Silk Route Holidays, Goa

Air India to order 35 wide-body jets

2007-07-09T10:14:00.001+05:30

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

2007-07-07T17:09:00.000+05:30

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

2007-07-07T17:03:00.001+05:30

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

2007-07-07T16:59:00.001+05:30

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

2007-07-06T18:13:00.000+05:30

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

2007-07-06T18:10:00.001+05:30

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

2007-07-06T18:07:00.001+05:30

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

2007-07-06T18:04:00.001+05:30

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

2007-07-06T18:01:00.001+05:30

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

2007-07-06T17:56:00.001+05:30

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

2007-07-06T17:52:00.000+05:30

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

2007-07-06T17:41:00.001+05:30

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

2007-07-06T17:32:00.000+05:30

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

2007-07-06T17:29:00.000+05:30

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

2007-07-06T17:27:00.001+05:30

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

2007-07-06T17:25:00.001+05:30

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

2007-07-06T17:23:00.000+05:30

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

2007-07-06T17:20:00.000+05:30

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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Air Deccan adds 20th Airbus to its fleet

2007-06-29T18:06:00.000+05:30

Low-cost airliner, Air Deccan today added its 20th brand new Airbus A-320 to its fleet taking the airline’s fleet strength to 44. An Air Deccan statement said the new Airbus would be based in Kolkata and would help in Air Deccan’s expansion plans of providing enhanced low fare travel options and increased connectivity. The Airbus had an all economy seating with a seat capacity of 180. The new aircraft would be inducted into the schedule on July 10 with introduction of new flights out of Kolkata. The new aircraft would increase frequency from Kolkata to Vishakapatnam, Hyderabad, Bangalore and Bhubaneshwar. A new sector Kolkata-Vishakapatnam would be introduced by the airline. This route was not serviced by any other airline and Air Deccan would be the only airline connecting Kolkata to Vishakapatnam.

Bookings for the new flights would open tomorrow. Air Deccan Chief executive officer statement, Ramki Sundaram said in the, "safety and on-time performance is the most important commitment to our passengers. The induction of brand new aircraft with increased efficiency will ensure that we deliver our promise. The A-320 comes with the latest technology, powered by the IAE V 2527 A5 engines and is a highly dependable aircraft ensuring complete safety and reliability". He said Air Deccan had the largest market share in the Kolkata region with over 70 flights and loads averaging 85 per cent. At present Air Deccan had seven aircraft based at Kolkata and the new airbus would be the eighth. Kolkata was the largest base for Air Deccan’s ATR operations.

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GoAir connects GoDestinations at Zero Fare

2007-06-29T18:04:00.001+05:30

GoAir, India’s leading smart fare carrier today announced its ‘Book Smart Fly Free’ offer, starting tomorrow that allows passengers a chance to plan and book tickets for free on first come first basis across select GoAir destinations. The unique offering begins from June 28 to July 2, 2007. Passengers can now avail this unique offering by logging on to the GoAir website, www.goair.in and instantly book their tickets to fly to their favourite GoDestinations. GoAir is a “smart fare” carrier promoted by The Wadia Group. Principles that have been incorporated in the Wadia Group for years - Trust and Integrity - have now also been inculcated into the airline venture. GoAir took off on 4th November 2005 with scheduled services from Mumbai.

Currently, GoAir operates across 59 flights a day across 11 destinations in the country covering Srinagar, Jammu, Delhi, Jaipur, Ahmedabad, Mumbai, Goa, Bengalooru, Hyderabad, Chennai and Cochin. GoAir operates CAT III compliant A320 aircraft with a single class, 180-seat configuration, and plans to expand its fleet to 33 aircraft in three years. With Brand Ambassador Preity Zinta on board, GoAir aims to be the preferred low-fare airline in India and will provide passengers a comfortable and affordable option to popular holiday and business destinations across India. GoAir is also India’s first low fare carrier to win the prestigious international award for "Excellent Services" by the Pacific Area Travel Writers Association (PATWA).

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Pilots' flying time to be increased

2007-06-29T18:01:00.001+05:30

In a bid to tide over the massive pilot shortage the country is facing, the flying hours for pilots are going to be increased marginally to see that they don't get stressed while being able to fly more. Currently pilots are allowed to fly for a maximum of 1,000 hours annually with a monthly cap of 125 hours. Now the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) is revising the flight duty time limitation (FDTL) norms that could increase flying hours between 50 to 100 hours a year. This would allow all airlines to fly more. "The new norms are going to be finalised shortly.

They have been decided after several rounds of discussions with medical and aviation experts as safety cannot be compromised for increasing capacity," said highly placed sources. Indian currently has about 2,600 pilots, including 600 foreign pilots. "There's a shortage of about 300 pilots and this figure could get worse in coming years. The FDTL norms are likely to be increased by 50 hours and then 100 hours and this will be a good decision as it would allow improve crew productivity. Crew cost here is very high and better utilisation would help both the airlines too," said Kapil Kaul, CEO (Indian subcontinent) of the Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation.

Pilot shortage is badly affecting airlines expansion plans. A leading airline's official said some carriers are now deferring their deliveries. While this involves paying penal charges to aircraft manufacturers, "it is cheaper than bringing planes here and then keeping them on ground". The main problem is of getting experienced captains as an eight-month training is adequate to make a newcomer a co-pilot. The main problem is that the shortage means airlines don't have pilots for hold. Which means that when airlines send pilots for further training, say for using instrumental landing system in fog, they don't have a backup for them.

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Kuwait hopeful of ending flight row with India

2007-06-29T17:58:00.000+05:30

Kuwait has expressed optimism that the row over a possible ban on landing of state-owned Indian airliners in its capital will be resolved amicably as the two countries prepare to hold talks on the issue. A high-level Indian delegation comprising joint secretary of the Aviation Ministry, R K Singh and representatives of 'Air India' and 'Indian' will arrive in Kuwait later today for talks which will last until Friday. "An Indian delegation will arrive in Kuwait and we will begin negotiations about the issue. We will reach an agreement and the results will be announced before or on Saturday," a senior official of Kuwait's Department of Civil Aviation, Salah Al-Armeni was quoted as saying in Kuwait Times.

The airline row comes at a time when thousands of passengers are preparing to fly to India for summer holidays. Kuwait had issued a notice to 'Air India' and 'Indian' saying it will not receive flights of the airlines from July 1 in the capital, alleging that New Delhi was going back on commitments in the air bilateral agreement between both countries. A bilateral agreement was signed between the states last year allowing for 5,200 seats per week for both states. Kuwait has requested the limit be raised in addition to requesting that Kuwait's carriers be allowed to pick up passengers from third countries. While Kuwait Airways and Al-Jazeera operate daily flights to India, Air India and Indian maintain a total of seven flights per week out of Kuwait.

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Deccan Aviation gets contract for Amarnath Yatra

2007-06-28T18:39:00.000+05:30

Deccan Aviation Ltd has been awarded a three-year contract by Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board to provide helicopter services for Amaranath Yatra organised every year by the J&K government during July and August. Deccan Aviation helicopter service to the holy cave is available from Srinagar and Baltal. The flying time from Srinagar to Baltal is around 45 minutes and from Baltal to the holy cave around eight to ten minutes, a company release said. G R Gopinath, Executive Chairman, Deccan Aviation said, "More than 1.25 lakh devotees visited the Amarnath Shrine last year which indicates the growing number of religious travelers in India."

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Jet Airways launches India's first SMS Check-In facility

2007-06-28T18:36:00.001+05:30

Jet Airways India Ltd has announced that the Company has launched yet another pioneering passenger-friendly service "SMS Check-in" for its Jet Privilege members, following the successful launch of its mobile-ticketing solution. Designed to operate on an SMS platform, this user-friendly self-service check-in solution will make travel more comfortable and convenient to its discerning passengers, making it the first airline in the country to launch SMS Check-in. SMS Check-in allows only the individual JetPrivilege passenger sending the SMS to check-in.

If there are more JP members in a single PNR, the individual member will have to send a separate SMS with his / her JP number to check-in. SMS check-in allows check-in for all segments booked for travel on a given day with a single SMS i.e. customers traveling between two cities on a single day can check-in with one SMS. Highlighting the initiative, Mr. Gaurang Shetty, Vice President-Marketing, of the Company said, "Jet Airways has set another milestone in enhancing customer service and SMS check-in will be valued by all our JP members. With this benefit, customers can now report to the check-in desk at least 30 minutes prior to departure, assured that their seats have been pre assigned with a single SMS.

Customers doing a day trip can do an SMS check-in for both their outbound and return flights through one SMS ". The Company will be the only airline in India to offer Kiosk check-in, Web check-in and SMS check-in. This innovative program is available for JetPriviiege members with a confirmed, valid e-ticket only and for all domestic and International flights departing from airports in India that are online with the Company’s check-in system. All boarding and check-in timelines, followed currently at the airport, will be applicable for SMS check-in as well. The service is currently available to mobile users in India only.

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Air India starts cargo operations with Airbus planes

2007-06-28T18:34:00.001+05:30

Air India Ltd., the nation's biggest overseas carrier, started freighter operations with two Airbus SAS planes to tap rising demand for transporting goods in the world's second-fastest growing major economy. Air India started flights to Europe with the freighters, converted from old A310 passenger planes at a cost of $16 million, it said in a statement released in Mumbai today. Growing exports of gems and jewelry and imports of technology equipment have boosted demand for cargo flights in the South Asian country. India has one cargo airline, Blue Dart Express Ltd., and existing airlines plan to start cargo flights by buying new planes or converting passenger aircraft.

India should have 500 cargo planes within the next 15 years, Praful Patel, the country's civil aviation minister, said in Mumbai at a function in connection with the start of state-owned Air India's cargo operations. State-owned Indian Airlines Ltd. is converting five Boeing Co. 737 aircraft to start cargo service while Deccan Aviation Ltd. and GoAirlines (India) Pvt. are also planning freighter services in India. Air India has a share of about 11 percent of cargo export from the country and 7 percent of imports, it said. It now moves cargo in passenger planes. The carrier will initially operate four flights a week to Frankfurt and Paris with the two A310s. The first cargo flight from Mumbai to Frankfurt will have stopovers in Bangalore and in Dammam, Saudi Arabia, it said.

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IAF to allow some bases for civilian flights

2007-06-28T18:25:00.000+05:30

The defence ministry had given an in-principle nod to allow the use of some of the Indian Air Force (IAF) bases by civilian domestic carriers at peak flying hours, KN Srivastava, joint secretary, Ministry of Civil Aviation, said today. “Hopefully, the Hindon air force base would be the first one from where the commercial aircraft would take off,” Srivastava said. The move is aimed at easing congestion during peak hours at Delhi where air traffic movement during peak hours has increased to nearly 60 flights every hour after the boom in the civil aviation sector in recent times.

He said the Airport Authority of India (AAI) and private airport developers would invest Rs 36,000 crore to develop six new and 50 smaller airports in the next four years in Maharashtra, Gujarat, Karnataka, Bihar and the North-East. “While the AAI would invest Rs 12,000 crore from internal accruals, the private developers would invest the remaining Rs 24,000 crore,” he said. A committee, headed by Planning Commission member Anwar Hoda, will also suggest measures to establish rail linkages from airports in 10 cities including Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Pune, the official said.

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Goans celebrate San Joao festival

2007-06-28T11:53:00.000+05:30

Goans this weekend had a gala time celebrating annual Monsoon festival, which marks 'San Joao', the feast of John, the Baptist. Monsoon festival is a legacy Goans have inherited from the Portuguese, who ruled the State until it was liberated in 1961. During the celebrations, Goans jumped into rivers, ponds and wells amidst persistent rains. In villages, the festival was celebrated with much traditional fervour. At Loutulim in south Goa, men wearing 'copel' or crowns of flowers and grass, sung traditional songs and danced to merry tunes before jumping into a pond. Maendra Alvares, one of the participants, said: 'We celebrated San Joao, the feast of Saint John's, like how it was in the olden times. We celebrate it by jumping in the ponds. People wear crowns and have all the traditional food '. Alister Fernandes said, 'Everybody makes merry on this day. They wear hats specially made at home with flowers. To enjoy, they jump into wells'.

'It is San Joao's peace... 'Viva San Joao,' said Fernandes. In Navelim, young men and teenaged boys, were seen diving into a well and splashing around. Men, women and children donning colourful headgears made of flowers sang and danced, as they made merry on the occasion. Hundreds of people gathered in the picturesque village of Siolim, to watch heavily decorated boats row up the Chapora River from several areas in Goa. It is believed that 'San Joao' revellers from across Goa, first converged in front of St. Anthony's Church in Siolim over 150 years back. According to the Biblical legend when Saint John was in his mother's womb, Mother Mary visited his mother in her dream. Saint John supposedly leaped inside her womb in joy. Portuguese traditions still have a strong presence especially in the coastal areas of the State. Goa's balmy beaches, tropical climate and its unique charm attract thousands of international tourists every year.

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Air Deccan to sell tickets from post offices

2007-06-27T18:39:00.001+05:30

Low-cost carrier Air Deccan is all set to land and take-off from a territory that has virtually no tarmac. The budget carrier will now be present in rural India through the multitude of post offices, encouraging farmers to experience a plane journeys. Sources said that the airline is tieing up with the postal department to offer e-tickets. This is the first time that any airline is attempting such widespread reach, since post offices are present in just about every village and town. The airline will initially leverage the 500 internet-enabled post offices in Karnataka, of the total of over 2,500 post offices in the state, to reach out to the common man. The services will be launched in Karnataka by the month end or the beginning of July.

By the end of the year, the airline is hopeful of tieing up with seven other state postal departments. The way it works will be simple. A farmer will just have to walk to his taluk post office and purchase an e-ticket, paying cash up-front. The airline's back-end support ensures that a central server monitors the daily ticketing sales. On a daily basis the postal department will transfer the overall ticket sales to the airline. By facilitating ticket sales, post offices earn a commission similar to that of travel agents. Already, a 1,000 postal personnel have been trained by the airline to access the website of Air Deccan and issue e-tickets. If the company had to reach out to the masses via the conventional channel (of setting up an office and other infrastructure), it would have had to spend several hundreds of crores of rupees.

"Here, the only expenditure the airline has incurred is the training costs," said the source. Currently, internet booking through its website accounts for 40% of Air Deccan's ticket sales; its partners like BPCL, HPCL, Reliance Web World, agents and web-portals bring in an equivalent share; and the rest of the 10% is done at airports. Capt G R Gopinath, executive chairman of Air Deccan, had recently said that even carpenters and autorickshaw drivers have been flying his airline. With the latest initiative, an even wider section of Indians may experience the joy and convenience of flying.

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Jet Airways net plunges 94% in FY07

2007-06-27T18:36:00.001+05:30

India’s largest private carrier, Jet Airways Ltd, on Tuesday said it posted a 94% decline in net profit at Rs 28 crore for the fiscal ended March 31, 2007, compared to Rs 452 crore the previous fiscal, weighed down by heavy losses in the first two quarters and higher operating costs. However, total revenues for the current fiscal stood at Rs 7,400 crore, compared to Rs 6,090 crore the previous fiscal. Net profit for the fourth quarter stood at Rs 88 crore, against Rs 227 crore in the corresponding quarter last year, down 61.2%. Operating revenues stood at Rs 1,978.3 crore for the quarter ended March 2007, compared to Rs 1,605 crore for the same period last year. The company’s board has recommended a dividend of 60% (Rs 6 per equity share of Rs 10 each). Jet Airways stock closed marginally higher (0.69%) on the BSE on Tuesday at Rs 808.50. Explaining the slump in profits, Jet Airways CEO Wolfgang Prock-Schauer said, “Overall, the aviation sector is not performing well.

Looking at the current scenario, we have performed better.” The average staff numbers increased from 8,727 to 10,590 on account of the expansion at various levels of operations. New hires among pilots, engineers and cabin crew constituted an increase in the company’s operating costs in the fourth quarter.” However, he added that the average fuel rate was Rs 36.55 a litre in the fourth quarter, compared to Rs 36.05 in the previous year’s fourth quarter. The Jet board has also approved its rights offering of up to $400 million. Further decisions, including pricing, will be taken by a committee of the board, which has been empowered to do so. On the company’s international operations, KG Vishwanath, general manager—finance, said that the company was close to break-even and that international losses are down to $2.5 million from $42 million in the first half of the financial year.

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Air India plane lands under emergency conditions

2007-06-27T18:33:00.001+05:30

A Bangkok-bound Air India flight from Mumbai with 154 passengers on board today landed at the international airport here under emergency conditions after it developed a problem in its hydraulic system. The pilot of Air India's flight 348 detected the technical glitch and landed the Airbus 310 safely at around 12 pm as emergency personnel were kept on standby, airport officials said. All the 154 passengers on board are safe, they said. "The pilot felt there was some problem in the hydraulic system and decided to land. The landing was normal.

The aircraft was taxied to the technical area for a check," the carrier's northern India regional director D S Kohli said. He said the "passengers would be flown to Bangkok and Tokyo in the evening and to other destinations thereafter". They were being accomodated at the airport and and served refreshments. However, angry scenes were witnessed at the airport after around 125 passengers who were to take the flight to Bangkok from here found themselves stranded and entered into heated arguements with Air India staff. "The flight has been indefinitely delayed and they are not able to say anything," a passenger claimed.

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Parking at Goa airport to be restricted

2007-06-27T18:31:00.001+05:30

Parking of vehicles will be restricted at Dabolim airport premises due to security consideration from July 1.In his order, Airport Director Paul Manickam stated that the Airport Authority of India (AAI) would restrict parking of vehicles in the existing car parking area located east of the terminal building which is declared as a no-parking zone. ‘Vehicle in restricted area will be allowed to drop or pick passengers during short period of arrival and departure,’ Manickam stated. AAI terminal Manager Utpal Baruah informed that only two buses of commercial airlines and hotels are allowed to bring their passengers during arrivals and departures.

He further added that airport staff vehicles would permitted with stickers in specified areas. Parking of black and yellow taxies would as per the ordered regulated in April 1 2005 and the VIP and other categories of vehicles would be permitted for a certain period and that too at a specified area. Baruah informed that the parking area has been shifted outside the airport and adjacent to highway, where parking will be permitted on payment of fees. ‘Vehicle owners breaching the notified order and regulation of AAI would be penalized with fine which may extend to Rs 500,’ he added.

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Finnair begins direct flights to Mumbai

2007-06-27T18:28:00.000+05:30

Finnair Tuesday began a direct flight from Helsinki to the commercial capital of India, its second destination in the country. It will operate five times a week with an Airbus A-340 aircraft. The first Helsinki-Mumbai flight will land here at 6 a.m. on Wednesday. In the other direction, the flight will depart at 8.15 a.m. the same day and arrive in Helsinki at 1.50 p.m. local time. Finnair began its operations from New Delhi on Oct 31, 2006, and has been flying to the national capital every day since May 19. "The new route also opens numerous possibilities to tourist traffic from Europe to India. Near Mumbai there are several interesting destinations for travellers, for example Goa, known for its magnificent beaches, and the culturally rich state of Kerala," a Finnair statement said.

"Apart from Mumbai, this flight would be very convenient for passengers from neighbouring cities like Pune and Ahmedabad. The Mumbai route also gives Finnair more onward connections to destinations all over India," said Taina Törnström, Finnair director for the Indian subcontinent. "Finnair is strengthening its partnerships with Indian air carriers to make these connections as smooth as possible," she added. The flights to Mumbai are part of Finnair's Asian strategy. "In response to a strong demand from the Asian market, the number of weekly flights to India has increased from seven to 12. Flights to other Finnair destinations in Asia have also been continuously increased," the airline said. Besides New Delhi and Mumbai, Finnair now flies to eight other destinations in Asia: Guangzhou, Shanghai, Beijing and Hong Kong in China; Tokyo, Osaka and Nagoya in Japan; and Bangkok in Thailand.

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SpiceJet suitors queue up meetings this week

2007-06-27T18:24:00.001+05:30

The race for buying a strategic stake in Delhi-based budget carrier SpiceJet is hotting up with three full-service carriers Jet Airways, Kingfisher Airlines and Paramount Airways lining up crucial meetings with investment bankers and target company executives this week. Paramount Airways had meetings with investment bankers and company executives on Saturday in south India. The airline also has the backing of a leading merchant banker, which is expected to partly fund its bid. Sources close to the development said Jet Airways had a preliminary round of discussion with SpiceJet last week in London. Kingfisher Airlines has also evinced interest and has lined up meetings for this week.

Though executives of the airlines continued to deny any consolidation move, sources confirmed that various meetings were lined up by Jet Airways and Paramount Airways this week. “The rounds of negotiations are progressing. The key criterion in the race will be the price offered by airlines. Financial investors are keen on exiting the airline business but at a reasonable price,” they added. About 25 per cent of the shareholding in SpiceJet is locked-in investments that still cannot be sold. The airlines are eyeing shareholding scattered among a group of stake holders. A solution is supposed to emerge from the meetings scheduled for this week. According to SpiceJet’s website, locked-in shares of investors include those of Ewart Investments (5.82 per cent), BNP Paribas (5.43 per cent), KBC Financial Products UK (0.87 per cent), Istithmar (PJSC) (13.42 per cent) and Tata Investment Corporation (0.42 per cent).

The big investors who are not locked in include the promoters, the Kansagra family, who hold 12.91 per cent, SpiceJet Director Ajay Singh, who holds 4.16 per cent, and some others. The public holds around 24.27 per cent. SpiceJet, according to sources, has constituted an investors’ committee to monitor and supervise operations and accounts. This committee includes representatives of investors and directors. SpiceJet has a fleet of 11 aircraft and operates 64 flights a day. It plans to add five extended range jets to its fleet soon.

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Qantas, Jet Airways expand code share

2007-06-27T18:22:00.001+05:30

Qantas Airways Ltd will expand its code share arrangement with Indian carrier Jet Airways, as the low-cost airways of Asia increasingly target routes to and from Australia. The deal enables Jet Airways customers to travel on Qantas flights between Australia and Singapore and then connect to India on a Jet Airways' flight, starting Monday. "The Australia-India route, a key market for Qantas, continues to grow, reflecting strengthening trade links and increasing numbers of tourists and business people travelling between the two countries," said Qantas group general manager for sales and distribution Rob Gurney. "Qantas is pleased to partner with India's leading carrier, Jet Airways, to further grow this important market." Qantas already flies the Sydney-to-Mumbai route three times a week.

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Jet Airways to operate Chandigarh-Mumbai flights

2007-06-27T18:19:00.001+05:30

Jet Airways, currently operating a single flight from Chandigarh to Delhi, will soon link Chandigarh with a direct flight to Mumbai. According to an official of the company, the Jet in this regard has sent a proposal to the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), New Delhi. “The Jet Airways has long been planning to start its Mumbai operation from this city but the project got hauled up for some reason or the other. Finally, we are all geared up for the project now and are very hopefull of getting the DGCA clearance very soon,” said a Jet official. He added that the airlines would employ a Boeing aircraft for its Mumbai services.

“There is not a single direct flight from Chandigarh to Mumbai in spite of large commuters between Mumbai and Punjab and Haryana. We hope to take advantage of this vaccuum and launch a full fledged flight to Mumbai,” he added. The details about the time slot is yet to be finalised though the airlines has asked for an early morning flight. Indus Airlines was the first one to start direct operation between Chandigarh and Mumbai in December last year. However, Indus had to stop its operation after certain objection from the DGCA. At present, only Indian Airlines is operating an indirect flight to Mumbai via Delhi.

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Kuwait threatens to stop India flights

2007-06-27T18:13:00.000+05:30

Kuwait has threatened to stop all its flights to India from July 1 in protest against New Delhi's alleged backtracking of its commitments in the bilateral aviation agreement between both countries, revealed the Kuwaiti Arabic daily, Al Watan. This could disrupt the travel plans of hundreds of thousands of passengers during this peak summer season. The decision could also affect the services of India's national carriers Air India and Indian to Kuwait. According to Al Watan, the threat has been made by the civil aviation authorities in protest against the Airports Authority of India (AAI)'s denial of a Kuwaiti request to increase the weekly seat capacities of Kuwait Airways Corporation (KAC) and Jazeera Airways between Kuwait and India. Kuwait has a remarkably huge Indian expatriate population of 520,000, which is larger than those in some other GCC countries.

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Air France may fly in Airbus A380 to Delhi by 2010

2007-06-27T18:06:00.000+05:30

The modernisation of Delhi and Mumbai airports is attracting international carriers. Air France may become the first international airline to fly the superjumbo Airbus A380 connecting Delhi and Mumbai to Paris by early 2010. The only Indian carrier which has five A380s on order, Kingfisher Airlines, will start getting delivery by 2011. Air France has placed orders for a dozen-odd A380 aircraft, with delivery schedules starting 2009. To start with, Air France plans to connect long-haul destinations such as New York, Montreal and Sau Paulo, to Paris which will serve as its hub. Its next stop would be Asian cities in India, China and South-East Asia. “We hope to fly the Airbus A380 to Delhi and Mumbai by 2010,” said KLM executive vice-president commercial PSM Gregorowitsch. Air France and Dutch airline KLM merged globally in 2004 and run joint operation. In India, the Air France KLM combo have 42 weekly flights out of major metro cities such as Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Bangalore and Chennai.

There are plans to add Kolkata to its network by next year and add two additional flights by year end from Hyderabad and Chennai. Until two years ago, Air France-KLM combine had less than 30 weekly flights out of India. Delhi and Mumbai airports, which are currently getting upgraded, are expected to be A380-compatible, capable of handling scheduled flights by 2010. Airbus conducted demo A380 flights last month in Delhi and Mumbai airports. Incidentally, greenfield airports at Hyderabad and Bangalore, which are set to become operational in 2008, would also be able to handle the double-decker A380 aircraft. In a three-class configuration, an A380 aircraft can carry 555 passengers. Mr Gregorowitsch said the Air France-KLM combine plans to use its current interline agreements with domestic carriers such as Jet Airways and Kingfisher Airlines, to tap smaller Indian cities. Air France-KLM together connect over 240 destinations worldwide, with 2,400 flights a day and a fleet size of 569 aircraft, the largest in the world.

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Jupiter Aviation buys flight simulators from Thales

2007-06-27T18:01:00.000+05:30

European aerospace major Thales has been contracted to supply a range of flight simulators for a new aircrew training centre being established in Bangalore in India, it was announced Friday. Under the deal with India's Jupiter Aviation, Thales will initially provide two Full Flight Simulators (FFS), one configured to the Airbus A-320 and the second to the Boeing 737. Lower level training devices, including Thales Formation Systems Trainers (TFST) and Thales Flight Management System Trainers (FMST), will also be provided. "These devices provide full aircraft systems simulation in a classroom," a Thales statement said. Jupiter's new training centre will complement its existing network of facilities and will also act as a recurrent training and Type Rating facility for India's leading airlines.

The company will be obtaining a second tranche of training equipment, including two FFSs, as also TFSTs and FMSTs from Thales at a later date. Commenting on the deal, Chris Gane, vice president of the Thales simulation business, said: "This success further emphasises our recent success in India, a country that is seeing major growth in the aviation sector. According to Rajeev Chandrasekhar, chairman and CEO of Jupiter Capital, the contract is part of a significant investment for setting up an MRO (maintenance, repair and overhaul) facility, and aviation training and knowledge centres. "We selected Thales because they are the market leaders in their field and most importantly, they share our passion and will to succeed," he added.

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Jet Airways to provide new service from Chicago to India

2007-06-22T16:11:00.001+05:30

Chicago will get new daily round-trip service to India next year on Jet Airways, a full-service, business-oriented carrier based in New Delhi. Using new Boeing 777 widebodies, Jet Airways plans to connect Chicago to several cities in India through its hub in Brussels, Belgium. "A lot of Indians are living in the Chicago area. Plus, business is increasing between the Midwest and India," says Naresh Goyal, chairman and 80% owner of Jet Airways (India) Ltd., which he founded 15 years ago. Chicago is third on his list for new U.S. routes after Newark, N.J., starting in August, and San Francisco, starting in September.

One of the airline's new 777 widebodies was on display at this week's Paris Air Show. It features a distinctive 312-seat, three-class interior with an eight-seat first-class section, designed by Mr. Goyal and his wife. Those seats unfold into 83-inch beds, and each private, first-class pod has a 23-inch flat-screen television. Aspiring to the high standards of Singapore Airlines and other Asian carriers, Mr. Goyal says he wants Jet Airways to be considered "one of the five best airlines in the world in five years, if not sooner."

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Jetlite says sorry to disabled man

2007-06-22T16:07:00.001+05:30

Jetlite, a division of Jet Airways and was formerly Air Sahara, on Thursday apologised to cerebral palsy patient Rajiv Rajan for refusing to let him board a Delhi-bound flight in Chennai on Monday. The airline also said it would sensitise its staff to the special needs of people with disability. "We regret the inconvenience caused to Rajiv Rajan. We will train our staff to be sensitive towards people with special needs. We apologise for the inconvenience," Jetlite said in its public apology. Rajan was made to wait three hours at the Chennai Airport on Monday and was not allowed to board the flight because airline officials considered him unfit for travel. The officials told him that he needed a medical clearance or an escort. Rajan was flying to Delhi to attend a seminar on disability as an invitee of the Government of India.

Disabled rights activists protested at Delhi Airport on Thursday and at Chennai on Wednesday against the way Rajan was treated. Jetlite is the new name for Air Sahara, which was recently bought by Jet Airways. There was a public uproar and condemnation against the incident. The Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Tuesday asked the airline to explain why it barred Ranjan. "We have seen media reports about this. Based on these reports we have asked the airline about the circumstances under which the passenger was offloaded and what it proposes to do about this," a spokesperson of the DGCA said. Rajan, who heads an NGO for the disabled, was to attend a meeting of the National Trust for Welfare of Persons with Autism, Cerebral Palsy, Mental Retardation and Multiple Disabilities to discuss a training programme to be launched in the country.

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Flyington Freighters orders more A330 freighters

2007-06-22T16:05:00.001+05:30

Flyington Freighters, the Reddy family’s air freight company have ordered an additional six Airbus A330-200F. The agreement takes their total order for the aircraft to 12. Flyington Freighters confirmed an initial order for six A330-200Fs in May 2007. The company was the first cargo airline to buy the A330-200F, and will be the world's first operator.

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IndiGo signs maintenance contract with Air France

2007-06-22T15:56:00.001+05:30

IndiGo has signed a maintenance and pool agreement with Air France Industries for the support of its fleet of A320 aircraft. Under the terms of the contract, Air France Industries will provide IndiGo with door-to-door logistics support, pool access, repair management and dedicated on-site management in support of the airline’s operations throughout India.

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Rolls-Royce wins $1 billion Trent order from Kingfisher

2007-06-22T15:52:00.000+05:30

India’s Kingfisher Airlines has ordered two versions of the Rolls-Royce Trent to power 25 new Airbus widebody airliners. The value of the engine business at list prices is $1 billion. The order, announced at the Paris Air Show, consists of 20 firm A350 XWB-800 twinjets, which are offered with the Trent XWB, and five A340-500s, for which the Trent 500 is the sole engine.

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Kingfisher Airlines agrees to buy 50 Airbus aircraft

2007-06-21T10:17:00.001+05:30

Kingfisher Airlines, the carrier headquartered in Mumbai, India has agreed to purchase up to 50 aircraft from Airbus. The Memorandum of Understanding is for 15 A350-800 XWBs in addition to the five converted from their original order for the A350, 10 A330-200s, five A340-500s and 20 A320 Family aircraft.

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Jet Airways to receive more ATR 72-500s

2007-06-21T10:12:00.001+05:30

ATR unveiled orders for 13 new ATR 72-500 aircraft that will be operated by the Indian carrier Jet Airways. Agreement for six of these ATR72-500s has been concluded directly with the Irish-based leasing company AIR (Aircraft International Renting), a subsidiary of TAT leasing. In order to reserve aircraft delivery positions, Jet Airways has concluded purchase agreements for the remaining seven aircraft. Prior to delivery, Jet Airways intends to conclude lease agreements for these aircraft also. The total value of the two contracts is $238 million.

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IndiGo inducts 10th Airbus A-320 aircraft

2007-06-21T10:04:00.001+05:30

Private budget carrier IndiGo has inducted its 10th Airbus A-320 aircraft into its stable and will buy five more by the end of this year to take its fleet size to 15, the airline said in a statement Wednesday. IndiGo will operate the new A-320 to connect Nagpur with Delhi and Pune and the same aircraft will then continue its service to Bangalore. With this aircraft, the airline will operate 70 daily flights to 14 destinations. The airline, promoted by Gurgaon-based travel trade and aviation firm InterGlobe Enterprises and former US-based airline executive Rakesh Gangwal, eventually intends to induct 40 aircraft and fly to some 30 Indian cities by 2010. "Our 10th aircraft is one of the first A-320s to include a redesigned interior with additional space, as well as redesigned overhead cabins, ceilings and windows," said Bruce Ashby, president and chief executive of IndiGo.

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Summer special trains from New Delhi

2007-06-21T10:01:00.000+05:30

Northern Railway will run summer special trains between New Delhi-Varanasi and New Delhi-Udhampur for convenience of the rail passengers. The special train between New Delhi and Varanasi will halt at Ghaziabad, Moradabad, Barielly, Lucknow, and Sultanpur stations enroute in both the direction. The train no 4258A New Delhi-Varanasi special will depart from New Delhi at 1530 hrs on June 26 and July 3 to arrive at Varanasi at 0500 hrs the next day. In the return journey, the 4257A Varanasi-New Delhi special train will depart from Varanasi at 1000 hours on June 27 and July 4 to arrive at New Delhi at 1130 hrs the next day.

The second special train between New Delhi and Udhampur will stop at Jind, Jakhal, Dhuri, Ludhiana, Jalandhar Cantt, Chaki Bank and Jammu Tawi stations enroute in both the directions. While the 0403 New Delhi-Udhampur special will depart from New Delhi at 2150 hrs on June 21, 28, July 1 and July 5 to arrive Udhampur at 1130 hrs the next day, in the return direction the 0404 Udhampur-New Delhi special train will depart from Udhampur at 2115 hrs on June 22, 29, July 2 and 6 to arrive at New Delhi at 1150 hrs the next day.

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Jet Airways to consider $400 million issue

2007-06-21T09:59:00.001+05:30

Jet Airways Ltd. will consider a rights equity issue on June 26 to raise up to $400 million, the country's top private carrier said on Tuesday, as it seeks to expand overseas and rehaul a recent acquisition. Jet, which has nearly a third of the Indian market, is launching more overseas routes in the face of growing competition in the fast-expanding domestic aviation market. An estimated 35 million domestic passengers took to the skies in the fiscal year to March 2007, an increase of 39 percent from the previous year, on the back of cheap fares and new flights. The market is forecast to expand at more than 20 percent a year till 2010.

Jet, which acquired domestic carrier Air Sahara in April for 14.5 billion rupees, has said it would raise up to $400 million for its international expansion and aircraft acquisition plans, as well as to overhaul Sahara. Sahara, now named JetLite, operates as a discount carrier. Tough competition is forcing consolidation, with Kingfisher Airlines owned by UB Holdings Ltd buying a stake in low-cost leader Deccan Aviation Ltd. and persistent interest in discount carrier SpiceJet. Jet will also announce its fourth-quarter and full-year results on June 26, it said in a statement.

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Final test of GAGAN later in 2007

2007-06-21T09:57:00.001+05:30

The final test of India's ambitious Gagan air traffic management and aircraft navigation system will be conducted later this year following the integration of a satellite with ground-based centres across the country. The Rs 644 crore project, being jointly executed by the Indian Space Research Organisation and Airports Authority of India, is meant to provide augmented information for satellite navigation to aircraft flying over Indian airspace. Officials of US defence major Raytheon, which integrated the ground-based systems with the INMARSAT geo-stationary satellite, said the final technology demonstration test of the Gagan system would be conducted later this year.

"The integration of the systems is ongoing and the final test will be conducted this summer or in the third quarter of this year," Jack Costello, vice president of Raytheon's Network Centric Systems, said at the Paris Air Show. Once the test is completed, Raytheon will work with ISRO and AAI for the complete implementation of the system, the officials said. They made it clear that a final decision in this regard would have to be taken by the Indian authorities. Costello said tests following the integration of the satellite with the uplink stations had been completed successfully. The Gagan system also envisages providing information to aircraft for navigation over the seas bordering India, where it is difficult to provide conventional navigational signals.

The Gagan system will have eight reference stations, including centres in Delhi, Guwahati, Jammu and Port Blair, and a mission control centre in Bangalore. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation is involved in the training process for the certification of the system. Costello also said Raytheon was keen on expanding its "very healthy partnership" with ISRO, especially in view of the growth of the satellite launch market in India. Walt Doran, president of Raytheon Asia, said the company was working on a mini-radio frequency payload that would be put by the US Navy on Chandrayaan-I, India's first unmanned mission to the moon. This package of sensors will map the permanently dark lunar polar regions and look for potential water ice deposits.

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Indian aircraft makes precautionary landing at Changi airport

2007-06-21T09:54:00.000+05:30

An Airbus A-320 aircraft of state-owned airline Indian today returned to Singapore's Changi airport after take-off and made a precautionary landing after a problem relating to its avionics was detected. The pilots of the aircraft detected the problem 30 minutes after take-off and sought permission for a precautionary landing from the Singaporean ATC, Indian sources said. The aircraft was taken to a remote bay after landing and was going through checks, the sources said. The flight IC-860, carrying 109 passengers, was on its return flight to Delhi.

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EgyptAir plans more direct India-Kuala Lumpur flights

2007-06-21T09:52:00.001+05:30

Spurred by overwhelming response to its recently launched direct flights between Mumbai and Kuala Lumpur, EgyptAir plans to add more direct flights to Malaysia from major Indian cities. EgyptAir’s Mumbai-based regional manager Ahmed Wasfy said the airline will operate direct flights from New Delhi and Ahmedabad, the largest city in Gujarat, to Malaysia from next year. Due to strong demand from Egyptian and Indian passengers the airline will also increase its present twice-weekly services to thrice a week to Kuala Lumpur from July. “Malaysia is a new market for us and our flights are already 90 per cent full on the Mumbai-KL route. People trust EgyptAir as it is safe, cheap and direct to KL, so we expect the demand to be there all season,” Ahmed said. The 75-year-old airline flies its Airbus 330 to Malaysia on Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays and vice-versa.

Ahmed said the number of people travelling from Malaysia to the Middle East is gradually on the rise while Malaysia is a favourite destination among Egyptians, hence the Cairo-Mumbai-KL route serves as a vital air link connecting these destinations. “KL has been in our long term plan for a long time but due to high operational costs we did not operate but now via Mumbai, we can fly cheaper to KL,” he added. “By adding this route, we are offering convenient connections to the people of Malaysia to fly to Cairo as well as to Mumbai. We see a lot of potential in this route.” EgyptAir, added Ahmed, plans to modify the current schedule of the Cairo-Mumbai-KL route so that the onward connections to Europe and the US will see shorter transit times, such that within two hours of arriving in Cairo, passengers could connect to the European sector. EgyptAir targets about 12,800 passengers to fly the Mumbai-KL sector by year-end.

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Singapore Airlines 50th flight to India from June 24

2007-06-21T09:47:00.001+05:30

Singapore Airlines on Monday announced its 50th service to India with the commencement of a flight on the Singapore-Chennai-Singapore sector from June 24 and to commemorate the milestone the airline will offer upto 50 per cent discount on return economy fare to select destinations in South East Asia. The airline manager for Southern India Bharat Mahadevan said that bookings for the special fares would be open for three days from June 19 on the internet only and for outbound travel from June 24. The destinations for promotional fares were Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok and Hong Kong.

In addition, the airline had brought out a 'boarding pass privileges programme for its Indian customers,underwhich those presenting their airline boarding pass within seven days of their journey would enjoy value added benefits and discounts ranging from dining, shopping, tourist attraction, hotel accommodation to car rental, he said. The airline operates to eight destinations in the country viz double daily flights to Mumbai, eight times a week to Chennai, daily flight to Delhi and Mumbai, four times weekly to Kolkata and Hyderabad and three times a week each to Ahmedabad and Amritsar, he said adding in addition the airline's subsidary regional airline operated daily flights to Kochi and four flights a week to Thiruvananthapuram. Replying to a question,he said the airline hoped to double the number of flights to Chennai from next year.

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DGCA issues notice to Air Sahara

2007-06-21T09:43:00.001+05:30

The government has reacted strongly to a report of a disabled person who was not allowed to board an Air Sahara flight on Monday evening in Chennai without first getting a fit-to-fly certificate. The Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has issued a notice to the managements of SpiceJet and JetLite (Air Sahara's new name) asking for an immediate explanation. The airlines could face action if the DGCA is not satisfied with its reply. Rajeev Rajan is someone who fights for the rights of the disabled worldwide but Air Sahara denied him a boarding pass to fly from Chennai to Delhi. He suffers from cerebral palsy but does not require an escort for travel. Rajan says the airline authorities insisted on an escort and a fitness to fly certificate and called the police to evict him.

His repeated pleas that he is a frequent flier and ought to be treated with dignity went unheard. When Rajeev contacted another airline, SpiceJet, they too refused him a ticket. "This is a gross violation of a person's basic human rights. He had a valid ticket and was on time. This is an apartheid of a different kind," said Rajul Padmanabhan, director, Vidya Sagar. Doctors say cerebral palsey patients ought to be allowed to fly independently. Only those in extreme condition and who travel for treatment will require a doctor's certificate and an escort. This is the second such incident in the recent past. Last year an autistic child was denied admission into an Air Deccan flight in Bangalore. However, there is more shocking evidence of the shocking discrimination. It said the airline will not be responsible for their life and property.

Rajiv also recounts his experience three years ago when he was forced to take a sedative pill on board. But what is even more shocking is that there is no clear guidelines on who shouldn't be allowed to board the aircraft. There are just directives in terns of priority to the physically disabled and every airline determines its own policy towards those with motor or neuro disability. Now Rajeev has decided to approach the consumer court and file a PIL as well. While so much is being talked about making our airports disabled friendly, what is urgently required is a change in mindset. JetLite said that the passenger Rajeev Rajan was left at the Chennai airport counter by someone. It said that when the ground staff asked about his destination and other details he could not reply. "After several attempts the airline staff, it seems, found out that he had to travel from Chennai to Delhi but by then the flight had left.

So he was shifted to SpiceJet but then again the passenger could not 'satisfactorily' answer their queries," it added. "Assuming he would not be able to understand the safety instructions on board, or read the airport signages he was 'advised' against travelling alone," the airlines further clarified. After a day of silence, SpiceJet has said that Rajeev did not approach them directly but Air Sahara had asked SpiceJet if a wheel chair passenger could be accommodated but they turned down the request because of no inter-airline passenger agreement. SpiceJet also says on its 83 flights a day around 1.5 wheel chair passengers fly per flight per day. Now, there is a call from disabled rights activists for clear cut guidelines. With no awareness on disability among ground level staff it is an insensitive discrimination apartheid of a different kind. Airliners often look at disabled people as a nuisance to fellow passengers. With the Ministry of Civil Aviation stepping in, activists are hoping that this will protect their rights and give them the dignity they deserve.

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Airlines can avail engineering services from Air India

2007-06-21T09:37:00.001+05:30

Following its merger with Indian Airlines, national carrier Air-India will throw open its engineering services to other domestic and international airlines as well. Currently, many domestic airlines send their aircraft to the Middle East for engineering services. According to Air-India officials, the company’s engineering market cell is geared towards undertaking third party work of various international airlines. The cell has already started receiving queries about various services like maintenance of airframes, aircraft furnishing, line maintenance, major maintenance and providing certification of aircraft. V Thulasidas, CMD, Air India said, “Post merger, we shall have a complete support service that can handle our own requirements as well as those of other airlines.”

He added that various international and domestic airlines are in touch with Air-India for engineering facilities, which would be offered at competitive rates as compared to other countries. Air-India’s department for engineering and maintenance has expertise covering all types of aircraft, from Lockheed Constellations to Boeing 707, 747-200/300, B747-400 and the Airbus A310 and A300B4. Civil Aviation minister Praful Patel adds, “The time has come for the national carrier to enhance its engineering capacity to more and more airlines for revenue generation." For example, Bangladesh-based Biman Airlines recently signed an MoU for their engineering requirement with Air India. The operations of Air India and Indian will be merged in July, although some legal processes are to be completed yet, Thulasidas added. It may be noted that the three hangars belonging to Air India are one of the best in the country and with the technical know-how of both the merged entities, the airline can avail of services of a significant scale.

“I do not remember the names of the airlines that we are servicing currently, but with the merger, we will be extending a wide spectrum of engineering facilities to renowned airlines," says Thulasidas. However, Patel is keen to bring world class engineering and ground handling facilities in India can be gauged from the fact that the new aviation policy includes hiving off engineering services of the two state run carriers into joint ventures with foreign firms including airlines. “Once the ground handling business gets started, the merged entity may be able to effect cost saving of nearly $400 million over 10 years," said an official from the Air India department of engineering and maintenance.

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Lufthansa wins contract to maintain Kingfisher's aircraft

2007-06-21T09:34:00.000+05:30

In a sign of India's growing importance as a market for the global aviation industry, German aircraft-maintenance giant Lufthansa Technik AG expects to announce today a contract with India's Kingfisher Airlines Ltd. valued at more than $100 million over 10 years.Lufthansa Technik, the maintenance and repair subsidiary of Germany's Deutsche Lufthansa AG, will maintain Kingfisher's growing fleet of Airbus A320 single-aisle aircraft and their engines.Kingfisher, a unit of Indian conglomerate UB Group, has grown rapidly since its first flight in May 2005. Recent deregulation of the airline market in India, the world's second-most populated nation, has spurred creation of many new airlines.

Yet India lacks much of the infrastructure needed to support a modern aviation industry, such as adequate airports and air traffic control systems. Most carriers must send planes to maintenance facilities in the Middle East or Southeast Asia.With demand growing, Lufthansa Technik is looking to build operations with India. It is setting up an Indian unit with domestic infrastructure group GMR Group. The facility will offer basic maintenance services for single-aisle aircraft from Airbus, a unit of European Aeronautic Defence & Space Co., and U.S. rival Boeing Co.

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Paramount Airways eyes SpiceJet

2007-06-21T09:30:00.000+05:30

The Chennai-based all business class airline Paramount Airways, promoted by the diminutive M Thiagarajan has started to bare its fangs. A few days after it was reported that Paramount is in talks to acquire a controlling stake in Jeh Wadia’s Go Air, sources say Thiagarajan has now set his sight on Delhi-based low cost carrier SpiceJet. This, sources said, is because the Wadia family is undecided on whether or not they ought to let go of control over Go Air. The Wadia-promoted airline’s official line is that they have no intentions to exit. Sources at Paramount said that the airline has reached an informal agreement with some of Spice Jet’s shareholders who are keen to exit the airline. Once, Paramount acquires 26% in Spice Jet, it will make an open offer for another 20%. Sources said this investment may need at least Rs 500 crore. This values the Delhi-based Spice Jet in the region of Rs 1,000 crore.

On SpiceJet’s part, a spokesperson for the airline said ‘‘SpiceJet is one of the best funded airlines in the country with large cash reserves...Our financial strength can be gauged from the fact that we have recently placed orders for 10 Boeing 737-800 at a cost of $700 million at list price.’’ Added Khaled Al Khamda, vice chairman, Istithmar Holdings, a Dubai-based private equity player with investments in SpiceJet, ‘‘I am not aware of Paramount interest in buying 26% in Spice Jet; nor are we in a dialogue with any third parties over this issue.’’ Sources at Paramount, however, stuck to their stand. They pointed out that close to 62% of Spice Jet’s shares are held by financial institutions. Each of these institutions hold small stakes of around 3-5% in the airline. Apparently, the airline has been talking with a clutch of these investors and are hoping to complete the transaction by July. ‘‘Once the due diligence is completed by the end of this month, the deal should come through, unless the premiums on the share price goes beyond expectations,’’ they added.

Thiagarajan remained unavailable for comment. According to the plan, Paramount would acquire the shares in block deals. The stock price of SpiceJet closed at Rs 59.65 at the BSE on Monday, up by 3.83% over its previous close. Spice Jet is listed on the domestic stock markets with the Kansagara family, promoters of the airline, holding around 12%. Dubai-based private equity fund Istithmar also has a considerable stake in the airline, while the Tata group holds nearly 10%. ‘‘All these stakeholders, including the promoters have a lock-in period until next February. Both the promoters and the Tatas have evinced an interest to exit the company after the lock-in period is completed. This fits into Paramounts strategy as it can up its stake gradually,’’ the source said. Paramount will primarily fund the acquisiton through internal accruals.

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Air Arabia to fly additional flights on Mumbai-Sharjah route

2007-06-20T10:03:00.001+05:30

Sharjah-based budget airline, Air Arabia today announced it would fly two additional flights a week from June 22 between Mumbai and Sharjah to meet the increasing traffic. However, the additional flights will remain in operation only till September 15, a company release clarified. The two extra flights added, will depart on Friday and Saturday from Sharjah at 0935 hours and arrive at Mumbai at 1400 hours. It will depart from Mumbai at 1445 hours, to arrive in Sharjah at 1605 hours, local time. According to the release, the regular frequency between Sharjah and Mumbai will continue as normal with daily departure at 1630 hrs UAE time from Sharjah and a 2145 hrs (IST) departure from Mumbai.

"The additional flights reflect our commitment to the India market in catering to the increased traffic between Sharjah and Mumbai. Demand to the UAE and the rest of the Gulf is high, with a large number of Indian expatriates keen to get back to the Gulf after their summer holidays. With many families facing difficulties in obtaining seat confirmations during this period, we are glad to operate these flights especially to cater to their needs," Adel Ali, Board Member and Chief Executive Officer of Air Arabia said. With a fleet of nine Airbus A320 aircrafts, Air Arabia serves 35 destinations across the Middle East, North Africa, the Indian subcontinent and Central Asia. It also flies to Jaipur, Kochi, Mumbai, Nagpur and Thiruvananthapuram.

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Two flights return to Chennai airport after takeoff

2007-06-20T09:58:00.000+05:30

The Chennai-Kolkata Alliance Air flight with 89 passengers on board returned to the Kamaraj domestic airport today following a crack on the cockpit window of the aircraft. Airport sources said the flight via Bhubaneshwar took off at 1135 hrs after a delay of about an hour. When the pilot noticed the crack and informed the Air Traffic Control (ATC) , the ATC directed the pilot to return to Chennai as the Bhubaneshwar airport lacked emeregency landing facility. Following this, the pilot landed the flight safely at 1240 hrs.

A total of 34 passengers bound for Bhubaneshwar were sent there at 1415 hrs by the Chennai-Bhubaneshwar Air Deccan flight, while the remaining passengers bound for Kolkata were sent by a scheduled Indian flight at 1515 hrs, the sources said. Meanwhile, the Chennai-Port Blair Jet Airways flight with 145 passengers aboard also returned to the Kamaraj domestic airport here as it could not land at Port Blair due to bad weather condition. The aircraft, which left at 1025 hrs, reached Port Blair around 1300 hrs, and after hovering some time over the airport, returned to Chennai as the weather condition worsened further. All the passengers were accommodated in different hotels and would be sent to Port Blair tomorrow after the weather improves, the sources said.

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Oman Air-SpiceJet deal to boost crew

2007-06-19T18:55:00.000+05:30

Oman Air has teamed up with India's SpiceJet low-cost airline in a bid to acquire more pilots and expand its air crew, the company announced today. Captain Hamed Al Jabry, senior manager of line operations at Oman Air, said that the airline was recently in India to look for a partner to provide Oman Air with ‘well-trained quality Boeing 737 pilots'. "We did enter into a strategic tie-up with SpiceJet after an extensive and careful inspection. Their pilots will fly with Oman Air on a contract basis for a period of one year," he said. To meet the company's future expansion goals, the airline designated a group of Omani graduates to undergo full Joint Aviation Authority Airline Transport Pilots License at Atlantic Flight Training in the UK.

Until the new pilots are ready to take to the skies, SpiceJet will hire out its Boeing 737 pilots to Oman Air. The deal will also see the low-cost airline's crew gain international exposure and training. The move comes after the national carrier set out an ambitious expansion strategy following its pullout from Gulf Air over a month ago. The Omani airline has added four new destinations up to now including Abu Dhabi, Chittagong in Bangladesh, and Indian destinations Lucknow and Jaipur. It has also added two more new aircraft to its fleet.

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Domestic airlines eyeing dedicated freighters

2007-06-19T09:44:00.001+05:30

With passenger planes not really helping them to make profits, the domestic airline companies are now turning to cargo business in a big way. A study by the Centre for Asia-Pacific Aviation (CAPA) on freight business reveals that over the next 18 months, six carriers will be operating dedicated freighters in the country signalling a lift-off of this long-ignored segment. "The next wave of aviation development in India is likely to include establishment of a number of domestic and international cargo airlines. India's increasing international trade combined with strong domestic economy will drive the demand for this sector," CAPA said. Quoting a forecast made by Airbus, the CAPA study said India's dedicated freighters would grow from eight aircraft at present to around 165 aircraft by 2025, an average of one new freighter delivery every 1.5 months, to service its strong expected domestic and international growth.

There has been a strong growth in the air cargo business over the last few years but bulk of it was handled by foreign airlines. The study says India's airlines handled only 12 per cent of total freight volumes to and fro India in 2005-06. As per estimates, export freight and outbound cargo exceeds inbound by a ratio of 3:2. The total market crossed the eight lakh tonne mark during 2005-06. Referring to the poor record of Indian carriers, the study said low-cost carriers, which account for over 35 per cent of the domestic market, are not conducive to freight operations due to their focus on faster turnarounds. Presently Blue Dart Express, the first mover in the country's freight market and the only one to have dedicated freight aircraft, has 40 per cent share in the domestic cargo business. Global express company DHL acquired Blue Dart last year.

Air India has started getting into the act and its first dedicated freighter would be deployed on the Kerala-Gulf Sector shortly. Over the next three years, Air India plans to have a fleet of 10 cargo aircraft servicing various markets, the study said. Air Deccan is planning to launch a domestic cargo service to be operated by a new subsidiary, while Indian which has a 26 per cent market share at present in the freight business is also considering a dedicated freight unit with plans to convert five aircraft from the fleet of Alliance Air. Jet Airways, which has a 25 per cent share in the freight market, is planning to involve Lufthansa in its freight unit though exact details are not known. Hyderabad-based Flyington Freighters is also planning to launch dedicated international freight service in July with two aircrafts, the study said.

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Jet Airways' 777-300ER arrives at Paris show

2007-06-18T12:09:00.000+05:30

Jet Airways' recently delivered 777-300ER arrived Saturday in Le Bourget, where it will be on display during the Paris Air Show next week. It is the second of 10 777-300ERs that Jet, India's largest private airline, has ordered from Boeing. It is fitted with a new interior, including newly created first class suites with premiere amenities. Each of the suites offers nearly 26 square feet of usable space that can be closed off with sliding doors. The suites feature a 23-inch flat-screen monitor, storage areas that include a personal hanging wardrobe, dual credenzas and under-ottoman storage, and an 83-inch bed. With a business-jet style table, two can dine comfortably in the suite.

The plane is configured in three classes, including eight first class suites, 30 premiere seats and 274 economy seats. Jet Airways operates the 777-300ER on a Mumbai-London route. On Aug. 5, the 14-year-old airline will become the first private airline flying from India to the United States, operating the Boeing 777-300ER via Brussels, its newly created European hub. The inaugural service will be Mumbai-Brussels-New York (Newark). Jet Airways will launch future daily international services from Delhi, Chennai, Bangalore and Ahmedabad in India, to New York, Chicago, Toronto and Los Angeles. Daily Services to San Francisco via Shanghai are also planned.

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Paris Air Show, a mixed bag for Indian airlines

2007-06-18T12:03:00.000+05:30

Airlines from India, among the fastest growing by passenger volume in the world, will be wooed by aircraft manufacturers at the Paris Air Show this week but are unlikely to be major buyers. Analysts say that the world's oldest and largest air show, which kicks off Monday, may see few deals from India as budget carriers struggle to manage costs and move to profitability. India's airlines lost a total of 400 million dollars in the nine months ended December 2006 as high fuel and aircraft purchase costs hit carriers, experts told an aviation conference earlier this year. But full-service Indian carrier Kingfisher Airlines is expected to place orders as it prepares to expand into budget services in India and fly to international destinations as well, said Amar Kedia, aviation analyst with brokerage Mumbai-based ICICI-Securities.

"We will be surprised if Kingfisher does not order more wide-bodied aircraft for their international operations," Kedia said. "They do have aggressive international plans." Kingfisher Airlines chief executive Vijay Mallya was quoted as saying on the sidelines of IATA's annual meeting in Vancouver in early June that the company wil announce a new aircraft order with European manufacturer Airbus. Kingfisher has already ordered Airbus's A340-500s that can directly serve the US West Coast. In 2005, Kingfisher ordered 15 Airbus aircraft: five of the new superjumbo A380, five of the future A350 and five A330s. Its A380 delivery was delayed and is now expected in 2011. "Kingfisher could look for Airbus planes, likely jumbo A340-600s, for non-stop connectivity (between India and the US)," said Gautam Roy, airline analyst with brokerage Edelweiss Capital.

In addition Mallya's UB Group, the parent of Kingfisher, last month bought a 26 percent stake in Indian budget airline Air Deccan, throwing a 5.5 billion rupee (135 million dollar) lifeline to the loss-making carrier and enabling both airlines to trim costs and share resources. The world's biggest civilian aircraft manufacturers, US-based Boeing and Airbus, announced new business worth 48 billion dollars (36 billion euros) at the last Paris show in 2005 with India a major buyer. In 2005, budget carrier Indigo ordered 100 A320 planes from Indigo worth about six billion dollars (4.96 billion euros) while full-service Jet Airways bought 10 A330 airliners for around 1.65 billion dollars. But new orders are not likely by many of the other carriers including state-owned domestic airline Indian and international flag-carrier Air India which have already made purchases since the last show.

In January 2006, Air India signed an agreement to buy 68 Boeing jets for around 11 billion dollars to upgrade its ageing fleet, marking the biggest deal in Indian aviation history. In 2005, Indian Airlines ordered 20 Airbus A-319s, 19 A-321s and four A-320s in a deal worth 2.2 billion dolars. In February of this year, the government announced plans to merge the state-owned carriers in a bid to better compete in India's booming aviation sector. More than 50 percent of the fleet in India is made up of Airbus planes, while Boeing commands a 25 percent presence. At least half-a-dozen carriers, including budget airlines, have taken flight in the past three years in India's liberalised skies, which were previously dominated by the two state-run companies. In February Airbus calculated that India would need a further 1,100 planes by 2025 on predictions that domestic passenger travel would jump to more than 180 million annually from around 25 million now.

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Jet Airways to start service to Toronto, Newark

2007-06-16T18:59:00.001+05:30

Jet Airways is starting operations between Toronto and New Delhi via Brussels from Sep 5, and will fly to this city five times a week, the airline's founder and chairman Naresh Goyal said. The airline has also firmed up plans to start a service to Newark in New Jersey from Aug 5, Goyal said, adding that the fares to both these sectors would be competitive without compromising on the service. 'Canada was on our radar the minute we were allowed to fly internationally in January 2005. Canada-India trade is growing every day and so is travel between our two countries,' he said. Goyal said his airline was targeting the 800,000 Indians in Canada, many of whom fly to India regularly, and added that the withdrawal of Air Canada's service to India last month had made the prospects for Jet Airways better.

'Our cost structure is low because wages are low in India. As an Indian company we understand our customers, who are Canadians now, intimately - whether they are from Punjab, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu or Karnataka or Andhra Pradesh,' he said. 'We also know what food they want to eat, what films they want to see and what music they like.' The airline chief said when Jet Airways starts its Toronto and Newark service, it will be among the first to offer eight private, first class cabins, each with flat beds and 23-inch plasma screens with 100 on-demand channels to choose from. Jet Airways operates over 340 flights daily across 44 destinations in India and also flies to Nepal, Sri Lanka, Singapore, Malaysia, Britain, Thailand, Belgium and the US.

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Air traffic disrupted as cargo aircraft gets stuck on runway

2007-06-16T18:57:00.000+05:30

A Sri Lankan Airlines cargo aircraft got stuck on the runway after one of its engines developed a technical snag at the HAL airport at Bangalore on Thursday. Deputy Commissioner of Police (South East) Soumendhu Mukherji said that the Colombo-bound cargo flight UL9172 developed a technical snag while taking off at 7.30 p.m. The runway was blocked for over an hour. There was no report of any casualty though seven people were reportedly in the aircraft when the incident occurred, he added. Regional Director of Airport Authority of India Navindar Koushal said air traffic was disrupted and more than 20 flights were delayed.

The operation of international flights, which begin around 9 p.m., was likely to be affected by this incident, sources said. Afsal K. of Hyderabad said that his flight to Bangalore was delayed. “We had to spend three hours in the air. It is three hours’ worth business wasted for me,” he added. P. Shahul, a passenger of Indian from Chennai, said that his flight was delayed by two hours. “We did not know the correct reason and had to wait for a signal to land for almost two hours,” he said.

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Vijay Mallya on the prowl again, targets SpiceJet

2007-06-16T18:56:00.001+05:30

Liquor baron Vijay Mallya’s appetite for assets in the aviation space is insatiated, with enough indications that he’s on the acquisition trail again. After recently acquiring a majority (26%) stake in the country’s largest low cost carrier Air Deccan for Rs 550 crore, Mallya has set his eyes on another LCC, SpiceJet. Indication of Mallya’s interest comes amidst speculation that rival carrier Jet Airways has also shown interest in acquiring SpiceJet. However senior SpiceJet officials said that there was no plan to sell stake again after they offloaded 25% stake worth Rs 72 million in January this year. “We have sufficient funds with us, and there is no immediate plan to sell stake again,” officials added. The possible acquisition of SpiceJet by Mallya was fuelled when he told a news channel that though talks in this direction had not been initiated, “SpiceJet would come to him if they wanted maximum shareholder value”.

Earlier, the low cost carrier on January 11 had approved 25% fresh issue of shares worth $ 72 million. While the Tatas were allotted shares worth $17.5 million, Ishtitmar bought shares worth $25 million, Goldman Sach $15 million, BNP Paribas $5 million, KBC Fund UK $2.5 million, and Telemnix $7 million. With the dilution of stakes, the stake held by the promoters, the Kansagara family had come down from 17% to 13%. SpiceJet had raised the money for the acquisition of a new aircraft. The company has placed firm orders for 10 more Boeing 737-800s at a cost of $700 million at list prices. By December, the company will have a fleet of 18 aircraft. The two-year-old airline already enjoys a market share of 8%. In the last quarter, the company made losses to the tune of Rs 21 crore, and has accumulated losses of around Rs 70 crore.

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New Boeing 777-200 LR's to join AI fleet next month

2007-06-16T18:54:00.000+05:30

Two of the new boeing 777-200 (LR) aircraft would be joining the fleet by next month, V Thulasidas, chief of Air India (AI) said. Talking to reporters, Mr Thulasidas said all 10 leased A-310 aircraft will be phased out by 2010. While two of the aircraft will be returned this year, another five would be sent back to a lessor in 2008. Mr Thulasidas said the first 777-300-ER aircraft will be delivered to AI in August this year, while another delivery of the aircraft will arrive in September and October. The airline is also poised to take the first delivery of 25 787 aircraft in September next year.

AI is acquiring 68 state-of- the-art aircraft, which will have latest passenger amenities onboard. Acquisition of the new aircraft will enable the state-owned carrier to be ranked among the top 10 in Asia Pacific, he said. Seven of the 18 new aircraft, ordered for Air India Express which is airline's low-cost subsidiary, have already been inducted in the fleet. The first batch of the 50 new aircraft for AI will join the fleet this month itself, he added.

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Indian Airlines employees call off strike

2007-06-15T10:35:00.001+05:30

The two-day strike by staffers of the state-run Indian airlines was called off Thursday noon after the management agreed to meet most of their demands, primarily on better pay. "A union team had talks with the government and the management in the afternoon, and as they agreed to meet most of our demands, we have withdrawn our strike," said Hari Singh of the Air Corporation Employees Union (ACEU). "We have asked the striking employees to return to work soon," said the office bearer of ACEU, which demanded wage revisions and promotional parity with Air India counterparts following the government's nod to merge the two carriers. The Delhi High Court had held the strike illegal. Earlier in the day, the airline, which operates under the brand name "Indian", was forced to cancel 103 flights, resulting in chaos at airports across the country and leaving thousands of passengers scrambling for alternatives.

Among the flights cancelled were those running on international routes between sectors like Chennai and Singapore, Bangkok and Sharjah, and Kolkata and Bangkok. About 12,000 ground staff of the carrier, including security personnel and baggage handlers, had been on strike since Tuesday night, demanding pay hikes and payment of arrears that they claimed were pending since 1997. The airline employs some 19,300 people. The cabin crew joined the agitation Wednesday, leading to a complete breakdown in services, even as Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel issued a stern warning and threatened large-scale suspension. Indian daily ferries 31,000 passengers to 54 destinations in India and 18 overseas. On Wednesday, the ongoing strike had forced authorities to cancel over 62 flights across the country.

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Air India Express on domestic routes being planned

2007-06-15T10:33:00.001+05:30

Plans are afoot to launch a low-cost air service "Air India Express" on domestic routes post merger of Indian with Air India. "We are already successfully running our budget service, Air India Express, internationally, and this Air India Express will run a domestic service also after Air India's merger with Indian," Air India chairman V Thulasidas said on the sidelines of an aviation conference. So far, Air India Express has been running profitably, unlike the operations of budget airlines across the world, which are barely making profits, or running losses. On an average, its fares are 25 per cent cheaper than normal ones, he said adding the national carrier may even consider operating a long-distance international budget service if the operation was found viable. Mr Thulasidas said Alliance Air, a subsidiary of Indian, would be merged with Air India Express to provide the budget service. Alliance's fleet of six to seven Boeing 737-200s would, however, be taken off from passenger service and would be converted into freighters for the national carrier's cargo service.

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Qatar Airways to start direct flights to US

2007-06-15T10:29:00.000+05:30

Expanding its wings, Qatar Airways will introduce direct flights to Washington and New York in the US from Doha, which would virtually connect six Indian cities with the North American continent. Addressing mediapersons at Kochi, Qatar Airways Regional Manager Naveen Chawla said the New York flight, operational from June 26, and Washington service, from July 19, would boost the airlines' rapidly growing international network from its hub in Doha to beyond 75 destinations worldwide. "The two services, four-times-a-week, can be availed by discerning Indian travellers from New Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Kochi, Thiruvananthapuram and Chennai to Doha," he added.

Mr Chawla said this year the airline had launched new services to Da-e-Salaam in Tanzania, Lagos in Nigeria, Bali in Indonesia and Ho-Chi-Minh City in Vietnam. In India, the airways had increased the carrying capacity by 40 per cent and plans were afoot to start services from Ahmedabad and Nagpur. "The airways operates a total of 42 flights from India to Qatar daily from six cities in the country," he added. With a growing international network, more travellers had an opportunity to use Qatar Airway's brand with million dollar new Premium Terminal at Doha International Airport, exclusively for first and business class passengers. Mr Chawla said the new Doha International Airport would be opened by 2009.

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Indian trumps Jet in May as leading airline

2007-06-15T10:13:00.001+05:30

State-owned carrier Indian Airlines has squeezed past rival Jet Airways to emerge as the largest airline in terms of market share in the country in May. The airline has cornered 23 per cent market share against 22.5 per cent recorded by the private Jet Airways (excluding Air Sahara). Indian Airlines, which had been the second largest airline in terms of market share, had lost even this position to budget carrier Air Deccan in July 2006. Later in April 2007, Indian Airlines jumped to the number two slot thanks to an aggressive marketing initiative, coupled with the crashing of Air Deccan’s reservation system for a few days. The market share of Indian Airlines in April was at 22 per cent, while that of Jet Airways was at 22.3 per cent.

Air Sahara, rechristened JetLite after being acquired by Jet Airways, has maintained a market share of 6.8 per cent in May against 7.1 per cent. The Vijay Mallya-promoted Kingfisher Airlines, which has recently picked up 26 per cent stake in Air Deccan, has improved its position to 12.2 per cent in May against 10.9 per cent in April. “The aggressive marketing initiatives by Indian Airlines and the emergence of Kingfisher Airlines as a potential competitor to Jet Airways in services have helped the national carrier to grab the top slot,” industry analysts pointed out. Commenting on the market share, Indian Airlines officials said the carrier was always the number one in the domestic circuit, in terms of revenue per kilometers per day.

Jet executives said the latest data was not available and added that it was irrelevant to consider the standalone market share of Jet Airways, excluding JetLite, as the latter was very much a part of Jet. “Indian Airlines has been dropping fares to garner market share. The spot fares of Indian Airlines is cheaper than low-fare carriers. The carrier was offering tickets at throw-away prices on the premium economy fares, surf and save schemes and other similar schemes,” said a senior executive of a leading low-cost carrier. According to highly placed sources, SpiceJet garnered 8.2 per cent market share (8.3 per cent in April), Air Deccan 18 per cent (18.3 per cent), and IndiGo 6.9 per cent (6.3 per cent) in May.

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Vijay Mallya draws up flight path for Air Deccan

2007-06-15T10:11:00.001+05:30

The Air Deccan network is a huge asset waiting to be leveraged, chairman of Kingfisher Airlines, Vijay Mallya, said Tuesday. Outlining his strategy for the two airlines at an investor summit organised by the Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation (CAPA) in Mumbai, he said Air Deccan had expanded the non-metro market over the past few years and it was time to reap the benefits. The airline needs only a slight course correction that would amount to about Rs 500 more per ticket. He also said Kingfisher will operate on the high-density metro routes, which will be rationalised so as not to overlap with the Air Deccan connections. The focus of the low cost carrier (LCC) will be to leverage on its tier 2 and 3 city network which has a huge potential.

Stating categorically that the days of low fares and discounting are over for Air Deccan, Mr Mallya said everyone is tired of losing money. “Though we are not in the business of exploiting the customer, we are not here to bleed either,” he said. The fares will now reflect the actual cost of business. If Air Deccan had lower backend and other costs, these would be maintained, he added. On Kingfisher’s international plans, he said the strategy is to focus on the India-US traffic. The airline will take delivery of its first A340-300 long haul planes in February next year and these will fly from Bangalore to San Francisco and New York.

There is a huge demand for direct flights rather than going through hubs, he said. He hoped the government will review the rule which requires an airline to fly for five years domestically before becoming eligible for international operations. If Jet Airways gets permission to fly to the Gulf countries next year, so should Air Deccan, he added. Kingfisher and Air Deccan put together have a network of 537 flights daily to 69 destinations in India. Once international connections are established, passengers will be able to travel seamlessly to remote places in India using the Kingfisher-Deccan network, he said. Kingfisher will induct 10 wide-body planes between February and August next year. The airline is expected to make more announcements for new aircraft in the Paris air show, which begins next week.

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Kingfisher Airlines may stagger Airbus delivery

2007-06-15T10:07:00.000+05:30

Kingfisher Airlines is likely to stagger taking delivery of Airbus aircraft it had ordered as its recent stake acquisition in Deccan Aviation Ltd. altered demand outlook, its chairman said on Tuesday. "Between the two of us, we have 88 Airbus aircraft scheduled to come between now and 2011," Vijay Mallya told reporters. "Whether they should come on the current delivery schedule, or adjust it to suit our demand is a point we need to decide." Last month, Kingfisher agreed to buy a 26 percent stake in Deccan Aviation, a budget carrier that has been making losses, for 5.5 billion rupees. It is also offering to buy 20 percent more from minority holders of Deccan to fulfil regulatory requirements. The two firms together have a fleet of 71 aircraft.

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Finnair to commence Mumbai to Helsinki direct flights

2007-06-15T10:05:00.000+05:30

On June 27, Finland’s national carrier, Finnair, will commence its direct Mumbai-Helsinki flights. “We will connect Mumbai to Europe in the fastest and most convenient service, five times a week with the most competitive return fares,” said Christer Haglund, Senior Vice President (Corporate Communications), Finnair at a press conference in Mumbai. The flights will be operated using the wide-bodied Airbus 340 aircraft and will serve Indian food, “to make passengers feel at home,” Haglund added. The airline initially started its India operations with three weekly flights from the national capital, New Delhi, in October 2006. “Our Indian business is growing enormously. Sensing the need, we plan to quadruple our flights in India in a span of eight months since the commencement of operations.

That precisely encouraged us to commence operations from Mumbai,” he said. Terming the Mumbai-Helsinki flights as “environment-friendly”, Haglund said that he referred to the route in those terms since “with a flight time of just over eight hours, there will be no refuelling stops.” He added that the airline's economy class passenger load to Asia had increased by 80 per cent and the business class by 40 per cent. “We foresee an enormous potential in the Asian market, particularly in the Indian sector, though the revenue from the Asian market in the last five fiscal years was just five per cent of the airline’s total revenue,” he added.

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MDLR starts flights from Kolkata

2007-06-15T10:01:00.001+05:30

Newly floated regional carrier MDLR Airlines launched its Kolkata operations on Monday with flights to Delhi, Chandigarh and Ranchi. Within the next couple of months, the airline plans to connect Kolkata with Port Blair, Goa, Visakhapatnam and Bhubaneswar. MDLR Airlines president Kaustav Dhar said that Kolkata would soon emerge as the second hub for the airline after Delhi. The carrier has a fleet of two four-engine regional jets — AVRO RJ 70. Each aircraft offers a configuration of six business and 64 economy seats. The airline that currently has the regional operator licence will seek a regular service airline licence by this year end when it has six AVRO regional jets.

The current Director General of Civil Aviation guidelines mandates that a carrier should have the five aircraft of same type in its fleet to apply for regular operator status. “We will operate a flight to Port Blair in a month’s time. Before Durga Puja, we will connect Kolkata to Goa non-stop. By then, the Kolkata-Chandigarh fight will be extended to Kulu. In a year’s time, we hope to connect Kolkata with several attractive leisure and MICE destinations,” Dhar said. On board, the carrier serves only vegetarian cuisine, ranging from Continental to Chinese and Indian.

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Foreign Low cost Carriers hover over India

2007-06-15T09:52:00.000+05:30

A price war in international air travel is imminent with several Asian low-cost carriers (LCCs) receiving or applying for permission to fly from their countries into India. The airlines include Tiger Air (a joint venture between Temasek Holdings and Singapore Airlines), Thailand-based private carrier Nok Air, Indonesia’s Lion Air, United Arab Emirates’s Ras Al Khaima (RAK) Airlines, Malaysia’s Air Asia and Saudi Arabia’s Sama Airways. Last week, Tiger Air received permission to fly six cities in India from Singapore, which include Chennai, Goa, Cochin, Kozhikode, Trivandrum and Kolkata, and is expected to start flying in the next few weeks. Nok Air has started daily flights from Bangalore to Bangkok at a return fare of less than Rs 10,000 from June first week.

RAK Airlines, which was set up in 2006 as the fourth carrier from the United Arab Emirates, will start operations to Mumbai, Delhi, Trivandrum, Kochi and Bangalore. And Air Asia founded by the maverick Tony Fernandes is looking at flying from Malaysia to Kolkata. Said a RAK executive who was in Mumbai for a conference organised by the Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation (CAPA), “We are interested in flying Indian destinations, including secondary cities.” Added a Nok Air executive, “We are looking at tourist locations in India”. Industry experts say that the operation of low-cost carriers in the international skies would bring down prices by at least half to 75 per cent. For instance, a ticket between Bangkok and Kolkata could cost as little as $50.

“With a clutch of low-cost carriers planning to fly from west Asia and south east Asia into India, airfares are likely to go down dramatically and it will stimulate the international travel market — just like what happened in the domestic skies,” said Kapil Kaul, CEO, CAPA. Kaul predicts that the price war and the dramatic changes in the international market would be felt in April next year when all these carriers start operating in India. The international traffic out of India is expected to grow 15 per cent next year. The new entrants will have to compete with domestic Indian carriers like Air India Express, which operates low-cost flights to the Gulf, and Jet Lite, formerly Air Sahara which was recently acquired by Jet Airways, which will fly various destinations in west Asia as a “value carrier”.

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Air Deccan to contest DGCA verdict

2007-05-02T10:38:00.000+05:30

India’s largest low-cost carrier, the Deccan Aviation Pvt. Ltd-owned Air Deccan, will have to replace a thrifty, free-seating arrangement it has on the 350 flights it runs daily, replacing it with seat-numbered boarding passes. This is in order to comply with a new directive issued by the aviation regulator, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).Air Deccan is the only airline in the country that does not provide seat numbers to its passengers as part of a business strategy to keep its planes flying more and staying on the ground less. It allows passengers to occupy any seat on boarding the plane on a first-come, first-seated basis, reducing seating time by up to 40-45%, according to company officials.

Tuesday’s move by the arm of the civil aviation ministry, which the airline said it is going to protest against, could result in higher airfares.“If the government is going to dictate terms and get into micro-management of the airline, then we will have to take up the issue with them,” Air Deccan’s chief revenue officer Samyukta Sridharan said on phone from Bangalore. “It will have a huge impact (on us).”The DGCA directive makes it compulsory for all airline companies to issue seat numbers to passengers before boarding. It also asks all airlines to make sure that handicapped passengers are the first ones to be boarded on a plane and the last ones to be deplaned.Apart from helping the handicapped, the DGCA directive also serves another function.

“Such allocation of seat numbers will also facilitate quick headcount of passengers for tallying with passenger manifest entries as and when required. Furthermore, in the unlikely event of an aircraft accident or in the case of unlawful interference with the aircraft, the seat numbers allotted to individual passengers will assist follow-up action and investigation,” the ministry said in a statement.Except for the initial few months when the airline started operations, Air Deccan has never had a mechanism to allocate seat numbers to passengers. Some of the world’s profitable low-cost airlines, such as the Ireland-based Ryanair Ltd and the Thai AirAsia Co. Ltd-owned AirAsia, follow the same practice. This allows them to utilize the aircraft more by reducing its ‘turnaround time’ on ground.

This is how it works: every time a standard Airbus A320 aircraft, the most-used plane in India, lands, it spends about 30 minutes for maintenance checks, refuelling, cleaning and boarding of the next set of passengers.Air Deccan says the new norms will increase the turnaround time by 20 minutes and that would reduce the number of hours a plane is in the air from the current average of 11 hours daily. Planes of full-service carriers such as Kingfisher Airlines Ltd fly only about nine hours a day.An analyst criticized the government move. “At this stage of the industry (in India), restrictions on the airlines are not warranted for,” said Kapil Kaul, a New Delhi-based analyst with the Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation.

Airlines such as US’ South West Airlines Co. only started issuing seat numbers after being in service for 25 years. “You pay for preferred seating and anything additional. That’s how the low-cost model works the world over,” Kaul said.Air Deccan flies about 7.5 lakh passengers annually with a fleet of 43 planes flying 350 flights daily.The new norms applicable immediately, civil aviation ministry officials said, will help keep track of instances of overbooking at airlines and regulate the flow of passengers at the airport security gates.

Courtesy: Wall Street Journal

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DGCA makes seat allocation compulsory

2007-05-02T10:32:00.000+05:30

In a move that will directly affect the country's leading low-cost carrier, Air Deccan, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has imposed a norm that makes it mandatory for every airline to allocate seats and row numbers to passengers on the boarding card. The new guidelines came into effect last week on April 26. The guidelines have been issued under the provisions of Rule 133A of Aircraft Rules 1937 for all passenger transport aircraft operators. According to a Press statement released by the Ministry of Civil Aviation, the guidelines have been issued to "ensure correct loading of aircraft and keeping the centre of gravity of the aircraft within limits at all times during flight". According to the statement, the guidelines will do away with confusions and ensure "boarding is done in a smooth and orderly manner". Also, in the event of an accident, the numbers will help in investigations.

A DGCA official said a carrier violating the new rules will be forced to explain, before penal action is initiated. While all other carriers provide customers with boarding passes with seat numbers allocated, Air Deccan has been using free seating on its aircraft to save time. Industry experts pointed out that these measures will cause hike in fares. "Seat-number allocation measures will increase turnaround time of an aircraft by an hour, instead of the current 40 minutes. An idle Airbus A320 for an hour would mean $1800 to the owner. Therefore, the airline would finally pass on this additional cost to the passengers," said a source. "Globally, budget carriers were not allocating seat numbers in order to increase aircraft utilisation.

Airports’ infrastructure are also helping these carriers to help this system. With this (the new norm), passengers will have to report at least 2 hours in advance and those reporting late for a flight may have to be dumped,” say sources. Mohan Kumar, consultant and former chief finance officer of Air Deccan, added: "The new norm will not impact Air Deccan. There is no additional investment required to meet this condition. This will affect Air Deccan in future as and when the airline wants to increase the number of flights." At present, Air Deccan has a flight utilisation rate, which is between 10.5 hours and 11 hours. Air Deccan is targeting 12-hour aircraft utilisation rate in future, in line with international budget carriers.

Courtesy: Business Standard

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Jet Airways takes delivery of first 777-300ER

2007-05-02T09:12:00.000+05:30

Jet Airways, India's largest private airline, took delivery of the airline's first of 10 777-300ER (Extended Range) airplanes. The airplane was delivered in Jet Airways' new paint scheme that features a new design, colors and typeface. The airplane will enter service on May 5, commemorating the airline's 14th anniversary of operations. Jet Airways, which originally placed the order for 10 777-300ERs in September 2005, currently operates 49 Classic and Next-Generation Boeing 737- 400/-700/-800/-900 airplanes within its fleet. In December 2006, the airline also placed an order for 10 787 Dreamliners.

Courtesy: Reuters

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Indian carries record number of passengers

2007-04-30T16:16:00.000+05:30

National carrier Indian has broken all records in the Indian aviation history by carrying the highest number of over 34,000 passengers on a single day for the first time. The airline carried as many as 34,535 passengers on Friday, the highest ever by an Indian carrier as per official records on passenger load factor. During the past few months, the state-owned carrier had consistently been registering a high growth in passenger load factor, crossing the 32,000 mark on 15 occasions this year, a spokesman said. It broke the 33,000 mark on three occasions this year and crossed the 34,000 mark on Friday. The airline had carried 30,045 in November 2004, 28,860 in December 2005 and 31,168 in December last. The airline had been awarded the Reader's Digest Platinum Award for being the "most trusted airline" earlier this year.

Courtesy: PTI

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Air Deccan to launch flight from Delhi to Leh

2007-04-30T16:13:00.000+05:30

Air Deccan would be the first low cost airline connecting Ladakh, the undulating and mountainous terrain which will be perpetually inaccessible for most parts of the year, by air. Air Deccan, India's largest low cost airline, on Saturday announced the launch of new flights connecting Delhi to Leh, the capital of Ladakh, from May 23. Bookings for the new sector opened on Saturday. A 180-seater Airbus A 320 aircraft would be deployed on this sector by Air Deccan, a statement said. Air Deccan Managing Director G R Gopinath said "Low cost air connectivity was a basic necessity for a region like Ladakh considering its undulating and mountainous terrain and the fact that it is perpetually inaccessible for most parts of the year."

Over the last few years the tourist inflow into Ladakh went up with around 40,000 tourists visiting the region in the 2006. Air Deccan would be the first low cost airline connecting Ladakh by air and hoped the airliner would prove to be the catalyst for the growth of the region, he added. The daily flight would leave Delhi at 5.20 am and reach Leh at 6.50 am. In the return journey, the flight would take off at Leh at 7.20 am and land in Delhi at 8.40 am. Air Deccan offered dynamic pricing on its entire seat inventory. The pricing was a function of demand and supply of seats at any given point in time. The earlier one books, the lesser one pays. Fares on the Delhi-Leh sector start at Rs Zero (plus taxes and surcharge).

Courtesy: UNI

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MDLR Airlines launches operations out of Delhi

2007-04-30T16:08:00.000+05:30

The Gurgaon-based MDLR Airlines, wholly-owned subsidiary of MDLR group has commenced commercial operations, the group announced on Friday. MDLR Airlines will start its full service two class (club and economy) regional sector operation out of Delhi and Chandigarh to Ranchi and Kolkata, in the first phase. Operations will later be expanded to Mumbai, Surat, Jaipur, and Bhavnagar and a few more Northern cities in the months to come, a press release stated. Gopal Goyal, chairman, MDLR Airlines said: "We have introduced four engine AVRO RJ 70 jets and will serve all vegetarian cuisine."

The low-cost carrier is in the process of setting up check-in counters, offices at all its destinations, and plans to make Chandigarh one of the large regional jet hubs, after Delhi and Jaipur, in North India . Additional fleet of three-four Avro RJ 100 aircrafts will be inducted in the fleet by the end of this calendar year, the airline stated. The MDLR group has business interests in infrastructure, shopping malls and multiplexes, and luxury hotels. The group had forayed into the aviation sector last year.

Courtesy: UNI

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A380's inaugural flight to land in Delhi on May 6th

2007-04-30T16:05:00.000+05:30

Airbus and Kingfisher Airlines have announced that the A 380, world’s biggest aircraft would arrive in Delhi on May 6, in the run up to Kingfisher’s second anniversary celebrations. Airbus is bringing A 380 to India to demonstrate its full compatibility with major airports and its many qualities that would attract passengers towards it. After being demonstrated in Delhi for two days, the aircraft will proceed to Mumbai on May 9 where it will join the anniversary celebrations of the Vijay Mallya controlled airline. It is scheduled to fly back to its base in Toulouse, France on May 10. A 380’s airport compatibility tests in India will be done in cooperation with the Airport Authority of India, Delhi and Mumbai airports and Kingfisher Airlines. Airport officials said that the A 380 is scheduled to arrive in Mumbai at 4 pm and get parked at very close to the Kingfisher anniversary celebrations venue at the Air India hanger near the 2C international terminal.

This is the same venue from where Mallya launched the airline two years ago amidst much fanfare. Kingfisher Airlines will launch a promotional campaign on the occasion. The airline in a statement said, "The visit of the Airbus A380, coinciding with our anniversary celebrations marks a major milestone for us and Indian aviation." Kingfisher plans to use the A380s on non-stop routes from India to the US, capitalising on its world beating economics, fuel efficiency, range and comfort, Airbus said in a statement. Given to its gigantic size, the A380 allows airports to absorb passenger growth while helping to keep aircraft movements down and cutting down on noise and emissions. This is perfectly suited for congested airports like Delhi and Mumbai to transport large number of passengers at one go may be in ferry service between the two lead metros.

There would no need to expand the runway as A380 takes off and lands in less distance than today's largest aircraft from rival Boeing. Airbus said this A380 is one of two flight test aircraft with full passenger cabins, which recently successfully completed worldwide airport compatibility and route proving tours under realistic operational conditions with about 500 passengers on each flight. So far the five test aircraft, including these two, have flown for over 3,400 hours with more than 2,400 take offs. Since the first airport tests with the A380 in Frankfurt in 2005, it has visited over 40 airports, and by 2011 more than 70 airports can accept it. First delivery to Singapore Airlines is scheduled for October 2007 and firm orders and commitments stand at 166 aircraft for 15 customers.

Courtesy: Hindustan Times

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Indian Airlines Surat-Delhi flight grounded till May 6

2007-04-30T16:01:00.000+05:30

Come May 1, close to 50 passengers who had booked themselves for Delhi-bound Indian Airlines flight from Surat would board a bus instead from Surat airport to Vadodara airport from where they will board a flight to Delhi. For, the much-awaited A-319 jet to Delhi that was supposed to embark from Surat remains grounded until May 6. Reason? Airport authorities have cited operational and flight safety issues Airport Authority of India is facing at Surat airport. For flight numbers IC-417 between Delhi and Surat, and flight IC-418 from Surat back to Delhi, close to a 100 passengers now face the inconvenience of a delayed flight. According to officials from the Indian Airlines’ Mumbai corporate office, the airline is going to "make surface transport arrangements for passengers from Surat to Vadodara airport". "I have received word from my superiors in Delhi that the inaugural flight has been postponed till May 6.

However, on April 29 an empty airbus will embark from Delhi and land at Surat airport during 12 in the afternoon when the radar and landing systems will be officially tested," said Surat airport in-charge. "The delay occurred due to some operational shortcomings on the airport’s part. We had no problems in carrying out the flight as we had already kept the aircrafts ready and have made bookings for the same," said an Indian Airlines official. “Regular flight services from Surat are expected to resume from May 6 when the airport receives operational and flight safety certifications," he said.

So far work on passenger amenities at Surat airport is underway while the runway lighting systems to enable night landing at airport are also being worked on. Airport officials claimed that work on the radar and landing systems have been completed. Runway testing vehicles and the fire station are also complete. Meanwhile reacting to delay Southern Gujarat Chamber of Commerce and Industries Chairman Pravin Nanavati said, "Our members have made bookings for flight to Delhi and haven’t been informed about alternate arrangements. If the flight is delayed lot of our business meets will have to be rescheduled."

Courtesy: Indian Express

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Legion of Honour for Capt. Gopinath

2007-04-30T15:56:00.000+05:30

France has bestowed the award of Chevalier de la legion d’Honneur (Knight of the Legion of Honour) on Capt GR Gopinath, Chairman, Air Deccan. The award is in recognition of Capt Gopinath’s contribution to the development of Indo-French cooperation in the field of aviation. The award will be conferred upon Capt Gopinath by the French Ambassador, Dominique Girard on Saturday. After retiring from the Army in 1978, Capt Gopinath launched India's first low-cost, no frills airlines in 2003, with aircrafts manufactured by the Toulouse based French company, ATR. Today, 700 ATRs form the backbone of Deccan Aviation, along with 10 helicopters and two charter jets operating from eight major locations criss-crossing the country. The French government confers several awards among which the Order of the Legion of Honour is the highest national distinction. The Order of the Legion of Honour was instituted in 1802 by Napoleon Bonaparte.

Courtesy: UNI

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Jet Airways receives first Airbus A330-200

2007-04-28T12:34:00.000+05:30

Jet Airways, the India based International carrier took delivery of its first Airbus A330-200 aircraft purchased directly from Airbus. Jet Airways ordered a total of 10 Airbus A330-200s in October 2005. The airline already operates the A340s and the A330s between India and the United Kingdom and plans to use the A330s on a mix of regional and long-haul international flights.

Courtesy: Reuters

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Airlines to compensate passengers for delays & cancellations

2007-04-28T12:29:00.000+05:30

Outraged passengers grounded for hours due to delays and cancellations of flights at airports across the country can now expect some relief. The government will soon draft new guidelines to deal with a whole lot of passenger issues which many airlines especially the low-cost, no-frills ones are ignoring frequently. "We're going to take very strict action against those airlines which are callous towards passengers," said civil aviation minister Praful Patel. "I'm completely disgusted with such reports." Within a month, he said, the guidelines will be in place. Airlines will be made more accountable. Also, airlines will have to compensate passengers if they are delayed for several hours for no fault of their own. The minister said he is examining legal issues involved. "Unusual circumstances are different but I'll ensure that air passengers are properly treated by airlines." In recent weeks and month, travellers at major airports have expressed frustration in some cases even smashed airline counters due to sudden cancellations or unexplained delays of flights.

Courtesy: UNI

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Indian wrests number one position in domestic carriage

2007-04-28T12:27:00.000+05:30

Leading national carrier, Indian, has wrested the number one position in the domestic carriage segment in March 2007 and recorded an average carriage of 21.9 per cent. According to a press release here today, Indian, registered an increase of 27.5 per cent in daily passenger carriage over March 2006, achieving a carriage of 23,740 domestic passengers per day. The airline also registered an increase of 2.5 per cent over February 2007 market share achieing a domestic market share of 21.9 per cent in March 2007. Indian thus occupies second spot, with the number one leading marginally with a market share of 22.9 per cent. The third position airline holds 17 per cent market share. Indian's domestic seat factor of 71.8 per cent in March 2007 was also higher than the industry average seat factor of 69.5 per cent. The seat factors of other full service carriers were 66 and 65 per cent, the release added.

Courtesy: UNI

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Jazeera Airways launches Kochi-Dubai flight

2007-04-28T12:23:00.000+05:30

Jazeera Airways, the Middle East's first private airline, Monday officially launched its non-stop flights between Kochi and Dubai. The airlines would operate its flights between the two cities thrice a week. Though Jazeera has been operating flights from Kochi to Dubai from March 25, the official launch took place Monday. Jazeera Airways, which began flights from Kuwait to Mumbai, Delhi and Kochi last year, operates 13 flights a week to these cities. Marwan Boodai, chairman and CEO of Jazeera Airways, said the company's increasing investment in India is a result of their commitment to connecting the Gulf to India and to bringing more traffic into tourism hub Kochi. "India is very diverse and Kochi is breathtaking with its backwaters and unique culture. That's not how people in the Gulf see Kochi and we are planning to change that by bridging the distance through our low fare schemes," said Boodai. Jazeera Airways had stimulated traffic from Kuwait to Alexandria by 194 percent, Aleppo by 207 percent, and Damascus by 65 percent by offering low fares to passengers, he said.

Courtesy: IANS

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Railways' new facilities for passengers

2007-04-28T12:18:00.000+05:30

Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation Ltd (IRCTC) will set up about 20 ''Rail Ratna'' brand budget hotels in the southern region, for which sites have been awarded at Udhagamandalam, Kanyakumari, Madurai and Rameswaram, to major players in the hotel industry. Regional Director IRCTC V Sriram told newsmen here today that the budget hotels would be on public-private partnership pattern and constructed by private parties under Build, Operate and Transfer (BOT) scheme, for a period of 30 years.The profit sharing ratio would be 60:40, he added. He said these four budget hotels would be set up at a cost of Rs 25-30 crore each. The hotels would be ready before the end of next year. He said such hotels would also be set up at Chennai (two), Trivandrum Central, Kottayam, Ernakulam, Calicut, Coimbatore, Mangalore, Mysore and Hubli.

He said IRCTC's annual turnover for the year 2006-07 was expected to cross Rs 500 crore mark as against Rs 487 crore the last financial year. He said IRCTC was also setting up major base kitchens for supply of low cost, high quality, fast moving local varieties of food in all trains and for visitors to railway stations. Cell kitchens or base kitchens would also be set up at Chennai, Chengalpattu, Villupuram, Tiruchirapalli, Madurai, Dindigul, Virudhunagar, Katpadi, Jolarpet, Arakonam, Thruvananthapuram, Kottayam, Ernakulam, Thrissur, Kozhikode, Palakkad and Erode. He said they had also been ordered to take over and streamline the supply of bedrolls in Air Conditioned coaches. Out of 72 trains. The IRCTC was in the process of taking over this job in 46 trains. The IRCTC was also setting up launderettes at Chennai, Thiruvananthapuram, Ernakulam, Coimbatore, Mangalore, Nagercoil and Bangalore to ensure quality and hygiene in bedrolls.

Courtesy: UNI

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Air Deccan posts Rs 212 crore loss

2007-04-27T17:27:00.000+05:30

Battered by pressures on yields and low passenger loads in March, price warrior Air Deccan has suffered a loss of Rs 213 crore during the quarter ended March 31, 2007. The loss was on a net income of Rs 437 crore during the period. The airline has recorded no sale and leaseback transaction during the quarter unlike the previous quarter, where it notched a Rs 9.6 crore profit. The loss for the nine-month period ended March 31 was Rs 244 crore. Commenting on the performance, Deccan Aviation MD Capt GR Gopinath said, “A combination of high operational costs and oversupply is creating a weak domestic yield environment in the industry. Fuel prices are once again close to historically high levels, coupled with the fact that February and March are inherently weaker months for the travel industry.”

The airline spent about Rs 229 crore on fuel during the quarter. Talking of the airline’s problems with the migration to a new central reservation system which resulted in botched up bookings and inaccurate transaction reports, he said, “We were impacted by costs relating to migration of our central reservation system and reduction in available seat kilometres to enable bunching up of our maintenance program. These measures are expected to enhance our operational and financial performance in the coming quarters. This has impacted our financial results this quarter which have been sluggish.” The airline’s load factors, which were at a high of 83% during February, fell to below break-even levels of 70% in March, sources said. The airline, which operates 65 destinations in India, carried 17.17 lakh passengers in the quarter. Currently, the airline operates 19 Airbus A 320 aircraft with an average age of 1.5 years and 24 ATR turboprop aircraft.

Courtesy: TNN

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SpiceJet places order for ten Next-Generation 737's

2007-04-27T09:20:00.000+05:30

New Delhi-based SpiceJet has ordered 10 Next-Generation 737-800s. The order, valued at more than $700 million at list prices, follows previous orders in February 2005 and August 2006 for a total of 30 737s. The 10 737s will be fitted with Blended Winglets, which will improve fuel efficiency, increase range, and reduce CO2 emissions and takeoff noise. SpiceJet, one of India's newest start-up private carriers, uses a single-class seating configuration on its short- and medium-haul flights within India. SpiceJet began service in May 2005 with three leased Boeing 737-800s, and today operates a fleet of 11 737-800s.

Courtesy: Reuters

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Airbus A380 to fly to India for Kingfisher Airlines

2007-04-26T18:35:00.000+05:30

The Airbus A380 superjumbo aircraft will arrive in Indian skies next month on a promotional flight for Kingfisher Airlines, the carrier said on Thursday. The A380, plagued by delays, is scheduled to visit Mumbai and New Delhi from May 7 to May 10 for Kingfisher's second anniversary celebrations, according to a statement. Kingfisher, owned by India's UB Group which controls the top brewer and spirits maker, has placed a firm order for five A380 aircraft and has an option for five more. India's main airports are bursting at the seams with newly-launched airlines and a sharp surge in passenger and freight traffic in a booming economy, but a spokesman for the Mumbai airport said the financial hub could handle the aircraft.

"The airport is perfectly capable of handling the A380 now," said a spokesman for Mumbai International Airport Pvt. Ltd. "And by the time the aircraft are delivered and begin flying to India, we will have a new terminal with special facilities for parking and handling the large number of passengers," he said. Airbus, part of the EADS group, expects Indian firms to place orders for 1,100 passenger and freighter aircraft valued at about $105 billion over 20 years.

Courtesy: Reuters

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Big airlines shop for small jets

2007-04-26T18:30:00.000+05:30

The country’s scheduled domestic carriers are ordering over 150 small jets, which will be delivered in the next two to three years. Carriers like Indian, Jet Airways, Kingfisher Airlines and Paramount Airways, apart from a host of start-up airlines, are sewing up deals to acquire 50-70 seater aircraft for less congested routes. As many as 35-40 new small jets will join various fleets by the end of this year. Indian is planning to have 16 50-seater turboprop aircraft. This is in addition to its earlier plan to acquire six 70-seater regional jets on lease. Kingfisher Airlines is set to add 8 ATRs to its fleet this year, while it has already placed confirmed orders for 35 ATRs.

The country’s largest budget carrier, Air Deccan, will add 25 more 72-seater turboprop jets in the next three years. Start-up airlines such as MDLR Airlines are also planning to go in for Bombardier or Embraer jets to start point-to-point services. At present, only 18 per cent of the 400 civilian aircraft in the country are jets with below 100 seats, but in the next two years they would comprise over 37 per cent of the 600-odd aircraft in the Indian skies. One reason for this proliferation, of course, is the sops provided on small jets. Finance Minister P Chidambaram, while presenting the Union Budget 2007-08, had extended “declared goods status” for ATF sold to new generation small aircraft with a maximum take-off mass of less than 40,000 kg, operated by scheduled airlines.

ATF for these planes is exempted from sales tax (which can be in the range of 30 per cent). Explaining the demand for small jets, an Indian Airlines executive says: “ATRs consume less fuel than bigger jets. Regional jets are ideal to deploy on short-haul routes like Delhi-Kulu or Mumbai-Bhavnagar.” Added Kingfisher’s Executive Vice-President Hitesh Patel, “In the backdrop of the government’s route disbursal guidelines, no domestic airline can operate without two types of fleets. One cannot have profitable operations flying Airbus 320 or Boeing 737 aircraft to a tier-III city. An ATR is ideal for such operations.”

Courtesy: Business Standard

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Multi million dollar investment to fuel Jet Airways growth

2007-04-17T17:15:00.000+05:30

As part of the comprehensive expansion plans that include launching new seats, new in-flight service, new staff uniforms and a new corporate identity, Chairman, Naresh Goyal confirmed that deliveries for the first of the 20 wide body aircraft will commence this month end. The ten Boeing B777-300ER and ten Airbus A330-200 aircraft order is valued at USD 2.1 billion. More than two years in the making, Jet Airways have considered every detail in the development of their new fleet of wide body aircraft. Starting with the state-of-the-art Boeing 777-300ER and Airbus A330-200, Jet Airways has redesigned everything from the ground up, not happy to accept industry norms. In addition, Jet Airways holds options for further additional aircraft of each type and have recently signed to purchase ten Boeing B787 Dreamliner aircraft with deliveries commencing in 2011. The B787 order is valued at USD1.6 Billion.

In all Jet Airways will invest USD3.7 billion in new aircraft pursuing an aggressive growth strategy. The new Jet Airways Boeing B777’s will be configured in three classes, eight First Class, thirty Première and two hundred and seventy four Economy seats and will initially operate on the Mumbai-London route. This will be the first time Jet Airways has offered a First Class service and an entirely new First Class suite has been created onboard. As further deliveries of these B777 aircraft are made, Jet Airways will launch daily services to New York via Brussels. It is planned that these services will commence in early August. Daily Services to San Francisco via Shanghai are also planned with the B777 fleet in winter 2007. The Airbus A330 aircraft, will be configured in two classes, thirty Première and one hundred and ninety Economy seats, and will operate the daily Delhi-London services.

It will also be deployed on flights from India to markets such as Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Johannesburg and Toronto via Brussels. The new Première lie flat beds on both aircraft types are all new and represent the absolute latest in airline seat technology. Featuring a 73" bed length, that electronically converts to an enormous 180 degree flat bed with lumbar support and massage systems, Première passengers will rest in unequalled comfort. The Première seat also provides an oversized table, laptop power, telephony, SMS, Email and live text news to deliver a flying office for those Première passengers wanting to work. Jet Airways will be the first airline in the world to install this new economy seat with a seat pitch of 32". It has been designed using the science of advanced ergonomics to create arguably the most comfortable economy seat in the sky. Developed by Panasonic, the new state-of-art eX2 system will deliver an unparalleled and unique range of In-Flight Entertainment options to Jet Airways passengers, whatever class of service they choose to fly.

As part of comprehensive plans to prepare for the airline’s major thrust into International markets the Corporate Identity and Brand mark of the airline has been refreshed and contemporized. Its wide body aircraft will be delivered with a sparkling new livery and all staff will have exquisitely designed new uniforms. Mr. Naresh Goyal, Chairman Jet Airways said "Jet Airways believes in continuously redefining and enhancing the customer experience. This multi million dollar investment in its international product reflects the same. Jet Airways vision is to emerge amongst the top five carriers globally in the next few years". Commenting on the expansion plans Jet Airways Chairman; Mr. Naresh Goyal said "We have been working on these plans for more than two years. Having changed the way people fly in India, we will now take our very own brand of service and style, the spirit of New India, to the rest of the world".

Couretsy: Equity Bulls

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Air Sahara to be renamed Jetlite

2007-04-17T16:57:00.000+05:30

Air Sahara, which was taken over by rival Jet Airways last week, will be renamed Jetlite and will function as an independent entity, it was announced here Monday. Jetlite will be positioned between a low cost and full-service carrier. "It will have its own fleet," Jet chairman Naresh Goyal said at a press conference. These changes will come into effect from April 20. Jet, which is India's largest private airline, took over Air Sahara in a Rs.14.5-billion deal last Thursday, making it the largest air operator in the Indian domestic aviation sector.

Courtesy: UNI

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Jet Airways staff to don new look

2007-04-17T16:51:00.000+05:30

Next time when you are at the Airport to catch a Jet flight for your destination, you will get to see a 'new look' on-board and ground staff of the Airline. A creation of famous Italian designer Roberto Cappuci, the dynamic and professional attire has been designed to take airline uniforms onto the fashion runways at airports around the world. The fact, he had never designed airline uniforms before, coupled with his reputation for elegant style, is what made Cappuci the perfect choice to create something never seen before in airline uniforms. And the assignment was no-less than a challenge to his creativity that just added to his growing love for India.

Jet wanted him to design in such a way that the attire creates a totally new-look for all categories of employees that was elegant, classic with a western style and an Indian touch as well. "The charisma and enthusiasm of the airlines chairman Naresh Goyal has been a constant driving force for me and this assignment has only enhanced my great passion for India, its people and culture," Capuuci today said. While designing the new attire, he envisioned a group of smart people rather than 'air crew'. He let the inspiration of the Indian 'universe', which is often present in his creations, lead him.

Courtesy: UNI

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CISF personnel to guard Delhi Metro

2007-04-17T16:48:00.000+05:30

The Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) Sunday took over the responsibility from police to guard Delhi Metro - the capital's lifeline that could be a potential terror target. Ranjit Kumar Das, chief of the paramilitary force, pledged that the CISF personnel would ensure zero-error safety and security to the capital's modern landmark without harassing commuters. Addressing a function here to mark the takeover of the safety aspects of the Delhi Metro railway network by the CISF, he said: "My boys have a record of providing zero-error security to various installations and achieve perfection in discharge of their duty. "The CISF would live up to its motto of zero-error security, while ensuring that no commuter gets harassed in the process," Das added.

Delhi Metro, the second of its kind in India after Kolkata, till now had 650-odd personnel of Delhi Police to guard it besides the same number of CISF personnel. Now, over 1,630 CISF staff would provide the security cover. Delhi Police Commissioner K.K. Paul also endorsed the deployment of CISF personnel, saying that the new arrangement would provide the intra-city rail network "focussed security", while police would be able to utilise their resources on overseeing law and order in the capital. To coordinate its security measures for Delhi Metro, the CISF has established a central control room at the Shastri Park station, besides control rooms at other stations. The paramilitary force will also deploy a Quick Reaction Team comprising four personnel at each station.

Courtesy: IANS

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Air Deccan starts flights to Shimla

2007-04-17T16:45:00.000+05:30

Low-budget carrier Air Deccan Saturday started flights connecting New Delhi and the popular resort town Shimla. 'To start with, there will be four flights a week and if the business is good we may even consider morning and evening flights daily,' Air Deccan managing director G.R. Gopinath said here. 'For the first six months several Shimla hotels will book 12 seats on every flight and will pay Air Deccan over Rs.7.5 million at the end of the six months so that this route is made viable and popularised,' he said. 'The tariffs will range from Rs.1,000 to Rs.4,000 and average around Rs.2,000,' he said. Air Deccan will start 48-seater flights to Shimla, which was so far served by 20-seater flights by Jagson airlines. The Shimla airport runway has recently been increased to enable landing of 50-seater plains. Air Deccan operates 350 flights daily, 80 percent of them to non-metros, officials of the company said.

Courtesy: PTI

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Kingfisher Airlines likely to begin operations in Vadodara by May

2007-04-17T16:42:00.000+05:30

Vijay Mallya owned Kingfisher Airlines is all set to start its service from here in the first week of May, according to a senior official of the Airports Authority of India (AAI). The official, on condition of anonymity, said a study has been conducted on the runway, parking and other requirements of the Kingfisher planes. It now paves the way for the airlines to sign an agreement by the last week of this month and the operations will commence by first week of May, said the official. Currently, Air Deccan, Indian and Air-India operatE from here.

Courtesy: UNI

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Lufthansa facility for Hyderabad

2007-04-17T16:39:00.000+05:30

Lufthansa Technik, leading provider of maintenance, repair and overhaul of airplanes, components and engines, has decided to set up a new facility in Hyderabad to support the growing aviation sector in India. The new facility will be located in the Greenfield Rajiv Gandhi International Airport coming up at Shamshabad, near here. Lufthansa Technik will team up with GMR Group, infrastructure developer and the concessionaire of airports in Hyderabad and Delhi. The facility will provide base maintenance services for the Airbus A 320 family and Boeing 737 aircraft, including 737 Classic and 737 NG (next generation), according to August W. Henningsen, Chairman of the Executive Board of Lufthansa Technik AG.

Announcing the new facility at a press conference here on Friday, he said the investment in the two-bay hangar and its state-of-art workshops would exceed Rs. 100 crores (20 million USD) in the initial phase. Construction of the 20,000-square metre facility would begin this year. The facility is expected to commence operations by 2008-end with two parallel lines to serve the maintenance requirements of the rapidly growing narrow body fleet of Indian carriers. "With more than 400 airplanes on order, the Indian aviation market is one of the fastest growing in the world. The new facility will complement the existing MRO (maintenance, repair and overhaul) support being provided to new and the existing fleets in India," he added.

The company requires 400 highly qualified personnel once the facility is fully operational. "Plan is to concentrate recruitment within Andhra Pradesh," designated Managing Director of the new company Dominik Wiener-Silva said. Chief Operating Officer, GMR Hyderabad International Limited, T. Srinagesh said the international airport would be functional from March, 2008,when the first flight was expected to take off. Replying to a question, Mr. Henningsen said Lufthansa Technik had signed a Total Component Support contract with Air Deccan and was sole provider of support services to Kingfisher Airlines. It had concluded contracts with Jet Airways, Go Air, Air India, Indian and Air Sahara.

Courtesy: PTI

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