Air India to order 35 wide-body jets

India's flag carrier Air India will place firm orders for up to 35 wide-bodied aircraft in addition to the 68 Boeing 777s and 787s ordered last year, a top official said. "We are currently in the middle of a fleet restructuring plan, which has identified the need for additional capacity," V. Thulasidas, Air India's chairman and managing director, said on the sidelines of a Boeing media briefing on the 787 Dreamliner rollout programme. "We believe we will require an additional 30-35 wide-bodied aircraft and some more single-aisle aircraft for the low-cost brand." He said the additional fleet will be required within three to five years as India's aviation industry is growing very fast.

Also, Air India is set to launch a number of services to the US, with Mumbai-New York flights scheduled to start on August 1, he added. "Following our open skies agreement with the United States, we are now planning to start more flights to the US," he said. "Following the Mumbai-JFK flights on August 1, we are planning to start New Delhi-New York, Mumbai-Chicago and Bangalore-San Francisco flights, pending new aircraft deliveries. India's domestic aviation market is growing 40 per cent annually and international traffic through India surged 15 per cent last year, combining to make it the world's fastest growing aviation market.

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Air Deccan enhances seat capacity

Low cost airliner Air Deccan on Friday announced enhancement of its seat capacity for southern travellers to meet the growing demand. The airline in a release said it had replaced its 72 seater ATR 72 with a brand new 180 seater Air Bus 320 on its existing Chennai-Madurai and Chennai Coimbatore sectors. It has also introduced an additional ATR 72 flight from Chennai to Thiruvananthapuram in the evening making it convenient for business travellers seeking day return flights. Air Deccan has on offer more than 2.5 lakh seats per month in South India alone and leads the market with 40 per cent share in terms of seats offered in the region.

Air Deccan CEO, Ramki Sundaram said, "Air Deccan has led the low cost revolution in India, which has resulted in remarkable growth not only in leisure but business travel as well. With time being a premium, corporate travellers to small businessmen and SMEs have all switched from trains to low cost air travel." Cities of the past like Trivandrum, Madurai and Coimbatore are becoming cities of the future. They are developing into modern cities with big IT and corporate companies setting up infrastructure. Our flights, at affordable fares, are being sought after by leisure as well as business travellers on these routes, he added.

He said Air Deccan offered the largest seat inventory among all airlines in the south connecting as many as 19 destinations."Our constant thrust is on providing the best connectivity across India, coupled with on-time and reliable performance. We fly close to 3,000 flights a month within south and in June 2007 more than 2,800 flights were on-time within one hour and approximately 2,500 flights were on-time within 15 minutes" he informed.

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Japan's JAL to fly daily to New Delhi

Japan Airlines will start flying daily between Tokyo and New Delhi to meet strong business demand, the airline said Friday. JAL currently operates four flights per week on the route, offering business and economy class cabins, the airline said. "As business passenger demand on this route has been particularly strong, JAL has decided to increase flight frequently further," it said in a statement. The daily service will start from October 28, it said. Japan has been trying to build closer political and economic relations with India, in part to counter frequent rifts with China, although Japan's trade with China still far surpasses its investment in South Asia. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will visit India next month along with a commercial delegation headed by Fujio Mitarai, chairman of the influential Japan Business Federation. Trade Minister Akira Amari recently visited India and announced an initiative to help develop the South Asian country's infrastructure.

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Private Indian carriers may soon launch GCC flights

The lifting of a moratorium on certain Indian airlines from flying abroad could bring a flood of new carriers serving the Gulf. The government’s three-year policy of insulating the foreign routes of Air India and Indian Airlines from its domestic competitors ends in January 2008, according to Gaurang Shetty, vice-president of marketing at Jet Airways, one of India’s largest airlines. When that happens, Jet and Kingfisher Airlines will both launch routes to Dubai, Muscat, and other Gulf cities, according to executives from both companies. The new competition will be felt by the incumbent airlines from India and the UAE alike, raising questions of whether the market is big enough for new players.

"We have plans to operate in the Gulf if the [Indian] government gives us permission," said Shetty, during an aviation conference in Vancouver on Monday. “We’re very keen to go to markets such as the UAE and Saudi Arabia, as there are a couple of million migrant workers from India in the Middle East right now.” Jet, which operates more than 340 flights to destinations in India as well as Colombo, Bangkok, Kathmandu, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur and London, will allocate A330 aircraft for the new routes, Shetty said. The marketing vice-president said it was too early to name a launch date. “It all depends on when we get the clearances.” Kingfisher, which recently acquired Air Deccan, will transfer around 10 Airbus A320 and A321 aircraft to fly to Gulf states as early as January, according to Sudhan Thomas, a regional director at Kingfisher.

Kingfisher’s current fleet of 71 planes, post-merger, serves a network of 69 cities in India. Dubai and Muscat would be top priorities for Kingfisher, followed by Abu Dhabi, Thomas said. “We will know in the next couple of months. Now that the policy looks to be changing, we’ll start to work on this more closely.” VK Verma, commercial director at Air India, said his airline already had an extensive network in the Gulf, and welcomed the entry of at least two competitors in the next year. Like several other Indian carriers, Air India is in consolidation phase, and will merge with Indian Airlines by year-end. “This is a massive market, and there’s plenty of room for new competition,” Verma said.

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Air India to fly to New York non-stop from Mumbai

Air India will introduce a daily, non-stop flight from New York's JFK International Airport to Mumbai from August 1. These new, non-stop flights are in addition to Air India's daily 747-400 direct service from New York to India via London, and from Newark to India via Paris. In its bid to meet the increasing demand from passengers wanting to travel to India for business or tourism, India's flagship carrier plans to introduce brand new, state-of-the-art 777-LR aircraft, equipped with the latest in-flight features and on-demand audio and video entertainment for all seats.

An Air India communiqu� said that the airline's Flight 140 will depart daily at 9:30 p.m. from JFK International Airport, while Flight 141 will depart Mumbai at 12:45 a.m., arriving at JFK at 7:10 AM the same day. The airline also said that for travellers continuing beyond Mumbai, it offers gate-to-gate connecting service from the same international terminal to Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad, etc. Travellers can check in their luggage all the way through from JFK to their final Air India destination, where they clear customs and immigration.

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Air Deccan to provide free water on flights

Low-cost carrier Air Deccan will now provide Kingfisher bottled water on all its flights. There were requests from passengers for complimentary mineral water on board which the airline was not able to provide due to costs involved. "Now we've worked out a deal with the UB group for supply of Kingfisher bottled water from July 7," said a spokesperson for Air Deccan. "We'll get enhanced customer satisfaction by providing complimentary water and the UB group will get branding and increased visibility for the Kingfisher bottled water brand". Financially-strapped Air Deccan had sold 26 per cent stake for Rs 550 crore to the UB Group company Kingfisher Airlines on May 31. Put together, the Kingfisher-Air Deccan combine will have the largest fleet, route network and market share in the country.

Both companies have 71 aircraft including 41 Airbus and 30 ATRs, 70 destinations and 33 per cent market share. The combined operations will eventually cover all segments of air travel from low fares to premium fares and offer up to 537 daily flights connecting 69 cities across the country. "We will continue to look at other such innovative ancillary opportunities which will lower costs and enhance customer satisfaction while retaining our low-cost edge," said the spokesperson for Air Deccan. But Mr Vijay Mallya has said clearly that the days of zero or cheap fares are over and an airline must cover all costs before fixing the tariff. Air Deccan's managing director G R Gopinath has also indicated that air fares may go up by Rs 600 to 1,000 in coming weeks.

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Lufthansa, Jet may ink deal for B777 support

Lufthansa Technik, which maintains 1400 airplanes worldwide, may sign a multi-million dollar contract with India’s largest private airline Jet Airways to support its Boeing B777 aircraft. Lufthansa Technik, a leading aircraft maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) major, is also planning to set up a regional component pool in India to support the existing customers. Aage Dunhaupt, Director International Communications, Lufthansa Technik said: “Lufthansa Technik has strong relationship with all Indian carriers. We may shortly sign a deal with the Naresh Goyal-promoted Jet Airways.” Dunhaupt declined to divulge further details adding “if the deal is taking place, it will be worth of couple of million dollars.” Lufthansa Technik had recently signed an agreement with Jet Airways for technical and component support for its Airbus A340 and Boeing 737 aircraft fleet.

Executives pointed out that based on the increased volume of components, Lufthansa Technik’s Indian subsidiary, One Stop Airline MRO Support, will set up a regional component pool to support existing customers as well as future customers within India. August Wilhelm Henningsen, Chairman of the Executive Board at Lufthansa Technik said: “We are looking at strengthening our existing relationships with the Indian carriers and will expand our support programs, including a regional component pool, which will shorten delivery times and increase reliability.” At present, Indian carriers are depending upon Middle East, Singapore or Europe for aircraft component support and a regional pool in India would help the domestic carriers, said an industry expert.

Last month, Kingfisher Airlines and Lufthansa Technik signed a contract amendment for an exclusive technical support of the new Airbus A320 fleet - an extension of an existing contract of 17 aircraft, initially. This would mean over the next ten years, Lufthansa Technik Group will serve the Kingfisher Airline A320 family fleet with the provision of components at the carrier’s hub in Mumbai. The Wadia-promoted budget carrier GoAir also send its V2500 engines for repair and overhaul to Lufthansa Technik, while this German major provides various component repairs as well as structural parts to Air-India and Indian Airlines. Lufthansa Technik, which is leader in the MRO business, is a member company of Lufthansa Group.

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Emirates set to add 14 more flights to India

Emirates will add 14 flights a week to India in a significant expansion to the sub-continent this summer. Additional flights to Mumbai, Chennai, Kochi and Hyderabad are being launched in advance of an expected free trade agreement between the GCC and India, the airline said yesterday in a release. Two additional flights to Mumbai will give Emirates triple-daily service to India's commercial capital, while in October, the airline will expand to a double daily schedule to Chennai. Emirates will also expand with three additional flights to Kochi and Hyderabad. In all, the Dubai carrier will boost service to India from the current 71 to 85 passenger flights per week to eight destinations. Emirates currently flies to 92 destinations with a fleet of 102 aircraft.

"India is expanding its links with the GCC and forging ahead with joint, multi-billion dollar projects in tourism, commerce and infrastructure," said Nabeel Sultan, a senior vice-president of commercial operations at Emirates. "Customer demand for our services has been steadily building up and we are pleased to offer greater capacity through frequency increases and aircraft upgrades." The additional frequencies will be operated with Emirates' wide-bodied A330-200 and Boeing 777 aircraft in two- and three-class configurations. Sultan added, "With the introduction of the new services to Mumbai and Chennai, our schedules will be more consistent and our passengers will have greater flexibility in planning their journeys."

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Tiger Airways to start flights to India from October

Tiger Airways' delayed Big Bang entry into India is finally taking off this October. The budget carrier will start by jetting off to two Indian cities - the popular Chennai in the south, and Kochi in the south-western state of Kerala. Tiger said this latest foray will consolidate its position as the only low cost carrier offering services across the whole of Asia - from China to Australia. With the addition of populous India to its network, Tiger said it now has a potential three billion passengers from the region. From October, it will fly four times a week to Chennai and three times a week to Kochi.

Tiger has already started selling tickets for these destinations on its website. Return fares start at S$300 plus taxes, which is less than half of what main service carriers are offering. Tiger also has air rights for four other Indian cities - Goa, Trivandrum, Kolkatta and Kozhikode - and will probably add more services there within the next 12 months. "In terms of additional growth, I think a lot of that will come down to availability of landing slots at the different airports and making sure that we can get the times that we need to operate," said Tony Davis, CEO of Tiger Airways.

The carrier is also eyeing expanding its services to Bangalore and Hyderabad, although it does not have air rights for these cities right now. With India on board, Tiger said it will be looking to consolidate its position in Asia with more destinations and services. "What is important is that we have a continuous stream of aircraft delivery over the next 5-7 years, which really guarantees the continued growth of the business," said Davis. The carrier recently hit the news with its acquisition of 50 Airbus A320s, on top of its existing 20 planes. It has a strategy of sticking to just the A320, saying that it offers efficiencies and savings. Tiger is still considering various options on financing its latest aircraft purchases.

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Continental and Kingfisher announce new partnership

Airline passengers traveling to India will soon be able to benefit from a new partnership agreement. Houston-based Continental Airlines is partnering with Indian carrier Kingfisher Airlines for frequent flyer and airport lounge access reciprocity and future codesharing. Continental has operated daily, non-stop flights between its New York hub, Newark Liberty International Airport, and Delhi since 2005. From Oct. 1, it also will offer daily, non-stop eastbound flights between New York Liberty and Mumbai. Shared frequent flyer privileges and airport lounge access will begin on Oct. 1, with codesharing planned to start by the end of the year. "We are proud to partner with Kingfisher, who share our commitment to excellent customer service," said Larry Kellner, Continental's chairman and chief executive officer. "Our partnership with Kingfisher builds upon our increased service between New York and India."

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Lufthansa to increase frequency of flights from Bangalore

Lufthansa German Airlines Director (South Asia) Werner Heesen said the airlines is keen on introducing more flights to Bangalore-Munich sector. “Bangalore is a booming centre for airline business and India is our stratergic destination. We are keen on adding more flights to this sector — especially, Bangalore — Munich sector, where the IT professionals are travelling in large numbers,” said Lufthansa German Airlines Director (South Asia) Werner Heesen, while making a presentation to visiting Indian media at Lufthansa headquarters in Frankfurt on Tuesday. He also pointed out that Lufthansa is adding new destinations like Kochi, Ahmedabad, Pune etc. Both the German and Indian governments have agreed to meet shortly and we are hopeful of a positive outcome from this bilateral talks. From our side, we have submitted the proposal and hope that the Indian government will open up more rights to operate, Mr Heesen said.

At present, Lufthansa is operating daily flights to Hyderabad, New Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Bangalore from Frankfurt apart from daily flights to Delhi from Munich and three times weekly services to Kolkata from Frankfurt. While talking about Lufthansa’s investment plans in India, Mr Heesen said: “All our subsidary companies are extremely doing well — Lufthansa Technik, aircraft maintenance division, has set up a joint venture with GMR Group to build an aircraft Maintenance, Repair & Overhaul (MRO) facility at Hyderabad. One Stop Airline MRO in Delhi handles airline clients, LSG Sky Chef, catering arm of Lufthansa, is already present in Bangalore and Hyderabad. Meanwhile, Lufthansa is likely to tie up with Taj Group of Hotels in India. Lufthansa Airlines Vice President (Marketing) Andreas Bierwirth said this tie-up would be for frequent flyer programme, miles and more. This would mean Lufthansa frequent flyer, can secure miles for the money. In case of Taj Hotels, the passenger will earn more miles if he decided to stay at Taj Hotels. An announcement will take place in India in August.

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India, Kuwait reach deal on flights

India and Kuwait have reached an agreement on resolving a dispute on air traffic rights, over which the gulf state had threatened to stop Indian national carriers flying there from Sunday. Just before the expiry of the deadline, an MoU was signed last night by the civil aviation authorities of the two countries in Kuwait city after a marathon negotiations lasting three days, Indian ambassador to Kuwait M Ganapthi said. Ganapthi told after the MoU was signed that the flight services between the two countries will continue freely and unhindered, much to the benefit of the thousands of passengers who feared disruptions in services between the two countries.

He said, "the talks were held in a friendly and cordial atmosphere and the final result shows the depth of the relations between the two countries." "From the passenger and public view point, the MoU has been a big success," he added. The points in agreement include additional 4,000 seat taking the total to 12,000 seats in each directions, but the fifth freedom destinations will apply to the earlier 8,000 seats. India has agreed to allow Kuwait carriers to operate flights to Hyderabad, Kolkata both with immediate effect and Bangalore from the winter 2008 schedule. The spat began when Kuwait decided to stop Indian carriers from flying into the country from July 1.

In a bid to break the deadlock, a high-level Indian delegation comprising civil aviation ministry joint secretary R K Singh and representatives of A-I and IA arrived in Kuwait on Thursday and since then talks continued. The agreement, reached between the Kuwait and Indian governments, would be a relief to thousands of passengers, booked on both Indian and Kuwait airlines, ending the uncertainty over their travel plans. The Indian delegation left for the country early on Sunday. Meanwhile, Air India regional director Freddie Vaz and Indian regional director Abhay Pathak have both said they would operate the flights from Kuwait as scheduled.

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Air Blue keen to start operations to India

airblue, Pakistan's largest private sector airline, has placed an order for six A320 aircraft and will start receiving deliveries from July 2009, a top official said yesterday. "We are also in touch with Airbus and Boeing for long-haul aircraft to expand our services to North America and European destinations," said Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, Chief Operating Officer of the airline. He said airblue has made tremendous gains in growth and revenue generation in first three years of operations. "We have successfully completed three years operations on June 18, 2007, and during this period our annual growth has been 70 per cent," he said adding that the management is doing its best to further improve the performance in coming year," he said.

airblue started operations on June 18, 2004 on domestic routes. Later it added Dubai as its regional destination and from June 1, 2007, it became Pakistan's first private airline to go international by flying four weekly flights on Islamabad-Manchester route. It is also planning to extend its services to North America and other European destinations in days to come. Amongst the future destinations the airline is considering Lahore-London, Islamabad-London and European cities Barcelona, Coopenhagen and increase presence in Middle East with flights to Muscat, Abu Dhabi and Amman.

The airline started operations with three A320s aircraft acquired on wet lease has now seven planes with two more A320s and two new generation A321s that are used mainly on Islamabad-Manchester sector. "As an international carrier airblue is keen to start operations to India but all depends on the aviation policies of the two countries," he added. Abbasi, who also served as Chairman and Chief Executive of Pakistan International Airlines during late 90s, said that currently the aircraft operated under wet lease arrangement were six to seven years old. "When our planes are delivered by Airbus the average aircraft age will be reduced to three years," Abbasi maintained.

He said despite rising fuel prices that had forced several airlines to cease operations or were forced to merge, airblue was a profit-making enterprise with steady rise in revenues. "We have achieved profitability through stringent policies that could be measured that our manpower per aircraft is just 150 employees," he said. Asked whether airblue would be interested in bidding for PIA if the government decided to privatise the loss-making national carrier, Abbasi said: "We will be interested but all depends on the terms and conditions of the privatisation policy."

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EgyptAir launches flights to Kuala Lumpur via Mumbai

EgyptAir, national airline of Egypt, today announced the launch of new flights on the Egypt-India-Malaysia route considering the increasing flow of travel from Mumbai to Kuala Lumpur. "Kuala Lumpur has been on our agenda for quite some time due to its proximity to India. Now, we are finally able to launch scheduled flights for Mumbai-Kuala Lumpur. I would like to thank the Indian and Malaysian authorities for working so diligently to make this route happen. India is now the second fastest growing economy in the world and the demand for frequent travel to and from the Middle East will continue to increase in the foreseeable future," said Ahmed Wasfy, Regional Manager (India) of EgyptAir in a release.

There will be 3 flights a week, which would be on every Monday, Wednesday and Saturday from Mumbai to the Malaysian capital and vice versa. Currently, there are various Indian and international airlines which are offering flights between Mumbai and Kuala Lumpur. However, looking at the increasing flow of travel between these two cities and the constant demand for cheaper air fare, the 75-year-old national airline has decided to offer the cheapest air fare between these three countries through one route, that is Egypt-India-Malaysia, he said. With commencement of the new flights, an important link will be provided to lakhs of Indians and Malaysians travelling, living and working in Kuala Lumpur.

Similarly, these flights will also connect leisure travellers flying from Europe and Gulf countries via India for a holiday in Malaysia, Mr Wasfy said. EgyptAir will fly Airbus 330 on this route. The aircraft comprises 268 seats in a twin-aisle configuration across two Guest zone, with 24 seats in the Business class zone and 244 seats in the Economy zone, he informed. The airline is also set to increase the frequency of its flights on Mumbai-Cairo route from two to three flights-per-week with immediate and direct connection to London, Europe, America, Africa, and Middle East areas, he added.

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Qatar Airways targets premium Indian traveller to US

Targeting India's growing service-conscious overseas air travellers, Qatar Airways Thursday said it is starting a new service to connect seven Indian cities with New York and Washington, using Doha as a mid-point hub with a host of high-end facilities. "We currently operate daily flights from six cities in India. Out of these six, Delhi, Hyderabad and Kochi will be connected to Washington via Doha from July 19," Naveen Chawla, regional manager of the airlines, said. "Mumbai and Chennai will be connected to New York via Doha beginning June 26 and from Doha, we will have a technical stop at Geneva which is the airline's second destination in Switzerland after Zurich," he said.

The airline currently has no plans to connect Thiruvananthapuram, their sixth destination in the country, with any of the US cities. But Ahmedabad and Nagpur will be added to the airline's list later this year, Chawla added. The airline is yet to announce the fares to the US but said the premium class fares may start from Rs.180,000 ($4,400) and the economy class fares from Rs.45,000 ($1,100), exclusive of taxes. Officials said the price and route taken by the airlines to fly to the US may sound costly and time consuming for an average Indian air traveller but the idea was to offer a premium service. "Currently we are not looking at the price and time factor. Our unique selling proposition is our premium class terminal at the Doha airport. The Indian market is changing and customers are becoming brand conscious," Chawla said.

The airways has opened the world's only dedicated first and business class terminal at the Doha International Airport, built at a cost of $90 million, he said. "We want to promote this terminal that was inaugurated a week before the start of the Asian Games in December. It is exclusively for first and business class fliers and features facilities like exclusive check-in, duty free shopping, spas, sauna and jacuzzi." Chawla said the airline was currently looking at 80 percent passenger volume to the US route and will use the Airbus A340 and A330 aircraft for the service. The airline has a fleet of 57 Airbus aircraft.

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Etihad starts daily Delhi-Abu Dhabi service

Etihad Airways, the national airline of the United Arab Emirates, has increased the frequency of its Delhi-Abu Dhabi flights to seven days a week with immediate effect. "Passengers travelling from Delhi will be able to connect with onward flights to many destinations worldwide including London, New York, Toronto and Manchester," the airline said in a statement Friday. The Delhi-Abu Dhabi service was earlier thrice a week. The return launch fares for Etihad's daily flights from Delhi to Abu Dhabi start from Rs.13,500 ($330) for economy, Rs.25,000 for business ($610) and Rs.35,000 ($850) for first class. The airline had launched a new, thrice-a-week service to Thiruvananthapuram from Abu Dhabi recently, and intends to follow up this with the launch of another flight between its hub in the UAE and Kochi.

"The demand for air travel to and from India continues to grow at a phenomenal rate. Etihad s delighted to boost its Delhi flights to daily," said R. Dougie Douglas, the airline's area manager for north India and Nepal. In addition to Britain and North America, the Delhi route also connects well with Etihad's flights between Abu Dhabi and Paris, Brussels, Geneva, Frankfurt, Munich, Johannesburg, Cairo and Beirut, he added. "Our Delhi flights have been scheduled to offer convenient evening departures to avoid the night time rush at the Indira Gandhi International airport," Douglas, said, adding that passengers flying onward could reach their destinations before 9 a.m.

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Oman Air to fly to Jaipur

Oman Air, the national carrier of Oman, will connect to Jaipur from Friday, making the city its eighth destination in India. In a statement, the airline said Thursday that it would operate four direct flights on Saturday, Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Oman Air CEO Ziad bin Karim Al Haremi said India was "a very important destination" and the Indian travel market was one of the fastest growing in the world. Oman Air now flies to Mumbai, New Delhi, Kochi, Hyderabad, Thiruvananthapuram, Chennai, Lucknow and Jaipur.

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Bangalore to become first railway station with Wi-Fi connectivity

Bangalore will become the first railway station to be equipped with Wi-Fi connectivity by August, Rail Tel Corporation of India Ltd MD K K Bajpeyee said today. "In the next two months, Bangalore is going to have Wi-Fi facility. Bangalore will be followed by Jaipur," said Mr Bajpeyee, who demits his office tomorrow. Addressing a press conference, he said the infrastructural facilities, including setting up of telecommunication towers, were already in place, and the two stations would be among the among the first to provide this hi-tech facility to train passengers and other customers.

Initially, it will function within a radius of 2-4 km from the station, and its radius will gradually be expanded to cover large number of residential and commercial establishments near railway stations. "It will deliver a new experience to the railway passengers by deploying Wi-Fi hotspots at stations. It will be delivered on WiMax/Wi-Fi-based platform and will provide Internet services to passengers having Wi-Fi/WiMax enable services," he pointed out. RailTel has chalked out plans to provide Wi-Fi connectivity at 50 stations in the first phase. Subsequently, it will be expanded to 500 stations. For the Bangalore station, he said Rail Tel had signed an agreement with the Bangalore-based Airlink company, a subsidiary of American multinational company Pronto.

Asked whether Wi-Fi connectivity could be provided in a running train, Mr Bajpeyee said this was a possibility but it would require setting up of mobile towers at stations. "In the next two-three years, this possibility can translate into a reality, allowing passengers to transform their compartments into a hi-tech office," he said. He also spoke of the need to revise Air Tel's business plan with regart to cyber cafes, saying it was yielding barely Rs 600-800 for a cafe owner at a medium size station.

"Only at big sations like Pune, cyuber cafe owners are earning around Rs 4000 a day," he said. "The business strategy of Air Tel has to be refashioned," he added. RailTel has started operation of its cyber cafes, branded as 'Cyber Express' at 21 stations. These include New Delhi, Chandigarh, Bangalore, Ernakulam, Mysore, Vijayawada, Hyderabad, Guntur, Coimbatore, Howrah, Puri, Ahmedabad and Nagpur.

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