Ministry supports direct import of aviation fuel

Mumbai: In what could be seen as a positive sign for Indian airline industry, Civil Aviation Minister, Mr Praful Patel, said that the Ministry will be supporting direct import of aviation turbine fuel (ATF) by Indian carriers. Speaking to newspersons on the sidelines of the silver jubilee global awards function organised by the Priyadarshini Academy, Mr Patel said, “The Ministry is supportive in allowing the airlines to import ATF.
“This move will not only benefit airline companies, but also passengers who have been paying high air fares on account of high fuel costs.”
Currently, fuel cost contributes around 40-50 per cent of the total operating cost of domestic carriers.
The Federation of Indian Airlines has been trying hard to get approval for direct import of ATF from the Government. If this move comes through, it would be a big relief for the ailing airline industry.
Direct import will also free the carriers from the high sales tax paid on ATF.
20/09/08 Business Line

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'AI needs Rs 1,000 cr for makeover'

Mumbai: National air carrier Air India is in need of a capital infusion of up to Rs 1,000 crore for its rejuvenation, Union Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel said.
"Air India needs a capital infusion of up to Rs 1,000 crore. A proposal has been received and we will go through all its details over the next few weeks," Patel told reporters here on Friday.
Airlines suffering losses was a universal phenomenon, Patel said, adding that Air India was looking for soft loans to meet its current requirements.
On airlines seeking to import Air Turbine Fuel (ATF), Patel said he supported the move.
"Airlines need some kind of relief for their fuel bills. ATF in our country is very expensive for various reasons. The taxes, both of the Central Government and the State Governments are very high. I will support airlines on the issue as it would help them reduce their operational costs," he said.
19/09/08 PTI/Times of India

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US wind blow for Indian air travel

New Delhi: The US financial market crisis has come as big blow to Indian airlines that were hoping for a reversal of fortunes with increased footfalls in coming peak travel season. Carriers now fear an erosion of traffic to and from the west as troubled investment bankers have traditionally been big ticket spenders on travel front. And since all Indian carriers are grossly undercapitalised, raising funds has become tougher as cost of capital is very high while capacity for taking risks is low.
The troubled US giant, AIG, has a 10% stake in the consortia that has insured Air India. "Our Indian insurance company, New India, has assured there's no problem and we have still an A rating," said an AI official. Clearly, the biggest worry is on travel and funding front. Apart from business travel, NRIs who used to get fat pay cheques from the troubled US giants are also feared to cut down on personal travel in the coming wedding season.
"This crisis will have consequences on all areas of economy, including aviation. While I will not dramatise the impact, there will be some reduced travel. Investment bankers travel a lot. However, Indian economy is going strong and the impact will be not as badly felt as globally," Jet Airways CEO Wolfgang Prock-Schaeur said. He added banks will become very cautious in lending to the capital-intensive aviation sector.
20/09/08 Saurabh Sinha/Times of India

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'India Aviation 2008' attracts industry majors

The first Indian civilian air show, ‘India Aviation 2008’ – an International Exhibition and Conference on Civil Aviation which was launched on 11 January, 2008, is receiving enthusiastic response from the civil aviation industry. Organised by the Ministry of Civil Aviation alongwith FICCI, this exhibition is being held between 15-18 October, 2008 in the Shamsabad Airport, Hyderabad. USA is the partner country for this event.
The support of the US Commercial Service and AMCHAM has ensured a large participation from the USA. The event will have country pavilions from the USA, Canada and Germany. Aviation majors like Air India, Airports Authority of India, Airbus, ATR, Bharat Electronics Limited, Bell Textron, Boeing, Bombardier, Cessna, CFM, Dassault, Embraer, Engine Alliance, Eurocopter, GE Aviation, GMR, GVK, Gulfstream, HAL, Jet Airways, Kingfisher Airline, Rolls Royce, Beagle Aircraft, Hindavia Aeronautical Services Pvt. Ltd., Horizon Flight Academy, Jeppesen, Touch Wood Aviation, Transcon Electronics Ltd., Vaisala Oyj, WH Brady & Co., Wings Aviation, Vectra Aviation etc. have confirmed their participation at the show and have already started preparation for an impressive display.
The India Aviation 2008 will have a number of aircraft on static as well as flying display. By 16 September, 2008, 36 different types of aircraft had already confirmed participation which include the A 380 of Airbus (France), Citation X, Citation CJ2, Citation, Grand Caravan and Skyhawk of Cessna Aircraft Company (USA), Learjet 60XR, Challenger 605, Global Express, CRJ900 of Bombardier (Canada), Hawker 4000, Hawker 900XP, Hawker 400XP, Premier 1A and King Air 350 of Hawker Beechcraft Corporation (USA), Falcon of Dassault Aviation (France), G450 of Gulfstream (USA), 412, 407 of Bell Helicopter (UK), IL114 of Hindavia Aeronautical Services Ltd. (Russian aircraft).
Besides, a number of Indian aircraft will also be on display – Sports Star of E Vector, Airo 1 and Airo 5 of Airo Aviation, Dragon Fly, B-777 300ER, A319 of Air India, ALH of HAL, two aircraft of Vectra Aviation, A340-500 of Kingfisher, HANSA of NAL, ENSTROM 480B of Monarch International, one Helicopter of Pawan Hans Helicopters, 412 and 407 of Bell Helicopters and Cessna 152, Cessna and Pushpak of AeroClub.
A number of companies have already confirmed putting up chalets at the venue. They include Dassault, Pawan Hans Helicopters Ltd., Jublent Enpro, Hawker Beechcraft, Bjets Pvt. Ltd., GMR, Vectra Aviation, GVK, Airports Authority of India, Airbus, Kingfisher Airlines, Jet Airways, Boeing, Bombardier and Larsen & Toubro.
Around 37 CEOs from India and abroad have already confirmed their participation. They include Tom Anders, CEO, Airbus; John Leahy, COO, Airbus; Marion Blakey, President and CEO, Aerospace Industries Association; Orlando Neto, President, Embraer Asia Pacific; Trevor Esling, Vice-President, Cessna Aircarft; Mark Van Tine, President and CEO, Jeppesen (a Boeing Company); Todd Kallman, President, Large Commercial Engines; Charles Edelstenne, Chairman and CEO Dassault Aviation; Eric Bachelet, President and CEO, CFM International; Richard G. Millman, CEO, Bell Helicopter; William Blair, Country Director, Engine Alliance; Stephane Mayer, CEO, ATR; Yves Guillaume, CEO, EADS; Chet Fuller, CMO, GE Aviation; Srinivas Duvvury, MD, Rolls Royce India Ltd.; Francoise Dupont, MD, Thales – India; Richard G. Koszarek, MD, Indamer Co. Pvt. Ltd.; Raghu Menon, CMD, Air India; Dr. K Ramalingam, Chairman, AAI; R K Tyagi, CMD, Pawan Hans; V V R Sastry, CMD, Bharat Electronics; Dr. A R Upadhyaya, Chairman, NAL; Ashok Baweja, Chairman, HAL; Dr. Kiran Rao, Sr. Executive Vice-President, Airbus; Nilesh Pattnayak, MD, Bombardier; Manav Singh, MD, Club One; Kiran Kumar Grandhi, Chairman, DIAL; Guy Joannes, CEO, Global Vectra; Naresh Goyal, Chairman, Jet Airways; Jeh Wadia, MD, Go Airlines; Dr. Vijay Mallya, Chairman and CEO, Kingfisher Airlines; Sanjay Reddy, MD, MIAL; M Thiagrajan, Paramount Airways; Dinesh Keskar, Sr. Vice President, Boeing; A M Naik, Chairman, L&T; Albert Brunner, CEO, BIAL; and Toni Fernandes, Air Asia.
19/09/08 Press Information Bureau

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Air India gets $548.6 mn Ex-Im Bank loan

Washington: The Export-Import Bank (Ex-Im Bank) of the US has given India's national carrier Air India $548.6 mn in loan guarantees to support the purchase of Boeing aircraft.
Air India chairman and managing director Raghu Menon and Ex-Im Bank chairman James H Lambright signed the deal on Friday at a ceremony at the bank headquarters here. Air India is officially called the National Aviation Company of India Limited (NACIL).
"We greatly value Ex-im Bank's contribution in partnering with Air India in our project to acquire 68 state-of-the-art aircraft from The Boeing Company," said Menon.
"Induction of these modern aircraft into our fleet will be a major step forward in making Air India a truly global airline through a significant expansion of our international network," he said.
"The fast-growing Indian market offers enormous opportunities for US exporters in many sectors including transportation, energy and infrastructure development," said Lambright.
"We're also pleased that India has taken advantage of the new benefits offered by its participation in the Cape Town Treaty," he added.
The Cape Town Treaty is an international treaty that facilitates the cross-border financing and leasing of aircraft, helicopters and aircraft engines.
Ex-Im Bank reduces its exposure fee by one-third on asset-backed financings of new US-manufactured large commercial aircraft and spare engines for international buyers located in countries that ratify and implement the treaty.
20/09/08 IANS/Economic Times

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International routes may hurt airlines now

Turmoil in the US financial sector – triggered by the Lehman Brothers collapse – may prove to be yet another dampener to the international air travel. Aviation experts fear US and the Europe-bound air traffic may be hit due to the crisis which is resulting in loss of jobs.
According to International Air Transport Association (IATA), the financial sector meltdown poses a much sharper economic downturn than the fuel price spike. This may lead to negative growth in travel, affecting revenue of airlines.
“The collapse of US financial giants would certainly affect US-bound air travel. Europe-bound traffic is also expected to get hit as some of the big financial institutions there are also heading to a possible crisis. Also there are many companies in the country which are directly or indirectly related with these falling giants,” Amadeus India managing director Ankur Bhatia said.
Home-grown airlines, such as Jet Airways and Kingfisher Airlines, are, however, not in a hurry to assess the impact of the financial crisis on their international operations. Kingfisher which just started overseas operation by launching a service on Bangalore-London sector doesn’t see any significant dent to its maiden flight at least in the near future.
According to industry estimates, corporate travellers comprise about 63%-65 % of the country’s total inbound and outbound international air traffic.
20/09/08 Nirbhay Kumar/Economic Times

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Mumbai Airport still at birth-pang stage: Yechury

Mumbai: Rajya Sabha MP and CPI(M) Politburo Member Sitaram Yechury, who is the chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Transport, Tourism & Culture, said today that “though things look chaotic at Mumbai Airport at the moment, the future looks pretty good on paper”. In the country’s commercial capital along with 13 other members of the 35-strong committee to assess the airport’s ongoing privatisation process, he said, “The airport is going through a phase of birth pangs.”
The privatisation process is facing several controversies, from opposition by the Airport Authority of India Employees’ Union (AAEU) to questions on rehabilitation.
Apart from these issues, the House panel also discussed with employees’ representatives the merger of Air India and Indian into National Aviation Company of India Ltd (NACIL). Representations were made to Yechury by AAEU and NACIL’s union under the umbrella Joint Action Committee (JAC). “There are some decisions that have been taken in the past, which cannot be reversed,” Yechury pointed out, referring to the privatisation of the Mumbai and Delhi airports on the basis of the operations, management, development agreement (OMDA), which is yet to be recognised by the 15,000-strong AAI union. “However, there is still scope for development of facilities while working within the constraints... on that we have made suggestions to the government,” he added. He said that while Mumbai Airport has been privatised, there is no question of privatising Air Traffic Control (ATC) operations as that would involve security issues.
20/09/08 Shashank Shekhar/Expressindia.com

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MIDC nominated for Sindhudurg airport

Project Monitor reported that Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation has been nominated as the entity for selecting private developers for a Greenfield airport in Sindhudurg district. The civil aviation ministry recently gave it’s in principle approval to the project.
The INR 492 crore projects will come up on 270 hectares of land that is already in state government possession. The airport would be located at Chipi Parule in Vengurla taluka in the southern part of Sindhudurg district.
Airports Authority of India has established the technical feasibility of the airport that will serve only domestic passengers. The Sindhudurg project aims to decongest the existing Dabolim airport in Goa. The picturesque coastal Sindhudurg district is at the southern end of Maharashtra, bordering Goa and partly Karnataka.
20/09/08 SteelGuru

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SC gives hope to grounded air-hostesses

New Delhi: Acting on a plea of five air-hostesses of the erstwhile Indian Airlines, who were grounded for putting on excessive weight, the Supreme Court on Friday sought response from the national carrier, now merged with Air India.
“If we find merit (in air-hostesses’ plea) we will restore your service,” a bench comprising Justices Tarun Chatterjee and Aftab Alam said, when a petition filed by the air-hostesses was taken up for hearing. The bench issued notices to the Indian Airlines on their petition challenging the Delhi High Court decision wherein the airlines’ move to ground them for being overweight was upheld.
Advocate Arvind Sharma, appearing for the air-hostesses, said the High Court dismissed their plea without going into the core issue.
The Bench asked the airlines to respond to their contentions within four weeks and posted the matter for further hearing after six weeks.
20/09/08 Indian Express

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Lufthansa Seeks To Get the Traveler to India In Style

New York: Lufthansa has long been viewed as the premium airline for those who want to travel in style. The face of the traveler now, has however undergone changes over the past 15 years. Now, those that fly the skies travel to ports like New Delhi and Mumbai. Lufthansa, recognizing this change, is seeking to increase its presence in the South Asian community in the US.
This commitment to the Indian-American audience was clear on Aug. 24 at the Long Island Marriott, here. The Nargis Dutt Fashion Show, an event that was put on to fund a fellowship for Indian doctors, included all the glitz and the glamor that one would expect from an Indian fashion show where the catwalk was graced by Vidya Balan, the chief guest for the night.
Yet, amidst the saris and the salwars that walked the ramp to the beat of Bhangra hits, were three of the Lufthansa crew. All three smiled and waved to the crowd, as if beckoning them to enjoy the flights they have to offer to the South Asian public. While their blond hair and blue eyes may have looked to be in complete antithesis to the audience, their hospitable glances and warm attitudes reflected the commitment to hospitality that the South Asian community is known for and craves for.
It is this need put forth by the South Asian community that has induced Lufthansa to include flights to 7 of India’s major and most traveled destinations; Mumbai, New Delhi, Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Kolkata, and Pune. The airline recognizes that apart from flying to these destinations, it is also the flight time that the South Asian community has to enjoy. Lufthansa has 200 Indian Flight Attendants that are committed to giving the South Asian traveler the best in-flight experience to and from India.
19/09/08 Anjali Abraham/India Journal, USA

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Bird hits plane; passengers safe

Bhopal: An aeroplane of Jet Airways which goes to New Delhi from Indore via Bhopal had a narrow escape on Friday after it was hit by a bird. Plane (9W731) was hit by a bird while it was moving on runway at Rajabhoj Airport. Consequently the front portion of the plane was badly damaged. To avert any mishap pilot slowed down the plane and stopped it on one end of runway. There were 80 passengers in the plane.
The plane had taken off from Indore at 9.30 am and reached Bhopal around 10.30 am.
Front portion of the plane was damaged so badly that engineers of the airport did not allow to take off the plane. All the passengers of the plane were evacuated. Airport management got the plane repaired by experts from Mumbai by evening.
In the areas adjacent to Rajabhoj Airport meat is sold illegally. Meat sellers are doing their business openly without permission. They throw left over meat in the open areas. To feed on this birds keep on hovering in this area. Prior to this incident many birds have hit the planes but airport management has not taken any step in this direction. Municipal Corporation administration has also not taken any action against these illegal meat shops.
20/09/08 Central Chronicle

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Mumbai Airport still at birth-pang stage: Yechury

Mumbai: Rajya Sabha MP and CPI(M) Politburo Member Sitaram Yechury, who is the chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Transport, Tourism & Culture, said today that “though things look chaotic at Mumbai Airport at the moment, the future looks pretty good on paper”. In the country’s commercial capital along with 13 other members of the 35-strong committee to assess the airport’s ongoing privatisation process, he said, “The airport is going through a phase of birth pangs.”
The privatisation process is facing several controversies, from opposition by the Airport Authority of India Employees’ Union (AAEU) to questions on rehabilitation.
Apart from these issues, the House panel also discussed with employees’ representatives the merger of Air India and Indian into National Aviation Company of India Ltd (NACIL). Representations were made to Yechury by AAEU and NACIL’s union under the umbrella Joint Action Committee (JAC). “There are some decisions that have been taken in the past, which cannot be reversed,” Yechury pointed out, referring to the privatisation of the Mumbai and Delhi airports on the basis of the operations, management, development agreement (OMDA), which is yet to be recognised by the 15,000-strong AAI union. “However, there is still scope for development of facilities while working within the constraints... on that we have made suggestions to the government,” he added. He said that while Mumbai Airport has been privatised, there is no question of privatising Air Traffic Control (ATC) operations as that would involve security issues.
20/09/08 Shashank Shekhar/Expressindia.com

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Lufthansa Seeks To Get the Traveler to India In Style

New York: Lufthansa has long been viewed as the premium airline for those who want to travel in style. The face of the traveler now, has however undergone changes over the past 15 years. Now, those that fly the skies travel to ports like New Delhi and Mumbai. Lufthansa, recognizing this change, is seeking to increase its presence in the South Asian community in the US.
This commitment to the Indian-American audience was clear on Aug. 24 at the Long Island Marriott, here. The Nargis Dutt Fashion Show, an event that was put on to fund a fellowship for Indian doctors, included all the glitz and the glamor that one would expect from an Indian fashion show where the catwalk was graced by Vidya Balan, the chief guest for the night.
Yet, amidst the saris and the salwars that walked the ramp to the beat of Bhangra hits, were three of the Lufthansa crew. All three smiled and waved to the crowd, as if beckoning them to enjoy the flights they have to offer to the South Asian public. While their blond hair and blue eyes may have looked to be in complete antithesis to the audience, their hospitable glances and warm attitudes reflected the commitment to hospitality that the South Asian community is known for and craves for.
It is this need put forth by the South Asian community that has induced Lufthansa to include flights to 7 of India’s major and most traveled destinations; Mumbai, New Delhi, Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Kolkata, and Pune. The airline recognizes that apart from flying to these destinations, it is also the flight time that the South Asian community has to enjoy. Lufthansa has 200 Indian Flight Attendants that are committed to giving the South Asian traveler the best in-flight experience to and from India.
19/09/08 Anjali Abraham/India Journal, USA

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