The new guidelines came into effect last week on April 26. The guidelines have been issued under the provisions of Rule 133A of Aircraft Rules 1937 for all passenger transport aircraft operators.
____________________________
Air Deccan to contest the diktat
Air Deccan is the only airline in the country
that does not provide seat numbers to its
passengers as part of a business strategy to
keep its planes flying more and staying on
the ground less. It allows passengers to
occupy any seat on boarding the plane on a
first-come, first-seated basis, reducing
seating time by up to 40-45%, according to
company officials. Tuesday’s move by the
arm of the civil aviation ministry, which the
airline said it is going to protest against, could
result in higher airfares.“If the government
is going to dictate terms and get into micro-
management of the airline, then we will have
to take up the issue with them,” Air Deccan’s
chief revenue officer Samyukta Sridharan said
on phone from Bangalore. “It will have a huge
impact (on us).”Except for the initial few
months when the airline started operations, Air
Deccan has never had a mechanism to allocate
seat numbers to passengers. Some of the world’s
profitable low-cost airlines, such as the Ireland-
based Ryanair Ltd and the Thai AirAsia Co. Ltd-
owned AirAsia, follow the same practice. This
allows them to utilize the aircraft more by reducing
its ‘turnaround time’ on ground.
02/05/07 Tarun Shukla/Livemint
____________________________
According to a Press statement released by the Ministry of Civil Aviation, the guidelines have been issued to "ensure correct loading of aircraft and keeping the centre of gravity of the aircraft within limits at all times during flight".Air Deccan to contest the diktat
Air Deccan is the only airline in the country
that does not provide seat numbers to its
passengers as part of a business strategy to
keep its planes flying more and staying on
the ground less. It allows passengers to
occupy any seat on boarding the plane on a
first-come, first-seated basis, reducing
seating time by up to 40-45%, according to
company officials. Tuesday’s move by the
arm of the civil aviation ministry, which the
airline said it is going to protest against, could
result in higher airfares.“If the government
is going to dictate terms and get into micro-
management of the airline, then we will have
to take up the issue with them,” Air Deccan’s
chief revenue officer Samyukta Sridharan said
on phone from Bangalore. “It will have a huge
impact (on us).”Except for the initial few
months when the airline started operations, Air
Deccan has never had a mechanism to allocate
seat numbers to passengers. Some of the world’s
profitable low-cost airlines, such as the Ireland-
based Ryanair Ltd and the Thai AirAsia Co. Ltd-
owned AirAsia, follow the same practice. This
allows them to utilize the aircraft more by reducing
its ‘turnaround time’ on ground.
02/05/07 Tarun Shukla/Livemint
____________________________
According to the statement, the guidelines will do away with confusions and ensure "boarding is done in a smooth and orderly manner". Also, in the event of an accident, the numbers will help in investigations.
While all other carriers provide customers with boarding passes with seat numbers allocated, Air Deccan has been using free seating on its aircraft to save time.
02/05/07 Business Standard To Read the News in full at Source, Click the Headline
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