Govt having relook at UPA's airport privatisation plan

New Delhi: With airlines complaining of high airport charges in the country, the government is having a relook at the process of privatisation of six major airports started by the previous UPA dispensation.

Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapati Raju has suggested fresh broad-based consultations between the Centre and states and with airport developers, airlines, passenger associations and travel operators before finalising the model concession agreement for construction and operation of airports through public-private partnership (PPP).

The UPA-II government had early last year launched the PPP process for modernising six airports at Kolkata, Chennai, Jaipur, Guwahati, Ahmedabad and Lucknow.

Air India renews insurance for $26.75 m at 15% premium

Mumbai: Despite hardening insurance market for airlines globally following some major tragedies this year, national carrier Air India has been able to renew its cover with just 15 per cent rise in premium for its 132— aircraft fleet.

According to sources, the demand was for 25 per cent hike over the existing premium but insurers had to eventually come down to 15 per cent over the soon-to-expire policy.

The sources in the London market, where the reinsurance for the cover is being decided, have confirmed that Air India’s insurance will be renewed in a day or so, and it can keep flying from October 1.

Federal Bank extends Rs.500-crore loan to CIAL

Kochi: The Federal Bank has sanctioned a term loan of Rs. 500 crore to the Cochin International Airport Ltd (CIAL) for the construction of its new international terminal.

The agreement for the loan facility was signed by V.J. Kurian, managing director of CIAL, and Shyam Srinivasan, managing director and chief executive of Federal Bank, in the presence of senior executives of CIAL and Federal Bank at a ceremony held at the airport here on Friday.

Pilot suspended for ‘mishandling’ plane with Shivpal on board

Lucknow: The UP government has suspended a pilot after aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), New Delhi, found him guilty of “mishandling” a chartered plane while landing it on the runway of Delhi Airport in September 2012.
The six-seater plane (Premium 1-A), with Cabinet minister Shivpal Singh Yadav with two other passengers, a cockpit crew of two and one cabin crew on board, had skidded off the runway but nobody was hurt in the incident.

Why should pilots frisk the VIPs?'

Learning a lesson from the Lok Sabha elections, when pilots were on duty beyond their stipulated seven hours, and given the duty to check the baggage of politicians and VIPs that flew with them during rallies, the Rotary Wing Society of India (RWSI) has written a feedback letter to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).

Kingfisher Says Court Stayed Bank Decision Against Company

Grounded Indian carrier Kingfisher Airlines Ltd has said a court has halted the execution of a decision by state-run United Bank of India that declared the airline and its directors "wilful defaulters".

The Calcutta High Court will hear the case on Nov. 10 and has sought more information from both sides, Kingfisher said in a statement late on Saturday.

United Bank officials could not be reached immediately for comment on Sunday.

EU to review air safety in India in November

Mumbai: European Union will review air safety in India in the light of US Federal Aviation Administration down grading India in February. It has sought details of action taken by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation since February before the review in November.

FAA downgraded India’s safety ranking from category-II from -I after an audit revealed deficiencies in regulatory oversight. FAA’s decision can have ramifications and now regulators in Europe are stepping up the heat. Any adverse findings could result into Europe imposing operational restrictions or bans on Indian carriers.

Entry into metros may delay AirAsia's break-even

Mumbai: Low-cost carrier AirAsia India's proposed plans to enter the country's metro segment may delay the break-even of the company, say industry experts.

The airline that recently started its domestic operations in India has been denying any interest in entering the metros, especially Mumbai and Delhi, owing to higher operational costs and high airport taxes. Industry experts said that AirAsia chief Tony Fernandes's announcement did not come as a surprise. However, the airline may take longer to achieve break-even, given the higher costs.

Raju: For flights abroad, fly more to small towns

New Delhi: Newer airlines which have been urging the government for scrapping the antiquated provision which bars them from flying overseas till they have completed five years of operations and have 20 aircraft (5/20) would soon see their wish being granted.
However, this would come at a price — they may be asked to fulfil some regional connectivity criteria before they can spread their wings. This means that if airlines like AirAsia or Tata SIA’s Vistara fly a certain quota of flights, which the Centre earmarks to smaller towns and cities, they can fly abroad.

‘Decision on ailing AI needs to be taken soon’

New Delhi: A decision on the fate of loss-making flag carrier Air India (AI) needs to be taken soon as the government is “running against time”, aviation minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju said on Friday at the Express Group’s Idea Exchange programme.
“We have to take a decision. AI is losing all around and we are running against time. If you keep it going, there are problems, if you close it, there are other problems. Air India is like a patient in an ICU on ventilator. If the ventilator is removed, will the patient die or survive is a question. Before we take a decision, we don’t want to land up in a situation where we haven’t thought of all angles,” Raju said.

Air India may cut flights to Australia from 7 to 5 per week

New Delhi: Air India (AI) may curtail flights on the India-Australia sector to five days a week from seven currently after posting a loss of about Rs 150 crore in the first year of operations.The airline flies the Delhi-Sydney-Melbourne route on four days and Delhi-Melbourne-Sydney on the other three days. Two officials confirmed that a five-day-a-week plan is being discussed."The losses are huge and the curtailment to five days a week is being discussed. The days on which the flights will be stopped are still being finalised," a senior Air India official said.

GMR proposes world class Hyderabad airport city

Hyderabad: The GMR group which constructed the international airport at Shamshabad here and currently operating it proposed to build a world class Hyderabad airport city at a cost of Rs. 750 crore which would create 15,000 to 20,000 jobs and sought the support of Telangana government on this count.

Making a presentation to Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao at the Secretariat on Friday, the group chairman G.M. Rao and other officials said it was also proposed to build a high class exhibition-cum-convention centre spread over 50 acres with a plinth areas of one lakh sq mts as part of the proposed airport city near Shamshabad airport. The exhibition and convention industry was a complex amalgamation of varied economic activity across sectors.

Durga Puja tourists welcomed at Kolkata airport with 'Respect Women' messages

Kolkata: In a bid to make women travellers feel at ease, tourists landing at the Kolkata airport during the Durga Puja festival are being welcomed with the message of 'Respect Women'. Airline officials, hotels and others in the tourism industry have started distributing thousands of badges bearing the message on the occasion of World Tourism Day, beginning today. "We feel that this is a good message to send out on World Tourism Day, to show our commitment to respect women. We are distributing these badges at the airport to the passengers arriving in Kolkata," Anil Punjabi, chairman (east) of the Travel Agents Federation of India (TAFI), said.

AirAsia India kept out of Federation of Indian Airlines

According to a report by Saurabh Sinha in The Times of India, AirAsia India has been kept out of the Federation of Indian Airlines (FIA), a joint forum of Indian carriers, despite applying for membership twice. The FIA is a joint forum of Air India, Jet Airways, IndiGo, SpiceJet and GoAir.

"We have not even been invited to join FIA. No one has even replied to our letters," Tony Fernandes, CEO, AirAsia Group, said. Mittu Chandilya, CEO, AirAsia India Pvt. Ltd. (AAIPL), said, "I myself wrote twice on this issue. I don't know why we haven't even got a reply. We are an Indian company, owned 51 per cent by Tata Sons. Our management team is Indian."

SpiceJet COO hits out at AirAsia's Tony Fernandes on Twitter

Mumbai: War of wordshas erupted among airlines. SpiceJet chief operating officer (COO) Sanjiv Kapoor came down heavily on AirAsia group CEO Tony Fernandes for alleging that domestic airlines, particularly IndiGo, were blocking his venture in India.

On Thursday, Fernandes had lashed out at Federation of Indian Airlines (FIA), for putting spokes in AirAsia’s plans. AirAsia wanted to be a member of the group but isnot being given a membership and FIA also tried to persuade the civil aviation ministry not to invite AirAsia and Vistara for a consultative meeting, Fernandes claimed. Besides, Fernandes had announced on Thursday that his airline would soon launch flights to Mumbai,dropping his reservation about not flying to the city because of high airport charges.

SpiceJet’s Sanjiv Kapoor flying to IndiGo’s defence? Takes on AirAsia’s chief on Twitter

AirAsia chief Tony Fernandes hit out at IndiGo for acting like a bully and stopping his airline in India, but curiously enough it was SpiceJet's chief who took to Twitter to slam its rival low cost airline on Friday without any obvious provocation.

Sanjiv Kapoor, COO, SpiceJet took to Twitter to take the fight to Fernandes and tweeted out saying that though AirAsia claims full planes, the load is below 70.

In an interview to Economic Times, published today, Fernandes had lashed out against Federation of Indian Airlines (FIA), a grouping of domestic airlines, for creating obstacles for AirAsia's India plans.

IndiGo Allows Flyers to Reserve Tickets Without Any Charges

Budget carrier IndiGo is now allowing flyers to block their seats without making any payment. Under this offer, customers can block a booking on any IndiGo flight first and confirm it later. Customers can hold the booking for up to six hours.

Importantly, under this IndiGo offer, the ticket price would remain the same for six hours. If the customer makes the payment within six hours, the booking gets confirmed, Otherwise, the booking gets cancelled.

Late night flights 'red eyes' to be launched in India soon

New Delhi: Indian flyers taking the Tata Sons-Air Asia late night domestic flights will soon be able to fly for throw-away fares, as per a news paper report.

The late night flights, popularly called 'red eyes' in the West, connoting the sleepy-eyed passengers, are very popular because of their low cost tickets. These late night flights operate between 11pm and 4am.

AirAsia India to operate flight from Mumbai

No-frills airline AirAsia India plans to introduce a flight from Mumbai, according to AirAsia group chief executive Tony Fernandes.
"In Incredible India....Bombay (Mumbai) is changing by the day ....AIRASIA India will be starting in this metro soon. We are coming," Fernandes said on Twitter.

Tata-AirAsia kept out of airlines body

New Delhi:  The Tata Sons-AirAsia JV has been kept out of the Federation of Indian Airlines (FIA), a joint forum of desi carriers, despite applying for membership twice. The FIA is a joint forum of Indian carriers Air India, Jet Airways, IndiGo, SpiceJet and GoAir.

Flyer leaves bag at IGI, Air India told to pay Rs 1 lakh

New Delhi: A consumer forum in the city has asked Air India to pay an NRI flyer a compensation of Rs 1 lakh in a lost baggage case.

The amount will be divided equally between the consumer welfare fund and the complainant for extreme mental agony, humiliation, inconveniences, loss of baggage due to negligence, physical discomfort and litigation expenses.

On December 30, 2010 the complainant had landed at the IGI airport and forgot one of his bags there. He went back to IGI the same day and approached the inquiry desk of Air India. CCTV footage showed that the bag was picked up by a loader working with Neha Aviation, a private agency under contract with the airline for loading and unloading services.

No more a flight risk

Worried as to how your aged and wheelchair-bound parents will manage check-in and security at Chennai airport and then collect their bags when they reach Delhi after their flight? All you have to do is call up the airline they are flying 48 hours before the journey and ask it to make arrangements for special assistance to be provided to them.

Concerned that you are not being refunded the entire amount due to you because you decided to cancel your ticket?

Don’t worry. This useful information and much more is only a click of a button away on your Internet-connected mobile phone, tablet, laptop or personal computer. All you have to do is log on to the newly started Know Your Rights site (http://www.dgca.nic.in/kyrdgca/KYR_portal.html) a new initiative of the airline watchdog, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation.

Air India signs code-sharing agreement with Air Canada

Mumbai: Air India has signed a code-sharing agreement with Air Canada, a Star Alliance member. This is Air India’s first such pact with a member of the 27-member global airline alliance, after it joined the group in June this year. The code-sharing pact covers Air India’s domestic flights and Air Canada flights to Canada from London, Paris, Hong Kong and Shanghai.

Code-sharing agreements allow one airline to sell seats on another’s network and increase revenue.

Raju lauds Shivraj's initiative to further air services in MP

Bhopal: Union Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajpathi Raju today said the aviation sector has immense potential to grow in Madhya Pradesh and lauded the initiative taken by the "proactive" Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan to explore possibilities of launching more air services from the state.

"It is for the first time that a state government has invited the Civil Aviation Minister and top level officials of public as well as private carriers for interaction on possibilities of launching air services from the state," Raju who described Chouhan as a "proactive" Chief Minister, told reporters.

Cleartrip Books Seats at Hyderabad Airport

Cleartrip, an online travel portal, has launched an OOH campaign at Hyderabad Airport where it has branded seat backs at different area such as the departure tract and in the waiting halls of security hold areas (SHA) of both domestic and international terminals.
The campaign used as many as 1,200 seatbacks to create a brand presence that the passengers cannot miss. The objective was to promote Cleartrip Mobile, which has, in recent times, become its most successful revenue driver, contributing over 40 per cent traffic and 25-30 per cent transactions. In three months, Cleartrip's new campaign is expected to create a greater brand recall among business and leisure travellers in the Hyderabad Airport.

After cattle class snub, Sukhbir Badal flies private jet

Chandigarh:  After a deluge of sarcastic comments on social media over his 'cattle class' trip to Chennai and Hyderabad, Punjab deputy chief minister Sukhbir Badal on Tuesday decided to dump the austerity policy and opted for a private chartered flight for an official tour to Mumbai.

We are doing our best to turn around SpiceJet: Promoter

Mumbai: According to a report by Gireesh Babu in Business Standard, loss-ridden low-cost air carrier SpiceJet Ltd is expecting to turn around operations by cutting costs and restructuring its network, schedules and long-term contracts. Company officials said to generate more revenue, SpiceJet would focus on short-duration flights on international routes.

Vistara's first aircraft lands in India

New Delhi: Tata Son's full-service airline joint venture with Singapore Airlines - Vistara -  on Thursday took the delivery of its first Airbus A320-200 aircraft.

"The selection of the modern Airbus A320 family aircraft is part of our strategy to offer the best service to our customers. The proven and reliable quality of Airbus meets our stringent standards for safety, cabin comfort, fuel efficiency and overall operational reliability," said Phee Teik Yeoh, chief executive, Vistara.

Vistara seeks 1-year grace period before regional connectivity rule is implemented

According to a report by Tarun Shukla in Mint, Tata SIA Airlines Ltd.-promoted Vistara has asked the Centre to delay the implementation of a new rule that makes it mandatory for local airlines to deploy planes to connect smaller towns, saying it will affect the viability of new airlines. Vistara said it wants at least a one-year grace period after it starts operation before the regional connectivity rule is implemented, as it could potentially impact start-ups such as AirAsia India and six other companies that have recently won airline licences.

AirAsia set to begin operations from Mumbai

Mumbai: Leading low-cost carrier AirAsia will now start its operations from Mumbai. After staying away from the 'highly-expensive Mumbai airport' since it started operating in India in June, the airline has finally taken a decision to fly from here.
AirAsia's sister concern AirAsia X had discontinued its international operations from Mumbai and Delhi a couple of years back citing exorbitant price at these airports.

The First Indian Pilot: Sardar Hardit Singh Malik

The first Indian, or indeed Asian, to procure aeroplanes was the then-young Maharaja of Patiala, Bhupinder Singh, who was following aviation developments with keen interest. The Maharaja sent his chief engineer to Europe for an on-the-spot study and then ordered three aeroplanes, including a Bleriot monoplane and Farman biplanes. These aeroplanes arrived in the Punjab in December 1910.

However, the very first Indian to fly, join the Royal Flying Corps, get his wings, go into aerial combat on the Western Front, shoot down German fighters and himself be seriously wounded in the air, was an outstanding personality: Sardar Hardit Singh Malik.

Aviation expert Cramer Ball takes over as Jet Airways CEO

New Delhi: Cramer Ball, an aviation expert who has worked in several global airlines and is credited with turning around Air Seychelles, today formally took over as the CEO of Jet Airways after government granted him security clearance.

46-year old Ball, an Australian national, was appointed in May by the Board of Jet Airways which had also approved a three-year restructuring programme then.

In a letter to the employees, Jet Chairman Naresh Goyal said, "Pursuant to the approval of the Board of Jet Airways (India) Limited on 27 May, 2014, regarding the appointment of Cramer Ball as its new Chief Executive Officer, we now confirm that Ball has received all regulatory approvals including his security clearance."

Alliance Air signed MoU with NE Council for flight operations

Alliance Air on 24 September 2014 signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the North East Council for flight operations in the North East.

The MoU was signed in the presence of the Union Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju Pusapati and Minister of State for Development of North East Regions VK Singh.

Air India official urges employees to support 'Swachh Bharat' campaign

Mumbai: Responding to a call for a ‘Swachh Bharat’ given by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, officials and staff at the Air India today stepped out for a cleanliness drive.

Senior officials of the public carrier came along to lend a support to the campaign.

Hong Kong’s Plaza Premium to invest Rs 110 cr in India, open academy

Bangalore: Plaza Premium Lounge Management Ltd, a global provider of premium airport services, intends to invest ?110 crore in India to set up lounges and transit day hotels in Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata airports as well as a training academy in Delhi.

The Hong Kong-based company, which has 110 lounges in 29 international airports around the world, has already invested ?185 crore in building lounges and transit hotels across the international airports of Hyderabad, Delhi and Bangalore over the last seven years.

Goa to float tender for second airport Oct 3

Panaji: The Goa government will float a Request for Qualification (RFQ) tender Oct 3 giving details of its second airport, Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar said Thursday.

Parrikar said the state needed another airport in addition to the existing Dabolim international airport which operates out of an Indian Navy base in Dabolim, located 30 kms south of Panaji.

"On Oct 3, the RFQ tender will be uploaded. On Tuesday, the cabinet will take the decision," Parrikar told a function in Panaji.

International Aviation Conclave from December 11

Mangalore: The International Aviation conclave, originally planned for October 9, will now be held from December 11 in New Delhi. The event was postponed on request of the India Trade Promotion Organization due to clashing of dates with another event organized by the Ministry of Science and Technology.

The International Aviation Conclave Organizing Council met on Wednesday September 24 to discuss the situation with key potential stakeholders and accepted the proposal of the India Trade Promotion Organization to postpone the event. The new dates finalized and confirmed for this event with the India Trade Promotion Organization are December 11 to 13.

CIAL-SATS tie-up raises eyebrows

Thiruvananthapuram: A move by Singapore Airport Terminal Services (SATS) to enter into a tie-up with Cochin International Airport Limited (CIAL) for ground handling services at the Nedumbassery international airport has raised many eyebrows. SATS already has a joint venture tie-up with Air India for AI-SATS which is carrying out ground handling at five Indian airports, including Thiruvananthapuram. In case SATS strikes a fresh deal with CIAL,  it  will have to take on Air India’s terminal services wing which is a ground handling agent at Nedumbassery airport at present.

What’s up in the air

It’s a bird, it’s a plane... Nope. It’s the Red Bull flugtag. Come Sunday and almost everyone in Bangalore is going to be looking up - not at the sky but at the range of crafts that will attempt to defy gravity and soar over Sankey Tank in a bid to emerge as India’s first Flugtag champions.

Organised by Red Bull, Flugtag, for those who don’t know yet, is German for ‘flying day’ and started in Vienna, Austria, in 1992. With over 100 such events in their kitty, Red Bull decided to come to India and choose none other than the adventure capital of Bangalore to host the event for the very first time in the nation of inventions.

Private airports operators too oppose regional connectivity policy

Mumbai: Association of Private Airport Operators (APAO) has opposed the civil aviation ministry's draft regional connectivity policy arguing that destinations included in the proposal lack traffic potential and incentives offered to airlines to launch services are not enough to cover their cost.

The ministry has invited views from industry stake holders on a proposed policy to boost regional connectivity. However both airlines and private airports are opposed to the current proposal. APAO includes GVK and GMR group run airports (Mumbai, Bangalore, Delhi and Hyderabad) and Kochi.

ATC integration to make flights cheaper, faster

Kolkata: A year from now, airlines will be able to save nearly Rs 90,000 per flight on the Kolkata-Jaipur sector. That may not only result in lower fares, but it will also mean a shorter flight time with pilots hoping to shave off around 20 minutes.

Sooner still, flight duration to southern cities like Visakhapatnam, Chennai, Hyderabad and Bangalore will also reduce by 15-20 minutes for around two months a year, leading to similar savings.

"Integration of radars across India will allow air traffic controllers to provide flights with direct routes between cities and desired flight levels, twin factors that are crucial to the aircraft's fuel consumption and can lead to substantial savings," AAI executive director (air traffic management) Ram Lal told TOI on Monday.

Pilots to be empowered to deal with tipsy air travellers

New Delhi: Tipsy air travellers, beware! Laws are being tightened to empower crew members to restrain anyone from creating ruckus inside an aircraft or even at the airport before boarding a flight.
A new rule has been drafted by aviation regulator DGCA formally empowering the pilot-in-command of all flights to take suitable action to prevent such commotion which could endanger safety of the flight or passengers or crew members.
It empowers airline staff to "monitor" drunk passengers in lounges or at the airport check-points. The rule makes it mandatory for all airlines, including foreign carriers operating in Indian territory, as well as non-scheduled and charter operators, to evolve Standard Operating Procedures to deal with such situations.

Airlines asked to train crew to deal with unruly flyers

Mumbai: The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) wants airlines crew to be adequately trained to prevent any disruptive behaviour by passengers on ground as well as onboard. In its draft regulations, the DGCA has said the training should enable crew to detect, defuse and handle critical situations.

The regulator also wants airlines to develop standard operating procedures for dealing with disruptive passengers and include a statutory warning in the ‘conditions of carriage’ printed on tickets, specifying the acts that would be considered unlawful.

Jet Airways Takes on AirAsia India With New Offer

Jet Airways has launched a promotional offer on the routes operated by budget carrier AirAsia India. Jet Airways is offering fares as low as Rs 908 (all-inclusive) as part of this promotional scheme, which is applicable on economy class tickets.

This Jet Airways offer can be availed by booking before October 5 and is valid on travel after January 15, 2015.

As part of the offer, Jet Airways is offering Kochi-Bangalore tickets at Rs 908 and Bangalore-Kochi at Rs 1,162. Bangalore-Chennai tickets under this Jet Airways offer are priced at Rs 1,162 while Chennai-to-Bangalore to Rs 1,017. On the Bangalore-Goa route, tickets are priced at Rs 1,162 while on Goa-Bangalore at Rs 916.

Privatise Air India: It’s now or never

Headlines in the last few weeks have not been very charitable to Air India. “AI loses commerce minister’s baggage on way to Sydney”, “AI officials danced as flight waited for three hours to take off”, “Worm found in sandwich served on AI flight”, “PMO turns down aviation ministry’s request for a 2-year extension for AI Chairman & Managing Director (CMD) Rohit Nandan”, and finally, “Government mulls closing loss-making state entities”. Surely, not a great month for the normally unflappable

AAI Markets Indian Airports at World Route Forum

Airports Authority of India (AAI) participated in the 20th World Route Development Forum held at Chicago from 20th to 23rd September this year. AAI has identified 29 airports for marketing amongst the airlines present at the Forum. The airports identified were Amritsar, Chandigarh, Jaipur, Lucknow, Leh, Srinagar, Varanasi (Banaras), Bhubaneswar, Gaya, Kolkata, Port Blair, Ranchi, Raipur, Guwahati, Ahmedabad, Aurangabad, Bhopal, Indore, Goa, Pune, Surat, Chennai, Coimbatore, Calicut, Madurai, Mangalore, Trivandrum, Trichy and Visakhapatnam. AAI also conducted one-to-one meetings with the participating airlines and had a dedicated exhibition stand also. The airport-specific brochures brought out by AAI on the occasion included salient features of the airports, catchment areas they belong to, aerodrome reference code, tourist attractions and aviation and tourism potential.

Dubai gears up for hosting the Airport Show 2015

Khalifa Al Zaffin, executive chairman of Dubai Aviation City Corporation, said: “The aviation industry is getting bigger due to massive investments in airports expansion and new developments that are needed to accommodate the growth in air traffic in the region. Dubai leads the region in terms of airport investments which plays a strategic role in our agenda for the aviation industry expansion.  Al Maktoum International Airport in Dubai World Central (DWC) project is being carried out in two phases with the first stage costing up to AED120 billion and it will be the biggest airport in the world when completed with a capacity to handle 200 million passengers with 400 aircraft parking. The benefits of this huge and consistent investment would have a positive impact not just on Dubai but also on the UAE, the Gulf region and the world.”

Centre's No to FlyDubai from BPIA

Bhubaneswar: The proposal to permit international operations by FlyDubai on Bhubaneswar-Dubai route has been turned down by the Civil Aviation Ministry on Monday.

The decision was taken as bilateral air traffic rights between India and UAE could not materialise, sources said. The State Government has been pushing for the commencement of international operations on this route with the Centre since long.

Choppers might be allowed in commuter airline fleets

New Delhi: The Business Aircraft Operators' Association (BAOA) has sought helicopters be included in the policy for promoting air connectivity to unserved and underserved destinations.

The association of air charters and non-scheduled aircraft operators, in its recommendations on the draft policy on regional and remote connectivity, has pointed out, "The discussion paper has not taken into consideration operations for providing remote-area connectivity. Helicopters are required to be engaged due to terrain restrictions  in vast areas of Jammu & Kashmir, the northeast, Andaman & Nicobar Islands and Lakshadweep. It is suggested that helicopters may also be included to provide air connectivity to underserved and unserved towns in these areas."

Plan for direct road between airport and Delhi’s heart

New Delhi: The Delhi government is mulling a proposal to provide a direct link between Lutyens Delhi  and the Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA). This proposal is being considered keeping in mind the increasing traffic volume on the route over the years.
“A lot of traffic from the VIP area moves towards the airport and vice-versa, leading to nasty traffic snarls on several occasions. There is a need to provide a direct connectivity from Lutyens Delhi to the airport. Since this area comes under the jurisdiction of the New Delhi Municipal Council, their consent will have to be sought before we go ahead with the proposal. An in-principle approval will be sought from all agencies before pursuing it further,” a source said.

Tweak in aviation rules in the air

New Delhi: The top bosses of India’s airlines will meet civil aviation minister P. Ashok Gajapathi Raju tomorrow to discuss junking restrictive rules for flying abroad and high taxes levied on fuel.
According to civil aviation ministry officials, top officials from Jet Airways, SpiceJet, IndiGo, Air India, AirAsia India, GoAir and soon-to-be-launched Vistara (Tata-SIA joint venture) will all be present at the meeting.
“The minister has called this meeting to discuss issues such as high taxation on jet fuel with top airline officials,” said a senior civil aviation ministry official.
Sources said the airlines want to discuss steps necessary to slash aviation turbine fuel (ATF) prices by cutting taxes. The Indian aviation sector has suffered record losses on the back of predatory pricing, high fuel costs and airport taxes.

SpiceJet launches booking tool, discount scheme for small and medium enterprise travellers

New Delhi: To attract small and medium enterprise (SME) business travellers, budget carrier SpiceJet Tuesday launched a scheme which offers up to 10 percent discount.

"SME traveller is aimed to target nearly 70-100 million MSMEs in the country who contribute to eight percent of the country's GDP. Hence we definitely see a business need to reach out to this section," said SpiceJet chief commercial officer Kaneswaran Avili.

MoU signed between AAI - US agency

New Delhi: For the development of the aviation security equipment testing and evaluation programme, an agreement has been signed today between the Airports Authority of India (AAI) and US Trade and Development Agency (USTDA).

This will enable AAI and Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) to create clear standards, specifications and testing procedures specific to India's own standards of aviation security.

Privatisation alone would not yield results, says Civil Aviation Minister

Coimbatore: Maintaining that he was not against privatisation, Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju Pusapati on Monday said that it alone would not yield results and stressed upon the need for working as a team.
"We need to encourage more Indian players, be it in the private sector or government to improve and strengthen flight connectivity. There is ample scope for improvement both in air cargo and passenger traffic," he said interacting with members of the local chapter of Indian Chamber of commerce and Industry.

Govt wants more Indian airlines to take up international routes, civil aviation minister says

Coimbatore: The government wants Indian airlines to take up more international routes and is ready to sign new bilateral agreements towards this, said Union civil aviation minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju Pusapati on Monday.

"The government would definitely not mind the increasing number of international passengers and raising freight. But this should contribute to our economy's GDP and not to another country's GDP," the minister said while reacting to a request from the industry to directly connect Coimbatore with Dubai.

GVK to sell stake in airport biz; eyes $400 mn

Mumbai airport operator  GVK is in talks with various private equity (PE) players to sell its stake in its airport business. The company is in talks with PE players like KKR, Blackstone, GA, etc to divest its stake in an move to monetize its assets. The company is looking to raise USD 400 million through this stake sale. Furthermore, the company is looking to list its airport business and is in talks with merchant bankers for the same. However, the listing is unlikely to take place before mid- FY15.

Jet Airways announces special 'Economy' fares in Bengaluru network

Mumbai: International Airline Jet Airways on Monday announced competitive special fares for its guests travelling in Economy class on the airline's domestic network to and from Bengaluru.

Guests will be able to enjoy attractive discounts on base fare and fuel surcharge, across all destinations on the airlines’ domestic network.

The all-inclusive fares (excluding statutory taxes) are starting from Rs. 600.

Qatar Airways asked to pay Rs one lakh for deficiency in service

New Delhi: A consumer forum has directed Qatar Airways to pay Rs one lakh to a man for loss of his baggage during his journey from London to Doha in 2007, saying it was a case of "deficiency in service" leading to "harassment".
The New Delhi District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum, presided by C K Chaturvedi, asked the airline to pay the money to Pradeep Saluja, whose baggage was lost during the journey in September 2007.
"It is an admitted case of rendering imperfect services, by not being able to prevent the baggage from being stolen or lost or remaining untraced for six months," the forum said, while noting that airlines had placed its liability as per weight--USD 20 (Rs 1,217.45) per kg.

Robotic security unveiled in Cochin international airport

Kochi: The Cochin international airport on Monday installed a high-end robotic security system with Canadian-built robotic equipment procured by spending Rs 12 crore.

CIAL managing director V.J. Kurian inaugurated the system and bomb detection and disposal squad at a function held on the CIAL MRO hangar premises.

SpiceJet, Air India and other airline CEOs may raise cost issues, 5/20 rule with Raju on Tuesday

New Delhi: The CEOs of all domestic airlines are expected to raise the high cost of operations in India impacting their bottomlines in their first meeting with the Civil Aviation Minister, P Ashok Gajapathi Raju, tomorrow. Leaders from SpiceJet, IndiGo, GoAir, Air India, Jet Airways, Vistara and AirAsia India are expected to attend this meeting.

The meeting comes even as aviation regulator DGCA is drawing up a comprehensive report on the financial health of airlines and sources in the regulator have pointed to at least two airlines which are in deep financial difficulties. It is not clear when this report will be submitted to the Ministry by DGCA.

Loss-making Air India goes in for an image makeover after entry in Star Alliance

New Delhi: Loss-making Air India (AI) is buying bigger wine glasses, refurbishing interiors of its fleet and ordering a new dress code for its cabin crew as part of an image makeover. While the management is taking these steps to upgrade the look of the airline following its Star Alliance membership, many insiders feel that some of the additional expenditure could be curtailed.

AI chairman and managing director Rohit Nandan did not reply to Mail Today text messages asking for his comments on Friday. On Sunday, he referred Mail Today  to corporate communications officials, who in turn said that it is not possible to reply on the same day. The management has justified the new steps as part of the effort to better services since the carrier joined Star Alliance.

Air India in $600mn sale/lease-back deals with European firms

Air India has entered into sale/lease-back agreements valued at USD600million with two European financial institutions. India's LiveMint says the debt-ridden national carrier has sold four of its B787-8s to Germany's Deutsche Bank while a fifth has gone to British firm, Investec. Both companies have similar existing agreements with Air India with Deutsche Bank having bought three B787s and Investec four.

AddThis Fancy a seaplane ride to Shirdi?

The recently launched seaplane will give pilgrims to Shirdi, Shani Singlapur and Meherabad a much quicker ride

It’s not even a month since Maritime Energy Heli Air Services Pvt. Ltd. (MEHAIR) and Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation (MTDC) launched their seaplane services in Maharashtra between Mumbai and Pawana (Lonavala), but they’re already ready with services to their next destination. Starting 19th September, the seaplane will take off from Mumbai’s Juhu Airport for a 45-minute flight to Mula Dam, where it will land opposite Chumeri Guesthouse. People will disembark on a securely anchored floating dock approximately 30 m from the shoreline. From the dock they will be whisked away to the shore by a motorboat.

Jet Airways flights to transition to full-service from December

Jet Airways will begin full-service operations on both its and subsidiary Jet Konnect's domestic flights with effect from December 1. The Indian carrier says from that date, it will begin offering a complementary meal service onboard all flights.
"The enhancement into a uniform, full service single brand will include a complementary meal service onboard all flights for travel effective December 1st 2014, and Sky Café – the airline buy on board service – will be discontinued," it said.

Worms in breakfast, AIE in-flight caterer warned

Mangalore: he local caterer to Air India Express providing inflight meals has been served a notice and warning after a passenger discovered dead worms in the breakfast served on board the Mangalore - Bahrain flight three days back.

Air India to lease an A320 from Gambia's Aeolus Air for Hajj

Aeolus Air  will lease one of its two A320-200s, C5-AAO (cn 368), to Air India (AI, Mumbai Int'l) for the duration of the Hajj season AeroTransport has reported. At present, Air India has also wet-leased in a pair of B767-200(ER)s from Dynamic Airways (2D, Greensboro) and Jet Asia Airways  respectively to cover its Hajj charter flight needs.

Indian Airlines Likely To Pay Up To 25% More To Renew Fleet Cover

Mumbai: India’s airlines will likely have to pay 20-25% more in premiums for renewing the combined US$30 billion of insurance cover on their fleet—the consequence partly of two disasters that struck Malaysian Airline System Bhd this year, airline and insurance executive say.

A Libyan militant group’s attack on Tripoli International Airport this month and extremist attacks on Karachi Airport in June have also put pressure on premiums that had already hardened after Flight MH370 with 239 people on board disappeared without a trace in March and MH17 was shot down over Ukraine in July, killing all 298 people on board.

Airlines oppose governement policy on connectivity to remote areas

New Delhi: Airlines and private charter operators have opposed the government's draft policy on air connectivity to regional and remote areas, saying it will have severe impact on their financial strength.

Almost all major airlines, including the proposed Tata-SIA carrier Vistara, and business jet operators have submitted their opinions to the Civil Aviation Ministry over the past few days opposing various provisions of the draft policy, and called for further deliberations.

Air India backs staff who held up flight for bash

New Delhi: A video of partying Air India staffers who allegedly kept passengers on a London-Delhi flight waiting for three hours has caused fresh trouble for the management of the airlines.

The short video, which shows over two dozen staffers dancing to Bollywood songs at a party in Mumbai to celebrate an executive's promotion in December last year, went viral over the weekend. Air India insiders admit the staffers should not have ignored the passengers of the flight when it made an unscheduled stop in Mumbai, even though, on the record, the management has defended them.

Sky is the limit for this bunch of aircraft enthusiasts

Mangalore: They have a unique hobby. They gather at Maryhill every Sunday with their colourful radio controlled airplanes and helicopters to fly them in the sky. They are the members of the RC Hobby Club.There are around 10 to 15 youth who enthusiastically gather at Maryhill helipad every Sunday at 8 am to fly their radio controlled aircraft. Instructors in the group train their pupils to fly these aircraft and also to operate radio-controlled motor cars.

Vishal Rao, a civil engineer and one of the members in the group, said, “I joined this group five years ago. This hobby circle was started by Rajaram Shenoy, J P Rao, and Rajesh Mangalore.”

SriLankan Airlines employee's sexual harassment complaint: HC seeks police reply

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court has sought the city police's response on allegations of an Indian employee of SriLankan Airlines that a sexual harassment case lodged by her against her senior Lankan colleague is not being probed fairly.
Justice Pratibha Rani has issued notice to Delhi Police and sought a status report of the investigation carried out on the FIR lodged against the woman's senior colleague under section 509 (uttering any word insulting modesty of a woman) of the IPC.
The court has now listed the matter for further hearing on November 27.

Co-passengers, not airport staff, flicking flyers’ stuff

New Delhi: Lost belongings at airports are increasingly being stolen by co-passengers rather than the usual suspects—loaders and airport staff. An integrated security system put in place at airports across the country to verify unclaimed objects (that could be bombs) has thrown up unexpected results. It has not only helped restore lost belongings to rightful owners, but shown that a large number of phones, laptops and bags are stolen by well-to-do co-passengers.

Mumbai ATC handles a record 51 flights an hour

Mumbai: In a first, Mumbai air traffic controllers (ATC) achieved the Herculean task of handling 51 aircraft in an hour at the congested city international airport earlier this week.

This is the highest record ever for the airport which has two cross runways, as a result of which, only one runway can be used at a time.

The declared capacity of the main runway (27) is 38, while the average number of aircraft handled is 40-42, which happens only when all taxiways are available and the weather and visibility are good.

ICRA upgrades Jet Airways’ credit rating

Mumbai: Credit rating agency ICRA, which had downgraded Jet Airways’ loan rating in August, has upgraded it after due consideration, the airline said in a BSE filing on Friday.
“The rating committee of ICRA has after due consideration upgraded the long-term rating for Line of Credit from ICRA D to ICRA C,” the filing said.
“Further the rating committee of ICRA has also upgraded the short-term rating for Line of Credit from ICRA D to ICRA A4,” it added.

Goof by Air India leaves Nirmala without dinner dress

New Delhi: She reached Australia in time to attend the G20 summit's dinner for finance ministers and central bank governors slated for Friday. But Air India 'mistakenly' took off the checked-in luggage of Sydney-bound Nirmala Sitharaman, Union minister of state for commerce, in Melbourne. With her saris and formal clothes, among other things, in those missing bags, the eloquent Sitharaman — known for her fine sartorial taste — spent Friday evening in her hotel as she did not have a dress for the occasion!
Sitharaman boarded AI 302, Delhi-Melbourne-Sydney, on Thursday afternoon from here. She was supposed to take a connecting flight from Sydney to Cairns, where the G20 summit is taking place to represent India.
On landing in Sydney on Friday morning, the BJP leader discovered to her horror that her checked-in bags had gone missing. "Landed in Sydney to take a connecting flight to Cairns. My checked in luggage not traceable. :( :(... On board my connecting flight to Cairns. All my formal wear in the lost suitcase! Not sure I can buy Saris in Cairns! Situation precarious!... Hopefully, you (AI) will get it in time for me," she said in a series of tweets.

Air India officials danced as a flight waited to take off

Mumbai: A video of a group of Air India staffers partying when they should have been attending to a London-Delhi flight on an unscheduled stopover in the city, allegedly causing it to be delayed by three hours, has stirred trouble for officials in the upper echelons of management. The 1.04 minute video, which contains footage of over two dozen staffers dancing to Bollywood songs at a senior executive's promotion party in December, went viral on Thursday, with airline staffers quickly circulating it among themselves.

Goa expects to cross 1,000 chartered flight arrival this year

Panaji: Goa tourism department is anticipating a 30 per cent rise in arrival of chartered flights during the upcoming tourist season, crossing 1,000 mark.

"Due to the ongoing Ukraine-Russia crisis, there are talks of some tour operators going bankrupt. But it is not going to seriously affect tourist inflow in Goa," State Tourism Director Amey Abhyankar, told PTI today.

He said they are expecting 1,200 chartered flight arrivals this year against last year's 900.

Air Costa partners with TripFactory to provide hotel & holiday bookings online

Mumbai: Air Costa, a new entrant in the Indian aviation industry, has partnered with TripFactory.com, the online travel store that provides advice to travellers and helps them find the best price, comfort and recommendations for trips with direct prices from travel suppliers, stated a release. With this partnership, travellers can book holiday packages with hotels of their choice while booking their flights with Air Costa in aircosta.tripfactory.com. Air Costa’s corporate guests can also avail this facility for a quick stopover during their business trips.

Commenting about the launch, Captain K N Babu, CEO, Air Costa, said, “The new portal presents a unique offering to our growing customer base with excellent choices of trip packages at best prices coming directly from experts themselves.”

Jet wheel gets stuck in runway crater at Kolkata airport

Kolkata: Two incidents in a span of 30 minutes affected operations of three flights at Kolkata airport on Friday morning.

In the first incident, a GoAir flight bound for Bagdogra was taxiing for takeoff around 11.15 am when it got stranded after one of its rear wheels got stuck in a crater. Sources said patch repairs that had earlier been carried out on the taxi track had given way, leaving a crater that caught the GoAir plane.
After the flight captain contacted the ATC, the controller alerted the airline which then sent a pushback tractor to tow the aircraft back to the parking bay. After the plane was retrieved, engineers inspected the aircraft before certifying it fit to fly. Following the DGCA nod, the flight took off for Bagdogra an hour later.

High air fares to make festive flying cost a bomb

Lucknow: Planning to fly out of Lucknow during the festive season? Get ready to pay through your nose as private airlines jack-up air fares considering the rush for bookings by the month-end. The air fares, in fact, jump twofold from October 1, a day before Gandhi Jayanti and Dusshera on consecutive days.

DGCA cancels over 150 'irrelevant' regulations, weeds out 4,700 files

New Delhi: In a major overhaul of safety and technical rules, aviation regulator DGCA has cancelled over 150 "irrelevant" regulations, circulars and forms to simplify procedures and weeded out over 4,700 old files.
"The process was undertaken over the past few weeks to remove and delete irrelevant circulars and simplify application and other forms of various kinds," a DGCA official told PTI here.
In several forms, "redundant information was being sought which had no relevance with the particular approvals," the official said, adding that the move has not only reduced paperwork and significantly abridged several forms, but also simplified them.
"A total of 9,330 files were reviewed over the past few weeks and 4,755 of them weeded out," he said.

What's Different About SpiceJet on Weekends

Have you noticed anything different while flying SpiceJet over the weekend? If no, then a closer look at the cabin crew would make you realise they are not in their usual uniforms.

The SpiceJet cabin crew has a weekend uniform, the only Indian carrier to have separate attire for weekends. While the female crew wear colourful kurtis and jeans, the male cabin staff wear polo t-shirts with denims, from Friday to Sunday.

"SpiceJet's new approach includes creating much warmer, friendlier, more natural ambience for its customers on board the aircraft.The weekend uniform was a natural extension of this philosophy. We also felt that it would appeal to corporates who are increasingly into casual dressing on Fridays, it would improve their moods and make them more relaxed cheerful on Fridays and weekend flights," SpiceJet chief operating oficer Sanjiv Kapoor said.

Air Seychelles to operate direct flights to Mumbai

Mumbai: Air Seychelles, in which gulf carrier Etihad holds 40 per cent stake, announced here today that it will launch direct flight services to Mumbai from December, making its foray into the Indian aviation space.

The Seychelles national carrier will operate three flights a week on the Seychelles-Mumbai route from December 2, subject to regulatory clearances, the airline said in a release.

AirAsia offers 20 per cent discounts

Chennai: : Budget air-carrier AirAsia has began its three day travel fair, offering 20 per cent discounts on flights across the airline's network.
The fair, which began today at the Express Avenue Mall in city, was in association with Tourism Malaysia and MakeMyTrip.com. Visitors would be able to get 20 per cent discounts on flights across AirAsia network, a company statement said.

UCO Bank weighing options to send notice to Kingfisher Airlines

Kolkata:  State-owned UCO Bank today said that it was mulling options of sending wilful defaulter notice to debt-ridden Vijay Mallya-owned Kingfisher Airlines, which is now grounded.

Hunt for missing Malaysia plane to resume

Sydney: Crews will resume the underwater hunt for missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 at the end of the month, and will begin the search in an area farther south than initially planned, a senior search official said on Friday.

The search had been due to start next week, but the first of three ships that will scour a remote patch of the Indian Ocean for the plane that vanished in March needed to undergo some additional work in Indonesia, Australian Transport Safety Bureau Chief Commissioner Martin Dolan said.

The ship, Malaysia's GO Phoenix, is now expected to begin searching on September 30.

Upbeat on India, will invest more: British Airways

One of India’s oldest foreign airline, British Airways which completed 90 years yesterday, is celebrating this in style. The airline has launched a special offer for Mumbaikars planning to travel to London. The company is offering an incredible discount of up to 90 percent on return tickets from Mumbai to London, starting at just Rs 40,252 for trips between 1st to 31st October. In an exclusive chat with CNBC-TV 18's Aastha Maheshwari, Christopher Fordyce, Regional Commercial Manager, British Airways, South Asia said that he is upbeat about growth in India.

Bihar CM proposes airstrip near Nalanda University

Rajgir: CM Jitan Ram Manjhi, while addressing the formal inaugural ceremony of the revived Nalanda University (NU) proposed to build an airstrip near the varsity at Rajgir or Nalanda so that foreign students, faculty members and dignitaries could reach the university, which is situated about 100km from Patna, easily.

The CM sought the Union government's help in setting up the aerodrome. "I am sure the Narendra Modi-led government and the civil aviation ministry will help in Bihar's development," Manjhi said, adding "The state government has already identified about 1,500 acres of land near Rajgir for the airstrip and needs the go- ahead from the Centre."

Dasara air show may make a comeback

Mysore: The Dasara Festival Committee is optimistic of bringing back Dasara Air Show, one of the biggest attractions of the festivities here since its launch about ten years ago, this year with the State Government directly pursuing its request to the Ministry of Defence for holding the show in Mysore.

Disclosing this to The Hindu, Deputy Commissioner C Shikha, who is the Dasara Special Officer, said, “We have been communicated that the performance of Sarang helicopter display team is unlikely for certain reasons but Akash Ganga, the sky-diving team of the Indian Air Force, may perform.”

Regional flights plan runs into rough weather

Indian domestic airlines have voiced opposition to a Ministry of Civil Aviation draft policy on regional and remote connectivity, that permits non-scheduled (charter) companies to fly regular service to 87 remote destinations under code-share arrangements with scheduled carriers.

"Under India's route dispersal guidelines, domestic airlines must to fly 10% of their capacity to identified underserved areas. The government has declared a list of incentive destinations after holding meetings with DGCA and AAI officials," civil aviation secretary V Somasundaran said.

Jet Airways to launch full services on all-economy subsidiary JetKonnect

New Delhi: In a bid to take on competition from Tata-SIA's Vistara airline which is yet to start operations, Jet AirwaysBSE 3.13 % today announced launch of full services even on its all-economy subsidiary JetKonnect from December and plans to consolidate into a single-brand.

Full service product with complementary meal service would be provided on all domestic flights from December one, with the buy-on-board concept being discontinued, an airline statement said.
The announcement was in line with its recent announcement of a uniform 'single brand', with Jet Airways commencing streamlining and aligning its domestic operations into "a single full service product to provide an enhanced and consistent product experience," the statement said.

Jet Airways Launches Fifth Daily Service Between Dubai And Mumbai

Indian carrier Jet Airways has announced the launch of its fifth new daily service between Dubai and Mumbai.

Jet, in which Abu Dhabi’s Etihad Airways recently bought a 24 per cent stake, said that it plans to commence operations on the new service from October 14, 2014.

The airline will deploy its next – generation Boeing 737-800 aircraft on the route, offering twin class configuration of premiere and economy class, it said in a statement.

With GMR out, Chinese firm bags Male airport deal

Beijing: A Chinese firm has bagged a deal for upgrading the international airport in Male, the capital of Maldives, after President Xi Jinping visited the island nation on Monday. The Maldives government had earlier given the $511 million contract to an Indian company, GMR Infrastructure, and cancelled it two years ago over user charges. The deal has now gone to Beijing Urban Construction Group Company Ltd.

British Airways gives massive discount on Mumbai-London ticket

New Delhi: British Airways announced a flash one-day sale today, offering massive discount of up to 90 per cent on return tickets between Mumbai and London to commemorate nine decades of its India operations.

Under the offer, the lowest-priced Mumbai-London return ticket would start at Rs 40,252 for economy travel from October 1-31, this year, the airline said in a statement.

"We, at British Airways, are pleased to introduce this once-in-a-lifetime offer for our customers from Mumbai as part of our 90 years' anniversary celebration in the market," Christopher Fordyce, BA's Regional Commercial Manager (South Asia), told PTI from Mumbai.

Maran’s SpiceJet Shrinks to Grow

SpiceJet Ltd., the Indian budget airline that’s posted four straight quarterly losses, seeks to lower costs by flying fewer and newer aircraft in a bid to return to profit amid intensifying competition from AirAsia Bhd.

The airline returned two 14-year-old aircraft to lessors three weeks ago, and will consider removing other older planes to improve fleet efficiency and cut fuel cost, Chief Operating Officer Sanjiv Kapoor said in an interview.

SpiceJet, majority owned by billionaire Kalanithi Maran, has this year offered fares as low as $8 to fill seats that would have otherwise gone empty, boosting its own occupancy and forcing competitors to follow suit. The budget carrier is shrinking the size of its fleet and workforce to lower costs in one of the world’s most expensive markets for airlines.

Jet Airways to come up with ‘better’ offer for JetLite pilots

Mumbai: Naresh Goyal-led Jet Airways, which had in August offered pilots at its soon-to-be-ceased subsidiary, JetLite, an opportunity to join the parent airline, has taken back the offer seeking more time to come back with a better deal after JetLite pilots raised grave concerns with the management, two people familiar with the development said. None of them wanted to be identified.
On August 19, Jet Airways had issued an internal memo telling JetLite pilots that they would have to resign from their current jobs and apply afresh for a position with Jet Airways, on the condition that their previous flying experience would hold no value.

Jet expands foreign base, adds new Gulf routes

Mumbai: In its schedule for the coming winter season, Jet Airways is expanding its international services, with new flights to Dubai, Doha and Abu Dhabi. The airline feels increasing foreign operations will boost foreign exchange earnings and offset rupee’s depreciation.

New services have been planned to Dubai from Kochi and Mumbai; Doha from Mumbai, Kozhikode and Thiruvanthapuram; and Abu Dhabi from Ahmedabad, Lucknow and Goa.

Air traffic management an 'urgent issue' in metros, says Maharashtra Governor

Mumbai: Air traffic management is an "urgent issue" in the metros due to economic growth and the challenge is to be efficient while ensuring safety, Maharashtra Governor C Vidyasagar Rao said today.

"The challenge is to cope with increasing traffic, increasing connectivity and the need to attain higher level of efficiency along with enhanced safety," said Rao, who was sworn in as the Governor of the state last month.

Emirates Airline will not invest in Indian domestic passenger carriers

Emirates Airline has said that it will not invest in any of the Indian domestic passenger carriers and that it will grow its operational organically in India, report The Hindu.
Essa Sulaiman Ahmad, vice president, India and Nepal for Emirates said: “We at Emirates believe in growing our business organically. Adding that there are no plans to invest in any of the Indian passenger carriers by the Dubai-based airline.

Vijay Mallya summoned by court

Bulandshehr: Kingfisher Airlines Chairman-cum-Managing Director Vijay Mallya has been summoned by a court here on a pilot's petition alleging that the company was withholding his payment dues. Finding Mallya "prima-facie" guilty of fraud and criminal breach of trust (under section 420 and 406 of IPC), Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate Umakant Jindal has summoned him along with company Vice Chairman Roopi Arya.

How airport crooks take off with your stuff

Everyone knows how busy airports are, but it's this chaos that thieves take full advantage of. Here are the six areas in an airport you are likeliest to lose your luggage, going by what the cops tell us

When most people think of safety at the air port, they are so caught up in the ideas of plane hijackings that they forget the luggage that's right beside them. And that's what makes the situation ideal for airport thieves to strike. A recent report states that in the last few years, there has been a sharp rise in cases of baggage theft at IGI Airport. MI Haider, deputy commissioner of police, IGI Airport, says, "From January to August, we have reported 40 cases of baggage theft. These thefts have mostly happened at the screening area, conveyor belts and after you have checked-in your baggage (the baggage management area)." The CISF , which is responsible for security at the airport, pointed out other places where cases of thefts happen regularly . DT breaks down the areas during the check-in procedure where your luggage is the most vulnerable, and when you need to keep a sharper eye on it.
Upon reaching the airport, you're busy clinging on to the memories of the city you're leaving, but it's best to cling on to your luggage as well, because it's while you're saying goodbye to your loved ones or paying the taxi that thefts can occur.

IndiGo Signs $2.6 bn Deal with China Bank

Bangalore: ow cost carrier, IndiGo Airlines has signed a $2.6 billion deal with China-based commercial lender ICBC (Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Ltd) for finance of over 30 new aircraft.

IndiGo is the only profit-making carrier in the scheduled list of Indian carriers. The announcement coincides  with Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to India where both countries are looking to increase cooperation in areas of business and politics.

According to reports, China is willing to invest almost $100 billion in India to contribute to its development. Jinping is leading a 100-member business delegation.

Air India suspends pilot, ten cabin crew members for indiscipline

New Delhi:  Taking its crew to task for lack of discipline, Air India today suspended a pilot and ten cabin crew members for delaying some recent flights, including an international service, by not reporting for duty on time.

The suspensions were carried out after repeated complaints of various nature, including careless handling of passengers or flight delays caused by delayed arrival of crew members, Air India officials said.
The suspension orders were issued this afternoon after carrying out inquiries into each case of indiscipline, they told PTI here.

Jet Airlines seeks more time to pay pilots' salary arrears

Mumbai: Jet Airways management assured its pilots of legal help today to deal with DGCA notices to them, even as it sought more time to pay salary arrears worth Rs 100 crore, sources said here today.

The assurance to pilots came after a meeting between the two sides at the airline's headquarters here today, airline sources told PTI today evening.

"At the meeting, we requested the management to support us on various notices served to our colleagues by the aviation regulator. The management responded positively to our request," sources said.

Air Costa connects Vizag. to Vijayawada

Air Costa has announced the launch of its new services from Visakhapatnam to Tirupati and Vijayawada and also a second daily flight from Vizag to Hyderabad via Vijayawada with effect from September 24.

The Visakhapatnam – Tirupati flight will leave Visakhapatnam at 2 p.m. and reach Tirupati at 3.15 p.m. In the return direction, the flight will leave Tirupati at 3.40 p.m. and arrive in Visakhapatnam at 4.55 p.m.

The Visakhapatnam – Vijayawada flight will take off from Visakhapatnam at 5.15 p.m. and reach Vijayawada at 6.05 p.m. Another flight will leave Vijayawada at 12.45 p.m. and reach Visakhapatnam at 1.35 p.m.

Close shave for Spicejet passengers on Delhi-Mumbai flight

New Delhi: It was a close shave for 175 passengers on Tuesday morning when the Spicejet flight in which they were travelling developed a technical snag due to a loose screw in its engine.

The DGCA has withdrawn the authorization power of the aircraft maintenance engineer who certified the repairs
The DGCA has withdrawn the authorization power of the aircraft maintenance engineer who certified the repairs

The flight SG 451 was on destination Mumbai when one of its engines failed immediately after the take-off and before anything untoward could occur, it was returned and made to land safely at the Delhi airport on single engine.

GMR surprised with decision to give airport development to Chinese firm

Indian infrastructure company GMR has told media of its surprise that the development of Ibrahim Nasir International Airport (INIA) has been given to a Chinese firm.

“Sources in the GMR expressed surprise at the move by the Maldives government as it has entered in a new contract for construction work at airport without paying damages as suggested by the tribunal,” wrote the Economic Times today.

The preliminary contract agreement for the development of the airport was one of eight MoUs signed between the Chinese and Maldivian governments during the recent presidential visit by the Chinese President Xi Jinpeng.

Civil aviation ministry's second airport policy review may change IGIA fate

The civil aviation ministry is conducting a review of the policy that bars a second airport within a distance of 150 km, the scrapping of which could have a dramatic effect on Delhi airport as construction of another facility in its neighbourhood, say in Greater Noida, could divert significant amount of traffic.
"This 150 km clause is regressive and would crop up as a hurdle for the growth of nofrills airports in the country and harm our plans to improve regional connectivity. Internal discussions on the same have begun with an aim to do away with it," said a senior ministry official who did not want to be identified.

Jet Airways, Qatar Airways offer steep discounts on business class

Mumbai: The price war in the skies has spread to the business class. Jet Airways and Qatar Airways are offering huge discounts in a desperate bid to take on Emirates and Singapore Airlines whose recently started A380 flights are scooping passengers in big chunks. Jet Airways is offering all-inclusive one-way business class fares to London at just Rs 28,382 from Delhi and Rs 27,727 from Mumbai, which are just onefourth of usual business class fares and almost half of regular economy fares.
The offer is effective for bookings between September 16 to 18 for travel between October 16, 2014 and July 31, 2015. Under the same offer, one can fly to Singapore in business class at just Rs 18,672 from Delhi and Rs 18,282 from Mumbai, about one-third of normal fares. Jet, however, clarified that none of these fares are valid on flights that operate via its new international hub Abu Dhabi. The airline made Abu Dhabi its global hub after selling 24 per cent stake to Etihad last year.

2015 New Year Sale: SpiceJet Offers Tickets for Rs 699

As a part of the 2015 New Year celebrations, SpiceJet has come up with another three day sale starting on Tuesday with domestic flight fares as low as Rs 699,
The "Early New Year Sale" as the airline calls it, is applicable for one way travels between 16 January 2015 to 24 October 2015 and the sale offer will be available till 18 September 2014 midnight. The bookings are limited and are available on a first come first serve basis.

Daily discount schemes a hit: SpiceJet fills more seats than any other airline in August

New Delhi: The almost-daily fare discount schemes and an improved cabins seem to be working for SpiceJet, at least in terms of aircraft loads. For the third month in a row, SpiceJet has managed to fill more seats on its aircraft than any other domestic airline with August load factor at 82.5 percent. This means it managed to fill almost 8 in 10 seats.

Indian Airlines Oppose Regional Connectivity Plan

Indian domestic airlines have voiced opposition to a Ministry of Civil Aviation (MOCA) draft policy on regional and remote connectivity that permits nonscheduled (charter) companies to fly regular service to remote destinations under code-share arrangements with scheduled carriers. Under India’s Route Dispersal Guidelines, domestic airlines must to fly 10 percent of their capacity to identified underserved areas.

In a meeting called by MOCA to debate the draft policy, airlines plan to suggest establishing a regional connectivity fund in line with international practice. The plan would involve charging every passenger a fee, used for subsidizing airline operations for flights to 87 destinations mentioned under the guidelines clause.

Vinod Rai's new book highlights deep mess in Boeing 777 sale

New Delhi: Former Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) Vinod Rai has referred to two stories broken by Mail Today in April to highlight the deep mess in the aviation sector in his controversial book The Diary of the Nation's Conscience Keeper-Not Just an Accountant.

The book refers to the Mail Today stories about Air India's (AI) Boeing 777s that were purchased for a staggering Rs 1,300 crore apiece and expected to serve the national carrier for 25 years. However, they were sold at a dirt-cheap price in a distress sale to Etihad Airways just five years later.

Opening the Pandora’s Box- What Went Wrong with Air India?

The explosive revelations by Vinod Rai, former head of CAG, on Air India's expensive acquisition of aircrafts, has once again opened a Pandora's box and revealed two distinct things. In the first place, it revealed how in the name of policy decisions, some of the most blatant and bizarre decisions were taken which were not in the interest of the nation but invariably they were in the interest of some vested interests. Secondly it also revealed why organizations like CAG need more of enforcement power to correct the anomalies.
What Really Happened with Air India?
However those who thought that the buck with UPA stopped with only the Coal Block allocation scam and the 2G scam, the saga of how the then Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel literally forced the Air India Board to increase the size of the order for new planes from 28 to a whopping 68 planes at a total cost of Rs 50,000 crore, proved that more surprises are awaiting with respect to suspicious cases of wrong doings during UPA regime. The Air India deal for 68 aircrafts was financed with a back breaking 97% debt proportion, good enough to make a company perpetually bankrupt and mired in debts.
This decision was taken during UPA-1 regime. Not only Air India was made to buy 40 more planes than its original requirement for 28 planes, in the same time Indian Airlines, later named as Indian was also buying 43 aircrafts. While Air India was buying from Boeing, the Indian orders were for Airbus.
Did it help Air India to go for such deals with 97% debt?
In other words, the two state owned carriers were together made to buy 111 aircrafts and then they were merged into one entity thereby creating duplicity of fleet. The merger of Indian and Air India was not just ill conceived but was done in haste without any proper revival plan for the national carriers in place. Today the combined entity named Air India Limited which runs Air India, is in a mess and is one of the worst performing PSUs of the country.
While the former Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel has been trying to justify his act by stating that it was a collective policy decision, the biggest question that remains unanswered is what kind of a policy decision would allow a company to buy aircrafts which are not needed and that too with a 97% debt component? The Air India deal for huge number of aircrafts certainly, it seems, ended up benefitting many but not Air India.

Systems failure in Air India

What do some senior bureaucrats do when they hang up their boots? Like Vinod Rai, former Comptroller and Auditor General, they assign to themselves the task of pointing out the warts in a system they lived with for decades. (Whether they should have done so earlier, or rather, been permitted by the system to do so while in service, is a moot point.)

In his book, Not Just An Accountant, he talks about how one-time aviation minister Praful Patel “nudged” Air India to take a decision to acquire aircraft.

Rai is certainly not the first to point to shenanigans in the workings of this airline. Jitendra Bhargava, who spent close to 30 years in Air India, has also alluded to interference by various government functionaries in the Maharaja’s functioning.

Airport privatisation: Govt seeks more views

New Delhi: Minister for Civil Aviation Ashok Gajapati Raju has directed fresh consultations with state and central government organisations, airport and airline operators, passenger associations and travel operators before finalising the model concession agreement (MCA) for the construction and operations of airports in the country on a public-private partnership (PPP) basis. In a letter dated September 11, the minister’s office said, “With regard to the Concessionaire Agreement concerning PPP, for construction/operation of airports in the country, which may be entered in the future, the HMCA desires that a broad based consultation should be held with the following – relevant states and central government organisations/agencies, airport developers/operators, airline operators, representatives of passengers’ associations, representatives of travel operators.”

Aviation minister to meet airline CEOs to re-look at two major regulations in the sector

Mumbai: The Narendra Modi government is all set to change or at least, question two major regulations in the aviation sector.

First, the rule that no second airport can come up within 150 kms of an existing airport. If media reports are to be believed, this number could be reduced to 100 kms. The only exception to this is the Navi Mumbai Airport that was sanctioned by the UPA government.

KFA Default Delays Startups' Aircraft Purchase Plan

Bangalore: Startup carriers are having tough time getting aircraft from leasing companies in view of the default in payment by grounded Kingfisher Airlines of Vijay Mallaya.

Air Pegasus, a Bangalore-based airline, has been trying to get 3 ATR 72/500 aircraft to begin operations in South India for over eight months now.

“The delay is not because of us or DGCA, it is because of KfA,” Shyson Thomas, Managing Director and CEO of Air Pegasus, told Express. The airline had planned to start services by March next year.

Air India to axe more loss-making routes

New Delhi: State-owned Air India (AI) aims to substantially cut the number of routes not meeting variable costs, to reduce these to 19 per cent of its overall network by the end of the current financial year.

The carrier, which operates about 480 daily flights in the international and domestic sectors, had brought down the number of routes not meeting variable costs to 38 per cent of its network by the end of 2013-14, from 60 per cent.

Lenders, tax sleuths vie for first right of recovery from Vijay Mallya

Mumbai: Consortium of fourteen banks has challenged revenue dept's attachment notice before Karnataka HC A consortium of 14 banks fighting to recover money they have lent to Vijay Mallya-promoted Kingfisher Airlines has challenged an attachment notice the service tax department issued against the liquor baron in the Karnataka High Court to recover tax dues. Now it's for the court to decide the first right of recovery between secured lenders and sovereign dues.
The revenue department, a couple of months ago, claimed the first right to recover dues by attaching the Kingfisher House in Mumbai, six aircraft and two helicopters, besides freezing bank accounts of the defunct airline.

Global carriers announce massive discounts in India; Tigerair offers Rs 10 base fare to Singapore

New Delhi: Initiating a fare war on global routes, Qatar Airways and Singaporean budget carrier Tigerair today announced massive limited-period discounts hoping to corner a chunk of the Indian travel market share.

While Tigerair announced a special one-way base fare of Rs 10 only to Singapore for Indian passengers to commemorate completion of decade-long operations, Qatar Airways launched a global promotional offer of up to 25 per cent savings on its tickets to over 140 destinations across the world.
Tigerair's Rs 10 one-way fare offer to Singapore would be applicable only on round trip tickets from India, under which the fare could be as low as Rs 7,499 including taxes, the airline said in a statement here.

SpiceJet tops flight occupancy figures for the third straight month in August

Mumbai: Low fare carrier SpiceJet topped flight occupancy figures in the industry for the third straight month in August, although it ceded second position to Jet Airways after ousting it in July.

The carrier managed on average to fill 82.5% of its flights during the month, according to figures from DGCA. In comparison, market leader IndiGo just managed to fill 74.8% of its flights.

Lufthansa A380 loses to Emirates at Mumbai again

Just what is going on at Mumbai airport? I ask because, yet again, Lufthansa appears to have lost out in its bid to launch A380 service to this major Indian city.

As we reported recently, Lufthansa was intending to launch A380 flights to Mumbai from the start of the winter timetable on October 26.

At the same time, Emirates would "downgrade" its existing A380 service to a more modest B777-300ER.

But in a change of tack, Mumbai appears to have reversed its decison. Emirates will now continue its daily A380 flight throughout the winter while Lufthansa will still operate its B747-400 on the route, reports the Times of India. When Business Traveller checked both airlines’ schedules we found the latter had been revised.

Revealed: The best time to buy airline tickets!

A new travel study has claimed that weekends are the best time to purchase airline tickets.
 Steven Puller, an associate professor of economics at Texas A and M who specializes in industrial organization, "there's been this industry folk wisdom that says Tuesdays and Wednesdays are the best days to purchase airline tickets, but we couldn't find any systematic analysis to back that up,” claims the report.

Was MH370 plane crash actually suicide by pilot?

London: The pilot of the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 killed himself and passengers by switching off oxygen supply in what is the sixth example of such a suicide, an aviation expert has suggested.

Ewan Wilson, head of Kiwi Airlines, believes Zaharie Ahmad Shah planned mass murder — locking his co-pilot out of the cockpit, depressurising the cabin and shutting down all communication links before turning the plane around, Daily Mail reported Monday.

Having examined all other possibilities, Wilson insists that Shah, 53, is responsible for the deaths of the 227 passengers and 12 crew members on board the doomed Malaysian Airlines flight, which disappeared on March 8.

Seaplane service: Sai devotees to reach Shirdi temple in just 45 minutes from Mumbai

New Delhi:  Devotees can't stay back when their beloved himself wants them to pay a visit. This holds true for the devotees and followers  of Sai Baba.
By Sai's grace, devotees can now  travel to Shirdi within few minutes from Mumbai. Now, devotees can take Baba's blessing and take Nasik's Shani Shinglapur darshan in mere 45 minutes.
This 45 minutes travel between devotees and Baba has become possible with the help of a sea plane. This sea plane not only flies high in the sky and runs on  the ground but it also dives deep in the sea.
It's great news for baba's devotees. At one moment the devotees would be in there home planning their trip and in next 45 minutes they would be taking baba's blessings.

GMR to set up aerospace training centre; to follow Moroccan model

Hyderabad: The GMR group is planning to set up an aerospace training centre in Hyderabad on the lines of the one established by Morocco.

With the help of French multi-national firm Safran, the group has sent a team to the African country to study the model adopted by it. It has sought the help of Telangana Government in this regard.

P S Nair, Chief Executive Officer (Corporate – Airport Sector), who is a member of the team, has said that the company would like to play a leading role in setting up the training institute. He said that it would approach the Government to seek its assistance in establishing the institute.

No more drunk diving for parachutists: DGCA

Mumbai: Concerned about the risks associated with skydiving and the lack of a regulatory mechanism to prevent fatalities resulting from improper safety measures and reckless behaviour, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has formulated guidelines for adventure sports enthusiasts signing up to take the plunge. The governing body has made it mandatory for skydivers and parachutists to be affiliated with organisations approved by the DGCA and follow a prescribed safety protocol.

Odisha Govt bid to start flight service from Rourkela

Rourkela/Bhubaneswar:  To resume regular flight service from Rourkela airstrip, the state government on Monday asked the Rourkela Steel Plant (RSP) officials to submit a fresh proposal, official sources said. RSP is the custodian of the airstrip in the Steel City.

Chief secretary Gokul Chandra Pati chaired a meeting in Bhubaneswar in this regard. Representatives from the Airports Authority of India, director of Biju Patnaik International Airport, Bhubaneswar, RSP, Sundargarh district administration and members of Rourkela Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Rattended it. Increasing the length of runway of the airstrip was discussed. The existing runway is 6,000 feet.

SilkAir adds supplementary flights from Bangalore to Singapore

Bangalore: SilkAir, the regional full-service carrier of Singapore Airlines, today said it would operate with variable frequency from Bangaore to Singapore upto five times weekly from December 14, 2014 to January 18, 2015.

Apart from flying on select weekdays, the airline will also fly on Sundays to match the anticipated travel demand, a press release from Silk Air said.

Air France flights to Bangalore, Delhi, Mumbai cancelled on account of strike

New Delhi: Air France flights from Bangalore, Delhi and Mumbai to Paris were cancelled on Monday and could be affected till September 22 following a strike call given by several of the airline's pilots' unions.

The strike has been called to protest the airline decision to shift jobs and operations to low-cost carriers so that the airline is in a better position to face competition. On the first day of the strike, the airline said it expects to operate 48 per cent of its flights.
Read news in full 15/09/14 Business Line