With Kingfisher dying, Jet wants to leave AI behind too

Naresh Goyal’s long-held ambition of making Jet Airways the largest Indian airline overseas is finally bearing fruit.

Already, the complete withdrawal of rival Kingfisher Airlines from international operations is benefiting Jet with higher yields (revenue per passenger). Now, simultaneously, Goyal is also frequenting the corridors of Rajiv Gandhi Bhavan, which houses the Civil Aviation Ministry, to make sure it takes the wind out of another rival — Air India (AI).

Due to the national carrier’s first right of refusal over international flights, it has always held the distinction of having largest number of international flights out of India; that number currently stands at 571 per week.

But now, Goyal wants to take his overseas operations from just 370 per week to a whopping 528 by the winter of 2012 – an increase of over 42 percent. That will bring competition right to AI’s doorstep.

05/04/12 Sindhu Bhattacharya/First Post

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Cops play CCTV footage, court denies bail to trafficking accused

New Delhi Delhi Police on Tuesday played a 1.5-hour-long CCTV footage in a city court to prevent a Jet Airways employee, accused of operating a human trafficking racket at the Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA), from getting bail. Consequently, the petition of the employee — who was allegedly operating in connivance with an immigration official and a policeman — was rejected.The accused, identified as Manoj Sarpal, was arrested on April 3 on charges of providing fake boarding passes to passengers sent to him through an agent in Gujarat. “We checked the footage from CCTV cameras installed at the airport. In it, the accused is clearly seen handing over boarding passes to the passengers who have already been arrested,” said a senior police officer.

Police said they went to the Dwarka court where the accused had applied for a bail, and played the CCTV footage to prove their point. “We also presented the phone call details between Sarpal and the immigration officer to prove that the accused acted in connivance with them,” the officer said. On April 3, the Delhi Police arrested Chaman Azhar, posted as immigration officer, for allegedly facilitating the travel of passengers on forged immigration stamps. Four passengers, including three women, were also arrested. They belonged to Mumbai as well as different cities of Gujarat.

27/04/11 Vijaita Singh/ExpressIndia

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Man from Belgium dies after international flight diverted to Newfoundland

Gander, N.L: Police in Newfoundland are hoping autopsy results will reveal why a man from Belgium fell ill aboard a passenger aircraft and later died after the jet was diverted to Gander.
The RCMP say the 53-year-old was aboard a Jet Airways flight heading to Brussels from Newark, N.J., on Saturday, when he reported feeling sick.
26/04/11 The Canadian Press

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Jet, IndiGo lead on-time operations in March

Mumbai: Jet Airways has been rated as the best on-time performer with 94.9 percent in March, the second best is the low-cost carrier Indigo with at 94.6 percent, while the worst is GoAir with 78.2 percent, as per the latest data from the regulator DGCA .
The seven commercial airlines together have an on-time performance of 90.4 percent, show the data from the Director General of Civil Aviation.
At the third lot is Kingfisher Airlines with an on-time performance of 93 percent, followed by JetLite, a subsidiary of Jet Airways, with 91 percent.
The state-run Air India fared rather poorly coming at the fifth slot out of the total seven with 85.1 percent timely performance. No-frills carrier SpiceJet also fared badly on timely performance of only 83.7 percent.
According to the data, the most common cause for delay was reactionary which accounted for a full 51 percent reason for delay, followed by technical reasons (8percent) and operational and crew-related delays (7 percent).
23/04/11 PTI/Economic Times

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Jet Airways, Godrej set to develop Bandra-Kurla land

Mumbai: Decks have been cleared for Jet Airways’ proposed deal with Godrej Properties (GPL) to jointly develop a 2.5-acre land parcel at the suburban business district of Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC) in Mumbai, a project that was hanging fire for some time now.
Although an agreement to jointly develop the land had been signed between the two, the deal could not be closed since Jet Airways was awaiting a permission from the Mumbai Metropolitan Regional Development Authority (MMRDA), responsible for planning and development of the metropolitan area of Mumbai city.
23/04/11 Shaheen Mansuri/Finacial Express

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Jet Airways flies special children

Kolkata: Jet Airways, India’s premier airline, on Friday operated a ‘Flight of Fantasy’ for underprivileged and special children in Kolkata.
As part of its annual community service, over 100 children were given a unique once in a life time opportunity to experience the joy of flying on board a Jet Airways Boeing 737-700.
The Flight of Fantasy was operated in support of non-governmental organisations (NGO’s) Bharani, CINI, Nijiloy and All Bengal Women’s Union Children’s Welfare Home, which are dedicated to the upliftment and education of children - vulnerable in our society.
Special invitees on this occasion were well known actress Koel Mallik, Director Horonath Mallik and magician Maneka Sorcar, daughter of famous P C Sorcar who made the day even more pleasant for the children with happy memories.
Refreshments served on board were courtesy Taj Sats while fuel for the flight was courtesy Indian Oil Corporation. Route Navigation charges were waived off by Airport Authorities of India along with parking and landing charges.
The flight 9W 001 took off from the domestic terminal of the Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International airport and returned after an hour long flight, flying over the east coast, to touch down at Kolkata at 1715 hours.
22/04/11 India Blooms

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Jet Airways rated best on time performer amongst scheduled domestic airline

Jet Airways, India’s premier international airline has been rated the best on time performer amongst all other scheduled domestic airlines with an on time performance of 94.9%. JetLite, the airlines wholly owned subsidiary was also not too far behind registering an impressive On-Time Performance 91% per cent respectively, as per the figures released by the Director General of Civil Aviation. Together the Jet Airways Group while posting its seventeenth month of consecutive growth also maintained its dominant leadership position in the Indian aviation sector with a market share of 25.4%.

In the month of March, Jet Airways carried 4.03 lakh international revenue paying passengers with an overall seat factor of 75.9%. The airline also carried 8.43 lakh domestic revenue paying passengers.

21/04/11 Business Standard

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Jet Airways Plans Fleet Expansion

India’s leading private airline Jet Airways said it will purchase aircraft from Boeing and Airbus as part of its fleet expansion program.

Yohan Paul, a senior official at Jet Airways, told Aviation Week the company has approved acquiring two additional Boeing 777–300ER aircraft. The delivery would take place between February and April 2013. “We are also planning to induct four A330-family aircraft over the next two years,” Paul said.

In addition, Jet Airways has entered into a purchase agreement with Boeing to acquire 30 737-800s to be delivered by 2015 and 10 Boeing 787-8s to be delivered by 2014. “These are, however, subject to requisite regulatory approvals and firm dates from the manufacturer,” Paul said.

Currently, Jet Airways operates a fleet of 97 aircraft, which includes 10 777-300ERs, 12 A330-200s, 55 next- generation Boeing 737-700/800/900s and 20 modern ATR 72-500 turboprops.

The airline, which flies to 71 destinations in India and abroad, has plans to increase services on its existing domestic routes, as well as to launch a nonstop flight to the U.S.; it currently operates a single daily connection to New York and New Jersey via Brussels—its hub in Europe.

15/04/11 Jay Menon/Aviation Week

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Now, Tirupati tour by flight

Hyderabad: The Andhra Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation (APTDC) in association with Jet Airways has launched a tourism package to Tirupati for a darshan of Lord Balaji and an SMS Complaint Monitoring System at the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport on Tuesday. The package was formally launched by Tourism minister Vatti Vasanth Kumar.

The tour package includes a Hyderabad-Tirupati-Hyderabad Jet Airways ticket, AC twin-sharing accommodation at Tirupati, transport, food, a guide and a Balaji Sheegra Darshan ticket.

It is available at APTDC Central Reservation Office, Basheerbagh, APTDC counter at the Shamshabad airport and also online and would cost Rs 9,250 per person. The package also provides an opportunity to visit Shrinivasamangapuram temple, Goddess Padmavathiamma temple and Shrikalahasti. "Devotees of Lord Balaji, who are spread across the world, can book online for the package. Similar schemes would soon be initiated for other cities like Visakhapatnam and Vijaywada and also other pilgrimage centres in the state to promote tourism," Vatti Vasant Kumar said.

13/04/11 ExpressBuzz

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4 airlines face music for violating DGCA norms

New Delhi/Panaji: The Directorate-General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Tuesday cracked the whip on four airlines for violating its directive and landing in unsafe conditions at Dabolim airport.

The DGCA had issued orders not to operate flights to Goa during certain hours of the day when ground navigational aids at Dabolim airport are not operational due to repair work.

Official sources said the DGCA was in the process of sending notices to Kingfisher Airlines, GoAir, JetLite and Jet Airways for having operated flights during “curfew hours” (from 9 am to 1 pm and 3 pm to 7 pm).

In line with the DGCA action, the Indian Commercial Pilots Association (ICPA), one of the two Air India pilots’ unions, has also asked its members not to operate flights to Goa during this period when the only way to land would be to carry out “blind landings” or landings without navigational aids.

The DGCA had issued a NOTAM (notice to airmen) about a week ago advising airlines not to operate flights during these hours when the ground-based radar system PAPI (precision approach path indicator, aviation jargon for runway lights) is non-functional.

“Despite our warnings to respect the curfew hours, some airlines have violated this directive. They will have to pay for it,” Director -General of Civil Aviation E K Bharat Bhushan said.

Bhushan said the NOTAM had warned all airlines not to operate flights of jet aircraft (not Jet Airways) during this period due to shutting down of the crucial navigational aids.

12/04/11 Deccan Herald

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Jet to launch non-stop flight to the US

New Delhi: The country’s largest airliner by market share, Jet Airways, may launch a non-stop flight to the US, said top company sources. At present, it provides a single daily connection to New York and New Jersey via Brussels — its hub in Europe.
“The company has been exploring this option and is also in talks with US domestic airline Delta to provide connections within that country,” said a company executive and added that the proposal is on the drawing board. The New-Delhi-New York flight may be launched by 2011-end or 2012.
Jet Airways has a code share agreement with American Airlines which operates a non-stop daily flight Chicago-New Delhi. Last year, it entered into a code share agreement with United Airline that operates flights between London and Chicago, Denver, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Washington.
However, the airline is likely to receive a stiff competition from Air India, which operates non-stop daily to New York and Chicago. Even though these are prestigious routes, Air India makes losses to the tune of Rs 750 crore per annum.
08/04/11 Smita Aggarwal/Indian Express

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Immigration officer, Jet staffer held for trafficking

An immigration officer posted at the Indira Gandhi International Airport was arrested along with an airline official for allegedly running a human trafficking racket, police said.
The accused reportedly charged between Rs 17 lakh and Rs 30 lakh from passengers to send them abroad. Police said six persons have been arrested.
Immigration officer Chaman Azhar allegedly facilitated travel on forged immigration stamps for money, police said. Four passengers, including three women, were also arrested.
The fraud was detected after a woman, Asha Panigrahi, was deported from Brussels for travelling on a forged immigration stamp on March 20.
Police added that Jet Airways staffer Manoj Sarpal used to provide fake boarding passes.
Passengers of domestic flights that take off from the international airport are not required to undergo an immigration check. If they have a boarding pass from the airline concerned, they can directly head for the security hold area, police said.
On April 1, an FIR was filed by Jet Airways after its staff noticed forged documents on one Anisha Rahimbhai Mardeja, who was travelling to Toronto. “The supervisor felt that the passport had not been checked by the airline staff during check-in,” the FIR stated.
05/04/11 Indian Express

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Jet Airways promoted Lydia Nazareth as the general manager for the UK and Ireland last week.
Having spent almost a decade serving the airline and various previous managerial roles, her appointment is fitting to lead Jet forward.
Lydia has spent nine years with the airline, of which the last three years were spent as general manager of Sales, and sales manager for ethnic and leisure sales.
She said: "My predecessor, the late Raja Segran, put in place a pragmatic business plan which has put Jet Airways in good stead for times ahead.
"I am excited to lead Jet Airways through the next stages of its development with positive future prospects for the airline, its staff and guests."
Prior to her UK roles, Lydia worked with Jet Air Private Limited, based in India, as vice president marketing and sales.
She will now be based at the airline's corporate office in Hammersmith, bringing a wealth of experience of the aviation and sales sectors, plus leadership and management qualities.
04/04/11 Salina Patel/Skyport

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