2013, a year of surprises for aviation industry

Even as the year is drawing to a close, 2013 has been a year of surprises and excitement for an otherwise struggling Indian civil aviation sector.
From a sense of gloom, the sentiment quickly changed to jubilation when foreign airlines lined up to throw a lifeline to troubled domestic carriers or applied for fresh applications to start new airline ventures with strong domestic partners.
Since 2006, India has not seen the launch of a major airline. Rather, three airlines - Kingfisher Airlines, Air Deccan (Kingfisher Red) and Paramount Airways - have shut shop, in the meantime. The last major airline that was launched in India was IndiGo in 2006, which has now grown into be the largest domestic carrier by market share.

The year saw the signing of the Jet Airways-Etihad Airways deal. Under the deal, the Abu Dhabi-based airline picked up 24 per cent stake in financially-strained Jet Airways for Rs. 2,058 crore. Apart from this, Etihad also paid $70 million to buy Jet’s airport slots at London Heathrow Airport. And, it has committed to invest another $150 million to buy out Jet’s frequent flier programme.
Read News In Full 29/12/13 Lalatendu Mishra/The Hindu