Iran Temporarily Denies Merkel Overflight Rights

For German Chancellor Angela Merkel, it should have been a routine trip abroad. But her flight to India was disturbed by a diplomatic incident that could further sour relations between Berlin and Tehran.

In the early hours of Tuesday, Iran denied Merkel's government aircraft overflight rights at short notice. The chancellor's plane, which had a large delegation of politicians and journalists on board, had to circle over Turkey for around two hours. It was finally allowed to pass through Iranian airspace following a lengthy negotiation with Tehran which was mediated by Turkey and involved the Foreign Ministry in Berlin.

Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle protested strongly against Iran's action. Speaking on Tuesday during the start of his visit to Australia, Westerwelle said it showed "a lack of respect toward Germany that we cannot accept." The Foreign Ministry in Berlin responded by summoning the Iranian ambassador to Germany on Tuesday. It would be made clear to him that "such a breach of international protocol against Germany would absolutely not be accepted," Westerwelle said.

31/05/11 Spiegel Online International

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Air India put on Yemen alert

New Delhi: National carrier Air India on Monday was put on alert by the government for possible operation of special flights to the west Asian nation of Yemen which has been facing turbulence and internal violence. “AI has been sounded out and asked to be ready for possible operation of special flights to Yemen,” aviation sources confirmed to this

newspaper on Monday. Air India had earlier operated special flights to Egypt and Libya (during turmoil there) to transport desperate Indians back home.

31/05/11 Deccan Chronicle

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Air India staff protest against foreign firm

Thiruvananthapuram : The decision to hand over the ground handling charge of the Thiruvananthapuram Airport to a foreign agency has sparked severe criticism. The staff of Air India Air Transport Services Limited (AIATSL) have written to Chief Minister Oommen Chandy to immediately intervene in the issue as the Air India staff have been urged to report for duty under this foreign agency.

The Air India Limited and Singapore Airport Terminal Services Limited (SATS), a foreign private company, have signed a joint venture agreement for providing ground handling services and the latter is in the process of taking over ground handling from Air India in most of the airports in the country.

However, the AIATSL staff here claim that the policy is not acceptable at the Thiruvananthapuram airport since it does not come under the metro airports. In their complaint to the Chief Minister, the staff said that the Air India management has brought AI-SATS handling to Thiruvananthapuram airport before it has taken shape in the metro airports in the country.

31/05/11 New IndianExpress/IBN Live

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GoAir may place order at Paris Air Show

New Delhi: Wadia group-owned low-cost airline GoAir (India) Pvt. Ltd is in talks with European aircraft maker Airbus SAS to place a fresh order for Airbus A320 aircraft at the Paris Air Show that starts on 20 June.

If the order materializes, it would be the second such by an Indian carrier this year after InterGlobe Aviation Pvt. Ltd-run IndiGo ordered a record 180 aircraft worth $15 billion (Rs.67,800 crore) in January to meet its expansion plans till 2025.

GoAir, currently the smallest passenger airline in the country, may also become the second Indian carrier to order the fuel-efficient A320neo, which will make its debut this decade.

The six-year-old discount carrier is planning to place an order for A320neo aircraft to drive expansion plans and the details of the order are currently being worked out, said a person familiar with the matter who declined to be identified.

GoAir could place an order for anywhere up to 50-70 aircraft, which may include several options, this official said. Airlines usually place an order with options, which they can later firm up. It’s last order was in 2006 for 10 Airbus A320 aircraft.

GoAir said it will make an announcement shortly, without specifying further details.

30/05/11 Tarun Shukla/Live Mint

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Wadia Group appoints Giorgio De Roni as CEO of GoAir

Mumbai: The textiles-to-aviation conglomerate Wadia group has appointed Giorgio De Roni, a former chief revenue officer of Italian airline Air One, as the CEO of the low-cost carrier GoAir, according to two industry officials close to the Wadia group.

He will replace the Wadia group old-timer Kaushik Khona who will move to a new role within the group. Roni will spearhead an aggressive expansion plan of low-fare air carrier. ET was the first to report on April 7 that the Wadias plan to bring a new CEO for Go Air.

Jeh Wadia, the younger son of Wadia group chairman Nuslia Wadia, will make a formal announcement on the appointment of the new CEO next week.

30/05/11 Anindya Upadhyay/Economic Times

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Airbus to partner Indian firms for Offshore Centre

Bangalore: To improve offshoring capability and to build a strong engineering talent pool in India, Airbus is set to start an ODC (Offshore Development Centre) model. This is being tried by it for the first time anywhere in the world.

The ODC model includes a commitment by Airbus to partner with Indian suppliers, handhold them in training and execution, and depute technical managers to manage these ODCs until they reach a level of maturity. This process may take at least two years for each such unit.

As a part of this process, Airbus has selected Bangalore-headquartered CADES as their ODC partner for fuselage design activities.

Said S Ravi Narayanan, chairman & CEO of CADES: “It is a great honour not only to us but to the entire Indian engineering community. We would do our best to utilise the opportunity and model to create a world class aerostructure design eco-system with the help of Airbus,” he added.

30/05/11 Raghuvir Badrinath/Business Standard

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SIA takes bold gamble with new budget carrier

Singapore: Singapore airlines' decision to launch a long-haul budget carrier is a risky but necessary gamble as it comes under growing pressure at both ends of the market, aviation analysts said.

SIA, one of the world's most profitable premium airlines, surprised the industry on Wednesday by announcing plans to tap into the region's growing appetite for budget air tickets on medium- to long-haul destinations.

The sector is currently dominated by neighbouring Malaysia's AirAsia X, which was was launched four years ago and flies to 14 cities including London, Tehran, Paris, Seoul and Tokyo as well as destinations in China, India and Australia.

29/05/11 Straits Times

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GoAir ranked the Best Performing Airline by Airbus

IOSA program is an internationally recognized and accepted evaluation system designed to assess the operational management and control systems of an airline.

GoAir, India’s smart low-fare domestic airline has been ranked by Airbus as the “Best Performing Airline” in the Airbus A320 category operator in Asia Pacific / Middle East/ Africa. The award is presented every two year by Airbus based on both fleet utilization and performance achievements in each region and worldwide and for two categories of fleet size. Their metrics take into account On-time performance as well as severity of the operational interruptions (based on the Airbus Severity Index calculation). Along with the Best Performing Airline recognition, GoAir has also been registered with IATA Operational Safety Audit (IOSA) program.

30/05/11 India Infoline

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Two hostesses posted for minister flying AI

Mumbai: Two air hostesses were posted in the first class section of an Air India flight from Delhi to New York on May 26, as opposed to the airline’s standard operating norm of one. The only occupant of the four seats in the section was a minister, said on-flight cabin crew members. “It is clear that senior airline officials made the last minute change in the crew distribution to please the minister. The minister is likely to feel that the airline offers such services to all first class passengers,” said a cabin crew personnel with the airline requesting anonymity.

Sources told the Hindustan Times that a few minutes before take off, Trupti Shah, the crew-in charge, received a call from Captain AS Soman, director of inflight services, to make the change in the allocation of crew on board.

The cabin crewmember added that five air hostesses were struggling to cater to 100 economy class passengers because the airline deputed one extra airhostess at the minister’s duty.

A section of the crew is planning to write to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation, the aviation regulator.

29/05/11 Soubhik Mitra/Hindustan Times

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Kingfisher in no hurry for A380 delivery

Monaco: Kingfisher Airlines is in no hurry to take delivery of five Airbus A380 superjumbos it has on order and could push their arrival beyond 2016, Kingfisher Chairman Vijay Mallya told Reuters.

India's second-busiest airline is also holding off making a decision on which engines to put on the world's largest jetliner, postponing a choice between Rolls-Royce and a group led by General Electric and Pratt & Whitney.

"We haven't decided the delivery dates yet," Mallya said in an interview, asked when the $350-million jets would be in service.

Pressed on whether it would be in 2016, he said: "That, I would say, is the earliest. We don't really need that kind of capacity right now. Five is a lot of seats to fill."

27/05/11 Economic Times

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Boeing offers Air India $500 million for Dreamliner delay

New Delhi: US aircraft maker Boeing has offered to pay $500 million to Air India as compensation for the delay in deliveries of new-age B-787 Dreamliner aircraft. The package is more than three times what Boeing was willing to pay earlier, but the civil aviation ministry says it is still inadequate.

"It appears now that Boeing intends to offer half-a-billion dollars as compensation to Air India," a senior civil aviation ministry official told ET. "But this is too less and we are trying to ensure better compensation." Boeing India President Dinesh Keskar refused to give details.

"Air India is our valued customer and we will not discuss the issue of compensation in media," he said. Air India had ordered 27 Dreamliner jets in 2006, which were to be delivered by September 2008. But Boeing says it can hand over the first of these planes only in the quarter beginning July.

27/05/11 Anindya Upadhyay/Economic Times

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CBI to probe Davy's daring escape from Mumbai airport

New Delhi: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) wishes to write "the last chapter" of the Purulia arms drop case as it wants to know the name of a politician who might have helped the main accused Kim Davy escape from the Mumbai airport.
A source in the agency said CBI is keen to probe Davy's mysterious escape from the airport since he has been making claims to the media that he was helped by a politician to leave the country.
"The last chapter of this mystery has to be scripted by Davy. So far, CBI hasn't found the involvement of any politician in the Purulia arms drop conspiracy," said an officer.
He added, "The details about the escape can only be provided by Davy. Let him come to India, and say in court whatever he is claiming through media interviews. Once he gives his statement in the court, we are ready to probe every possible lead provided by him."
27/05/11 Times of India

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Boeing offers Air India $500 million for Dreamliner delay

New Delhi: US aircraft maker Boeing has offered to pay $500 million to Air India as compensation for the delay in deliveries of new-age B-787 Dreamliner aircraft. The package is more than three times what Boeing was willing to pay earlier, but the civil aviation ministry says it is still inadequate.
"It appears now that Boeing intends to offer half-a-billion dollars as compensation to Air India," a senior civil aviation ministry official told ET. "But this is too less and we are trying to ensure better compensation." Boeing India President Dinesh Keskar refused to give details.
" Air India is our valued customer and we will not discuss the issue of compensation in media," he said. Air India had ordered 27 Dreamliner jets in 2006, which were to be delivered by September 2008. But Boeing says it can hand over the first of these planes only in the quarter beginning July.
AI Claims $1-Billion Loss
Dreamliner is a 250-seater aircraft made of composite materials and is considered very fuel-efficient. The multi-version aircraft has a list price between $140 million and $200 million. Air India says the delay in handing over the jets has caused the airline both opportunity and operational losses amounting to over $1 billion.
27/05/11 Anindya Upadhyay/Economic Times

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Lufthansa says A380 flight to India stuck for govt approval

India has appeared prominently on the Lufthansa German Airlines’ double-deck A380 plan but government hurdle could well push it off it.
The airline, which has been trying to get approval for introducing A380 flights from India over the last two years, says it has been frustrated in its effort with the Indian government being “unresponsive” to its request.
Carsten Sphor, chief executive officer of Lufthansa, said if the airline gets a nod from Indian authorities today, it would go so far as to remove an existing flight to start one from India.
“Many markets would love to serve it with (A)380 but the infrastructure is not ready. You are now ready in Delhi. If we get an approval to fly to India, we are ready to pull out flight from other destination to accommodate it,” he said.
Lufthansa currently owns seven of the Superjumbos, which it operates on five routes including Johannesburg, New York, Beijing, Tokyo and San Francisco. The airline has ordered a total of 15 A380s and is expected to receive eight of them over the next few years.
27/05/11 Praveena Sharma/Daily News & Analysis

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Kerala firm inks deal with Italian cargo airline

Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala-based software firm, IBS Software Services, has inked a deal with Cargoitalia, an Italian airline, for implementing its cargo management solution, iCargo.
The implementation is set to be completed by July. The solution will then manage the entire freight movement of this all-cargo carrier including core cargo operations from quotes and bookings through capacity and revenue management, track and trace, accounting and proof of deliveries.
‘A state of the art IT system is fundamental to our continuing success, and the selection of iCargo follows a lengthy and detailed study and evaluation. We are very excited about the benefits that the new system will bring to our business’, said Roberto Gilardoni, Commercial Director, Cargoitalia.
Available both in licensed and SaaS (Software as a Service) modes, iCargo has become one of the most definitive cargo management solutions in the global air freight industry with an impressive list of customers across six continents including names like All Nippon Airways (ANA), Jet Blue, Kingfisher Airlines, Nippon Cargo Airlines (NCA) and Qantas.
‘Moving to the iCargo platform will help Cargoitalia streamline processes, enhance efficiencies and productivity, and enable it to manage growth profitably. This contract strengthens our cargo presence in Europe, and underscores the value iCargo offers in terms of superior features and integration of functionality’, said Murray Kidd, VP and Head of Global Sales, Airline Cargo Services, IBS.
26/05/11 News One

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Lufthansa Cargo to use GMR Hyderabad airport as pharmaceuticals hub

Hydrabad: Lufthansa Cargo on Wednesday certified GMR Hyderabad International Airport Ltd. (GHIAL) to be one of its key cargo hubs in South Asia for transport of temperature-sensitive pharmaceuticals, making the airport India's first airport to enjoy such a status.
Addressing a press conference here after handing over the certificate, Christopher Dehio, senior manager, global key accounts, Lufthansa Cargo, said the airline would operate three wide-bodied freighters a week to Hyderabad. India was a key market and fast catching up in the cargo business. While textiles used to be the main export items earlier, half of the cargo carried by its freighters now consisted of pharma products, auto components and electronic goods. While the air cargo growth in Asia was 40 per cent between 2008 and 2010, it was as high as 169 per cent in India during that period, he said.
The dedicated pharma zone at Hyderabad airport, which became operational in January, can provide temperature-controlled handling for more than 30,000 tonnes of pharma products annually. The zone will have officials from the drug controller's office and the customs department. Lufthansa Cargo will provide the capacity for transport of temperature-sensitive cargo. The company will station its own fleet of cooling containers called, Opti-Coolers, at GHIAL.
Meanwhile GHIAL, after achieving a breakeven last year, is expecting to make a profit this year, according to GHIAL CEO Vikram Jaisinghani.
26/05/11 The Hindu

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Icelandic volcano: Kingfisher Airlines, Jet Airways & Air India meet to decide on their flights to Europe

New Delhi: In the wake of the flight disruption in Europe due to ash spewing from an Icelandic volcano , officials of major Indian carriers today held meetings to decide on diversion or cancellation of their flights. ( In pics: Hundreds of flights hit as ash reaches Britain )
Officials of Kingfisher Airlines , Jet Airways and Air India held separate meetings to take a decision on their flight schedules as hundreds of flights continued to be grounded for the second day today in the UK, Ireland and the northern parts of Europe.
The three Indian carriers have been asked by the Civil Aviation Ministry to draw up alternate routes to and from North America over the Mediterranean and the Atlantic and also to Western Europe, official sources said.
The airlines and the Indian authorities were seeking permission to have technical halts to pick up and drop passengers from Athens, Rome, Cairo and airports in unaffected European cities, they said.
However, no firm decision has yet been taken but the situation was being "very closely monitored", they said.
25/05/11 PTI/Economic Times

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Haze clears but flyers to US are still in the lurch

Mumbai: The volcano cloud from Iceland may be clearing out, but passengers bound for Europe are still on tenterhooks.
On Wednesday, as the ash cloud was abating, airlines started their services again. Operations to and from India to major European hubs like London, Paris, Frankfurt, etc remained uninterrupted.
British Airways, which had cancelled its flights to and from places like Edinburgh, Glasgow and Newcastle, resumed normal operations on Wednesday.
Even though, reports of the cloud spreading over Germany, Lufthansa continued to operate flights normally. However, Indians bound for Europe in the coming weeks remain nervous about their travel plans and flooded tour operators with queries about alternate routes.
"Travel plans to Europe have been kept in abeyance still. Since the impact of the ash cloud on flights was enormous last year, nobody wants to take chances this time," said Rajesh Rateria, managing director of Cirrus Travels.
"People have kept their plans to travel to Europe in abeyance still. Since the impact of the ash cloud on flights was enormous last year, nobody wants to take a chance this time,'' said Rajesh Rateria, managing director, Cirrus Travels.
26/05/11 Chinmayi Shalya/Times of India

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Boeing MRO facility work at Nagpur airport to end by 2012

Nagpur: The much-delayed Boeing Maintenance-Repair-Overhaul (MRO) facility to be raised at the Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar International Airport in Nagpur is likely to start by the end of 2012, as work in this direction has started.
The project, worth $100 million, which Boeing is setting up, will have two hangars to accommodate bulky aircraft like Boeing-777, 747-800.
President of Boeing India Dr Dinesh Keskar and Air India Board Member KM Unni told this to reporters during a press conference today.
They said that roughly five aircraft could be admitted every month at the facility for various maintenance work.
25/05/11 PTI/Daily News & Analysis

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Volcanic eruption: Indian carriers asked to draw up alternative routes

New Delhi: A fresh volcanic eruption in Iceland threatens to disrupt flights to western Europe in what would make for an eerie rerun of last April's travel travails. "Till 9pm, the ash cloud had spread up to 20,000 feet over Greenland, Iceland and UK. Britain has asked airlines to assess the situation before operating flights. As of now, it seems UK and other important European cities could get hit," said a senior official who attended a meeting called by aviation secretary Nasim Zaidi.

"We have asked Indian carriers to draw up alternate routes to and from North America over the Mediterranean and the Atlantic and also to western Europe. We will start work on getting them permission to have technical halts to pick up and drop passengers from Athens, Rome, Cairo and airports in unaffected European cities."

Airports such as Athens and Rome offer rail, road and sea connectivity to other parts of Europe, apart from a clear access to the Atlantic to fly to North America. When ash affects the usual polar route to North America and airspace over western Europe, vital hubs London, Paris, Frankfurt, Munich, Amsterdam and Brussels get crippled.

25/05/11 Saurabh Sinha/Times of India

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