Green light for Tata Sons, Singapore Airlines joint venture, all eyes on foreign flights

New Delhi: The Indian skies are getting crowded. With the Tata Sons and Singapore Airlines venture closer to take off — the proposal was blessed by the Foreign Investment Promotion Board on Thursday — flyers will have one more option if they’re looking to fly with a full-service carrier.
By next November they may also be flying AirAsia, whose airline, also in partnership with the Tatas, was approved in March, and which plans to operate in the no-frills space.
India’s Rs 50,000-crore aviation business flatters to deceive. Airlines collectively posted losses of Rs 12,809 crore in FY12 and Rs 9,270 in FY13. Indigo was the sole carrier to have made money in both years. In 2012, low-cost players flew 32.4 million or 60% of all passengers.

Tata-Singapore Airlines to fly in early 2014

New Delhi: After two failed attempts over a decade back, Tata Sons and Singapore Airlines (SIA) will finally be together in the cockpit of a start-up airline in India by early next year. The foreign investment promotion board (FIPB) on Thursday cleared their $100-million initial investment proposal for a full service airline, in which Tatas will have 51% and SIA 49%. The proposal was submitted on September 19.
Economic affairs secretary Arvind Mayaram said the JV has been cleared with no riders. The airline will now need security clearance for its foreign directors, followed by a clearance from the aviation ministry, and then a scheduled operator permit from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). Flyers can now expect to be spoilt for choice once again as the Delhi-based full service "Tata SIA Airlines Ltd" could fly in a few months, soon after Tata's budget carrier with AirAsia takes off.
"All this process (at DGCA and security clearances) can take anywhere between one to four months. It all depends on how fast they complete the paperwork," aviation minister Ajit Singh said.
Read news in full 25/10/13 Times of India

FIR against Mallya, Kingfisher for non-payment of airport fees

Bangalore: An FIR has been filed against liquor baron Vijay Mallya and his cash-strapped Kingfisher Airlines on a criminal complaint by Bengaluru International Airport Limited (BIAL) for non-payment of user development fees and passenger service fees to it.
"We have filed an FIR against Vijay Mallya and Kingfisher Airlines...," Assistant Police Commissioner Kamal Pant told PTI on Friday.
The FIR has been registered at Bengaluru International Airport police station on a direction by a magistrate court here, where BIAL had filed the complaint on October 21, he said, adding that they received the court order on Thursday.
In its private criminal complaint, BIAL has sought action under IPC Sections including 403 (dishonest misappropriation of property), 406 (criminal breach of trust), 418 (cheating) and 120B (criminal conspiracy) with a direction to police to probe the matter.
Read news in full 25/10/13 NDTV.com

AirAsia India hopes to start flying by January

Chennai: AirAsia India is likely to commence flying by January. “We are working out everything possible from our end to ensure that we start operations by January,” said AirAsia India’s CEO Mittu Chandilya.
The challenge is getting the fare so low that everybody gets an opportunity to fly. “We expect nearly 60 per cent of our travellers to be virgin travellers,” he told newspersons on the sidelines of the 12th All India Management Students Convention here on Friday.
AirAsia has been rated the world’s best low-cost airline five years in a row by SkyTrax World Alliance, a UK-based consultancy. “Indian operations are going to test us further,” he said.
“We are entering the sector at a time when the government is deregulating the sector. The obstacles are many and keeps me excited,” he said. The low-cost airline recently received a No Objection Certificate from the Ministry of Civil Aviation and has applied for Air Operating Permit (AOP) to kick-start operations. With Chennai as its headquarters, the airline, a joint venture of AirAsia, Tata Group and Telestra Tradeplace, plans to start flying with three aircrafts.
The airline has already recruited 300 crew members who are currently undergoing training in Malaysia, Chandilya said.
Read news in full 25/10/13 TE Rajasimhan/Business Line

What govt needs to do to boost low-cost carriers in India

India's domestic aviation market is predominantly a low cost carrier (LCC) market, with more than 70 percent market share controlled by the LCCs. Even Full-service carriers (FSC) like Jet Airways  and Air India are at times forced to offer economy class seats at a fare comparable with LCCs despite providing additional facilities like meals, lounge access and frequent flyer benefits etc. A significant number of aircrafts of Jet Airways have a full economy class configuration. India is, now, by all means an LCC territory. The market leader, IndiGo, followed a consistent strategy of on-time performance, new fleet, competitive fares and hassle free service. The exit of Kingfisher in December 2012 helped and Indigo today has a dominant market share of over 30 percent.  It recorded an impressive profit of Rs 787 crore in 2012-13 compared to Rs 128 crore in 2011-12. With FDI reforms, enhancement of of bilateral quotas and the anticipated abolition of the infamous 5/20 rule, we are seeing more foreign airlines entering the Indian aviation space.  The increasing competition is likely to enhance global connectivity, improve services, bring down fares, attract more flyers in India and boost foreign tourist arrivals.
Read news in full 25/10/13 moneycontrol.com

SpiceJet to add 3-4 international destinations next year

Bangalore: Announcing the launch of its Bangalore-Bangkok direct flight, SpiceJetBSE 2.46 % today said it will be adding 3 to 4 international destinations in the next year.
"Bangkok is our tenth international destination; the strategy going forward will be to expand as much internationally as possible within the five hour flying radius of India; ... hopefully we will be adding 3 to 4 international destinations in the next year," SpiceJet Senior Vice President & Head (Ground Services) Kamal Hingorani told reporters here.
"We have already covered 10 international stations, exploring a few more as we go along. The one that is already announced is Madurai to Dubai which starts next month on 22 November, we are looking at connecting Kuala Lumpur to a few cities in the country," he added.
Announcing its first flight to Bangkok tomorrow, SpiceJet Senior Vice President (Commercial) V Raja said "to begin with we will be operating four flights a week from Bengaluru to Bangkok and we are hopeful, confident- that we will scale it up soon."
Read news in full 25/10/13 PTI/Economic Times

Odisha seeks corporate help for low cost airline

The state government has sought the support of corporate houses for introduction of low cost regional flights proposed by Air Odisha Aviation Pvt Ltd.
The private airline proposes to use small aircrafts (with capacity to carry nine passengers and two pilots) to connect different industrial hubs within the state. The company plans to introduce the flights from the first week of November on experimental basis.
To make this operation viable, the state government has urged the corporates with offices and plants in these towns to use the services of the airliner. "The proposed introduction of flight will not sustain without support from corporate houses and general public using the same," joint secretary, general administration department, wrote to the corporates.

DGCA to recruit 130 personnel next month

New Delhi: There is finally some good news for Indian aviation. The Director General of Civil Aviation will recruit 130 personnel to fill in the various vacant posts in the Air worthiness stream. The process of recruitment and joining would finish by next month itself.
Confirming the news to Headlines Today the DG Arun Mishra said that soon DGCA would present itself in a better form to the world. He however played down the threat of downgrade by the Federal Aviation Administration and asserted that regular exercises and audits were necessary for improvement. Furthermore he added that there was never a situation when the passenger safety was compromised.
But then this is just the beginning 130 recruitments doesn't mean that the problems end for DGCA.There are equal number of vacant posts in other streams as well that would need to be filled as well. The sanctioned strength of the DGCA is more than 500 but then the current strength is just around 300.
Read news in full 24/10/13 Pankaj Upadhyay/India Today

Govt may reconsider decision on A-380 flying to India

New Delhi: A final decision on whether the world’s largest civilian aircraft, Airbus A-380, should be allowed to operate regular scheduled flights into India will be taken by the Ministry of Civil Aviation after discussions with domestic airlines.
No time frame has yet been fixed on when a decision will be taken, senior Ministry officials said, after an internal meeting here on Wednesday. The meeting was called to discuss whether to allow the double-deck aircraft, which can seat as many as 525 passengers, to operate regular scheduled flights into India.
Several airlines, including Singapore Airlines, Dubai-based Emirates and Germany’s Lufthansa, are keen to bring the aircraft into India, but are currently prevented by the Indian rules.
The Government has all along maintained that allowing the A-380 into the country will see foreign airlines take away a large chunk of international traffic and, therefore, will be detrimental to the interests of domestic carriers such as Jet Airways and Air India.
Read news in full 23/10/13 Business Line

Domestic air traffic grows due to promotional fares

Mumbai: Promotional fares introduced by airlines on throw away prices catapulted a growth in domestic traffic, states a recent report by the Centre for Asia pacific Aviation (CAPA). The report states that the robust growth in domestic traffic though came at a heavy cost to the balance sheet of the airlines.
In August, there was an year-on-year growth of 20% in domestic traffic. The trend continued with 13% growth in September . The major metro airports, according to CAPA, have registered a growth of 12-14% in international traffic too. The growth in domestic traffic has been about 14%. Delhi airport reported the highest growth of about 18% for international traffic and 20.5% in domestic traffic. Delhi was followed by Mumbai with the latter reporting a growth of about 19% in international traffic. Cochin airport reported a strong growth of 19% in both international and domestic sectors.
Read news in full 24/10/13 Chinmayi Shalya/Times of India

Why such huge losses: Jet Airways clarifies

A day after it announced its worst-ever quarterly loss of Rs 998 crore (consolidated figure for Q2 FY14), the top management of India's second-largest airline, Jet Airways, said one-time aircraft maintenance costs and extraneous factors completely outside its control - such as rupee depreciation, increased airport and navigation charges and high aviation jet fuel prices - made their losses mount.
"On the face of it a loss of Rs 891 crore  looks big," said Ravishankar G, CFO, Jet Airways in an earnings call with analysts on Thursday. (He did not quote the consolidated loss figure.) But he explained the various factors beyond the airline's control that added up to hurt it badly. He said that Rs 699 crore out of the total loss posted by the airline was due to the factors Jet could not do anything about.

Air India inflated rent from Mumbai headquarters to make balance sheet look healthy: Book

Mumbai: The Air India management dressed up the airline’s balance sheet with “accounting loopholes” and “deception” to inflate receivable rents to make its losses look smaller with respect to its former headquarters in Nariman Point, a book titled The Descent of Air India, written by the airline’s former executive director Jitendra Bhargava, has alleged.
The airline’s 23-storey building has been operational since 1974. Earlier this year, AI shifted its base to Delhi.
Bhargava has documented AI’s decline, focussing on the 2004-08 period when former civil aviation minister Praful Patel and then chairman V Tulsidas were at the helm.Tulsidas, who is currently on a visit to Muscat, was unavailable for comment.

Air One latest in fray to apply for licence to fly

New Delhi: The Alok Sharma-promoted Air One has applied to the ministry of civil aviation for permission to start a scheduled airline.
Currently, Air One runs charter services to domestic and international destinations.
Confirming the development, a senior ministry official said, “They have applied for the permission to start a scheduled airline. They want a pan-India licence.” He declined to share details.
Calls and text messages to Alok Sharma, promoter and director of Air One and former president of Air Sahara, did not elicit a response.
Industry sources said Sharma was considering floating a new airline for to cash in on the latent traffic potential in the domestic market. According to Air One’s website, the airline has a fleet of seven aircraft, which it plans to expand to 10 by the end of this year. It has a Lineage 1000, two Legacy 650s, one Citation XLS, one Dauphin and two Ecureuil. Air One operates regular charter services between Mumbai and Aamby Valley from October to May.
Read News In Full 23/10/13 Sharmistha Mukerjee/Business Standard

Jet Airways posts highest ever quarterly loss of Rs.891 crore

Mumbai: In a clear sign that aviation business in current operating environment is making airlines bleed and challenging their balance sheet viability, country's second-largest carrier by way of market share Jet Airways Ltd posted its worst-ever quarterly loss of Rs.891 crore.
High air turbine fuel taxation, increase in aircraft lease rentals, short-term borrowings to keep the business afloat and an increase in trade payables has led to Jet's losses sky rocketing from Rs.100 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous financial year to Rs.891 crore (standalone losses) this year. It has also widened its loss margins on a quarter-on-quarter basis by 51%. Its Q1 loss for this financial year stood at Rs.355.4 crores.
Airline consultancy firm CAPA has projected heavy losses for all airlines for the second quarter. It estimates total losses in excess of $500 million (Rs.30 billion), with LCCs estimated to have lost $120-130 million and full service airlines over $400 million.
Read News In full 23/10/13 Manisha Singhal/India Today

Domestic airlines may post losses of over Rs 3,000 cr in Q2: CAPA

New Delhi: Losses for the domestic airline sector are expected to exceed Rs 3,000 crore ($500 million) in the second quarter ending September 30, according to the India Aviation Monitor, released on Tuesday by the Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation (CAPA).
The report points out that every airline in India is estimated to be in the red during the quarter (excluding one-time adjustment) with Jet Airways estimated to post the highest loss of close to $150 million. Incidentally, the CAPA report comes less than 24 hours before the airline board is to meet on October 23, to consider and approve its unaudited financial results for the quarter and half year ended September 30. SpiceJet is expected to post a loss of Rs 420-480 crore compared with the previous record of Rs 250 crore, the report said. “These estimates include one-off items,” the report said.
Both the carriers will also report full year losses (excluding one-off adjustments and non-operating incomes).
Read News In Full 22/10/13 Business Line

Struggling to sell aircraft in India owing to regulations: Anand Mahindra

Making multiutility aircraft in India is a challenge that Anand Mahindra, chairman and managing director of the $16.2 billion conglomerate, is looking ahead to. In Bangalore to inaugurate the company’s new aero structure manufacturing facility, Mahindra, 58, spoke to ET about the similarities between this current foray into aerospace and the making of the Mahindra jeep when roads were just being built in India. Edited excerpts:
Are you happy with the progress made by the aerospace business vertical?
We are dreamers, but we have our feet firmly on the ground. Even as we take to aviation, mentally and metaphorically, our feet are on the ground. We have some very clear financial targets that we need to meet. And we have a growth trajectory that we have to pursue. This plant is one of them. The new plant has been established at a total cost of approximately Rs 150 crore and has the capacity to deliver about Rs 250 crore in revenue per annum when operating at peak capacity. And pursuing this double strategy of being a component supplier as well as an aircraft maker, I think gives our plan and business model tremendous robustness

Jitendra Bhargava reiterates stand on Air India's fall and Thulasidas

Former Air India Executive Director Jitendra Bhargava reiterated his stand today on the national air carrier's downfall, which he has narrated in his recently published book 'The Descent of Air India'.
Reacting to former Air India Chairman and Managing Director V Thulasidas' article in an English daily questioning Bhargava's "credibility", the latter said, "Instead of apologising for what he did to Air India, he has taken a stand claiming that he has not done anything at all".
In his book, Bhargava blamed Thulasidas and former Union Aviation Minister Praful Patel for Air India's downfall.
In his recent article Thulasidas, had written "I had to remove this person (Bhargava) from two posts -- directorship of Human Resources and Public Relations departments -- due to inadequate performance. He was found unsuitable by the Public Enterprises Selection Board for a board position again during that time period".

Delhi Aerocity finally takes off; welcomed by industry

New Delhi: Delhi Aerocity, a 43-acre hospitality and commerical district near the Indira Gandhi International Airport, is finally - after clearing a lot of hurdles - seeing the light of the day and is expected to usher in volumes and growth for both the aviation and hospitality industries.
Expected to ultimately house 16 luxury hotels and commercial spaces, it was conceived and approved as a part of the Delhi Airport master plan five years ago.
"The hospitality district of the aerocity offers quick access to the airport, besides being centrally located between the business areas of Delhi and Gurgaon," Rajiv Chib, associate director, PricewaterhouseCoopers, told IANS. "It is thus a logical extension of any major international airport and needs to be made functional at the earliest."
Chib's views were corroborated by national carrier Air India, which made the IGI airport as its hub way back in 2010.

Girish Nair appointed as CCO of GoAir

Mumbai: Wadia group promoted no-frills carrier GoAir on Wednesday said it has appointed Girish Nair as its Chief Commercial Officer (CCO).
Nair's appointment is effective from October 7, a company release said here.
Prior to joining GoAir, Nair had been working as assistant vice president-head of marketing and aviation contracts with Bangalore International Airport Limited.
Read News In Full 23/10/13 PTI/Zee News

After deal with Etihad, Jet signals shift in flight plan

New Delhi:While markets have been rife with concerns over the adverse impact of the Jet-Etihad alliance on Air India's international operations, the national carrier may actually gain incremental traffic in the domestic arena. Currently, the country's second largest passenger carrier, Jet Airways, has drawn out a blueprint to connect 23 cities in India to Abu Dhabi to synergise operations with Etihad Airways. Such a business plan, while likely to improve profitability for Jet on international routes, may limit its footprint at home as the planned network expansion is not feasible with the fleet at its disposal.
Jet will require short-haul Boeing 737s to feed the traffic to Abu Dhabi, Etihad's home base and hub. It does have plans to induct 54 aircraft over the next three to five years but the initial demand would have to be met by diverting its existing fleet of 57 such aircraft.

Honours shared in battle for skies

New Delhi: National carrier Air India today said it had achieved a passenger load factor (PLF) of 73.2 per cent for its domestic flights in September, beating India’s biggest low-frill carrier IndiGo Airlines, which clocked 70.3 per cent PLF.
Mumbai-based GoAir, however, had achieved maximum occupancy at 79 per cent.
Passenger load factor is an indicator of occupancy in an aircraft.
IndiGo, however, managed to keep the top spot with the largest market share of 30.3 per cent, followed by Air India’s domestic operations (20.3 per cent), Jet Airways (19.1 per cent), SpiceJet (17.3 per cent), GoAir (7.5 per cent) and JetLite (5.5 per cent).
According to monthly data from the civil aviation ministry, domestic air passenger traffic jumped 13.4 per cent in September to 45.55 lakh from 40.18 lakh carried during the corresponding month last year.

No takers for Air India’s properties

Mumbai: National carrier Air India’s efforts to monetise its real estate assets have hit an airpocket yet again. The company’s latest attempt to sell its prime residential property in Mumbai has found no takers.
It was a no show at the e-auction held on October 18 for one of the four Peddar Road (in South Mumbai) flats that was put on the block. Air India had set the minimum reserve price of Rs 27.5 crore for the 3BHK flat of 2,033 square feet. The steep reserve price, according to property consultants, proved to be a deterrent.
In all probability, Air India would now have to bring the reserve price down to about Rs 22 crore in the fresh auction, sources close to the development, said. The matter will now be referred to Air India’s special committee that oversees monetisation of its real estate assets. It is expected to meet in the next few days to decide on the next course of action.
Read News In full 22/10/13 Manisha Jha/Adith Charlie/Business Line

Mumbai reduced to a non-metro by Air India

Mumbai: The national carrier no longer operates direct flights from the city to destinations like Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Frankfurt, Paris, Tokyo, Osaka, Hong Kong, Chicago, New York, Nairobi, Durban and Dar es Salaam, among others.
This is the first time this is happening in Air India’s 60-year history. Some of these flights, such as those linking Mumbai to Europe, Japan and Africa, had been in existence from JRD Tata’s time. The change took place over the past one year because of AI’s decision to make Delhi its hub.
Now, a majority of AI’s direct international flights from Mumbai go to airports in the Middle East. Other than that, Mumbai is connected directly only to Bangkok, London and Newark.
How prudent is it for an airline to let go of lucrative routes nurtured for decades, like Mumbai-Singapore and Mumbai-Frankfurt?

Hot air balloons to help Maharashtra tourism soar

After Rajasthan, Maharashtra will become the second state to have Hot Air Ballooning adventure tourism from Diwali-eve, officials said here on Tuesday.
The first ride Oct 29 will carry eight passengers to 4,000 feet above sea level at Lonavala, a hill station around 90 km from here, said Sangram Pawar, director, Rainbow Riderss, the Sky Waltz franchisee operating the hot air balloons.
"We shall operate flights in Lonavala, Pune and surroundings, starting with two balloons. In Mumbai, we may deploy a balloon for special events or promotional only as the city has too many tall buildings to permit free flight," Pawar said.
State Tourism Minister Chhagan Bhujbal, Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation managing director Jagdish Patil, Sky Waltz top executives Samit Garg and Jai Thakore and others were present at the official launch here.
Read News In Full 23/10/13 IANS/Times of India

Gulf Carrier to Acquire Stake In Air India's MRO Unit

Gulf Carrier is likely to acquire stake in Air India’s maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) unit, TOI states. Air India had hived off the unit as a separate subsidiary with about 7,000 employees.
Along with MRO, ground handling subsidiaries also had been spined-off by AI very recently.
Air India is the flag carrier airline of India. It is part of the government owned Air India Limited. The airline operates a fleet of Airbus and Boeing aircraft serving Asia, the United States, Europe and now Australia.
Air India was founded by JRD Tata. The company has been making loses past seven years since the merger of state-run carrier Indian Airlines with Air India in 2007. The rising competition, worsening operational performance, massive aircraft purchases, and the ill-conceived merger had pushed the combined airline into the bad phase.
Read News In Full 23/10/13  Pranali Shah/Dealcurry

Man held for stealing bag at IGI airport

New Delhi: A Syed Mohd (45) who holds a doctorate degree from Lucknow University, has been arrested for allegedly stealing a bag containing valuables of a fellow passenger from the baggage belt of Indira Gandhi International Airport here, police said today.
On October 15, a couple travelling from Hyderabad to New Delhi by an Air India flight complained to police that they had checked in with three bags but they received just two when they landed in Delhi, they said.
"During investigation, the CCTV footage of Hyderabad Airport and Delhi Airport were closely analysed and it was found that one person who checked in only one bag at Hyderabad Airport and was travelling in the same flight picked two bags from the baggage belt of Air India at the New Delhi airport," said Deputy Commissioner of Police (IGI Airport) M.I Haider.
His mobile number was found on the details given to Air India while booking the ticket and it was put on surveillance during which his location was found in Aligarh.
Read News In Full 23/10/13 PTI/Business Standard

Govt hopeful of privatising six airports before 2014 polls

New Delhi: The ministry of civil aviation is hopeful of completing the process of privatising six major airports, including those at Chennai and Kolkata, within a time-frame and ahead of the general elections, scheduled to be held next year.
The ministry's move to award management contracts of these airports to private sector entities suffered a setback with the sale of bid documents for Chennai and Lucknow airports being postponed by several weeks.
Civil aviation secretary K N Shrivastava said, "We are quite optimistic about doing it within the time- frame. There is some cushion period available which we are using now.” The ministry is in the process of incorporating changes in the bid documents by holding consultations with various stakeholders.

Mahindra Aerospace to launch first small aircraft in India in 2 years

Bangalore: Mahindra Aerospace, the aircraft and components manufacturing arm of Mahindra group, will start producing the first eight-seater aircraft in India in the next two years.
"You can expect that within a time-frame of two years, we will have a full-fledged eight-seater aircraft being manufactured in India," said Hemant Luthra, President of Mahindra Systech -- of which Mahindra Aerospace is a part, during the inauguration of its new aerostructure manufacturing facility here.
The company presently manufactures eight-seater -- GA8 utility aircraft, in its Australia-based companies Aerostaff and GrippsAero which it acquired in 2010 to get into the aviation sector.
It has so far exported from Australia around 250 planes, which are used for tourism, humanitarian aid, adventure sports and other activities in the US, Canada, Europe and other countries.

Two Air India crew members held with sandalwood, say delayed salaries pushed them to smuggling

New Delhi: Two Air India cabin crew members were arrested from IGI International Airport on Sunday night after they found were smuggling 45 kg of sandalwood. The Air India flight 315 was bound for Hong Kong.
The accused employees, Milind Davanae and Nibhim Korah , have been suspended by the Air India management.
Airport officials said that the wood was kept in suitcases.
When customs officials apprehended the duo, they were not able to give any explanations.
Custom officials told Headlines Today that the duo was caught red-handed and during interrogation said the delayed salaries over the years was the reason they were forced to resort to illegal means to earn money.
Davanae and Korah would be produced in court today.
Read News In full 21/10/13 India Today

Steep fare hike checks festival rush in airlines

Mumbai: Air traffic across the country has taken a surprise dip at peak festive season, thanks to the steep increase in airfares by all domestic carriers.
This is bad news for the foundering aviation sector, as carriers traditionally face supply constraints during the season. The average passenger load factor dropped to around 50-55 per cent in the past fortnight, compared with 70-75 per cent for most airlines last year.
Industry experts told Financial Chronicle that the recent hike in airfare, beginning September, has hit traffic substantially. In certain routes, tickets booked in early September for a travel in November were almost 55-60 per cent higher. As a result, some carriers have been flying with empty seats.
An Airport Authority of India official confirmed that the load factor this season has been less than last year’s festival season. “Usually, flights are supposed to be choc-a-bloc with a lot of people visiting friends and families during October-November. However, the traffic looks much less this year. A major reason could be the recent fare hike,” the official told FC.
Read News In Full 20/10/13 Soumonty Kanungo/mydigitalfc.com

Air Kerala sprouts new wings of hope

Kochi: The Air Kerala project has got a new pair of wings with the Ministry of Civil Aviation deciding to initiate talks with the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) to relax the rules regarding fleet size and operational experience.
The Union Minister for Finance P Chidambaram had recently announced his support for a suggestion made by the civil aviation minister Ajit Singh in favour of relaxing the restrictions. At present, only an airline company having an operational experience of five years and a fleet of 20 aircrafts could operate international service. This rule had dampened the spirit of Air Kerala, which was eyeing international operations, because domestic operations were unviable.

Low-cost carriers increase number of flights, but no relief from high fares

New Delhi: Low-cost carriers IndiGo and SpiceJet have beaten full-service airlines Jet Airways and Air India (AI) with an 18 per cent jump in the number of flights for the forthcoming winter schedule (October 27 to March 31) compared to last year but fares are expected to remain high .
Strangely, national carrier AI, which claims to have been performing well since February and also operates the Boeing 787 Dreamliners on domestic routes, has cut down flights by over seven per cent for the winter schedule.
Civil aviation ministry officials said that this could be an alarm bell for the AI as it is set to lose market share.
Jet has meanwhile increased the number of flights by eight per cent while its subsidiary Jetlite has scaled down the number by 35 per cent.
Read News In full 21/10/13 Sanjay Singh/Business Today

SpiceJet diverts Mumbai-bound flight to Udaipur to drop spare parts

Mumbai: 100 passengers on board a Suratbound SpiceJet fight, via Mumbai, from Delhi were left fuming on Sunday after the aircraft was abruptly diverted to Udaipur allegedly to drop a pilot-cum-engineer to attend a grounded plane.
While the diversion led to the flight No. SG-852 reaching the destinations three hours after its scheduled arrival, passengers slammed SpiceJet officials for taking them on a ride just to handle an internal issue.
Mumbai Mirror contacted the airline for its version of the story. However, the SpiceJet spokesperson refused to comment on the issue.
A flyer who experienced the ordeal said the flight was scheduled to take off at 3.15 pm, but got delayed by 45 minutes due to some technical reasons. "However, we were taken in by surprise when the captain announced in mid-air that the aircraft was heading towards Udaipur."
Read News In full 21/10/13 Bipin Kumar Singh/Mumbai Mirror

Jet Airways seeks more time to pay enhanced security deposit

New Delhi: With regulatory clearances yet to come by for Etihad Airways to buy out 24 per cent stake in Jet Airways for over Rs 2,000 crore, the Indian carrier has written to the Airports Authority of India (AAI) seeking extension of deadline till March 31 for paying the enhanced security deposit to the airport operator.
In a communication to AAI, Jet said all airlines were passing through difficult times due to increase in fuel prices and rupee-dollar parity, which had resulted in banks delaying sanction of addition funds.
Jet said when regulatory clearances come through, its financial situation would improve and, therefore, sought an extension of deadline for enhancement of security deposit.
The airline’s board is to meet on October 23 to consider and approve the un-audited financial results of the company for quarter and half year ended September 30.
Read News In full 21/10/13 Business Line

What really damaged Air India

There have recently been critical comments about me in the media from a retired Air India official who had spent over 20 years in the airline. Let me give readers the right context to interpret his comments . As chairman and managing director(CMD)of AirIndia,I had to remove this person from two posts, directorship of HR and PR, due to inadequate performance.
He was found unsuitable by the Public Enterprises Selection Board for a board position again during that time period. Further, he spent 20 silent years in Air India and has suddenly found a "strong" voice that is especially convenient after the airline is in a mess. That should tell readers another story about the person's credibility.
His comments give me a chance to present to the readers the facts behind Air India's decline. I was CMD of Air India from December 2003 to March 2008.
There are three connected points worth talking about: aircraft acquisition , the merger of Air India and Indian Airlines, and management continuity.

Oman Airport Awards announced

Muscat: The 1st ever Oman Airport Awards was announced during the Oman Airports Management Company (OAMC), annual party held at Shangri-La’s Barr Al Jissah Resort and Spa last night under the patronage of Dr Ahmed Mohammed Salem al Futaisi, Minister of Transport and Communications. The Oman Airport Awards have been instituted for the first time to recognise and reward the best airport management, services and hospitality practices across Muscat International and Salalah Airports. The 2013 award ceremony included many categories namely Best Low Cost, Best Inflight Service, Fastest Growing, Best Airline Marketing, Best Cargo Airline, Best MCT Airport Service, Best SLL Airport service, Best Retailers (Restaurant, Coffee Shop and Food). The event attracted more than 400 industry representatives, including CEOs from major airports, airlines, air traffic management, national governments and the airport institutions.

Aviation Min rejects inflation-indexed airport charges

New Delhi: The civil aviation ministry has rejected a Planning Commission model to link landing and parking charges at airports to inflation based on the wholesale price index (WPI).
The differences have surfaced in the discussions between the two for the award of Chennai, Lucknow, Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Jaipur and Guwahati airports to private parties for operations.
"We have asked the Planning Commission to change the draft concession agreement accordingly," said a senior government official in the know. The changes are signficant for passengers as higher charges will translate into higher fares. He explained that linking the charges to a price index introduces an upward bias to them. "Linking them to WPI will ensure that the charges will only increase from here".
Read News In full 21/101/3 Mihir Mishra/Indian Express

CIAL declares 17% dividend

Kochi: The Cochin International Airport Ltd (CIAL) has declared 17 per cent dividend for the financial year 2012-13.
Managing Director V.J. Kurian said the entire dividend warrants have been dispatched to all the shareholders. CIAL now has 17,844 shareholders and the paid up equity capital as on date is Rs 306.06 crore.
With the payout of the dividend, the company has repaid to shareholders more than the paid-up capital. The company, which declared dividend from 2003-04, has cumulatively paid out 114 per cent as dividend, Kurian said.
Read News In full 21/10/13 Business Line

Jet Airways to take flight to medium-haul overseas routes post Etihad Deal

Mumbai: Jet Airways may shift focus to medium-haul international routes with its margins under pressure in the local market and partner Etihad Airways set to control most of the long-haul traffic in their combined network.
India's second-biggest airline by market share plans to start flights to at least 15 new routes, including locations such as Oman, Muscat, Kuala Lumpur and Guangzhou, said a person close to the development.
It may also look at increasing its current fleet size of 100 aircraft by close to 50%, either by leasing or buying planes, he added.
A Jet spokesperson refused comment. Etihad didn't immediately reply to an emailed questionnaire.
Read news in full 21/10/13 Anirban Chowdhury/Economic Times

With 840 sq ft office space per person, Air India staff enjoy a palatial tower

New Delhi: The 268 employees of Air India currently stationed in its 24-storey eponymous building at Nariman Point in Mumbai have a rare privilege no other office-goer in the area can think of.
Each employee, stationed across the 14 floors that the public sector carrier occupies in the building, has a built up area of roughly 840 sq ft to oneself.
This area — equivalent to the size of a mid-size flat — is the largesse the Maharaja has been able to afford his employees in the island city, known as the most expensive real estate market in the country.
In response to an query filed by The Indian Express under the Right to Information Act, Air India said that it occupies 14 floors in the building for its own use and has currently got 268 employees working in the building, which makes it just 19 employees per floor.
Read News in full 21/10/13 Sandeep Singh/Indian Express

Domestic airlines flew 13% more passengers in Sept

New Delhi: The six domestic airlines reported an over 13 per cent increase in the number of passengers flown in September this year at 45.55 lakh compared to 40.18 lakh passengers flown during the same period in the previous year.
The latest data released by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) show that low-cost airline, IndiGo continued to be the market leader with a market share of over 30 per cent having carried 13.79 lakh passengers in September this year.
On a stand-alone basis, Air India which flew 9.26 lakh passengers in September this year took the second spot with a market share of 20.3 per cent followed by Jet Airways which had a market share of 19.1 per cent having carried 8.70 lakh passengers.
Read News In full 20/10/13 Business Line

India's domestic air traffic grows by 4%

New Delhi:  Domestic air traffic in India grew by over four per cent in the lean month of September, with Air India gaining strength in its market share and load factor than before.
All six Indian carriers together carried almost 457 lakh passengers between January and September as against 438 lakh during the same period in 2012, thereby registering a growth of 4.23 per cent, according to air traffic data released by DGCA on Sunday.
The six domestic airlines reported an over 13 per cent increase in the number of passengers flown in September this year at 45.55 lakh, compared to 40.18 lakh passengers flown during the same period the previous year.
Read News In full 20/10/13 PTI/Times of India

PlanCom backs Ajit Singh on Air India privatisation

New Delhi: Aviation minister Ajit Singh is not alone in his support for privatisation of Air India. The Planning Commission has backed any such move.
“Air India is a good case for privatisation as nowhere in the developed world you have countries running their flag carriers anymore,” Planning Commission deputy chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia told Business Standard.
Ahluwalia said economically too, the national carrier makes full case for privatization as it is running into losses for long and its real assets are only its routes.
Ahluwalia's comments assume significance because of a raging debate on the need to privatise Air India because of its mounting losses.
Recently,  the aviation minister talked of privatisation of Air India, but later withdrew his statement following strong opposition from some quarters.
Read News In full 20/10/13 Sanjeeb Mukherjee/Business Standard

Tata, Singapore Airlines get government approval for airline venture's name

New Delhi: The proposed aviation venture between the Tata Group and Singapore Airlines has received approval from the Corporate Affairs Ministry to use the name 'Tata SIA Airlines Limited'. According to the latest information available with the ministry, the name has been approved now and the company, Tata SIA Airlines Limited, stands registered from Delhi.
Starting the process of incorporating a new company for this joint venture, the Tatas had applied late last month on the ministry's electronic platform, MCA21, to register this name.
The joint venture, Tata SIA Airlines, plans to offer full-service passenger services on domestic and international routes.
The application for registration of this name was filed through submission of form '1A', which is the first step towards incorporation of a new company.
The registration is generally followed by submission of various other documents, including the article of association, and details of the company's board of directors, share capital, business areas etc.
Read News In full 20/10/13 PTI/NDTV.com

IndiGo flies with 30% empty seats in Sep even as air traffic grows

For the first time since inception, IndiGo cornered over 30% share of the domestic market in September, inching closer to the one third mark as domestic traffic grew for the second consecutive month despite steep fare increases by most airlines. September also marked emergence of Air India as clearly the second most chosen domestic airline – it was earlier neck and neck with SpiceJet most months. The national airline crossed the 20% market share mark. So now, one in three domestic passengers travel IndiGo while every fifth flyer prefers AI flights. Jet Airways (standalone) was close to AI at 19.1% share of the market but SpiceJet remained at 17.3%.As per data released by aviation regulator DGCA today, traffic grew a healthy 13.4% in September over August with 45.55 lakh flyers against September’s 40.18 lakh. Only in the last few months has domestic traffic reversed its previous decline and actually begun to show some growth – September growth must have largely come from festive travel. But while overall traffic growth returned to healthy double digits, no domestic airline was able to fill more than 70% of seats on its planes and some did not manage to fill even this number.
Read News in full 20/10/13 Sindhu Bhattacharya/First Post

Opposition-ruled states cry deliberate delay.4 airports await ribbon-cutters

New Delhi: As airports are being constructed and opened without any glitch in Congress-ruled states like Rajasthan, Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh, opposition-ruled states are seeing a pattern in their projects. Though projects are awarded and airports are constructed in these states, inordinate delays are making some states cry foul. Worse still, what’s standing in the way of many of these projects is a ribbon!
Take, for instance, Bhatinda in Punjab. An airport has been constructed and the infrastructure is in place here, but it is yet to be formally inaugurated.
The state government has held several rounds of meetings with civil aviation minister Ajit Singh.
Ditto with the Chandigarh project. For the international airport here, the infrastructure, including immigration and customs, is ready. But the ribbon is yet to be cut.

Airport employees threaten boycott over proposed privatization move

Lucknow: Agitated over the government's proposed move to privatise Lucknow airport, employees of the Airports Authority of India (AAI) have resorted to a strange way of protest. They greet the passengers flying to and from Lucknow airport with a pamphlet that decries the proposed privatization and describes how it would drill a hole in the flyers' pocket, raising the cost of flying up to 30%.
The employees quietly deploy themselves at the security hold area (SHA), the boarding area and the ticket counters and hand over flyers the one-page anti-privatisation pamphlet. "We have to make the passengers aware of the consequences of privatisation," president of Airports Authority of India employees union, Vivek Pandey, told TOI.
Read News In full 20/10/13 Times of India

Kolkata, Chennai, Mumbai airports named among world's worst airports in 2013

Karachi: Kolkata, Chennai and Mumbai airports have reportedly been named among the world's worst airports in 2013, along with Islamabad airport, according to an online survey.
Kolkata's Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport has come third on the list of the world's worst airports as compiled by the survey by an online travel company, ahead of Islamabad's Benazir Bhutto International Airport, which is in the fourth place.
Chennai International Airport has been awarded the sixth place, while Mumbai's Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport has come eighth on the list.
Read News In full 20/10/13 ANI/Daily News & Analysis

'Indian aviation authorities must build more infrastructure'

New Delhi: Indian aviation authorities should strive to add more capacity than currently required to keep pace with the massive growth in the sector projected over the next decade, Heavy Industries Minister Praful Patel said today.
"Civil aviation in India has come a long way since 2004-05. But we have just made a beginning. India's aviation sector will certainly become ten times larger in the next 10- 15 years. What we are witnessing today is the setting of the foundations for that to happen," Patel said at a seminar organised by the Air Traffic Controllers' Guild (India) here.
Asking aviation authorities to build more infrastructure capacity than presently required keeping in mind the future growth prospects, Patel, a Civil Aviation Minister for seven years earlier, said the growth in the sector would need a large number of air traffic control officers (ATCOs).

Two pilots on a journey of a lifetime

Nagpur: It is a flight of dreams. Dreams, of two private pilots, and possibly of millions of others too. The flight across the Pacific, from London to Sydney, which Andy Hardy, a 50-year-old Australian businessman living in England, and Sam Kidd, a 24 year old British sales professional, have begun will not only be a journey of a lifetime for the duo but will also help raise a considerable amount for Oxfam, a globally known aid and development charity.
"Otherwise, we would be just two rich guys, flying from London to Sydney," Hardy said. The idea took root in his mind during the flights he took to his homeland. "I would think, 'one day I will do that myself'. And it was due to prodding by one of my friends, I finally decided to undertake this journey," he added.

Choppers to be high-flyers in Assembly polls this year

New Delhi: Freak helicopter accidents of the recent past have failed to hit demand for air services in the coming Assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh.
Such is the demand that in Madhya Pradesh the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Opposition Congress had booked 16 helicopters, even before the polling dates were announced. And, it is expected to peak after the last date of withdrawal of nominations, as this is the time when parties actually engage in aggressive campaigns.
Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan are likely to generate the highest demand for helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft, primarily because of their size - Madhya Pradesh has 230 Assembly seats, while Rajasthan has 200. Chhattisgarh, where polls will be in two phases, is also set to see substantial use of aircraft, as a major area there is affected by Naxalism and many regions are still not motorable. Business Standard couldn't independently verify the exact number but the three states are expected to see 20-25 choppers pressed into service.
Read News In full 19/10/13 Sahil Makkar/Business Standard

Aerobatic pilots to add thrill to paragliding event at Dharamshala

Dharmashala: The paragliding pre-world cup being held at Bir-Billing from October 24 to 30 after a gap of three years is all set to add more colour to the picturesque Dhauladhar skyline with aerobatic pilots performing impossible maneuvers to challenge the formidable mountains.
Bir-Billing (2,290m) is among the highest sites for paragliding in the world. Sheltered by snow-clad mountains and surrounded by tea gardens, it is considered among one of the best take-off sites. The organizers have received 175 applications from across the world. But to avoid air traffic, the managing committee is of the view to allow 110 pilots only. Women paragliding world champion Kalaudia Bulgakow is also one of the participants, while top five ranking pilots are taking part in this event, said the organizers.
Read news in full 20/10/13 Gopal Puri/Times of India

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Qatar Airways in talks to buy stake India's SpiceJet, say reports

Qatar Airways is reportedly planning to acquire a minority stake in SpiceJet, an Indian low cost airline.
Both airlines have signed a non-disclosure agreement, Indian newspapers said, with preliminary talks being held on Qatar Airways acquiring a 24 percent stake in SpiceJet, according to Dubai-based weekly Arabian Business.
Qatar Airways might invest a total of $200m in SpiceJet, the source also claimed.
Shares in SpiceJet rose by 6.5 percent of hopes of the sale, according to Indian-based financial website Moneycontrol.com.
However, both airlines denied talks about any sale earlier this year, according to the website.
Read news in full 18/10/13 Al Arabia

First hotel opens at Aerocity

New Delhi: After many delays, the first hotel at Aerocity has finally opened its doors in New Delhi. The 523-room JW Marriott Hotel was opened at the Aerocity on Friday. This is the fifth JW Marriott in the country.
Nearly 4,800 rooms across various brands will be coming up at Aerocity, next to the Delhi international airport, under different brands. While some hotels are almost finished, others are in the process of construction.
However, despite being ready the hotel projects faced delays after security agencies raised objections due to the proximity of these hotels to the airport.
Read news in full 18/10/13 Meenakshi Verma Ambwani/Business Line

The 'world's worst' airport terminal

Manila: The Philippines' main Manila airport terminal has been named the world's worst for the second year in a row in a survey by an online travel website.
Officials on Friday brushed off the survey results, insisting conditions were being improved.
"The Guide to Sleeping in Airports" website said Manila's crowded Terminal 1 was ranked the world's worst by travellers based on comfort, convenience, cleanliness and customer service.
Reviews posted on the site mentioned "dilapidated facilities", dishonest airport workers -- particularly taxi drivers -- long waiting times and rude officials.
"These are old issues," Terminal 1 manager Dante Basanta told AFP, adding that the problems were already being addressed by the government.
Read news in full 18/10/13 Agence France-Presse/NDTV.com

Air India engineer taking blame for 787 issue

It appears Boeing isn't to blame for a large panel falling off an Air India 787 this week.
An India newspaper reports an Air India maintenance engineer has been suspended for likely causing the problem.
The airline says the engineer was the last person to handle the panel and likely forgot to screw it back into place.
Air India says the 4-by-8 foot panel came off when the plane landed in Delhi, not while the plane was in flight.
Read news in full 18/10/13 Chris Sullivan/NY Northwest.com

China-India visa row escalates

New Delhi: Indian politicians complained on Friday after a Chinese airline blocked two Indian archers from a disputed border state from travelling to China, raising territorial tension just days before Prime Minister Manmohan Singh visits Beijing.
Despite fast-growing economic ties and cooperation on global issues, the nuclear-armed neighbours have long disagreed about large areas of their 4,000-km border and fought a brief, high-altitude war in 1962 over India-administered Arunachal Pradesh, which China claims as South Tibet.
Two teenage female archers from Arunachal Pradesh, who were due to participate in the World Archery Youth Championships in Wuxi, were barred from boarding a Guangzhou-bound flight late on Thursday. China refuses to stamp visas on Indian passport holders from disputed territories, but staples them instead, a practice that infuriates India. At times, even Chinese companies, like China Southern Airlines involved in Thursday’s incident, reject such visas.
Read news in full 19/10/13 eTN Global Travel Industry News

Man pays Rs 2.8 lakh duty for 1 kg gold

Nedumbassery: A passenger who arrived at the Kochi international airport from Dubai by an early morning Air India Express flight on Friday had to pay Rs 2.87 lakh on finding that he was carrying one-kg gold bar in his trouser pocket.
Ashraf, a native of Muvattupuzha, passed through the newly fixed door frame metal detector, and the alarm went off putting the Customs officials on alert. It was reported that following the alarm, Ashraf walked over to the Customs counter and informed that he was carrying a gold bar with him.
Read news in full 19/10/13 New Indian Express

Gold smuggling case: Official, driver sent to CBI custody

Kochi: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) special court on Friday sent Customs Assistant Commissioner S Anil Kumar and his driver Rejith alias Jikku in CBI custody for five days.
Both were arrested for receiving money and gifts from T K Fayaz, alleged gold smuggler.
The CBI submitted before the court that Anil Kumar had received financial assistance from Fayaz for his marriage last month.
The CBI said it has recovered an LED TV, treadmill, watch and several crockery items gifted by Fayaz to Anil Kumar.
“The case against Anil Kumar is not just of receiving monetary gain, but of misusing his position as a public servant. Anil Kumar had used Fayaz’ car for a month for his marriage purpose. Rejith was the driver of the car.

Govt looking at reducing scope, concession period for non-aero facilities at Chennai, Kolkata

New Delhi: The ministry of civil aviation is planning to reduce the concession period for the commercial contracts floated for operating food and beverage (F&B) outlets, retail units and duty-free shops at the Chennai and Kolkata airports. While earlier the plan was to award the contract for non-aeronautical facilities for a period of 10 years, the government is examining possibilities to bring it down to two years to leave a window for the private party which wins the management agreement to renegotiate terms for commercial ventures.
“We have to bid out the contracts for essential services such as F&B at least till the time the private player winning the management contract stabilizes operations. Instead of awarding the commercial contract for a 10-year period, we can bid it out for two years or five years. We are exploring the options”, informed a senior official in the ministry of civil aviation.

Mumbai gets India's tallest Air Traffic Control tower

Mumbai: India's tallest Air Traffic Control (ATC) tower - standing at 84 metres or nearly as high as a 30-storey building - was inaugurated outside the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport on Friday.
By virtue of its location and height, the ATC tower, jointly inaugurated by Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh and Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan, will enable the controllers have an uninterrupted view of the entire operational area and help optimize air traffic separation and enhance traffic handling capacity.
Spread over a 2,800 square metre area, it is equipped with the latest technology, including electronic flight strips which will lessen the workload of the controllers, increase safety and overall capacity at the airport.
Speaking on the occasion, Singh said that India is the ninth largest aviation market in the world with the traffic growing at 10% per annum, propelled by policy initiatives and modernization of both airports and air navigation systems (ANS) infrastructure.
Read news in full 18/10/13 IANS/Daily News & Analysis

Heli-taxi service remains grounded

Shimla: High-end tourists are keeping away from Himachal Pradesh since neither adequate flights nor the heli-taxi service is available in the state. Efforts to revive the heli-taxi service have been unsuccessful in the state since service providers demand huge subsidy to start the operations and also, there are no good helipads available in Shimla to land the choppers.
Heli-taxi service was launched in Himachal Pradesh on January 29, 2011, from Annadale ground by two service providers including Ludhiana-based Shiva Heli Services and Mumbai-based Simm Samm Airways Private Limited. But due to lack of response from tourists and the expense involved, the service was grounded. This year, the state tourism department had tried to revive the scheme things didn't work out as planned. Highly-placed sources in the tourism department said that basic condition to launch the scheme was that a helipad should be located close to Shimla.
ead news in full 18/10/13 Anand Bodh/Times of India

Chartered jets give wings to Bollywood, helps promote films outside metros

Mumbai: With the Indian economy giving little hint of any revival, business jet charter companies are seeing users from a seemingly recessionproof segment emerge as a big client base — Bollywood.
India's film production companies are fast becoming the most active users of chartered business jets after companies and politicians, another recession-proof industry especially in election season.
In their attempt to promote films across a vast country in a short span of time, companies such as Viacoms18, Dharma Productions and Yash Raj Films are skipping scheduled airlines and using the services of charter companies.
"As Hollywood and Bollywood celebrities embark on promotional tours, studios will fly them on business jets in order to maximise their agendas. Since business jets can link cities nonstop on a flexible schedule, they become a very useful asset," said Ian Moore, chief commercial officer, VistaJet International.
Read news in full 18/10/13 Anirban Chowdhury/Economic Times

Tata Sons, Singapore Airlines not to vie with each other in full-service segment

New Delhi: Tata Sons and Singapore Airlines, who plan to start a new full-service airline in India, will not compete against each other only in the full-service segment of the airline business. The specification in the non-compete clause of their MoU for formation of the JV company by Tata and SIA allows for Tata Sons to operate a low-cost airline in partnership with Malaysian budget carrier AirAsia.
“The parties agree that except as permitted under a definitive agreement, both parties as long as they are partners in the JV company shall not compete with the JV company with regard to the business of domestic and international full-service passenger airlines,” a copy of the MoU reviewed by FE stated.

FIPB meeting on Tata-SIA postponed to October 24

Mumbai: The ministry of finance said on Thursday that the meeting scheduled by the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) to consider, among other proposals, one from Tata Sons and Singapore Airlines (SIA) for a full-service airline had been postponed to October 24, from this Friday.
“Due to some unavoidable circumstances the 197th Meeting of the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) scheduled to be held on Friday, the October 18…has been postponed and will now be held on Thursday, the October 24”, the Ministry of Finance said in a statement.
Besides the SIA-Tata proposal, the FIPB (chaired by Economic Affairs Secretary Arvind Mayaram) was to take up 29 other foreign investment applications. All these will now be considered on October 24.
The proposed Tata SIA Airlines is to have an initial investment of $100 million, said the entities’ announcement on September 19. The Tatas will have 51 per cent stake and SIA the rest.
Read news in full 18/10/13 Business Standard

CCI rejects complaint against DIPP for not allowing FDI in Air India

New Delhi: Fair trade regulator CCI has dismissed allegations of anti-competitive practices by the Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion (DIPP) for not allowing FDI by foreign airlines in state-owned Air India.
"Not allowing FDI from foreign airlines in Air India does not appear to be hampering competition in the relevant market in any way," the Competition Commission of India (CCI) said in an order dated October 8, which was made public today.
DIPP has allowed foreign airlines to invest up to 49 per cent stake in Indian carriers except Air India.
After looking into complaints against DIPP, CCI said it "is not a fit case for causing investigation to be made by the Director General (DG)".
CCI said the direction by DIPP on FDI "only gave an additional option to all private airlines to finance their capital needs through foreign direct investments from foreign airlines, which does not affect their interest inter-se".
Read news in full 18/10/13 PTI/NDTV.com

Malindo to venture into Indian skies soon

Hybrid airline Malindo Airways Sdn Bhd is set to fly to Indian destinations as early as next month, to get a piece of the market where its peers, Malaysia Airlines (MAS) and AirAsia Bhd, are enjoying reputable load factors.
The barely 200-day old airline is aiming to begin flying daily to New Delhi and Mumbai by end of November, a source close to the airline told The Malaysian Reserve.
Malindo also aims to fly to three other destinations — Kochi, Chennai and Ahmedabad.
Malindo initially aimed to fly to Kochi and Trichy but has decided to drop Trichy from its immediate expansion plan as “AirAsia is already responding in an aggressive way by offering crazy deals to Trichy,” the source said.
“Malindo thinks this is the best time to expand. Competition will be everywhere, but there’s still space to grow,” the source said.

DGCA urged not to sanction CNS facility without adequate staff

New Delhi: Complaining of "gross manpower deficiency" in air traffic management services, an AAI employees' outfit has asked civil aviation regulator DGCA not to allow commission of any new navigation facility without deployment of adequate trained staff.
In a letter to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation, the CNS Officers' Guild -- an association of Communication, Navigation and Surveillance (CNS) personnel-- said "no new or additional facilities should be allowed to be commissioned without trained and adequate CNS manpower to man it."
The Guild also demanded a review of the commissioning of all air traffic management facilities in past three to four years, in wake of "gross deficiency of CNS manpower."
India may have modernised its air traffic management services but lack of adequate manpower was raising major air safety risk, as the present staff were overburdened and were under tremendous stress and fatigue due to long working hours to keep the facilities functioning.

SpiceJet, IndiGo to fly 22% more flights this winter

New Delhi: Domestic airlines will operate 11,886 weekly flights during the winter schedule, which begins on the last Sunday of October, an increase of over nine per cent as compared to last winter.
Sources in the Directorate General of Civil Aviation said IndiGo and SpiceJet will see an increase of almost 22 per cent in the number of domestic flights in the winter schedule which starts from October 27, compared with what they operated last winter.
The latest data show that IndiGo will have 2,987 departures a week during the winters, up from 2,444 departures a week in winter 2012.Globally, airlines follow a winter and summer schedule.
Read news in full 15/10/13 Business Line

Aviation in India: Glass half empty, or glass half full?

Mumbai: Is the Indian aviation sector seeing a credible revival after a turbulent 2012, when the country’s airlines posted a combined loss of $1.6 billion, and saw a popular brand Kingfisher Airlines go bust?
Market analysts who’ve usually been bearish about the sector have started heeding to the positive developments that have taken place in the last few months. Nikhil Vora, MD & Head of Research at IDFC Securities in a recent interview to CNBC TV18 said “This is a market which is just about opening up. It will become competitive in the next few years, but possibly will also become profitable which was not the case earlier.”

Finance Ministry asks ministries to buy tickets from Air India directly

New Delhi:  Finance Ministry has asked all ministries and departments to buy air tickets directly from Air India counters or its official website to save on payment of commission to agents.
"All Ministries/Departments are again advised that, as far as possible, air tickets on government account may be obtained directly from Air India/Airlines (booking counters/offices/website)," the Ministry said in a circular.
However, it said, if it is not possible to obtain tickets directly from Air India/Airlines counters, they may obtain the services of three authorised travel agents -- Balmer Lawrie & Company (BLCL), Ashok Travels & Tours (ATT) and Indian Railways Catering and Tourism Corp (IRCTC).
The PSU travel agents are allowed to levy facilitation fee of Rs 100 per ticket for domestic sector and Rs 300 per ticket for international sector to book tickets on behalf of the government.
Read news in full 16/10/13 PTI/Economic Times

Air India ties up financing for 12 Boeing 787 Dreamliners

New Delhi: Air India has tied up financing for 12 of the 27 Dreamliners it has ordered from Boeing and decided to have a long-term agreement with its American engine manufacturer GE for overhaul and repair of GEnX engines powering these aircraft.
A meeting of the Air India Board here was today informed that bridge financing for the 12 Boeing 787 Dreamliners has been tied up with Deutsche Bank and Investec Bank, airline sources said. The list price of one Boeing 787-8 is about $212 million.
Regarding the 'on point agreement' with GE Aviation that produces the GEnX engines, the sources said the 12-year accord, which was approved by the Board today, would not only be for repairs and overhaul of these sensitive engines, but the contract would also take care of exigencies like foreign object damage (FOD).
Read news in full 15/10/13 Economic Times

Kingfisher promoters release 5.60 crore pledged shares

Mumbai: Grounded carrier Kingfisher Airlines today said promoters United Breweries Holdings and Kingfisher Finvest India have released about 5.60 crore pledged shares.
United Breweries Holdings, which holds a 21.36 per cent stake in Kingfisher Airlines, released 4 lakh pledged shares on September 16, according to a BSE filing.
Kingfisher Finvest, which owns 7.21 per cent of the airline, released pledged shares in three tranches last month, according to a separate BSE filing. It released a total of 5,60,22,231 shares between September 6 and September 16. The airline has been grounded since last October.
Read news in full 16/10/13 Business Line

Emirates moves operations to new International Terminal 2 at Chennai Airport

Chennai: Emirates, one of the world's fastest growing airlines, has moved its operations to the new International Terminal 2 at Chennai International Airport from October 14. Emirates operate three daily flights from Chennai to Dubai.
Departures at the new International Terminal 2 take place from Level 2. Emirates' check-in counters are located in the East Wing of the terminal while entry for passengers is from Gate No. 4.
"With its expansive, contemporary design, the new International Terminal 2 is all set to offer our passengers greater convenience and exceptional services. The new facility will provide a stimulus to international travel from Chennai and benefit the many international passengers that fly into southern India's largest city on Emirates," said Essa Sulaiman Ahmad, Emirates' Vice President India & Nepal.
Read news in full 16/10/13 Indian Express

Bird Information Systems enters into partnership with FITS Air

Mumbai: Bird Information Systems Private Ltd (BIS), a technology provider of automated aviation and travel related software solutions has entered into a strategic partnership with Sri Lanka-based private airline FITS Air, for the use of its Airline Inventory and Reservations System (AIRS).
As per the partnership, BIS will provide FITS Air, the booking technology for the Airline Inventory Hosting, reservation at all city and airport offices, call centers and internet booking engines. Further, through the use of AIRS, FITS Air will have access to a user friendly graphic user interface (GUI) which will enable their partners - be it travellers or travel agents - to make online reservations quickly and easily. Travel agencies would benefit from a distribution interface and a unique integrated application by using AIRS.

Air Costa to apply for pan-India licence to take on big players

Mumbai:  Air Costa, the latest Indian regional airline to take to the skies plans to apply for a pan-India licence in the next 6-8 months to take on the likes of IndiGo, SpiceJet and the soon-to-start AirAsia India in an industry which is marked by aggressive expansion and constant losses. Under the current licence, the Vijaywada, Andhra Pradesh-based airline can't fly to metros outside the southern region, its CEO KN Babu told ET.
The airline operated its inaugural flight on Monday to Hyderabad from Vijaywada. It plans to start commercial flights from Tuesday and will operates 12 flights to six Indian cities — Chennai, Bangalore , Ahmedabad and Jaipur, Hyderabad and Vijaywada. Costa means the outer edge of a wing, which is where the airline derives its name from, said its head of commnications K Vinay. Babu said the airline has started with two 80-seater Embraer 170 jets and will induct eight 112-seater Embraer 190 planes by the end of 2014, making its fleetsize 10.

AP CM launches Air Costa’s inaugural flight

Hyderabad: The Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy flagged off regional carrier Air Costa’s inaugural commercial flight from Hyderabad to Vijayawada.
Promoted by LEPL Group, a Vijayawada-based infrastructure development firm, the airline will initially connect Vijayawada, Chennai, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Jaipur and Ahmedabad and expand to other cities such as Pune, Goa, Madurai, Mysore, Thiruvananthapuram and Visakhapatnam in a phased manner.
Read news in full 15/10/13 Business Line

MoCA to scrap 5/20 rule for flying abroad by November end

Mumbai: The Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) is set to scrap the rule, which requires airlines to fly on domestic routes for five years and possess a fleet of at least 20 aircraft before launching international flights, by November end, as per a Mint report by P R Sanjai. With this, even new airlines being launched in India or foreign airlines investing in their Indian counterparts will be allowed to start overseas operations soon after launching operations. “I personally believe there is no logic in this rule and we are preparing a Cabinet note to scrap this rule after consultation with the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA),” said Ajit Singh, Minister for Civil Aviation, Government of India, in a telephonic interview. “We are looking at making this happen by November end. There could be some technical consultations that the Ministry requires to scrap this rule, but we are moving ahead with this decision,” Singh said.

Ajit Singh to consult DGCA to amend 5/20 rule for flying abroad

New Delhi: Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh will soon hold consultations with the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) about allowing domestic airlines to operate international services without restrictions in fleet size and operational experience.
Talking to Business Standard, Singh said, “There is no logic in not allowing Indian airlines to fly international without having five years of operational experience and 20 aircraft (5/20 rule) when foreign airlines can fly in with even a single aircraft in their fleet. The regulation needs to be amended and we are planning to move a Cabinet note soon.” The move will benefit Wadias-promoted GoAir and new entrants AirAsia India and Tata Singapore Airlines Limited (Tata-SIA), which have evinced interest in commencing international operations out of India.

Flights between Daman, Diu from December

Surat: The twin tourist destinations of Daman and Diu, located 700 km apart, are set to come closer with the administration deciding to introduce air service between them from December 19. While it takes more than 12 hours to travel between Daman and Diu by road via Bhavnagar, the tourists could fly down from one place to another in just 25 minutes.
BS Bhalla, administrator, Daman and Diu told TOI, "We have started the process of making a civil terminal outside the Coast Guard airport in Daman. In Diu we have our own terminal. We want to start the air service beginning December 19, the Liberation Day."
He added that the administration has received a couple of proposals from private airline companies to start operations. "We will invite tenders from the interested companies," he said. Sources said that the administration has started the process of acquiring around 25 acres of land in Daman for developing its own airport.
Read news in full 18/10/13 Melvyn Reggie Thomas/Times of India

Plea for extra fog equipment hangs in air

New Delhi: As the capital sees the first sign of winter, Delhi International Airport Ltd (DIAL) has redoubled its efforts to get a parallel set of equipment to improve the runway visual range (RVR) in dense fog. The request has acquired immediacy with haze and fog appearing over IGI airport.
According to sources, DIAL officials have in the past few months approached various wings of the aviation ministry to speed up the procurement of a secondary support system, which can be used in case the fog-safety devices break down.
The RVR is a visibility indicator and the devices are installed mostly at three points on the runway-touchdown or the beginning, middle, and rollout, the point of takeoff. The RVR readings indicate the visibility on different points to help pilots navigate the aircraft using CAT II and CAT III systems for visibility during dense fog.
Read news in full 18/10/13 Suhas Munshi/Times of India

Rameswaram to get airport

The civil aviation ministry has proposed to connect smaller towns with larger ones in the country and among the first on the radar are Kanyakumari and Rameswaram.
According to the ministry, both have huge tourism potential but are hampered by a lack of connectivity.
Currently, Madurai is the nearest airport to Rameswaram and it is 170km away from the town. Similarly, Kanyakumari is 100km away from the nearest airport at Thiruvananthapuram.
Read news in full 18/10/13 Oman Tribune

Gulf carrier eyed stake in Air India’s MRO unit

New Delhi: Aviation minister Ajit Singh's recent observation that Air India could get private suitors despite its poor health may have come from the fact that a leading Gulf carrier reportedly evinced interest in its maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) unit some time back.
This unit was hived off from AI as a subsidiary with about 7,000 employees and the Gulf carrier was eyeing a stake in it. However, AI did not respond.
According to sources, a decision to disinvest in AI or any of its subsidiaries has to first come from the government. Also, the MRO and ground handling subsidiaries have been carved out of AI very recently and employees being shifted there were anyway apprehensive at leaving the parent AI that has been assured government funding of Rs 30,000 crore over the next decade.
The government had clearly said that these two separate "profit centers" may at a later stage get private investors but selling a stake so soon after creation could have led to fears among employees.
Read news in  full 19/10/13 Saurabh Sinha/Times of India

Cost, viability nix high-speed rail link to Bengaluru International Airport

Bangalore: The proposed High Speed Rail Link (HSRL) between the Bengaluru International Airport (BIA) and the city has been scrapped.
Bangalore in-charge minister Ramalinga Reddy on Friday said the central government had done it keeping in mind its viability and cost.
"Namma Metro will be extended to BIA," he said, during an inspection of ongoing works on the underground corridor. He was accompanied by food & civil supplies minister Dinesh Gundu Rao and Bangalore South MP Ananth Kumar.
While Gundu Rao said HSRL wasn't practical, Ananth Kumar said it was not cost-effective. Experts felt it wasn't a good idea to invest so much money on a project that would benefit only a section of passengers.
The proposed Metro link will take passengers from the city to BIA in 44 minutes.
Read news in full 18/10/13 Times of India

Delay in Chennai's second runway ruins plans of airlines

Chennai: Protracted delays with the second runway have put a cap on flights operating out of Chennai airport and deterred airlines from starting new services from the city.
This has limited the options of people travelling to or from the city, even as Bangalore and Hyderabad's airports are in the process of increasing their passenger handling capacity by expanding their facilities.
The Bangalore airport currently has passenger traffic well in excess of 13 million. Bangalore International Airport Ltd has fast-tracked an expansion project to cater to 17 million passengers a year and plans to extend this to 36 million with the addition of facilities at the airport's second terminal.
The expansion of Chennai airport has suffered repeated setbacks, resulting in the Airports Authority of India not being able to allocate departure slots for new flights.
Read news in full 19/10/13 V Ayyappan/Times of India

Modi leaves stagnant traffic, delayed air passengers in his 'trail'

Chennai: Passengers who were hoping to check-in on time for their flights on Friday night had a bit of a shock - with traffic on GST Road being stalled to make way for Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi to leave the city between 8 pm and 9.30 pm, most people were in a state of panic by the time they reached the airport.
With the state police pulling out all stops to ensure that no untoward incident happened to the BJP's Prime Ministerial candidate, there were cops stationed all along the road from the Kathiapara flyover to well past the airport. As Modi was travelling along the length of Mount Road from Madras University to the Airport via Guindy, traffic was "temporarily kept to a minimum", according to a policeman.
Luckily for passengers in the cars, with the number of distressed calls made to Spicejet, Indigo and Air India, the airlines agreed to keep the check-in counters running for as close at 10 minutes prior to take-off. Airport sources said that passengers on at least 9 flights arrived in a panicked state, hoping that they'd be allowed to board the flight.
Read news in full 18/10/13 New Indian Express

Canara Bank tells its story at Hyderabad Airport

New Delhi: Passengers arriving at the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport in Hyderabad now receive a very warm welcome, thanks to the new Canara Bank campaign. The campaign, executed by the Laqshya Hyderabad Airport team, uses a compelling storytelling technique to woo passengers, making use of more than 20 pillars in the Arrivals area.
The campaign brief provided by Canara Bank was to create a dominant presence at the Arrivals area of the airport. The colourfully branded pillars are the first point of contact for all passengers arriving through the aerobridges. The branding continues to move along as passengers move towards the baggage claim area/exit gates. Each pillar carries a different message about product offerings from Canara Bank – from education and car loans to credit card offers and insurance schemes.
Read news in full 18/10/13 Best Media Info

Man with prosthesis asked to strip for check at IGIA

Mumbai: A 45-year-old finance professional with a multinational pharmaceutical company was allegedly asked to strip waist down in front of security personnel at Terminal 3 in Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport on October 8. The executive, Rajesh Bhatia, a resident of Gurgaon, was headed to Thailand with his wife, two children — aged 12 and 9 — and his mother. He had faced a similar situation on October 31, 2012, in IGIA while he was on his way to Tokyo.
Bhatia reportedly requested CISF personnel to conduct an explosives trace detector (ETD), done with a handheld device, which does not require amputees to strip.
Initially, the CISF asked Bhatia to remove the prosthesis and put it in the baggage scanner. When Bhatia said he would not be able to fix it again, the personnel relented. Nevertheless, he was asked to strip waist down and the ETD was conducted. Bhatia claimed that he asked his wife to film the incident for proof of harassment.
Read news in full 19/10/13 Priyal Dave/Indian Express

Taxi touts back to hound airport

Kolkata:  They had gone into hibernation soon after Bidhannagar Police Commissionerate took over pre-paid taxi booths at Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport (NSCBIA) in April last year. But more than one and a half years later, the taxi tout gang is back to hound travellers.
Though traffic police officers say that they hand over touts to the police station, prepaid taxi operators claim that the men in uniform are handin-glove with the touts.
Any traveller emerging out of the arrival lounge at the airport is sure to find taxi touts swarming around. Not only do they hound passengers to avail of the cabs they are offering, but they also jack up rates, almost double the pre-paid taxi fare.
Read news in full 18/10/13 Sumati Yengkhom/Times of India

Arrested Commissioner suspected to have received wedding gifts from gold smugglers

Thiruvananthapuram: S. Anil Kumar (34), the Assistant Commissioner of Customs at Kochi who was arrested by CBI in connection with gold smuggling on Thursday, was on his very first posting after joining Indian Revenue Service.
He was among the probationers of the 62nd batch of IRS (Customs & Central Excise) Group posted in various zones. An Ayurvedic doctor who had worked with the State Employees State Insurance Corporation until he passed the UPSC's Civil Service examination, Kumar got married on the 7th of this July to an Indian Forest Service officer.
Kumar (34) is the highest among the three customs officials arrested so far in connection with the case from CIAL. Kumar is alleged to have received Rs.5 lakhs and a 42" LED TV, treadmill etc as wedding gifts from T K Fayaz, the kingpin arrested for gold smuggling.
Other officials arrested on October 7 were C. Madhavan, Deputy Commissioner and PP Sunil Kumar, a Preventive officer at CIAL. CBI has seized LED TV sets from some other customs officials too. These TV sets were used to smuggle gold by hiding it inside.
Read news in full 18/10/13 MG Radhakrishnan/India Today

Close to the clousure of the deal, top executives from Etihad may join Jet by year-end

Mumbai: At least four executives from Etihad Airways are likely to assume key positions in Jet Airways by the end of year, close to the closure to the first FDI deal in Indian aviation after the sector was opened up for investment from foreign carriers last year.
The executives are Willy Boulter, who is currently vice-president commercial strategy and planning at the Abu Dhabi-based carrier, Renyl Rauf, senior manager, mergers and acquisitions, Rangesh Embar, vice-president finance and Rajeev Nambiar, head of sales.
A person close to the development told ET that Boulter already partly operates out of Jet's corporate office in suburban Mumbai. Boulter, the person said, may be considered as Sudheer Raghavan's successor as Jet's next chief commercial officer.
Read news in full 17/10/13 Economic Times

Etihad pilots management changes at Jet Airways

Mumbai: Etihad Airways is steering organisational revamp in Jet Airways, in which it is set to acquire 24 per cent stake. Two senior Etihad executives are likely to join the Jet Airways management team, in an apparent indication of the Abu Dhabi-based airline’s control over Jet.
Sources said Rajeev Nambiar, sales head of Etihad, is likely to replace Sonu Kripalani, Jet’s vice-president(sales), who is expected to take up another position within the organisation. In another move Willy Boulter, Etihad’s vice-president (commercial and network planning), is likely to take over as Jet’s chief commercial officer, replacing Sudheer Raghavan. Sources say Raghavan is leaving the organisation, as his powers and responsibilities are being curtailed.
Etihad earns about 23 per cent of its passenger revenue from code-share and equity partners, and this would increase after its tie-up with Jet. In the past few months, the Naresh Goyal-controlled Jet has seen resignations of a few senior executives, as well as changes in its organisation structure.
Read news in full 17/10/13 Aneesh Phadnis/Business Standard

Qatar Airways looks to grow India reach, eyes SpiceJet stake

Mumbai: Qatar Airways is in talks with SpiceJet for the possible acquisition of 24 per cent stake in the Indian airline. Recently, the two airlines signed a non-disclosure agreement, but due diligence in this regard was yet to be carried out, said a source privy to the development.
In January, Qatar Airways had denied it was in talks with SpiceJet or any other Indian airline. Asked about the talks with SpiceJet earlier this week, a Qatar Airways spokesperson said the airline didn’t wish to comment on the issue.
SpiceJet denied it was in talks with the Gulf airline. “While we are not averse to the idea of partnering a reputed name in aviation, it will be improper to comment prematurely on the possibilities of a deal fructifying. That said, we wish to categorically state it is totally misconceived to say SpiceJet is in talks with Qatar Airways for a possible stake sale. A similar rumour was doing the rounds earlier, and we had denied it as soon as it hit the wires. Yet again, we have to simply reiterate there is absolutely no truth in this story,” said S L Narayanan, chief financial officer of the Sun Group, which owns SpiceJet.

Setback to hand over AAI airports to pvt parties

New Delhi: Government's move to hand over airports developed by the Airports Authority of India (AAI) to private parties suffered a minor setback with the date for sale of bid documents for Chennai airport being postponed by ten days.
The private parties, which were interested in participating in the operation, management and transfer of this airport and wanted to submit the Requests for Qualification (RFQ), can now do so by November four, official sources said. The earlier deadline was October 17.
The bid documents would be on sale from November four, instead of October 25 fixed earlier.
Similarly, the date for submission of RFQ for Lucknow airport is also likely to be shifted to early November from October 28, they said. The fresh date could not be ascertained immediately.
Read news in full 17/10/13 PTI/ZeeNews

No airport development fee after privatization

New Delhi: Realizing that its poll-eve decision to privatize six more Airports Authority of India (AAI) airports has led to fears that these places may also impose hefty user charges for flyers like those levied at Delhi and Mumbai, the government has decided not to allow airport development fee (ADF) there. Aviation minister Ajit Singh said only user development fee (UDF) will be allowed at these airports, unlike Delhi and Mumbai that charge both ADF and UDF. The six airports UPA-II wishes to privatize in its remaining tenure are Chennai, Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Lucknow, Jodhpur and Guwahati.
"Only UDF will be allowed at these airports even after they are being maintained by private players. Any hike in charges will be allowed only if and when certain capital expenditure is incurred on things like adding capacity. Flyers from these places should not be burdened by high charges," said Singh.
Read news in full 17/10/13 Saurabh Sinha/Times of India

Madurai-Dubai flight from November 22

Madurai: Trade bodies and travel agents here are elated over the announcement of SpiceJet to operate daily flights between Madurai and Dubai from November 22, which they believe will boost tourism and business.
According to Travel Club president B.G. Musthafa, the flight will depart Madurai at 11.35 p.m. and land in Dubai at 2.20 a.m. In the return direction, it will leave Dubai at 3.50 p.m. and land in Madurai at 9.45 p.m. (all local time). While the one-way fare has been fixed at Rs.6,999, the return fare would cost double the amount.
Introduction of the night flight to Dubai will necessitate the Madurai airport to remain open at least till midnight. At present, it begins operations by 7 a.m. and closes by 9 p.m. and the only international destination linked directly from the airport here is Colombo.
Read news in full 17/10/13 The Hindu

Hubli–Delhi flight takes only 6 hours. Don't mind

People from North Karnataka have to wait a minimum of six hours to commute to Delhi, as Spicejet is the only airline plying from Hubli to Delhi, making stops at Mumbai and Jabalpur before landing at the final destination.
The demand of a direct flight to the nation’s capital has been left unfulfilled since the inception of flight services in the region. People are looking for alternatives to waiting in transit, by traveling to cities like Bangalore, Mumbai and Goa by road and train, to fly to Delhi.
KD Deshpande, chairman of an educational institution in Belgaum, said he was not allowed to take a walk at the Jabalpur airport, while waiting in transit for his flight to Delhi.
Read news in full 17/10/13 Sangamesh Menasinakai/Daily News & Analysis

73% Indian flyers want 'child-free zones' on planes: Survey

Mumbai: Close to three-fourths of flyers, mostly men, from the country want airlines to ban children under 12 from certain areas of planes, and are ready to pay a premium for such a seating, according to a survey.
According to a survey carried out by travel search site among 1,000 air travellers in the country, as many as 73 per cent of them, with 400 men and 330 responding women, want airlines to start banning kids under 12 from certain areas of a plane and are ready to pay up to 10 per cent premium such a flight.
The survey was conducted after reports of Air Asia X and Scoot Airlines implementing "child-free zones" on their aircraft.
"In fact, more men are in favour of the move with close to 400 male travellers welcoming such child-free zones on-board flights compared to 330 women," says the survey.
Read news in full 17/10/13 PTI/Economic Times