also cancelled its Seattle-Amsterdam-Bombay flight today.
Among the four carriers that are continuing to operate flights from the UK, all are allowing customers to change flight bookings to a later date or alternative destination if they do not wish to fly. Most are not offering refunds at this stage, unless the terms and conditions of the original ticket allow it.
Virgin is currently allowing amendments to bookings for flights up to December 3, and British Airways is offering the same.
The Foreign Office advice, against all but essential travel, affects Bombay only. Its travel advice for the rest of India remains the same.
For those travellers who wish to continue holidays to Bombay, in spite of advice, there is a risk that their travel insurance policy could be invalidated owing to the Foreign Office advice. Although travel insurers have been sympathetic in situations of this kind in the past, If you are thinking of travelling to Bombay, it is wise to check with your insurer before you travel.
Chris Price, head of travel insurance at Direct Line said: "Terrorism is normally excluded from travel insurance policies. However, for Direct Line customers, we are doing everything we can using our agent in India who has local knowledge and contacts to help Direct Line customers get out of Mumbai quickly and safely.
"The British Embassy has offered to help stranded British tourists. If you can't get through to them or your travel agent or tour operator, we can assist in booking flights home and offer advice to concerned holiday makers and business travellers stuck in Mumbai."
Kuoni, which has an extensive programme in India, had four customers in Bombay who were due to stay at the Taj Mahal Hotel. There were taken to an alternative hotel and have been accounted for.
Its remaining holidaymakers who are already in India and are due to visit Bombay will continue with transits through Bombay airport. Those due to visit the city in the coming weeks are being offered an alternative holiday.
Explore, an adventure holiday company that operates in India, says customers booked on its Bengal to the Malabar Coast tour will be rerouted to avoid Bombay.
Cox & Kings, an India specialist tour operator, had a British couple staying in the Heritage Wing of the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel who were evacuated, and has no other clients in Bombay at present.
Director Philip Hamilton-Grierson said: “Cox & Kings will be contacting all affected clients – a relatively low number – to discuss alternative arrangements. Mumbai is not one of the major tourist centres in India and although some of our clients pass through Mumbai en route to other destinations, relatively few actually stay in the city.”
Lonely Planet travel editor Tom Hall says there will be reprecussions for Bombay's tourism.
27/11/08 Times Online, UK

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Pakistani flights continue despite blasts in Mumbai

Lahore: Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) flights from Pakistan to India continued on Thursday despite the fact that all foreign aviation companies had cancelled their scheduled flights to India after a series of gun and grenade attacks in Mumbai on Wednesday.
Over 100 people including the city’s Anti-Terrorist Squad chief were killed and 250 injured in the attacks. PIA’s flight No 274 flew for India with a delay of only 8 minutes at 9:18am on Thursday.
The PIA administration when contacted said they did not see any security threat in India therefore flights were going there interrupted.
28/11/08 Daily Times

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Govt approves air services pact with UAE

New Delhi: The government on Thursday approved an agreement with the United Arab Emirates to enable any number of airlines to fly to each other's destinations and enter into commercial agreements and code-share.
The Cabinet approved the proposed air services agreement, which would be signed soon. Discussions between the two sides on it were held in February this year, an official spokesperson said. Under the agreement, which supersedes the previous one signed in 1989, both countries would be entitled to designate any number of airlines for operating mutually agreed services and enter into cooperative marketing arrangements like code- share or other commercial arrangements.
The designated airlines would be free to decide tariffs at reasonable levels, based on commercial considerations, the agreement says, adding that each of the parties would have the right to intervene to prevent tariffs which would constitute “anti-compet itive behaviour” or would “cripple”competition on a route.
Both countries, under the agreement, would follow the obligations to protect the security of civil aviation against acts of unlawful interference, the spokesperson said.
27/11/08 Business Line

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Bangkok airport crisis to continue till next week

New Delhi: Travel agents are looking at cancellations of more than 60 per cent from passengers next week, even as all 40-odd daily flights between India and Bangkok were cancelled owing to the political turmoil in the country.
Travel agents have been told that the problems will last till the start of next week. The India-Bangkok sector is operated by carriers like Air India, Jet Airways, Thai Air, Cathay Pacific, Singapore Airlines and Malaysian Airlines amongst others and travel companies say it constitutes more than 40 per cent of their business in the south east Asian market.
Thousands of protestors have laid siege to Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi airport, the world's 18th largest in terms of passenger traffic, as their latest mark of protest against the elected government. This has caused a halt in all operations at the airport. Many flights are also being diverted to the old airport at Don Meung, sources said.
“People are now shifting to other places like Macau, Sri Lanka and so on. We have received a lot of complaints from passengers who have already paid for their excess baggage among other things,” said Tarun Yadav, owner of travel company Global Passages and director, IATA Agents Association of India (IAAI).
Singapore Airlines also cancelled its five India-Bangkok flights yesterday and today and will keep them cancelled indefinitely.
27/11/08 Anirban Chowdhury/Business Standard

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'US pilot refuses to fly with Sikhs onboard'

New York: Three eminent Sikh religious musicians were thrown out of a US Airways flight after the pilot refused to fly with them onboard in California, a leading US-based Sikh group alleged on Wednesday.
The three -- Gulbag Singh, Davinder Singh and Iqbal Singh -- had boarded the plane in Sacramento on November 15 after being cleared by the security.
In a complaint letter to the Airways, 'United Sikhs' protested the incident and warned it of legal action unless prompt amends are made.
The group pointed to the severity of the racial profiling and discriminatory treatment, sought an apology and compensation for the three and offered training for US Airways staff.
The three, who had boarded the plane for Salt Lake City, Utah, were sitting together in the rear of the aircraft, in their assigned seats.
After having been on the plane for approximately ten minutes, they were approached by one of the ticket-reception desk workers and asked to exit the plane.
While none of the three could adequately comprehend or speak English, the group complied and exited the aircraft, the United Sikhs said.
When it became apparent that the group was unable to converse with US Airways representatives, a Punjabi interpreter was called to assist, it said.
The interpreter informed Iqbal Singh, on behalf of the US Airways representatives, that the pilot was refusing to fly if they were onboard the aircraft, it added.
When Iqbal Singh asked why, the US Airways representatives were unable to give a clear answer, and the interpreter went on to persuade the three not to raise any objection because it could lead to more problems, the organisation said.
The trio, having become concerned, fearful, and worried about what had happened, took the only option they were given, which was to stay the night in a hotel and depart on a Delta Airlines flight the following morning to Salt Lake City, it added.
26/11/08 Expressindia.com

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NACIL, SATS in JV to provide ground-handling services at four major airports

Mumbai : In a bid to consolidate its leadership position in the Rs 3,000-crore airport ground-handling services sector, the board of National Aviation Company of India Limited (NACIL) — which operates national carrier Air India — has approved a proposal to provide ground-handling at four major airports through a joint venture agreement with Singapore Airlines arm, Singapore Air Terminal Services (SATS). This JV will provide ground handling and cargo services at the country’s premier airports in Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai and Kolkata.
Speaking to The Indian Express, an Air India spokesperson said the idea behind the move is to exploit the company’s core competencies and explore business opportunities.
According to a senior NACIL official, the airline which earns over Rs 700 crore annually by providing ground-handling services to international carriers is all set to expand its base in the segment. NACIL has also been providing ground-handling services at the new Hyderabad and Bangalore airports under a joint venture agreement with SATS.
The new ground-handling regulations of the civil aviation ministry that will come into effect in January 2009 allow for only three service providers at the country’s six major international airports.
27/11/08 Shashank Shekhar/Indian Express

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SAA looking for its crew members in Mumbai

South African Airways was trying to make contact on Thursday with three cabin crew members in Mumbai where terrorist attacks have left up to a 100 people dead.
"South African Airways can confirm that the airline does have flight deck and cabin crew currently in Mumbai," SAA said in a statement.
"A total of nine cabin crew members are in Mumbai and of those, six members have been accounted for.
"SAA is still attempting to make contact with the remaining three cabin crew members."
Foreign news agencies reported that teams of gunmen stormed hotels, a restaurant, a train station and hospitals in coordinated attacks in Mumbai, the financial capital of India, taking Westerners hostage.
27/11/08 Independent Online, South Africa

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Air India, Egypt Air in talks for code sharing, parking

Mumbai: National Aviation Company of India is in talks with Egypt Air for a tie-up that may include sharing of code and parking base. “We are in the process of tying up with Air India.
It will be finalised once Air India gets the membership status in Star Alliance,” said a senior Egypt Air official.
Ahmed Wasfy, regional manager of Egypt Air in India told ET, “The company is analysing code sharing agreement with an Indian carrier but I can’t divulge the name at this point of time.” Nacil is expected to get a ‘membership’ within a few months, Egypt Air is a member already. The code sharing agreement will help both the airlines to attract more passengers with minimum investment on infrastructure, said an analyst working with a domestic brokerage. “India is a huge market and many passengers from Egypt visit India. India will have more travellers in the coming years,” said Mr Wasfy. Egypt Air runs four direct flights a week between Mumbai and Cairo.
26/11/08 Mithun Roy/Economic Times

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Air India, Jet flights diverted from Bangkok due to protests

New Delhi: Four flights of Indian carriers to Bangkok were diverted today as Thai anti-government protestors stormed the Suvarnabhumi International Airport disrupting flight operations there.
Two Air India flights to Bangkok, one from Delhi (IC-853) and another from Mumbai (IC-693), were diverted and landed at Utapao airport, about 90 nautical miles off Bangkok.
An Air India spokesperson said the passengers were then transferred by road to Bangkok.
Jet Airways flights from the two cities to Bangkok, 9W-064 and 9W-062, were, however, diverted back to Kolkata, from where they returned to their originating points of Delhi and Mumbai, an airline spokesperson said.
Outbound flights at the Bangkok airport were also affected since last night as hundreds of demonstrators -- some masked and armed with metal rods -- broke through police lines and spilled into the passenger terminal, reports said.
25/11/08 Press Trust of India

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Two Bangkok-bound flights land at Kolkata airport

Kolkata: Two Bangkok-bound flights on Wednesday landed at Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose international airport on Wednesday morning and four more flights were cancelled as anti-government protesters raided the Bangkok international airport premises.
Airport sources said a Jet Airways Mumbai to Bangkok flight 9W62 with 62 passengers and crew members was diverted to Kolkata where it landed at 6 am. Another Jet Airways Delhi-Bangkok flight 9W64 with 128 passengers and crew followed suit at 7 am.
The airport authorities are assessing the situation at the Bangkok airport and accordingly will take a decision as to when they would be allowed to resume flights to Bangkok.
The airport authorities said all the stranded passengers were safe and arrangements were being made for their alternative accommodation.
The four flights cancelled were: Thai Airways DG 314, Jet Airways 9w66, Druk Air KB120 and last night's Thai Airways TG 314.
26/11/08 PTI/Sify

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Virgin Atlantic, BA want FDI stakes in Indian airlines

Coimbatore: International carriers such as Virgin Atlantic Airways Ltd and British Airways Plc. (BA) say they are keen on buying stakes in India’s airlines if investment barriers are lifted.
The formal expression of interest comes on the heels of Kingfisher Airlines Ltd chairman Vijay Mallya saying that overseas carriers want to buy a stake in his airline.
While India allows up to 49% foreign stakes in the country’s commercial airlines, such investors cannot be airline companies.
“Virgin Group has a long-standing expression of interest in investing into the Indian aviation market and in spite of tough economic conditions we remain optimistic for the future of this sector,” Virgin Atlantic general manager Michael Burke wrote to Mint. “Virgin Atlantic is very much in favour of a level playing field for competition—we believe this is the best way to serve the customer—and as such, any relaxation of ownership restrictions within India would be welcomed.”
While an email sent to the media agency representing BA didn’t receive an immediate reply, in an earlier conversation a senior executive of the airline had told Mint the British carrier is keen to team up with Indian carriers.
New York-based private equity fund WL Ross and Co. Llc. recently invested $80 million (Rs399 crore) in low-fare airline SpiceJet Ltd in July but that investment isn’t counted as foreign direct investment, where there are significant restrictions.
26/11/08 P.R. Sanjai/Livemint

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Air India Gets Six Bids For $1 Billion Loan To Buy Airbus Planes

New Delhi: Air India, the nation's flag carrier, said Monday it has received six bids to raise a $1 billion loan to fund the purchase of 21 Airbus planes
"The bids are currently under evaluation," Jitendra Bhargava, Air India's executive director for corporate communications, said. "We will be taking a decision soon."
Bhargava declined to disclose the names of the bidders.
S. Venkat, Air India's executive director in charge of finance, said Nov. 20 that the bidders included a consortium of U.K.-based Barclays PLC. and Germany's state-owned development bank KfW. Deutsche Bank AG is also one of the bidders, Venkat said.The carrier will likely finalize the loan in the next two or three weeks, Venkat had said.
Air India, run by the National Aviation Co. of India Ltd., was formed after the merger of state-run Indian Airlines and Air India in August 2007.Nacil inherited an order placed in 2005 for 111 planes - 68 Boeing and 43 Airbus - valued near $15 billion at list prices.
Nacil has so far raised more than $3 billion to buy 38 planes and expects the remaining 73 to join its fleet by 2012.
24/11/08 Santanu Choudhury/Dow Jones/EasyBourse.com, France

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Jet to phase out expatriate pilots

Mumbai: Giving in to the overwhelming demand of getting rid of expatriate pilots as early as it can the Jet Airways management today agreed to do so but in a phased six month retrenchment plan.
However, the management has its way in convincing non-pilot employees to take “voluntary” five to 25 per cent pay cut since the largest private airline of the country could not afford to bear the annual wage bill of over Rs 2,000 crore.
Jet has decided to limit expatriate pilots’ flying hours to 75 per month. Compared with the strength of 750 Indian pilots the expatriates are about 240 and draw 50 per cent more wages than their native counterparts. The airline has a total workforce of about 15,000 employees. Chairman Mr Naresh Goyal over a month ago wanted to lay-off around 2,000 probationers but had to face strong opposition from the employees as well as the government. Mr Goyal withdrew his “arbitrary” orders. Foreigners have been flying mostly Jet’s 737 fleet. Recently about 27 of them had been retrenched.
The company is desperately seeking to cut operational cost to minimise its losses which are said to be mounting minimum Rs 8 crore to 10 crore per day. The company suffered due to recession in the aviation industry as well as increase in fuel prices.
24/11/08 The Statesman

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EADS keen to build export base in India

New Delhi: With India becoming a manufacturing major, European defence consortium EADS today said it was keen to develop relations with large suppliers to create a base for exporting defence and civil aviation equipment.
"The ambition of EADS is to identify a strong Indian supplier base that will contribute to enhance its (India) global competitiveness," Vice President (Global Sourcing) Philippe Advani told PTI.
While observing that there were "a number of hurdles" to be overcome for realising India's civil and defence aviation potential, he said EADS had this year assisted suppliers to contribute to the IAF's Multi-Role Combat Aircraft (MRCA) and also set up its India sourcing office last year.
"In support of our group business units, we have assisted in February 2008 Eurofighter (a product of EADS) to build an extensive network of Indian suppliers to contribute to the MRCA related offset requirements," he said.
A similar approach was being adopted for Eurocopter with a major Indian suppliers' conference being held.
The global attitude towards India, including on its Aerospace and Defence sectors, has changed radically over the past five years. Aerospace and Defence Original Equipment Manufactures (OEMs) were shifting from vertically integrated manufacturing (from detail parts to the final assembly line) to a strong focus on design and systems integration.
24/11/08 Press Trust of India/Business Standard

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NAS wins ground handling operations contract at Mumbai International Airport

Kuwait: The region's fastest growing airline ground handling company, National Aviation Services (NAS)National Aviation Services (NAS) has a won a bid to handle passengers and cargo at the Mumbai International Airport in Mumbai, India along with a partner for 10 years concession.
The announcement was made at a press conference by the newly reorganized top management at NAS spearheaded by Mr. Naji Al-Ajmi, President & CEO of NAS Global, Mr. Adel Al-Askar; Senior Vice President of Governance & Strategic Planning and Mr. Hassan El-Houry, CEO of NAS MENA.
The Award of Concession for undertaking Ground Handling Operations at Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport, Mumbai (CSIA) to NAS was recently made by the top management of Mumbai International Airport and this means NAS India with the partner will provide Passenger Terminal Services & Ramp Handling Services to Mumbai International Airport.
NAS India currently provides passenger & ramp handling services to twelve airports in India and is looking towards expanding its presence in the sub-continent by providing new and innovative value added services at the airports it operates in.
24/11/08 Zawya, United Arab Emirates

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Boarding pass swap raises safety concerns

Mumbai: Passport and visa forgery have become common crimes these days, but cases of boarding pass exchange have seldom been highlighted at airports.
In one such case recently, a Chennai-bound passenger swapped his boarding pass and passport with a Swiss national, who was apparently taking a flight to Paris.
While the Chennai-bound passenger, a Sri Lankan national, was intercepted at the airport on grounds of suspicious behaviour on November 1, the Swiss passenger managed to leave the city and had been absconding since then.
"The Swiss national cleared immigration saying he was headed for Paris, while the Sri Lankan pretended to be a domestic passenger,'' said senior police inspector Dilip Patil. "They met in the mezzanine-floor security hold after clearing all security checks and exchanged the passes and passports. In fact, the French passport the Swiss national had given to the Chennai-bound passenger also turned out to be bogus,'' he added.
The police said such ploys were generally used by Sri Lankan nationals__to go abroad illegally__who ask for refugee status if caught by immigration officials in foreign countries.
"If a Sri Lankan national gets caught, he/she surrenders and then asks for asylum and refugee status, citing the strife in their country as a reason for the illegal transit. They usually look to get into the US or European countries where human rights laws are more favourable,'' he added.
Unlike many international airports abroad, Mumbai does not have a biometric security system
, which checks a passenger on the basis of fingerprints or retinal scan. Though the installation of a biometric system has been on the cards for long, the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) is yet to recommend the technology that will be used in India. The agency conducted a meeting with representatives of all Indian airports last month to zero in on the requirements.
25/11/08 Chinmayi Shalya/Times of India

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Foreign carriers upbeat on India operations

Despite the current downturn in the aviation sector globally, international airlines look to India as a breather.
To optimise revenues from India operations, carriers like SriLankan Airlines, Gulf-based Air Arabia and Sama Airlines are upbeat of securing high load factors by operating in and out of India . However, analysts say international carriers believe that the long-term prospects of the Indian economy are very strong and this will drive demand for air travel in future.
SriLankan Holidays, the leisure arm of SriLankan Airlines is offering tour packages from November 1 to January 31, 2009 by which a minimum of two adults purchasing a package like holiday in Colombo, holiday on the beach, holiday in Negombo and holiday in Kandy can be accompanied by two children, below the age of 12. These special packages include return airfare on SriLankan Airlines. It may be noted that in 2007, nearly five lakh holiday-makers visited SriLanka.
Air Arabia is also not lagging behind the race to secure load factors from Indian destinations. The low cost carrier recently announced its biggest promotional scheme on its fifth anniversary on October 28. The airline offered over 12,500 free seats to its passengers spanning across 44 global destinations including India. Also, the airline introduced Hyderabad-Sharjah flights recently which is the 12th Indian destination on its network. However, AK Nizar, head of commercial department, Air Arabia says, “In our anniversary month, we have launched daily flights from Hyderabad to Sharjah to cater to Indian expatriate population in the Gulf region.”
Similarly, Saudi Arabia based Sama Airlines has also launched its services between Dammam and Mumbai. The airlines has plans to add many Indian destinations to its network.
According to the data available with the Airports Authority of India even though international passenger movements fell to 5.6% this September from 16% in September 2007, the frequency of international flights has shown an 8% growth this year compared to that in 2007
24/11/08 Shaheen Mansuri/Financial Express

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Indian students send highest number of entries for Airbus competition

New Delhi: A few years from now, the Airbus aircraft you board could well be partially designed by Indian students.
A student competition organised by the European aircraft manufacturer has seen the highest number of entries so far from India — more than 50 out of 250 teams.
The competition, the first of its kind, calls for students to give their ideas on areas like aircraft parts, materials and systems. Eighty per cent of Indian applications for the competition are from the Indian Institutes of Technology in Delhi, Kharagpur, Chennai and Mumbai. Registration ends on December 1. The winning team will be announced at the Paris air show on June 19 next year.
Airbus will select 100 teams in the first round through an online quiz on the aviation industry and this shortlist will eventually be whittled down to five finalists. An Airbus coach will help the teams upgrade their projects. The winning project could be incorporated in one of Airbus’ programmes later.
“This competition is a great and exciting way to get people interested in considering aviation as a career. As an innovative leader we are always on the look-out for ideas of innovation and for people who think differently,” said Airbus spokesperson Justin Dubon.
24/11/08 Business Standard

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Survivor of airplane crash faces surgery

Edmonton: The sole survivor of a fatal plane crash on the B.C. coast last weekend faces surgery on both of his badly burned hands, his brother told reporters here.
Tom Wilson will likely be in hospital for another three weeks, his brother, Michael, said Friday.
Two other Edmonton-area men were among seven who died in the crash.
According to their employer, St. Albert's Ajay Cariappa and Edmonton's Kyle Adams died when the twin-engine Grumman Goose smashed into the side of a cliff.
Cariappa was a 34-year-old project engineer with Peter Kiewit Sons Co., while Adams, 29, worked for the company as a maintenance engineer.
Sherry vander Heide of Edmonton was the first person Cariappa called when he was about to leave town for work, and the first person he called just before he returned.
Cariappa called her last Sunday from Vancouver to let her know he was about to board a plane bound for Powell River, and to confirm his presence at vander Heide's Grey Cup party this weekend.
"He wasn't really a big football fan, but he wanted to be there because of me," said vander Heide, her voice breaking.
She said Cariappa, 34, who emigrated from India, had lived in the Edmonton area since moving here five years ago from the East Coast.
He lived by himself in a house he owned in St. Albert, where vander Heide said much of his leisure time was spent immersed in books.
23/11/08 Canwest News Service/The Province, Canada

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Jaffna woman nabbed with gold bars at Chennai airport

A Jaffna Tamil woman who travelled from Colombo to Chennai by SriLankan Airlines was nabbed by the Indian Customs officials and detained on charges of smuggling gold bars valued at Indian Rs. 1.6 million.
The flight to Chennai took off on Saturday 9 pm from Colombo and landed at the international sector of the Chennai Meenambakkam airport at midnight. The Sri Lankan woman who carried only a suitcase, declared that she was not carrying any dutiable items and tried to pass through the green channel, but was stopped by the Customs officials.
When the Customs officials did a thorough search of her suitcase, they drew a blank, as they did not find anything inside incriminating in her suitcase other than her personal belongings. But sources revealed that the customs officials grew suspicious about the abnormal looking handle of the suitcase the woman was carrying.
They broke open the handle and found hidden two gold bars weighing 1,160 grams. On investigation, it was revealed that the woman named Mangaleswaet, 47, was from Jaffna.
24/11/08 Asian Tribune/Ceylon Daily News, Sri Lanka

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Jet Air may not fly Bangalore-Brussels

Mumbai: Less than a month after it started on the route, Jet Airways is planning to pull the plug on its flights between Bangalore and Brussels.
The airline has stopped accepting bookings for the Bangalore-Brussels-Bangalore route post January 12 on its website and on various ticketing systems.
According to sources, the flights saw weak loads and few advance bookings, prompting the airline to cut losses and exit the route.
Jet had connected the route for the first time on October 31. The airline is also downsizing its aircraft on the Mumbai-Brussels-Newark sector, from a Boeing 777 to the slightly smaller Airbus A330, which would not have a first class cabin.
Saroj Dutta, executive director of the airline and Wolfgang Prock-Schauer, the chief executive officer, did not respond to calls.
With the Bangalore-Brussels flight, Jet Airways connected the IT centre of India with North American destinations like Newark, New York and Toronto through its scissor hub at Brussels.
The initial plan was to have four weekly flights — till December 14 — and daily flight from then on until January 15, 2009, to cater to the holiday rush.
22/11/08 Nirmal John/Daliy News & Analysis

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Airline battery system set to save billions

A Norfolk aerospace company is flying high with its latest invention which it claims could save the world's airline industry $1bn a year.
The staggering figure is the proud boast of Peter Stokes, chief executive of STG Aerospace, whose business is confounding the credit crunch and expanding its product range and profits.
The company's first product SafTGlo, luminescent floor strips which guide passengers to safety in the event of an aircraft emergency, is now an essential feature of more than 5,000 planes - nearly one third of the world's operating aircraft.
STG's figures to December show a ninth successive year of growth with profits exceeding £4m, up 11pc on last year.
Now the Swaffham-based company believes it is set to make its second major impact on the airline industry.
After five years and £1.2m spent on development, STG is rolling out its new emergency aircraft lighting system called Wireless Emergency Primary Power System (WEPPS).
The system has already won the Crystal Cabin Award, which recognises excellence in aircraft interior innovation, and has been welcomed by the industry as a major money-saving breakthrough.
STG Aerospace, based in Swaffham, has developed a new battery system that could save the airline indistry $1bn a year. Chief executive Peter Stokes, who developed the system with his team, is pictured here holding his glow-in-the-dark lighting system. Pho
“It has been fitted in Canada, America and India,” continued Mr Stokes. “I estimate we already have somewhere in the region of £10m potential orders.”
21/11/08 Norfolk Eastern Daily Press, UK

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Direct Haj flights from Aurangabad

Aurangabad: The 100-year-old Chikalthana aerodrome joined the category of international airports as the civil aviation minister Praful Patel flagged off the first direct flight — carrying a batch of 200 Haj pilgrims — to Jeddah from Aurangabad, on Friday.
When chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh inaugurated the sprawling terminal building armed with modern amenities he commented, this was perhaps the country’s first ultra-modern airport. Also present to grace the occasion were many state ministers, MPs, MLAs and prominent industrialists from the Marathwada region.
Deshmukh also said that the direct flights will not only benefit the Haj pilgrims but would also help in the development of the Marathwada region, particularly for industries and agriculture. Now the farmers of this region will be able to send their products directly to various destinations around the world.
Chikalthana airport controller, Vivek Upadhyay, said, that although the flights for Haj pilgrims to Jeddah had started operations in 2006, the flights were being operated via Nagpur or Mumbai. He also stated that flights to Singapore and Dubai would be operated from Aurangabad from February 2009.
22/11/08 Arif Shaikh/Daliy News & Analysis

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Austrian to cancel flights to Mumbai in 2009

Austrian Airlines is to cease operating its service to the Indian city of Mumbai (Bombay) from 1 March 2009 onwards. As a result of drastic overcapacity between European airports and the city in southwestern India, the weakening Indian economy and the consequences of the crisis in European financial markets, it is no longer possible to operate this route profitably in the medium term.
The measure means that one more of the airline’s total of six Boeing 767 aircraft will no longer be deployed on long-haul routes. The question of how to use the aircraft freed up by the decision remains open at present.
This necessary capacity reduction on the Mumbai route can be compensated with minor medium-haul network adjustments, without any need for further reductions in staff numbers.
21/11/08 Easier, UK

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SL on Cochin incident

Sri Lankan airlines in a statement over the emergency landing of one if its aircraft in India on Thursday said the incident was a result of the malfunction in one part in the nose landing gear, which has now been replaced.
A statement from the airline issued yesterday said UL 165 experienced a minor incident while preparing to land in Cochin and it occurred after pilots heard a slight noise while lowering the landing gear on the Airbus A320.
“Pilots declared an emergency in order to alert airport authorities of a possible problem. This is the standard procedure in such a situation. The aircraft then landed uneventfully at Cochin. As a further precaution, it was towed off the runway, which caused a minor delay to other aircraft. The aircraft was later flown back to Colombo without passengers. The problem had been caused by a malfunction in one part in the nose landing gear, which has now been replaced,” the airline said.
22/11/08 Daily Mirror, Sri Lanka

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Barclays May Fund The Air India Fleet Expansion Plan

Indian flag carrier Air India has stated today that it is raising funds to buy 23 new aircrafts and is discussing the funding options with a consortium of UK-based Barclays and promotional bank for German and European countries KFW, and also with Deutsche Bank.
The proposed deal is expected to be finalized soon. This loan will have a sovereign guarantee and is thus expected to help the airline access finer rates. Usually, the dollar denominated loans to companies are currently pegged at the London-Interbank offered rate (Libor) plus 1,000 basis points (10%).
With a government guarantee, the rate could drop to Libor plus 450 or 500 basis points. Indian national carrier Air India is buying 23 Airbus A319s/320s, for which orders have already been placed with the European aircraft manufacturer.
20/11/08 The Sikh Times, UK

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Jet seeks code-share with BMI

Indian carrier Jet Airways is in talks with BMI about code-sharing flights from regional airports to its hub in Brussels.
It believes there is a big market in Indian communities around East Midlands and Leeds/Bradford airports for travel on one ticket via Brussels, rather than through Heathrow.
It said a deal would compensate for a slowdown in traffic on Jet’s London routes, which led to the cancellation of its Heathrow-Amritsar service.
Jet’s European vice-president, Raja Sagran, said a code-share would help it establish a presence outside of the south-east of England.
It would also mean passengers from the regions could connect with Jet’s destinations in North America as well as India.
“It would offer a product that is as good or better than transiting through Heathrow,” he said.
Jet said its Heathrow-Amritsar route had not attracted enough premium or economy passengers, but it affirmed its committed to maintaining its Heathrow-Mumbai and Heathrow-Delhi routes through the downturn.
20/11/08 TTG live, UK

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Srilankan A320 at Kochi on Nov 20th 2008, nose gear steering failed

The crew of a Srilankan Airlines Airbus A320-200, flight UL165 from Colombo (Sri Lanka) to Kochi (India) with 95 passengers and 7 crew, declared emergency due to a malfunction of the nose gear steering while on final approach to Kochi. The crew initiated a go-around and entered a holding in order to rectify the problem, but had to perform the landing with the fault. The airplane stopped safely on the runway and had to be towed off the runway after inspection by emergency services.
The runway was closed for about 45 minutes due to the emergency. Srilankan Airlines sent a replacement aircraft to perform the return flight UL166.
20/11/08 Simon Hradecky/The Aviation Herald, Austria

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Emivest Aerospace sets world flight record for SJ30 jet

Emivest Aerospace Corp., the manufacturer of the SJ30 light business jet, has set a new world speed record by flying from London to Dubai. It took the jet seven hours and seven minutes to fly between the two cities on Nov. 10.
The flight included a 41-minute refueling stop in Istanbul.
The SJ30 aircraft was designed by aircraft designer Ed Swearingen and developed and manufactured in San Antonio. Emivest Aerospace consists of the former operations of Sino Swearingen Aircraft Corp. The investment company that owns Emivest Aerospace is based in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
The aircraft was flown by Action Aviation Chairman Hamish Harding and co-pilot Bryan Dennison of Emivest Aerospace. The plane flew at an average speed of 488 miles per hour, and the London-Dubai record is the fastest time recorded for any aircraft weighing less than 20,000 pounds. The record has been officially certified by the National Aeronautical Association.
Action Aviation serves as the authorized distributor of the SJ30 in the Middle East. The company is currently displaying the aircraft at the Middle East Business Aviation (MEBA) 2008 expo at the Dubai Airport. The company has offices in London, Dubai and Bangalore, India.
Last year, Action Aviation set a world distance record by flying 24 hours from San Antonio International Airport to Dubai for the Dubai Air Show.
19/11/08 San Antonio Business Journal, USA

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DHL inaugurates new facility at Bangalore airport

Logistics majors, DHL Express and Blue Dart Aviation inaugurated a $25 million integrated terminal at the Bangalore International Airport, a 2,20,757 sq. ft facility that would integrate the South Indian domestic and international businesses of both businesses.
The facility, which was expected to bring synergies in operations, was said to improve services by reducing throughput time by 60 minutes.
Malcolm Monteiro, senior vice president and area director South Asia, DHL Express Asia Pacific, said that the Bangalore facility, would be followed up by similar facilities in the near future.
“Every time we have an opportunity like this, we will use it. Hyderabad is the next one in line. We are also looking at Mumbai, Delhi and Kolkata within a short period of time. The kind of investments that will go into these facilities will depend on the airports and the throughput in these areas,” said Monteiro.
In reference to the market slowdown, Monteiro said, that the express industry, which had grown at the rate of 19% last year, was expecting a growth of 10% - 12% this fiscal. The company, however, he said, was growing above the market due to the choice of its investments.
21/11/08 Financial Express

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Unisys and Kale Consultants Combine Air Cargo Revenue Accounting Capabilities

Blue Bell, Pa.and Mumbai: Unisys Corporation that it will be offering the AMBERTM Cargo Revenue Accounting solution from Kale Consultants as part of its air cargo portfolio. Under the terms of the agreement reached by the two organizations, Unisys will offer AMBER as a hosted service and as a licensed solution to further strengthen its Logistics Management System (LMS) and related Hosting and Integration Services (HIS).
Kale’s Cargo Revenue Accounting solution, AMBER, provides airlines with full financial control and automation of their revenue accounting process. Its strengths are its focus on accuracy, its high level of automation, and its flexibility. It delivers business value by helping to maximize revenue, minimize costs, and shorten the time span to billing, thereby enabling increased cash flow. In addition, its powerful and easily accessible information enables managers to make informed financial decisions related to customers, routes, markets, and flights.
Unisys LMS provides airlines with an extensive air cargo operations system. It includes Internet-based process and system support from the initial price quote through routing and reservations to the shipment delivery. It also encompasses master and house air waybill management; pricing and contracts; detailed shipment tracking and ground handling; scanning; ULD control; extensive customer internet services; and business intelligence. Automated Cargo-IMP and XML messaging provide industry-leading integration with partners. LMS is available as a Web-based service, HIS, which is maintained and hosted by Unisys and charged on a transaction basis.
21/11/08 PR-CANADA.net, Montenegro

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Finnair's Asian traffic swells; new India destination likely

New Delhi: Finland's flag carrier Finnair, which is into the third year of operations in India, is betting big on Asian market where it saw traffic growing 18.1 per cent last month.
The 85-year-old carrier, which operates 13 flights a week from Helsinki to New Delhi and Mumbai, said in a statement that it carried 124,289 passengers on its Asian flights during the month under review.
In the summer schedule next year, the airline might look at adding a third destination, with sources indicating that it could be either Bangalore or Chennai, where Finnish mobile handset maker Nokia has a manufacturing facility.
In 2006, 40,000 Indians visited the country, last year the figure touched 50,000 and this year 70,000 is expected to pay a visit. Finnair's latest Asian destination was Seoul, where it started flying to in June.
The airline's traffic altogether increased by 11.7 per cent in October, while the capacity was up by 9.2 per cent, resulting in a passenger load factor of 78.2 per cent or 1.7 points higher than last year.
19/11/08 PTI/The Hindu

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Discriminate against foreign airlines in FDI policy?

UB group chief Vijay Mallya’s bid to open the Indian skies for investment by foreign carriers has brought back to limelight the contentious aspects of foreign direct investment (FDI) in civil aviation.
Several foreign airlines, including Singapore Airlines, made attempts to pick up stake in Indian carriers, but none succeeded in piercing the policy barrier. Recently, there were reports about British Airways trying to buy equity in an Indian airline and that attempt too has met with a similar fate.
Under such circumstances, will the policymakers turn more liberal now? If top government functionaries are to be believed, the opening up is unlikely to happen now. That is quite unfortunate for Indian airlines as they are struggling with mounting losses, liquidity crunch and overcapacity.
It is not that foreign airlines are queuing up to pump in moolah into Indian carriers, but there is no doubt that closure of one window of opportunity brings valuations under pressure. Given the state of their finances, this is something that Indian airlines would love to do without.
Once the doors are opened, strong players with persisting interest in India such as Emirates, Singapore Airlines, Lufthansa and British Airways would love to invest in Indian carriers due to the huge huband-spoke benefits that would be available. As of now, most foreign carriers primarily touch gateways like Mumbai and Delhi. Therefore, strategic alliance with a domestic player would enable them to route traffic from the hinterland to boost their market share and revenue.
Before criticising the policy, we should remember that this is not responsible for the sorry state of affairs that Indian airlines find themselves in. While government-owned Air India is a different kettle of fish, others such as Jet Airways and Kingfisher have to blame themselves.
20/11/08 Economic Times

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Foreign airlines start pulling out of India as traffic declines

Mumbai: International carriers that were continually adding capacity into India in the last one year are feeling the heat of economic downturn and have started pulling out their services from the country.
Even as few carriers are still increasing the number of flights to India, carriers such as Singapore Airlines, British Airways, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines and Austrian Airlines are either pulling out or reducing capacities on India routes.
Others with a small presence, such as Air Mauritius and Finnair, are also considering discontinuing flights out of India because of the increasing number of empty seats.
“Companies and consumers have quickly tightened their travel budgets, leading to a decrease in load factors and high-margin business class travel across most of the globe,” Standard and Poor’s credit analyst Tammy Garay wrote in a report on airports on Wednesday, pointing out that some airlines have also succumbed to the downturn.
The International Air Transport Association, or Iata, an international trade body representing some 230 airlines comprising 93% of scheduled international air traffic, had said international passenger traffic declined 2.9% in September compared with the same month in 2007. International load factors tumbled by 4.4 percentage points from August to 74.8% in September.
20/11/08 P.R. Sanjai/Livemint

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SIA introduces Preferred Seat Selection in India for Economy Class passengers

Mumbai: Customers of Singapore Airlines (SIA) booking an Economy Class ticket can now have the additional choice of guaranteeing a preferred seat with the launch of Preferred Seat Selection (PSS) by the airline. Customers in India will be offered an option to purchase a specific preferred seat, when they make their seat selection for Economy Class bookings, including KrisFlyer redemption bookings. PSS was implemented in India on the 1st of this month and the service is available on www.singaporeair.com.
The available preferred seats are located in exit rows and are guaranteed for a fee of USD 50 per sector, for all Singapore Airlines’ flights, except short-haul routes within Southeast Asia and flights served by Boeing 777-200ER aircraft (this aircraft does not have seats located in exit rows), on a first-come-first-serve-basis. Customers can also purchase a preferred seat anytime before check-in (which begins 48 hours before flight departure), simply by retrieving their bookings on Singapore Airlines’ website. The customer will have to pay for every sector in case of indirect flights.
20/11/08 Krupa Vora/TravelBizMonitor

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Aerospace Companies Look To Tap The Indian Aviation Market

Global players in the aerospace sector are increasing their interest in India. Companies such as Boeing , Northrop Grumman, Lockheed Martin, Airbus, Rolls Royce, Bell Helicopter, Textron, ATR and Bombardier are all looking to gain from the prospects the Indian aviation sector has to offer.
On account of numerous airline operators facing severe financial crisis and stagnating aviation markets around the world, manufacturers and aerospace service providers are turning to a developing aviation market such as India.
The future of the civil aviation sector shows promise and scope for robust growth. According to the Ministry of Civil Aviation in India, passenger traffic has shown significant growth in the last two years. It has grown from 48.8 million people in 2003-2004 to 118 million in 2007-2008 ' an annual growth of about 56%. Although India's flight penetration is only 0.2 per capita, while US has 2.2 per capita, the sector shows tremendous potential, as increase in penetration will give way to millions of passengers.
Also, the sector in India currently consists of a fleet of 350 aircraft for commercial aviation. This market is expected to reach 1000 aircraft by 2020. Airplane replacements would amount to a market of $80 billion and an additional $30 billion would be required for development of airport facilities and infrastructure. There is also scope for helicopter manufactures.
20/11/08 Trading Markets, USA

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Jet Airways appoints new general manager in Canada

Toronto: Jet Airways has appointed B. Chandrashekar as its acting general manager for Canada.
Chandrashekar, who has been overseeing sales operations for the airline in mid-western America and Canada, replaces Justin Gosling.
According to a Jet Airways statement issued here, Gosling is leaving the airline to pursue a career outside the aviation industry.
Chandrashekar has been instrumental in launching the airline’s North American operations, including its five weekly flights from Toronto to Delhi.
The airline statement said Chandrashekhar will continue to perform his role in sales operations in the mid-western US market as well Canada.
20/11/08 IANS/Sindh Today, Pakistan

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India-bound travellers hit by fake visa scam

Kuala Lumpur: Two to three Malaysians are either barred from leaving for India or deported daily due to fake visas issued to them.
The Indian High Commission has uncovered a scam following the loss of 2,000 visa stickers from its visa centre at the Jalan Duta Chancery.
So far, 50 Malaysians have been redirected back here since October after landing at Indian airports.
It is learnt that the High Commission informed airline companies of the loss and revocation of the said visa stickers. Newspaper advertisements were also placed, stating that Malaysians and other foreign nationals could not use the lost visas (serial numbers published) to travel to India.
New Delhi sent investigators here last month to question several High Commission officials and travel agents. The High Commission had outsourced the processing of visas in Malaysia to Grandlotus Travel Agencies in August last year, but the High Commission remains in charge of issuing the stickers.
Malaysian Indian Tour and Travel Agents (Mita) president K. Thangavelu believed that the missing visas had been sold off illegally.
19/11/08 Vani Muthiah and M Krishnamoorthy/Malaysia Star, Malaysia

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Punjab group to release list of new suspects in Air India bombing

Vancouver: A controversial human rights group in India's Punjab region plans to release a report this weekend identifying new suspects it claims have confessed to the 1985 Air India bombing.
Sarabjit Singh Verka, of the Punjab Human Rights Organization, says group investigators travelled the world, interviewing more than 100 people in several countries with knowledge of the bombing.
Verka said they found multiple suspects "from the movement" who have admitted they were involved in the June 23, 1985, bombing plot centred in B.C. that killed 329 people aboard Flight 182 over the North Atlantic and two baggage handlers at Narita Airport in Japan. "The movement" is a reference to the struggle for Khalistan, a separate Sikh nation some want carved from Punjab.
Verka said his group has been trying unsuccessfully to share its findings with the RCMP investigators from the Air India Task Force who are now in Punjab interviewing potential witnesses.
Canadian police, he said, are refusing to meet with the organization except with Indian officials present - something Verka says is unacceptable.
Verka wouldn't say more about the report or those purported to be the new suspects, but said the research paper will be publicly released "for the victims' families."
"We are having a meeting this weekend and then we will release it," he said in a telephone interview from Punjab.
Verka provided copies of e-mails between himself and task force investigator Insp. Bart Blachford about the request for a meeting.
In his e-mail, Blachford says that a senior official of the Punjab group, Justice Ajit Singh Bains, and his son, Rajvinder, initially agreed to meet the RCMP along with India's Central Bureau of Investigation.
18/11/08 Kim Bolan/Canada.com, Canada

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Mounties might go home empty-handed

Amritsar: Five investigators of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) — who are in India in connections with the probe of June 1985 bombing of Air India’s 182 Kanishka flight, in which 329 persons were killed— might go home empty-handed.
The Punjab Human Rights Organisation (PHRO), whose investigations had unraveled various facts regarding attack by the Punjab militants, has refused to meet the investigating team, which is at present staying in Delhi.
The RCMP was in Chandigarh last week to question Jagtar Singh Hawara and Paramjit Singh Bheora, Babbar Khalsa International (BKI) terrorists on death row for killing former Punjab chief minister Beant Singh.
The team, called the Air India Task Force (AITF), is headed by Sergeant Bart Blackford and was to question about 15 more persons. “We will not meet the investigators, as they have attached certain conditions, which include that during the meeting the CBI will sit along. We want direct dialogues with the RCMP,” said PHRO chairman Justice Ajit Singh Bains (retd). He said they have submitted their independent probe report to the Canadian government and now it was up to the RCMP to collect more evidence and witnesses.
Apart from Blackford, Mike Haney, Dan Sandhar, Joanne Baines and Bill Kalkat are part of the AITF team. The Canadian government has spent millions of dollars on investigation, but besides Inderjit Singh Reyat, who had made a confession, no conviction has taken place in the 23-year-old case.
Two other accused, Ajaib Singh Bagri and Ripudaman Singh Malik, were freed by the Canadian Supreme Court for want of “credible witnesses”.
19/11/08 Dharmendra Rataul/ExpressIndia

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Ten years later, justice eludes Hayer's family

It is now ten years since outspoken Indo-Canadian newspaper publisher Tara Singh Hayer was murdered, and still his family continues the search for justice.
The passage of time hasn't dulled the pain for the late publisher's son Dave Hayer and his family.
That's not just because their father was murdered. It's also because after 10-years, his killers are still eluding justice.
Tara Singh Hayer was gunned down in November 1998. He was putting the final touches on the latest edition of his Indo-Canadian newspaper, a publication that didn't waiver in its criticism of extremists trying to import terror to Canada.
While that dedication to principle ended up killing Hayer, his family says it would be easier to move on if those responsible had been punished.
The RCMP have an ongoing investigation. But so far, it hasn't yielded results.
Perhaps nowhere did Tara Singh Hayer's murder have more of an impact than at B.C. Supreme Court where it may have played a crucial role in the lack of justice for one of our country's most horrible crimes.
That crime was the Air India bombing. Hayer was set to be a witness in the trial, testifying against Ajab Singh Bagri, one of the men acquitted in the case.
"It could have been very, very compelling evidence. Of course it was lost His statements were not allowed to be entered as exhibits in that case and we'll never know what could have happened if he had been alive to testify," said Kim Bolan, a Vancouver Sun reporter, who has written extensively about Air India.
But Dave Hayer has tried to move beyond that. He's now focused on two things -- the need for justice - and the need for the public to not forget what his father died for.
"We have to make sure that our future generations also realize that we can't allow this to repeat, We can also make sure that we don't allow people to allow terrorism to come here," he said.
18/11/08 CTV British Columbia, Canada

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AI faces ground reality in US

New Delhi: With not many takers for the non-stop Mumbai- and Delhi-New York daily flights, Air India (AI) is parking its new Boeing 777 for over 12 hours at the US airport everyday.
“The airline’s decision to park the brand new aircraft, which arrives in New York early morning and takes off on return journey at 10pm the same day, for so many hours has stunned many,” a senior airline officer said.
“Keeping an aircraft idle for such a long time is considered suicidal in aviation industry,” an airline source said.
Air India spokesman Jitender Bhargava, however, reasoned, “There is no option (but to park the aircraft in the US). Parking and route navigation fees at Indian airports are much higher than anywhere in the world.”
Bhargava agreed that the airline had a poor load factor, but said, “The load factor in US-bound flights is around 160 passengers everyday, which is quite good considering the prevailing market situation,” he said.
To offset the high operational cost, Air India tried to launch a daytime Toronto flight sometime ago but manpower shortage forced it to shelve the plan. “Starting such a flight would require more manpower in New York, which is not possible,” another airline official said. Air India has already stopped its US-bound flights from Kolkata and Ahmedabad, which were launched with great fanfare three months ago, due to a steep hike in operational cost.
19/11/08 Yogesh Kumar/Daily News & Analysis

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DGCA team begins probe into Goa airport's freak mishap

Panaji: A team from the Director General of Civil Aviation's (DGCA) has begun probing Sunday's freak mishap at Goa airport when two chartered flights brushed against each other. One of the aircraft was carrying 356 passengers on board.
"It's a two-member team. They are recording statements of flight technicians, engineers and other concerned personnel. The report will be dispatched to the DGCA headquarters in New Delhi," a senior official at the Airport Authority of India (AAI) told reporters here Monday afternoon.
A wing of the Airbus-330 belonging to the Iberia Spanish Airline had scratched the fuselage of a Russian Trans-Aero Boeing Sunday afternoon at the Dabolim airport. The fuselage was damaged to the extent that it was not possible for the aircraft to take off putting the lives of nearly 356 passengers on board at risk.
The mishap put the lives of 356 passengers on board the Trans-Aero flight at risk, and also threw air traffic at the airport out of gear. Several flights were forced to be rescheduled.
Hundreds of chartered flights from Germany, Russia and Britain use the paramilitary airport facility at Dabolim every year from October to March, Goa's tourist season.
18/11/08 IANS/Mangalorean.com

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Air India inquiry report unlikely this year

Toronto: Canada’s John Major commission, which completed its inquiry into the 1985 Air India bombing earlier this year, is unlikely to present its report this year. When the commission, headed by former Supreme Court chief justice John Major, wound up its work this February, it was expected to present the final report to the government in the autumn.
With no word yet from the commission, the report may now be presented only next year.
“But the commission never set a date for the release of its report. When we do have anything, we will let you know,” commission spokesman Michael Tansey told IANS.
He said the commission has only said that John Major (the inquiry head) is taking his time to go through all aspects of the report.
“Whenever we have anything, we will post on our web site,” said Tansey.
The commission investigated all aspects of the Air India bombing that killed 329 when the Air India flight 182 from Toronto to New Delhi was brought down by an explosion off the Irish coast June 23, 1985.
While the plot mastermind Talwinder Singh Parmar, who fled to India, was killed in a shootout in Punjab, the trial of other two suspects- Ajaib Singh Bagri and Ripudaman Singh Malik - ended in their acquittal in March 2005.
18/11/08 IANS/Thaindian.com, Thailand

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Man flees home after Indian media disclose that he met with RCMP

Punjab resident Naudh Singh Thind thought he was doing the right thing by agreeing to meet the RCMP last week about his knowledge of one of the suspects in the Air India bombing.
Now, after his name was disclosed in the Indian media, the 30-year-old has been forced to flee his family home, fearing for his safety.
He told The Vancouver Sun that talking to the police was a "big blunder" that has led to him being falsely labelled a terrorist, a suspect in the 1985 bombing and a member of the Babbar Khalsa linked to the assassins of the state's former chief minister.
"I was only seven when Air India happened," a distraught Thind said in a telephone interview from India. "This has disrupted my life completely."
In fact, he only came in contact with the Surrey bombing suspect when the man spent time at a school where Thind was teaching in his native village of Rachhin, Punjab -- years after the Air India bombing.
The school's headmaster had a close relationship with the suspect, who has not been charged in the 1985 bombing that killed 329.
Thind met with the RCMP's Air India Task Force on Wednesday and by Thursday, his identity was all over the media across the Indian subcontinent and abroad.
"The RCMP had promised me to keep the matter confidential," Thind said. "By disclosing this matter means a threat to my life. I may be made target by militants at any time. You know what happened with Tara Singh Hayer [the Indo-Canadian Times publisher slain in Surrey in 1998]. If he can be targeted in such tight security, then who am I to escape?"
He also wonders who is responsible for his security now that word has leaked out that he talked to Canadian investigators.
He said his family is terrified and worries that no one will agree to marry him now. Even his gear manufacturing business is affected because clients don't want to talk to him on the phone, fearing it is bugged, he said.
17/11/08 Kim Bolan/Vancouver Sun, Canada

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Pantaloon Retail steps out of JV with Alpha group

Pantaloon Retail India, a part of Kishore Biyani led Future Group today, announced that it had sold its entire stake in Alpha Future Airport Retail to Alpha Overseas Holdings. Alpha Future Airport Retail was a 50:50 joint venture company between Pantaloon Retail India and the Alpha Group.
With this stake sale, Pantaloon proclaimed itself to be out of the said JV.
Alpha Group, is one of the world`s biggest aviation support companies and a wholly owned subsidiary of Autogrill SpA.
18/11/08 Myiris.com

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Kingfisher plans 25% stake sale

Mumbai/Bangalore: Vijay Mallya's Kingfisher Airlines is holding exploratory talks with international carriers for diluting up to 25% stake. The move comes as the Centre is reportedly planning a policy change to allow foreign airlines to invest in domestic carriers with a cap of just below 26%, sources said.
Kingfisher is believed to be discussing stake sale with three foreign airlines — British Airways, Singapore Airlines and Virgin — as a strategic investment is expected to fetch better valuation compared to the numbers indicated by PE investors.
Kingfisher Airlines chairman Vijay Mallya told ET : “I have received several expressions of interest from foreign airlines as the Kingfisher network is unparalleled. However, I cannot share details.” British Airways, Virgin Airlines and Singapore Airlines could not be contacted on the weekend, but it must be mentioned that interest from some of these airlines is not yet a formal one.
This is because there is no clarity on when the government may permit the foreign airlines to hold equity in their Indian peers although the Indian companies, including Mr Mallya, have been asking for the permission for quite some time.
Sources said the foreign airlines were interested in a minority investment for now, which will lead to sharing of infrastructure and will help in better aggregation of passengers on international routes.
Kingfisher and Jet have been trying to raise $300-400 million for sometime now. Both have seen their equity raising plans shelved several times in the past 12 months, as they desist diluting stake at depressed valuations. It is believed that Mr Mallya is not keen on selling equity at a valuation lower than $1 billion.
17/11/08 Mithun Roy & Boby Kurian/Economic Times

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A333 wing hit B744 tail at Goa Airport

A Transaero Airlines Boeing 747-400, flight UN542 from Goa (India) to Moscow Domodedovo (Russia) with 306 people on board, was waiting to receive engine start up clearance, when the wing of a taxiing Iberworld Airbus A330-300 on behalf of Thomas Cook, registration EC-KCP thought to perform flight MT67L from Goa to London Gatwick,EN (UK), hit the tail of the Transaero Boeing. Both aircraft were immediately evacuated, no injuries have been reported.
The airport authority had reported, that the Transaero Boeing 747 was taxiing onto the departure runway, when its right wing hit the Airbus.
Transaero reported, that their Boeing 747 was stationary at the gate awaiting clearance to start the engines, when its tail was struck by the taxiing Airbus.
The Indian Directorate General of Civil Aviation DGCA has opened an investigation into the accident.
Both airplanes are currently grounded. Engineers will examine the airplanes on Monday.
16/11/08 Simon Hradecky/The Aviation Herald, Austria

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Airport Authorities to Probe into Chartered Flight Accident

Panaji: The team of Director General Civil Aviation (DGCA) will arrive in Goa tomorrow to probe into the freak accident that occurred at Goa airport between two chartered aircrafts, top level official stated.
The wings of two chartered aircrafts brushed against each other at Goa airport this afternoon. The Moscow bound and Uk Bound planes were involved in the accident wherein right wing of an aircraft dashed against tail wing of another.
Officials stated that Russia-bound Trans Aero aircraft was taking a turnaround to take off when its wing brushed against the UK-bound Iber World plane which was parked at the apron.
The Moscow bound flight had 356 passengers on board who were evacuated as both the aircrafts remained grounded at the airport.
Goa airport authorities have submitted preliminary report of the incident while detailed investigation would be conducted by DGCA team which will arrive here tomorrow from Mumbai.
Today following the accident, two bays at the airport have remained occupied further decreasing the space at congested airport.
Both the flights would be inspected tomorrow by engineers who will certify whether they are worthy to fly.
17/11/08 Daijiworld.com

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Smoother passage to India a reality soon

Malaysian trade routes to various parts of India are set to improve via SriLankan Cargo’s new export terminal at Bandaranaike International Airport in Colombo. The facility is expected to be launched middle of next year. The cargo arm of SriLankan Airlines is finalising an agreement with Airport and Aviation Services of Sri Lanka to begin operations in the new building at the airport.
SriLankan Airlines operates daily direct flights from Kuala Lumpur to Colombo and flies to 10 destinations in India. The new export terminal will increase SriLankan Cargo’s annual handling capacity to 300,000 tonnes from the present 150,000 tonnes.
SriLankan Cargo is the main cargo handler for all airlines in Colombo. SriLankan Airlines regional manager (Middle East, South Africa and CIS) Mohamed Fazeel said logistics companies in Malaysia could use the new facility as a transhipment hub for cargo bound for India as they had extensive network in the country.
“In some destinations in India, we are the only airlines that flies there,” he told Starbiz at the 24th International Air Cargo Forum and Exposition 2008 last week.
He said SriLankan Airlines had a long term relationship with Malaysia Airlines through code sharing for the past 25 years. SriLankan Cargo has positioned Colombo as the “hub in the ocean” between Europe and the Middle East and connecting South East Asia and the Far East.
17/11/08 Sharidan M. Ali/The Star, Australia

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Revised Air Services Agreement between India and Malaysia

Delegations representing the Government of India and the Government of Malaysia met in New Delhi to discuss matters relating to air services between the two countries.
Both the delegations recognised that in the wake of developments which have taken place in the aviation industry during the past few years, the existing Air Services Agreement needs to be updated and modernized.
The two countries have agreed that the designated airlines of each country shall be entitled to operate 20,410 seats per week in each direction on the routes specified in the respective Route Schedule with effect from Summer 2009.
Within the overall entitlements, the designated airline(s) of Malaysia shall be entitled to operate as follows:
Delhi : 5,620 seats per week in each direction
Mumbai : 3,770 seats per week in each direction
Chennai : 4,740 seats per week in each direction
Kolkata : 1,000 seats per week in each direction
Bangalore : 2,730 seats per week in each direction
Hyderabad : 2,550 seats per week in each direction
On the request of the Malaysian side, the Indian delegation agreed that the designated airlines of Malaysia shall be permitted to utilize the unutilized entitlements at Kolkata for operations to/from Mumbai, - no rights have been increased but India has allowed adjustment within the overall capacity to allow a second airline to operate.
The Malaysian delegation indicated that the revised capacity entitlements as agreed in the preceding paragraphs are intended to enable another designated airline of Malaysia to commence a daily service to Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai, Bangalore and Hyderabad. However, in the event one of the designated airlines of Malaysia does not either commence operations by winter 2009-10 schedule or withdraws its services on a particular route, the issue of allocation of the entitlements on that route shall be reviewed.
The designated airline of both the countries shall be entitled to operate unlimited number of frequencies with any type of aircraft with capacity not exceeding that of a B747-400 aircraft on the routes specified.
17/11/08 Press Information Bureau

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Police Seize 50 Kilos of Pseudoephedrine from India at Mexico City Airport

Mexico City: Police and Attorney General's Office agents seized 50 kilos of pseudoephedrine, which is used to make illegal stimulants, at the Mexico City airport, officials said.
The illegal substance was found during an inspection of packages at an express company office.
"According to what the labels on both containers said, the pseudoephedrine came from Acapulco, Guerrero, and was headed for the city of Tuxtla Gutierrez, Chiapas," the AG's office and the Public Safety Secretariat said in a joint statement.
Last month, police seized a shipment from India of 7.2 million pseudoephedrine pills at the airport in the western Mexican city of Guadalajara.
The shipment, which weighed 1,500 kilos (1.65 tons), consisted of 24 boxes.
The pills arrived on a commercial cargo flight from Calcutta, the AG's office said.
In May, police seized a shipment of 1 million pseudoephedrine pills from India at the Mexico City international airport.
16/11/08 Latin American Herald Tribune, Venezuela

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Airline offers low fare to Indian destinations

Dubai: Air fare to two Indian states by the Indian national carrier has been brought to rock bottom in the M-class. Expatriates from the states of Kerala and Karnataka can now travel with Indian on fares that are more or less equivalent to the no-frill budget airlines starting from today to March 31, 2009
M-class one-way fare will now cost Dh259.
"This is the lowest of the fares by us. I had meeting with different Indian associations in the UAE and this demand came considering the fact that the cost of living has gone up," said Anand Kumar Pandey, Country Manager, Indian Airlines.
The fares are introduced under the category of Slim Fares and comes along are with all frills and inclusive of a 40kg free baggage allowance.
The Slim Fares are priced at Dh259 for M-class one-way and Dh519 for round-trip. One can also get these fares subject to availability during the upcoming festive seasons Eid Al Adha and Christmas. Necessary information on the rates and seats are available at the Indian office and nearest travel agencies.
Cross section of Indian expatriates were trilled with the reduction of fares and said that it could not have come at a more appropriate time.
The one-way fares for Kerala and Bangalore by Indian Airlines:
* Dh 259 -M class (35 seats out of 145 seats)
* Dh 310 - E class
* Dh 360 - U class
* Dh 410 - L class
* Dh 610 - O class
16/11/08 Sunita Menon/GulfNews, United Arab Emirates

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Iraq Plane Crash: Search for Bodies Still On

Dubai: The search for the bodies of seven crew members killed in a cargo flight crash in war torn Iraq on Thursday is still on, according to aviation and family sources.
The AN-12 cargo plane operated by Dubai based Falcon Aviation crashed in an hour’s time after it took off for Baghdad from Al Asad airbase in Anbar province.
The crew consisted of five Russians and an Indian, all residents of Dubai and an American who worked in Iraq.
The cargo plane was carrying Fedex cargo from Dubai to Iraq, mainly for the American military. A FedEx spokesperson said: “FedEx is closely monitoring the situation and is working with the contractor to investigate the ?situation.”
The details of Russian crew members killed in the crash were not available but the Indian national has been named as Jaychandran Appukkuttan aged 44 from Kerala.
Meanwhile, the family of Jaychandran left for India on Saturday with the hope that the Indian mission in Iraq would be repatriating the body to India if found.
16/11/08 Riyasbabu/Khaleej/Khaleej Times, United Arab Emirates

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No takers for GE's appliances unit

New Delhi: Global aviation to finance major, General Electric (GE) is having serious trouble getting rid of its consumer appliances unit globally. The company, that has been looking for a strategic partnership, spin off or even a possible sell off of its appliances unit, has none of the options going for it yet.
Sources close to the development told SundayET that dearth of serious buyers in the market, depressed sentiments and flawed business model have amplified the company’s problems. “It is already hurting the company’s ability to grow earnings in the near future. The unit has become a thorn in the flesh,” said a company insider.
The immediate result at least in the Indian context is that many employees from the GE Appliances R&D centre in Bangalore have already left the organisation.
A GE India spokesperson said: “The company doesn’t respond to rumour or speculation.” An e-mail sent to the global communications and public affairs official of GE didn’t elicit any response. Headquartered in Kentucky, GE Appliances is a $7.2 billion (Rs 36,000 crore) business and employs about 13,000 people worldwide.
It must be noted that China’s Haier, Korea’s LG, Mexico’s Controladora Mabe, and Turkey’s Arcelik had all earlier shown interest in the business.
A senior consumer analyst who spoke on conditions of anonymity said it is difficult to find a buyer for a company not making money.
16/11/08 Mansi Tiwari & Aman Dhall/Economic Times

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Indian airline in plea for foreign stakes

New Delhi: Vijay Mallya, chairman of debt-laden Kingfisher Airlines, has urged New Delhi to allow foreign airlines to take stakes of up to 25 per cent in Indian carriers to help the ailing aviation industry survive pressing financial difficulties.
Mr Mallya, head of an empire that spreads from alcohol to aviation interests, said in an interview that he was "approached constantly" by foreign carriers seeking tie-ups with Kingfisher, which is one of India's two largest private airlines and renowned for its attentive service.
New Delhi prohibits international airlines from taking stakes in Indian carriers, even though it allows investors such as funds to take stakes of up to 49 per cent. "If a foreign airline that considers India an important strategic market is able to pick up 25 per cent, that could be a huge wealth creator. It will be a huge bonus to the industry; the values will shoot up very considerably," Mr Mallya said.
India's private airlines, including Jet, the premium carrier, and IndiGo and SpiceJet, the low-cost carriers, are scrambling for cash to help them cope with a squeeze stemming from rising costs and declining traffic.
Mr Mallya also said he expected the Indian government to move swiftly to slash state sales taxes of up to 26 per cent on jet fuel, which sharply raises carriers' costs.
In Taipei, Chew Choon-seng, chief executive of Singapore Airlines, said that the global downturn could encourage Asian governments to liberalise foreign ownership of airlines and create opportunities for industry consolidation.
15/11/08 Amy Kazmin/Financial Times, UK

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Indian literacy worker deported from Paris

Paris: An Indian literacy worker, Kamal Hussain, was deported from Paris airport while on transit here on Friday.
His colleague, Dinesh Mishra, was allowed to board the Air Canada flight to Toronto. The two were on their way to Toronto to attend a fundraising event and literacy training programme organised by the Canadian NGO World Literacy. The two carried identical travel documents with valid Canadian visas issued in Delhi.
The Hindu has learnt that instead of contacting the Indian embassy to verify Mr. Hussain’s passport details, the French police preferred a summary deportation and he was placed on the Air France flight bound for Delhi on Saturday morning. It is presumed he spent the night at the Charles de Gaulle airport in police custody. The reasons for doubting his identity or the authenticity of his travel documents have not been communicated to the Indian embassy.
Indian Ambassador Ranjan Mathai had already been contacted by World Literacy when this correspondent spoke to him on Saturday morning. At that point the French police were saying they had no trace of Mr. Hussain. Later the explanation given for his deportation was that “the passport was illegible.”
Mr. Mathai said that had the French police contacted his office on Friday when Mr. Hussain was denied permission to board the Air Canada flight, he would have sent an embassy official to help police with their enquiries. The embassy was neither informed nor consulted over the decision to deport Mr. Hussain.
16/11/08 Vaiju Naravane/The Hindu

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Etihad VP wins top aviation award

Etihad Airways’ vice president of international affairs, Mr Vijay Poonoosamy, has been presented with an Udyog Rattan award in India for his “outstanding contribution to the international aviation”.
The awards are hosted by the Trustees of the Indian Institute of Economic Studies and recognise excellence in specific sectors of industry. The ceremony took place recently at the India International Centre in New Delhi.
The Honourable Shri Bhisham Narain Singh presented the award to Vijay at the ceremony which was also attended by Lalit Mansingh, the former Indian foreign secretary and ambassador to US and UAE and Amolak Rattan Kohli, former Governor of Mizoram.
Vijay is the Vice Chairman of the ICAO Special Committee on Aviation Security Conventions and a member of the Industry Affairs Committee of the International Air Transport Association. He joined Etihad Airways in August 2005 and was promoted to VP international affairs in May 2008.
16/11/08 ArabianBusiness.com, United Arab Emirates

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