India wants more FDI from US for aviation sector: Ajit Singh

Asserting that India has taken significant steps in making air travel affordable, Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh today called for more foreign direct investment from America in the country which now offers immense business opportunities.
"The Indian Government has taken a number of measures to make affordable air connectivity to remote and interior areas of the country in Tier II and Tier III cities of India," Singh said in his address to the 4th India-US Aviation Summit which is being attended by top officials from the two countries' aviation sector.
Singh said the two countries share common values and are strategically moving towards closer ties.
The Indian airport system, he said, is poised to handle 360 million of domestic and 85 international passengers by 2020. This will make India the third largest aviation market, he added.
The India, he said, has envisaged an investment of USD 12 billion in the airport sector in the 12th plan of which USD 9 billion is expected from the private sector.
This includes, construction of new airports, expansion and modernisation of existing airports and development of low cost airports, the minister said.
Singh said India has made a number of policy changes to attract foreign direct investment.
30/10/13 PTI/Economic Times 

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Boeing plans to approach Tata-Singapore Airlines

Mumbai: Eyeing potential business opportunity, Boeing Corporation is planning to approach the proposed Tata-Singapore Airlines.
"Singapore Airlines has for long been our customer. We will definitely be approaching the proposed Tata-SIA Airlines for deepening our relationship. But it is too early to say anything further as they just have got the FIPB approval," Boeing Asia-Pacific and India Senior Vice-President (Sales) Dinesh Keskar told reporters here.
When asked whether he is expecting any orders from the forthcoming AirAsia India venture, he said the airline is the best to answer that question. Air Asia Group has been an Airbus customer traditionally.
On the fuselage panel coming off from a Dreamliner of Air India earlier this month in Bangalore, he said the company is concerned over such incidents.
31/10/13 PTI/Times of India

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Boeing not happy with Dreamliners' performance

New Delhi: Aircraft manufacturer Boeing today said it is going to focus all its energy to further improve the reliability of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner.
Dinesh Keskar, senior vice-president (sales, Asia-Pacific and India), Boeing said, “W are going to focus all our energy to make things right. We have a team in place here which monitors the operations and we are in touch with them. We develop plans together as to how we are going to fix it and I think we are already in that mode.”
 “Today, worldwide we are at 97 per cent reliability. We are not pleased with that, we will improve that and we will put resource to do that and Air India is no exception”, he added. He clarified that it is a safe airplane and has never caused concern as relates to the safety of passengers.
 The Dreamliner has been facing technical glitches, which started with cases of its battery catching fire in January forcing airlines across the world, including Air India, to ground their entire fleet of the aircraft for a few months.
30/10/13 Sharmistha Mukherjee/Business Standard

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Empire Aviation Group showcases services at Dubai Air Show 2013

Empire Aviation Group will be displaying the company’s client offerings at the Dubai Air Show 2013, including a new app that allows owners to check the status of their aircraft and obtain flight, route and destination information from a smart device.
The EAG team will also highlight the new Empire Aviation – India operations, the first overseas branch launched in Bangalore in 2012 and already has aircraft under management.
Empire Aviation Group has already added three new aircraft to its existing managed fleet in 2013, acquired its first managed aircraft in India and has sold three business jets.
EAG now has 23 aircraft under management across the Middle-East, Africa and India. The company recently added two Falcon 900DX aircraft, which are both based in Africa.
31/10/13 Corporate Jet Investor

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India, Colombia seek Miami airport’s consulting

Since its creation in March, the Miami-Dade County Aviation Department’s consulting business has been contacted by five foreign entities that have inquired about its services, the department said.
The MIA Business Ventures Program – a consulting services corporation – was created so the Aviation Department, which manages Miami International Airport, can sell airport-related advice to raise money for Miami International’s operations.
The program’s first job came in April, when it coordinated training in explosive detection practices for Port Au Prince’s Toussaint Louverture International Airport in Haiti in cooperation with the US State Department and the Miami-Dade Police Department.
MIA Business Ventures also was contacted recently by an entity seeking training and support for its bid to operate concessions at Chennai International Airport in India, which served more than 13 million passengers last year.
Another inquiry came from a bidder for the concession contract at Barranquilla’s Ernesto Cortissoz International Airport in Colombia.
30/10/13 Scott Blake/Miami Today

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No deadline for signing Rafale deal, Antony says

New Delhi: Defence minister AK Antony on Wednesday refused to set a deadline for conclusion of a multi-billion dollar deal to procure 126 Rafale combat aircraft for the Indian Air Force.
"This is not the issue. Issue is that contract negotiation committee (CNC) is going on and I or the Government cannot interfere with it ... How can I set a deadline," he told reporters here.
The minister was asked to comment on whether issues between HAL and Dassault Aviation were delaying the contract signing.
The minister's statement came soon after IAF deputy chief Air Marshal S Sukumar stated that the contract was expected to be signed between the two sides by the end of this fiscal.
30/10/13 PTI/Times of India

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US companies eager to invest in India's aviation sector

Washington: Top US companies are eager to invest in India's booming aviation sector's various fields, from security to building new airports, with recent changes in regulatory environment "encouraging" them, American officials have said.
Though top Obama Administration officials urged the Indian Government to address its concerns with regard to some of the key policy issues, it also praised the recent measures taken by Delhi.
"Indian aviation is experiencing dramatic growth across the board, from the emergence of new carriers to a growing middle class ready to take travel by air. Recent changes to regulatory environment are another encouraging sign," US Transportation Secretary Anthony Fox said at the India-US Aviation Summit here yesterday.
"Those changes send a signal to private industry that the Indian government increasingly recognises the needs and interests of business," Fox said.
31/10/13 PTI/Business Standard

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British Airways launches 6th direct London-Chennai flight

Chennai: Enhancing its services in South India, British Airways has introduced its sixth direct flight between Chennai and London.
"The flight touched down at Chennai International airport on October 27, marking the arrival of its sixth direct service to Chennai," British Airways said in a statement.
Adding tradition and heritage to its grand arrival, the aircraft was decorated in vibrant red and blue sarees created by city based retailer Nalli.
31/10/13 Economic Times

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787s are safe aircraft, company keeping watch: Boeing

New Delhi: US aircraft major Boeing said Wednesday its latest technologically advanced B-787 is a safe aircraft and the company is keeping a watch over every problem faced by the plane.
"It's a machine, we did our best to design it, but something happens... But it is a safe airplane, it has never caused issues with the safety of passengers," said Dinesh Keskar, senior vice president, sales, Asia Pacific and India, Boeing Commercial Aircraft.
"We have a operations control centre in Seattle which monitors every 787 aircraft in flight. We get to know about what is happening to every 787 in flight."
Keskar was replying to a question over a large belly panel of an Air India's 787 which fell off as the plane landed at Bangalore airport on October 12. The aircraft had taken-off from New Delhi carrying around 150 passengers.
30/10/13 IANS/Business Standard

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Peru, India mulling air link

Lima: Peru's National Tourism Chamber (Canatur) said the South American nation is studying the possibility of establishing air connections with India via Panama.
If possible, Air India could open fights from New Delhi to Lima and other regional capitals via Panama, Xinhua quoted Canatur head Carlos Canales as saying Tuesday.
Indian Vice President Hamid Ansari was in Peru Oct 26-28 to participate in free-trade talks with Peru's foreign ministry.
"One of the most important points of the negotiating process is air connectivity between India and Peru," said Canales.
30/10/13 New Indian Express

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Spy agency spooked over unsafe choppers

New Delhi: Alarm bells have been rung in the most important corridors of power by the aviation wing of country's external intelligence agency. At stake are the lives of its key operatives, involved in the gathering of intelligence.
It has been reliably learnt that the Aviation Research Centre (ARC) which functions as a feeder to Research & Analysis Wing (RAW) has raised the red flag on the usage of Russian Mi-8 helicopters. The ARC, which functions under the Cabinet Secretary's office, has in an urgent missive informed its superior authority the need to â??phase out and replace four Mi-8s by early next yearâ??. In return as replacement, the agency has sought the Mi17V5s, which the Indian Air Force (IAF) is procuring for itself. A source informed that the government is fully aware of this demand of the ARC and has indicated that the IAF will be asked to procure more for the ARC. "Rather than piecemeal procurement that the ARC does, it is better than an expert organization like IAF will look at it. Anyways they are buying the same helicopter in bulk," said a source.
30/10/13 Jugal R Purohit/India Today

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Paris airport ordeal for Indian fliers

Mumbai: When Jay Shah (24), a business professional, boarded the Air France flight AF 17 from JFK Airport, New York on October 9, he had no inkling of the ordeal that awaited him. He and his fellow passengers were not only stranded for more than 24 hours at the Charles De Gaulle Airport, the largest airport in France, but they also claim to be ill-treated by the airport staff on the basis of their ethnicity.
First their connecting flight to Mumbai from Paris was delayed and then cancelled apparently due to technical issues as cited by the airline officials. A delay or cancellation of flights require the airline to provide passengers with two free phone calls, free meals, free accommodation and compensation for the ordeal, according to European law.
“We were denied access to the Air France, lounge which is supposedly meant only for business-class passengers. Instead, we were made to sleep in the airport’s upper deck resting area which had a limited number of seats, so most of us ended up sleeping on the floor. All the occupants of this resting area were mostly Indian,” says an enraged Shah.
30/10/13 Karishma Goenka/Daily News & Analysis

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India’s Mahindra Opens New Plant, Partners with Aernnova

India’s Mahindra Aerospace inaugurated a 270,000-sq-ft aerostructures manufacturing plant last week at the Narsapura Industrial Estate near Bangalore. The plant opening accompanied an announcement by Mahindra that it signed a technology partnership agreement with Spanish Tier 1 supplier Aernnova Group, the first for Aernnova with an Indian aerostructures manufacturer.
The facility can make large, complex sheet-metal parts using CNC routing, stretch-forming, bladder press, heat treatment and other specialized equipment. The plant also features five-axis CNC machining, a fully automated surface treatment line, priming and painting capabilities for parts and assemblies and nearly 110,000 sq ft of space for the manufacture of major airframe assemblies and subassemblies.
The new plant cost about $25 million to build and carries the capacity to yield about $40 million in revenue per year at peak capacity. The company first plans to make small parts and subassemblies, then gradually advance to larger, more complex assemblies.
28/10/13 Gregory Polek/Neelam Mathews/AINonline

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AgustaWestland has violated the VVIP chopper contract: AK Antony

New Delhi:  Moving ahead towards scrapping the Rs 3,600 crore controversial chopper deal, Defence Minister AK Antony today said AgustaWestland has "violated the contract" for supplying 12 VVIP choppers for the Air Force.
"They (AgustaWestland) have violated the contract. We have taken steps to protect our interests," he said when asked about the final show cause notice issued to the firm by the Defence Ministry.
He said the Government has to move as per the law and "now, the final show cause notice has been served. We have given them 21 days to reply to it."
30/10/13 PTI/Economic Times

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Cessna Delivers First Citation Mustang for India Debut

Cessna Aircraft Company, a Textron Inc. company, delivered the first Citation Mustang destined for service in India. IRM Limited, one of the largest integrated travel and travel-related financial services company in India, took delivery of the best-selling Citation business jet during a ceremony at the Cessna delivery center in Independence, Kan.
The delivery ceremony was attended by B.V. Suresh, the Executive Vice President of IRM Limited. The first Mustang in India will be based at the company’s facility in Ahmedabad, capital city of Gujarat State, providing IRM Limited with high-speed executive and corporate travel, plus charter opportunities.
Brad Thress, Cessna senior vice president of business jets, said: “The Mustang is a great fit for IRM Limited, and perfect for operation in India out of Ahmedabad. From the west coast, passengers have non-stop access to practically every part of India. The Mustang can get in and out of places that might be tough for other aircraft to access, thanks to its short field performance and a full-fuel range of 1,150 nautical miles.”
29/10/13 Aviation Pros.com

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Dubai flight switches over to night slots

Pune: The Pune-Dubai direct flight service of Air India Express has now switched over to the night time slots. The flight's new arrival time from Dubai is 1.30 am and departure time from Pune is 2.30 pm.
"The change in timings is on account of the director general of civil aviation's winter schedule of flights that came into effect from Monday," Air India's Pune station manager Dhairyasheel Vandekar said.
The Air India Express, which is a subsidiary of Air India, had earlier approached the DGCA for a change in the flight timings as part of its strategic business plan.
The Pune-Dubai direct flight was the first international flight service to be launched from the city's Lohegaon airport on December 12, 2005. Initially, the service was operated by the Air India for over a year before it was taken over by the Air India Express.
30/10/13 Vishwas Kothari/Times of India

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AI Dreamliner develops flight control snag, passengers stuck in Melbourne

Boeing's unending troubles with the new B-787 Dreamliner are now leaving Air India passengers in a lurch.
On Sunday, AI's Melbourne-Delhi flight (AI 311), with 190 flyers on board, had to return to the Australian city after take off as it reportedly developed a flight control snag.
"The aircraft had to return to Melbourne due to a snag. All passengers have been put up in hotels and will be flown to Delhi by next flight."
Directorate General of Civil Aviation is going to probe this latest snag and is awaiting the aircraft's maintenance report.
This is the second trouble AI is facing with the Dreamliner this month.
About a fortnight ago, another Dreamliner's belly panel had flown off before landing in Bangalore on a flight from Delhi.
Sources say shortage of spare parts is adding to AI woes as replacements take long to come from the US.
28/10/13 Vikash Mishra/India Today

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Tata-AirAsia crew to train in Malaysia

New Delhi: The Tata-AirAsia joint venture (JV) low-cost airline is proving to be a unique one for Indian aviation authorities . The JV has told the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) that its training facility for all crew — pilots, cabin crew and engineers — will be in Malaysia.
This will be first instance of an Indian airline having its training base abroad. The DGCA has decided to send its team to the airline's training facility in Malaysia. This team will examine the set-up and then certify it so that the people trained from there can work on the LCC's Indian-registered aircraft.
The DGCA has formed a two-member team to examine the documents submitted by the Tata-AirAsia LCC. "Flight operating manuals, air worthiness and documents relating to other areas have been submitted . We are examining them. The process of granting the schedule airline permit (read licence) to this airline may take about one-and-a-halfmonths ," said sources.
28/10/13 Saurabh Sinha/Economic Times

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First Pune-Bangkok flight takes off

Pune: Mumbai-based Sushila More came all the way to Pune to board the first Pune-Bangkok direct flight that took off on Sunday afternoon. More, who is in the tourism industry, said she wanted to experience how it feels to travel directly from Pune to Bangkok.
SpiceJet's first flight from Pune to Bangkok was inaugurated at a small ceremony held at the Lohegaon airport on Sunday morning. The civil aviation committee chief of the Mahratta Chamber of Commerce Agriculture and Industries (MCCIA) S K Jain, Air Officer Commanding of 2 Wing AFS Air Commodore Surat Singh and Airports Authority of India (AAI) Pune director Manoj Kumar Gangal inaugurated the flight operation.
More said, "I am going to Bangkok with a friend. I love traveling and I like to experiment with my travel routes, hence I decided to come all the way to Pune and experience this flight." More, who was the first passenger to board the flight, was given a miniature aircraft by SpiceJet. The flight which was earlier scheduled at 1.40 pm was delayed by an hour.
28/10/13 Times of India

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Pilots, crew, airport officials in the smuggle flight

New Delhi: Headlines Today had first reported how on 20th October two Air India cabin crew members were arrested for smuggling 45 kg of sandalwood. When quizzed the duo had blamed the pathetic financial condition of the national carrier that had left them with no option but to resort to such illegal means to earn money. The news was shocking in itself and it left many unanswered questions. How was it possible for the international smugglers to get in touch with these crew members? Was the financial condition so bad that the employees have to resort to smuggling? Most importantly, we had to know was this simply a one off incident or not.
 Headlines Today then set itself out to meet the various airport agencies like the CISF, Customs and the Airport Police. These agencies did accept that such illegal activities do take place but also asserted that they were alert all the time. Airport DCP refused to come on camera or reveal details about the extent of smuggling that takes place inside the airport. CISF and Customs officials also refused to come on camera. Sources in the Customs however did tell us that in the past many cases had come up wherein the pilots and crew of reputed airlines were caught smuggling. Red Sandalwood, the sources maintained topped the list among the smuggling items. It is interesting to note that red sandalwood or red sanders is a banned item. It cannot be exported and the trees cannot be felled. Sources revealed that the wood is not so much in demand in India but it is a much sought after item in countries like Japan, China and Indonesia. This wood we were told is used to make musical instruments and the market price is very high of its value added form.
28/10/13 Pankaj Upadhyay/India Today

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Al Maktoum International-India routes a possibility

Dubai: European-low cost carrier Wizz Air could one day fly to India using Al Maktoum International at Dubai World Central as a hub.
József Váradi, Chief Executive Officer of Wizz Air, said on Sunday at the opening of Al Maktoum International that flying into India was “certainly something being evaluated” by the airline.
“We had discussion with India. Nevertheless, this is still premature,” he told Gulf News at the opening of Al Maktoum International on Sunday.
Wizz Air, a Hungarian no-frills airline, flew 12 million passengers across 290 routes in 35 different countries last year. The airline currently has 17 operational bases in nine Central and Eastern European countries.
27/10/13  Alexander Cornwell/Gulf News

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Mahindra & Mahindra to buy Beechcraft's Hawker 4000 and Premier business jet assets?

Beechcraft Corp. is in exclusive negotiations with a potential buyer for its Hawker 4000 and Premier business jet assets, which includes the company’s Plant 3 composite manufacturing facility, Beechcraft CEO Bill Boisture said last week.
The potential buyer has plans for the Plant 3 facility, Boisture said during an interview at the National Business Aviation Association’s annual convention in Las Vegas.
“They’re intending to go into the composite component manufacturing business,” Boisture said. “That’s a very positive thing.”
Wichita has a workforce that understands that capability, he said. “There’s reason to believe they could be very successful,” Boisture said.
A sale includes the type certificates, tooling and intellectual property of the Hawker 4000 and Premier lines along with Plant 3 and its equipment.
Beechcraft is “dangerously” close to closing a deal, Boisture said at a news conference at its static display last week at the Henderson Executive Airport.
Bloomberg, quoting unnamed sources, said last week that possible buyers include Brazil’s Embraer, India’s Mahindra & Mahindra and Cessna’s parent company, Textron.
26/10/13 Molly McMillin/The Wichita Eagle

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Air-India Express adds three more flights to Muscat

Muscat: Air-India Express is rationalising its Oman-India flight routes on the Kerala sector from October 27 to offer more convenient connectivity to passengers, a senior official of airlines in Muscat, told the Times of Oman.The proposed winter schedule from October 27 will now have three extra flights from Kozhikode to Muscat.
"We are raising the number of flights from Muscat to Kozhikode from four to seven. The arrangement will continue with only a brief halt in the months of November and February when the number of passengers is low," he said.
There will be one direct flight to Salalah and another via Kochi, he added. "As for the other routes, the old schedule will continue. The Air India schedule will also remain unchanged," he said.Giving details of the plans for the region, he said that Air India Express will also operate daily flights from Kochi to Dubai.
27/10/13 Rejimon K/Times of Oman

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No wings for foreign flights

Chandigarh: The Indian Air Force (IAF) has crashed the foreign dreams of two private airlines from the city airport, unwilling to give the go-ahead to international flights from the terminal on technical grounds.
Last month, Director General Civil Aviation (DGCA) accorded permission to Indigo and Spice Jet to operate international flights for Dubai from the existing terminal of the Chandigarh airport subject to approval of the ministry of defence (MOD). The MOD, which controls the airbase, had sought opinion from the air headquarters. The permission was required because IAF handles the technical area like runway and air traffic control (ATC).
Sources confirmed to TOI that the air force authorities expressed its inability to handle international flights on account of its tight schedule of handling its operational flights from the local airbase sorties for the strategically important Ladakh area.
26/10/13 Ajay Sura/Times of India

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SpiceJet plans gradual global expansion, to add Dammam and Kuala Lumpur as destinations

Bangkok:  Aiming to expand its international network gradually, no-frills carrier SpiceJetBSE 2.46 % today said it would add two more global destinations, Dammam and Kuala Lumpur, by March next year along with increasing frequencies on certain foreign routes.
"We are going to start operations to Dammam (Saudi Arabia) and Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia) within this financial year. We are currently working on the financial details and also trying to increase frequencies to certain existing destinations," SpiceJet's Senior Vice President (Commercial) V Raja said here today.
Asked whether SpiceJet was in talks with any foreign carrier for investment in its equity, he said these were "only reports", but added that "if there is a good proposal which is economically and commercially good for us, it will be wrong not to look at it".
27/10/13 PTI/Economic Times

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Bangkok holidays to now be more Spicy

Bangalore: If one is looking for indicators, one of the best would be a low-cost carrier (LCC) launching a direct flight to Bangkok. SpiceJet on Thursday became the first airline to gauge and act on the trend by launching a service that will operate four days in a week.
V Raja, senior vice-president (commercial), SpiceJet Ltd, said, “Bangkok, the capital city of Thailand, is also the major financial and economic hub of Thailand. There is huge growth potential in trade between India and ASEAN nations, and Bangkok would be one of the important centres for trade”
The direct flight between Bangalore and Bangkok will provide convenience and also help in reducing travel cost and time for all the passengers.
“Bangalore is one of the most important destinations for SpiceJet as well as other carriers operating in the country. Bangalorehas provided ample opportunity to SpiceJet for connecting destinations across the country,” Raja said.
26/10/13 Daily News & Analysis

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Boeing delivers 4th C-17 Globemaster plane to Indian Air Force

Washington: US aviation major Boeing has delivered its fourth C-17 Globemaster III aircraft to the Indian Air Force (IAF), with one more to be supplied by the year end.
This keeps the American aircraft giant on track to deliver five of the large, versatile military transport aircraft to the IAF this year, and five more in 2014.
Once India receives all of the ten aircraft, it will be the largest C-17 operator outside the United States.
Since its first flight in 1991, the C-17 has amassed more than 2.6 million flying hours, airlifting troops, large cargo, delivering humanitarian supplies by precision airdrop and performing lifesaving aeromedical missions.
26/10/13 PTI/Business Standard

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Airlines woo passengers with regional film fare

India’s growing reputation as one of fastest growing aviation market in the world has led foreign airlines to give special attention to regional films on their flight entertainment system.
These airlines are now increasingly buying movie rights of regional films to boost the passenger loyalty.
Sajid Khan, country head, South African airways said, “We are trying to give passengers the latest dose of regional films in several Indian regional languages”. The airline officials say that since Mumbai is the only centre from where the airline operates at present, the movie menu has strong Marathi language film listings.
Another airline, Emirates Airways recently got access to use popular Marathi films like Balak Palak, Premachi Goshta, Satrangi Re and Shaala.
These airlines are now increasingly buying movie rights of regional films to boost the passenger loyalty.
27/10/13 Shanhkar Abidi/Daily News & Analysis

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Man arrested with 16 gold bars at Ahmedabad airport

Ahmedabad: In third such incident at Sardar Vallabhbhai International Airport this month, the customs department arrested a man for smuggling gold worth Rs 40 lakh on Friday night. Naresh Kumar Vadilal Soni of Viramgam was caught with 1.5kg gold in his baggage.
When Soni arrived by Spicejet flight SG-016 at 11:30 pm, the officials found his behaviour during regular checking 'suspicious' and they detained him. When frisked, 14 gold bars of 100 gm and two gold bars of 50 gm were found in Soni's baggage, wrapped in polythene.
The officials produced Soni at Metropolitan Court on Saturday from where he was sent to judicial custody. "Soni is a first-time offender. Last month, he got his passport and flew out of the country for the first time," said an official.
27/10/13 Times of India

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Another haul: Gold worth Rs 14.62 lac seized at Mangalore Airport

Mangalore: For the fourth time in three days, the customs officials at Mangalore International Airport on Saturday October 26 arrested a passenger for trying to smuggle in gold from Dubai.
The arrested passenger is identified as Mohammed Arshad (38), a resident Kalanad, Kasargod.
He arrived by Air India Express flight on Saturday morning from Dubai.
The gold, weighing 457.05 grams, worth Rs 14.62 lac, was in the form of wires coated with silver.
26/10/13 daijiworld.com

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Immigration proves a pain for flyers at international airport

Mumbai: When Sudhir Shah (name changed), a media professional, arrived at Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport (CSIA) after a long flight from Europe, all he wanted was a smooth immigration and customs procedure. A jet-lagged Shah wanted to rush home to get some proper rest.
However, after waiting in the queue for some time, an immigration officer asked him to move to a neighbouring counter. But after he was half-way through at the counter, another officer asked all the passengers queuing up there to move to another counter. This infuriated all and they insisted on knowing the reason for the closure of the counter. In her reply, the officer said she had to go the washroom and as there was a staff crunch she had no other option but to ask the passengers to shift to the neighbouring counter.
26/10/13 Shahkar Abidi/Daily News & Analysis

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South African arrested with heroin in airport

A South African national was arrested today at NSC Bose international airport here for allegedly carrying heroin and other banned drugs worth Rs 2.5 crore.
"38-year-old West Bharmule was held during security and customs check for a flight bound to Doha in Quatar early this morning," Assistant Customs Commissioner R S Meena told reporters.
He had come to Kolkata from New Delhi yesterday, police said.
26/10/13 Business Standard

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Rs 55 lakh worth gold recovered from passenger

Chennai:Customs officials today recovered 1.5 kg of gold valued at Rs 55 lakh from a passenger who had arrived from Dubai on Friday.
Abdul Rasheed (40) of Ernakulam in Kerala was arrested for allegedly smuggling the gold hidden in a registered package.
26/10/13 PTI/Business Standard

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Green light for Tata Sons, Singapore Airlines joint venture, all eyes on foreign flights

New Delhi: The Indian skies are getting crowded. With the Tata Sons and Singapore Airlines venture closer to take off — the proposal was blessed by the Foreign Investment Promotion Board on Thursday — flyers will have one more option if they’re looking to fly with a full-service carrier.
By next November they may also be flying AirAsia, whose airline, also in partnership with the Tatas, was approved in March, and which plans to operate in the no-frills space.
India’s Rs 50,000-crore aviation business flatters to deceive. Airlines collectively posted losses of Rs 12,809 crore in FY12 and Rs 9,270 in FY13. Indigo was the sole carrier to have made money in both years. In 2012, low-cost players flew 32.4 million or 60% of all passengers.
On the face of it, the full-service segment looks to be the more difficult to operate in, given how price-sensitive consumers are. Jet Airways, which shares the market more or less equally with Air India, notched up a record consolidated quarterly loss of Rs 996 crore in the three months to September, the lack of pricing power evident from the numbers.
25/10/13 Financial Express

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Technical snag grounds AI’s Dreamliner in Oz

Mumbai:The Air India Dreamliner aircraft — registration number VT-ANL — that had experienced an onboard oven overheating in July, has been grounded in Melbourne due engine trouble since Wednesday, inconveniencing over 140 passengers.
The "technical problem", which airline officials are unable to explain, has left passengers of the Melbourne-Sydney-Delhi flight stranded at Melbourne itself.
"The problem began when an engine of the aircraft developed a snag at Melbourne," a senior engineering department official told Mirror. Sources said that engineers attend to the fault and Air India made three attempts to reschedule the take-off, but all three were called off at the last minute when it was found that the problem had not been satisfactorily addressed.
"The exact cause of the engine problem will be known once it is certified to operate and a report on the incident is prepared," an airline official said.
The same aircraft had made headlines three months ago when an onboard steam oven overheated and emitted hot water, scalding an airhostess.
Following the incident, the aircraft was not grounded but continued to fly after a routine check by local engineers in Kolkata.
25/10/13 Aditya Sharma/Mumbai Mirror

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SpiceJet to add 3-4 international destinations next year

Bangalore: Announcing the launch of its Bangalore-Bangkok direct flight, SpiceJetBSE 2.46 % today said it will be adding 3 to 4 international destinations in the next year.
"Bangkok is our tenth international destination; the strategy going forward will be to expand as much internationally as possible within the five hour flying radius of India; ... hopefully we will be adding 3 to 4 international destinations in the next year," SpiceJet Senior Vice President & Head (Ground Services) Kamal Hingorani told reporters here.
"We have already covered 10 international stations, exploring a few more as we go along. The one that is already announced is Madurai to Dubai which starts next month on 22 November, we are looking at connecting Kuala Lumpur to a few cities in the country," he added.
Announcing its first flight to Bangkok tomorrow, SpiceJet Senior Vice President (Commercial) V Raja said "to begin with we will be operating four flights a week from Bengaluru to Bangkok and we are hopeful, confident- that we will scale it up soon."
25/10/13 PTI/Economic Times

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Call for visa on arrival facility at Karipur

Kozhikode: The tourism fraternity as well as industry and trade groups in Malabar are making a determined push for Visa on Arrival (VoA) facility at the Karipur International Airport, to give a fillip to the region's tourism prospects.
The hospitality sector in Malabar feels let down as Karipur airport was not included in the VoA facility recently granted to the Thiruvananthapuram and Cochin International airports.
They said the decision was a setback for the emerging tourism circuit in Malabar, especially as the government plans to extend the tourist Visa on Arrival facility to an additional 40 countries.
"The launch of VoA facility at Karipur airport would have provided a boost to the tourism industry in north Kerala in its attempt to attract international visitors. It would also have aided in the development of the Malabar tourism circuit," said K R Vancheeswaran, secretary of Wayanad Tourism Organisation.
25/10/13 Times of India

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Sharjah bound man arrested with Rs25L cash

Nagpur:  A 47-year-old Nagpur-based businessman was caught smuggling Rs24.61 lakh cash from the city airport to Sharjah on October 23. The customs department, however, refused to disclose the identity of the accused. They did not reveal his name, reportedly a resident of Jaripatka who deals in mobile phones and has shops in Sitabuldi.
The accused was going to fly by Air Arabia Nagpur-Sharjah flight on Wednesday morning when he was caught by the air customs unit after receiving intelligence reports.
"According to our investigation and interrogations which continued through the day on Wednesday, the accused does not have any criminal history and has a clean record," said an official of Air Customs Unit, Nagpur.
The accused has been arrested and a statement has been recorded under Section 108 of Customs Act 1962. According to the press release issued, the accused has, in his statement, admitted the ownership, knowledge, non-declaration, possession and carriage of the seized cash.
25/10/13 Times of India

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Mozambique national held with drugs at IGI airport

New Delhi: A Mozambique national has been arrested for allegedly smuggling Rs 40 lakh banned narcotic drugs from the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport.
The 29-year-old youth, identified as Massanngo Filipe Carlos, was intercepted by a CISF check squad in the wee hours yesterday when he was entering the Terminal 3 of the IGI to catch a flight to Johanesburg in South Africa.
25/10/13 PTI/Daily News & Analysis

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Govt may reconsider decision on A-380 flying to India

New Delhi: A final decision on whether the world’s largest civilian aircraft, Airbus A-380, should be allowed to operate regular scheduled flights into India will be taken by the Ministry of Civil Aviation after discussions with domestic airlines.
No time frame has yet been fixed on when a decision will be taken, senior Ministry officials said, after an internal meeting here on Wednesday. The meeting was called to discuss whether to allow the double-deck aircraft, which can seat as many as 525 passengers, to operate regular scheduled flights into India.
Several airlines, including Singapore Airlines, Dubai-based Emirates and Germany’s Lufthansa, are keen to bring the aircraft into India, but are currently prevented by the Indian rules.
The Government has all along maintained that allowing the A-380 into the country will see foreign airlines take away a large chunk of international traffic and, therefore, will be detrimental to the interests of domestic carriers such as Jet Airways and Air India.
23/10/13 Business Line

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Indian man collapses at Sharjah Airport, dies later in hospital

Abu Dhabi: The body of a 22-year-old Indian sailor has been lying in a mortuary in Sharjah for two weeks and his family is still in the dark about their son’s sudden demise, XPRESS has learnt.
“We do not know what happened to him. He was supposed to come home on October 3. His company has not even bothered to inform us about his death until now,” Ravi Selvam, brother of deceased Anbarasu Selvam told XPRESS over the phone from Chennai, India.
According to the family, Anbarasu joined the ship Al Majed H under the Dubai-based company Majeed Al Bazony Shipping as a trainee marine engineer on May 14. He was employed on a one-year contract.
Anbarasu informed his family on October 2 evening that he was going to Chennai on an Air Arabia flight from Sharjah the following morning.
“That was the last we heard from him. He was already at Sharjah Airport, but sounded very disturbed. He told me the company was sending him back due to some health reasons,” said Selvam.
The family grew worried when Anbarasu did not arrive in India, and he remained unreachable on his phone. On October 6, a friend of Anbarasu in Dubai informed them that he had passed away at the Kuwaiti Hospital in Sharjah.
23/10/13  Anjana Sankar/Gulf News

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Etihad’s funds may not be enough to save Jet Airways

Jet Airways was obviously not fibbing when it reiterated time and again this year that the equity deal with Etihad Airways is critical to its very survival. The deal is expected to fructify shortly and will see Etihad pump in over $600 million into cash-starved Jet Airways. But will this be enough? Auditors to Jet have made it clear (after Jet posted highest ever losses for the September quarter yesterday) that its continuation as a “going concern” is dependent on funds it receives from Etihad. Even these funds may not be enough to steer Jet out of financial trouble. The first thing that Etihad’s money will do is provide some relief to Jet on paring its debt and reducing servicing costs. It is also expected to help the airline better negotiate suppliers’ contracts. But will it provide adequate working capital cushion and help Jet stem the bleeding? Jet funds subsidiary JetLite’s operations and has itself acknowledged that JetLite’s networth has become negative, which puts in doubt JetLite’s ability to return the loans provided by Jet Airways. Another reason for Jet to worry.
24/10/13 Sindhu Bhattacharya/First Post

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Upgraded Mirage 2000 undertakes maiden flight in France

New Delhi: Under IAF's over Rs 10,000 crore modernisation programme, the first Mirage 2000, upgraded by its manufacturer, has successfully completed it maiden flight at an air base in France.
India had signed an upgrade programme worth over Rs 10,000 crore with the French manufacturer Dassault Aviation for upgrading the fleet of its Mirage 2000 aircraft.
"The upgraded Mirage 2000 has successfully completed its maiden flight on schedule as envisaged by the campaign programme," Dassault Aviation said in a release.
The Air Force lost two of the Mirage 2000 aircraft last year in crashes and has only 49 aircraft out of the 51 for which the deal was signed are left with it. It is not clear whether the cost of upgrading the fleet of these aircraft will come down or not because of the two losses.
24/10/13 PTI/ZeeNews

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India, US dig in against EU air carbon charge

Washington/New Delhi: India voiced firm opposition on Tuesday to EU plans to impose a scaled-back carbon charge on flights over European airspace while a senior US lawmaker said the EU proposal runs afoul of a law intended to shield US airlines from such charges.
The European Commission, the EU executive, last week proposed to make all airlines pay for emissions over European airspace in a retreat from a suspended EU law that covered the duration of flights using EU airports.
India said the EU proposal defies a global aviation agreement hammered out in Montreal earlier this month at an assembly of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), the UN body in charge of civil air travel.
"What they (the European Commission) have now done is in total conflict with what the ICAO has decided. The multilateral body has to intervene in this matter," K.N. Shrivastava, India's aviation secretary, told Reuters.
Along with China, India has defied the European Union move, even refusing to submit emissions data before the EU suspended it for a year amid threats of a trade war.
23/10/13 Reuters/Business Standard

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After deal with Etihad, Jet signals shift in flight plan

New Delhi:While markets have been rife with concerns over the adverse impact of the Jet-Etihad alliance on Air India's international operations, the national carrier may actually gain incremental traffic in the domestic arena. Currently, the country's second largest passenger carrier, Jet Airways, has drawn out a blueprint to connect 23 cities in India to Abu Dhabi to synergise operations with Etihad Airways. Such a business plan, while likely to improve profitability for Jet on international routes, may limit its footprint at home as the planned network expansion is not feasible with the fleet at its disposal.
Jet will require short-haul Boeing 737s to feed the traffic to Abu Dhabi, Etihad's home base and hub. It does have plans to induct 54 aircraft over the next three to five years but the initial demand would have to be met by diverting its existing fleet of 57 such aircraft.
Data available indicate that the shift in Jet's focus from domestic operations has already started to happen. The airline's share in the domestic market fell to 24.6 per cent in September from 26.2 per cent at the start of the year. The reasons for this change in focus are not just operational but also financial. In 2012-13, Jet lost over Rs 1,100 crore in domestic operations but earned around Rs 400 crore on international routes. An overhaul in operational structure, thus, would mean more profits.
23/10/13 Sharmistha Mukherjee/Business Standard

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Govt begins study to allow A-380 flights to India

New Delhi: India’s long wait for the world’s biggest commercial aircraft, the double decker Airbus A-380, to fly here regularly may come to an end if the government is able to strike a balance between the interests of flyers and desi airlines. Indian carriers have for years been opposing request from airlines like Emirates, Lufthansa and Singapore Airlines to fly the big bird here as it could wean away traffic from them.
Aviation secretary K N Srivastava on Wednesday asked DGCA chief Arun Mishra assess the impact allowing this plane here will have on Indian airlines and also recommend what changes would be required in existing bilateral agreements with the countries whose airlines plan to fly the A-380 here.
“We will see what impact introduction of this aircraft had on local airlines in places where it flies to. The fear is that if an airline flies a 500 or 600-seater aircraft on any route, say Delhi-Dubai, it will be able to offer rock bottom fares and Indian carriers will not be able to match them without going bust. So we will consult our airlines and see the impact allowing A-380 here could have on passengers and airlines here,” said an official.
23/10/13 Saurabh Sinha/Times of India

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Gulf Carrier to Acquire Stake In Air India's MRO Unit

Gulf Carrier is likely to acquire stake in Air India’s maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) unit, TOI states. Air India had hived off the unit as a separate subsidiary with about 7,000 employees.
Along with MRO, ground handling subsidiaries also had been spined-off by AI very recently.
Air India is the flag carrier airline of India. It is part of the government owned Air India Limited. The airline operates a fleet of Airbus and Boeing aircraft serving Asia, the United States, Europe and now Australia.
Air India was founded by JRD Tata. The company has been making loses past seven years since the merger of state-run carrier Indian Airlines with Air India in 2007. The rising competition, worsening operational performance, massive aircraft purchases, and the ill-conceived merger had pushed the combined airline into the bad phase.
23/10/13  Pranali Shah/Dealcurry

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Bullets on flight: American released on bail

Bhubaneswar: After spending nearly 33 days in judicial custody, American engineer William Michael Hurtubise was released on Monday. Though his conditional bail was granted on October 9, he could not be released from Jharpada special jail following delay in arrangement of bail bond and surety amount.
"He was released from judicial custody after depositing Rs 50,000, passport and visa in the court. He was granted conditional bail by the sessions court. His health is fine," said his lawyers Sarat Gajendra and Raj Kishore Das. "We will move the Orissa high court, seeking speedy trial there," Das said.
22/10/13 Times of India

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R6.5m drug bust at King Shaka airport

Durban - Two people were arrested in Durban after being found in possession of drugs with an estimated street value of R6.5 million, KwaZulu-Natal police said on Wednesday.
The couple aged between 28 and 29 were caught on Tuesday night at the King Shaka International Airport after they landed from India, said Colonel Jay Naicker. Police confiscated 36kg of crystal methamphetamine in their luggage. A 36-year-old woman was later arrested in the Point area in Durban waiting for the delivery of drugs from the couple, said Naicker.
23/10/13 SAPA/IOL News

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Oman Airport Awards announced

Muscat: The 1st ever Oman Airport Awards was announced during the Oman Airports Management Company (OAMC), annual party held at Shangri-La’s Barr Al Jissah Resort and Spa last night under the patronage of Dr Ahmed Mohammed Salem al Futaisi, Minister of Transport and Communications. The Oman Airport Awards have been instituted for the first time to recognise and reward the best airport management, services and hospitality practices across Muscat International and Salalah Airports. The 2013 award ceremony included many categories namely Best Low Cost, Best Inflight Service, Fastest Growing, Best Airline Marketing, Best Cargo Airline, Best MCT Airport Service, Best SLL Airport service, Best Retailers (Restaurant, Coffee Shop and Food). The event attracted more than 400 industry representatives, including CEOs from major airports, airlines, air traffic management, national governments and the airport institutions.
The guests were welcomed to a fantastic opening party with breath-taking views of Shangri La’s Barr al Jissah Resort and Spa on the award night. The ABC ballroom at Shangri La created the perfect setting and atmosphere for these greatly anticipated awards, and attendees enjoyed the event followed by a gala dinner with entertainment.
21/101/3 Oman Observer

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Jet Airways to take flight to medium-haul overseas routes post Etihad Deal

Mumbai: Jet Airways may shift focus to medium-haul international routes with its margins under pressure in the local market and partner Etihad Airways set to control most of the long-haul traffic in their combined network.
India's second-biggest airline by market share plans to start flights to at least 15 new routes, including locations such as Oman, Muscat, Kuala Lumpur and Guangzhou, said a person close to the development.
It may also look at increasing its current fleet size of 100 aircraft by close to 50%, either by leasing or buying planes, he added.
A Jet spokesperson refused comment. Etihad didn't immediately reply to an emailed questionnaire.
21/10/13 Anirban Chowdhury/Economic Times

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Two drug smugglers sent to prison

Ahmedabad:  Customs department on Monday produced the two Malawi nationals - a man and a woman - in the metropolitan court. The couple were allegedly carrying 31 kgs of illegal drugs at the city airport on Sunday. The duo was charged with violating sections of the Customs Act and Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act and was sent to judicial custody.
"Export of the substance the accused were carrying- ephedrine hydrochloride-is prohibited under NDPS Act," said a customs official. Customs claimed this is the biggest seizure of drugs at any airport in India in 2013.
Najaidi Fraser Chimatro (23) and Masangana Annie Maria (22) were held by customs with 31.627 kgs of ephedrine hydrochloride while attempting to board an Emirates fight to Dubai. During the baggage screening some suspicious material was noticed by Customs officials. Immediately, a customs sniffer dog was called to confirm.
21/10/13 Times of India

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Two pilots on a journey of a lifetime

Nagpur: It is a flight of dreams. Dreams, of two private pilots, and possibly of millions of others too. The flight across the Pacific, from London to Sydney, which Andy Hardy, a 50-year-old Australian businessman living in England, and Sam Kidd, a 24 year old British sales professional, have begun will not only be a journey of a lifetime for the duo but will also help raise a considerable amount for Oxfam, a globally known aid and development charity.
"Otherwise, we would be just two rich guys, flying from London to Sydney," Hardy said. The idea took root in his mind during the flights he took to his homeland. "I would think, 'one day I will do that myself'. And it was due to prodding by one of my friends, I finally decided to undertake this journey," he added.
Though the journey began from London, the duo officially kick-started the trip from Odense, Denmark, on September 29 as they had shifted the aircraft, a 1966 Piper Cherokee, from London to Denmark before summer. Before reaching Nagpur for resting and refuelling break, Herd and Kidd made similar halts at places like Corfu in Greece, Port Said in Egypt, Dubai, Karachi etc.
At Nagpur, the more than 12,500 miles journey is approximately at the halfway mark. The only complaint they have after landing here is about not finding oranges at the city airport.
20/10/13 Aparna Nair/Times of India

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India To Beef Up Airborne Surveillance With Raytheon ISTAR Aircraft

The Indian Air Force will increase surveillance along the country’s lengthy borders with the acquisition of two intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition reconnaissance (ISTAR) aircraft worth $350 million from Raytheon. The Indian Air Force has been recently briefed on the ISTAR aircraft capabilities by Raytheon officials, according Defense News.India had issued a RFI in 2011 and shortlisted Raytheon after eliminating Thales, Boeing, BAE and Elta. Raytheon has offered a Gulfstream platform for the aircraft but has left it open for the IAF to make its own platform selection. This is the first news of Raytheon-IAF has come out post the down selection.
18/10/13 defenseworld.net

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BEL, Pilatus Aircraft launch offset project in India

New Delhi: Bharat Electronics Ltd (BEL) and Pilatus Aircraft Ltd, Switzerland, have announced the launch of an offset project to establish an electrical harness manufacturing capability at BEL’s Bangalore Complex.
The project will enable BEL to manufacture electrical harnesses for the Pilatus global supply chain.
Pilatus Aircraft Ltd entered into a contract with the Government of India in 2012 for the supply of 75 PC-7 MkII turboprop basic trainer aircraft to the Indian Air Force.The contract includes an integrated ground based training system, a comprehensive logistics support package and a 30 per cent offset obligation. Pilatus has taken the offset obligation as a major opportunity to expand its footprint in India.
18/10/13 Truth Drive

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Qatar Airways in talks to buy stake India's SpiceJet, say reports

Qatar Airways is reportedly planning to acquire a minority stake in SpiceJet, an Indian low cost airline.
Both airlines have signed a non-disclosure agreement, Indian newspapers said, with preliminary talks being held on Qatar Airways acquiring a 24 percent stake in SpiceJet, according to Dubai-based weekly Arabian Business.
Qatar Airways might invest a total of $200m in SpiceJet, the source also claimed.
Shares in SpiceJet rose by 6.5 percent of hopes of the sale, according to Indian-based financial website Moneycontrol.com.
However, both airlines denied talks about any sale earlier this year, according to the website.
18/10/13 Al Arabia

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The 'world's worst' airport terminal

Manila: The Philippines' main Manila airport terminal has been named the world's worst for the second year in a row in a survey by an online travel website.
Officials on Friday brushed off the survey results, insisting conditions were being improved.
"The Guide to Sleeping in Airports" website said Manila's crowded Terminal 1 was ranked the world's worst by travellers based on comfort, convenience, cleanliness and customer service.
Reviews posted on the site mentioned "dilapidated facilities", dishonest airport workers -- particularly taxi drivers -- long waiting times and rude officials.
"These are old issues," Terminal 1 manager Dante Basanta told AFP, adding that the problems were already being addressed by the government.
18/10/13 Agence France-Presse/NDTV.com

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China-India visa row escalates

New Delhi: Indian politicians complained on Friday after a Chinese airline blocked two Indian archers from a disputed border state from travelling to China, raising territorial tension just days before Prime Minister Manmohan Singh visits Beijing.
Despite fast-growing economic ties and cooperation on global issues, the nuclear-armed neighbours have long disagreed about large areas of their 4,000-km border and fought a brief, high-altitude war in 1962 over India-administered Arunachal Pradesh, which China claims as South Tibet.
Two teenage female archers from Arunachal Pradesh, who were due to participate in the World Archery Youth Championships in Wuxi, were barred from boarding a Guangzhou-bound flight late on Thursday. China refuses to stamp visas on Indian passport holders from disputed territories, but staples them instead, a practice that infuriates India. At times, even Chinese companies, like China Southern Airlines involved in Thursday’s incident, reject such visas.
19/10/13 eTN Global Travel Industry News

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Man pays Rs 2.8 lakh duty for 1 kg gold

Nedumbassery: A passenger who arrived at the Kochi international airport from Dubai by an early morning Air India Express flight on Friday had to pay Rs 2.87 lakh on finding that he was carrying one-kg gold bar in his trouser pocket.
Ashraf, a native of Muvattupuzha, passed through the newly fixed door frame metal detector, and the alarm went off putting the Customs officials on alert. It was reported that following the alarm, Ashraf walked over to the Customs counter and informed that he was carrying a gold bar with him.
19/10/13 New Indian Express

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Gold smuggling case: Official, driver sent to CBI custody

Kochi: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) special court on Friday sent Customs Assistant Commissioner S Anil Kumar and his driver Rejith alias Jikku in CBI custody for five days.
Both were arrested for receiving money and gifts from T K Fayaz, alleged gold smuggler.
The CBI submitted before the court that Anil Kumar had received financial assistance from Fayaz for his marriage last month.
The CBI said it has recovered an LED TV, treadmill, watch and several crockery items gifted by Fayaz to Anil Kumar.
“The case against Anil Kumar is not just of receiving monetary gain, but of misusing his position as a public servant. Anil Kumar had used Fayaz’ car for a month for his marriage purpose. Rejith was the driver of the car.
When the CBI registered a case against Customs officials, Anil Kumar had shifted Fayaz’ gifts to Rejith’s house. The money was deposited to bank accounts maintained by several people in various banks, which Anil Kumar could not identify,” the CBI submitted.
It also filed the case diary before the judge in which details of gifts received by Anil Kumar was given.
19/10/13 New Indian Express

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HAL rejects IAF proposal to produce Pilatus trainer aircraft

New Delhi: Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) has rejected a proposal of Air Force to produce Pilatus aircraft in its facilities against the backdrop of a tussle between the two on whether to procure an imported trainer aircraft or develop it indigenously.
IAF has already placed an order for 75 Pilatus trainer aircraft and is planning to procure 106 more of them after the completion of the delivery of first lot by the end of 2017. HAL, however, is in favour of developing the aircraft indigenously.
IAF had proposed that HAL should licence produce the Pilatus aircraft in its facility but this was rejected by the aerospace giant saying it was working on a project of its own on the issue, senior IAF officials said here.
HAL is working towards producing HTT-40 basic trainer aircraft which is expected to fly by 2015.
18/10/13 PTI/Economic Times

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CCI rejects complaint against DIPP for not allowing FDI in Air India

New Delhi: Fair trade regulator CCI has dismissed allegations of anti-competitive practices by the Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion (DIPP) for not allowing FDI by foreign airlines in state-owned Air India.
"Not allowing FDI from foreign airlines in Air India does not appear to be hampering competition in the relevant market in any way," the Competition Commission of India (CCI) said in an order dated October 8, which was made public today.
DIPP has allowed foreign airlines to invest up to 49 per cent stake in Indian carriers except Air India.
After looking into complaints against DIPP, CCI said it "is not a fit case for causing investigation to be made by the Director General (DG)".
CCI said the direction by DIPP on FDI "only gave an additional option to all private airlines to finance their capital needs through foreign direct investments from foreign airlines, which does not affect their interest inter-se".
18/10/13 PTI/NDTV.com

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Gulf carrier eyed stake in Air India’s MRO unit

New Delhi: Aviation minister Ajit Singh's recent observation that Air India could get private suitors despite its poor health may have come from the fact that a leading Gulf carrier reportedly evinced interest in its maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) unit some time back.
This unit was hived off from AI as a subsidiary with about 7,000 employees and the Gulf carrier was eyeing a stake in it. However, AI did not respond.
According to sources, a decision to disinvest in AI or any of its subsidiaries has to first come from the government. Also, the MRO and ground handling subsidiaries have been carved out of AI very recently and employees being shifted there were anyway apprehensive at leaving the parent AI that has been assured government funding of Rs 30,000 crore over the next decade.
The government had clearly said that these two separate "profit centers" may at a later stage get private investors but selling a stake so soon after creation could have led to fears among employees.
19/10/13 Saurabh Sinha/Times of India

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Legal Fight Looms Over India’s Troubled AW101 Acquisition

India’s attorney general, Goolamhussein Essaji Vahanvati, ruled last week that AgustaWestland breached contractual obligations and an associated “integrity pact” in winning a $787 million contract to supply 12 AW101 VIP helicopters to the Indian Air Force (IAF) in 2010, raising the possibility the government will cancel the deal. AgustaWestland and parent company Finmeccanica have continued to deny any wrongdoing and on October 4 the Italian manufacturer formally requested arbitration over the stalled contract. In a written statement AgustaWestland said, “We have no further information compared to what [has been] published by the press. We have not received any Show Cause Notice for the contract cancellation. We have recently launched an arbitration process on contract suspension.”
The uncertainty surrounding the helicopter purchase has raised concerns that India’s military could be disadvantaged by possible legal wrangling, which seems likely to delay the procurement.
18/10/13 AINonline

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Deception game, advantage smugglers

Thiruvananthapuram: The Gulf-based gold smugglers seem to have altered their method of operation to fox the limited overseas intelligence network of the country’s border enforcement agencies, according to Customs and Central Excise and Directorate of Revenue Intelligence enforcers here.
Citing the case of the state-of-affairs in Dubai airport, the enforcers said carriers bound for India often stated the amount of gold they were carrying at the declaration counter there and also produced authentic bills for the same.
Subsequently, to deceive informants, if any, they would hand over the gold to an associate of theirs bound on a different flight to India at the security hold of the airport (the hall where passengers wait to board their flight after security clearance).
The informants of the agencies rely mostly on the intelligence they gather from the airport’s declaration counter and its duty free shops to alert their handlers in airports in Kerala other States.
17/10/18 The Hindu

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Close to the clousure of the deal, top executives from Etihad may join Jet by year-end

Mumbai: At least four executives from Etihad Airways are likely to assume key positions in Jet Airways by the end of year, close to the closure to the first FDI deal in Indian aviation after the sector was opened up for investment from foreign carriers last year.
The executives are Willy Boulter, who is currently vice-president commercial strategy and planning at the Abu Dhabi-based carrier, Renyl Rauf, senior manager, mergers and acquisitions, Rangesh Embar, vice-president finance and Rajeev Nambiar, head of sales.
A person close to the development told ET that Boulter already partly operates out of Jet's corporate office in suburban Mumbai. Boulter, the person said, may be considered as Sudheer Raghavan's successor as Jet's next chief commercial officer.
17/10/13 Economic Times

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Etihad pilots management changes at Jet Airways

Mumbai: Etihad Airways is steering organisational revamp in Jet Airways, in which it is set to acquire 24 per cent stake. Two senior Etihad executives are likely to join the Jet Airways management team, in an apparent indication of the Abu Dhabi-based airline’s control over Jet.
Sources said Rajeev Nambiar, sales head of Etihad, is likely to replace Sonu Kripalani, Jet’s vice-president(sales), who is expected to take up another position within the organisation. In another move Willy Boulter, Etihad’s vice-president (commercial and network planning), is likely to take over as Jet’s chief commercial officer, replacing Sudheer Raghavan. Sources say Raghavan is leaving the organisation, as his powers and responsibilities are being curtailed.
Etihad earns about 23 per cent of its passenger revenue from code-share and equity partners, and this would increase after its tie-up with Jet. In the past few months, the Naresh Goyal-controlled Jet has seen resignations of a few senior executives, as well as changes in its organisation structure.
17/10/13 Aneesh Phadnis/Business Standard

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Qatar Airways looks to grow India reach, eyes SpiceJet stake

Mumbai: Qatar Airways is in talks with SpiceJet for the possible acquisition of 24 per cent stake in the Indian airline. Recently, the two airlines signed a non-disclosure agreement, but due diligence in this regard was yet to be carried out, said a source privy to the development.
In January, Qatar Airways had denied it was in talks with SpiceJet or any other Indian airline. Asked about the talks with SpiceJet earlier this week, a Qatar Airways spokesperson said the airline didn’t wish to comment on the issue.
SpiceJet denied it was in talks with the Gulf airline. “While we are not averse to the idea of partnering a reputed name in aviation, it will be improper to comment prematurely on the possibilities of a deal fructifying. That said, we wish to categorically state it is totally misconceived to say SpiceJet is in talks with Qatar Airways for a possible stake sale. A similar rumour was doing the rounds earlier, and we had denied it as soon as it hit the wires. Yet again, we have to simply reiterate there is absolutely no truth in this story,” said S L Narayanan, chief financial officer of the Sun Group, which owns SpiceJet.
According to sources, however, the talks were in preliminary stages and Qatar Airways might infuse $200 million in debt and equity in SpiceJet.
17/10/13 Aneesh Phadnis/Business Standard

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India to finalise Rafale deal this fiscal year: Report

New Delhi: India will finalise a $15 billion deal to buy 126 Rafale fighter jets from France's Dassault Aviation by March 2014, an Indian air force official said on Thursday, after the deal had been held up by differences over local manufacturing.
New Delhi picked the Rafale for exclusive negotiations in January 2012 after a bidding contest against Eurofighter Typhoon aircraft, made by a consortium involving EADS, Finmeccanica and BAE Systems.
But there were differences over the role of India's state-run Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd in manufacturing the jets.
Air Marshal S. Sukumar, deputy chief of air staff, told an aerospace conference the deal would be signed within the current financial year, according to a statement issued by conference organiser, the Confederation of Indian Industry.
17/10/13 Reuters/Economic Times

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Madurai-Dubai flight from November 22

Madurai: Trade bodies and travel agents here are elated over the announcement of SpiceJet to operate daily flights between Madurai and Dubai from November 22, which they believe will boost tourism and business.
According to Travel Club president B.G. Musthafa, the flight will depart Madurai at 11.35 p.m. and land in Dubai at 2.20 a.m. In the return direction, it will leave Dubai at 3.50 p.m. and land in Madurai at 9.45 p.m. (all local time). While the one-way fare has been fixed at Rs.6,999, the return fare would cost double the amount.
Introduction of the night flight to Dubai will necessitate the Madurai airport to remain open at least till midnight. At present, it begins operations by 7 a.m. and closes by 9 p.m. and the only international destination linked directly from the airport here is Colombo.
17/10/13 The Hindu

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Malindo to venture into Indian skies soon

Hybrid airline Malindo Airways Sdn Bhd is set to fly to Indian destinations as early as next month, to get a piece of the market where its peers, Malaysia Airlines (MAS) and AirAsia Bhd, are enjoying reputable load factors.
The barely 200-day old airline is aiming to begin flying daily to New Delhi and Mumbai by end of November, a source close to the airline told The Malaysian Reserve.
Malindo also aims to fly to three other destinations — Kochi, Chennai and Ahmedabad.
Malindo initially aimed to fly to Kochi and Trichy but has decided to drop Trichy from its immediate expansion plan as “AirAsia is already responding in an aggressive way by offering crazy deals to Trichy,” the source said.
“Malindo thinks this is the best time to expand. Competition will be everywhere, but there’s still space to grow,” the source said.
Malindo will operate the Indian flights through its fleet of eight Boeing aircraft.
Officials from AirAsia could not be contacted at press time to comment on Malindo move to India.
16/10/13 Prem Kumar Panjamorthy/Malaysian Reserve

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Emirates moves operations to new International Terminal 2 at Chennai Airport

Chennai: Emirates, one of the world's fastest growing airlines, has moved its operations to the new International Terminal 2 at Chennai International Airport from October 14. Emirates operate three daily flights from Chennai to Dubai.
Departures at the new International Terminal 2 take place from Level 2. Emirates' check-in counters are located in the East Wing of the terminal while entry for passengers is from Gate No. 4.
"With its expansive, contemporary design, the new International Terminal 2 is all set to offer our passengers greater convenience and exceptional services. The new facility will provide a stimulus to international travel from Chennai and benefit the many international passengers that fly into southern India's largest city on Emirates," said Essa Sulaiman Ahmad, Emirates' Vice President India & Nepal.
16/10/13 Indian Express

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Ajit Singh to consult DGCA to amend 5/20 rule for flying abroad

New Delhi: Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh will soon hold consultations with the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) about allowing domestic airlines to operate international services without restrictions in fleet size and operational experience.
 Talking to Business Standard, Singh said, “There is no logic in not allowing Indian airlines to fly international without having five years of operational experience and 20 aircraft (5/20 rule) when foreign airlines can fly in with even a single aircraft in their fleet. The regulation needs to be amended and we are planning to move a Cabinet note soon.” The move will benefit Wadias-promoted GoAir and new entrants AirAsia India and Tata Singapore Airlines Limited (Tata-SIA), which have evinced interest in commencing international operations out of India.
 “If a corporate house buys a business jet today, he can fly out of the country without any restrictions. The DGCA examines whether safety requirements are in place and issues permits. I see no reason why the same cannot be done for scheduled carriers. I will talk with the DGCA what kind of checks need to be in place and look at revising the criteria,” added Singh.
 His suggestion has already been endorsed by Finance Minister P Chidambaram, who said in Washington last week that if the civil aviation ministry moves a Cabinet note to amend the rules, he would support it.
15/10/13 Sharmistha Mukherjee/Business Standard

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Air Arabia to launch fourth direct flight from Nagpur to UAE

Mumbai: Gulf-based low cost carrier Air Arabia today said it will enhance frequency on Nagpur-Sharjah route to four non-stop flights per week, starting from October 29.
The airline currently operates three weekly direct flights on this route.
"Being the first international airline to fly to Nagpur, we aim to maintain a steady expansion and offer better connectivity to our passengers to the UAE. The decision to add one additional flight is aimed at achieving this objective," Air Arabia chief executive officer Adel Ali said in a release.
14/10/13 PTI/Economic Times

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Air India investigates 'worm sandwich' allegations

Air India is to launch an investigation after a passenger said he had found worms in his mid-flight sandwich, a company spokesman has told the BBC.
The passenger allegedly made the discovery during a flight from New York to Delhi on 28 September.
It is the latest in a series of mishaps to hit India's struggling and heavily indebted flagship carrier.
Media reports say that a large panel in the underneath of an Air India jet fell off in mid-air on Saturday.
Experts quoted in Indian newspapers say that although the Bangalore-bound Dreamliner aircraft landed safely, the incident put about 150 passengers on board at a grave risk.
The Indian Directorate General of Civil Aviation is probing the incident, which Air India officials said was not an emergency even though there had been a "gaping hole" in the aircraft.
15/10/13 BBC.co.uk

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Concerns Rise As Indian Fighter Negotiations Drag On

New Delhi: India’s Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) contract with Dassault Aviation is not likely to be signed before April 2014, despite the Indian air force’s (IAF) concerns about maintaining its tactical air deterrent capability.
According to a defense ministry official, with national elections expected sometime in April, it is highly unlikely the multi-billion-dollar contract to buy 126 Rafale fighters will be concluded during India’s current fiscal year, which ends March 31. The program is India’s biggest-ever defense acquisition.
“Negotiations on the MMRCA are still on,” the official tells Aviation Week. “Several issues have been coming up during the contract negotiations with the French firm ... We are still talking. As stated earlier, this is a major deal and we cannot place a timeline on when the deal will be signed.
“We need to consider all issues before finalizing it,” the official continues. “If the deal is delayed until next year, the first aircraft will arrive only in 2017.”
15/10/13 Jay Menon/Aerospace Daily & Defense Report/Aviation Week

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IAF to HAL: Build Swiss trainer aircraft, don't develop your own

New Delhi: Indian Air Force (IAF) chief, Air Chief Marshal N A K Browne, has sugarcoated his bid to import 106 basic trainer aircraft from Pilatus Aircraft Co, by proposing that Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) build the trainers in Bangalore to blueprints supplied by the Swiss company.
HAL, which is designing its own basic trainer for the IAF - the Hindustan Turbo Trainer-40 (HTT-40) - has flatly rejected the proposal. The company has allocated Rs 130 crore of its own money to continue developing the HTT-40, which is projected to fly by 2015.
Browne's new ploy follows Defence Minister A K Antony's cold-shouldering of a letter from the IAF chief, demanding an over-the-counter purchase of 106 PC-7 Mark II trainers from Pilatus. Such a purchase would be a windfall for the Swiss company worth at least Swiss Francs 750 million (Rs 5,000 crore).
Last year, the IAF purchased 75 PC-7 Mark II trainers for 557 million Swiss Francs (Rs 3,725 crore). Pilatus has delivered at least 15 of those trainers.
When the purchase of 75 trainers from the global market was approved in 2009, it was decided that HAL would simultaneously design and build 106 trainers. But, in July, as reported first by Business Standard (July 29, 'Indian Air Force at war with Hindustan Aeronautics; wants to import, not build, a trainer') the IAF chief wrote to Antony, savaging HAL's proposal and recommending this order be handed to Pilatus.
14/10/13 Ajai Shukla/Business Standard

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Indian carriers may increase Abu Dhabi flights in Nov

New Delhi: Indian carriers, with plans to start new flights to Abu Dhabi, could possibly launch from the current ‘winter schedule’ that begins November this year, with the civil aviation ministry hopeful of initiating the process of granting them the increased seat entitlements before the end of October.
“We have asked all our carriers to send us their plans for new flights to Abu Dhabi. The requests are expected to reach us in a week and we will allocate them seats from the increased bilateral entitlements. Once their requests reach us, we should process the requests in about two days and they can start their flights from the winter schedule,” said a senior civil aviation ministry official. He added that they had asked the airlines to send their requirements a week ago.
The requests for increase in flights have been sought on the basis of a three-fold increase in weekly seat entitlements between India and Abu Dhabi over a period of three years. This increase was also post-facto approved by the Cabinet.
The increase in bilateral entitlements has also been challenged in the Supreme Court by BJP leader Subramaniam Swamy, who has alleged that the bilateral entitlements were signed to facilitate the stake sale deal between Jet Airways and Etihad.
14/10/13 Mihir Mishra/Financial Express

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Air India’s Boeing 777 aircraft will now serve Etihad’s needs

New Delhi: On a wind-swept chilly day in July 2007 at the Boeing plant in Seattle, the then Chairman and Managing Director of Air India (AI) V. Thulasidas was an excited man.
He was part of a team, which included Raghu Menon (who would eventually take over as Chairman from Thulasidas) and several senior airline officials, that was in the US to take delivery of the first of the 68 new Boeing aircraft that Air India had ordered.
The order, worth Rs 35,000 crore then, included eight Boeing 777-200 Long Range (LR) aircraft.
Hours before the first Boeing 777-200 LR aircraft left Seattle to undertake a 14-hour non-stop flight to Delhi, Thulasidas told the media that the airline had decided to mount additional fuel tanks on the last two Boeing 777-200 LR aircraft, helping them to fly non-stop between Bangalore and San Francisco carrying 238 passengers in first, business and economy classes.
14/10/13 Ashwini Phadnis/Business Line

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Russian charter of tourists is first to arrive

Dabolim: Goa received its first charter-load of tourists from Russia on Sunday morning, marking an early start to the charter-tourist season.
The 232 guests, mostly couples and families, arrived on a Boeing 757 belonging to charter company Anex, a new-entrant to Goa, and a company touted to bring in 'quality tourists', as they fly in passengers from across Russia, and not just Moscow.
Tour operators in Goa expect around 1,600 charter flights ferrying tourists from across Europe this year; as compared to 1,400 charters that were welcomed in the last tourist season.
"Anex is a new charter company, with a pretty large client base across Russia. They have their own aircraft and will be operating nine flights per week, starting from October 24," said Rohit Walter, president of the Travel Corporation of India, who also heads Thomas Cook's Charter division.
14/10/13 Times of India

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Kerala CM in new storm after Pinarayi Vijayan links him with smuggler Fayaz

Kochi: The gold smuggling case is getting murkier as CPI(M) state secretary Pinarayi Vijayan alleged on Sunday that the controversial smuggler T.K. Fayaz had met Chief Minister Oommen Chandy on his way from Vadakara to Kozhikode when he was the opposition leader and held talks in his car for more than 45 minutes. Chief Minister Oommen Chandy had not yet reacted to the allegation levelled against him by the CPI(M) leader.
The smuggler's political connections in Kerala is out in the open as phone records revealed that he was in touch with Chandy's private secretary R.K. Balakrishnan and KPCC general secretary S. Rajasekharan. There are also allegations that Fayaz also acted as a host to CM during one of his visits to Dubai. CPI(M) state secretary's allegations came at a time when the party itself is in trouble as CCTV visuals of Fayaz visiting CPI(M) local leaders in Kannur Central Jail surfaced some days ago. The local leaders were arrested in connection with the murder of CPI(M) dissident T.P. Chandrasekharan in May 2012 and are facing trial. Fayaz was masquerading as an Arab when he visited the leaders in jail and was wearing Arab costumes. The investigation agency had also mentioned the names of some Muslim league and BJP leaders who were in touch with the gold smuggler.
14/10/13 J Binduraj/India Today

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Withhold nods to Jet Airways, Etihad Airways and Air Asia deals: Subramanian Swamy

New Delhi: BJP leader Subramanian Swamy today asked the government to put on hold the clearances given to the Jet Airways, Etihad Airways deal and to AirAsia India's JV with Tata Sons until the courts gave their final verdicts on them.
"I am unable to comprehend why there is such a hurry to rush through these two deals following the issuance of notices" by Supreme Court and Delhi High Court, Swamy said in a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
He said the government should wait for two more months in public interest as by then the courts would have heard the matter fully and delivered their judgements.
"The two deals are under judicial scrutiny, which could be stayed when the Stay Application is considered on October 30. Notices have been issued for that purpose which have been received by your government," he said.
12/10/13 PTI/Financial Express

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Huge opportunity for foreign investment in India: FM

There is a huge opportunity for foreign investment in India as the government focuses on rapid infrastructure development in the country, Finance Minister P Chidambaram said. Chidambaram said on Friday that the total investment requirements for power, roads, ports, civil aviation during the 12th Plan period is projected at USD 1 trillion, nearly half of which is expected to come from the private sector. This provides an ample opportunity for foreign investments to reap benefits from the high returns from India, said Chidambaram, who is here to attend annual plenary meeting of International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. Chidambaram cited the Delhi Mumbai Industrial Corridor as an example, that will entail over USD 90 billion in investment linking Delhi to Mumbai's ports, covering an overall length of 1483 km passing through six States. This project will have nine mega industrial zones of about 200-250 sq.km. each, high speed freight lines, three ports, six airports, a six-lane intersection-free expressway connecting the country's political and financial capitals, and a 4000 MW power plant, providing a plug-and-play environment for manufacturing investment, he said.
12/10/13 PTI/moneycontrol.com

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Chopper deal scam: Court allows SP Tyagi to go to Vietnam

New Delhi: Former IAF chief SP Tyagi, a key accused in Rs 3,600 crore VVIP helicopter deal scam, has been allowed by a Delhi court to go to Vietnam to attend a meet on nuclear disarmament but "specifically restrained" from travelling to Mauritius, Italy, Tunisia and Singapore.
The court allowed Tyagi's plea in which he had submitted that being a retired Air Chief Marshal, he is part of several reputed "track-II diplomacy" initiatives and sought permission to travel to Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam from October 10 to 14, 2013 to participate in the meeting organised by Asia Pacific Leadership Network.
The CBI had opposed his plea saying that there were serious allegations against him and expressed apprehension that he might not return to India or might destroy evidence.
The agency had argued that if Tyagi was allowed to travel to Vietnam, he should be restrained from going to Tunisia, Italy, Mauritius and Singapore.
13/10/13 ZeeNews

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Govt lodges protest with China over archers' stapled visa

New Delhi:  India today lodged a strong protest with China over the matter of stapled visas issued to two archers from Arunachal Pradesh who were unable as a result to travel to China to take part in a championship.
A diplomat from Chinese Embassy here was summoned to the External Affairs Ministry and a "strong protest" was lodged, sources said.
The protest was lodged two days after Mihu Maselo and Yumi Sorang, the archers from Arunachal Pradesh, were forced to return from Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport for having been issued with stapled visas by the Chinese Embassy.
12/10/13 Economic Times

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Air India flies 46,700 Hajj pilgrims

New Delhi: Air India completed its Haj operations, flying about 46,700 pilgrims to Madina and Jeddah in Saudi Arabia recording the highest ever on-time performance of over 97 per cent.
Out of 1.25 lakh pilgrims, Air India was entitled to carry 48,000 in the over a month-long operations, with the remaining passengers flown by Saudi Airlines as part of an agreement arrived with the host nation earlier, senior Air India officials said.
They said 190 of the 195 flights carrying Haj pilgrims from 12 of 21 destinations across the country, including Guwahati, Gaya, Aurangabad, Indore, Bhopal, Srinagar and Mangalore, operated on time, while passengers from the remaining nine destinations were carried by Saudia.
12/10/13 Sahil Online

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AWDC Strikes a Discount Deal With Jet Airways

Rapaport: The Antwerp World Diamond Centre (AWDC) and Jet Airways signed a memorandum of understanding, to provide the Antwerp diamond industry with discounts from 10 percent to 50 percent for flights to India (Mumbai and New Delhi) and other destinations such as New York, Toronto, Singapore, Hong Kong and Bangkok. Jet Airways is the only airliner that offers daily and direct flights to Mumbai, the AWDC stated.
Antwerp's diamond firms can realize discounts through authorized agencies such as HRG, Blitz Travel, Translloyd, Weinberg and Omnia Travel Antwerp.
11/10/13 Jeff Miller/Diamonds.net

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Two try to sneak in gold bars from Singapore, caught at airport

Mumbai: The Air Intelligence Unit (AIU) of the airport customs department recently apprehended two Indians for allegedly smuggling gold bars by concealing it inside specifically stitched pockets in their jeans.
The AIU team, headed by deputy commissioner Rishi Yadav, held the duo after they arrived at Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport (CSIA) from Singapore on a Singapore Airways flight. The information about the smuggling was based on specific intelligence inputs received by AIU.
The arrested have been identified as Syed Mohammed Thaamil and Khambar Abbas. AIU officials revealed that when the accused were questioned about the gold bars they were carrying, they tried to feign ignorance.
13/10/13 Daily News & Analysis

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Two flyers held with gold bars worth Rs 73L

Mumbai: The air intelligence unit of airport customs on Wednesday seized two gold bars, valued at Rs 73 lakh from two flyers coming from Singapore. The bars weigh 2.6 kg. Khambar Abbas and Sayyed Thammil, who are from Karnataka, were arrested.In the last two weeks, Customs has seized smuggled gold worth Rs 2 crore. In the last five seizures, carriers who were caught belonged either to Karnataka or Bangalore, officials said.
10/10/13 Times of India

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Direct air link from here to Mozambique?

Chennai: India could soon have a direct air link to Mozambique with the signing of a Civil Aviation Agreement soon, according to Mozambique high commissioner Jose Maria Morais.
Speaking during the India-Mozambique business delegation meeting organized by Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry here, Morais said that once the decision is taken on which city the Mozambique national carrier would fly to, the agreement would be inked.
“Once the deal is signed, both our national carriers will then have a air link from Maputo to Indian cities,” he said.
He also wooed auto manufacturers in the state and in the country to set up a two-wheeler manufacturing plant in the country rather than spending on exports.
Morais said that Indian businessmen, who are exporting thousands of two-wheelers and cycles to Mozambique, should now invest in Mozambique to set up a automobile manufacturing plant.
12/10/13 New Indian Express

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‘Dubai-based Emirates Airline defaulted on Rs 175-crore service tax’

Mumbai:  The service tax department has detected non-payment of service tax to the tune of Rs 175 crore by Dubai-based airline Emirates. The service tax authorities told ET that they are yet to ascertain the reason for the non-payment and further verification is on.
When contacted Emirates said: "There was an inadvertent short payment of tax, and as a law-abiding company, we have voluntarily paid the same."
According to the service tax authorities, the non-payment was detected during a service tax audit conducted by a team of officers, including MRR Reddy and Mohan Kapse.
The airline, which is registered in India, is expected to pay service tax in India on every passenger that board its aircraft from any airport in India.
12/10/13 M Padmakshan/Economic Times

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Imp-Mandalay flight service on the card

Imphal: The Indian Embassy in Myanmar has been working hard to introduce Imphal-Mandalay flight service ahead of the Manipur Sangai Festival scheduled next month.
In the meantime, the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), India has recognised Myanmar airline Golden Myanmar as additional designated flight.
Confirming this to The Sangai Express and adding that the Indian Embassy has been working hard to introduce flight service between Imphal and Mandalay, Principal Secretary (Industries) O Nabakishore informed that he has received report about correspondence between the Indian Embassy and tour operator Seven Sisters Holidays with regard to introduction of Imphal-Mandalay flight service.
Myanmar's low cost airline Golden Myanmar has been approved by DGCA as additional designated flight which would fly from Myanmar to India.
11/10/13 The Sangai Express/E-Pao

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P Chidambaram to support doing away with 5/20 aviation rule

Washington:  Finance Minister P Chidambaram today said he will support Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh in throwing out a rule that debars Indian carriers from flying abroad unless they complete five years of service.
"If he (Ajit Singh) brings a paper to the Cabinet to throw out that rule (known as 5/20), I will support it strongly," Chidambaram told a Washington audience.
He was responding to a question on this provision, which Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation (CAPA) in a recent report described as one of the "most damaging and discriminatory regulations."
The aviation advisory and research firm in its report had argued that the finances of several Indian carriers would have been stronger if they were allowed to launch service on international routes earlier.
11/10/13 PTI/Economic Times

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India looks at skies to relieve its transport system

Travelling in India provides a stark reminder of why business aviation should succeed in the country. Crowded, chaotic roads are the norm, as bullock carts, lightweight motorcycles and overloaded trucks miraculously manage to avoid each other - most of the time - while competing with cars for the same inadequate road space. Trains are also slow and even the process of buying tickets is made discouragingly difficult by the overgrown bureaucratic process in which India excels.
With all those factors at work on the ground, travelling by air should be a no-brainer for the time-poor. But, as many aviation companies that have tried to push into India have discovered, there are substantial hurdles. There are nearly 450 airports in the country, but only 100 are in use. Both the taxation and regulatory regimes make it difficult to buy and operate aircraft. And, where changes are being made, the government is more focused on commercial aviation than unscheduled operations - India is the ninth largest aviation market in the world by passenger numbers, with 121m domestic and 41m international passengers a year, and is expected to climb to third place within four years. But despite all that, the sector is growing. Last year, there were about 165 business jets in India, making it second only to China in the Asia Pacific region for numbers of private jets.
11/10/13 Financial Times/moneycontrol.com

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Russia expresses interest in aircraft manufacturing in India

Russia has expressed interest in development and production of passenger aircraft and in the field of aero engines manufacturing in India.
This was discussed during the meeting of the India Russia Working group on Modernization and Industrial Cooperation on October 2 in Moscow.
"In the civil aviation sector, the Russian side expressed interest in participation of the project for development and production of Indian passenger aircraft, and in the field of aero engines manufacturing," a statement of the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) said.
he Indian delegation was led by DIPP Secretary Saurabh Chandra.
On fertiliser sector, both the sides also re-affirmed their interest in developing long term cooperation between the Russian and the Indian companies, including joint development of phosphates deposits in Russia.
10/10/13 Economic Times

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AI to sell five Boeing planes as upkeep becomes costly

Mumbai/New Delhi: Air India is set to record annual savings of about Rs 370 crore through the sale of five Boeing 777-200 LRs to Abu Dhabi-based Etihad Airways. Earlier this week, the West Asian carrier, which recently received regulatory approvals to acquire 24 per cent stake in Naresh Goyal-promoted Jet Airways, signed a letter of intent for the sale of the aircraft by Air India.
A senior Air India official told Business Standard, “We have just reached an understanding with Etihad. A formal sale agreement is yet to be signed. It will require an approval from the Air India board and the government,” he added. Deliveries are scheduled to start early 2014.
“We were paying $5 million as loan principal and interest on these planes each month. So, there would be savings of about $60 million a year after the planes are sold,” he added, declining to specify the size of the deal; industry estimates peg it at Rs 3,100 crore ($500 million). The sale proceeds would be used to clear loans against the aircraft.
The sale of the aircraft would help improve Air India’s financial performance, as these planes have high operating costs. The airline has been struggling to record break-even on routes in which it had deployed the aircraft.
10/10/13 Aneesh Phadnis & Sharmistha Mukherjee/Business Standard

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For a Fistful of sky

They have fought toe-totoe over routes, ticket prices and a piece of the sky for over two decades. Now British Airways (BA) and Virgin Atlantic Airways are ready to slug it out in a new ring - India - with the two long-haul airlines looking to expand their offerings and increase their share of Indian travellers flying to Europe and North America.
"India is a strong focus for us and a big part of our strategy," says Virgin Atlantic CEO Craig Kreeger, who visited the country in late August. Close on the heels of his visit, Kate Thornton, Head of Product and Service at BA, came calling to reinforce the airline's position as the largest British carrier operating from India and to launch its 'To Fly. To Serve' global marketing campaign. "India is a competitive market and there is new competition coming in," she says. "As a brand we need to respond to the competition and this keeps us on our toes."
The visits followed shortly after Virgin, founded by billionaire Sir Richard Branson, entered into a tie-up with Delta Air Lines that entailed the US carrier buying a 49 per cent stake in the UK airline. The tie-up also involves the two carriers coordinating on transatlantic flights between the US and the UK, in a clear challenge to BA's market dominating joint venture with American Airlines that has been in operation since 2011.
10/10/13 Manisha Singhal/Business Today

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Arunachal Pradesh archers detained at airport for stapled Chinese visa

New Delhi: The contentious issue of China issuing stapled visas to residents of Arunachal Pradesh surfaced once again, when two young women archers from the border state heading to Wuxi for Youth World Archery Championship, were prevented from boarding a China Southern Airlines flight at New Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport tonight.
Mihu Maselo and Yumi Sorang, who were the only two Arunachal archers in the 24-member squad, were given stapled Visas issued on a separate papers as the immigration officials prevented them from boarding the 11.10 pm flight to Guangzhou.
Archery Association of India President V K Malhotra told PTI that the Chinese Airlines Authorities denied the two archers from boarding the flight, saying that they will not be allowed to enter China as they don't have affixed visa on their passport.
10/10/13 PTI/Economic Times

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Jet Airways to cut fares for ‘Nitaqat’ passengers

Riyadh: Jet Airways is offering a 10 percent discount on fares in its economy class to all of its Indian destinations from Riyadh starting on October 16 until November 30, the airline said on Thursday.
The discounted fair is primarily aimed at helping the people going home under the Nitaqat program, it added.
“Nitaqat” passengers have to contact the Jet Airways ticket office at Olaya Main Street in Riyadh with their emergency document to avail the scheme.
10/10/13 Saudi Gazette

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