New Airbus A320 joins Air Seychelles fleet for Indian Ocean regional flights

Air Seychelles took delivery of its third large aircraft, an Airbus A-320, this morning, which will be used for its regional network, including three new destinations; Mumbai, India, Dar Es Salaam,Tanzania and Antananarivo, Madagascar, starting this week.
Arriving from Abu Dhabi, the new 136- seater plane touched down at 9.20 local time on the Seychelles main island of Mahe, painted in the national airline’s colourful livery and was showered by the traditional water canon by fire engines of the Seychelles Civil Aviation Authority (SCAA).
"We know the islands were familiar to Arabs, Chinese and Indian mariners from ancient times, who harnessed the seasonal monsoon winds in a quest for riches. Today, we sail the jetstreams to again tap into the great flows of trade between Africa and Asia, connecting India, Mauritius, Madagascar, Tanzania, South Africa and the Middle east," said the airline's General Manager for Corporate Affairs, Alan Renaud as he described the aircraft's name and the regional routes it will service.
On Monday, the aircraft will fly its first route to Mauritius, where the existing three weekly flights will be maintained. Mumbai will also be served by three rotations as from Tuesday evening. There shall be two weekly services to Dar Es Salaam and Antananarivo.
The Airbus A320, about 5 years old and leased from Etihad Airways, has 120 seats in economy class in a 3 by 3 configuration, with 16 seats in a 2 by 2 configuration in the business class.
30/11/14 John Lablache and Sharon Uranie/Seychelles News Agency

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World War II Indian pilot honoured with statue in UK

New Delhi: The 1972 Bollywood movie, Lalkaar, was unique in its depiction of Indian pilots fighting in the Second World War. Although it was perhaps the last Bollywood movie with that war as backdrop, it did offer a glimpse, and a tiny one at that, of the contribution of India's air warriors in bringing down the combined might of the Axis powers.

But at a memorial function in the UK on Friday, this contribution was recognized and firmly engraved in stone. At St Andrew's Garden in Gravesend, Kent, Great Britain, an eight-foot bronze statue of a decorated Indian fighter pilot of WWII, Squadron Leader Mohinder Singh Pujji, was unveiled—perhaps the first such memorial to an Indian war hero in Europe.

Pujji was among the 24 officers from Indian Air Force sent to Britain in 1940 to fly with the Royal Air Force, which was fighting the Luftwaffe during the Battle of Britain and desperately needed pilots (the RAF at that time already had 13 direct-entry Indian officers). These Indian officers were placed in different squadrons in RAF's fighter, bomber and coastal commands and flew rhubarb missions.
In fact, Indian pilots also flew bombing missions over Dresden and other German cities, and were there during the Normandy operations — a fact that's never been acknowledged in the mass media, both in the west and India.
29/11/4 Manimugdha S Sharma/Times of India

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British Airways may consider hub-and-spoke operations with an Indian carrier

New Delhi: British Airways (BA) may consider partnering with an Indian carrier for hub-and-spoke operations in line with its relationship with American Airlines depending on how the market develops over the next 2-3 years, a top official said.

"India is the second largest market (for BA) after North America in terms of (traffic) volume or number of seats. ... Our business model (with American Airlines) is to carry traffic to the hubs in the US from where they fly them to other destinations (within the US)," BA's Chief Executive Keith Williams said.
"We will see how the market develops over the next 2-3 years. It is too early to judge at present," Williams, who was here at a function to mark the completion of nine decades of the premier British carrier's operations to India, said.He was asked whether BA was looking at tying up with an Indian carrier to launch hub-and-spoke operations from five cities to London Heathrow (LHR) like their arrangement with American Airlines. Under this arrangement, American Airlines, which merged with US Airways almost a year ago, provides convenient flight options to key business and leisure destinations across Europe and the United States.
29/11/14 PTI/Economic Times

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Pakistan eyes Chinese jets to counter IAF dominance

Islamabad: The Pakistani military authorities are determined to acquire 30 to 40 fourth generation stealth fighter (FC-31) aircraft from China with a view to pre-empting the rapidly increasing aerial dominance of the Indian Air Force (IAF) in the region.
Conceding that senior Pakistani defence officials were already holding talks with their Chinese counterparts to acquire the fourth generation stealth aircraft (also called Shenyang FC31 Multi-Purpose Medium Fighter Jets), informed sources in the security establishment said that Pakistan has been made to approach China and Russia to fulfil its defence procurements as the Pak-US ties continue to chill, despite General Raheel Shareef’s recent visit to the United States.
The Pakistani defence officials are already in the process of signing an agreement with Russia to purchase 20 Mi-35 gunship helicopters which can be operated in the mountainous terrain of the Waziristan region where a military operation is in full swing against the Taliban militants.
The sources said Pakistan wants to procure the Chinese FC31 aircraft as part of its ongoing efforts to boost the air combat capabilities of the PAF and offset the growing strength of the Indian Air Force in the region.
29/11/14 Inernews/Gulf Times

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Indian Victims of Pan Am 73 asks Gujarat CM not to partner with US

The Indian Victims of Pan Am 73, headquartered in Chandigarh, on Friday appealed to the Gujarat Chief Minister Anandiben Patel to reconsider the state government's decision to allow US to collaborate with the Vibrant Gujarat.

Aneesh Bhanot, in an appeal sent to the Gujarat CM, on behalf of the victims, said, "The US has been systematically and continuously discriminating against Indians. This was apparent from the Pan Am 73 (PA73) hijack case where that country discriminated against Indians and abandoned us in 2008 and is continuing to do so. When US is treating Indians like third class citizens of the world, why should India enhance business and profits of America by offering them a platform in Vibrant Gujarat?"

Following a 29 May 2014 judgement from the Punjab & Haryana High Court against discrimination from the US, the Indian Ministry of Civil Aviation investigated the case. On 5 September 2014, the Ministry sent a letter to the Ministry of External Affairs castigating US and raising some very important questions asking how Indians were abandoned.

According to the letter, in 2008, Libya gave US about $1.5 billion to settle all the cases of terrorism in which it had been involved and Pan Am Flight 73 was part of this settlement. However, US decided to give compensation only to the around 40 Americans on board, while it discriminated against and abandoned the Indians.
28/11/14 moneylife.com

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Student pilots land here after Heli-Pro collapse

Eighteen international student pilots left in the lurch by the receivership of Tauranga-based Heli-Pro have chosen Mainland Aviation College at Dunedin International Airport to complete their studies.

About 50 days after Heli-Pro went into receivership, Mainland's student numbers have more than tripled, from eight to 26, with the additions of a ''United Nations'' of international students, Mainland general manager Shirley Kean said.

Some of the 18 international students had been unwittingly caught up in two recent aviation receiverships in New Zealand, losing money twice in the process.

''It's not a good look. It makes people wary. We want to build up good international relationships,'' Mrs Kean said.

Mainland has been operating since 1991, having had about 270 students over the years, and offers fixed-wing flying tuition, in nine training craft, including Cessna 152, Tobago and twin-engined Senecas and Chieftains, plus a flight simulator.

''It can be a bit like the United Nations around here at times,'' she said of current students from Oman, India, Indonesia, the Philippines, Nepal, Papua and China.

The majority of students are in their early 20s and pay $70,000-$80,000 for flight training over 18 months.

Mrs Kean said Mainland offered ''pastoral care'' for the international students, which included them all staying together in Dunedin in accommodation Mainland organised.

After Heli-Pro went into receivership, all New Zealand's flight schools were vying to offer the 18 students places, she said.
28/11/14 Simon Hartley/Otago Daily Times

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Delhi-Chicago return for Rs 50,000: Air India offers discounts for global flights

Mumbai: Triggering a fresh round of fare war on international routes, national carrier Air India  on Thursday announced limited-period heavily discounted two-way fares on select global flights, starting Rs 19,999 ahead of the winter holiday rush.

Inclusive return fares under the Short-Term Global Winter Sale Bonanza, which covers some of the major global destinations across the US, Europe, Far East, Australia, China, Russia, Singapore and Thailand, are available for sale from November 26 to December 2 for travel up to November 15, 2015, Air India said in a release.

Air India has a network of 33 global destinations spread over the US, Europe, Canada, Far-East and South-East Asia and the Gulf besides domestic routes.
28/11/14 PTI/FirstBiz

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Visa on arrival lands, footfall-boost in the air

Panaji: Goa's Dabolim airport is among nine airports in the country where visa-on-arrival (VoA) facility has been launched since midnight Friday for travellers from 43 countries.

The countries are Australia, Brazil, Cambodia, Cook Islands, Djibouti, Fiji, Finland, Germany, Indonesia, Israel, Japan, Jordan, Kenya, Kiribati, Laos, Luxembourg, Marshal Islands, Mauritius, Mexico, Micronesia, Myanmar, Nauru, New Zealand, Niue Island, Norway, Oman, Palau, Palestine, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Republic of Korea, Russia, Samoa, Singapore, Solomon Islands, Thailand, Tonga, Tuvalu, UAE, Ukraine, USA, Vanuatu and Vietnam.

The facility is likely to help Goa tourism to win back markets in Western Europe that dwindled over the last few years, in part because of visa hassles. The tourism department is now expecting an increase in foreign tourist arrivals from 12% to 15% annually because of the VoA.
28/11/14 Times of India

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Lufthansa touts A380 flights to Delhi

New Delhi:  Lufthansa is now flying an A380, the world's largest commercial passenger jet, to and from Indira Gandhi International Airport here.
     Airbus' A380 is the world's largest and heaviest passenger jet, with a takeoff weight of up to 560 tons. The A380 Lufthansa flies to India has 520 seats -- eight in first class, 92 in business class and 420 in economy class.
     Lufthansa uses other Airbus and Boeing models on its routes between Europe and Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai, Bangalore and Pune, in the western Maharashtra state.
     Lufthansa has become the third overseas airline, after Singapore Airlines and Dubai-based Emirates, to bring the A380 to India. Singapore Airlines launched superjumbo services to Delhi and Mumbai in May, while Emirates' A380 flights from Dubai to Mumbai started in July.
28/11/14 Kiran Sharma/Nikkei Asian Review

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‘No-Ebola certificate’ must to enter India from affected countries

New Delhi:  The government has asked those travelling to India from Ebola-affected countries to carry a certificate stating that there is no evidence of the deadly virus in their body fluids, after a person cured of the disease was found to be carrying the virus in his semen.

In case people having been discharged after being treated for Ebola do not have the certificate from the health ministry of the country concerned, they have been advised not to travel to India for a period of 90 days from their discharge, health minister JP Nadda told Lok Sabha on Friday.
The ministry of external affairs has issued the advisory to the Indian embassies in Abidjan (Ivory Coast), Dakar (Senegal), Abuja (Nigeria), Accra (Ghana) and Niamey (Niger) on November 21 after a person returning from Liberia was quarantined at the Delhi airport.
28/11/14 Times of India

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Taneja Aerospace signs contract to upgrade MiG-29s

Nagpur: Pune-based Taneja Aerospace and Aviation Limited (TAAL) has bagged the contract for life cycle upgradation of MiG-29 fighter aircraft of the Indian Air Force (IAF). TAAL competed with much bigger players like Tatas, L&T and Punj Lloyd among total eight bidders to get this deal worth over Rs 12 crore.

The deal signed on Wednesday is being dubbed as the first of its kind, because so far only smaller jobs like manufacture of spares or other allied services were outsourced by the IAF. Never before has a private company been involved in retrofitting of an entire aircraft. Till now, this was the sole domain of defence PSU Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL).

TOI had reported in December last year that seven private players had evinced interest in the aircraft upgrade contract. They had responded to the request for information (RFI) floated by IAF for upgrade of MiG-29s and AN-32. The latter is a transport aircraft while the MiG-29 is known to be among the best air defence planes with the IAF.
27/11/14 Shishir Arya/Times of India

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Vietnam-India flight brings new wave of tourism

Vietnamese tourism agencies sought to capitalize on new air traffic from India by bringing a delegation over to study the market.
A source from the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT) said they have cooperated with Vietnam Airlines and private Indian carrier Jet Airways to fly representatives from 22 leading Indian travel agencies and a group of journalists to Vietnam between November 23 and 29, Thoi Bao Kinh Te Saigon Online reported.
The daily Ho Chi Minh City and Mumbai/New Delhi route, which transit in Bangkok, opened on November 5 following a codeshare agreement between Jet Airways and Vietnam Airlines.
Insiders said the service will help raise arrivals from India ten-fold in just a few years.
Only 10,000 passengers arrive, on average, each year.
VNAT and the Indian Embassy in Hanoi will hold a conference on Saturday, November 29, with members of the hospitality industry in both countries, the news site said.
27/11/14 Thanhniem News

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Wrong woman held, HC summons airport officer

Chennai: Sarah Thomas was detained by immigration officials at Chennai airport late last month on her arrival from Dubai, despite her protests that she had no case against her. The Kerala police then took her to Punalur in Kollam district in connection with a 13-year-old cheating case in which the accused was absconding.

It took four days and a notice from the Madras high court for police to realize that it was a bad case of identity mix-up, wherein Sarah Thomas had been mistaken for Sara Williams, the absconding accused in the cheating case. The innocent Sarah was released from prison, and the case closed. But it is payback time now.

A division bench of Justice S Tamilvanan and Justice T Mathivanan of the Madras high court on Tuesday summoned the senior immigration officer on duty at the time of her detention at the international airport. It asked the officer to be present before the bench at 10.30am on November 27 to explain his actions. Saying that he was at liberty to file a counter-affidavit, the judges warned that in case he failed to appear they would pass "appropriate orders".
26/11/14 A Subramani/Times of India

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Airline fines passengers for carrying excess cabin baggage

Muscat: After some passengers of an Indian airline were not allowed to board the flight for carrying excess cabin baggage, airlines have said that they should strictly adhere to the limit.

Saju Mathew, a traveller said, “Last month, I had to travel to Thiruvananthpuram. After receiving my boarding pass and immigration clearance, I bought some goods from the duty-free shops at Muscat airport. They weighed the goods bought from the shops along with my cabin baggage and it showed 12kg.

“The Air India Express officials asked me to pay fine for the extra 5kg. When I refused, I was not allowed to board the flight.”

Mathew said that the airline didn’t allow another three passengers to board the flight for the same reason on that day. “They missed their flight and had to reschedule their itinerary. We all were unaware that the goods bought from duty-free shops are also included in this 7kg limit.”

A senior official of a travel agency in Ruwi said, “Many travellers think that the 7kg limit excludes the goods bought from duty-free shops. This creates confusion and problems during boarding.”
25/11/14 Joseph Benny/Muscat Daily

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West Asian airlines to be hit if smaller towns are off limits

New Delhi: Plans of West Asian airlines Emirates, FlyDubai and Qatar Airways to expand operations in India may be affected by an aviation ministry proposal to restrict foreign carriers from adding new flights to airports beyond Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Bangalore and Hyderabad.

Airlines like Emirates, Etihad Airways, Qatar Airways and Lufthansa now fly to Jaipur, Kozhikode, Ahmedabad, Kochi, Thiruvananthapuram, Goa, Lucknow and Pune.

Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapati Raju Pusapati was quoted in a recent media interview as saying foreign airlines had grown because they served destinations beyond the metros. Raju said the government would allow foreign airlines to operate out of hub airports at the six metros but Indian carriers could fly out of any international airport.

While the government will not review points of call already accorded to foreign airlines, it is unlikely to grant them new seat entitlements or points of call beyond the six metros. It hopes this will allow Indian airlines to realise their growth potential.
25/11/14 Business Standard

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Passenger Traffic to Singapore Doubles

Hyderabad: The number of travellers from Hyderabad to Singapore more than doubled from 83,000 in 2010 to about 1,69,000 as on September 2014, according to Changi Airport Group, which runs the Changi Airport in Singapore.

Interestingly, Singapore is the second top destination for Indians next only to Dubai and the passenger traffic as on September 2014 between Singapore and India stood at 3.4 million.

India is the seventh largest market for Changi and has 12 city links and operates 380 weekly flights across eight airlines.
25/11/14 New Indian Express

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Air India ‘needs strong foreign partner’

New Delhi: Air India can no longer remain under Government ownership and must be privatised with a strategic airline partner, says a white paper on the Indian aviation Industry prepared by the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (Assocham).
“A strong foreign airline should be inducted as a 26 per cent and eventually 49 per cent strategic partner,” the paper says. “As Air India has turned around and emerges as a viable and competitive airline, the Government can further divest its stake to 26 per cent with the balance 25 per cent being held by private Indian interests or other stakeholder public sector units.”
It further recommends the setting up of a council for the future of the airline and establishing a plan within six-to-nine months, outlining the circumstances under which the privatisation will be possible as also the structure of the privatisation model.
23/11/14 Ashwini Phadnis/Business Line

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India hopes to reverse flight safety rating

New Delhi: India’s hope to reverse its downgrade of safety ranking by Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) soon after the US agency’s inspection in December may come a cropper.

The FAA is non-committal on upgrading India to Category 1 soon, saying its reassessment may take several months. A team from the FAA will examine the progress made by India between December 8 and 12, ten months after it downgraded India to Category 2, which has ten other countries like Bangladesh, Indonesia and Curacao.

The downgrade came as India could not achieve satisfactory on two counts – insufficient number of flight operations inspectors and airworthiness officers do not have required training to handle all types of aircraft.

India now says that it has recruited more Safety Inspectors and imparted proper training and expects a positive outcome of the inspection by January.

However, the FAA is non-committal. “The FAA will begin a reassessment of India’s Civil Aviation Authority in December, which may take several months,” an FAA spokesperson told Deccan Herald in an email from the United States.
23/11/14 Shemin Joy/Deccan Herald

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Air Works India forms JV to start MRO services in Nepal

New Delhi: High taxes on maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) activities in India has made Air Works India Engineering focus on growing international business. The company has formed a joint-venture with Nepal-based Yaksa Investment, 'Air Works Nepal', which will provide aviation maintenance services to international airlines and domestic operators from Tribhuvan International Airport, Kathmandu. Air Works India is also exploring possibilities to start to satellite line maintenance stations in Myanmar and Bhutan over the next few years.
Sanjeev Munjal, vice-president (strategy and M&A), Air Works India Engineering Pvt Ltd, said, "The commencement of operations in Nepal in is line with our overall expansion plans to start aviation engineering services' ventures in neighbouring countries where availability and quality of MRO services is not up to international standards. We are also examining possibilities to start operations in Myanmar and Bhutan."

While Air Works will extend its technical capabilities from India to facilitate operations in Kathmandu, Yaksa Investment will secure clearances from local regulatory authorities. Air Works will provide line maintenance services on ATR 42/72, Airbus 320/330 and Boeing 737/777/787. Commercial operations in Nepal are expected to commence by March/April 2015.
24/11/14 Sharmistha Mukherjee/Business Standard

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DFW International: Lessons Indian aviation can draw from one of the biggest and busiest airports

Dallas, Fort Worth: The experience at airport security checkpoints follows a standard script. A snaking queue. A long wait. Anxious moments. Will there be time to shop? Will the gates close before we get there? No telling. The darn queue! The security chap finally beckons for the customary patdowns. Hold on, he says brusquely. "Take off the belt and shoes for screening." Strange. Didn't have to the last time. Phew! It's over. Now to put the belt and shoes back on. Damn it, no place to sit. Forget shopping now. Will be lucky to make it to the gates in time.
Last year, authorities at the Dallas Fort Worth (DFW) International Airport in Texas decided to do something about this agonizing experience. They first placed couches and chairs just before the queue. Passengers waiting in line receive instructions through speakers and are entertained by a radio channel. As they move, they come across wall coverings with warm-and-fuzzy LED lighting. Flat-panel screens deliver airport messages. Boards display the estimated wait times. For the X-ray process, passengers are provided larger trays to stuff all the belongings into one (avoids a scramble for trays). The area just after screening is again fitted with couches, high-top tables to help people gather their belongings, footrests to tie shoes, and a mirror to get dressed.
The results were instant and perceptible. People came through security faster and less agitated. Some even flashed smiles. Agents of the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), tasked with overseeing security at American airports, said their jobs became easier. The airport folks were happy because passengers had more time to shop.
23/11/14 Binoy Prabhakar/Economic Times

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Flyer to sue airline after hot coffee scalds his forehead

Mumbai: A Mumbai resident has complained to Qatar Airways and is mulling legal action after his head was scalded when a stewardess accidentally dropped a flask full of hot coffee on his head during a flight to Berlin last week.

Manohar Suvarna, an engineering and development head of a city-based multinational engineering company, said the airline's on board first aid and treatment were inadequate.

Suvarna, who was flying Qatar Airlines flight QR 557 from Mumbai to Berlin with a brief stopover in Doha on November 11, said the burn ointment the crew applied had no effect, and the on-board paramedics merely applied a band-aid to the wound.

Suvarna later lodged a formal complaint with the airline, a copy of which is with Mirror. He is also consulting a lawyer about further action. While local Qatar Airways officials in Mumbai declined to comment, an email sent to the spokesperson at their headquarters in Doha remained unanswered.
22/11/14 Mumbai Mirror

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GMR claims $803 m for termination of Male airport contract

Hyderabad: GMR Male International Airport Private Limited (GMIAL), a subsidiary of GMR Infrastructure Limited (GMR), has claimed $803 million (around Rs.4,987 crore) from the Maldivian government for ‘wrongfully’ terminating the international airport contract in that country’s capital.

According to a filing with bourses, the Indian infra major said, in addition to that, a plea for award of further damages for the loss of reputation caused to GMR as a consequence of wrongful repudiation of the Concession Agreement has also been made to the Arbitral Tribunal in Singapore.

“Following the aforesaid award, GMIAL has submitted its claim for damages amounting to $803 million ...The quantification of the damages is subject to expert evidence,” it said.

GMR entered into a Concession Agreement with the Government of Maldives and Maldives Airport Company Limited (MACL) for modernisation and operation of the Ibrahim Nasir International Airport (INIA) in 2010.
21/11/14 The Hindu

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Mahindra Gets Nod to Sell its Australian Airplanes in India

Melbourne: Mahindra group can finally start selling its airplanes in India after it got approval from the country's civil aviation ministry.

"The aviation ministry yesterday has cleared few norms for certification, which will finally allow us to sell our Australian planes in India," said Anand Mahindra, chairman and managing director on Mahindra Group.

In 2009, Mahindra group announced its intention to be a big player in the aerospace business by acquiring 75.1 per cent of stake each in two Australian aerospace firms for Rs 175 crore.

Since then it had started selling its aircraft in some markets but was unable to do so in India due to regulatory issues. Its aircraft are already flying in the Middle East and Australia.

"We bought an Australia company and we are selling our planes in California but due to a rule to do with seating capacity for piston engine plane, we were not able to sell in India," saids Mr Mahindra, who was also part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's CEO delegation to Australia.
19/11/14 NDTV

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Gulf Air to operate daily flights to Thiruvananthapuram

Dubai:  Bahrain's national carrier Gulf Air has increased its direct services to Trivandrum International Airport in Kerala.

"Following a successful year since the re-launch of our direct flights to Thiruvananthapuram in December 2013, we are delighted to announce our increased frequency that follows consistently strong passenger demand," Gulf Air Acting Chief Commercial Officer Ahmed Janahi said.

It will operate a daily service starting from the 5th of December 2014 between Manama in Bahrain and Thiruvananthapuram.

The two additional weekly frequencies between the two cities will operate on Mondays and Wednesdays.

There is an average of 85 per cent seat factor in 2014 to date.
18/11/14 PTI/conomic Times

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Qatar Airways launches 2-for-1 ticket offer

Mumbai: Gulf carrier Qatar Airways has rolled out a 2-for-1 ticket offer for Indian customers, under which travellers booking one business class ticket will receive a second business class ticket for free on select global destinations.

Booking of tickets under the five-day promotional scheme commences today and the journey can be undertaken up to March 31 next year, Qatar Airways said in a release.
"We received an overwhelming response from the Qatar Airways Privilege Club members and social media fans in India on the 'Double the Luxury' promotion.

"We consistently strive to offer the most exceptional and enticing promotion for our travellers and given the popularity of this promotion and so decided to re-introduce it for the benefit of our passengers," Qatar Airways Vice President for Indian Sub continent Ihab Sorial said.
18/11/14 PTI/Economic Times

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Gulf Air to operate daily flights to Thiruvananthapuram

Dubai: Bahrain's national carrier Gulf Air has increased its direct services to Trivandrum International Airport in Kerala.
"Following a successful year since the re-launch of our direct flights to Thiruvananthapuram in December 2013, we are delighted to announce our increased frequency that follows consistently strong passenger demand," Gulf Air Acting Chief Commercial Officer Ahmed Janahi said.
It will operate a daily service starting from the 5th of December 2014 between Manama in Bahrain and Thiruvananthapuram.
The two additional weekly frequencies between the two cities will operate on Mondays and Wednesdays.
There is an average of 85 per cent seat factor in 2014 to date.
18/11/14 PTI/Economic Times

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Refuelling row delayed PM Narendra Modi’s flight in Myanmar

New Delhi: The departure of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's plane, Air India One, was delayed by 92 minutes on Thursday night at Myanmar's capital Nay Pyi Taw Airport, from where it was to fly to Brisbane, Australia. The delay was caused as the staff was waiting for the plane to be refuelled. When AI engineers asked for the equipment needed to refuel the 1996-make Boeing 747 (VT-EVA), they were threatened with arrest!

Air India One got fuel for the flight with great difficulty—and a long wait—after the intervention of the Special Protection Group (SPG) and the Indian embassy in Myanmar. The fuelling "service provider" at the airport reportedly did not cooperate with the AI engineers.

An internal AI report, in fact, says the service provider told the engineers that "he cannot tell when the service (fuelling) will be provided to AI and threatened to get people arrested if approached again on the bay". The engineers then told the SPG and the Indian embassy about the situation. The SPG carried out an anti-sabotage check.
The aircraft finally got fuel only in phases from 5.10pm to 10.35pm. It taxied out at 11.02pm—92 minutes after the scheduled departure time of 9.30pm. The PM's entourage waited till they were told the plane was ready to depart, after which they left for the airport.
17/11/14 Saurabh Sinha/Times of India

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Plane crash victim remembered as ‘funny entertainer’ who was ‘intrigued’ by the air

Ravindran Arulanandar was, as one cousin put it, “intrigued” by the air.
“It was all about flying, flying, flying,” said Prasanna Radhakrishnan.
Flying would ultimately claim the 31-year-old’s life. Arulanandar, known socially as Ravi, was one of two people killed in Tuesday’s plane crash in a densely forested area of Algonquin Provincial Park.
On Sunday, three dozen people gathered at a Scarborough funeral home to remember a man described as a funny entertainer, who was deeply passionate about music and bodybuilding and who aspired to be a pilot.
Arulanandar was the sole passenger in a Cessna 150 that had taken off from Toronto Buttonville Municipal Airport on Tuesday for a round-trip flight to Quebec. The pilot, Logesh Lakshmikanthan, 25, a close friend of Arulanandar’s, contacted air traffic control around 8:30 p.m., saying he found himself disoriented in the clouds.
The plane came down about an hour later, killing both men. The OPP and Transportation Safety Board confirmed the aircraft ran out of fuel. Lakshmikanthan’s funeral will be held in India.
Close relatives were noticeably composed for much of the two-hour Hindu ceremony. Arulanandar’s mother, Kalyani, sat on the ground with Arulanandar’s brother, Manojkumar, sister Priya and sister-in-law Sarojini, as priest Kumar Satha chanted and burned incense.
Less than a metre away, in an open casket, lay Arulanandar, his body covered in roses and garlands. At his feet, a few of his favourite things: whey protein, representing his exercise habits, and a pair of Wayfarer sunglasses, left by a cousin.
Arulanandar lived at home in North York with his mother. His brother, who has a young son, and sister reside outside of the province, but there was no shortage of cousins in Toronto to keep Arulanandar company.
16/11/14 Jacques Gallant/The Star

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Jet Airways launches Lucknow-Abu Dhabi direct flight

Lucknow: Private airliner Jet Airways on Friday launched its maiden direct flight from Lucknow to Abu Dhabi, UAE.

The company has deployed a Boeing 737 for the daily service. It will provide connectivity to North America, Africa, West Asia and the Gulf via Abu Dhabi. The base fare for the flight is Rs 11,300.

Addressing the media here, Jet Airways Senior Vice-President Sonu Kripalani said domestic air traffic was growing exponentially, especially in the Tier II cities.

The airline is confident to fly at over 90 per cent load factor for the service.

The market in metro cities has become saturated and new demand is emanating from the Tier II centres, she said.

Kriplalani said setting up new airports in the country would further lead to an organic growth in air traffic flow.
14/11/14 Virendra Singh Rawat/Business Standard

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Air India to commence direct flight from Goa to Muscat

Panaji:  Air India announced a daily direct flight from Goa to Muscat via Mumbai starting November 16, a press release from the directorate of information and publicity said.

Commissioner for NRI affairs Wilfred Mesquita had taken up the matter with Union minister of civil aviation P Ashok Gajapathi Raj for commencement of direct flight from Goa to Muscat and back recently. The Goan community of Oman was pursuing the demand for direct flight with the Goa NRI commission for a long time. This was to avoid hassles of transfer from domestic to international terminal and completing immigration and customs formalities at Mumbai airport before boarding the Muscat flight.

The introduction of this flight will enable passengers to complete all formalities at Dabolim airport, Goa itself. Flight number AI - 983 will land at T-2 international airport in Mumbai and passengers will be accommodated in the transit lounge till departure of their flight to Muscat. This would also connect to other international destinations like Hong Kong, Abu Dhabi, Bangkok, Singapore and New York on this flight.
15/11/14 Times of India

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Jet begins direct flights to Abu Dhabi from Goa

Panaji:  Jet Airways began daily direct international flights linking Goa, with the national capital of the United Arab Emirates-Abu Dhabi. The maiden flight took off from Goa International Airport, Dabolim, at 5.15am and reached Abu Dhabi at 7.35am UAE local time.

The return flight departs from Abu Dhabi at 11.20pm and arrives in Goa at 4.15am.

People travelling from Goa will now be able to seamlessly connect to Abu Dhabi and to multiple international destinations in Europe, North America, Africa, Middle East and the Gulf, airline officials said in a press release. With the addition of the new flight, Jet Airways now operates over 50 daily flights to multiple destinations in the Gulf including daily flights Bahrain, Dubai, Doha, Kuwait, Sharjah, Muscat, Jeddah, Dammam and Riyadh, making the airline the largest operator between India and the Gulf, the release said.
15/11/14 Times of India

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Family taken off plane for slapping cabin crew

New Delhi: Last Saturday, a Kathmandu - New Delhi SpiceJet SG 46 was reportedly delayed by five hours and finally harried passengers including P K Maheshwari (67), his 62-year-old wife and a nine-year-old child of their family,  boarded the aircraft after a very long wait.

Maheshwari and the crew got into a scuffle, which finally saw the pilot ordering the family to be offloaded from the airline's Boeing 737 late on Saturday night in Kathmandu. Each side claims that the other was at fault.

According to Maheshwari's complaint, he sat in row 13 aisle seat and being tired fell asleep. "Suddenly I was jolted awake... The stewardess had hit my foot with considerable force, though the aisle of the aircraft was clear... (She) started shouting at me that my foot was in the aisle."
A SpiceJet spokesman said: "The passenger who was disturbed got up and physically slapped the cabin crew. There is zero tolerance of this kind of physical abuse of crew anywhere in the world, including in India and therefore the captain made the decision he did (offloading the family), which is fully within his authority, is backed by relevant regulations, and is fully supported by management. Other passengers were witness to the slapping episode."
Maheshwari, who denies slapping the airhostess, says in his complaint that the airline asked them to get off the aircraft or else they would call the police.
14/11/14 Saurabh Sinha/Times of India

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185 passengers stranded at T2 as SA Airways grounds flight

Mumbai: A Johannesburg-bound South African Airways flight, scheduled to depart in the wee hours on Thursday from Mumbai international airport, was grounded after a tyre of the pushback vehicle (used to bring the aircraft till the runway) burst. Splinters from the vehicle hit the nose light of the aircraft, damaging it.
The incident took place at 1.38 am, when flight SA-285, carrying 185 passengers and 13 crew members, was scheduled to take off. Passengers allege that they were not informed about the incident for a long time. “After they finally told us what happened, we hoped that the aircraft would be repaired and we would finally leave after some time, but no such thing happened,” said a passenger. It took almost five hours for passengers to complete the de-boarding formalities, after which they remained in the terminal till 9 am.
14/11/14 Neha LM Tripathi/Mid Day

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Avation Leases Two Aircraft To Air India Unit For Regional Service

London: Avation PLC Friday said it has entered into a deal to lease two ATR 72-600 aircraft to Airline Allied Services Ltd, a unit of Indian national carrier Air India, for 12 years.


The aircraft leasing company said the two aircraft will be flown under the name Air India Regional and are scheduled for delivery in December this year and January 2015.

To finance the deliveries, Avation has signed a binding letter of offer for senior debt finance with an unnamed export credit agency. It said the cost of funding is in line with its typical commercial bank-sourced senior funding.
14/11/14 London South East

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State keen on Turkish Airlines flight stopover in Kolkata

Kolkata: West Bengal government has written to the Civil Aviation Ministry to facilitate touch down of a Turkish Airlines flight to the city to increase arrivals of foreign tourists, state tourism minister Bratya Basu said today.

Replying during the question hour in the house, Basu said there had been an increase of foreign tourist arrivals in the city. Most of them head towards either Dooars or the hills.

Basu said the government had written to the civil aviation ministry urging that a Turkish Airlines flight touch down at N S C Bose International airport once a week. This would increase the number of arrivals as Turkey is located between Asia and Europe.
13/11/14 PTI/Business Standard

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Two men dead in plane crash in Algonquin Park

A nearly 8-hour search for a small plane that went missing in south-central Ontario has ended with the discovery of the plane in Algonquin Park with two deceased men inside it.

The pilot was a 25-year-old man from India, and the passenger is also believed to be in his 20s and not from Canada.

The wreckage of the single-engine Cessna 150 was found around 5:30 a.m. Wednesday about 20 kilometres south of Whitney on a small hill. The difficult terrain is not accessible by car and a rescue helicopter was also unable to land there. The rescue team hoisted a technician down to the ground, and that’s when the two bodies were discovered.

The Cessna lost contact with regional air traffic controllers above a dense, heavily wooded area near Haliburton shortly after the “disoriented” pilot had declared an airborne emergency around 8:30 p.m. Monday, according to Capt. Alexandre Cadieux, a spokesman for the Joint Rescue Co-ordination Centre in Trenton, Ont.

The pilot was concerned about his ability to fly in inclement weather and feared he would not be able to find a suitable landing site before he ran out of fuel, Cadieux told CP24.

The JRCC launched a Hercules aircraft and a Griffon helicopter to search for the single-engine, two-seater plane, and the Ontario Provincial Police began a search on the ground.

“The Hercules picked up on a ELT signal, an Emergency Locator Transmitter beacon, which narrowed down the search to the vicinity of Algonquin Park and allowed the Griffin to move in closer,” Cadieux said.

Capt. Jean Houde, also from the JRCC, told CP24 that the two rescue vehicles were dispatched as soon as they learned that the pilot was lost with the hopes that they could direct him toward the airport in Trenton.
12/11/14 Vidya Kauri/CP24.com 

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PIL for acceptance of Re by domestic airlines on foreign

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court today sought a response from the Centre on a plea for a ban on those carriers based here which do not accept Indian currency while providing services on their inbound and outbound flights from foreign locations.

A bench of Chief Justice G Rohini and R S Endlaw asked Additional Solicitor General Sanjay Jain to examine the facts, saying on what basis the airlines are not accepting Rupees.

"If these (products) are sold in Rupees, all of us will be happy. We actually want to know the reason behind this (not accepting Indian currency)," the court said, adding "we also want to become patriotic."

The court's direction came on a PIL filed by Manjit Singh seeking a direction to the Ministry of Civil Aviation and the Ministry of Finanace to impose a rule in India for acceptance of Indian Rupees on all airlines and ships, based here, coming inbound or going outbound for sale of onboard services or products.
12/11/14 PTI/Business Standard

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More Etihad flights to Delhi and Mumbai

Abu Dhabi:  Etihad Airways will add three daily flights to Delhi and Mumbai next year.
The national carrier of the UAE has announced that the new service will commence during the first half of 2015, providing travellers with more choices and increased connectivity to the two Indian cities.
Both cities will be upgraded from their current double-daily frequencies, with the third daily flight to Mumbai starting on February 15 and to New Delhi on May 1.
Along with Jet Airways services, both airlines will connect Abu Dhabi to 14 Indian cities with over 200 return flights each week. This includes five flights a day to Mumbai, four flights a day to New Delhi, three flights a day to Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad and Kochi, two flights a day to Ahmedabad and Kozhikode, and daily flights to Jaipur and Trivandrum.
Etihad Airways will also launch a daily service to Kolkata on February 15 to support its long-term development plan in India, and Jet Airways has announced it will soon launch daily services between Abu Dhabi and Goa, Lucknow and Pune.
12/11/14 Gulf News

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Nepal-India air route talks put off until December

Kathmandu: The government’s plan to review cross-border air routes with India has been postponed until the first week of December. Officials at the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation said that Nepal had twice proposed the date for a meeting but India had not responded.

The airspace agenda, which has been gathering dust for a long time, was endorsed during Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Nepal in August. The prime ministers of the two countries have directed the concerned authorities to meet within six months to resolve the issue.

“We have proposed the meeting date twice, but there has been no acknowledgement from the Indian side,” said Pramod Nepal, under-secretary at the ministry.

“As there is no time to hold the meeting after the first week of November due to the preparations for the Saarc Summit, the planned meeting has been postponed until December.” The ministry had suggested holding the talks from November 3-4.  
08/11/14 eKantipur.com

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Israel ready to share aviation security technology with India

Tel Aviv: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said his country was "ready and willing" to share with India technology in areas such as aviation security, border protection and water harvesting, an official statement said Friday.

Netanyahu conveyed this to India's Home Minister Rajnath Singh during their hour-long meeting here Thursday.

"Netanyahu briefed the home minister on technologies that have been developed by Israel in areas such as aviation security, border protection and water harvesting."

"He said Israel was ready and willing to discuss transfer and development of such technologies with India," a home ministry statement said.

The statement also said a delegation from the Israeli industry would be happy to visit India to explore manufacturing opportunities in different sectors.
08/11/14 IANS/ZeeNews

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Megawide-GMR denies hiked terminal fees will fund Mactan airport rehab

Manila, Philippines: The consortium of Megawide Construction Corp. and the Indian company GMR vehemently denied accusations that it would increase airport terminal fees at the Mactan Cebu Airport to bankroll the rehabilitation and upgrading of the airport terminal.

GMR-Megawide Cebu Airport Corp. (GMCAC) responded to accusations made by the Business for Progress Movement (BPM) that the former had no financial capacity to accomplish the project and would cause the public “grave and irreparable injury” once it assumed operation of the airport. BPM claimed that the consortium would have to increase the passenger service charge (PSC) and other service fees at the airport just to cover expansion and operating costs.

Oliver Tan, GMCAC director, said in a statement on Friday: “The accusation that GMCAC is increasing terminal fees to fund expansion and cover operating cost is absolutely not true and malicious. GMCAC is investing additional P16 billion on top of the P16 billion it spent for the premium or concession rights to fund the construction of Terminal 2.”
07/11/14 Doris C Dumlao/Philippine Daily Inquirer

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Etihad Airways no longer jittery about investment in Jet Airways after change in government

New Delhi: Etihad Airways' had some concerns about its investment in Jet AirwaysBSE 3.01 % after the change of guard in the Indian government this May, but is now convinced that its investment is not just safe but also likely to prosper under the new business-friendly Modi administration.

Jet Airways touched an intraday day high of over 3% in trade today.

"I came here wanting to ensure that the environment in which we invested was still there and I leave convinced that I can tell our stakeholders that not only is the investment safe, but there's a very clear road map with a leadership that is moving forward in the right direction for businesses like us," Etihad CEO and president James Hogan said.
07/11/14 Economic Times

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India’s aviation downgrade by US FAA set to be revoked soon

New Delhi: In what could be seen as the first positive impact of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the United States on the Indian aviation sector, India’s embarrassing downgrade by the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) earlier this year could be revoked, with the FAA team slated to carry out another inspection on December 8 this year.
This also comes in the backdrop of a three-member team visiting Brussels in the first week of November for a meeting with officials of the EU Air Safety Committee to discuss measures taken by the Indian aviation regulator, Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), to improve its performance after the FAA downgrade.
Finding regulatory oversight to be inadequate, the FAA had downgraded India from Category 1 to Category 2 under its International Aviation Safety Assessment (IASA) programme on January 31 earlier this year. The move has barred Air India and Jet Airways — the only two Indian airlines that operate to the US — from expanding their operations in the US and impacted codeshare arrangements with their American counterparts.
01/11/14 Geeta Gupta/Indian Express

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PIA staff illegally shifts Indian passengers to hotel

Lahore: FIA immigration authorities at Lahore airport recovered another 34 Indian passengers illegally transported to a hotel by PIA staff on Wednesday night in sheer violation of Immigration Rules, said sources in FIA.
The passengers were supposed to travel to their next destinations and FIA Immigration officers detained their passports and asked them to wait in the transit lounge but some PIA staff members reportedly directed by office bearers of Air League, forced passengers to move to hotel only to earn money.
An FIA immigration officer said that PIA staff has violated immigration rules and FIA has prepared an internal report in this regard. He said there was list of ten negative countries whose passengers cannot be allowed to go out of the airport and India is at the top on that list.
Earlier on September 16, a group of passengers was sent to the Suprout Court Hotel in Lahore. As per report of Director Vigilance those passengers lodged a very serious complaint regarding the shameful behavior and environment they faced at the hotel. The passengers in their statement said they were made to sit in a small van along with their baggage just like animals and they had to load their baggage on their own. They were not even served breakfast despite repeated requests and lunch given to them was even not worth eating.
Moreover, the flight was late but passengers were dropped at the airport much earlier. They also complained against the Passenger Handling Service (PHS) staff for not providing dinner as per SOP at the airport. Negligence of the PHS further escalated the annoyance of already irritated passengers who were provided the refreshment after repeated requests.
31/10/14 Amraiz Khan/The Nation

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DGCA tells cops about Singapore Airlines probe

Mumbai: The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) and local police, which are conducting a parallel investigation into the recent Singapore Airlines turbulence incident in which 22 people were injured, are at loggerheads over the issue of jurisdiction.

The situation became tense after the office of assistant commissioner of police (airport division) wrote to the DGCA asking it to submit the details of the probe carried out by it.

DGCA, in turn, has written to top police authorities saying that the police has no jurisdiction over it. A senior DGCA official, who had knowledge about the matter said, "The cops have no jurisdiction over the airline incident investigation and should submit to us all the statements of injured passengers."
31/10/14 Shahkar Abidi/Daily News & Analysis

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