Feb 11, 2005
Indian carriers bitter over flights to S-E Asia

By Ravi Velloor
India Bureau Chief

NEW DELHI - INDIA'S private airlines, which have been planning daily flights to Singapore and other South-east Asian capitals from Mumbai, New Delhi, Hyderabad and Chennai, look set to get far fewer flights to the region than they had expected.

The government will allow No. 1 private airline Jet Airways to fly only the Mumbai-Singapore and Chennai-Kuala Lumpur routes.

Sahara Air, which had wanted daily frequencies from New Delhi, Hyderabad and Chennai to Singapore, Kuala Lumpur and Bangkok, will be allowed to fly just New Delhi-Singapore and Chennai-Kuala Lumpur.

Neither of the two private carriers will, for the moment, be allowed to fly to Bangkok, where additional flying rights will be awarded solely to state-run carriers Air India and Indian Airlines.

The government also allowed Indian Airlines and Air India more than 1,000 extra seats to Singapore.

The news is a huge disappointment for the private carriers, which had been eyeing the South-east Asian market to expand their international operations, now restricted to destinations on the sub-continent. It also underscores the Manmohan Singh government's unwillingness to offend the left-leaning parties that support the national coalition and have insisted on a form of protectionism for the state-run carriers.

'We are trying to figure out what this means,' said a senior official at Jet, speaking on condition of anonymity. 'What's the point of talking about open-skies policies with South-east Asia if this is all you get at the end of the day?'

Sahara chief executive Rono Dutta was in Chicago and could not be reached, his office said.

Both airlines had been making preparations in anticipation of the freeing up of the South-east Asian market, assigning staff, discussing fare structures and lining up aircraft.

The new flights are likely to start in March or April, ahead of the summer holiday rush.

Still, even the limited opening up of the South-east Asian sector will probably help lower fares to the region.

Jet, according to people familiar with its plans, was planning to offer rates to Singapore just below those of Singapore Airlines. Sahara's fares may be closer to Air India's.

The Indian government on Dec 29 permitted private carriers, having 'a minimum of five years continuous experience and minimum of 20 aircraft in their fleet', to operate on all international routes, barring Gulf destinations. Only Jet Airways and Air Sahara fitted the eligibility criteria.

Business Times - 11 Feb 2005

India to seek airport bids soon

Final offers will be invited for stakes in Mumbai, New Delhi airports this month

(NEW DELHI) India will invite final bids from companies this month for a stake in the Mumbai and New Delhi airports, the country's two biggest, as part of efforts to improve infrastructure.

Bidders will be given 12 weeks to make technical and financial offers, aviation minister Praful Patel said. 'This year itself we will have joint venture partners for both these airports,' he told reporters on Wednesday in Bangalore.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's government is spending on transport links and other public works as India's fastest economic growth in 15 years strains power supplies and clogs roads, airports and ports.

India first sought bids for selling stakes in the two airports in June 2004. Fraport AG, Malaysia Airport, Singapore Changi Airport Enterprise Pte, Aeroports de Paris and five other companies participated in the initial round of bids, according to the government.

India expects air traffic to double to 90 million passengers by 2010 and needs US$7 billion in the next five years to fund the growth. The government plans to spend at least US$17 billion to upgrade roads, airports and ports by 2010, in an effort to make it easier for companies to do business in Asia's fourth-biggest economy.

Separately, India will decide on US$6 billion of aircraft purchases by Air India, the country's biggest overseas carrier, and Indian Airlines, India's second-biggest domestic airlines this year, Mr Patel said.

Air India wants to buy 18 Boeing 737-aircraft for its planned low-cost subsidiary and 50 planes by 2013 for adding more flights to countries such as Canada and Australia.

Indian Airlines is negotiating with Airbus, the world's biggest commercial plane maker, for 43 aircraft. The three contracts together may be worth about US$6 billion, Mr Patel said.

Air India's board will decide this month which planes to buy for its 50-aircraft order, while the Indian government's panel on investment by state-owned companies will consider the 18-plane order next week, he said.

The aviation ministry favours extending a ban on aircraft-leasing tax by one more year starting April 1, he added. India, in July, imposed a tax as high as 40 per cent on leasing of aircraft and decided to delay it until April. - Bloomberg

Copyright © 2004 Singapore Press Holdings Ltd. All rights reserved.

Jet, Sahara can't fly to Thailand

February 07, 2005 19:24 IST

The government on Monday allowed privately-owned Jet Airways and Air Sahara to fly to the Association of South East Asian Nations and raised the seat capacity of Indian Airlines and Air-India to these destinations.

Official sources said that Jet Airways and Air Sahara will now be allowed to fly Kuala Lumpur and Singapore while there were not enough routes left in Thailand for the private airlines to use.

The sources said that Jet Airways and Air Sahara had been allowed to operate a flight each from Chennai to Kuala Lumpur.

Jet Airways was also cleared to fly from Mumbai to Singapore and Air Sahara was allowed to fly between Delhi and Singapore, the sources said.

There were no routes left for private airlines to fly to Thailand as Indian Airlines and Air-India had explored all the routes to that country, the sources said.

Hong Kong has not amended the bilateral agreement to accommodate the private airlines, the sources said adding that

Indian Airlines and Air-India will continue to operate to this destination exclusively.

The sources said Indian Airlines and Air-India had sought enhancement of seats to the ASEAN countries during the coming summer.

Air-India will now have a share of 603 seats while Indian Airlines will have 435 seats for Singapore, 1206 and 2030 for Malaysia and 1608 and 2465 for Thailand respectively, the sources said.

The enhanced seat sharing arrangement would be for the summer season only after which the situation would be reviewed, they added.

Jet Airways to buy 10 Boeings

http://www.financialexpress.com/fe_full_story.php?content_id=82387

India's Jet Airways IPO to cash in on travel boom

BOMBAY, Feb 11 (Reuters) - Investors are expected to snap up shares of India's biggest domestic airline, Jet Airways, when its $445 million initial public offer opens on Feb. 18, hoping to cash in on surging air travel in Asia's fourth-largest economy.

Jet Airways (India) Ltd. has grabbed 43 percent share of the Indian air travel market, which is expected to grow at about 25-30 percent over the next five years as incomes rise in the world's second most populous nation.

The 12-year-old carrier will offer 20 percent of its expanded equity, or 17.27 million shares, at a price ranging from 950 to 1,125 rupees each ($21.70-$25.70).

At the top end, the offering will value Jet at $2.2 billion, or two-thirds that of top car maker Maruti Udyog Ltd. .

That would give Jet a forward price earnings multiple of between 21.1 and 25 -- a discount to Malaysia's AirAsia's 25.9 and Japan Airlines Corp.'s 26.2, but higher than Australian Virgin Blue's 16.3 and Singapore Airline's 11.3, according to Reuters Estimates.

"I don't think there should be a problem with the issue. There is sufficient liquidity in the market and there is likely to be good appetite from foreign institutional investors," said Srividhya Rajesh, fund manager at Sundaram Asset Management.

"The price is a little aggressive," said the head of the capital markets division at a securities house, who asked not to be named. "But retail investors have made money in IPOs last year, so it should be oversubscribed."

Last year, 23 Indian firms raised a record $2.9 billion through IPOs -- more than the seven previous years combined.

Founded by London-based Naresh Goyal, a former travel agent, Jet has grown rapidly since it began operations in 1993 and overtook state-owned Indian Airlines Ltd. [IA.UL], which for decades was a monopoly provider of domestic air services.

Jet has repeatedly been voted India's best airline for its punctuality, young fleet and the quality of in-flight service.

It will use the money to repay debt, build repair and training facilities and fund expansion as air travel booms in the fastest growing major economy after China. India's economy is forecast to grow 6.9 percent in the fiscal year through March.

Falling fares, following lower taxes and intense competition with rivals Air Sahara and budget airline Air Deccan, are spurring growth of air travel in India.

Deutsche Equities India Pvt. Ltd. will co-lead manage the offer.

RISKS AND VALUATIONS

Jet, which has a fleet of 42 planes, mainly Boeing 737s and the smaller ATRs of France, says it had an operating margin of 30 percent in the first nine months of the current business year to end-March, helped by 80-85 percent of its passengers being business travellers.

The carrier posted a nine-month net profit of 2.59 billion rupees, which analysts said would translate to an annualised profit of 3.89 billion rupees and a full-year earnings per share of above 45 rupees.

It is also considering buying or leasing the Boeing N> 747 and 777 or the Airbus A330 and A340 for long-haul international routes, after the government opened that sector to most private carriers in December.

Jet will face challenges on routes to Singapore, Kuala Lumpur and London where it will launch operations later this year as existing airlines cut fares to protect their market share, analysts said.

It could also be vulnerable when more budget carriers launch operations in India, said Kapil Kaul, senior vice-president at the Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation.

Bankers say airline companies are better valued using EV/EBITDAR (enterprise value/earning before interest, tax, depreciation, amortisation and aircraft rentals), and Jet's 7.34 valuation on this basis is at a discount to international peers such as China Southern Airlines , China Eastern Airlines Corp. Ltd. , Taiwan's EVA Airways Corp. and Brazil's Gol .

The carrier will be India's second traded airline stock.

Royal Airways Ltd. , formerly ModiLuft that folded in the 1990s, is poised to launch a new budget airline, SpiceJet, in May. ($1=43.7 rupees)

Sahara bags only one slot at London airport
Cuckoo Paul
12 February 2005
The Economic Times

MUMBAI: Jet Airways has bought three slots at London's Heathrow airport, that give it landing and take-off rights every day of the week.

Jet has managed to get two of the slots after aggressive bidding with other international airlines, industry sources said. "Primetime slots at LHR are traded for roughly $15-20m," a source said.

It is not known how much Jet Airways has paid for the slot. The allocation by ACL, the slot co-ordination committee, was free. The airline is allowed to fly seven times a week between Mumbai and LHR. Hence, it technically does not need all the three slots.

When asked about the surplus slots, Jet Airways chairman Naresh Goyal said, "We are looking at future expansion opportunities."

Interestingly, Air Sahara - the country's other domestic airline that has been allowed to fly to Europe - has only managed a slot at the other London airport Gatwick. The carrier has got permission to fly thrice a week, and will not be able to offer daily connections to passengers. The flight allocations for international operations were made on a pro-rata basis linked to domestic flights, industry sources said.

Meanwhile, Jet Airways plans to start operations to Singapore with its existing 737-800 aircraft, that has been modified for flight over water. No aircraft has been procured yet for the long-haul flight to London.

However, the airline is reported to be negotiating with South African Airways to lease three Airbus A 340-300, which will be operated in a two-class configuration, industry sources said. It is also considering buying or leasing the Boeing 747 and 777 or the Airbus A330 and A340 for long-haul international routes, after the government opened that sector to most private carriers in December.

It will use the money to repay debt, build and repair its facilities, as well as fund training and expansion programmes, as air travel soars in the fastest growing major economy after China.

Does anyone have some good photos of airports in India, like New Delhi and Mumbai? I've asked before for these but no one ever responded... :cheers:

I've seen photos of Indian Bombay airport in SSC India Forums but the shot is not good. I don't know if it is the domestic or international terminal but they say that the domestic terminal is better than the international terminal.

If Jet Airways can secure rights to London, it could be an attractive alternative on the Kangaroo Route

France an India are going to raise the number of weekly flights from 14 to 35. French government has given Indian carries the right to have fifth freedom traffic from France, to New York and four other cities in the US. They can also operate to Toronto and Montreal from France.

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1031019.cms

Does anyone have some good photos of airports in India, like New Delhi and Mumbai? I've asked before for these but no one ever responded... :cheers:

I am not too much into airports/airlines and I cannot help on this.

I have not seen any good pics of Mumbai and Delhi or for that matter any Indian airports in the web. The reasons can be two.

1) Airport photography was banned till last year. Most people probably dont even know that the ban has been lifted though there are still some restrictions.

2) Most international flights to and from India arrive and depart at ungodly hours like 2 AM and 3 AM. There is nothing to photograph at this time. And everybody is in a bad mood at this time.

3) The airports are small and people generally don't appreciate them if pictures are posted.

Now that the ban has been lifted we may see more photos in the near future.

Here's a picture of Chennai (Madras) Airport by Josh Rawlin of Airliners.net.

International Terminal

http://img209.exs.cx/img209/9942/chennaiairport14re.jpg

Domestic Terminal

http://img117.exs.cx/img117/7291/chennaiairport441ay.jpg

A blued out pic (can you recognize the tails?)

http://img128.exs.cx/img128/4229/chennaiairport11gp.jpg

Airlines at Chennai include

1) Air India
2) Indian Airlines
3) Alliance Air
4) Jet Airways
5) Air Sahara
6) Deccan Air
7) Srilankan Airlines
8) Thai International
9) Singapore Airlines
10) Malaysian Airlines
11) Saudia
12) Emirates
13) Gulf Air
14) Oman Air
15) Kuwait Airways
16) British Airways
17) Lufthansa
18) Delta Airlines (starts May 11, 2005)

Indian Airlines to resume services to Kabul

After a 16-year gap, Indian Airlines will start operating on the Delhi-Kabul sector from March 27. The last Indian Airlines flight to Kabul was in 1989 when it was operating twice a week. India has already gifted three Airbus 300s with essential spare parts to the Ariana Afghan Airlines at a cost of $13.7 million.

Ariana Afghan Airlines currently flies twice a week on Kabul Delhi and once a week on Kabul Amritsar route.

http://www.flyariana.com/airbusb4.jpg

Jet Airways to fly daily to Singapore and Kuala Lumpur

Jet Airways will launch daily services to Singapore and Kuala Lumpur from April 3 and April 27 with Boeing 737-800s.

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1033684.cms

Air One to take to the skies in May 2005

Air One will start operations in May 2005 and will operate on non-trunk routes and is looking at Delhi-Thiruvananthapuram service, one of the longest routes in the domestic sector. The ERJ 145, fitted with Rolls Royce engines, will take three hours and 20 minutes for a flight on the sector. Air One will expand its fleet to five aircraft within a year and is looking at various routes, including Delhi-Bhubaneshwar and Bangalore-Thiruvananthapuram.

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1034963.cms

India's Jet IPO raises $435 million

BOMBAY, Feb 27 (Reuters) - The initial public share offer of India's biggest domestic airline, Jet Airways (India) Ltd., has been priced at 1,100 rupees per share, raising 19 billion rupees ($434.8 million), a banking source said on Sunday.

Jet Airways's IPO, the country's first airline offering in a decade, has been priced close to the top end of a pre-determined band of 950-1,125 rupees in a book-built issue and was subscribed 16.2 times.

"The book was fully subscribed at 1,125 rupees as well but the company wants to leave something on the table for the investors," a banker close to the deal told Reuters.

The IPO for 17.27 million shares, or 20 percent of Jet's expanded equity, was fully sold within 10 minutes of the opening on Feb. 18.

Bankers working on the deal said the Jet IPO generated an enthusiastic response as investors bought into India's travel boom.

The Indian economy, Asia's fourth-biggest, is estimated to have expanded by 7 percent in the fiscal year to March.

The robust demand will encourage unlisted companies such as Air Deccan and the state-run Indian Airlines Ltd. [IA.UL] and Air-India [AI.UL] to expedite their public offer plans, bankers said.

Share issues by Indian companies in 2005 are expected to outstrip last year's record $7.0 billion, as firms build war chests for acquisitions and to set up new plants to meet the growing needs of an expanding economy. ($1 = 43.7 Indian rupees)

Does anyone have some good photos of airports in India, like New Delhi and Mumbai? I've asked before for these but no one ever responded... :cheers:

Like Suncity says, and frankly, neither of the two airports is anything very special. Which is why the government is pursuing modernisation plans at both airports, as well as partial privatisation. It is desperately needed, both airports are clogged, hence you have flights landing at ungodly hours and stuff like that.

However, you can try this thread (http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=162123) for a few pics. No interiors. :(

BTW, Nice thread huaiwei!! :D

Jet Airways Route network [slightly dated]

http://img21.exs.cx/img21/2836/jetmap16bb.jpg

Indian Airlines Network [slightly dated]

Some of the main airports

Chennai

http://img21.exs.cx/img21/1028/iachennai6nr.jpg

Bangalore

http://img21.exs.cx/img21/6194/iabangalore6fy.jpg

Mumbai

http://img21.exs.cx/img21/1267/iamumbai3gr.jpg

Delhi

http://img21.exs.cx/img21/1332/iadelhi3to.jpg

Kolkata

http://img21.exs.cx/img21/4540/iakolkata2nc.jpg

Hyderabad

http://img21.exs.cx/img21/1415/iahyderabad7rd.jpg

Kochi

http://img205.exs.cx/img205/448/iakochi6ll.jpg

Kozhikode

http://img205.exs.cx/img205/4080/iacalicut0hc.jpg

Trivandrum

http://img205.exs.cx/img205/4286/iatrivandrum3ng.jpg

Guwahati

http://img205.exs.cx/img205/9281/iaguwahati9jb.jpg

Goa

http://img205.exs.cx/img205/6609/iagoa8oz.jpg

Jaipur

The Jaipur -Singapore flight runs combined as Jaipur - Delhi - Bangkok - Singapore for the current schedule and not nonstop. [the map is old].

http://img205.exs.cx/img205/759/iajaipur8hc.jpg

Bmi: UK Govt Likely To Confirm Ruling On Flights To India
2 March 2005

LONDON (Dow Jones)--British airline bmi (BMID.YY) Wednesday said it has been informed U.K. Secretary of State for Transport Alistair Darling is minded to confirm a decision last year regarding the allocation of new flights to India.

Bmi, British Airways PLC (BAB) and Virgin-Atlantic Airways had all appealed against a decision in December by the Civil Aviation Authority which divided up the rights to operate 21 direct new weekly services between the airlines.

Speaking at a news conference, bmi Chief Executive Nigel Turner said he heard earlier Wednesday that Darling intends to confirm the CAA's decision, although a formal announcement isn't expected for a few more weeks as the legal process is continuing.

A transport department spokesman confirmed the three airlines have been informed but stressed a final decision hasn't been made. The department has asked for additional comments from the parties involved, he added.

The CAA granted 10 flights to Virgin-Atlantic - owned 51% by Virgin Group (VGN.YY) and 49% by Singapore Airlines Ltd. (S55.SG) - with an additional seven to BA and four to Bmi. Bmi had wanted to start a daily service to Mumbai but only received the rights for four a week.

Turner was speaking at a presentation of bmi's financial results for 2004. The airline, which posted a pretax profit of GBP2.1 million compared with a GBP9.8 million loss in 2003, will be able to operate the services to Mumbai from the summer of 2005 under the CAA's ruling.

Bmi plans to announce more details on its India service during the next few days.

Air Sahara Route map.

http://img214.exs.cx/img214/1451/airsaharamap2px.gif

Air Deccan Route map based on current schedule.

http://img121.exs.cx/img121/9880/airdeccanmap8zg.gif

New Airlines expected to enhance competition and lower fares.

By the end of this year, India may see several new domestic airlines taking to the skies. This will be the second time in the past 15 years that there has been a sudden interest in this sector. The previous boom saw the rise and fall of over a half a dozen airlines (East West, ModiLuft, Damania, Nepc, Citilink, Raj, Gujarat, UP..). Will things be different this time? Some things have changed. The Government's protectionist attitude has declined considerably [despite opposition from Communists and trade unions]. Airlines are now also looking at low cost or moderate cost models and also targeting larger markets. Managements have learnt from their mistakes. So only time will tell how this round goes.

Airlines to look out for:

Kingfisher Airlines (http://www.flykingfisher.com/) - promoted by Liquor baron Vijay Mallya. Starts operations in May.

http://www.flykingfisher.com/images/skytopband.jpg

Kingfisher Airlines, has ordered a total of 33 brand new aircraft. Of these, a total of 13 aircraft - 10 A320s and 3 A319s - are on firm order, with options for buying a further 20 aircraft. In addition to this, Kingfisher Airlines has also leased four brand new Airbus A320-200 aircraft from Debis Air Finance, a company of Daimler Chrysler.

http://www.flykingfisher.com/images/newimgs/networkmap.gif

Spicejet (http://www.spicejet.com/)

http://www.spicejet.com/home/images/img_03.gif

SpiceJet is ordering up to 20 next-generation 737-800 airplanes for domestic routes within India. SpiceJet placed a firm order for ten planes valued at 630 million dollars (about Rs 2,750 crore) at list prices and has options for ten more. First delivery is scheduled for 2006. Details were provided during the Aero India 2005 air show in Bangalore. SpiceJet begins service in May with three leased B737-800s. Based in New Delhi, the airline is one of India's newest low-cost start-up private carriers.

Kingfisher livery looks good.

Kingfisher livery looks good.

I prefer Air India Express. Air India Express is good. :)

Business Times - 08 Mar 2005

Indian carriers eye South-east Asian routes

KUALA LUMPUR - Rival Indian carriers, Jet Airways and Air Sahara, will start maiden flights to Malaysia and Singapore in a bid to secure a stake in lucrative South-east Asian routes, officials said on Tuesday.

Jet Airways sales executive Rama Rao told AFP that the carrier would launch daily roundtrip flights from Chennai to Kuala Lumpur using the Boeing 737-800 aircraft.

'The response is good. We see strong potential for growth. We will be coming after April 25,' he said.

Rival Air Sahara would fly from New Delhi to Singapore via Chennai and Kuala Lumpur before returning to New Delhi starting from late April or early May, an industry source familiar with the carrier's plans told AFP.

'It is a lucrative market we cannot ignore,' he said, adding that Air Sahara would also use the 737-800 aircraft on the routes.

Malaysia Airport's managing director Bashir Ahmad on Monday said Jet Airways and Air Sahara would start flying into Kuala Lumpur International Airport from April.

Mr Rao said Jet Airways would offer economy and business class travel targeting business groups, pilgrims to India and Singaporeans seeking cheaper airfares to India by paying in the Malaysian currency.

However, he said the carrier faced competition on the Chennai route from other carriers including Air Sahara, Malaysia Airlines, Indian Airlines, Air Lanka and Thai Airways.

Jet began flying in 1993 and has 42 aircraft and runs 271 scheduled flights daily within India. It also flies to Colombo and Nepal and has secured landing rights in London.

Air Sahara has also secured landing rights to London, and hopes to link Europe to South-east Asia via India.

The carrier started operations on Dec 3, 1993 following the Indian government's opening up of the Indian skies to private airlines.

Air Sahara's fleet includes Boeing 737 - 700, 737 - 800 and 737 - 400 aircraft. The company currently flies to 22 destinations in India.

Copyright © 2005 Singapore Press Holdings Ltd. All rights reserved.

Business Times - 14 Mar 2005

Magicair latest to join India's low-fare biz

(NEW DELHI) Magic Airlines Pvt said it plans to start a low-fare carrier in India, where companies are starting new airlines to cater to the rising demand for air travel in the world's second-most populous country.

The company has applied to India's Civil Aviation Ministry for permission to start Magicair this winter, according to a statement issued on Thursday. The airline is being founded by Nira Radia, who runs public relations company Vaishnavi Corporate Communications Pvt.

India's domestic air traffic rose 12 per cent in the year ended March 31, 2003, to a record 14.8 million passengers.

The New Delhi-based Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation estimates India's air traffic will rise by five million passengers annually for the next 10 years, prompting the starting of new airlines.

United Breweries Ltd, India's biggest beer maker, plans to start Kingfisher Airlines in May and the Mumbai-based Wadia family, which owns stakes in the country's biggest cookies maker and a textile company, plans to start an airline this year.

Royal Airways Ltd plans to start its discount carrier SpiceJet in May after being grounded for more than eight years and East West Travel & Trade Links Ltd aims to restart flights after seven years. - Bloomberg

Copyright © 2005 Singapore Press Holdings Ltd. All rights reserved.

Business Times - 14 Mar 2005

Jet Airways makes lukewarm stockmarket debut

BOMBAY - India's first listed private airline, Jet Airways, made a lukewarm debut on Monday as the shares opened higher than the public offer price but below market expectations, dealers said.

In afternoon trade on the Bombay Stock Exchange, Jet Airways was at 1,256 rupees (US$28.7), up on the IPO price of 1,100 rupees but disappointing some who had expected more. The stock had opened at 1,211 rupees.

In afternoon trade, the BSE Sensex was down 14.62 points or 0.21 per cent at 6,839.11.

The company offered a 20 per cent stake or 17.2 million shares at an indicated price of 950-1,125 rupees, with bids for the shares totalling more than 16 times the amount available within an hour.

'The listing is definitely lukewarm or in fact disappointing,' said Hiten Mehta, manager at merchant banking firm, Fortune Financial Services.

India began to deregulate its aviation sector in the 1990s, allowing private players to enter the domestic market previously dominated by state-run carrier Indian Airlines.

Jet Airways, which began flying in 1993, now holds the lion's share of the domestic market with a 45 per cent share, ahead of Indian Airlines and the rest of the competition which includes Air Deccan and Air Sahara.

Aviation analysts say there is a huge untapped market for low-cost carriers in the country of more than one billion people.

Only about 15 million people travel by air annually in India against three million passengers who fly daily in the United States even though the US population is around one-quarter that of India.

The number of passengers is expected to grow to 50 million in five years as a booming economy and new carriers stimulate demand.

Copyright © 2005 Singapore Press Holdings Ltd. All rights reserved.

http://www.ameinfo.com/images/news/0/12890-airarabia.jpg

Air Arabia takes off for India

Air Arabia LLC, one of the UAE's national airlines and the first low-cost airline of its kind in the Middle East and North Africa region, today announced the commencement of their daily flights to Mumbai from Saturday 26 March 2005.
Flights will depart Sharjah International Airport daily at 16:40 and arrive in Mumbai at 21:00 local time. From Mumbai, flights will depart every day at 21:45 and arrive in Sharjah at 23:25 local time. This latest destination in Air Arabia's constantly expanding network grows the airline's reach to 12 countries and 16 destinations within the Middle East, North Africa and the Indian Subcontinent.


http://www.ameinfo.com/news/Detailed/55984.html

India China to ink new agreement

Close on the heels of landmark agreements with USA, UK and France, India hopes to sign a new air agreement with it's second largest trading Partner - China.

In the wake of rapidly expanding trade and tourism links between India and China, both the countries have agreed to significantly increase air connectivity between their cities. A broad consensus in this regard was reached following two days of bilateral air services talks, which concluded in New Delhi on Thursday. A formal agreement spelling out the details on the various issues is likely to be finalised and signed during the upcoming visit of a high-level Chinese delegation to India.

Until now, only China Eastern and Air India have been the designated carriers on this route. At present, both sides can operate seven flights a week with Delhi and Mumbai being the points of call for China. Beijing and Shanghai are the two places to which Indian carriers can operate. However there are only two flights a week by Air India and three by China Eastern to New Delhi.

IA seeks nod for flights to UK
17 March 2005
The Times of India

NEW DELHI: International air fares between India and London seem set to cruise to a new low with the state-owned Indian Airlines (IA) now seeking the government go-ahead to start daily flights to Britain from December this year.

"Indian Airlines has already been designated for operations in Britain. It has requested for permission to operate four flights per week to Birmingham and three flights every week to Manchester," civil aviation minister Praful Patel said. The airline, he added, is currently awaiting the green light from British authorities for mounting these flights.

This comes within months of the government granting private airlines - Jet Airways and Air Sahara - entry into London, starting this summer.

Market watchers said, air fares to London - which have touched a low of Rs 20,000 for a return ticket as compared to Rs 50,000 a year earlier - would drop further with the entry of IA, more competition in the skies and increase in tourism activities.

"The increased competition will be beneficial for travellers as connectivity with the Western world improves and fares become cheaper," an analyst said.

Jet Airways has already got the government nod to operate a daily flight to London, while Air Sahara has been allotted two flights a week to Gatwick during the summer schedule beginning late March. State-run Air-India already operates 24 flights a week on the high-density India-Britain route.

Indian Airlines 's proposal to start flights to London, government officials said, stems from the government support that the airline's 43 aircraft purchase plan has been getting.

Meanwhile, the civil aviation minister added that Indian Airlines has already been permitted the rights to operate additional services to Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and UAE (Sharjah) from Summer of 2005. It has also been designated for operations to the United Kingdom and the United States.

14 May launch date for bmi London Heathrow to Mumbai - BMI Press release

bmi will launch a four times weekly service between London Heathrow and Mumbai. Services to Mumbai will operate on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday with return services to London Heathrow on Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday. bmi had applied to operate 13 flights per week to serve Mumbai, Bangalore and Chennai. However, bmi was only granted four flights per week between London Heathrow and Mumbai by the British authorities.

Virgin to start flights to Mumbai from March 28

Richard Branson's Virgin Atlantic Airways would launch its London-Mumbai-London service with three Airbus A340 flights a week from March 28. The British airlines' chairman Branson is due to arrive here on March 31 on a two-day visit to the city, airport sources said here today. The Airbus A340-300 daytime flights on Mondays, Thursdays and Saturdays will arrive at Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport at 10.35 a.M. And depart four hours later, the sources said. The British airline is already operating a daily service between London and Delhi and is launching three services to Mumbai under the bilateral agreement concluded in December.

AI Express to launch services April 28

In it's first phase, AI Express has announced plans to fly to four international destinations - Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Muscat and Salalah, with service from 5 Indian cities - Calicut, Kochi, Thiruvananthapuram, Mumbai and Delhi. AI Express will operate three leased Boeing 737-800s and offer 35 flights a week. The airline plans to take several more aircraft on lease and launch operations to Kuwait, Bahrain, Doha Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok and Jakarta within a year.

Business Times - 19 Mar 2005

Indian airlines offer rock-bottom fares as competition heats up

NEW DELHI - Indian carriers are offering low fares for travellers flying to popular destinations like Singapore and Dubai in a bid to win competition from budget airlines in East Asia, news reports said on Saturday.

Air Sahara, a private airline that was allowed last month to fly on international routes, is offering a round trip from New Delhi to Singapore and Kuala Lumpur for 10,000 rupees (US$220), the Business Standard newspaper reported.

The current fare offered by other airlines on the is about 16,000 rupees (US$350). Sahara plans to launch its flights to Southeast Asian cities in May.

Separately, state-owned Air India said its low-cost carrier will start operations on April 29, with an inaugural offering of 2,750 rupees (US$60) per ticket to people travelling from New Delhi to Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates. The offer is 50 per cent cheaper than existing fares, the report quoted an Air India official as saying.

Air India will gradually withdraw its existing flights to Middle East countries in favour of its low cost carrier. The airline recently placed orders for 18 aircraft from Boeing for its low-cost operations.

Copyright © 2005 Singapore Press Holdings Ltd. All rights reserved.

The first pic of Kingfisher Airlines pointed out by DrWHo and brought to you by www.airliners.net

http://www.airliners.net/open.file/799570/L/

Asia Pulse
March 18, 2005
China, India Agree to Increase Flights

To ensure adequate direct air connectivity, India and China agreed to substantially increase the number of flights and destinations between them.

After two days of bilateral air services talks here, the two sides agreed "to consider significant enhancement of traffic rights from the present level of seven flights per week...

There was also a need to increase the points of call in both countries which are presently restricted to two destinations as well as the number of intermediate and beyond points," an official spokes person said.

Following a "broad consensus" reached in the current round of talks, a formal agreement spelling out the details on various issues is likely to be finalised and signed during the ensuing visit to India of Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao early next month.

The last round of bilateral talks were held almost eight years ago in May 1997.

While the Indian side was led by Civil Aviation Secretary Ajay Prasad, the visiting Chinese delegation was led by Yang Guoqing, Vice Minister, General Administration of Civil Aviation.

India's Royal Airways to target train travellers
By Rina Chandran

NEW DELHI, March 21 (Reuters) - Indian budget airline SpiceJet, owned by Royal Airways Ltd, is hoping to lure millions of frugal train travellers in the country as it readies for take-off in a booming travel market.

Royal Airways Ltd. (ROYA.BO), among the first privately-held firms to enter the aviation sector in India, will compete with local discount pioneer Air Deccan, besides new entrants Air India Express from the state-owned carrier and Kingfisher Airlines, backed by the country's largest brewer, the UB Group.

But with the Indian air travel market expected to grow at about 25-30 percent over the next five years as incomes rise, the airline is confident there is room for more players.

"There is potential to make domestic air travel a much bigger market than it is now," said Mark Winders, chief executive officer of Royal Airways, who estimates there are 14 million air travellers in a year, a tenth of the number in China.

"It can increase five to ten-fold over the next few years."

Investor and consumer interest is strong in Asia's fourth-largest economy, where the air travel market has remained small due to steep fares inflated by high fuel taxes and levies.

But stiff competition triggered a price war that has expanded the air travel market. The government's decision to raise the foreign investment cap in aviation to 49 percent from 40 percent last year, and promises to improve and privatise airports have also helped.

Shares in Royal have risen nearly 60 percent this year.

SpiceJet, which plans to launch in May, hopes to turn an operating profit by the end of the first half of the first year of operations, and have a positive cash flow by the end of the first year, said Winders.

Jet Airways Ltd. , the largest domestic carrier, which recently raised $435 million in an initial public offering, has a 43 percent share of the market, also served by state-owned Indian Airlines and privately-owned Air Sahara.

But SpiceJet views its competition differently.

"Our competition is trains and 'couches' - people who stay at home and don't travel otherwise. We want to get those Indians flying who have not flown before," said Winders, who had helped launch Canadian budget carrier CanJet Airlines.

"We want to be the Jet of the low-cost carriers."

Royal, which discontinued operations of airline ModiLuft in 1996, tried to relaunch in 2001, but was affected by an industry-wide slowdown in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks in the United States. MudiLuft was a joint venture with German airline Lufthansa (LHAG.DE).

SpiceJet will take off with three leased Boeing (BA.N) 737-800s, and take delivery of the first of the 10 737-800s it has bought early next year. It has an option to buy 10 more.

"Air Deccan's done a good job of bringing the concept of budget airlines to India, but we feel we can still improve on quality and customer service," said Winders.

The company's founders, Royal Holdings Services Ltd., a Nevada-based company owned by the non-resident Indian Kansagra family, hold roughly 40 percent of the airline. Domestic and foreign institutions hold another 20 percent.

The company, which will soon be renamed SpiceJet Ltd., may float a second share issue if it needs more funds, said Winders.

"World over, successful low-cost carriers have challenged the dominance of legacy carriers, we could do that here," he said.

"It could be like the cellphone market: lowering the price created a huge demand in India ... we think lowering fares will do the same for the air travel market here." ($1=43.7).

March 25, 2005
Cheaper air fares to India soon
Prices expected to fall as 2 new carriers will start flying there; another is in talks with CAAS

By Krist Boo

BUSINESSMAN S. Supramaniam, 47, is sick and tired of overbooked flights and overpriced tickets to India. That is why he is looking forward to April and May.

The reason: Two new Indian carriers will start plying the route to the subcontinent - Jet Airways from next month and Air Sahara a month later. And a third carrier is now in talks with the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS).

They break the long-standing grip on the lucrative sector by Singapore Airlines and subsidiary SilkAir, Air India and Indian Airlines.

Although they are not budget carriers, the latest entrants will be a boon to travellers as they will push fares down drastically, analysts and travel agents said.

Delhi-based analyst Kapil Kaul, from the Centre for Asia-Pacific Aviation, expects return fares to slide to between $550 and $700 in 18 months. The current rate is about $900.

Fares could go as low as $390 if India opens up to Singapore-based budget carriers such as Valuair and Jetstar Asia, he said.

Those doors will open, Mr Kaul said, as India finds other suppliers for global travel over the next few years, while its own airlines beef up their fleets and long-haul capabilities.

SIA, which operates almost a third of the 194 weekly flights from Singapore to 11 cities in India, said its fares will 'remain competitive'.

Newcomer Air Sahara has already turned on the heat by promising bargain-basement return fares at a promotional $374 on its launch.

But even before Air Sahara's first flight, SIA has slashed its prices - a promotion fare of $498 for return tickets to any of four selected Indian cities.

Air Sahara president Rono Dutta told The Straits Times: 'Fares should drop by about 10 to 15 per cent with our entry.'

Jet Airways, which is well-known at home for its service and is India's largest domestic carrier by market share in India, has not firmed up prices.

Its first destination from Singapore will be Mumbai, followed by Chennai and capital Delhi, said its Singapore country manager Joseph Loh.

Its downtown ticketing office will be up by next week.

Increased flights would bring more Indian visitors here. Some 471,000 Indians came last year, the sixth largest group among all tourists.

With only 3 to 5 per cent of India's 1.1-billion population travelling by air, it is a huge market to be tapped.

Already, both air and cargo traffic between the two countries have jumped almost a quarter last year over 2003.

For Mr Supramaniam, who flies to India about twice a year, the entry of new players on the route is overdue.

He will 'double' his trips if fares drop a third of the $800 he paid for a ticket two weeks ago.

Copyright © 2005 Singapore Press Holdings. All rights reserved.

Delhi & Mumbai : Cap on user charge hike at 2 key airports
23 March 2005
The Economic Times

NEW DELHI: The government will impose a cap on hike in user charges after the Delhi and Mumbai airports are handed over to corporate managements.

Civil aviation minister Praful Patel said on Monday that the cap will be in the region of 10-15% to ensure that airlines and passengers do not suffer on account of sudden hike in user charges. The cap will apply to both passenger and cargo traffic.

The task of managing tariffs will be handed over to the proposed Airport Economic Regulatory Authority (AERA) once it is set up.

Establishment of the regulator will be part of the comprehensive civil aviation policy and a separate legislation will be enacted for the Authority, Mr Patel said during an informal chat with mediapersons after receiving a dividend cheque from the Airports Authority of India (AAI).

The regulator is supposed to lay down tariff structures and performance standards.

Mr Patel said that work on restructuring of the Delhi and Mumbai airports was 'on track' and he hoped that the request for proposal (RFP) for the two airports will be ready soon.

Various issues, including clubbing of the Mumbai airport revamp with development of a new airport at Navi Mumbai, are under consideration. The government is looking at the provision of the right of first refusal for Navi Mumbai airport to the same corporate body that takes up restructuring of Mumbai airport.

The empowered group of ministers (eGOM) on airport restructuring has completed its work and the RFP documents will be finalised before March 31 if other ministries extend their co-operation, Mr Patel said.

The RFP has to be approved by all the ministries concerned - defence, law, finance and civil aviation. The eGOM's in-principle approval to the restructuring process has been obtained and minutes have been approved, he added.

Mr Patel said AAI will spend Rs 250 crore to make immediate improvements in airport infrastructure at the Delhi and Mumbai airports. The spending will be on parking bays, taxiways and terminal buildings so that the two airports can cater to the rapidly-growing traffic till the new facilities, to be developed with private sector participation, are ready in three years.

"If investments are not made now, the two airports will get choked soon. There is no option but to go ahead with building new parking bays and taxiways," Mr Patel said in reply to queries on congestion at airports.

No major investment in infrastructure was allowed in the past five years as the NDA government discussed various strategies for upgradation of airport infrastructure.

"Meanwhile, traffic has grown by leaps and bounds. If we do not build airport terminals now, it will not be possible to allot infrastructure to new airlines which are coming up," Mr Patel said.

A significant part of the planned investment will go into the terminal buildings used by private airlines in Mumbai and Delhi.

To check congestion, the civil aviation ministry has set up a committee to speed up aircraft landings and take-off at Delhi and Mumbai airports. "We will like to increase aircraft turnaround to 35 movements per hour, compared to 25 now," Mr Patel said.

Ultimately, it will be necessary to take up the speed of landings and take-off to 40 movements per hour, which is already being done in some countries, including Australia, he added.

Sahara plans $300 mn fleet expansion

BYAS ANAND
MARCH 21, 2005
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1058238.cms

NEW DELHI: Preparing to spread its wings in international skies, Air Sahara has penned a massive $300-million fleet expansion plan under which six new Boeing jets are being inducted, starting April this year. In addition, the airline is also in negotiations to take on lease three wide-bodied planes that will help Air Sahara mount long-haul services to London in the summer of 2005, Air Sahara CEO Rono J Dutta said.

"Orders have already been placed for six Boeing jets and all the deliveries would be completed by June this year. This would include a mix of B737-800, 737-700, 737-400 and 737-300," Dutta said. The deal is expected to cost the airline around $35 million a piece. These new planes, which will sport the Indian tricolour, will mark the start the Air Sahara's operations to Asean nations this May. The airline had last week announced a return fare of Rs 10,000 to Singapore and Kuala Lumpur.

A render of Sahara's new livery, posted by Suncity:

http://img72.exs.cx/img72/8942/airsaharanewcolor9ak.jpg

Waiting for actual pics once they commission it..

Existing livery (credit to Charles Falk and airliners.net):

http://photos.airliners.net/e71115f2030597fe364b285031f8e72c/424412a5/middle/7/0/1/498107.jpg

India to invest $20 bn in airports, airlines


NEW DELHI, MARCH 25: The Indian government plans to spend $20 billion over the next 5 years upgrading airports and expanding two government-owned airlines to win passengers from the regional hubs of Singapore and Dubai.


The government will also sell stakes in Mumbai and New Delhi airports, seeking outside investment of as much as $3.5 billion to improve infrastructure, Aviation Minister Praful Patel said in an interview in New Delhi on Thursday.

The Indian government is trying to catch up with Singapore, which is spending $1.75 billion on a third terminal at the Changi airport and Dubai, which is spending $4.1 billion on expansion.

Some 80 per cent of India's overseas traffic is carried by non-Indian airlines, which use better-equipped hubs outside of the country. Improving the airports will help spur growth in Asia's fourth-largest economy, Patel said.

`We have lost out on the opportunity to be a truly international hub,'' Patel said. ``We have to correct that.''

Singapore's Changi airport handles about 30 million passengers annually while Dubai International Airport handles about 22 million passengers annually, according to the airports' web sites. Mumbai's International Airport handles about 13 million passengers annually, its web site says.

International Traffic

Air India Ltd. and Indian Airlines Ltd., the country's two government-owned airlines, handle about 20 per cent of the nation's overseas traffic while airlines such as Deutsche Lufthansa AG and Singapore Airlines Ltd. fly about 80 per cent, Patel, 48, said.

Air India is planning to buy 68 planes from Airbus SAS and Boeing Co. to increase flights to the U.S., Europe and Asian countries. It will also expand its network to Australia and Canada. Indian Airlines, which flies mostly domestic routes, is buying 43 planes and aims to offer more flights to Europe.

Improving India's airlines is crucial to making the airports more attractive, said Krishan Sehgal, who helps manage $400 million of Asian equities at AMP Capital Investors Ltd. in Singapore.

Successful airports ``have successful home airlines,'' Sehgal said. ``Until India has very successful airlines, it will be difficult for India to say our airports are successful.''

Other Indian carriers such as Jet Airways and Sahara Airlines Ltd. last year won the Indian government's permission to fly overseas, including to the U.K., U.S. and Southeast Asia.

Partial Privatisation

India is seeking bids from Fraport AG, Malaysia Airport Holdings Bhd., Singapore Changi Airport Enterprise Pte., Aeroports de Paris and five other companies this week for stakes in India's biggest airports -- New Delhi and Mumbai.

The winners may have to spend as much as $3.5 billion to upgrade the two airports, the government said March 16. Malaysia Airport Holdings is building a new airport in southern city of Hyderabad and Siemens AG and Unique Zurich Airport are building another in Bangalore.

Jet Airways, India's largest domestic airline, which is controlled by billionaire Naresh Goyal, flies to only two international destinations. The airline has a fleet of 42 planes.

Air India has a fleet of 34 planes and flies to 30 cities.

The investment will also lure more flights from foreign airlines, said Adrian Lim, who helps manage $11 billion of Asian assets at Aberdeen Asset Management Asia Ltd. in Singapore.

Singapore Airlines, Thai Airways, Virgin Atlantic Airways Ltd., and British Airways Plc last year won approval to increase flights to India. They will compete with Indian airlines for the 4 million tourists who visit India annually and for Indians working overseas.

"India will get its fare share of regional travel as it leverages of an increasingly large and important domestic market,'' Lim said.


http://www.financialexpress.com/latest_full_story.php?content_id=86206

Business Times - 26 Mar 2005

India to spend US$20b to upgrade airports and compete with S'pore, Dubai

(MUMBAI) The Indian government plans to spend US$20 billion over the next five years upgrading airports and expanding two state-owned airlines to win passengers from the regional hubs of Singapore and Dubai.

The government will also sell stakes in Mumbai and New Delhi airports, seeking outside investment of as much as US$3.5 billion to improve infrastructure, Aviation Minister Praful Patel said in an interview.

The Indian government is trying to catch up with Singapore, which is spending US$1.75 billion on a third terminal at the Changi airport and Dubai, which is spending US$4.1 billion on expansion.

Some 80 per cent of India's overseas traffic is carried by non-Indian airlines, which use better-equipped hubs outside the country. Improving the airports will help spur growth in Asia's fourth-largest economy, Mr Patel said. 'We have lost out on the opportunity to be a truly international hub,' Mr Patel said. 'We have to correct that.'

Changi airport handles about 30 million passengers annually while Dubai International Airport handles about 22 million passengers annually, according to the airports' websites. Mumbai's international airport handles about 13 million passengers annually.

Air India and Indian Airlines, the two government-owned airlines, handle about 20 per cent of India's overseas traffic while foreign airlines fly about 80 per cent, Mr Patel said.

Air India plans to buy 68 Airbus and Boeing planes to increase flights to the US, Europe and Asian countries. It will also expand its network to Australia and Canada. Indian Airlines, which flies mostly domestic routes, is buying 43 planes and will offer more flights to Europe.

Improving India's airlines is crucial to making the airports more attractive, said Krishan Sehgal at AMP Capital Investors in Singapore. Successful airports 'have successful home airlines', he said. 'Until India has very successful airlines, it will be difficult for India to say our airports are successful.'

Other Indian carriers such as Jet Airways and Sahara Airlines last year won the Indian government's permission to fly overseas, including to the UK, US and South-east Asia.

India is seeking bids from Fraport, Malaysia Airport Holdings, Changi Airport Enterprise, Aeroports de Paris and five others this week for stakes in India's biggest airports - New Delhi and Mumbai.

The winners may have to spend as much as US$3.5 billion to upgrade the two airports, the government said on March 16. Malaysia Airport Holdings is building a new airport in southern city of Hyderabad and Siemens AG and Unique Zurich Airport are building another in Bangalore.

The investment will also lure more flights from foreign airlines, said Adrian Lim at Aberdeen Asset Management Asia in Singapore. 'India will get its fair share of regional travel as it leverages of an increasingly large and important domestic market,' he said. - Bloomberg

Copyright © 2005 Singapore Press Holdings Ltd. All rights reserved.

Great news. The selling of shares and the partial privitization of the airports was long overdue.

Global airlines remove first class on India flights
Byas Anand
24 March 2005
The Times of India

NEW DELHI: First class international air travel seems to be heading for a quiet burial in India. With an eye on maximising returns with more economy class seats, a host of global airlines - including two new entrants Jet and Sahara - are removing first class seats from their flights on the India route.

This holds true, not only for short and medium haul flights but even on long haul sectors like UK and US. Most of these carriers are, instead, planning to offer an upper-end business class - with flat beds, personal entertainment systems, with service standards at par with first class - to the growing lot of value-conscious Indian air traveller.

"We are not withdrawing the frills of upper class travel. We feel there is not enough demand for first class travel from India to maintain three-class configuration," said Air Sahara CEO Rono J Dutta.

Among the established international carriers, British Airways has chosen not to offer first class on its flights to Kolkata, while Thai Airways has withdrawn this upper class services to India. Gulf Air is also now offering all economy flights to India citing dropping demand for upper class travel.

"Indians may be known as the biggest spenders on holidays, but the mindset is to save on travel costs. This has led to higher demand for economy class travel," said an analyst.

Demand for upper class travel has also hit a low with corporates scaling down travel perks offered even to senior officials.

Business Times - 29 Mar 2005

S'pore-India airfares unlikely to dive despite entry of two carriers

Govt pact to boost capacity will help, but latest talks fail to make progress

By VEN SREENIVASAN

(SINGAPORE) While Jet Airways and Air Sahara will put downward pressure on Singapore-India airfares, ticket prices are unlikely to tumble sharply as long as the two countries cannot hammer out an agreement to significantly increase capacity.

The Singapore Ministry of Transport yesterday confirmed that a meeting between officials from Singapore and India earlier this month to sign an amended Air Services Agreement broke down with the two sides unable to agree on key points.

'Singapore and India held air talks in Singapore from 9 to 10 March to discuss the possibility of expanding the Singapore-India bilateral Air Services Agreement,' said a Ministry of Transport official. 'The Indian delegation was led by Mr Ajay Prasad, secretary, Ministry of Civil Aviation. The Singapore delegation was led by Mr Peter Ong, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Transport.'

'No expanded agreement was concluded at this round of consultations. However, the discussions served as a useful basis for our next round of consultations. Both sides also agreed to meet soon for the next round of air talks.'

She did not say when that round would be.

In all, there are 194 weekly flights between Singapore and 11 cities in India. Singapore Airlines and its subsidiary SilkAir control two thirds of the flights, while state-owned Air India and Indian Airlines operate the rest.

Jet and Air Sahara will each add seven more flights a week to this, not significant enough to dent ticket prices much, say observers.

Singapore had been seeking significant increases in capacity between the two countries, but the Indian side seems to fear that its state-owned Air India and Indian Airlines are not ready for unfettered competition.

The result has been a severe undercapacity, which has kept fares between the two countries at among the highest in dollars-per-kilometre terms for any major international route. On average, a return ticket between Singapore and Mumbai costs around $900, depending on the season - the same price for a return ticket from Singapore to London or Auckland.

Singapore Airlines wants more rights into and out of India. So do South-east Asian low-cost carriers.

Cheap flights out of Changi and from Chennai, Mumbai and Delhi to Singapore is a potentially huge and lucrative market for Tiger Airways, Valuair, and Jetstar Asia.

But in a tentative step towards more liberalisation, the Indian government in December 2004 permitted private carriers with 'a minimum of five years continuous experience and minimum of 20 aircraft in their fleet', to operate on all international routes, barring Gulf destinations. Air Sahara and Jet were the only ones which qualified.

But the number of flights they will add is hardly enough to satisfy demand on this high growth route. The airlines themselves seem to agree. Jet Airways chief executive Wolfgang Prock-Schauer told BT that his airline, which begins inaugural flights between Mumbai and Singapore next week, would not offer cut-rate fares.

'As you are aware, Jet Airways has always offered a premium product to its passengers, both in the domestic market and in our operations to the SAARC countries,' he said via e-mail. 'It is our plan again to offer a superior product to our passengers on our international sectors. Our pricing will be in line with our high quality product, which will be our major selling tool, while keeping in mind the competition on this route.'

Jet, which has been voted India's best airline, will launch Chennai-Kuala Lumpur services later next month.

Air Sahara, which will start services between New Delhi and Singapore (and Chennai and Kuala Lumpur) in May, is not expected to be much cheaper. Air Sahara president Rono Dutta has been quoted as saying that his airline's fares would be around 10 to 15 per cent below current average fares.

SIA spokesman Stephen Forshaw explained why fares may not fall significantly in the foreseeable future. 'There will be seasonal spikes and troughs in a competitive and diverse market,' he said, referring to SIA's recent special offer of sub-$500 fares to Indian destinations. 'But systemwide, capacity is clearly not growing in tandem with demand. So I don't see a sustained downward pressure on ticket prices.'

While the incumbents - SIA, Air India and Indian Airlines - have recently slashed fares by half to counter the impending competition, industry insiders expect ticket prices to level off at around $700, just slightly below current levels. This is still double the fare travellers pay to fly from Singapore to Hong Kong, which takes the same flight time as Changi to Chennai.

But all this could change as more new players emerge. Industry watchers such as Kapil Kaul, senior vice-president at the Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation in New Delhi, reckons it is just a matter of time before budget carriers get into the act.

Singapore-based Jetstar Asia is said to have already obtained traffic rights to fly to Kolkata. Meanwhile, Valuair is eyeing an airport near Mumbai. Within the next five years, India's low-cost upstarts like Kingfisher and Air Deccan could also join the fray.

And that's when the promise of truly low prices on this high traffic route could become a reality.

Copyright © 2005 Singapore Press Holdings Ltd. All rights reserved.

Interesting read. That the demand is so high between India and Singapore is probably underscored by the escalating trade and exchanges between the two countries. ;)

Anyway, Jet Airways made a full page ad in the Straits Times to announce their arrival. Not bad...because even much bigger airlines usually dont bother coming up with anything as huge as this! :D

Sorry for the double post. This is where I originally planned to put it. Excuse me for my brain fart.


http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/busin...70_india07.html



India is 'the market to reckon with' for Boeing and Airbus

By JAMES WALLACE
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER AEROSPACE REPORTER

A billion people and only 125 commercial jetliners with 100 seats or more.

That's India today, where a new middle class has money to burn, the economy is booming, air travel is rapidly expanding, and planes are in short supply. (The United States, with about 300 million people, has more than 6,000 commercial jets.)

No wonder, then, that India has become a major battleground for The Boeing Co. and Airbus, both of which see the world's second-most-populous country as the best market for airplanes after the United States and China over the next two decades.
Air-India Express jet
The Boeing Co.
Air-India Express, which starts flights next month, is among the low-cost carriers that will give the nation's two state-run carriers competition in a rapidly growing market that both The Boeing Co. and Airbus hope to benefit from.

State-owned Air India could soon announce one of this year's biggest orders -- and the biggest order ever out of India -- for 35 widebody jets from one or both manufacturers. Throw in other orders from Indian Airlines and low-cost carriers that are arriving on the scene, and jet sales to India could top $10 billion this year alone.

"We are focused more sharply on India than ever before," said Dinesh Keskar, Boeing's senior vice president of commercial jetliner sales and its longtime sales chief for India.

"That's the market to reckon with," said Keskar, who was born in Rajkot, India, and has been Boeing's point man for that country since about 1988. "If you don't get your seeds in now, you will be sorry two years from now."

Boeing and Airbus recently increased their sales forecast for India.

Boeing was predicting that India would require about 300 planes worth about $25 billion over the next 20 years. Last month, during an air show in Bangalore, India, Keskar announced that Boeing had revised its forecast to about $35 billion worth of planes. India, according to Boeing, will be the fastest-growing aircraft market after China.

Airbus is forecasting that India will need 570 new jets by 2023. That's 348 more planes than Airbus forecast for India just two years ago.

"The way things are going in India right now, it could overtake China on aircraft demand and in deregulation," said Richard Aboulafia, senior aviation analyst with the Teal group, an industry consulting firm near Washington, D.C.

During a recent trip to India, Aboulafia was amazed by how many airplane flights were canceled because of "fog."

"It was not the weather but a shortage of planes," he said.
Keskar
Dinesh Keskar, an Indian native, has represented Boeing there since about 1988.

Keskar said India's growth is driven by better living standards for the middle class. That's the result in part of the explosion of the information technology industry.

"Young people today are driving fancy cars and buying homes," he said. "That wasn't possible in India in my younger days."

Keskar left India in 1975 for his doctorate in engineering at the University of Cincinnati. Neil Armstrong, the first man to walk on the moon, was his thesis adviser.

Domestic airplane traffic increased 23 percent in India last year, Keskar said.

About 15 million people fly each year, and about the same number take trains, Keskar said.

The highest level of service on a train is air-conditioned first class. Today, the cost for that class of service is about 20 percent higher than someone would pay for an advanced booking on a jet.

"So instead of taking 17 1/2 hours to get from Mumbai to Delhi, you are there in an hour and 50 minutes," Keskar said. "And these are people who have not flown many times."

Industry in transition

Meanwhile, India is transforming its aviation industry, with the government introducing reforms.

Aboulafia said India does not make the top 100 list of economically free countries, even though it is a democracy.

"India is unbelievably regulated," Aboulafia said. "Just imagine what it would be like if the market were deregulated. It's a huge growth market."

The government in New Delhi is expected to sign an open skies agreement with the United States soon. Current agreements are a half-century old. This will open up more travel and remove restrictions.

Several new privately owned carriers in India could begin flying this year.

And just as they did in the United States, Europe and eventually Asia, the low-cost carriers see the potential in India.

Air Deccan, the country' first budget carrier, has ordered single-aisle jets from Airbus. So has upstart Kingfisher. Air India Express and SpiceJet are in Boeing's camp. Only Air Deccan is currently in operation, with three leased jets. Air India Express will start flights next month with a fleet of leased planes while it finalizes an order for 18 new 737s.

Budget airline waiting

Keskar believes four or five more budget airlines are waiting in the wings for government permission to start service -- and waiting to find out where they can get new planes and the pilots to fly them.

"Ten years ago, there were more pilots than demand. Today, it's hard to fine even one available pilot." He said he could immediately place 20 next-generation 737s in India today -- "That's how great the demand."

Problem is, those new jets are not immediately available from Boeing's Renton plant. Customers have to wait on delivery positions for Boeing's most popular jet. That's why Air Deccan went with Airbus, according to Keskar. It wanted new jets faster than Boeing could provide them.

To win the recent SpiceJet order for 10 737s plus 10 options, Boeing worked with leasing companies to get three used planes for the new carrier, which plans to begin service in May.

Airbus, meanwhile, is waiting on final government approval for a long-delayed order from Indian Airlines for more than 40 of its single-aisle A320 family of jets. Boeing's hopes are riding with Air India, which is replacing its international fleet of 747-400s.

Although there has been talk of privatization, Air India and Indian Airlines are 100 percent owned by the government. They have interlocking boards.

Boeing submitted its final bid for the $7 billion Air India order on Christmas Day.

In addition to the 35 firm orders, Air India will take 15 options. The firm orders break down like this:

# 10 Boeing 777-300ERs or Airbus A340-600s.

# 20 Boeing 787s (formerly the 7E7) or Airbus A330-200s.

# Five Boeing 777-200LRs or Airbus A340-500s.

Keskar said the 777-200LR would provide Air India with a premium non-stop service to the United States. Air India's 747-400s must stop once on flights to this country.

Boeing is encouraged that, in December, Air India leased a 777-200ER, which it is operating between Mumbai and London. As a result, the airline is gaining experience with that model, Keskar said.

Airline IPO a success

Last week, Jet Airways, the country's biggest airline with more than 40 planes, saw its initial public offering scooped up in minutes. It received more than 13 times as many bids as it had stock shares available. Investors were upbeat. And why not? Domestic airlines in India are expected to have carried about 19 million passengers in the year that ends March 31, up about 28 percent from the previous year.

Much of India's growth could come on domestic routes between secondary cities in India, rather than on the established routes between the main cities, Keskar said.

In 1990, when Keskar began traveling to India a lot on Boeing business, there were only four flights a day between Mumbai (then named Bombay) and New Delhi. Today, Jet Airways alone has 11 daily flights between those cities.

"When things get saturated, and they haven't yet, then carriers that have ordered all these planes will need to fly other than the trunk routes, and they are going to start opening up new city pairs," he said. "India's market is highly, highly untapped."

For Boeing and Airbus, that's a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.
P-I aerospace reporter James Wallace can be reached at 206-448-8040 or jameswallace@seattlepi.com

India, Mauritius sign deal to boost air traffic
By Nita Bhalla

PORT LOUIS, March 31 (Reuters) - India and Mauritius signed a deal on Thursday giving Air India and Air Mauritius (AIMK.MZ) access to new destinations, which is expected to double air traffic between the two nations.

The pact was one of four agreements signed by Mauritian Prime Minister Paul Berenger and his Indian counterpart Manmohan Singh, who is on a four-day visit to the Indian Ocean island.

Air India suspended flights to Mauritius in 1986, saying passenger traffic was too weak to support it without the right to fly to destinations beyond. About 25,000 people travel from India to Mauritius annually.

Air India is expected to restart flights to Mauritius at the end of April, and the agreement allows the national carrier to use Mauritius as a stopover for flights to busy South African airports and other destinations.

In return, Air Mauritius, which already flies seven times a week to India, can use India as a stopover for flights to cities such as Karachi, Shanghai and Beijing.

Under the deal, officials expect 14 flights a week between the two countries, which share close cultural and religious similarities. About 68 percent of Mauritius's population is of Indian origin.

The other three agreements include pacts to boost cooperation on fighting terrorism and environmental degradation. India also extended a $10 million credit line to Mauritius to build sewers.

India invites bids for Bombay, Delhi airports

BOMBAY, March 31 (Reuters) - The Indian government has called for bids for the restructuring and modernisation of the airports in Bombay and New Delhi.

Nine bidders have been shortlisted and they have 12 weeks to submit their technical and financial bids, the ministry of Civil Aviation said in a statement on Thursday.

Ten groups including leading Indian colour-TV manufacturer Videocon International (VDCI.BO), a telecommunications company and a leading media group, as well as foreign operators such as Singapore's Changi Airport and Germany's Fraport AG (FRAG.DE) were in the race for the airports.

The airports in Bombay and New Delhi are the country's largest and most profitable. The modernisation of the two airports is estimated to cost more than 35 billion rupees.

The Indian government aims to set up two joint venture companies to hold the leases to operate the two airports and is offering a 74 percent stake in each to private firms.

Foreign firms can hold no more than 49 percent of the operating companies, while private Indian firms, including domestic financial institutions, must hold at least 25 percent.

State-owned firms including the Airports Authority of India, the umbrella body that operates India's 125 airports, will hold the remaining 26 percent.

Indian Airlines board approves lease of 10 A-320s

BOMBAY, March 31 (Reuters) - The board of state-run carrier Indian Airlines has approved the leasing of 10 A-320 aircrafts from the winter of 2005 to augment its capacity and meet growing demand, the company said in a statement on Thursday.

It said the domestic air market had grown 25 percent in April-November 2004, while international traffic grew 18 percent.

In February, the board had approved leasing 12 wide-bodied aircrafts for medium and long-range routes.

The board also approved an initial public offering (IPO) subject to approval by the Indian government, the statement said. No other details were available.

Media reports in January had quoted Aviation Minister Praful Patel as saying that IPOs for both state-run carriers Indian Airlines and Air-India could be completed in 2006.

Indian Airlines, which mainly competes with Jet Airways and privately-owned Air Sahara, estimated net profit for the financial year to March 31, 2005 would fall to 175 million rupees ($4 million), from 441.7 million rupees in the previous year.

The lower net profit is largely on account of higher fuel prices, which rose by nearly 30 percent during the fiscal year, the airline said. It estimates net profit for the next fiscal year to March 2006 would be 107.5 million rupees ($2.46 million).

This would be the carrier's second successive year of showing a profit after three years of losses, helped by cost cuts and improved productivity.

The carrier said operating revenues were estimated to have risen to 52.5 bilion rupees from 46.5 billion rupees a year earlier. Operating expenses rose to an estimated 51.9 billion rupees from 45.2 billion rupees a year earlier.

Indian Airlines, which had a domestic market share of nearly 41 percent in 2003/04, said it would enter a joint venture with Singapore Airport Terminal Services for handling passengers, cargo, ramp and security services in various airports in India.

This agreement, subject to the Indian government's approval, would enhance ground handling revenues, the airline said. ($1=43.7 Indian rupees).

UK's Branson wants more Virgin flights to India

BOMBAY, March 31 (Reuters) - British billionaire Richard Branson said on Thursday his Virgin Atlantic airline wants permission to fly more frequently to India from Britain in order to compete more effectively with British Airways.

Branson, in Bombay after travelling on Virgin's inaugural flight from London, said he wanted to offer as many as 21 flights a week to various Indian destinations from London this year and is also keen to invest in a domestic Indian airline.

Bombay is Virgin Atlantic's second Indian destination after New Delhi. It was added after "10 years of lobbying," Branson said, and after Virgin, of which he owns 51 percent, won the largest share of new rights in December to fly direct from Britain to India.

This had allowed Virgin to compete with British Airways on key routes but only by being able to fly more frequently could it cater to large demand from the business and leisure segments.

"If the skies are truly opened up, there could be as many flights going to India from Britain every year as there are to the U.S., but we have to get permission to fly daily soon, or it doesn't make sense for the travelling public or for us," he said.

Virgin Atlantic, which previously had a code-sharing agreement with India's international flag carrier Air-India Ltd., operates daily services between New Delhi and London, and flies to Bombay three times a week.

Branson hopes the airline will soon be permitted to fly daily to Bombay and fly weekly to at least seven more Indian cities. He expected more UK-India routes to be opened up after talks between the two governments, which he said would be held over the next few weeks.

Direct routes from London to cities such as Bombay, New Delhi and Bangalore are invaluable for airlines, as demand far outstrips the limited existing services, which are dominated by British Airways.

PERSONAL INTEREST

Branson is also keen to invest personally in India's domestic aviation industry, which is expected to grow by 25 to 30 percent per year over the next five years as incomes rise.

India allows up to 49 percent foreign equity holding in domestic carriers but these cannot be held by a foreign airline.

"If I, as an individual, am permitted to invest several million pounds, I would love to - but the rules are a bit murky and not that clear-cut," said Branson, whose whose business empire includes trains, music, holidays and personal finance.

Branson had earlier abandoned talks talks with India's only low-budget carrier, Air Deccan, to take a stake in the company.

Branson is also still in talks with Indian mobile phone service providers to give Virgin Mobile Holdings a foothold in the world's fastest-growing major mobile market, although he declined to say which firms.

Virgin Mobile, which buys airtime from partner T-Mobile, is Britain's fifth-largest mobile phone company.

"With the Indian government freeing up industry and encouraging competition in aviation and telecoms, it would be foolish of Virgin to not embrace India," said Branson, who plans to use the airline to help launch other businesses in India, including financial services and music.

Business Times - 02 Apr 2005

Bids invited for stakes in Mumbai, Delhi airports

Changi among nine parties asked for modernisation plans

(NEW DELHI) India has asked nine bidders including Singapore Changi Airport Enterprise Pte, Aeroports de Paris and Fraport AG to submit bids in 12 weeks for stakes in the New Delhi and Mumbai airports, the country's busiest and most profitable.

'The 'requests for proposal' have been finalised and are being sent to the bidders,' Vikram Kalra, executive director at the government's Airports Authority of India, said in a phone interview here on Thursday. The authority runs the airports, which between them handle 25 million passengers annually.

Mr Kalra said the bidders have 12 weeks to submit financial and technical bids for the two airports, where improvements will cost as much as US$3.5 billion.

India is seeking bids from Fraport, Malaysia Airport Holdings Bhd, Changi, Aeroports de Paris and five other companies for stakes in the two airports. After the stakes are sold, Airports Authority of India's holdings in the facilities will fall to 74 per cent each from 100 per cent.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's government is seeking private and overseas investment in the nation's roads, ports and airports as growth strains transport infrastructure in Asia's fourth-biggest economy.

The modernisation of the two airports is estimated to cost more than 35 billion rupees (S$1.32 billion).

The Indian government aims to set up two joint-venture companies to hold the leases to operate the two airports and is offering a 74 per cent stake in each to private firms.

Foreign firms can hold no more than 49 per cent of the operating companies, while private Indian firms, including domestic financial institutions, must hold at least 25 per cent. - Bloomberg, Reuters

Copyright © 2005 Singapore Press Holdings Ltd. All rights reserved.

IA board approves IPO flight to BSE
2 April 2005
The Times of India

NEW DELHI: State-owned Indian Airlines has decided to float an IPO in the coming fiscal. The proceeds from the public offer will be used to fund its fleet enhancement plan, besides cleaning up the books by reducing its debt exposure. This will be the second airline IPO to hit the Indian market in over a decade, and comes close on the tails of the highly successful Jet Airways issue.

The airline board - which met late on Wednesday evening - gave its in-principle nod for IPO. The modalities - including issue size and timing - would be decided within the next fortnight and the final draft will then be sent to the ministry of civil aviation for approval, sources said.

Civil aviation minister Praful Patel had earlier stated that the ministry is keen on offloading up to 15 per cent stake in both IA and Air-India through the IPO route. If the clearance comes through, IA will become the first state-owned airline to land in the capital markets.

IA board also approved the airline's revised financial estimates for 2004-05, which showed a 60 per cent drop in its net profit in view of a rapid surge in fuel prices.

Branson to invest in an Indian carrier
2 April 2005
The Economic Times

NEW DELHI: Virgin Atlantic chief, Richard Branson has said he plans to invest about $50m in his personal capacity in an Indian airline for which he is in talks with "four different people" in the country.

"Virgin Atlantic (Airways) is not allowed to invest in India, but Richard Branson, I think, should be allowed to invest in India in his personal capacity," Mr Branson said in an interview with a TV channel.

Under the existing Indian aviation rules, no foreign airline is allowed to pick up stake in any Indian carrier. Maintaining that he is holding discussions with "four different people" in India who are in the aviation business, he said he plans to "invest $ 50m dollars in an Indian airline."

"Some of them (four different people he was talking to) have got airlines up and running and some are trying to set up an airline," he said when asked to name the people he is holding discussions with.

"I will be surprised if we don't reach an agreement in the next three-six months," Mr Branson said, adding that he was principally interested in the financial stake "but if some of them wanted my help and advice I would willingly give it...But there are very capable people here."

He said he would also be happy to invest in the building of airport infrastructure in the country, but did not give any details.

ok i will borrow some from you guys:)

Interesting read. That the demand is so high between India and Singapore is probably underscored by the escalating trade and exchanges between the two countries. ;)

Anyway, Jet Airways made a full page ad in the Straits Times to announce their arrival. Not bad...because even much bigger airlines usually dont bother coming up with anything as huge as this! :D

I read somewhere that Singapore Airlines wanted a whopping 200 flights a week rights for itself during the India Singapore talks. That sent everyone scurrying back to the drawing board and no agreement could be signed.

Two US airlines get approval to fly India

IANS[ SATURDAY, APRIL 02, 2005 12:16:26 PM]

MINNEAPOLIS: Two major US airlines have been given the green signal to fly to Indian cities on the eve of the historic Open Skies agreement between India and the US due to be signed later this month.
The US Department of Transportation has given Northwest Airlines and the American Airlines the "go ahead" to initiate the process to launch their flights to India.
Representatives of a large number of airlines were expected to accompany US Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta on his visit to India mid-April when the Open Skies agreement would be signed.
Transportation Department Public Affairs Specialist Bill Mosley said as per the approval given to Northwest on March 3 and to American Airlines on March 16, both the carriers can fly to any Indian city any number of times.
The two airlines had applied for "broad authority" to serve to India soon after such a decision in principle was taken by the two countries in January during the visit of Indian Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel to Washington. However, the two airlines would have to seek a few other clearances before they could actually fly, he observed.
It is understood that both the airlines have moved the necessary application before the Indian government and the US Department of Homeland Security.
Mosley said no other application was pending before the Department.
Following the approval, Northwest Airlines has decided to launch its Minneapolis-Bangalore service via Amsterdam from Oct 30.
"The information has already been loaded in our system. We are now waiting approval from the Indian government, before we could formally announce," a Northwest spokesperson said. Two US airlines get approval to fly India


Flight No. 34 would leave Amsterdam at 12:15 p.m. on Oct 30 to reach Bangalore at 2:15 a.m. On Oct 31, flight 33 would depart from Bangalore at 4:15 a.m. and arrive in Amsterdam at 10:40 a.m.
"This would be a daily service. We would use Airbus A330-300 aircraft for this," the spokesperson said.
However, the airline, he said, would continue with its present agreement with KLM for its services to New Delhi and Mumbai.

Business Times - 06 Apr 2005

Air India to lease 5 jets to increase US, Europe flights

(NEW DELHI) Air India Ltd, the nation's biggest overseas airline, will lease five planes by July to increase flights to the US and European cities.

The airline will lease two Boeing Co aircraft and three Airbus SAS planes, Jitender Bhargava, a spokesman for the Mumbai-based airline said yesterday.

Lease agreements for the aircraft have been signed, Mr Bhargava said. No details on the lessor and rates were disclosed.

Indian carriers are buying and leasing planes to fly to more cities as economic expansion stokes demand for business and leisure travel. Air India needs to lease new planes as it faces competition from Jet Airways (India) Ltd and Sahara Airlines Ltd, which will start flights to US and Europe this year.

'We wanted to expand capacity in some routes and add new routes as well,' Mr Bhargava said. 'As more planes come in, we will be able to expand our network,' he added.

Air India will be leasing one Boeing 777 aircraft and one 747-400 aircraft to fly 28 times a week to the US, double the existing frequency. The airline will also lease three Airbus A310 aircraft, Mr Bhargava said.

In the past three years, Air India has leased 11 Airbus A310 aircraft, five 747-400 planes and two 777 planes. It also leased three Boeing 737-800 single-aisle planes for its low-fare unit Air India Express.

Air India, which has a fleet of 36 aircraft, will start services to Toronto in Canada and Birmingham in the UK with the newly leased aircraft. It will also expand flights to Newark, Shanghai and London. - Bloomberg

Copyright © 2005 Singapore Press Holdings Ltd. All rights reserved.

Bellview Airlines (Nigeria) to fly to Mumbai

The corporate affairs officer of Bellview Airlines Mr. Habib Muhammed told Daily Trust in an interview that the Airline will flag off its operations to Mumbai in India at the end of this month.

According to him, Bellview Airlines has put everything in place to commence international operations, adding that the airline has just concluded conversion training for its pilots and crew engaged for the continental operations.

He hinted further that the aircraft painted in Bellview colours is already in Europe while delivery is in top gear, adding that the airline's chief engineer is in Europe to facilitate the delivery of the aircraft.

http://allafrica.com/stories/200504050389.html

India's Jet Airways to make maiden flight to Malaysia on April 29
Wed Apr 6, 7:24 AM ET

KUALA LUMPUR (AFP) - Indian carrier Jet Airways will make its maiden flight to Malaysia on April 29, marking growing economic ties between Kuala Lumpur and New Delhi, a senior airport official said.

Malaysia Airports Holding Bhd. senior marketing manager Mohamed Sallauddin Mat Sah told AFP that Jet Airways would launch daily roundtrip flights from Chennai to Kuala Lumpur using its new Boeing 737-800 aircraft.

"India is another emerging market. The new carrier into the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) will bring surely more Indian tourists into Malaysia," he said on Wednesday.

Mohamed said Jet Airways' rival carrier Air Sahara would soon make an announcement about their own plans to fly to KLIA.

"We will know about its first flight and frequency in the next two days," he said.

An official with Jet Airways said even though the Kuala Lumpur - Chennai route was saturated with other carriers, it would remain the most profitable route between the two countries.

"We are confident to fill the flight. Jet Airways will offer discount tickets for a month," he said, adding that "we do not want to create a price war."

Jet faces competition on the Chennai route from other carriers including Malaysia Airlines, Indian Airlines, Air Lanka and Thai Airways.

Jet began flying in 1993 and has 42 aircraft and runs 271 scheduled flights daily within India. It also flies to Colombo and Nepal and has secured landing rights in London.

Air Sahara has also secured landing rights to London, and hopes to link Europe to Southeast Asia via India.

The carrier started operations on December 3, 1993 following the Indian government's opening up of the Indian skies to private airlines.

Air Sahara's fleet includes Boeing 737 - 700, 737 - 800 and 737 - 400 aircraft. Air Sahara currently flies to 22 destinations in India.

Mohamed said the entry of the two carriers into Malaysia would enhance KLIA's attempt to become a regional hub, a position held by neighbouring Singapore's Changi Airport.

"With new carriers flying into KLIA, it will provide more connectivity and this will in return attract more long-haul aircraft into KLIA," he said.

Give me more: Space crunch at IGI airport
Arun Kumar Das
4 April 2005
The Times of India

NEW DELHI: Too much of anything can cause hurdles. With the skies opening up, more and more airlines are planning to launch operations and existing ones are on an expansion spree. But where's the space at the Indira Gandhi International Airport to park these planes?

The airport is facing a major congestion problem and existing infrastructure has reached saturation point. There is a drastic need for more parking bays, parallel taxiways and enhanced passenger amenities.

Currently, air traffic movement is about 20-25 planes per hour. That works out to about 440 aircraft daily, including commercial, defence and executive ones. The runway can presently accommodate upto 30 planes hourly. But with as many as eight new airlines waiting to start operations and existing ones expanding, the movement could go up to 40 planes an hour and 500 daily.

S K Mishra, GM, operations, admits that the airport could see increased congestion in the near future. "Currently, the maximum rush is between 5 am- 7 am with many aircraft parked overnight, scheduled to takeoff. At times, the number of planes waiting to take-off reaches 15. The movement of the planes have to be rescheduled to tackle the rush." Delhi airport director, B K Arora, says, "Steps are being undertaken to upgrade the existing infrastructure."

There are plans to construct a parallel runway to avoid these problems. "However these plans have been stuck as constructing another runway requires shifting a whole village," says a senior AAI official. "AAI has already floated tenders worth Rs 50 cr for rapid exit and parallel taxiways at IGI airport and authorities are trying to improve existing amenities for passengers."

Civil aviation minister Praful Patel says expansion plans are underway not just in Delhi but at other airports as well. While he admitted there would be pressure due to increased flights, a concrete action plan with regard to runways and airports was being undertaken to improve infrastructure. "The congestion would not derail our plan. Delhi and Mumbai airports would be restructured and modernised completely with private participation. The aim is to develop both airports to global standards - complete restructuring would therefore take time. Other major airports too would be developed to meet the increased rush."

07 April 2005

Continental Airlines to launch daily New York-Delhi direct flights

WASHINGTON : Continental Airlines said it will launch daily nonstop flights from its New York hub at Newark Liberty International Airport to New Delhi beginning October.

The service, subject to government approval, will reduce travel time between the two cities by at least two and a half hours by eliminating any stops or en route connections, the airline said.

New Delhi will become the 25th city in Continental's trans-Atlantic route network.

"This new long-range route to India represents further evolution of our successful trans-Atlantic network from New York/Newark," said Jim Summerford, Continental's vice president.

Flight CO82 will depart New York/Newark daily at 9:05 pm and arrive at New Delhi at 9:30 pm the next day. Flight CO83 will depart New Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport daily at 11:30 pm and will arrive at New York/Newark at 4:50 am the next day. Flying times will be nearly 14 hours.

This new service, using the 283-seat Boeing 777 aircraft, will be Continental's second longest nonstop trip after the New York-Hong Kong trip.- AFP

Copyright © 2005 Agence France Presse. All rights reserved.

Air Sahara to launch Singapore and Kuala Lumpur flights in May

S2-081 DEL-SIN 2230 0630+1 Daily (Effective 11TH May’05)
S2-082 SIN-DEL 0900 1200 Daily (Effective 12TH May’05)
S2-071 MAA-KUL 2200 0420+1 Daily (Effective 14TH May’05)
S2-072 KUL-MAA 0930 1050 Daily (Effective 15TH May’05)

Jet Airways announces Singapore Schedule from April 14, 2005

9W 4501 Mumbai Singapore 22:50 06:55+1 Daily
9W 4502 Singapore Mumbai 18:25 21:10 Daily

Agents to block Lufthansa ticket sales
The spat between Indian travel agents and international carriers took a new turn today
7 April 2005
Business Standard

The spat between Indian travel agents and international carriers took a new turn today with travel agents deciding to block the ticketing services of German carrier Lufthansa from April 9, 2005.

This comes after the travel agents blocked the ticket sale of the state-run Air-India for cutting travel agents' commission to 5 per cent from 7 per cent.

"About 2,000 travel agents will stop selling Lufthansa. Both the Travel Agents Association of India (TAAI) and Travel Agent's Federation of India (TAFI) will participate in this boycott," said Balbir Mayal, president, TAAI. The decision to this effect was taken at a meeting held in New Delhi today.

Besides, the travel agents have also decided to completely boycott Air India and to hold a nation wide strike on April 8, 2005 to protest the decision of the carriers to reduce commissions to travel agents. "Our commission has come down considerably with the drop in airfares. With a further cut in rates, the condition has become very bad," he said.

It is worth noting that the travel agents have put a similar ban on the ticket sales of Lufthansa in June last year to protest a cut in ticket commission rates. International carriers last year decided to cut the ticket commission to zero from 7 per cent in line with the global practice. The conflict was defused with the airlines deciding to not to go ahead with the commission rate reduction.

Travel agents have also threatened that they will go slow on the selling of tickets of other international carriers. Travel agents are of the view that the decision of Air India to cut commission is not a move by one single carrier and if they accept this move, other international carriers will certainly follow the same model.

Business Times - 07 Apr 2005

Jet Airways' maiden flight to KL on April 29

(KUALA LUMPUR) Indian carrier Jet Airways will make its maiden flight to Malaysia on April 29, marking growing economic ties between Kuala Lumpur and New Delhi, a senior airport official said yesterday.

Malaysia Airports Holding Bhd senior marketing manager Mohamed Sallauddin Mat Sah said that Jet Airways would launch daily roundtrip flights from Chennai to Kuala Lumpur using its new Boeing 737-800 aircraft. 'India is another emerging market. The new carrier into the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) will bring surely more Indian tourists into Malaysia,' he said.

Mr Mohamed said Jet Airways' rival carrier Air Sahara would soon make an announcement about its own plans to fly to KLIA.

'We will know about its first flight and frequency in the next two days,' he said.

An official with Jet Airways said even though the Kuala Lumpur-Chennai route was saturated with other carriers, it would remain the most profitable route between the two countries.

'We are confident to fill the flight. Jet Airways will offer discount tickets for a month,' he said, adding that 'we do not want to create a price war'.

Jet faces competition on the Chennai route from other carriers including Malaysia Airlines, Indian Airlines, Air Lanka and Thai Airways.

Jet began flying in 1993 and has 42 aircraft and runs 271 scheduled flights daily within India. It also flies to Colombo and Nepal and has secured landing rights in London.

Air Sahara has also secured landing rights to London, and hopes to link Europe to South-east Asia via India.

The carrier started operations on Dec 3, 1993, following the Indian government's opening up of the Indian skies to private airlines.

Air Sahara's fleet includes Boeing 737-700, 737-800 and 737-400 aircraft. Air Sahara currently flies to 22 destinations in India.

Mr Mohamed said the entry of the two carriers into Malaysia would enhance KLIA's attempt to become a regional hub, a position held by Singapore's Changi Airport.

'With new carriers flying into KLIA, it will provide more connectivity and this will, in return, attract more long-haul aircraft into KLIA,' he said. - AFP

Copyright © 2005 Singapore Press Holdings Ltd. All rights reserved.

Air Arabia plans more India flights
7 April 2005
The Hindu Business Line

Kochi , April 6

AIR Arabia, the low-cost airline of the United Arab Emirates plans to commence more flights into India to cater to the large number of expatriates in the Gulf region a top company official has said.

"India is a very important destination in our business plan. We hope to launch more destinations (in India) within a few months," Mr Rohit Ramachandran, Air Arabia's Country Manager, said at a press conference here on Wednesday.

Kerala is one of the next destinations in the country Air Arabia is keen to fly, he said.

"Prices and flight frequency to Kerala will be determined once we get the necessary approvals," he said, adding that the airline has tied up with tour operators in the State.

The airline launched its maiden flight to India about 10 days back, connecting Mumbai to Sharjah. The flights are now going at 98 per cent capacity, Mr Ramachandran said.

A one-way ticket in this daily flight starts from Rs 2,999. Passengers can avail themselves of this rate by booking in advance and subject to the demand for the seats.

As seats get filled, the fare will go up in denominations of Rs 500. In the event of cancellation the amount minus a charge will get credited to the passenger's account which can be used for travel within one year. No cash however will be refunded.

Mr Ramachandran said though Air Arabia is a low-cost airline, it offers food on board for a price. Launched in October 2003, the airline today has five Airbus A320 aircraft.

The airline manages to offer the low fares due to factors such as maximum utilisation of aircraft, adoption of `ticketless' concept, which helps it save paper costs, and by having a slender crew.

Canada, India to begin talks on open skies
Move comes as Ottawa seeks to expand ties
Chris Sorensen
8 April 2005
National Post

Canada and India are looking to lift restrictions on air travel between the two countries, a move that comes as Ottawa seeks to expand its economic relationship with one of the world's fastest-growing economies.

Brian McGregor, a spokesman for Transport Canada, confirmed that "open skies" talks between the two sides are scheduled to take place in Ottawa this spring.

The talks come on the heels of a recent trade mission to India by Jim Peterson, Canada's International Trade Minister, which resulted in a bilateral declaration to pursue trade and technology links between the two countries.

"There is an increase in trade and commerce between Canada and India," said Peter Wallis, the head of the Van Horne Institute for International Transportation at the University of Calgary. "So it follows that you need to have more air service to facilitate this growth."

Canada's trade with India jumped 12% last year to $2.5-billion, despite the fact that Canadian businesses have been relatively slow to establish a presence in the world's second-largest market behind China.

Meanwhile, demand for air travel between the countries is being fuelled by a growing South Asian population in Canada as well as India's rising status as a global tourist destination.

Airlines in both countries are moving quickly to capitalize on the blossoming relationship.

Last year, Air Canada became the first North American airline to offer non-stop service to India with daily flights, five days a week, between Toronto and New Delhi.

More recently, Air India has made an application to Transport Canada and the Greater Toronto Airport Authority to resume flights to Toronto using its Boeing 777 aircraft. The former Indian flag carrier had suspended its service to Canada after the 1985 Air India disaster, which killed 329 people off the coast of Ireland.

Transport Canada's Mr. McGregor said the reintroduction of Air India to Canada's skies will leave little room for other airlines to fly similar routes. That's because the current agreement restricts everything from the number of flights that can be offered to the fares that can be charged. A more liberalized "open skies" agreement would essentially allow market forces to determine which airlines fly the routes and how often.

Philippe Sureau, a spokesman for Transat A.T. Inc., which operates Canada's largest charter airline, said the tour package operator is currently focused on obtaining access to China, but is not ruling out India as a potential market.

While that would mean more competition for Air Canada, a spokeswoman for the country's largest airline said it was too soon to comment on what commercial impact an open skies agreement with India is likely to have on its business.

However, one observer predicted Air Canada will probably support an open skies deal.

"Air Canada wants open skies with the U.S. so I think to be consistent it would probably have to say the same thing about India," said Karl Moore, a business professor at McGill University.

11 Apr 2005

COMMENTARY
India opens its skies to woo visitors

By ANDY MUKHERJEE

BILL Marriott speaking on creating prosperity though tourism? That's hardly news. One would expect the chairman of Marriott International Inc, the biggest US hotel chain, to be an evangelist for his industry.

What's interesting is that Mr Marriott, 73, made his speech in India, a country that collects less money from guests in a year than his company clears globally in a quarter. The choice of venue is also apt, considering that he was speaking at the annual shindig of the World Travel and Tourism Council, which predicts that India will be the third-fastest growing tourism market in the next 10 years after the Balkan republic of Montenegro and China.

To realise the potential, Mr Marriott and other hotel and airline executives will have to lobby for more flights into India. Jean-Claude Baumgarten, the council's president, is already on the job. 'Planes are full,' Mr Baumgarten told Bloomberg News from New Delhi, describing an increase in airline capacity as a priority for India's government.

India needs visitors. Its 'openness', measured as the combined share of inbound and outbound travel in GDP, is lower than that of Iran and Nigeria. Nor is the 1.27 per cent share much higher than 1.01 per cent in 1995, according to World Bank figures.

It's not that India is xenophobic: The government spends a lot of money on its 'Incredible India' publicity campaign to woo tourists. Nor is there a paucity of demand. Business visitors are paying more than US$200 a night for a standard hotel room in Bangalore, the No 1 destination for cheap software.

Lack of flights

Even so, the continent-sized country got only 3.4 million overseas visitors last year, compared with 8.3 million in the city-state of Singapore. Lack of flights is the single biggest reason for India not getting its fair share. Between November 2004 and March 2005, when the Indian government temporarily relaxed controls on overseas flights to meet demand for the peak season, it got flooded with requests for 2,400 additional flights, or about 500,000 seats.

To solve the problem for the longer term, India needs to adopt smart policies, like the 'open skies' agreement it signed with the US this year. The accord removes controls on the number of airlines that can fly between the two countries, the cities they can serve, flight frequency and the fares. The policy has already begun to pay dividends. Continental Airlines Inc, the fifth-largest US carrier, has announced a daily, non-stop flight between New York and New Delhi starting in November.

If the malaise and the remedy are known, as is the potential gain from easing the flight crunch, why isn't the government opening India's skies to all? The reason is Air India, the state-owned flag carrier. It was a leading Asian airline before the government nationalised it in 1953. Since then, it has been usually profitable only because it has operated in a cozy cocoon, protected by the Indian government not only from foreign competitors but also from non-state-owned Indian carriers.

Foreign clamour

All that's changing now. There's pressure from foreign governments for greater access to more Indian cities.

Meanwhile, private Indian airlines have prevailed upon the state to end its monopoly on international flights.

From April 14, Jet Airways (India), the country's biggest non-state airline, starts a daily flight to Singapore. It will be joined next month by Sahara Airlines, another private Indian operator. Prices will crash on the lucrative - and usually overbooked - sector. And this will soon happen on other routes too, as Jet and Sahara extend their reach.

Air India's loss will be India's gain. According to statistics just released by Visa International Inc, the world's largest credit card company, the western Indian city of Pune, which is emerging as a 'mini-Bangalore' for the software industry, registered an 87 per cent growth in spending by cardholders visiting from overseas last year. That's the fastest growth among all Indian cities.

Visa's statistics, which capture 18 per cent of the US$4.9 billion spent by international travellers in India in 2004, strongly suggest that benefits of openness are now spreading beyond metropolitan cities like New Delhi and Mumbai and traditional tourist centres like Agra, home to the Taj Mahal.

More flights will mean benefits from openness spreading more evenly across India. Of the US$909 million spent in India by Visa cardholders, 23 per cent went to retail stores.

WTTC's Mr Baumgarten is therefore not exaggerating when he says: 'Travel and tourism has to become a top priority for the country - it's the industry that creates the most jobs.' If it also means more profits for Bill Marriott, what's wrong with that? - Bloomberg

The writer is a Bloomberg News columnist

Copyright © 2005 Singapore Press Holdings Ltd. All rights reserved.

The Times of India
April 11, 2005
Gateway to Kolkata is Ready for Take-Off

KOLKATA: It's a symphony in steel and glass. Even at first glance, the structure is striking enough to keep anyone's attention riveted. Towering 50 feet over the ground, the two-and-a-half level building is beautiful in its simplicity. Gigantic reinforced glass panels make for the walls. The roof comprises an intricately designed steel mesh that is supported by large spans. The effect is stunning; conjuring up a sense of expansiveness.

That is the futuristic terminal at Kolkata's Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport - a far cry from the clumsy brick-and mortar structure that lacks in visual appeal or architectural purpose. Though still on the drawing board, the dream project is inching closer to reality. French consultant Airport de Paris has just submitted provisional drawings of the Rs 100 crore terminal to Airports Authority of India. The computer generated images are based on the shortlisted entries to a design competition that was organised by the French firm for the purpose.

The images bring to life an elegantly-designed building with interiors that rival the best in the sub-continent. The brief was to create a world-class terminal for the future and the architects have attempted just that.

The sweeping steel spans minimise pillars and allow better space utilisation. The structural engineering facilitates creation of large obstruction-free lounges to serve as departure and arrival terminals.

The building proposed is a two-and-a-half level structure with departure section on level two and arrival section on level one. Between the two primary floors is a mezzanine level fitted with aerobridges to board and disembark from the aircraft.

With AAI keen to introduce an all-aerobridge operation in the new set-up, the designers are trying to make space for at least five aerobridges with provision for more. While escalators provide access to the mezzanine section from both the departure and arrival levels, they are segregated to take care of security concerns and eliminate confusion. The chic interiors are designed along international trends with the bare minimum furniture. The counters - both for check-in and immigration - are similar to those in modern airports across the world. Special emphasis is laid on signage and display to make the terminal user-friendly.

AAI architects scrutinising the draft have expressed satisfaction over the interiors but are not too keen on the large spans in the draft designs.

"Last year, Terminal 2E at Charles de Gaulle had to be closed after a similar roof collapsed. Even in Kolkata, the steel shade outside the domestic terminal collapsed in a storm," they point out.

With some changes inevitable, the construction is unlikely to begin by the scheduled date in August. Kolkata airport director Rajendra Pal is hopeful that actual work will begin by the year end.

After the final designs are ready, AAI will set the tendering process in motion.

That should take two to three months. The construction will take 30-36 months and be spread over three phases. "Since the old building will make way to the new one, it will be torn down in phases and construction carried out simultaneously to ensure that operations do not suffer," Pal explains.

India's Jet, Sahara Airlines To Increase Fares This Month
11 April 2005

NEW DELHI (Dow Jones)--India's private carriers Jet Airways India Ltd. (532617.BY) and Air Sahara are set to raise their fares by as much as 12% on the back of a similar hike by state-run Indian Airlines Ltd., officials from the two companies said Monday.

"The fuel cost rise leaves us with no option," said Alok Sharma, Executive Vice President of Air Sahara said after a meeting with the Aviation Minister Praful Patel.

A Jet Airways official also confirmed the airline is raising fares this month.

Indian carriers are especially affected as the country imports most of its fuel, to which taxes are added.

However, low-cost carrier Air Deccan's Managing G.R. Gopinath said it isn't hiking its prices for the time being.

"Our load factors are excellent," he said. "We are getting up to 100% of occupancy on our flights."

India, China To Increase Flights To 42/Wk Each By 2006
11 April 2005

NEW DELHI (Dow Jones)--India and China signed a memorandum of understanding Monday to increase the number of flights between the two countries as passenger traffic surges in the region, an Indian government statement said.

The agreement features a gradual increase in the number of flights each country can operate to 42 flights a week by next year, from just seven flights a week now, the statement said.

Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel said Indian private carriers could be allowed to fly to China, though a decision hasn't been taken yet.

Patel said that his ministry was renewing air agreements with several countries and a discussion with the U.K. government could be next, he added.

hm,dunno does the agrement say that Jet and Air Sahara can fly to China now?

Business Times - 12 Apr 2005

India may allow foreign airlines to buy into local carriers

NEW DELHI - India may change current investment rules to allow foreign airlines to buy stakes in local carriers, a news report said on Tuesday.

India currently allows foreign companies - but not foreign airlines - to own up to 49 per cent in Indian carriers.

But the federal aviation ministry will soon submit to the Cabinet a proposal changing those rules to include foreign carriers, Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel was quoted as saying by The Financial Express. Mr Patel hoped the policy would come into effect by the end of May, the paper said.

India is also planning to privatise the running of its airports, although foreign investment has not been allowed yet. The government has proposed that joint venture companies run the New Delhi and Bombay airports, which together handle about 63 per cent of India's international passenger traffic.

Under the government's privatisation plan, private companies would run the airports on 30-year leases and government stakes in the airports would be capped at 26 per cent.

India has more than 400 airports, almost all of which do not meet international standards and are often criticised by travellers.

Copyright © 2005 Singapore Press Holdings Ltd. All rights reserved.

New Indian budget airline to take flight in August

BANGALORE, India, April 12 (AFP) - India's newest no-frills airline, Air One, said Tuesday it will start flying in August using two 50-seater jets leased from Brazilian aircraft-maker Embraer.

The initial investment would total 320 million rupees (45 million dollars) and the jets would link centers not connected by existing direct flights, J.W. Lobo, managing director of Air One, said.

"Air One will have three categories of fares priced 20 to 30 percent cheaper than major airlines," Lobo told reporters. "The majority of the tickets will be sold through Internet and Air One offices."

Lobo said Air One, based in the southern high-tech city of Bangalore, would keep overhead costs low and turn a profit from its launch.

Air One is the latest player to enter the fast-growing budget airline sector in the country of over one billion people.

India has just 15 million people who travel by air annually compared with three million passengers who fly daily in the United States, even though the US population is around one-quarter that of India.

Boeing Offers Competitive Pricing to Air India

NEW DELHI, April 13 Asia Pulse - In its bid to grab Air India orders, US aircraft manufacturer Boeing said Tuesday it had offered a "comprehensive competitive pricing" to the public sector carrier, whose decision to purchase 50 aircraft of different makes was yet to get the government nod.

"Our aircraft -- Boeing 777-200 ER (long range), 777-300 ER (extended range) and 787-8 Dreamliners are perfectly suited for Air India's plans and have competitive advantages over our competitors (Airbus Industrie)," Dinesh A Keskar, senior Vice President (Sales) of Boeing, told reporters here.

He said his company was in talks with almost all the Indian carriers, including Jet Airways (NSI:JET), Air Sahara and SpiceJet, for these and other aircraft for their domestic and international operations.

To questions as to why Jet Airways selected A340-300 to fly to London, Keskar said Boeing aircraft were not available in the lease market and added he was "not sure at this stage" as to which aircraft the private airline would fly when it launches operations to New York.

(PTI)

India, UK sign pact for more flights

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2005/04/14/stories/2005041401680300.htm

Business Times - 14 Apr 2005

Boeing seeks bigger slice of US$35b Indian market

(MUMBAI) India's fast-expanding aviation sector presents a big opportunity for US plane maker Boeing Co in its fight for a bigger slice of the fuel-efficient, mid-sized airliner market worldwide.

As more private carriers enter India's market and regulations ease to allow local airlines to fly overseas, Boeing hopes to grab a big share of the estimated US$35 billion market in the next 20 years, said the head of its aircraft trading business.

'We would obviously like to corner a very large share of this market, if not all of it, if we are able to meet the demand,' Dinesh Keskar said.

Boeing has leased three 737-800s to Air India Express, a discount international carrier, which will begin services to the Gulf region shortly, Mr Keskar said on Tuesday.

The main Air India carrier has shown interest in buying 20 787s with an option for six more, subject to government approval, and other airlines are also keen, he said. 'As the pace of liberalisation in India accelerates, we see demand for long-range and large carriers, but there will also be a need for the 150 and 250-seaters,' he said.

Boeing recently sold ten 737-800 planes to Royal Airways Ltd for US$630 million as the Indian firm prepares to launch a discount carrier in May.

Air India Express is awaiting government approval to buy 18 Boeing planes, Air India is also looking to buy 50 wide-bodied aircrafts, and state-run domestic carrier Indian Airlines plans to expand its fleet, offering sales opportunities for new aircrafts like the 777-200 LR and 787.

Private carriers Jet Airways Ltd and Air Sahara, which will soon fly to Singapore and Kuala Lumpur, will adapt their existing 737-800 planes, and are potential buyers of Boeing's long-range aircrafts for flights to London and New York. But European rival Airbus, a unit of European Aeronautic Defence and Space Co (EADS), has already made sales to privately owned Indian discount carriers Air Deccan and Kingfisher Airlines.

'In the US and Europe, airlines have recovered to 2000 levels, so they are all ramping up, and demand from Asia is very strong,' Mr Keskar said.

Airlines, with many struggling to contain record losses amid surging fuel prices, are trying to improve operating efficiency.

Boeing's new 787 Dreamliner is the result of a bet they will want smaller planes to serve regional airports, rather than large ones like the Airbus double-decker A380 superjumbo, which would bring larger numbers of passengers into hub-style airports.

Boeing expects the 787 to take half the mid-sized passenger jet market, estimated at around 3,500 planes. So far, it has received 203 orders and commitments from 17 airlines since its launch last year. - Reuters

Copyright © 2005 Singapore Press Holdings Ltd. All rights reserved.

China Eastern Airlines flight to link Mumbai, Shanghai

Beijing, April 14 (PTI): China Eastern Airlines will launch a new Beijing-Shanghai-Mumbai flight on April 18, its second direct flight linking China and India. The new flight will fly on every Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday. A300 carriers will be put into operation for the flight, the company said in Shanghai.

China Eastern Airlines already operates a Beijing-Shanghai-Delhi flight since March 28, 2002. It flies every Tuesday, Friday and Sunday.

UK-India flights double in deal
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/4441963.stm

UK airline flights to India are set to more than double under a new agreement signed by the countries on Wednesday.

Under the arrangement, the number of flights per week will rise from 40 now to at least 84 by 2006.

It comes after flights increased last year, giving carriers other than BA a chance to compete on the routes.

The latest news was welcomed by BA, Virgin and BMI who will now be able to expand services on routes where demand currently outstrips supply.

The UK's Department for Transport said 56 of the 84 flights will operate between London's Heathrow airport and Delhi or Mumbai (Bombay).

The remaining flights will be between the UK and Bangalore and Chennai.

The number of flights between the US and India are also expected to increase as part of an agreement later this month.



^ This follows another expansion late last year:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/4066239.stm

Posted: 15 April 2005 1140 hrs

India's Jet Airways arrives in Singapore on maiden flight

SINGAPORE : India's Jet Airways heralded its foray into Southeast Asia on Friday with the landing of its maiden flight at Singapore's Changi Airport from Mumbai.

"This is a historic moment for Jet Airways in expanding its newly acquired rights to fly international (routes) and to serve Singapore as our first and very important destination in Southeast Asia," said the carrier's chief operating officer Peter Luethi.

"We are looking forward to be part of a new growing business opportunity between the two countries in promoting each other's business and tourist
offers."

Luethi was among the 60 passengers on board the Boeing 737-800 plane that landed at Changi.

Jet Airways, the first private India-based commercial carrier to fly to Changi, will operate 14 weekly flights between Mumbai and Singapore, the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) said.

This will bring the total number of weekly flights between India and the city-state to 218, it added.

In 2004, air traffic between India and Singapore rose 21 percent from 2002 and 25 percent when compared to 2003.

Singapore is the Indian carrier's third destination in Asia after Colombo in Sri Lanka and Kathmandu in Nepal.

It plans to start flights from Chennai to the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur later this month. - AFP

^^^aaaaaaaah!!!!:)

Huaiwei..go to Changi and takes pics now!:)http://www.indiamike.com/india/images/smilies/elephant.gif

Business Times - 19 Apr 2005

BA to begin increasing flights to India from October

LONDON - British Airways on Tuesday announced plans to begin increasing flights between London's Heathrow airport and cities across India from October following an agreement signed between the country's two governments.

Britain and India last week agreed to a move that would boost by almost three-fold to 132 the number of weekly flights between the countries.

BA on Tuesday said it would operate twice-daily flights between Heathrow and Bombay from October. It said it would offer the same service between London and Delhi from March 2006. BA currently operates one daily flight for each of the two routes.

'The liberalisation of air services between the UK and India is great news for consumers,' said BA's director of commercial planning, Robert Boyle.

'British Airways has flown to India for 75 years and is well established in the market. There is a huge demand for extra services and we are delighted that we are now able to satisfy that demand.'

The airline revealed also plans to increase from October the number of flights between the British capital and Chennai to six per week and to Bangalore to five. BA would operate a daily service to both destinations from March 2006.

Separately, BA confirmed it would begin flying five times a week to Shanghai - China's financial hub - on June 1, 2005.

Copyright © 2005 Singapore Press Holdings Ltd. All rights reserved.

Jet Airways at Changi on 16 April.
-thanks to Bombay_Dreams for finding the picture:)
photo by : Benjamin Ng

http://www.airliners.net/open.file/823411/M/

Jet Airways at Changi on 16 April.
-thanks to Bombay_Dreams for finding the picture:)
photo by : Benjamin Ng

http://www.airliners.net/open.file/823411/M/
Ah.....I didnt manage to storm to the airport at all, so its comforting to know that there is always a backup! :D

Qantas flies from Sydney to Mumbai....the only Indian city Australia serves...

Ah.....I didnt manage to storm to the airport at all, so its comforting to know that there is always a backup! :D

hehe yeap,its nice that we slackers have someone who can do the job for us :D :) ;)

http://sg.yimg.com/i/sg/providers/reuters.gif

April 25
India's Jet leases 5 planes, London flights in May

BOMBAY, April 25 (Reuters) - India's largest domestic carrier, Jet Airways Ltd. , has leased five additional aircrafts for its domestic and international operations, and expects to launch services to London in May, the company said.

Jet has leased three Airbus A340-300s from South African Airways for its international operations and two B737-700s from GE Commercial Aviation for its domestic services, the company told the Bombay Stock Exchange on Monday.

Jet proposes to spend $400 million over the next 24-30 months on 17 Boeing B737-800 or B737-900 planes -- of which it will buy 10 and lease seven --- to add to its fleet of 42 planes.

Bombay-based Jet, which launched services to Singapore earlier this month, said it would commence operations to London on May 23. It is also expected to begin flying to Kuala Lumpur.

Britain and India agreed earlier this month to more than double flights on existing routes between the two countries. There will be 56 flights a week from Delhi and Bombay to London and unlimited flights from India on all other routes.

Jet expects international routes to account for 10-15 percent of its turnover this year.

Shares in Jet, which made their stock exchange debut in March, were up marginally at 1,320 rupees ($30.2) in mid-day trade in a slightly weak Bombay market. ($1 = 43.7 Indian rupees)

Copyright © 2005Reuters Limited.

Kingfisher Air gets its first aircraft

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2005/04/26/images/2005042602780301.jpg

story:
http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2005/04/26/stories/2005042602780300.htm

Boeing and Airbus in the running as Air India board mulls 50 plane deal

BOMBAY, April 26 (AFP) - The board of state-run Air India is meeting Tuesday to decide the purchase of 50 long-range aircraft amid intense lobbying by US giant Boeing and Europe's Airbus Industrie for the six billion dollar deal.

After more than a year of hectic negotiations with the two aircraft makers, the board is likely to decide on the supplier Tuesday.

"The board is meeting today (Tuesday) at around 3:30 pm (1000 GMT) to discuss the plane purchase plan and the sale of government shares in the company," Air India spokesman Jitendra Bhargav said.

The airline wants to buy a mix of planes and has short-listed the Airbus 340-500 or Boeing 777-200 LR, the 350-seat Airbus 340-600 or Boeing 777-300 ER, and the 250-seat Airbus 330-200 or Boeing's new 787 Dreamliner.

The aircraft are scheduled to be delivered over a period of 10 years starting 2006, during which Air India plans to increase seat capacity by 12 percent annually.

Air India, which is currently negotiating with banks to finance the purchase, has been the focus of intense lobbying from Boeing and Airbus for the order.

Media reports claim that the government is pressuring the airline board to split the order in order to satisfy both manufacturers but Boeing is believed to be the front-runner on the back of a new seat configuration and as most of Air India's existing fleet consists of Boeings.

"The airline board is independent to take the decision and we are no way involved in it as it is a techno-economic decision," India civil aviation minister Praful Patel said.

The Economic Times on Sunday said Boeing is being considered after it offered nine seats in a row in economy class instead of the usual eight, giving it more seats and pushing Airbus 330-200 out of race in the medium capacity long-range segment.

The report said Airbus has charged that the seating plan was modified under pressure from Boeing whose other 787 customers like Continental, Air New Zealand and Japan Airlines have an eight seat configuration.

French Transport Minister Gilles de Rubien who was in New Delhi Monday was still hopeful that Airbus will bag the order.

"Airbus planes are the best in the world and we are sure that the order will be bagged by Airbus," he told reporters in the Indian capital.

Air India said late last year that two-thirds of the purchase will be on firm order basis and one-third options.

India's other state-owned carrier, Indian Airlines, also plans to buy 43 new aircraft at an estimated cost of over two billion dollars.

Other private Indian airlines, such as Jet Airways, Sahara and Deccan, are planning fleet expansions as the country's aviation sector is poised to take off after the government allowed private companies to fly international routes.

The number of air travellers in India rose by 26.5 percent in the six months to March with 18.52 million people boarding flights.

The number of passengers is expected to hit 50 million in the next five years as a slew of new private airlines enter the skies on the back of a booming economy.

Air India orders 50 Boeing aircraft

Air India announced Tuesday a $6 billion order for 50 new Boeing aircraft.
State-owned Air India said it would purchase eight 777-300 long-haul jetliners, 15 737-200 medium range aircraft and 27 787s -- Boeing's newest jet, the Dreamliner.

The Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner and 787-9 airplanes will carry 217-257 passengers and are due to enter service in 2008.

The announcement one day after Air Canada said it would purchase up to 96 Boeing jets and a day before the maiden flight of the Airbus A-380 superjumbo, is a major boost for the US manufacturer.

Earlier in April, Boeing's senior vice president of sales Dinesh Keskar said his company had offered ''comprehensive and competitive bids'' for the planes and last week, U.S. Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta visited New Delhi and lobbied for the deal.

Air India issued the following statement:

The Board of Air-India at its meeting held in Mumbai today approved the aircraft acquisition plan after detailed examination of the recommendations of the in-house Techno-economic Committee appointed for examining the bids. The aircraft acquisition plan approved by the Board, subject to the approval of the Government, envisages procurement of :

~ 8 Boeing 777-200LR Medium Capacity Ultra Long Range aircraft in three-class configuration;

~ 15 Boeing 777-300ER Medium Capacity Long Range-350 seater, in three-class configuration, and

~27 Boeing 787 Medium Capacity Long Range-250 seater, in two class configuration, at a total cost estimated to be about Rs.30,000 crores, prior to negotiations with the manufacturers of air frame and engines.


Air India has a fleet of both Boeing and Airbus aircraft.


Referring to reports appearing in a section of the press regarding alleged changes made after the issue of the request for proposal (RFP), Air-India would like to state that no changes whatsoever were made after issue of the request for proposal.

The Board took note of the fact that there are spillovers in the delivery schedules proposed by both the manufacturers with respect to one or more aircraft. In any case, the final delivery schedule can be decided only after the necessary Government approvals have been obtained and orders are placed.

Boeing and Airbus recently increased their sales forecasts for India

Boeing was forecasting that India would require about 300 planes worth about $25 billion over the next 20 years. In February, during an air show in Bangalore, India, Boeing said that it had revised its forecast to about $35 billion worth of planes. India, according to Boeing, will be the fastest-growing aircraft market after China.

Airbus is forecasting that India will need 570 new jets by 2023 - 348 more planes than Airbus forecast for India just two years ago.

On March 8th, Airbus said that Chinese airlines may need 1,790 new planes worth $230 billion until 2023. Boeing forecast for China is 2,300 planes valued at $180 billion.

so now it is official cool!:) :cool:

At long last!! The endless board meetings are over, and Air India's massive fleet expansion goes ahead. :)

Interesting that this comes hot on the heals of that open skies agreement. Is it mere coincidence? ;)

Air India ground staff go on 24-hour strike, flights disrupted
27 April 2005

BOMBAY (AFX) - Ground staff and engineers of state-run Air India staged a 24-hour wildcat strike today, forcing cancellation of flights, an airline official said.

'The ground staff went on strike this morning and outbound flights have been affected. We're collecting details to get a clearer picture,' Air India spokesman Jitendra Bhargava said.

The Air India Employees Union, the main labour union of the airline, comprising ground staff and engineers, called the strike to protest against a delay in holding elections for union representatives, a union official, who wished to remain unnamed, said.

Management has responsibility for staging the union elections.

The union official said the strike will last 24 hours.

The strike halted Air India's early morning flights to the US, Britain and Germany as well as to the Middle East and other destinations. Inbound flights are also expected to be affected.

There was no immediate comment from the airline on the union's charge that there had been a delay in holding the union elections.

The strike came less than a day after Air India's board approved the purchase of 50 long-range Boeing aircraft to revamp its ageing fleet in a bid to make up ground lost to other international carriers amid fierce competition.

Ah! Our newscaster is back! :D

Poaching: Air Sahara cancel flights
27 April 2005
The Times of India

MUMBAI: It's probably the first time that an airline has been forced to cancel its flights due to ruthless poaching of senior pilots.

Air Sahara had to take the drastic step after about 10 commanders - as senior pilots are called - put in their papers last Wednesday. The commanders flew to a couple of new airlines scheduled to begin operations next month. An Air Sahara spokesperson admitted the resignations, but said less than 10 commanders had resigned. No other information was forthcoming from the airline. It is not known if the airline seeks to contest the resignations in court.

The effect on Air Sahara's operations has already begun. "Seven Air Sahara flights were delayed in Mumbai on Monday," said a source. Further, of the five flights operated daily by the airline between Delhi and Mumbai, two will be cancelled, the source added.

An Air Sahara official said: "Ten flights scheduled to be operated by May 10 on the Delhi-Kathmandu, Delhi-Guwahati and Delhi-Jaipur sectors have been dropped." Aviation sources said the pilots' resignations were expected. "Resignations have been thick and fast in the past weeks. Officials from ground staff, customer service and the like, who were disgruntled with the management, had put in their papers one by one," said a source. While some staffers were unhappy about not getting an increment in five years, others merely lapped up a lucrative deal.

The Air Sahara official could not put a figure on the total number of resignations submitted so far, but said the manpower shortage had affected operations. But it was only the commanders' resignations last week that forced the airline to cancel flights.

Air Sahara's future plans could be hit. It had decided to treble its fleet and fly to New York and North East Asian destinations.

More news! More more! We missed them for days!

hehe:)

yeap,the open air deal...but also..AI needed new planes..they are fealing the pinch of competition;) :) :D

Muahaha....told you about Jet Airway's ads eh? ;) Btw how do they intend to finance this purchase?

India's aspiring cabin crews aim to land training places - Flight attendant academies cash in as teenagers dream of a life in the skies
By JO JOHNSON
27 April 2005
Financial Times

When an Indian Airlines plane recently smashed its nose into the boundary wall at Delhi airport, B.C. Gupta saw an opportunity to cash in on the flight attendant academy boom sweeping India.

Within months of purchasing the Airbus A300, the entrepreneur had cut it into pieces, reassembled it in a residential district of the capital and leased it to the Frankfinn Institute of Air Hostess Training.

Selling the dream of a life in the skies to impressionable teenagers has never been easier for Frankfinn and the dozens of similar institutes that have mushroomed across the country.

Since June 2003, Frankfinn has opened 41 centres offering a one-year diploma covering first aid, hygiene, skin and hair care, swimming (in uniform) and stress management. It plans 10 more centres by June.

India is on the verge of an aviation revolution. Only 50,000 people travel by air each day - a fraction of the number using the creaking rail network.

Yet with the arrival of half a dozen low-cost airlines this year and with the recent signature of open skies agreements with the UK and the US, the collective fleet of the Indian airline industry is set to treble to more than 500 aircraft by 2010.

With the likes of Air Deccan offering flights from Delhi to Bombay for Rs721 (Pounds 8.80), the days when middle class Indians would tolerate day-long rail journeys in conditions of extreme discomfort are coming to an end.

But if there is a chronic shortage of trained pilots, there is an unprecedented glut of wannabe hostesses. "Girls are crazy to become air hostesses," says M. Raj Jenuja, who runs the Aviation and Hospitality Management Institute, one of countless small outfits in Delhi that sell "personality development" courses.

In a country where many have never seen an aircraft and few have flown in one, the life of a flight attendant has a glamour it has largely lost in the travel-weary west.

"It's always been my dream," says Chinky Bhojwani, 18, a student at Delhi University whose cousin is paying the Rs75,000 fees for Frankfinn's part-time diploma.

Competition is intense for jobs that pay starting salaries of Rs20,000 a month and come with perks such as cheap travel and free uniforms.

Alex Wilcox, chief executive of Kingfisher Airlines, which launches commercial operations on May 9, says one advertisement can generate 20,000 responses.

"For people without advanced education, air hostess jobs represent the top of the spectrum of female employment," he says. Whereas the IT industry is now struggling to recruit in sufficient numbers, the airlines can choose from thousands of unskilled school-leavers. Walk-in interviews often degenerate into stampedes, according to Suresh Nair, an aviation expert.

While women's groups in the west have long discouraged airlines from marketing the sex appeal of their cabin crew, India's new low-cost carriers have no hesitation in exploiting a competitive advantage. Kingfisher, an offshoot of the Indian beer empire, boasts that only "Mumbai's finest and hottest women" will staff its "funliners".

Unionisation in the state-owned carriers, Air India and Indian Airlines, has left their cabin crews looking relatively mature. "The new carriers, with air hostesses wearing tight short skirts, gorgeous little caps and perfect smiles, will outclass government airlines whose women got their rights and are no longer the sylphs of your dreams," says Patricia Uberoi, professor of sociology at Delhi University.

But while the institutes may take the training seriously, industry executives are sceptical of the overall value.

"The airlines themselves will give no weight to these certificates when it comes to selecting candidates," says Mr Nair.

Mr Jenuja admits that on average just 2 per cent of young women achieve their dream of flying in uniform. Frankfinn, which claims to be the industry leader, is reluctant to give hard numbers. "Our competitors might try to misuse it," explains Rakesh Agarwal, Frankfinn's managing director. It says it places 20-30 per cent of "eligible" students with airlines.

Others say many young women have an ulterior purpose in pursuing these courses. "The training shops are there so girls can knock up a certificate of dubious quality for the marriage market," Ms Uberoi says. "They are essentially a form of dowry qualification ...a preparation for most women's careers: marriage."

Muahaha....told you about Jet Airway's ads eh? ;) Btw how do they intend to finance this purchase?

Huaiwei..scan in every ad from newspaper you can find for me!..i did saw some..Heirloom told me about one and took one pic..Nova did the same also:)

it think the purchase will be paid via IPO of AI. 20% will be sold to the market:)

The unions will not like it but thats life:)

AI its getting listed? Muahaah....its about time it gets a fat trimming. :D

Hmmm....think there is an ad today, but I wont be able to use my camera since it is more or less spoilt. :( Hoping to get a replacement this weekend or next. ;)

AI its getting listed? Muahaah....its about time it gets a fat trimming. :D

Hmmm....think there is an ad today, but I wont be able to use my camera since it is more or less spoilt. :( Hoping to get a replacement this weekend or next. ;)

Which paper and which page number? I only got ST and Today though..

As for AI getting listed, the unions can either like it or lump it. Time to get tougher on them already. :bash:

AI's current fleet consists of only 37 planes. For comparison, SIA has 89 (according to their website they have 16 more on order and 45 on option). Jet Airways, India's largest domestic airline, has 43. It's more than high time they put this plan of theirs through. I hope they will begin retiring the older planes once they begin to take deliveries of these new planes.

It's been sad flying these last few decades for one of Asia's oldest airlines with an illustrious history. This will be rebirth if (and only if) they succeed in improving their service standards while expanding their fleet. Given the fact that the Aviation Minister is (for once) not an incompetent, I think it's right to hope that AI is now on the road to recovery.

Civil aviation authorities from Oman and India start talks
27 April 2005

NEW DELHI, April 27 Asia Pulse - Civil aviation authorities from Oman and India started talks in New Delhi Tuesday, aiming to discuss the regulation of air transport services between the two countries. The two sides will examine the possibility of the Omani side obtaining operating points to other airports in India.

* Also on the agenda will be a possible increase in the number of flights currently permitted to both sides and allowing the recently emerged New Indian Company to operate flights to Muscat.

* Currently Oman Air and Air India each utilize 2,700 seats to Muscat, while Gulf Air utilizes 10,967 seats to Oman, Bahrain and Abu Dhabi.

Straits Times page 14-15! ;)

28 April 2005

Airbus "astonished" by Air India's decision to buy yet-to-fly jet

NEW DELHI : European Aircraft giant Airbus Industrie has cried foul over state-run Air India's decision to buy 50 Boeing jets, saying it was denied a chance to show off its new A380 superjumbo, as analysts said politics influenced the decision.

Airbus urged the Indian government to order a new tender after Air India approved Tuesday the purchase of up to 50 Boeing planes worth seven billion dollars, the US plane-maker's second big win this week.

Air India's purchase decision capped a year of high-profile lobbying by Boeing and Airbus executives and politicians from the United States and Europe.

"We are not disappointed, but astonished. We were not given fair and equal treatment," Harwood Airbus Industrie vice president Nigel Harwood said.

He said he would write to India's civil aviation ministry seeking reconsideration of Air India's approval of the decision to purchase the craft, including the yet-to-fly B787 Dreamliner, and ask for fresh tenders.

Purchase of the Dreamliner, Boeing's vision of the next major trend in air travel, is subject to federal government approval.

"The B787 is still on the drawing board. No one knows its performance capability," Kiran Rao, chief of Airbus Industrie in India, told AFP late Wednesday.

"Delivery dates for B787 are still unknown. Airbus can't understand why the A380 was ignored when this was the only aircraft that shows profitability on long-range and ultra-long range routes," he added.

Harwood said Airbus got no chance to make a presentation on its double-decker A380, the world's biggest passenger plane which had its maiden test flight Wednesday near Toulouse, France.

"We were not given a chance to make a presentation on A380 whereas Boeing made their case on B787s, which will not fly before 2007. That goes contrary to tender conditionalities," the Press Trust of India quoted Harwood as saying.

"Only Airbus could have delivered all the aircraft in the timeframe" demanded by the state-run carrier in its own tender," Harwood said.

An Air India spokesman rejected Airbus's statements, saying while Boeing, General Electric and others made presentations, Airbus "at no stage made use of this opportunity."

Analysts, meanwhile, said the decision may have been influenced by politics as India hopes it will lead to high-technology sales from other US firms and win US support on New Delhi's bid for a seat on the UN Security Council.

"India has made the United States happy with the Air India contract after it pleased the European Union last year with the Indian Airlines order," said professor Brahma Chellaney of the Centre for Policy Research in New Delhi.

Chellaney said the deal was part of a strategy to present a picture of healthy India-US relations which have been growing in the last few years.

"Such huge contracts are decided at the political level and that's what has happened this time too," Chellaney told AFP.

Air India said it wants to buy eight B777-200 LR, 15 B777-300 ER and 27 B787 Dreamliner medium-capacity, long-range aircraft. Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel said Tuesday it would trust the company's board on which plane it wants.

"There will undoubtedly be much speculation as to why Air India chose Boeing over Airbus," said Elizabeth Mills, an analyst with Global Insight in Britain.

"The government has been keen to distance itself from the deal, arguing it has no involvement with the company, but the links India has with the US in terms of defence and more recently as a result of a new open-skies agreement may have had some impact."

Mills and Chellaney also noted the choice of Boeing may be an attempt by India to balance relations between Europe and the United States after domestic state-run carrier Indian Airlines gave Airbus the order to supply 43 aircraft.

An aviation expert, however, said it was the Dreamliner's specifications that tilted the order in favour of Boeing which also won a five-billion dollar wide-body jet order this week from Air Canada.

Airbus was a strong contender for the Air India order given its capacity to fly around 550 passengers on long-haul flights.

But the smaller Dreamliner, although two years away from its first flight, "is an exceptional aircraft as it has the latest technology, high passenger comfort and offers great economic value from fuel efficiency," Hormuz P. Mama, editor of International Aerospace Magazine.

"Air India has taken the right decision to meet its long-term requirements as the Dreamliner will cost less money once you fly it," Mama said. Boeing has said the Dreamliner will help Air-India save 300 million dollars annually.

At the same time, Mama said, "it will also help boost India-US relations."
- AFP/ir

Copyright © 2005 Agence France Presse. All rights reserved.

I said so! Its a political conspiracy!!! :bash: :D

Air India dreams long, not big
CHIDANAND RAJGHATTA
INDIA TIMES NEWS NETWORK[ THURSDAY, APRIL 28, 2005 03:24:58 PM ]

SEATTLE: Air India's decision to buy nearly $7 billion worth of planes from the American firm Boeing instead of from its European rival Airbus stems from their differing vision on the future of aviation - is bigger better than quicker?

Room, or vroom? Hub or spoke? Delhi/Mumbai or Bangalore/Hyderabad?

Look at it this way. The Airbus A380 Super Jumbo, the roomiest passenger jet ever built, is great for what airline experts call the hub-and-spoke routing - say London to Mumbai.

You can load anywhere from 555 to 800 passengers on one of these humongous beasts, disgorge them in Mumbai, from where, if they need to, they take connecting flights to hotspots such as Bangalore or Hyderabad.

But Boeing has a different idea. It is betting on more and more people wanting to fly directly to cities such as Bangalore and Hyderabad (or Chengdu or Xian in China) without having to go through hubs such as Beijing or Delhi.

So their emphasis is on smaller planes with lesser passenger capacity but with a longer range - as much as 18 hours non-stop - so that San Francisco-Bangalore becomes a possibility. Plus an emphasis on economy.

Almost to the hour Airbus was cranking up its Super Jumbo A380 for a trial flight on Tuesday, a Boeing official led this correspondent into a mock-up in the Seattle suburb of Renton of what the US company calls its Dreamliner - the proposed Boeing 787 - a plane he says will bring about a drastic change in the flying experience.

You feel it as soon as you enter the cabin, where diodes emit flouroscent blue light makes the plane feel capacious. It's a different architectural experience, explains Boeing executive Gregory Russell - wider cabin, wider seats, wider aisles, large luggage racks, bigger windows (with no shutter), and bless their souls, large loos...

But for the beleaguered airline industry, the compelling aesthetics are not half as exciting as the plane's physical attributes (after all the double-decker Airbus 380 boasts of a lounge, bar etc).

According to Boeing, the Dreamliner , made from 50 per cent composites (compared to less than 20 per cent typically), will be 20 per cent more fuel efficient, will have 20 per cent lesser emissions, and will have a 10 per cent better cash per seat mile costs than peer airplanes.

It's the kind of languages airline love to hear in this season of unremittingly high oil prices and increasing environmental conscience.

Which is why Air India took the bait by ordering 27 Dreamliners - in addition to 23 777s - even though the plane is still in a mock-up stage while the A380 is flapping around, a decision that has Airbus executives all steamed up and crying foul.

But then again, there is the small issue of India-US business and strategic relations.

Thursday April 28, 9:12 PM
India's first international budget airline to begin service to Middle East

AP - Air-India Express, the country's first international budget airline, will launch its services Friday with an inaugural flight from southern India's Trivandrum to Abu Dhabi, an airline official said.

India's flag-carrier Air India has launched the low-cost subsidiary with fares that are 20 percent to 40 percent cheaper than existing offers on other airlines.

The basic fare on Air-India Express from Trivandrum to Abu Dhabi is 3,250 rupees (US$74) and from Bombay to Dubai is 2,750 rupees (US$62) per ticket.

"Our objective is to make travel affordable and spur growth," said Air India spokesman Jeetendra Bhargava. "The earlier you buy your ticket, the cheaper the fare."

The airline will operate 40 services a week from five Indian cities _ Trivandrum, Cochin, Calicut, Delhi and Bombay to Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Al Ain in the United Arab Emirates and Muscat and Salalah in Oman.

Bhargava said unlike no-frills airlines abroad, Air-India Express would provide free snacks, juice and water, but travelers would have to pay for alcoholic drinks.

Only 14 million Indians _ a tiny fraction of the country's billion-plus population _ fly each year. But due to rapid economic growth, India's aviation market is growing at about 25 percent per year.

The country's first budget airline, Air Deccan, began operations two years ago to connect India's main cities at prices as low as a third of the cheapest fare on full-service airlines.

Air Deccan's success encouraged more entrants. Budget carriers Kingfisher Airlines and SpiceJet are to begin services in May.

Can Bangalore do a Hong Kong?
PERCY FERNANDEZ
29 April 2005
The Times of India

NEW DELHI: Will the new international airport to come up in Bangalore by 2008 be able to take flight to the top slot?

What is it that can set this airport apart, and make it match the standards of the best international airports and lounges, and make it attract tourists over and over again?

Perhaps it needs to study the world's top five airports at Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea, Munich and Japan - rated the best in a survey by Skytrax, a London-based airline and airport research firm.

Bangalore will have to study their public transit, Internet and terminal signage systems, and communication skills of the staff.

It will also have to study their ambience, cleanliness, and entertainment, shopping and dining options.

However, some things that Indian authorities do plan include upmarket shopping areas, multi-cuisine restaurants, play areas, daycare centres, expressways and linking roads.

The airport will cover an area of 4,050 acres in Devanahalli, about 34 kms from Bangalore, and handle 4.5 million passengers and 1.4 lakh tones of cargo each year.

Here's inside view of the world's best five airports:

Hong Kong International
Floor-to-ceiling windows at the world's best airport offer fantastic views of the Hong Kong Bay. Efficient passenger-flow systems make connections easy. Express transportation shuttles passengers downtown in 23 minutes.

The airport has a beauty salon, tax-free shopping options and the Regal Airport Hotel, rated the best in the Asia-Pacific region.

Changi Airport, Singapore
The enclosed Singapore Changi Airport features a rooftop swimming pool, a free 24-hour movie theatre and beautiful orchids throughout its two terminals.

It is known for rendering good services in immigration and security processing.

Incheon airport, Seoul
The spacious single-terminal layout of this South Korean airport makes it quick and easy to navigate through.

Incheon Airport's cleanliness is "almost unmatched". It provides extensive shopping options and many internet access points.

Munich International
Respondents say this German airport is well planned. Speed of passenger processing, ease of transfers and small distances between gates go in its favour.

Kansai Airport, Japan
This Osaka airport, say Skytrax respondents, provides the "best-quality airport experience." That's largely due to efficient processing of passengers through security and immigration checkpoints. Wi-Fi is available throughout the airport, and a five-star hotel is connected to the main terminal.

I'm sure we can see some new airport in India soon..........just look at the number of new airports in China......:yes:

Airbus to appeal against Boeing winning Air India order
29 April 2005

FRANKFURT (AFX) - Airbus Industrie will appeal to India's Air Transport ministry against Air India's decision to award Boeing Co a 300 bln rupee order for 50 aircraft, an Airbus spokesman told Sueddeutsche Zeitung.

Airbus yesterday said it was 'astonished' at state-run Air India's decision to purchase 50 Boeing aircraft while denying Airbus a chance to present its new A380, Press Trust of India reported.

The Indian news agency quoted Airbus vice president Nigel Harwood as saying his company was not given a chance to give a presentation of its double-decker A380 superjumbo, the world's biggest passenger plane, which completed its first test flight on Wednesday near Toulouse, France.

The Boeing deal is subject to Indian federal government approval.

Airbus is a unit of European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company (EADS).

Air India budget carrier launches inaugural flight to Abhu Dhabi
29 April 2005

NEW DELHI (AFX) - State-run Air India's new budget carrier took off on its inaugural flight to Abhu Dhabi, becoming the first Indian low-cost airline among a host of others planning to fly out of the country.

Indian Aviation Minister Praful Patel waved off the no-frills flight from the southern Indian city of Trivandrum in Kerala state from where many Indians travel to the Middle East for work.

The fully-owned subsidiary of Air India, Air India Express, initially plans to operate 40 flights from India to Gulf destinations. It will expand the service to Southeast Asian cities such as Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur, Singapore and Jakarta next year after more aircraft are added to its fleet.

The price of a ticket to Abhu Dhabi from Trivandrum is roughly 6,500 rupees, 25 to 30 pct lower than fares on full-service airlines.

Around 2.4 mln Indian passengers fly each year to the Gulf.

'This service will be very successful. Low-cost is the future for airlines, especially flying to destinations that can be reached within three hours,' said Subhash Goyal, president of the Indian Association of Tour Operators.

The number of air travelers in India jumped 26.5 pct in the six months to March 2005 to 18.52 mln.

Air India Express will face competition from such carriers as Air Deccan, owned by a former Indian Air Force pilot, and Kingfisher Airlines owned by liquor baron Vijay Mallya.

Many of these airlines are looking at flights to international destinations following a government decision to open up long-haul routes to private carriers from this year. Previously, only state-owned Indian carriers were allowed to fly overseas.

Air India Express will also face competition from low-cost Gulf-based airlines.

Air India Express will have an initial fleet of three Boeing 737-800 planes and will operate 40 weekly services to the Gulf including Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Muscat and Al Ain, the airline said.

It will fly from five Indian cities including Trivandrum, Kochi and Kozhikode in the south, the Indian capital New Delhi and financial hub Bombay.

To cut costs, the airline is selling tickets online tickets although they can also still be bought at airline offices.

Air India's board approved this week the purchase of 50 long-range Boeing aircraft to revamp its ageing fleet to win new customers and expand operations.

Plane truth: Japan doubles flights to India
Krishna Kant
30 April 2005
The Economic Times

NEW DELHI: Taking a leaf out of China, the US and the UK, who are aggressively seeking direct air connections with India, Japan is doubling the direct flights between the two countries.

Japan's second largest airline, All Nippon Airways (ANA), plans to start a daily service between Delhi and Tokyo, which will double the direct flights between the two countries.

Currently, Air India and Japan Airlines operate direct flights between the two countries. Majority of the passengers on the sector, however, have to take a detour via third country airports such as Hong Kong, Singapore and Bangkok due to paucity of direct connections.

For ANA, it will be its second innings in India. ANA operated for six years in India before withdrawing in the aftermath of September 11, which led to a sharp decline in international passenger traffic across the globe.

The Japanese airline now envisages a rapid increase in passenger traffic in view of a likely expansion in the business ties between the two countries. At present, the India-Japan route is one of the least crowded major international air sector.

Last year, less than one lakh Japanese visited India, while Indians taking a flight to Japan was around 25,000.

Against this, close to 17m Japanese travelled abroad, while an estimated 6m Indians went abroad last year.

"As opposed to other South-east Asian countries, who are aggressively marketing their tourist destinations in India, Japan has not made much attempt to woo Indian tourists," lamented Subhash Goyal, chairman of Stic Travels.

Growing affluence driving the urge to travel
Amrit Dhillon in New Delhi
30 April 2005
South China Morning Post

Indians are travelling more than ever at home and abroad these days, as growing prosperity fills their pockets with more money. Last year, for instance, the number of domestic tourists soared to 320 million.

Indians traditionally travelled only to pilgrimage centres around the country. Now they are travelling purely for leisure and becoming more adventurous.

Where once the middle class used to escape the summer heat by driving up to the hills, they now fly to Switzerland - a big favourite where Indians have emerged as the second-biggest spenders after the Japanese - or other European cities. Others head for Bangkok, Singapore or Kuala Lumpur.

Cheaper fares nowadays being offered by international and domestic airlines are one reason for the surge in travel. It is often just as expensive for an Indian to fly to Bangkok, for example, as it is to fly from New Delhi to Mumbai.

"International air fares from India are at a record low, which means we will see more Indians opting for an overseas vacation rather than a domestic one," said Kapil Kaul, senior vice-president of the newly opened India office of the Centre for Asia-Pacific Aviation, an Australian consultancy group.

The trend is set to continue with Indian airlines - for the first time - being allowed to fly on Southeast Asian and European routes. Jet Airways and Air Sahara, meanwhile, are offering budget fares that will push travel even further.

Domestic tourism is also growing. The average hotel occupancy rate in India has been about 85 per cent this year, despite higher tariffs than last year. While corporate travellers make up the bulk, the tourism industry expects more leisure tourists in the coming months.

As more budget hotels open, experts see a jump in local tourism.

"With young affluent Indians planning regular but short breaks every two to three months, demand for budget hotels is going to boom," said Sunil Mathur, chief operating officer of the budget hotel chain, Choice Hotels India.

Business Times - 30 Apr 2005

India's first int'l LCC takes flight

(NEW DELHI) India's first international budget airline launched service yesterday, making its maiden flight from the southern city of Trivandrum to Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates.

The service is operated by state-run Air-India's new budget carrier. It is the first Indian low-cost airline among a host of others planning to fly out of the country.

Indian Aviation Minister Praful Patel waved off the no-frills flight from the capital city of Kerala state.

The fully-owned subsidiary of Air-India, Air-India Express, plans to operate 40 flights from India to Gulf destinations.

By next year, it will expand the service to South-east Asian cities such as Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur, Singapore and Jakarta after more aircraft are added to its fleet.

Fares on Air-India Express are roughly 6,500 rupees (S$245), 25 to 30 per cent cheaper than fares on full-service airlines to Abu Dhabi.

Air India spokesman Jeetendra Bhargava said the airline would provide free snacks, juice and water, but travellers would have to pay for alcoholic drinks.

The carrier hopes to attract customers from the more than three million Indians working in various Gulf countries.

'This service will be very successful. Low-cost is the future for airlines, especially flying to destinations that can be reached within three hours,' said Subhash Goyal, president of the Indian Association of Tour Operators.

With India's economy growing fast, middle class Indians are now flying at home and abroad in ever-growing numbers.

The number of air travellers in India jumped 26.5 per cent in the six months to March 2005 to 18.52 million, triggering a rush of entrants into the budget airline sector.

By next year, Air-India Express will face competition from such carriers as Air Deccan, owned by a former Indian Air Force pilot, and Kingfisher Airlines owned by liquor baron Vijay Mallya.

Many of these airlines are looking at flights to international destinations following a government decision to open up long-haul routes to private carriers from this year. Previously, only state-owned Indian carriers were allowed to fly overseas.

Air-India Express will also face competition from low-cost Gulf-based airlines.

Air-India Express will have an initial fleet of three Boeing 737-800 planes and will operate 40 weekly services to the Gulf including Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Muscat and Al Ain.

It will fly from five Indian cities including Trivandrum, Kochi, Kozhikode, New Delhi and financial hub Mumbai. - AFP, AP

Copyright © 2005 Singapore Press Holdings Ltd. All rights reserved

The Statesman (India)
April 30, 2005
Another Airport for Chennai

CHENNAI, April 29. - The Centre has cleared the Tamil Nadu chief minister, Miss Jayalalitha's demand for a new international airport for Chennai similar to the airports proposed for Mumbai and New Delhi. Announcing this here today, an official press release said the Tamil Nadu government would make available for the new airport 1,457.5 acres of land on the northern side of the present international airport to the Airports Authority of India as sought by the Union civil aviation minister, Mr Praful Patel.

The release recalled that the chief minister, during her meeting with the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, on 16 September last year in New Delhi, had submitted a detailed memorandum on the airport proposal. In the memorandum, she called for Chennai being included in the Centre's proposal for the construction of world-class airports at New Delhi and Mumbai.

Business Times - 03 May 2005

Air India objects to Airbus remarks over Boeing deal

(NEW DELHI) State-run Air India yesterday strongly objected to criticism from Airbus of the bidding process in which it lost out to Boeing for the supply of 50 jets, an airline spokesman said.

The news agency Press Trust of India quoted Airbus vice-president Nigel Harwood as saying 'we were not given fair and equal treatment' and that the European plane maker had not been allowed to make a presentation about its planned mid-range A350, which is aimed at competing with Boeing's 787, which is currently under development. Air India's US$6 billion 50-plane order includes 27 Boeing 787s.

Airline spokesman Jitendra Bhargava said the decision was made after the board reviewed proposals from both Airbus and Boeing. 'Air India takes strong exception to the Airbus statement on the bidding process,' he said.

The French government has been lobbying on behalf of Airbus, and French Transportation Minister Gilles de Robien visited the Indian capital last week and met Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel.

Indian Airlines, the domestic counterpart of Air India, wants to buy 42 planes from Airbus and is waiting for government approval. - AP

Copyright © 2005 Singapore Press Holdings Ltd. All rights reserved.

dunno,i think Airbus is pushing this to far. Airbus will get the 42-planes order from IA.

:)

Air-India to resume flights from Bangladesh

DHAKA, May 3 (AFP) - Air-India will resume flights from the Bangladesh capital Dhaka from June, 12 years after it stopped the service due to a lack of aircraft, officials said Tuesday.

"We've now enough aircraft and we've decided to operate six flights a week from Dhaka," A.K Mitra, Air-India's Bangladesh manager, told AFP.

The also airline plans to operate three Dhaka-Calcutta-London flights a week from June 18.

There will also be three flights each week to the United States via New Delhi. The US destinations are Chicago, Los Angeles and New York.

State-run Air-India will use its new Boeing 777 aircraft for the US route, Mitra said.

"There is huge demand for west-bound traffic from Bangladesh and it's growing every year," he added.

International air traffic from Bangladesh grew from 1.4 million passengers in 1994 to about three million last year, according to the Bangladesh Civil Aviation Authority.

Air-India will be the 17th international airline to operate flights from the country.

Kingfisher gets DGCA permit

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2005/05/05/stories/2005050502950900.htm

SpiceJet to float $90-m FCCB issue
5 May 2005
The Times of India

NEW DELHI: SpiceJet Ltd, the born-again avatar of erstwhile Modiluft, on Wednesday announced plans to float a foreign currency issue in June to raise $90 million for part-financing its 20 aircraft purchase plan. The board of directors of SpiceJet - previously Royal Airways - on Wednesday approved the issue. "We will seek the shareholders' nod for the issue now and hope to complete the exercise by June,"SpiceJet director Ajay Singh said.

The airline is scheduled to take to the domestic skies in a no-frills avatar in mid-May with a fleet of leased Boeing 737-800 planes. "We have already taken delivery of two aircraft and the third plane will join the fleet in June. Another three will be inducted during the course of the year,"Singh said.

In addition, the airline has placed a $1.2 billion order with Boeing to purchase 20 737-800 jets, with deliveries to commence from January 2006. "The proceeds from the issue will be used to part-finance this order,"he added.

SpiceJet, which has tied up with KLM for maintenance support, plans to operate only in Category-3 sectors like Delhi-Pune, Delhi-Ahmedabad, Ahmedabad-Bangalore, Delhi-Goa and Mumbai-Ahmedabad.

The no-frills airline plans to offer fares 30-40% below the existing fares of full-service carriers in India. It said overhead costs would be kept low by selling food and beverages on-board. SpiceJet is one of nine low-cost Indian carriers which are preparing to take to the domestic skies this year.

SpiceJet hopes to make operating profit by the first half of the first year of operations, and have a positive cash flow by the end of the first year. The company's founders - Royal Holdings Services Ltd, a Nevada-based company owned by the non-resident Indian Kansagra family - hold roughly 40% of the airline.

Picture of Jet Airways first wide body aircraft, it looks nice.

http://www.skyliner-aviation.de/photos/01VTJWA.jpg

Radars down at Kolkata airport
Subhro Niyogi
5 May 2005
The Times of India

KOLKATA/NEW DELHI: Remember John Cusack's portrayal of the pulsating life of an air traffic controller in the Hollywood drama Pushing Tin? Away from the world of celluloid, Kolkata's air traffic controllers are engaged in an even more thrilling real-life drama: guiding planes into and out of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport virtually blindfolded.

Since Monday evening, the 100-odd air traffic controllers at Kolkata airport are literally talking down the planes. With both the terminal approach radar control (TRACON) and route surveillance radar (RSR) systems out of order, they don't have a choice.

TRACON helps air traffic controllers guide pilots during landing and takeoff. The RSR, on the other hand, is absolutely critical in ensuring safety in the sky as it helps planes maintain a safe buffer space between each other.

"Both TRACON and RSR blipped out after being struck by lightning during Monday's thunderstorm. The monitors that help us track plane positions blanked out. All operations were stopped for an hour. It was resumed only after we switched to the manual mode," Kolkata airport director Rajendra Pal said.

Airports Authority of India chairman K Ramalingam said efforts were on to rectify the problem. "Spare parts have been sent to Kolkata already," he said, adding that caution exercised in the current mode was leading to delays in flights to and from Kolkata.

Business Times - 06 May 2005

Air India to complain to Airbus over Boeing deal remark

(NEW DELHI) Air India said yesterday that it would complain to European aircraft giant Airbus Industrie for crying foul over the state-run carrier's decision to buy 50 long-range jets from US rival Boeing.

Jitendra Bhargava, spokesman for Air India, said the carrier would make its 'deep unhappiness' known to Airbus for alleging that its board had been soft on Boeing when awarding the US$7 billion deal in its favour.

'We will be letting Airbus know about our deep unhappiness with the way they went about making unfounded accusations against Air India in the media,' Mr Bhargava said in a telephone interview from Mumbai.

The board of state-run Air India on April 26 awarded a contract for 50 long-range Boeing aircraft after a year of intense lobbying by both companies for the deal. The contract is subject to federal government approval.

Mr Bhargava added that 'speculation in the media...regarding us suing Airbus (on the matter) is a little far fetched and incorrect.' The Times of India newspaper carried a front page story saying Air India had sought legal advice and was planning to take Airbus to court for running a 'disinformation campaign'.

Airbus said it was denied a chance to offer a wider variety of aircraft choices while Boeing was able to sell its B787 Dreamliner which is still under development. It also urged the Indian government to probe Air India's decision, order a new tender and questioned Boeing's delivery schedule.

'We are not disappointed but astonished. We were not given fair and equal treatment,' Airbus vice-president Nigel Harwood said after the contract was awarded. Air India also described the Airbus demand for a government probe into its board decision as 'outrageous'. - AFP

Copyright © 2005 Singapore Press Holdings Ltd. All rights reserved.

Business Times - 06 May 2005

India's Air Deccan to fly passengers for one rupee

(BANGALORE) Indian budget airline Air Deccan on Wednesday announced fares of one rupee - less than a cent - on its 106 daily domestic flights ahead of the weekend launch of low-cost rival Kingfisher Air.

Four passengers per flight will be entitled to the fares if they book three months in advance, said Air Deccan managing director G R Gopinath.

'In a few days time, we will launch one-rupee ticket booked either through Internet or through our offices and agents,' he said.

'They can fly for one rupee provided they book it three months in advance,' Mr Gopinath added.

Mr Gopinath added that tax and airport security dues would bring the total cost to 222 rupees (S$8.4).

Air Deccan, which started operations in 2003, has tickets starting from 500 rupees upwards. It has five Airbus A320s and 12 ATRs flying 32 destinations daily and has flown more than one million passengers.

'On every Airbus, 40 seats are reserved for passengers paying 500 rupees to 2,500 rupees,' Mr Gopinath said.

The Bangalore-based firm has styled itself along the lines of the Irish no-frills carrier Ryanair and Britain's easyJet and offers fares 30-40 per cent below those of full-service Indian carriers.

State-owned Indian Airlines and private operators Jet Airways and Sahara command the lion's share of the domestic market but Air Deccan has been snipping away at it since it launched operations in 2003.

Mr Gopinath said Air Deccan will acquire an aircraft every month for a whole year.

'We have presently 800 employees, including 200 pilots and 100 engineers,' he said. 'During the last 18 months of operations our revenues stand at 3.1 billion rupees.'

India's domestic skies, which has been dominated by three to four airlines, is set to see a virtual explosion in new carriers with most of them planning to tap budget travellers in the country's fast-growing economy.

Liquor baron Vijay Mallya will launch his Kingfisher Airlines tomorrow, the country's newest budget carrier, offering cut-rate fares and featuring fashion models as flight attendants.

On Wednesday, India's civil aviation regulator formally cleared the airline's launch. - AFP

Copyright © 2005 Singapore Press Holdings Ltd. All rights reserved.

Kingfisher Airlines begins operation from Monday

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/businessline/blnus/14061703.htm

India gives French envoy an earful
Byas Anand & Indrani Bagchi
7 May 2005
The Times of India

NEW DELHI: India has expressed its displeasure at the insinuation by French envoy Dominique Girard about Air-India's decision to purchase aircraft from Boeing.

Foreign secretary Shyam Sharan used a scheduled meeting with the French ambassador for a reproof to him. Sources say Girard was on the defensive and claimed he had been misquoted.

Acknowledging the meeting, the MEA spokesperson said: "The foreign secretary drew his attention to the press reports and told him that if these reports were correct, the French ambassador's remarks were not in keeping with diplomatic propriety."

Sharan's annoyance reflected the deep resentment within government over Girard's outburst over Airbus losing the $7 billion deal to arch rival Boeing. Civil aviation ministry, in particular, is bristling with resentment. Although its minister-in-charge told The Times of India that since this was a deal between two corporate entities, government would rather stay out of it, his officials are angry with the French for imputing motives to a sovereign nation.

It may not have a political fallout until the G-8 meeting in June, when Prime Minister Manmohan Singh would meet French president Jacques Chirac on the sidelines. But the strong riposte by India seems to have already led Airbus to ponder if Girard's intervention was going to hurt its cause by making the authorities here averse to reopening the Air-India deal even if they wanted to check out allegations of foul play.

The first signs of a damage-control operation came from the French company that started it all. Airbus spokesperson David Velupillai said:...

..."We have faith in the Indian system. We only have an interest in seeing that Air-India gets the best aircraft and is not handicapped by choosing a wrong plane."

Unlike another senior Airbus functionary, Nigel Harwood, who had sought a CVC probe into the A-I deal, Velupillai said the deal should be subject to all the checks and balances that the Indian Airlines deal had to pass.

Presumably, the assessment that Girard's allegations may have an adverse fallout for Airbus was also the reason why the US is not responding to the charge that it swung the deal for Boeing. Washington has reason to be pleased with the direction of the India-US "strategic partnership".

As India promises to become the latest locale for US-French friction, both Boeing and Airbus are increasing their presence here, not merely in selling aircraft, but sourcing design, software and even aircraft parts. Both Boeing and Airbus source software from Infosys, while Boeing has clinched a deal with HCL Technologies for the design of their 787 Dreamliner. Both aircraft companies are looking at establishing pilot training and aircraft maintenance centres in India.

But that is where the similarity ends. Boeing is delving deep into the Indian technology market, catapulting from aircraft to satellites. It is expected to strike a deal with the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) as part of the space cooperation in the India-US Next Steps in Strategic Partnership (NSSP).

The Boeing interest in ISRO is yet to be announced and, sources said, was a corollary of the Chicago-based aviation major acquiring Hughes' satellite manufacturing operations.

That the Air-India decision might have a fallout in India's business interests in Europe came from a similar concern aired by the newly-formed Europe-India Chamber of Commerce. In a statement from Brussels, it said it was not surprised over the disappointment expressed by the European Union and France. Its general secretary Sunil Prasad was quoted as saying he was concerned the Boeing deal would lead to "serious apprehension in Europe" about India's trade and investment policies.

Air warriors and their flying machines
DEEP FOCUS/Byas Anand
8 May 2005
The Times of India

It's time for some bumpy landing for Boeing. Three years ago, when Indian Airlines decided to pick an all-Airbus fleet for $2 billion, Boeing went to town claiming the airlines would be paying much more than the market price for the Airbus planes. Now, with Air-India's decision to dump Airbus and pick Boeing for its nearly $7-billion order for 50 commercial jets, it's Airbus' turn to get back.

What started as a war of words over the superiority of planes is now fast turning into the worst-ever corporate dog-fight in the global skies with accusations of foul play and suggestions of behind-the-scenes geo-political considerations taking centrest-age. Yet surprisingly, both ai-rcraft makers - Airbus and Boeing - admit that this is a first-of-its-kind verbal warfare over an aircraft order.

And intriguingly, the bickering is limited only to the aircraft purchase deals of India's two state-owned carriers, Air India and Indian Airlines. While both Airbus and Boeing left no stone unturned to prove the benefits of turning the orders in their favour, neither has spoken against the deals of the private carriers here: Airbus inked a deal with start-up Kingfisher Airlines for 12 aircraft recently, while Boeing bagged a 20-plane order from another start-up SpiceJet.

In the A-I deal - which is now in the thick of a cross-continental verbal feud - Airbus has accused the Maharaja of tampering tender norms and evaluating the Boeing aircraft with a nine-abreast seating as against Airbus' eight-abreast. Airbus also said that it was denied a chance to offer a wider variety of aircraft choices while Boeing was able to sell its B787 Dreamliner, which is still under development. The French firm's V-P Nigel Harwood even called for a CVC probe into the deal.

Boeing immediately counter-challenged its rival saying the deal could stand any scrutiny. Boeing's senior V-P Dinesh Keskar even stated that the Boeing planes offered A-I a $185 million saving every year over the Airbus products. "The package we offered was comprehensive and competitive, and needless to say, pricing is an important part of the package. But the bottom line is that our product is better than Airbus."

Bitter competitors they both are, but both Airbus and Boeing were quick to admit that such a bitter war of words is not a common feature with aircraft deals anywhere across the globe. "We have lost deals to Airbus in the past but we've never accused the airline of foul play. Such a duel has never happened anywhere with any deal," says Keskar. Airbus spokesman David Vellupillai blames the tiff on not being given a level playing field. "We are used to competition and we accept the loss, provided the competition is on a level playing field... Such a tiff has never been seen with any aircraft deal earlier."

All this, of course, has led to some in the government smelling a private rat in the whole tiff. Official sources feel that the private airlines are deliberately stoking the fire to delay the fleet acquisition exercise of both A-I and IA. "If this debate delays the acquisition exercises, the only people to benefit will be the private airlines who will get a head start with their new aircraft," says a source.

With some MPs and even French Ambassador Dominique Girard joining the issue and questioning the deals, the tiff has now taken political and diplomatic dimensions. Though Girard was quick to blame his outburst against the A-I deal on misreporting by the media, the damage was done. Some in the political circles now feel that Girard's intervention was going to hurt Airbus' cause by making the authorities here averse to reopening the A-I deal even if they wanted to check out allegations of foul play.

Airbus has already embarked on a damage control exercise with Vellupillai softening his stand and saying that the French have full faith in the Indian system and its checks and balances. But observers say that a reshuffle in the conglomerate's very vocal India team might help it mend bridges with the Indian government. Are the French listening?

08 May 2005

India's new budget airline named after a beer, staffed by models

NEW DELHI: India's second budget airline takes off Monday as the battle begins for the potentially enormous no-frills sector.

Kingfisher Airlines, named after a beer and with models as flight attendants, is the first to challenge low-cost pioneer Air Deccan but five more budget carriers will be introduced over the next year.

The new airline has a marketing strategy unashamedly aimed at attracting a new generation of "high-fliers" by pampering them with top-quality entertainment at budget prices.

"We have extremely attractive and well-trained flight attendants. We have a brand new fleet of aircraft. We have individual entertainment systems where every single seat has video screen," said Kingfisher beer baron Vijay Mallya, the owner of the new airline.

"I believe this is a unique value proposition to the customers. And therefore, I am very sure of its success," he told AFP.

The first flight will be Monday from India's entertainment and financial capital Bombay to IT hub Bangalore.

"If you look at the emerging India, by 2010 there will be a new generation of consumers of about 150 million," said Mallya.

"Who are these people? These are youngsters who are earning money out of information technology, biotechnology, entrepreneurs ... people who have a much greater propensity to spend than when I was young."

With Air Deccan and Kingfisher due to be joined by Spice Air, Go Air, Indigo, Indus one and Air One in coming months, India's skies could soon be getting crowded.

Mallya, however, said there was "room for everybody".

He could be right. Aviation Minister Praful Patel has forecast 20 percent annual growth in domestic and international air traffic, with passenger numbers due to hit 50 million in five years.

Indian passenger fleets are forecast to almost treble from 150 to 400 in the same period.

"I will have 11 aircraft in the air by this year itself. We will have another six next year. By 2010, we should have 55 planes flying. My vision is to make Kingfisher the largest private sector carrier," said Mallya.

The sector's future looks so bright that even Air Deccan welcomed Kingfisher's launch.

"This is a welcome sign that new airlines are entering. It will energise the market. There is a tremendous need for airline capacity as the requirement is huge," Kingfisher managing director G.R. Gopinath told AFP.

Gopinath said if even a fourth of India's billion-plus population are to fly three to four times a year, then a billion airline seats would be needed.

"It would add up to 40,000-50,000 flights a day. But even if India's aviation industry grows by 30 percent year-on-year, you would only reach 10,000 flights after a decade," he said.

Private airline Jet Airways has dominated the sector since economic liberalisation in the early 1990s and holds 45 of the market. Its rivals are state-run Air-India and private carrier Sahara.

Air Deccan's launch a year-and-a-half ago spooked the mainstream airlines and sparked fare cuts that have attracted new passengers every month.

This week, Air Deccan announced fares for less than a cent in an apparent counter-offensive to Kingfisher's launch. - AFP/ir

Copyright © 2005 Agence France Presse. All rights reserved.

Air India pilot helps save life of ailing passenger
8 May 2005
The Times of India

NEW DELHI: The cross-continent verbal feud over its decision to order Boeing jets may be giving Air-India sleepless nights, but the Maharaja's heart still seems to be in the right place. The commander of a Newark-bound Air-India flight dumped around Rs 25.04 lakh worth of aviation fuel and turned the aircraft back to Mumbai after a passenger suffered two successive seizures on-board.

The pilot had to turn back after over 100 minutes of flying and dump over 77 tonnes of fuel to land safely in Mumbai and save the passenger's life. "It was choice between cost economics and the passenger and the airline took the right decision. For us, the passenger is foremost," an A-I spokesman said.

He said the passenger, Meeta Doshi (65), was suffering from a series of ailments, including diabetes, renal insuff hypertension and a blood pressure of 145/75 and was booked as a wheel-chair passenger from Mumbai. "The A-I doctor had authorised Doshi to travel but with a physician escort," he said.

India targets ramshackle airports

BOMBAY, May 8 (AFP) - India's civil aviation minister on Saturday said the country's airports had reached "saturating point" and needed to be upgraded.

Praful Patel was speaking during a launch party for India's new budget airline Kingfisher Air.

"We need to build airport infrastructure otherwise the sector's growth will be hampered. Just as the last decade (in India) was of IT and telecom, this decade will belong to the civil aviation sector," he said.

"Given the Indian population base and growing middle class we have only one direction to go -- higher and higher," he said.

India in December announced an 8.69-billion-dollar programme to revamp the country's ramshackle airports.

Kingfisher, whose first flight takes off on Monday, will be India's second budget airline after Air Deccan bidding for a share of the potentially enormous domestic market.

Business Times - 09 May 2005

Aviation next big thing: India

(BOMBAY) India sees for itself this decade belonging to the civil aviation sector, just as the last decade was of IT and telecom for the country with over one billion people. India's Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel said this while warning that the country's airports had reached 'saturating point' and needed to be upgraded.

Speaking at a launch party on Saturday for India's new budget airline Kingfisher Air, he said the country badly needed to build airport infrastructure or see the aviation sector's growth being hampered.

'Given the Indian population base and growing middle class, we have only one direction to go - higher and higher,' he said. India in December announced a US$8.69 billion programme to revamp the country's ramshackle airports.

Kingfisher, whose first flight is scheduled to take off today, will be India's second budget airline after Air Deccan bidding for a share of the potentially enormous domestic market.

In the past 12 months, India saw an accelerated pace of growth in the number of start-up airlines entering the protected aviation sector and in the growth of both domestic and international air traffic.

India's airlines are counting on economic expansion and rising incomes to boost demand for business and leisure travel in Asia's fourth-biggest economy. Air fares that have fallen by more than half in the past three years are attracting first-time flyers in the country, where the rail network carries as many as 13 million people daily.

India's first private airlines are also spreading their wings. Jet Airways started flying to Malaysia and Singapore for the first time from last month, while another private carrier, Air Sahara, will launch its maiden flight to Singapore this week. Both carriers are also eyeing flights to London. Meanwhile, an Indian carrier that had been grounded for almost eight years, will resume services, expecting to be profitable this year because of surging local demand for budget travel.

Royal Airways Ltd, which plans to start low-fare carrier SpiceJet this month, is selling US$90 million of bonds that can be converted into shares to help fund the purchase of 10 Boeing aircraft. The bonds will be listed in Singapore or Luxembourg, A J Singh, director of the New Delhi-based airline, told Bloomberg

'We think the low-cost space is very exciting in India,' Mr Singh said. He expects India's domestic air traffic to grow 30 per cent from the 15 million people who flew last year.

Citigroup, Goldman Sachs Group and ABN Amro Holding are investors in the airline, whose shares have gained 67 per cent this year. - AFP, Bloomberg

Copyright © 2005 Singapore Press Holdings Ltd. All rights reserved.

BBC: Kingfisher Airlines - India gets new budget airline



full story:http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/4528289.stm

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May 11
Discount airlines battle over India's skies
By Rina Chandran

BOMBAY, May 11 (Reuters) - A dog-fight between Indian airlines is brewing with launch of an airline named after a beer brand, short-skirted flight attendants and fares as low as $5.

Kingfisher Airlines, which sports seat-back screens showing films, launched this week as a mid-tier alternative to leader Jet Airways and no-frills carrier Air Deccan.

Analysts expect domestic air travel to grow at 20-25 percent a year over the next five years, driven by discount carriers trying to woo millions of Indians who tend now take cheap train rides to even the most far-flung destinations.

"Low-cost carriers are designed for markets like India," said Kapil Kaul, head of the Centre for Asia-Pacific Aviation in India. "There is also a serious investor appetite for them because of the growth potential, and they are backed by large businesses and foreign investors, and other firms are waiting."

Kingfisher Airlines Ltd. -- owned by India's biggest brewer, the UB Group, and named after its top beer -- launched its inaugural Bombay-Bangalore flight on Monday with fares as low as 3,900 rupees ($90).

That's more than 30 percent higher than Air Deccan, but the highest fare of 5,900 rupees ($136) is one fifth cheaper than those of full-service carriers Jet Airways Ltd., Air Sahara and state-owned Indian Airlines [IA.UL].

"We will grow by expanding the base of domestic air travellers as well as gaining customers from other airlines," said Alex Wilcox, Kingfisher's president and a founding manager of U.S. budget airline JetBlue Airways Corp. when it launched five years ago.

"MINING THE BOTTOM"

Ahead of the Kingfisher launch, Air Deccan said it planned to sell one rupee tickets with a tax charge of 222 rupees ($5), making it possible to fly for less than the cost of taking a bus.

Rock-bottom pricing by the Bangalore-based airline has helped expand the market, just as Ryanair and easyJet did in Europe. About a third of Air Deccan passengers are first-time fliers, Managing Director Captain G.R. Gopinath said.

"We are mining the fortune at the bottom of the pyramid," he said, referring to a book by the University of Michigan's C.K. Prahalad, who urges firms to tap the vast base of value-conscious consumers in India, where the average annual wage is around $500.

Waiting in the wings is SpiceJet Ltd. , formerly Royal Airways, which will go toe-to-toe with Kingfisher when it launches later this month.

"Lowering the price created a huge demand in the cellphone market ... lowering fares will do the same for the air travel market," said Mark Winders, SpiceJet's chief executive officer.

COMPETITION HEATS UP

About 19 million people travelled by air in India in the last fiscal year to March, according to the Centre for Asia-Pacific Aviation's Kaul, just a fraction of its billion-plus population. Few flights in the country are more than three hours long.

Kaul expects 5 million new air travellers in India every year until 2010, and then slower double-digit growth. The government expects the sector to grow 20 percent annually in the next five years, with $20 billion in government and private investment.

Nearly a dozen more carriers are expected to begin operations in the next 12-18 months. Kaul estimates India can support two or three large low-cost carriers with fleets of 50-60 aircraft each, which also fly to South East Asia and the Middle East, as well as four or five carriers operating only in certain parts of India.

But falling fares will mean lower profits. Jet Airways, with its 43 percent share of the domestic market, has been charging mostly full fares, but reported a net profit of just 1.5 billion rupees on revenues of 35.66 billion in the year to March 2004.

Jet and Sahara are looking at overseas routes to boost revenues. They were recently allowed to fly to Singapore and Kuala Lumpur and will fly to London and New York shortly.

They will compete with state carrier Air-India [AI.UL], which this month also launched a discount carrier, Air-India Express, on the Kerala-Middle East route. Jet expects international routes to account for 10-15 percent of its turnover this year. ($1=43.5 Indian rupees)

Copyright © 2005Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.

Business Times - 11 May 2005

Little Red Dot goes big in Indian aviation market

By VEN SREENIVASAN

(SINGAPORE) A little-known company based around a group of retired Singapore Airlines crew trainers has been quietly tapping demand in the burgeoning Indian aviation market.

Singapore-based Little Red Dot Academy (LRD) has been training in-flight supervisors for Air Sahara's international services. And it is moving to clinch similar deals with other airline start-ups in India.

LRD, which has a paid-up capital of $350,000, is the brainchild of Loh Sien Chi, a co-founder of Omni Mold, now known as Tech Group Asia.

Mr Loh told BT yesterday he decided to set up the venture in October last year when it became clear that India was serious about liberalising its aviation market.

'I saw a huge opportunity and decided to capitalise on it,' he said. 'The Indian aviation industry is booming, with traffic expected to grow 20 per cent year on year. We saw a demand for well trained aircrew.'

He decided to look for experienced trainers and was introduced to a group of ex-Singapore Airlines professionals.

'What better brand name that Singapore Airlines?,' he said. 'These were a group of 15 very experienced people who together have clocked up some 500 years in SIA, where they trained some 18,000 crew members over the past 30 years.'

Eight of the 15 trainers are shareholders of LRD.

And in the past three months, the team has trained about 200 Air Sahara crew.

'During the first phase we've been training Air Sahara's in-flight supervisors who will be on their new South-east Asian services,' Mr Loh said. 'The next phase of the training will be for crew of their wide-body aircraft, which will ply the long-haul flights to London and Chicago later this year.'

In fact, crew members of Air Sahara's inaugural flight to Changi tomorrow will be from the first batch of LRD-trained crew.

And the business is growing.

Mr Loh said LRD has just found a second client - also an Indian carrier - which he declined to name.

LRD is now looking to form joint ventures with partners in various Indian aviation hubs, such as Bangalore, Delhi and Hyderabad.

'We are just starting out, and the market is growing very fast' Mr Loh said. 'We should hit the $1 million turnover mark shortly.'

Not bad for a service company that has been in business barely a year.

Copyright © 2005 Singapore Press Holdings Ltd. All rights reserved

Air India warns Airbus against criticism of deal for 50 new Boeing jets
By SWATI DEB
11 May 2005

BOMBAY, India (AP) - State-run Air India has chastised Airbus for the European planemaker's criticism of the bidding process that saw it lose out to rival U.S.-based Boeing for a massive order for new passenger jets, a top official said Wednesday.

Last month the government-owned international carrier announced plans to order 50 passenger aircraft from Boeing Co. for US$6.8 billion (€5.23 billion).

At the time, the Indian media quoted Airbus representatives as saying the company was not given fair treatment.

Airbus Vice President Nigel Harwood was quoted by the Press Trust of India as saying his company was not allowed to make a presentation of its planned mid-range A350 aimed at competing with Boeing's 787, which is still under development.

In response, Air India issued a letter to the Airbus company secretary saying "much of the allegations and comments" of Airbus representatives "were not in accordance with business sense and should not be repeated in future," V. Thulasidas, Air India's Chairman and Managing Director told reporters in Bombay.

Thulasidas said on the airline's recommendation, the Civil Aviation Ministry had referred the fleet acquisition and evaluation process to two federal watchdog agencies -- the Comptroller and Auditor General and the Central Vigilance Commission.

He said the decision to lease 19 Airbus A320 was also referred to federal authorities.

"Air-India has nothing against Airbus," said Thulasidas. "It is for the buyer to decide what we need and not for the seller to dictate ... We only considered what was best for Air India and what made commercial sense."

He dismissed as misplaced apprehensions that Air India would not purchase planes from Airbus in future.

In reply to questions, Thulasidas said he believed the growth of the Indian airline industry would surpass Air-India's planned purchases. "The growth of the market will call for a review and that will open options for considering the A380," he said of the Airbus superjumbo jet.

The battle to supply the demand for new planes has foreign governments pitching in as well. Days before Air India's April board meeting, U.S. Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta visited New Delhi and said Washington-New Delhi relations would benefit if Boeing got the order.

The French government had also been lobbying on behalf of Airbus. French Transportation Minister Gilles de Robien visited the Indian capital earlier this month and met with India's aviation minister, Praful Patel.

Many saw Air India's decision as a balancing act in diplomacy.

But Thulasidas denied the airline succumbed to any pressure and said the decision to go with Boeing was made after the board reviewed proposals from both Airbus and Boeing.

"There was no political or geopolitical consideration," he said.

Indian Airlines, the domestic counterpart of Air India, wants to buy 42 planes from Airbus and is awaiting government approval.

Delta launches direct New York-Madras service

WASHINGTON, May 9 (AFP) - Delta Air Lines launched daily, direct services Monday from New York to Madras, being the only US carrier with a direct link to the southern Indian city, the airline said.

The flight, operated via Paris' Charles de Gaulle Airport, connects with Delta's Paris flights from Atlanta and Cincinnati and provides customers with a convenient link to India's fourth-largest city, they said.

"We are extremely excited about offering customers this new international travel option and being the only US carrier with a direct link to this important southern Indian city, Chennai," also known as Madras, said Paulette Corbin, Delta's senior vice president for in-flight service.

"India represents a strategic and growing market for the US and Delta and is part of our international expansion plans," she said.

Corbin added that Madras and the Tamil Nadu region showed strong economic growth and rising prosperity, as well as being a key center for trade and the gateway to South India.

Air India Badly Needs New Aircraft to Meet Growth: Official

BEIJING, May 12 Aisa Pulse - Air India, which is expanding at a rapid pace, badly needs more aircraft to fly to new destinations like Beijing as dry leasing option has almost reached a saturation point, a senior official said here.

"We badly need the new fleet," Commercial Director of Air India V K Verma said without going into the lingering controversy over the national carrier's recent decision to buy 50 aircraft from Boeing, arch-rival of Airbus.

"We have grown at the rate of 30 per cent every year in the past three years by dry leasing aircraft. We have almost come to the saturation point by dry leasing aircraft. We need new aircraft to be inducted," Verma said here.

Verma, who was elected as one of the six new Vice-Presidents of the International Badminton Federation (IBF) at its Annual General Body meeting here, said Air India hopes to start flying to Beijing in 2006.

"Beijing should be on Air India's map by late summer of 2006", he said noting the delay is due to the fact that the next batch of aircraft which have been ordered by Air India on dry lease would be delivered only in the summer of 2006.

Air India started flying to Shanghai, China's commercial hub, in December 2003.
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"Air India's flights to Shanghai is doing well, though not entirely based on the China traffic. India-China traffic is about one-third and the other two-thirds is made up by India-Bangkok and Bangkok-Shanghai traffic," he said.

(PTI)

Bmi Launches New Heathrow-Mumbai Service From May 14
12 May 2005
Edited Press Release

LONDON (Dow Jones)--bmi, the U.K. scheduled airline, Thursday launched its new four times-weekly Heathrow-Mumbai service which starts on May 14.

Speaking at a press briefing in advance of the launch, Sir Michael Bishop also said: "We hope to start services to Riyadh later this year, and as a consequence of further deregulation in the Indian market we are now evaluating options which will allow us to further develop our route network from Heathrow to India".

"The priority, however, is to increase our Mumbai service to a daily frequency as part of the winter 2005/06 programme", Sir Michael said.

Sir Michael also identified 14 long haul destinations from Heathrow that would benefit from new competition, including Hong Kong, Johannesburg, Narita, Cape Town and destinations in the U.S.

May 13, 2005
Indian airline, SIA-style service
Retired SIA staff train Air Sahara's cabin crew on finer points of service

By Krist Boo

THE latest airline to touch down at Changi, India's Air Sahara, has a Singapore flavour about its service.

The airline's crew have been trained by a seven-month-old company made up of retired Singapore Airlines staff.

Over the past four months, the 15 former stewards, who now work for the Little Red Dot Academy (LRDA), have been drilling 200 Indian stewardesses on the finer points of service.

The trainers, among them three grandfathers, each boast an average of 35 years' cabin experience.

They beat three other shortlisted companies, including one from Europe, to win the contract, which is worth more than $300,000.

After a cake-cutting ceremony complete with pyrotechnics, Air Sahara took off from Changi Airport bound for New Delhi at around 9.40am yesterday.

Air Sahara president Rono Dutta said: 'Singapore has a reputation for high quality. Even if we are talking about maintenance, something from Singapore gives us a lot of comfort.'

The 11-year-old carrier is the second private Indian airline to operate routes outside India since the government there eased restrictions on the private aviation industry in January.

The airline, the 80th to operate through Changi, chose Singapore as its first overseas destination.

It is offering 14 weekly services between Delhi and Singapore and will be adding Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok and Hong Kong to its network by the end of the year.

Its sari-clad cabin crew may yet be the first of Air Sahara's many links to Singapore.

Looking to cut costs, it is in talks with local firms on moving some of its aircraft maintenance and repairs here. It currently outsources these services, along with pilot training, to Europe and Indonesia.

Right now, the lack of infrastructure in India is a 'big constraint', Mr Dutta said. Even galley boilers and coffee machines have to be sent overseas for repairs.

The Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) said traffic between India and Singapore has grown 21 per cent from pre-Sars levels in 2002.

The Singapore-Delhi sector grew 23 per cent over the same period.

Jet Airways, the other private Indian airline to go international, took off on its inaugural flight to Mumbai from Changi last month.

The carrier, which also flies to Nepal and Sri Lanka, plans to add Chennai and New Delhi to its network soon.

Copyright © 2005 Singapore Press Holdings. All rights reserved

Airlines' high-flying plans may be stymied by aircraft shortage
Girish Rao
13 May 2005
The Economic Times

BANGALORE: While policy makers may be in a hurry to infuse a strong dose of freedom in India's aviation scene, the desi explosion in the western skies will be a relatively slower affair.

Open skies with the US notwithstanding, Air-India (A-I) will spread its wings in more markets in North America only next summer unless it can pull more planes out of its hat this winter.

It is ready to fly into Washington, San Francisco and Houston (or any point in the Dallas Fort area) but cannot do so till it gets more aircraft. Similar is the problem with Indian Airlines (IA) which is trying to lease several wide-bodied planes to tap the west.

Jet, according to market sources, is trying to sign up four Airbus 330 to do a double daily into London this winter and 21 flights in summer 2006. Air Sahara is trying for a double daily by next summer to London and non-stop to US this winter.

Sources add that even Jet is mulling a non-stop service to US, considered the fastest growing market in the west. Cities in South-east Asia including Bangkok and Hong Kong/China are also in demand from the two carriers.

For now, AI is getting its third leased B777 which will help mount more flights to London and commence services to Toronto. It begins thrice weekly operations from May 15 from Amritsar to Toronto via Birmingham, which is expected to be turned into a daily by next summer.

Similarly, it also starts a thrice weekly service from June 18 from Dhaka to London via Kolkata. It currently offers 28 flights every week to the US spread across New York, Newark, Chicago and Los Angeles.

AI is also leasing a B747-400 Combi for the first time along with three A310-300s. Travellers will soon have a thrice weekly AI option to South Africa via Mauritius, besides connections three times every week to Seoul. Also on cards is doubling of services from Delhi to Shanghai from two to four every week.

IA, which has been waiting in the wings because of non-availability of planes is evaluating offers from leasing companies for A330/340 and B767, for its proposed European and long haul Far-east destinations. The airline is rearing to exploit its vast domestic network for its international flights.

Jet Airways, which has the first mover advantage to the west among private carriers, wants to launch its six times weekly service to Newark this June. It wants to double its London flights to 14 this winter and also add to its US services through a codeshare with United Airlines.

Air Sahara, which has been granted rights for only two services a week to London this summer, expects to carve a larger share of the recently enhanced bilateral rights with UK and do a daily in winter. The fetish for London, say sources, is guided by the large movement to UK.

Hkskyline and Babystan > wanted to say thanks for keeping the India aviation-thread updated:)


But just a little note: Most of the articles are copyrighted articles and we have got complains for copy and pasting articles. I urge you both not to post whole articles just give the the link to the source and the title of the article.


thanks:)

Air India comes back to Canada after two decades


http://www.zeenews.com/links/articles.asp?ssid=53&aid=217146&newsid=BUS

note: This is the first time AI is comming to Toronto 20 years after the bombing of AI-Kanishka.

Is the bombing linked to the conflict over Kashmir?

^ No not at all .

It was linked to an insurgency movement in Punjab , an Indian state .

Btw , this is good news for Indians !
Air Canada has already started direct flights from Toronto-Delhi last year

:banana:

I see. Thanks for the clarification. ;) Hopefully, there will be some competitive pricing, yeah? :D But the AI flight has 2 stops!

Air Canada has been trying to encourage US citizens in the Northeast to fly to India through Toronto. There is significant demand on the route since several hundred thousand Indians live in the Toronto area. There were even reports of an upstart airline from the Indian community to begin flights to Asia.

More information on the Air India 182 Bombing :
http://archives.cbc.ca/IDD-1-70-1018/disasters_tragedies/air_india_investigation/

^^ Yes there is quite a large number of Indians (especially Punjabis) living in the Toronto area. I find it quite surprising that there were no Toronto-Delhi direct flights until last year! This Toronto pic (credit to Lucky 24; the original thread is here (http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=206614)) says it all:

http://www.inclearimage.com/images/Toronto/April/April_24/P1030336.jpg

But it's inevitable as the aviation sector in India opens up and traffic mounts - not only from Indians returning home but hopefully also from people going on business. :)

Interesting BBC article that warrants a close look.

India's overstretched airports
Across India, airports - many of them built by the British during WW2 - are overstretched as the country goes through an aviation boom.

Air traffic across India has grown by 30% in the past eight months after the government changed the country's aviation policy, allowing more airlines to begin operations.

At the start of the year, India had five airlines operating scheduled services within the country.

By the end of the year, another five are expected to have begun operations.

International flights have also increased after recent decisions to modify existing agreements governing the number of flights between India and countries such as the United States, Britain and France.

By the winter of 2006, there will be 56 flights a week between London's Heathrow airport and Mumbai and Delhi.

Recently, the Singapore government asked India to consider increasing the number of flights between the two countries from the current 53 per week to 212.

"Where is the space?" one senior airport official asked in private, throwing up his hands in despair.http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/4540631.stm

I see. Thanks for the clarification. ;) Hopefully, there will be some competitive pricing, yeah? :D

To be frank , even though I am Indian , I try to avoid Air India :) . It has some of the worst flight attendants around ;) in bland interiors of 747's
Its just like Indian govt - very bureaucratic and sluggish .

Not that other Indian airlines are bad . Jet Airways (& now the new airlines I assume) have some really beautiful chicks around on board with world-class interiors .

My 2 cents


But the AI flight has 2 stops!


Ya ! Air Canada has a direct non-stop 15 hours flight for toronto-delhi

I see. Thanks for the clarification. ;) Hopefully, there will be some competitive pricing, yeah? :D But the AI flight has 2 stops!
Actually those two stops make very good sense.

Amritsar is the holiest city of Sikhism, so it's either home or a lot closer to home than New Delhi to a lot of the Punjabis settled in Toronto and presumably also Birmingham.

See what this BBC article (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/4548547.stm) says..
India's national carrier Air India has launched its first flight linking the Sikh city of Amritsar with Birmingham in the UK and Toronto in Canada.

Three flights a week will cater for the growing numbers of Sikhs and Punjabis travelling to their ancestral homes from North America and the UK.

The first 10 flights from Raja Sansi airport are sold out, officials say.

The service is expected to boost religious tourism around the Sikhs' holiest shrine, the Golden Temple.

Airport makeover

Sunday's inaugural flight was flagged off by the federal civil aviation minister, Praful Patel, and Punjab's chief minister, Capt Amarinder Singh.

The Punjabi community has long demanded a direct air connection between their home state and Western countries where a large number of them are settled.
So, this will help AI capture a large share of the market - because a lot of traffic on the New Delhi-Toronto sector is generated by overseas Punjabis, who then have to go through the inconvenience of taking a long road trip to reach their home city in Punjab.

This will now change. :)

So here it is.. the AI777 in Toronto:

http://www.400scalehangar.net/faheem/ai777-1.jpg

:)
:)

India's Jet Airways Q4 net profit soars 60 pct

BOMBAY, May 17 (Reuters) - India's top domestic airline, Jet Airways Ltd. , reported a 60 percent rise in quarterly profit on Tuesday and said controlling costs would be a priority this year as competition increases in the booming market.

Jet, with a 43 percent share of the domestic market in Asia's fourth-biggest economy, said net profit was 1.33 billion rupees ($31 million) and total income rose 27 percent to 12.22 billion.

"Fuel prices rose by 31 percent during the year and service taxes were applied to navigation charges and catering costs as well, but we managed costs through greater aircraft utilisation, and by raising passenger fares by 10 percent twice in the year," said Saroj K. Datta, Jet's executive director.

Prior to the results, Jet shares, listed on local exchanges in March, ended flat at 1,289.95 rupees in a weak Bombay market.

After the Indian government recently eased rules to allow some domestic airlines to fly overseas, Jet began flying to Singapore and Kuala Lumpur, and is launching services to London this month and to New York next month.

It expects international routes will account for 10-15 percent of its turnover this year.

"Margins in international operations are lower, but input costs are also lower as fuel costs and landing and navigation costs are lower, while aircraft utilisation and the load factor are higher," Datta said at a news conference.

The airline, which has a fleet of 42 aircraft, has leased three Airbus A340-300 aircraft for its London and New York services, and recently said it would lease an additional four A330-200 aircraft for its long-haul operations.

The airline is facing increasing competition at home with the launch of discount carriers such as SpiceJet Ltd. and Kingfisher Airlines and a handful of others waiting in the wings. But Jet believes it will maintain its dominance.

"The scope of low-cost carriers is limited, as only 8 percent of the cost of airline operation is not dependent on the business model," said Chief Executive Officer Wolfgang Prock-Schauer. "We all pay the same high fuel costs and high airport landing and navigation costs and there are limited parking slots, as well." ($1=43.5 Indian rupees)

British airline bmi launches flights to India
17 May 2005

BOMBAY, India (AP) - British airline bmi on Tuesday began flying between London and Bombay, with officials saying they were keen to fly to other Indian cities as well.

"We are committed to bringing greater value and choice to a market that has been underserved," Sir Michael Bishop, chairman of British Midland plc, bmi's parent company, told reporters.

Last year, the Indian and British governments agreed to open additional air routes and allow higher air capacity between the two countries.

British Airways and Virgin Atlantic already operate several flights a week to India.

On Tuesday, Bishop said it was courageous on the part of the Indian government to open up the market to competition. "Allowing greater direct capacity between India and the Britain will now benefit both British and Indian carriers," he said.

The Bombay-London flight, which is now made four times per week, is the first long haul service operated by bmi from Heathrow, its main domestic and European hub, in London.

India's SpiceJet takes off, sees profit in 6 months

NEW DELHI, May 17 (Reuters) - Low-cost Indian airline SpiceJet Ltd. said on Tuesday it would launch cut-rate domestic flights this month to lure travellers from popular train services and expected to post a profit within six months. SpiceJet will operate its first commercial flight on Monday. Its three Boeing 737-800s will be all-economy class.

"The fares will be slightly higher than AC (airconditioned) train fares," chief executive officer Mark Winders told Reuters.

"We believe there is a tremendous opportunity in the low cost model in India. The air market is dramatically underserved here."

SpiceJet said its most expensive fares were 55-60 percent cheaper than regular full economy fares of competitors such as Jet Airways Ltd. , India's largest domestic airline. SpiceJet will also offer more than 9,000 seats for as low as 99 rupees ($2.30) each for the first 99 days of operations.

Rockbottom fares by SpiceJet and rival Air Deccan Ltd. are helping the nascent and newly liberalised market expand on similar lines as Europe, which surged after the entry of carriers such as Ryanair and easyJet .

Winders expects cheap fares to fuel expansion in India in the same way rockbottom tariffs stoked its mobile telecoms sector, the world's fastest growing wireless market.

He said SpiceJet will have six planes by the end of the year and may lease more to meet demand for air travel, forecast to grow 20 percent annually over the next five years.

"I'm hoping we will see a positive contribution to profit after six months of operations," Winders added.

About 19 million people travelled by air in India in the fiscal year to end-March, according to industry data -- just a fraction of its billion-plus population.

Budget airlines to fly on non-metro routes
23 May 2005
The Economic Times

MUMBAI: The air-route network in India is so poorly developed that deciding where to fly is almost like throwing darts on the map, says Alex Wilcox CEO of Kingfisher airlines, which launched operations earlier this month.

"It is amazing that Amritsar is connected to Singapore and Birmingham but not to Mumbai," he says. Servicing metro routes and large cities have been the focus for airlines in the past decade, but a major fall-out of the new airlines starting up will be the opening of dozens of new and previously unserved routes.

Leading the pack is the Delhi-based low cost carrier SpiceJet, which is launching this Tuesday. "We will have no direct flights between the metros," says SpiceJet director, Ajay Singh. The airline is targeting traffic in the non-metro cities but with large populations and heavy railway usage. "Would you imagine that there is no flight connecting two large towns like Ahmedabad and Bangalore," he asks.

There are surely thousands of people who would want to travel by air directly between these two cities. SpiceJet is starting off with Delhi-Pune-Mumbai and Delhi-Ahmedabad-Mumbai and will later move to Delh-Goa and Pune-Bangalore.

All these routes are currently underserved, he says. Air-Deccan has already opened up several new sectors connecting Coimbatore, Belgaum and Hubli in the south and Nasik, Bhavnagar and Surat in the west. The airline is planning to roll-out an even broader network once it gets in more aircrafts.

Incidentally, the ministry of civil aviation guidelines require airlines to operate 50% of the total seats offered on metros on non-metro city routes (like Ahmedabad, Pune), 10% of the seats have to be offered on routes connecting to cities in J&K and the North-east and 1% of the seats on intra-north east or intra-J&K routes.

The story was similar in Europe, when low-cost airlines were first launched in '97, Ryanair and easyJet, the pioneers, mimicked American budget airlines such as Southwest and ValuJet (now AirTran).

The essential elements of the business model were - a single-type fleet of planes, fast turn-rounds, use of cheap secondary airports and enticingly low fares that rose only as a flight filled up.

Dozens of point to point routes were developed throughout the continent. Tourism revenues went up significantly in several towns in Italy and Spain after they were linked to large European hubs by the LCCs.

Airline sources predict the same can happen in India if trips to tourist towns like Jaipur, Udaipur and Agra can be made available at low affordable rates to millions of our countrymen.

Unsafe! India's airspace has many gaping holes
Rajat Pandit
25 May 2005
The Times of India

NEW DELHI: If you thought that surveillance of India's airspace was impregnable, think again. There are still "many gaping holes" in the country's radar network to detect intrusions by hostile aircraft or missiles.

The situation is particularly alarming in central and peninsular India because most of the existing surveillance systems are tasked for monitoring the western and northern borders, which have "higher threat perceptions".

Vast swathes of airspace in central and peninsular India are "quite bereft" of surveillance, especially in the arena of medium-level and low-level radar coverage.

On the western and northern borders, too, more airborne radars and low-level transportable and light-weight radars are needed to bolster coverage, say sources.

"Effective air defence requires an overlapping and integrated network of low, medium and high-level radar coverage to ensure timely detection of air intrusions, which can then be neutralised," says an IAF officer.

The multi-layered Air Defence Ground Environment System (ADGES) network, responsible for managing India's vast airspace, for one, needs to be swiftly upgraded. IAF, for instance, needs around 110 low-level surveillance radars but is making do with 38 at present.

The indigenous satellite-based reconnaissance and surveillance system, a Rs 1,050-crore joint ISRO-DRDO project to augment surveillance over the country's airspace, is also running behind schedule. The Cabinet Committee on Security, incidentally, has now extended its timeframe to January 2007.

Similar is the fate of the Integrated Air Command and Control System project, which basically involves integration of Airports Authority of India's radars at Delhi, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Chennai and Kolkata with IAF's air defence network.

Even the first of the three contracted Phalcon AWACS (airborne warning and control systems) will arrive in India from Israel only in September 2007. There is also a dearth of airborne platforms like Aerostat radars, which are basically sensors mounted on blimp-like large balloons tethered to the ground.

IAF should ideally have an "healthy" mix of the cheaper Aerostats and the more expensive AWACS since they can detect cruise missiles and low-flying aircraft much earlier than ground-based radars. "We need around a dozen Aerostats but we have inducted only two (from Israel) so far," said the officer.

IAF also wants to induct static phased array radars, coastal radars and over-the-horizon radars, with corresponding anti-ballistic missile systems capable of neutralising missiles with range up to 2,500 km.

India, Germany agree on more flights
26 May 2005
The Times of India

NEW DELHI: There's more cheer flying in for the globe-trotting Indian. India on Wednesday liberalised its bilateral agreement with Germany, increasing more than three times the number of flights operated between the two countries. This analysts say, will bring down air fares on the India-Germany route.

Both the countries have agreed to increase weekly flights between the two countries to 50 one-way from 16 now. The increase would, however, come into effect in a phased manner, government officials said.

"Under the revised agreement, designated airlines of each side would be permitted to operate a total of 42 frequencies per week in each direction from 2005 winter. This would be hiked to 50 flights a week in each direction from 2006 summer,"an official said.

The revised Air Services Agreement was finalised after two days of talks between the two nations. The existing route schedule would also be amended to provide German airlines access to Hyderabad, Goa and Kochi as additional points of call in India. Indian carriers would also be given access to three additional points of call in Germany.

"Within the capacity entitlements, designated airlines of Germany will be permitted to operate a maximum of seven flights to any city in India, excluding Delhi. The German carriers will be permitted to operate a maximum of 20 frequencies to/through Delhi, in a phased manner,"the official said.

India has also agreed to extend, by summer 2005, the permission granted to Lufthansa to operate five additional frequencies (two to Bangalore and three to Hyderabad) on a provisional basis.

Both the sides will meet again in mid-2006 to further discuss air services matters, including the use of Airbus A380 aircraft.

Business Times - 30 May 2005

India to simplify entry for air travellers

(NEW DELHI) Long queues at the immigration counters in international airports in India, especially in metro cities like Delhi and Mumbai, could become a thing of the past when a new system is introduced later this year to provide hassle-free entry to foreign and Indian passengers coming from abroad.

Following persistent demands by the Tourism and Civil Aviation ministries, the Home Ministry has issued a notification to introduce the 'Advanced Passenger Information System' (APIS) from Oct 1, the Press Trust of India reported yesterday, quoting official sources.

Under the scheme, passenger manifests would be sent by the airlines to the immigration authorities in India as soon as a flight takes off for an Indian destination.

This could help pre-checking of the passengers and their faster clearance even before the flight lands in the country.

The move is part of the overall efforts to enhance facilitation to foreign tourists, including the recently-launched 'Swagat Seva' pilot project at Delhi's IGI Airport.

The authorities are also planning to have separate counters for Indian passport holders returning from abroad.

Tourism Minister Renuka Chowdhury has taken up the issue with the Home Ministry and has held several rounds of meetings also with her Civil Aviation counterpart Praful Patel.

Moves are also afoot to integrate the passport, visa and immigration services in a gradual manner, the sources said.

All these steps together would help reduce the immigration clearance time and ensure better security checks.

Training programmes for immigration officials have already been initiated to enable them to provide service with a smile without compromising security, they said.

There are about 67 immigration checkposts (ICPs) in the country at 22 airports, 30 land ports and 15 sea ports.

The Bureau of Immigration controls these posts at Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Amritsar, Wagah and Attari.

The hardware to provide expeditious immigration clearance has been upgraded at Delhi, Hyderabad and Bangalore airports and work was in the process of completion at Kolkata, Mumbai, Goa, Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi, Kozhikode, Ahmedabad airports, the sources said.

Passport reading machines are to be installed at Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai and Kolkata, and also in Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi and Kozhikode in a phased manner.

The future plans of the government include the introduction of bio-metric smart cards for frequent flyers.

These smart cards, which would have information about the passenger on the chips, would be issued to Indian nationals.

The smart card holders would be able to pass through the immigration counters without human intervention as all the information would be immediately available on the cards, the sources said. - Bernama

Copyright © 2005 Singapore Press Holdings Ltd. All rights reserved.

Unsafe! India's airspace has many gaping holes
Rajat Pandit
25 May 2005
The Times of India

NEW DELHI: If you thought that surveillance of India's airspace was impregnable, think again. There are still "many gaping holes" in the country's radar network to detect intrusions by hostile aircraft or missiles.

The situation is particularly alarming in central and peninsular India because most of the existing surveillance systems are tasked for monitoring the western and northern borders, which have "higher threat perceptions".

Vast swathes of airspace in central and peninsular India are "quite bereft" of surveillance, especially in the arena of medium-level and low-level radar coverage.

On the western and northern borders, too, more airborne radars and low-level transportable and light-weight radars are needed to bolster coverage, say sources.

"Effective air defence requires an overlapping and integrated network of low, medium and high-level radar coverage to ensure timely detection of air intrusions, which can then be neutralised," says an IAF officer.

The multi-layered Air Defence Ground Environment System (ADGES) network, responsible for managing India's vast airspace, for one, needs to be swiftly upgraded. IAF, for instance, needs around 110 low-level surveillance radars but is making do with 38 at present.

The indigenous satellite-based reconnaissance and surveillance system, a Rs 1,050-crore joint ISRO-DRDO project to augment surveillance over the country's airspace, is also running behind schedule. The Cabinet Committee on Security, incidentally, has now extended its timeframe to January 2007.

Similar is the fate of the Integrated Air Command and Control System project, which basically involves integration of Airports Authority of India's radars at Delhi, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Chennai and Kolkata with IAF's air defence network.

Even the first of the three contracted Phalcon AWACS (airborne warning and control systems) will arrive in India from Israel only in September 2007. There is also a dearth of airborne platforms like Aerostat radars, which are basically sensors mounted on blimp-like large balloons tethered to the ground.

IAF should ideally have an "healthy" mix of the cheaper Aerostats and the more expensive AWACS since they can detect cruise missiles and low-flying aircraft much earlier than ground-based radars. "We need around a dozen Aerostats but we have inducted only two (from Israel) so far," said the officer.

IAF also wants to induct static phased array radars, coastal radars and over-the-horizon radars, with corresponding anti-ballistic missile systems capable of neutralising missiles with range up to 2,500 km.


Actually this guy Rajat Pandit is known to be an idiot in the defence cirlces. He is known to create problems when they don't exist.

In this article too, he proves to be an idiot.

India's two main adversaires are in the west(Pakistan) and the north-east(China). Obviously, the air defences are high in those areas.

For the south, how does it matter if the air defences are weak. Who is going to attack India from the south?
Sri Lanka: 0 chance
Singapore:0 chance.

Nobody else is there to attack India from the south. And btw, Indian Navy can make up for the so called "weak" air defences.

babystan03 and hkskyline, thanks for keeping this thread alive :).

Indian Flight Agreement To Boost Lufthansa - Handelsblatt
30 May 2005

FRANKFURT (Dow Jones)--An aviation agreement between the Indian and German governments will help Deutsche Lufthansa AG (LHA.XE) secure expansion plans for its lucrative Indian routes, Handelsblatt reports Monday.

The agreement will allow Lufthansa to fly daily to all five of its Indian destinations all year round, the paper says, adding that Lufthansa's Indian routes contribute to 22% of the company's total Asia-Pacific business.

Newspaper Web site: http://www.handelsblatt.de

Actually this guy Rajat Pandit is known to be an idiot in the defence cirlces. He is known to create problems when they don't exist.

In this article too, he proves to be an idiot.

India's two main adversaires are in the west(Pakistan) and the north-east(China). Obviously, the air defences are high in those areas.

For the south, how does it matter if the air defences are weak. Who is going to attack India from the south?
Sri Lanka: 0 chance
Singapore:0 chance.

Nobody else is there to attack India from the south. And btw, Indian Navy can make up for the so called "weak" air defences.

babystan03 and hkskyline, thanks for keeping this thread alive :).


Yes I agree, this article is just plain BS...

Air India Chairman: 'Good Guess' For IPO Is Dec, Jan
By James Simms
31 May 2005

TOKYO (Dow Jones)--The chairman and managing director of Air India (AIN.YY) said Tuesday an initial public offering of stakes in the state-owned carrier may take place in December of this year or January 2006.

V. Thulasidas said the flagship airline is currently looking for a financial adviser to help put together the equity stake sale, but said he didn't know how much cash the IPO would raise.

"I believe something like December or January should be a good guess as a possible timeframe" for the IPO, he told Dow Jones Newswires and CNBC Asia-Pacific in an interview.

"That will take perhaps 20% to 25% of the equity, but again this is something on which we would like to get the advice of the advisers that we are appointing. But I don't foresee any serious difficulty in getting the government's clearance," he added. [ 31-05-05 1408GMT ]

Asked whether a successful IPO would lead to further share sales, Thulasidas said "It's too early to say that."

With Indian's air travel market booming, he said the carrier has been expanding capacity - measured in available-seat-kilometers - by over 30% a year in the last two to two-and-a-half years.

"I think this is the right time for growth and the IPO," he said. "This growth and the IPO go hand in hand."

He said there is enormous room to expand, noting the Indian railway system transports more people in one day than all the Indian airlines carry in one year. Only 14 million Indians - a tiny fraction of the country's billion-plus population - fly each year.

While the market is expanding by between 20% to 25% a year, Thulasidas said the carrier has lagged in buying planes.

"For about 10 years plus, Air India wasn't buying planes, was not adding to capacity while the market was growing. The market was being captured by other airlines. So growth is a must for Air India," he said.

Last month, Air India announced plans to order 50 mid-sized, long-range 787 Dreamliner aircraft from Boeing Co. (BA) for $6.8 billion.

The chairman said the airline will consider further expansion of its fleet in two to three years, including looking at the Boeing 747 Advanced and the Airbus 555-seat A380 superjumbo.

Thulasidas was in Tokyo for the International Air Transport Association's annual general meeting.

India's Jet gets govt OK for extra US flights

BOMBAY, June 1 (Reuters) - India's biggest domestic airline, Jet Airways India Ltd. , told the Bombay exchange on Wednesday it had received permission from the Indian government to operate four additional services a week to the United States.

Bombay-based Jet said it could now operate seven flights a week from Bombay to Newark via Brussels, instead of three flights.

"There is a lot of demand in this sector, and a daily product obviously gives us a bigger advantage," said a company official. Shares in Jet, which expects its international routes to account for 10-15 percent of its turnover this year, ended flat at 1,343.95 rupees in a flat Bombay market.

Jet, which has a 43 percent share of the domestic market, began flying to Singapore and Kuala Lumpur recently, and added a London service last month. It will begin flying to Newark later this month, the official said.

Monday June 6, 9:49 PM
India's Jet Airways to sue American firm over allegations that it has al-Qaida links

AP - Private Indian airline Jet Airways said it will sue an American firm with a similar name for alleging it has ties to the al-Qaida terror network, a senior company official said Monday.

"We plan to take legal action against this company ...The allegations are outrageous and scurrilous," Executive Director Saroj Datta told reporters in Bombay, India's financial hub. The Indian airline is scheduled to launch its U.S. operations on June 23 with a flight from Bombay to Newark, New Jersey via Brussels.

Maryland-based Jet Airways Inc. had alleged that the Indian airline laundered money for the terror group and that it was funded by Dawood Ibrahim, India's most wanted gangster and a branded global terrorist by the United States, Datta said. He said his company had already filed a reply to the U.S. Department of Transportation on the allegations.

Datta also dismissed the American firm's claim before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to the Jet Airways trademark, which it said it had been using since Dec. 1, 2002.

The Indian airline has been using the name since 1995 in advertisements and publicity material in the U.S., Datta said.

He said investigations had showed the American firm was a shell company with no official base of business and a single office in Maryland. "Jet Airways Inc. is not a certified airline ... It has no business activity of any sort, forget airline activity."

India's Jet Airways, which began operating in 1993, operates more than 275 flights daily to some 47 destinations. The airline began international operations last year with flights to Colombo, Sri Lanka and Katmandu, Nepal.

The carrier began flying to destinations outside South Asia from April, with flights currently to Singapore, Kuala Lumpur and London.

UPDATE 1-India's Air Deccan mulls $250-300 mln IPO
By Shailendra Bhatnagar

NEW DELHI, June 6 (Reuters) - Indian no-frills airline Air Deccan Ltd. plans to raise about $250-300 million to fund its expansion plans by offloading about a 25 percent stake through an initial public offering, the chairman said on Monday.

The budget carrier, which offers tickets for as little as a rupee, was launched more than a year ago hoping to lure thousands of rail travellers with its rockbottom rates.

"There is an unimaginable shift in consumer spending towards air travel," Gorur Ramaswamy Gopinath told reporters. "We'll carry 4 million passengers in 2005/06."

India's newly deregulated aviation sector is forecast to grow 20 percent a year over the next five years as budget carriers draw in rail passengers in a country where less than a percent of the billion plus people travel by air each year.

Gopinath, a former army officer who switched from silk farming to launch a successful helicopter charter in 1995 that paved the way for a regular passenger airline, said the company would float a public offering between Nov. 2005 and June 2006.

He said the number of aircraft in Deccan's fleet would increase to 29 by March from 18 and the firm's revenue in 2005/06 would surge to 10 billion rupees ($230 million) from 3.5 billion a year ago.

The airline keeps costs in check by offering tickets through the Internet.

"We'll be definitely in a profit -- (but) it will be a marginal profit because of uncertainty on oil prices. The IPO is for fleet acquisition and enhancing our engineering and operational capabilities."

Fuel accounts for about a third of Air Deccan's ticket prices.

Air Deccan competes with larger players such as Jet Airways , state-run Indian Airlines Ltd. and privately-held Air Sahara Ltd. as well as another budget carrier, Kingfisher Airlines, run by India's top brewer United Breweries Ltd. .

Air Deccan carried 1.1 million passengers last year while Jet ferried 7.9 million and state-run Indian Airlines Ltd. carried 7.6 million travellers.

Gopinath said up to 40 percent of Air Deccan's passengers were flying by air for the first time.

Several business houses are planning to launch air services in India attracted by the growth potential in the sector which has seen a series tax cuts and government initiatives on improving infrastructure.

Earlier this year, Jet Airways made a sterling debut on the stock markets after its $435 million stock offering was heavily oversubscribed. ($1 = 43.55 rupees)

LOT from Poland will restart services to India. It will start 3 weekly service to Delhi from October, using a Boeing 767 aircraft.

A-I to start direct flights to KL, S'pore

http://indianexpress.com/full_story.php?content_id=71810

Mumbai-London air traffic up 60%
7 June 2005
The Times of India

MUMBAI: If there is one aviation sector which was big and has suddenly got bigger, it's the Mumbai-London sector. Till recently, the sector faced a dearth of seats during summer, the peak season.

But with three new airlines launching direct flights between Mumbai and London in the last two months, booking tickets three weeks in advance has now become a thing of the past.

The growth in passenger traffic in this sector took off after the British government launched immigration initiatives in January this year aimed at attracting highly qualified Indians, says Ketan Juvekar, chairman (western region) of the Travel Agents Association of India. "Last summer, the daily passenger traffic between Mumbai and London was about 2,500 (excluding passengers on European airlines other than British Airways), this summer it can safely be estimated to be about 4,000," he adds.

The increase in passenger traffic has been rivalled only by the increase in flights in the Mumbai-London sector. Competition, which once revolved around BA and Air-India, has become multi-dimensional with the emergence of the new players.

The rush to Mumbai is apparent as this city has more premium class fliers than Delhi (the business class cabins of British Airways-the prominent player on this route-are bigger in aircraft taking off from Mumbai as compared to Delhi).

Virgin Atlantic launched three Mumbai-London flights a week in April, followed by BMI with four flights a week and Jet Airways with seven flights a week in May. "We are aiming to fly daily flights on this sector," says a Virgin Atlantic executive.

British Airways will add one more flight, apart from the daily one that leaves in the wee hours of the morning. "It will be a daytime flight and will give passengers the convenience to choose when they want to fly," says a British Airways official.

But if the industry observers are to be believed, it's not the traditional fliers to London-BA and AI-who have begun losing passengers. "Till recently, 50 per cent of passenger traffic to London went via Gulf countries," says Sundeep Kapadia, director of a travel agency.

India-Canada flights to increase five-fold under new bilateral air pact

NEW DELHI, June 8 (AFP) - India and Canada have agreed to boost passenger flights five-fold between the two countries as part of a pact liberalising bilateral air transport, a statement Wednesday said.

"This new arrangement will allow airlines of Canada and India to better meet the needs of the travelling public, including the business community," Canada's Transport Minister Jean-C. Lapierre said in the statement released by the Canadian High Commission in New Delhi.

The new agreement represents a major shakeup of bilateral air links and comes amid growing demand for flights between India and Canada which has a large number of citizens who are of Indian origin.

Under the deal, weekly capacity for passenger services will increase five-fold to 35 round-trip flights for each country from an earlier limit of seven.

Each country can also designate as many carriers as it wishes for flights between Canada and India unlike before when the number of carriers were capped.

Indian airlines can serve Edmonton, Vancouver and two other cities named by India in addition to Montreal and Toronto, the cities to which they were originally limited.

Canadian carriers in turn can serve the cities of Bangalore, Chennai, Madras, Hyderabad as Kolkata well as Mumbai and Delhi, the two cities to which they previously only had access.

Airlines of both countries can take advantage of new code-sharing provisions under which a carrier sells seats in its name on the flights of another airline. Before, no such flexible marketing arrangements were allowed.

Canadian and Indian officials will meet again in 2007 or earlier if required to ensure arrangements keep pace with travel and commercial needs in light of the potential for fast expansion of the Canada-India air tranpsport market, the statement said.

thats nice:)

i guess the NRIs in Toronto are happy now:) :yes:

^^^ O hyeah they are :D :yes:.

INTERVIEW-India's Go Air aims to drag fares down to earth
By Rina Chandran

BOMBAY, June 9 (Reuters) - Low-cost Indian airlines can transform the industry by bringing prices down to earth, much like mobile phone service providers have done in India and cheap airlines did abroad, according to the head of a new carrier.

Go Air, owned by the Bombay-based Wadia family, will launch by October in an already crowded Indian market, offering prices in line with air-conditioned train fares, or perhaps cheaper.

"Aviation's been a premium sector, limited to just a certain section of people," Jeh Wadia told Reuters in an interview on Thursday. "Our responsibility is to commoditise it."

About 19 million people travelled by air in India in the fiscal year to March, according to the Asia-Pacific Centre for Aviation, compared with 15 million who ride the trains everyday.

An air fare war has already broken out in India. Air Deccan this week offered flights for 222 rupees ($5), cheaper than the bus, and its web site and call centre were so overwhelmed they shut down. SpiceJet Ltd. , which launched in May, sells tickets for 321 rupees ($7.40).

Kingfisher Airlines Ltd., a subsidiary of India's biggest brewer, the UB Group, also launched in May and undercut premium carriers with Bombay-Bangalore fares of 3,900 rupees ($90).

Go Air fares will start at 1 rupee, perhaps even lower, Wadia said. It will fly in western and southern India with nine leased Airbus A320s, and add 11 more planes in the second year. It will also buy 20 Airbus or Boeing aircraft, with an option for 20 more, and take delivery of them as early as 2007.

The airline aims to be profitable by the end of its first year, and Wadia is exploring options such as private equity investment and an initial public offering to help fund it.

Go Air will be modelled on Ireland's Ryanair , Europe's biggest discount carrier, which hugely expanded Europe's market for flights. But India lacks the secondary airports that Ryanair uses to cut landing and parking fees, Wadia said.

"In India, a low-cost airline can operate at 40 percent lower costs than a full service airline. Abroad, the difference could be as much as 55 to 60 percent," he said.

Go Air Chief Executive Graham Williamson is a former chief operating officer of Slovakia-based budget airline SkyEurope. His opposite number at SpiceJet, Mark Winders, helped launch Canadian discount airline CanJet Airlines, while Kingfisher's Alex Wilcox worked at U.S. discount carrier JetBlue .

The Indian government expects the sector to grow 20 percent annually over the next five years with $20 billion in investment.

Jet Airways had a 43 percent domestic market share last year, and Air Sahara and state-owned Indian Airlines [IA.UL] made up the rest. Nearly a dozen more carriers aim to begin operations in India over the next 12-18 months, but Wadia believes the group's background will give it an edge.

The Wadia group, which started in shipbuilding 250 years ago, is majority owner of textile maker Bombay Dyeing & Manufacturing Ltd. and food firm Britannia Industries Ltd. .

"The Wadia group has fed and clothed Indians for a very long time. The consumer will look at whom to trust when being offered the same product at the same price," Wadia said. ($1=43.5 Indian rupees)

India's Paramount Airways Orders 5 Embraer Air Jets
14 June 2005

PARIS (Dow Jones)--Indian startup airline Paramount Airways has signed preliminary agreements to lease five jets from Brazilian manufacturer Embraer (ERJ).

Paramount is taking two Embraer 170s directly from the manufacturer and will lease three Embraer 175s from GE Commercial Aviation Services, a unit of General Electric Co. (GE) of the U.S. The GECAS aircraft are conversions from an original order for Embraer 170s.

The list price for an Embraer 170 is $26.6 million, while the Embraer 175 is priced at $28.7 million.

Nigeria lifts 18-year ban on Air India
14 June 2005

Excerpt from report by Nigerian newspaper The Guardian website on 14 June

Nigeria has lifted the 18-year ban on Air India. This was sequel to the good gesture from New Delhi, which had earlier granted a Nigerian local carrier - Bellview Airlines - the rights to fly into its airspace.

Under the new Bilateral Air Service Agreement, Bellview will from Monday [20 June] next week operate its maiden flight to Mumbai, India.

The pardon was the aftermath of President Olusegun Obasanjo's state visit to India in 2000 when he promised to grant waiver to Air India.

The airline was barred from flying into Nigeria in 1987 for failing to abide by the rules and regulations guiding the aviation industry, an offence which the aviation minister, Malam Isa Yuguda, described as a security breach.

India's Kingfisher says to buy Airbus planes

BOMBAY, June 14 (Reuters) - India's domestic airline Kingfisher Airlines Ltd. said on Tuesday it would buy "multiple wide-bodied aircraft" from Airbus for about $2.5 billion.

The aircraft would include the jumbo A-380, said a company official, adding that an official announcement would be made on Wednesday at the Paris air show.

Local media reports said the airline, backed by India's biggest brewer, the UB Group, would buy 20 Airbus aircraft, including five A-380s. The official declined to comment on the number of aircraft Kingfisher would buy.

Kingfisher had, last December, signed a deal to buy 10 A-320 aircraft with options for 10 more for $1.8 billion.

Boeing gets $2.8 bln deal with India's Jet Airways

LE BOURGET, France, June 14 (Reuters) - U.S. planemaker Boeing Co. said on Tuesday Indian airline Jet Airways had committed to buy at least 20 planes worth over $2.8 billion at list prices.

The deal includes 10 large twin-engine 777s and 10 of the single-aisle 737-800s.

The airline also took options on buying 10 more of the 777.

16 June 2005

SALE to buy A319 planes, lease to Kingfisher
By Melvin Yong, Channel NewsAsia

SINGAPORE: Singapore Aircraft Leasing Enterprise (SALE) has signed an agreement to buy three Airbus A319 planes and lease them to India's Kingfisher Airlines.

The aircraft will be delivered in December 2005 and January 2006 and will be leased to Kingfisher on a long-term basis.

SALE did not reveal financial terms.

Robert Martin, managing director and chief executive officer of SALE, said the deal with Kingfisher underscored the Singapore-based lessor's success with new airlines in the Asian region.

Mumbai-based Kingfisher Airlines began operations in May this year, flying on key Indian domestic routes. - CNA/ir

Copyright © 2005 MCN International Pte Ltd

Indian budget carrier INDIGO orders 100 Airbus A320 family aircraft

http://events.airbus.com/a380/events/lebourget2005/prehome.asp

InterGlobe Enterprises Limited today announced its plans to launch IndiGo, its nation-wide low-cost airline venture. IndiGo has committed for 100 firm A320 family aircraft with Airbus – world renowned for the customer friendly features and comfort of its airliners.

The venture is being jointly promoted by InterGlobe Enterprises Limited and Rakesh Gangwal, globally recognized for his management skills and expertise in the airline industry.

“IndiGo is the result of extensive analysis and planning by very experienced airline executives and we are convinced it will be a successful new player in a market that is both large and fast growing,” says Airbus President and CEO Noël Forgeard. “Airbus A320 Family aircraft have been chosen by many of the world’s new and successful low-cost carriers, and we like to think that our products are making a valuable contribution to their prosperity.”

“The aviation industry in India is on the threshold of the next big revolution and IndiGo is ideally positioned to fill the fast emerging need for reliable, efficient and economical air travel,” says InterGlobe Enterprises Limited Managing Director Rahul Bhatia. “IndiGo will also make a humble yet significant contribution to India’s growth by creating employment opportunities directly and through ancillary services.” Established in 1989, InterGlobe Enterprises is the foremost travel conglomerate in India and enjoys a significant presence in the fields of aviation management, travel related services, travel technology, travel distribution services and hotel development & management services.

“We are pleased with our selection of A320 family aircraft for the launch of IndiGo,” says Rakesh Gangwal “IndiGo will serve the nation’s air travellers with superior customer service and provide great value for money, using Airbus A320 Family aircraft that we have chosen because of their passenger comfort, economy and modern design.” Rakesh Gangwal has been associated with the travel industry since 1980. In his aviation career spanning over two decades, he has worked with United Airlines, Air France and US Airways in senior management positions.

One of the two main promoters is Rakesh Gangwal, who was the CEO of US Airways (fourth largest full-service carrier in the US) between 1998 and 2001.

I really like the name "Indigo"... :)

The name may not survive however because of copyright issues. Indigo is the name of one of the largest selling sedans in India (designed and built by Tata Motors). Tata Motors is unlikely to allow an airline to use its trademark.

http://indigo.tatamotors.com

RUMI DUTTA HARDASMALANI

TIMES NEWS NETWORK[ FRIDAY, JUNE 17, 2005 10:38:34 AM ]
MUMBAI: Nine airlines. 350 aircraft. Funding and infrastructure—a big question mark. This sums up the booming Indian aviation sector.

In the last six months, private Indian airline companies have placed orders for 250 aircraft, representing 43 per cent of the total global orders placed with aircraft manfacturers Airbus and Boeing.

Add the 93 planes that national carriers Air-India and Indian Airlines are expected to order, and India's share of the global aircraft market zooms beyond 50 per cent. (Globally, Airbus and Boeing have secured combined orders of 573—Airbus 296 and Boeing 277— compared with 647 in the whole of last year.)

The aviation world stands divided over India's ability to sustain such explosive growth. Noel Forgeard, Airbus president & CEO, is reported to have said at the Paris air show, 'China and India should be the drivers of growth in the future,'' a view that IATA director-general Giovanni Bisignani shares.


However, Boeing's Dinesh Keskar is not amused."The world is sceptical about the way Indian new-born carriers are ordering planes. How are they going to get so many pilots, where is the infrastructure?" he asked.

Look who's buying these birds in India. Complete unknowns—until even a few days ago. IndiGo Air, promoted by Delhi based air travel services company InterGlobeEnterprises, on Thursday announced the acquisition of 100 A-320 aircraft.

Nine Desi Firms Are In Global Market For 350 Aircraft.

Source:- http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1144540.cms

Air space to explode with 1.6 lakh cheap seats daily
Girish Rao
17 June 2005
The Economic Times

BANGALORE: The low-cost airline market is simply exploding with competition offering travellers a never before opportunity to fly. In fact, over 200 planes are expected to be jostling for space in the domestic budget carrier space offering some 1,60,000 seats every day over the next five years going by current pace of expansion and launch of new airlines.

The latest entrant, IndiGo, promoted by travel services company Interglobe and former US Airways CEO Rakesh Gangwal, will get airborne between this November and February '06, depending on its aircraft delivery schedule. The budget airline roll-call currently comprises Air Deccan, Kingfisher and Spicejet. On the cards are MagicAir, Go Airlines and now IndiGo.

The Delhi-based IndiGo, which has just signed up for 100 A320 planes with a list price of $6bn, will be led by an expat manager. Interglobe head Rahul Bhatia told ET that IndiGo will induct 18/20 planes within two years and give a pan-India coverage. It is rolling out with an initial seed capital of Rs 350-400 crore.

Typically, the airline will seek to induct one plane every month. If the arrivals start before November, the airline will take to the skies before winter fully sets in. Alternately it will wait for the fog season in Delhi to end before commencing early next year. Mr Bhatia said the top management team has been identified and will be brought on board within a few weeks. Mr Gangwal, who is currently chairman-president of Worldspan, will play the role of chief mentor and continue to operate out of the US.

While the Airbus planes will be deployed in an all economy configuration like other carriers in the budget space, the number of seats have not been firmed up as yet. Air Deccan offers 180 seats on its A320s while Kingfisher has 174 seats. Indigo will sell food on board.

Interglobe has also recently unveiled plans to foray into the hospitality sector by putting together a joint venture company with European chain Accor. It proposes to introduce budget brand Ibis across 25 locations in India over the next eight years at an investment of Rs 850 crore.

Paris 2005 Air Show
Jet Orders Show Growth Potential Of Indian Market
Airbus Gets $6 Billion Deal From IndiGo
Sales Flurry Offers Lift to Plane Makers
By John Larkin in Mumbai and Daniel Michaels in Paris
17 June 2005
The Wall Street Journal Europe

A spate of jet orders by Indian airlines at this week's Paris Air Show underscores the big growth potential of India's billion-person market in the wake of the recent deregulation of the country's skies.

On Thursday, new Indian low-cost airline IndiGo ordered 100 aircraft from European plane maker Airbus in a deal valued at $6 billion, or <euro>5 billion, at list prices. The IndiGo order was one of three placed this week by Indian carriers, which have stolen the limelight at the Paris Air Show and helped shore up confidence in the prospects of aircraft makers and the global air-travel market. Separately, the government of India is in the market for a major purchase of fighter jets and is being avidly wooed by defense contractors at the show.

Jet Airways, India's largest private carrier, ordered a total of 30 planes Tuesday from Airbus and U.S.-based rival Boeing Co., in deals with an estimated catalog value of $4.3 billion. A day later, Kingfisher Airlines, started up by liquor baron Vijay Mallya and named after his most popular brand of beer, ordered 15 aircraft valued at $3 billion, including five Airbus A380 superjumbos, on top of a smaller order earlier this year.

In April, state-owned international carrier Air India ordered 35 long-range aircraft valued at $5.8 billion at catalog prices. The actual value of each of the deals is likely to be lower, due to discounts.

The spending spree by Indian airlines has been sparked by the recent deregulation measures, which are making it easy for the country's growing middle class to fly, both domestically and internationally.

"Everyone is talking about China," said John Leahy, chief commercial officer of Airbus. "The biggest growth story we see is India. We are pleased the government is opening up" the aviation market.

Airbus is 80% owned by European Aeronautic Defence & Space Co. and 20% by BAE Systems PLC.

IndiGo, which will be run by Indian travel and technology company InterGlobe Enterprises, is slated to start up in coming months. The carrier is one of several low-cost airlines to make their debuts in what is potentially one of the world's largest aviation markets.

The IndiGo deal with Airbus "is a mind-blowing order," said Kapil Kaul, who heads the New Delhi office of the Center for Asia Pacific Aviation, a Sydney-based consultancy. "It shows that the Indian aviation story is one that can only move forward."

The number of domestic passengers grew 25% in the financial year ended March 31. Mr. Kaul believes it will rise 30% annually over the next five years to reach 50 million passengers.

International travel to and from India is soaring at a 20% annual clip, as the Indian government allots more flights into India to foreign airlines. That growth is likely to accelerate, analysts said, in the wake of an agreement this year to lift restrictions on flights between India and the U.S.

The rapid growth in India is making the world's second-most-populous country a key sales battleground for Airbus and Boeing, even though its aviation sector is still dwarfed by that of the most populous country, China.

India, Mr. Kaul said, only has 192 jet airliners. In contrast, the U.S. has more than 6,000 planes despite having less than one-third India's population. Southwest Airlines alone has 429 aircraft. Mr. Kaul said India will add more than 300 aircraft over the next five years.

India broke the monopoly of Air India and its sister domestic carrier, Indian Airlines, by allowing private competition in the mid-1990s. Since then, Jet Airways has grabbed more than 40% of the domestic market. This year, New Delhi permitted Jet and rival airline Air Sahara to compete with Air India on routes to Singapore, Malaysia and London. Low-cost airlines like Air Deccan have also been successful.

But despite policy changes, India's airport infrastructure faces a chronic shortage of international-standard runways, taxiways, parking bays and baggage-loading areas -- compromising India's ability to cope with booming demand, analysts said.

Moreover, a dearth of qualified pilots hampers airlines as they try to expand into new routes. Mr. Kaul said India has 2,500 pilots and needs as many as 4,000 new ones by 2010.

The Indian government is spending billions of dollars to upgrade the main gateway airports at New Delhi and Mumbai and to build a host of airports at smaller cities.

But there are concerns the sector's growth is getting out of control. Dinesh Keskar, Boeing's vice president in India, said India has a promising future as a market, but the glut of air-show orders is out of line with what the infrastructure can handle.

"We always believed India was a sleeping tiger, but it has awakened too quickly and too much," he said. He said the IndiGo order for 100 airplanes from rival Airbus "makes no sense at all, and we will not do a deal like that because the country's infrastructure is in no position to handle it."

If India manages to fix its infrastructure bottlenecks, said Kevin O'Connor, regional head of transport research at CLSA Asia-Pacific Markets in Hong Kong, it will be able to leverage the spending power of its middle class. "The potential of the market is huge," he said.

---

J. Lynn Lunsford in Paris contributed to this article.

Air India begins New Delhi-Dhaka-London flight

DHAKA, June 18 (Reuters) - India's state airlines Air India [AI.UL] on Saturday launched a new route, flying from New Delhi to Dhaka, then to Kolkata and London.

It will operate six flights on the Delhi-London route every week, Air India officials in Dhaka said.

This is the third long haul flight of the international flag carrier launched from Delhi in the past three months. The other two were Delhi-Frankfurt-los Angeles and Delhi-Amritsar-Birmingham-Toronto.

Currently, Bangladesh airlines Biman operates two weekly flights to New Delhi, while Biman and Indian Airlines operate several flights between Dhaka and Kolkata daily.

India on aircraft buying spree as budget travel takes off

NEW DELHI, June 19 (AFP) - Indian companies were among the biggest spenders at the Paris air show, indicating a dramatic expansion in its aviation industry fuelled by the budget travel boom, officials say.

Indian companies splurged a total of 13 billion dollars on 150 new aircraft at Le Bourget, according to figures released by rivals Airbus and Boeing.

All the planes on order are intended for the fleets of new or future low-cost carriers, according to press reports in India.

Heading the list was an order for 100 single-aisle A320s, valued at six billion dollars, by future airline Indigo, while new carrier Kingfisher Airlines ordered five of the new A380 superjumbos, five A350s and five long-haul A330s in a deal worth three billion dollars.

Around half-a-dozen new Indian carriers have launched services in the past year, some offering fares as low as two dollars between key city destinations as competition hots up.

According to plane manufacturers, India is the next big thing after neighbouring China.

"We are still looking at China, but India is the next big story," Airbus sales chief John Leahy said, noting "a dramatic expansion" in the Indian market.

With the purchases at the Paris air show, Indian carriers have in recent months committed themselves to buying over 350 new planes with a list price of 26 to 27 billion dollars, according to India's Economic Times newspaper.

It said the industry was being spurred by the India's booming information technology sector.

India launched its open-skies policy in the 1990s, allowing private players to enter the domestic airline market previously dominated by state-run carriers.

"The new low-cost Indian carriers have triggered a burst of activity in the aviation industry on the employment, travel and aircraft acquisition front," said Dinesh Keskar, vice president of trading in Boeing, at a recent press conference.

"I estimate that India will need to invest 35 billion dollars in new aircraft purchases over the next 20 years," he added.

State-owned Indian Airlines and private operators Jet Airways and Sahara command the lion's share of the domestic market but will face increasing competition from low-cost carriers like Air Deccan, Kingfisher Airlines, SpiceJet and Magic Air, which is to be launched in September.

SpiceJet, which has blue-chip investors including Goldman Sachs and Citibank, has two leased Boeing 737-800 planes and has ordered 20 more from US maker Boeing.

"The hope is we will be profitable in six months," SpiceJet chief executive Mark Winders told AFP.

Despite the boom in the industry, many are sceptical of the budget airlines' long-term survival chances.

"Several carriers have announced their intentions to buy planes but the orders are based on future prospects and initial public offerings (IPOs)," said Gopi Krishna, of the French Office for the Export of Aviation Material.

"What happens if they fail to raise the money in the capital markets? I would say the manufacturers need to see the intentions to buy planes translate into real orders before uncorking champagne," he added.

Analysts are worried that India's creaky airport infrastructure will create problems, but for now millions of Indians along with global plane manufacturers are riding the boom.

Indian Aviation Minister Praful Patel has promised the government will upgrade 80 airports to cope with an expected 20 percent annual passenger growth.

"If the number of passengers grow to 50 million of India's one billion population, the number of aircraft required will be mind-boggling," Patel said.

"We will need to spruce up the infrastructure to keep pace with this scale of growth."

Around 15 million people travel by air annually in India against three million passengers who fly daily in the United States -- even though the US population is around one-quarter that of India.

The number of Indian passengers is expected to grow to 50 million in five years as a booming economy and new low-cost carriers stimulate demand.

Kapil Kaul, director of the Indian office of the Sydney-based Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation, forecast the combined passenger fleet will more than double by 2010 to more than 450 aircraft from a current 185 planes.

Air India to Operate More Direct Flights to London

LONDON, June 21 Asia Pulse - Air India will operate more direct flights to London from other Indian cities like Bangalore and Hyderabad in the coming days, officials said today, after the launch of a direct Kolkata-London flight.

The new flight has been introduced in view of demand from the local Indian community here, Air India Public Relations Director Jitendra Bhargava told Indian reporters here.

"We have succeeded in negotiating and getting more slots with the UK authorities at the Heathrow International Airport here which has paved the way for launching this new flight," said Regional Director for Air India in UK and Europe, Capt Ashwin Sharna.

More Indian cities like Cochin may be connected with London later on depending on the availabililty of aircraft, Bhargava said.

The Kolkata-London flight, launched two days ago, is not only convenient for passengers from Northeast Indian states but also travellers from Bangladesh, he said, although there is no change in fare for the Dhaka-London sector which is on par with Kolkata-London, he said.

The Kolkata-London flight is part of Air India's broad policy decision to operate international flights from various cities in the country instead of only Delhi and Mumbai, the tradtional gateways for London flights.

This will help make travel more comfortable, hassle-free and reduce elapsed travel time, Bhargawa said adding long-hauled aircraft have been pressed into serivice in this sector.

SpiceJet in talks to buy more planes -Boeing exec

BOMBAY, June 21 (Reuters) - Indian discount carrier SpiceJet Ltd. is in advanced stages of discussions with U.S. commercial jet maker Boeing Co. about buying more planes, a Boeing official said on Tuesday.

In February, Chicago-based Boeing had said it would sell SpiceJet 10 737-800 airplanes, with an option for 10 more.

On Tuesday, Dinesh Keskar, senior vice-president of sales for Boeing, said SpiceJet wanted to keep the option and get into another agreement for more planes.

He expected an announcement to be made in August.

"These additional airplanes could be the larger version of the 737NGs," he said, referring to a yet-to-be-launched plane, the 737-900X, with 208 economy seats.

With more carriers starting up in India, there has been an aircraft buying spree in recent months. The just-concluded Paris airshow saw billions of dollars of orders from Indian airlines such as Kingfisher Airlines, Jet Airways and IndiGo.

Boeing sees India as a rapidly growing, strategic market where it can increase its presence. Boeing has 180 planes in India right now, he said.

"Our base is very small right now. China already has some 500 (Boeing) airplanes," he said.

"We are quite bullish that we are working with established companies," he added, citing airlines such as Air-India [AI.UL], Jet Airways and SpiceJet.

Airbus targets half of Indian market for planes

NEW DELHI, June 21 (Reuters) - European jetmaker Airbus, flush with its success in India, aims to win at least half an estimated $55 billion worth of new aircraft orders expected to come from the country by 2023, an official said on Tuesday.

Airbus, majority-owned by European Aeronautic Defence & Space Co. NV , is flying high after the recent Paris Air Show, where Indian orders worth $13 billion helped it outsell rival Boeing Co. by a margin of more than two to one.

Responding to reports that Indian airports were not equipped to handle its new A380 superjumbo, Airbus said only modest changes would be needed to allow for its large turning circle.

"We recognise there is an issue with the infrastructure, but if we just sit back and wait for it to improve, no aircraft will be ordered," Kiran Rao, Airbus's senior vice president - marketing and pricing, told a news conference on Tuesday.

Among other big Airbus orders in Paris, Kingfisher Airlines ordered five A330s, five A350 jets and five A380s in a $3 billion deal. Airbus estimates India will eventually need 20 A380s.

Airbus said its squabble with state carrier Air-India [AI.UL] over its plan to buy up to 50 long-range Boeing aircraft for $6.9 billion was over. Airbus is now focusing on growing its share of the Indian market and using it as a source for software services, design and composite materials.

That includes A320 passenger doors from state-owned Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. (HAL) and software services from Infosys Technologies Ltd. and HCL Technologies Ltd. .

HAL has a contract worth more than $80 million and Infosys worked on the design and development of the A380.

"Everyone knows the high-quality of work and the cheaper costs here. As an Indian at Airbus, I will encourage more outsourcing to India," Rao said.

June 23, 2005
India revises airport stake sale

NEW DELHI - INDIAN ministers have approved changes in the bid documents for the sale of the country's Mumbai and New Delhi airports, Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel said.

The government will issue revised documents for bids in two weeks, the minister told reporters in New Delhi yesterday.

Bidders will get two weeks to respond. The bids were to have been submitted by this month-end, the government had said earlier. India first sought bids for selling stakes in the two airports in June last year.

Germany's Fraport, Malaysia Airport Holdings, Singapore Changi Airport Enterprise, Aeroports de Paris and five other consortiums of companies participated in the initial round of bids, according to the government.

India said in March that it expects to announce in six months the winning bids for the nation's biggest airports. The revised offer document is to be examined by the law ministry, said Mr Patel, who did not give details of the changes.

The winning bidders for stakes in the airports at Mumbai and New Delhi may have to spend 151 billion rupees (S$6 billion) to upgrade facilities. \-- BLOOMBERG NEWS

Copyright © 2005 Singapore Press Holdings. All rights reserved

Indigo Airlines to Launch Flights in India

NEW DELHI, June 23 Asia Pulse - After placing one of the world's largest orders for 100 aircraft, start-up low-fare carrier IndiGo Airlines has said it will launch domestic services this winter and have a fleet of eight planes by 2006.

"We will be airborne between this November and February next year ... we will launch our first flight in a few weeks after we get the delivery of our first aircraft. Internally, we will be ready to fly much beforehand," Rahul Bhatia, co-owner of the airline, told PTI in an interview here.

IndiGo Enterprises recently stunned the world by placing one of the largest firm orders for 100 A-320 aircraft with European manufacturer Airbus Industrie, with a list price of over $US6 billion at the Paris Air Show.

Asked whether they would lease planes to start their operations, he said there could be a "bridging arrangement" with a lessor to provide them with the aircraft in case of delay in delivery of their own planes.

"However, we would prefer to fly our own aircraft", Bhatia, Managing Director of travel firm InterGlobe Enterprise who owns the airline company along with top aviation expert Rakesh Gangwal, said.

IndiGo, which received its No Objection Certificate (NOC) from the government to launch scheduled services last April, would get eight aircraft by the end of 2006, nine more in 2007 and induct one each every month after that, he said.

Business Times - 23 Jun 2005

India sees 8 to 10 airlines surviving in long term

Minister sees scope for a regional airline, integration with other players

(NEW DELHI) The Indian government expects a 'shakeout' in the aviation industry as new carriers force prices down to win customers from existing airlines.

India expects eight to 10 airlines to be in operation in the 'long term', Praful Patel, the aviation minister said in an interview with Bloomberg television in Mumbai on Tuesday. India currently has eight airlines in operation and at least six are planning to start services in the next one year.

Competition is mounting among carriers in India as new airlines emerge and existing ones like Jet Airways (India) Ltd expand services to tap the surge in passenger traffic. Most of the airlines compete in the same routes such as between capital New Delhi and Mumbai, the nation's financial capital and to Bangalore, home to some of the biggest software companies.

'It can't be that there is unlimited space for carriers in trying to take to the skies,' Mr Patel said. 'There could be a little shakeout here and there,' the minister said.

India's carriers have in the past three years made preliminary orders for 394 planes as six new airlines plan to start operations and existing airlines expand.

A growing number of companies plan to start airlines in India as the domestic and international traffic rose 22 per cent to 59.27 million in the year ended March 31, according to the Airports Authority of India.

Kingfisher Airlines Ltd, owned by the nation's biggest brewer, is among the airlines that started this year. The Wadia family, which owns the nation's biggest cookiemaker, InterGlobe Enterprises Pvt, which runs a travel solutions company, and East West Travel & Trade Links Ltd, a travel agency, are all planning to start flights within the next year.

New Delhi-based SpiceJet Ltd, the latest low-fare airline to start flying in India, is selling tickets priced as low as 99 rupees (S$3.80). 'Every carrier is trying to be pan-Indian, that may not be the best model available in the long run,' said Mr Patel. 'I think there is scope for a regional airline, integration with other players and working together - that is a possibility.'

India permits individuals and companies to start airlines with capital of about US$75 million, provided it satisfies the government that it will start services with five planes, a route network and a maintenance facility, said aviation secretary Ajay Prasad. 'We feel the market is getting crowded and we don't want a mayhem, we don't want a bloodbath,' said Mr Prasad. As a government we have a responsibility, he said.

The rising number of start-ups in India is translating into orders for Airbus SAS and Boeing Co, the world's top aircraft manufacturers, and other small plane makers such as Empresa Brasileira de Aeronautica SA.

Indian carriers have announced orders and commitments this year for 213 aircraft valued at US$24 billion from Airbus, Boeing and Embraer, making the country the biggest buyer of planes in the region.

Kingfisher Airlines, which began flights last month, and other proposed low-fare carriers in India such as IndiGo made up 28 per cent of orders and commitments for Airbus and Boeing planes at the Paris Air Show last week.

Airbus and Boeing in February raised the sales outlook for Indian carriers. Boeing said Indian carriers will buy US$35 billion of aircraft in the next 20 years and Airbus said Indian carriers will buy 570 planes by 2023.

'People may not believe me when I say this, but that number (predicted by Airbus) can be achieved much earlier,' Mr Patel said. - Bloomberg

Copyright © 2005 Singapore Press Holdings Ltd. All rights reserved.

India Wadia's Go Air To Lease 4 Airbus A320 Aircraft
22 June 2005

MUMBAI (Dow Jones)--India's Go Air will likely lease four A320 aircraft from Airbus (ABI.YY), a senior Airbus executive told reporters at a conference in Mumbai.

"Deliveries to Go Air will be done likely by this (calendar) year end," said Nigel Harwood, Airbus Vice president for South Asia sales.

Low-fare carrier Go Air was founded by India's Wadia business family, which has interests in textiles and real estate.

Business Times - 24 Jun 2005

Govt nod for Mumbai, Delhi airport sale papers

(NEW DELHI) Indian ministers have approved changes in the bid documents for the sale of the country's Mumbai and New Delhi airports, for which Singapore's Changi Airport and Malaysia's airport authority are among interested parties.

The Indian government will issue revised documents for bids in two weeks, Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel told reporters in New Delhi on Wednesday.

Bidders will get two weeks to respond.

The bids were to have been submitted by end-June, the government said earlier.

'The decks have now been cleared and all outstanding issues resolved,' Mr Patel told reporters in New Delhi on Wednesday, after meeting ministerial colleagues on the proposed revamp of the country's two biggest airports.

The revised offer document will be examined by the law ministry before being sent to bidders, he said.

India needs to improve facilities at airports to upgrade transport infrastructure in Asia's fourth-biggest economy, where the number of people travelling by air is surging.

Expansion by existing carriers and the starting of new low-fare airlines are straining facilities at airports.

India had in March said it expects to announce in six months the winning bids for the country's biggest airports.

India first sought bids for selling stakes in the two airports in June 2004.

Fraport AG, operator of Europe's second-biggest airport, and Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd may jointly bid for contracts to manage one of India's two busiest airfields, said GMR Group, their Indian partner.

Malaysia Airports has 'expressed interest' to join Fraport and GMR in bids estimated at 151 billion rupees (S$5.8 billion) to expand the airports of New Delhi and Mumbai, said Kiran Grandhi, GMR's head of transport division.

The three companies will compete with seven rival bids including Aeroports de Paris and Singapore Changi Airport Enterprise

The winning bidders for stakes in the airports at Mumbai and New Delhi may have to spend 151 billion rupees to upgrade facilities at the biggest airports in the south Asian country.

As much as 87 billion rupees may be needed for the airport at New Delhi and 64 billion rupees for Mumbai, the Civil Aviation Ministry has said.

The technical adviser of the Airports Authority of India made the estimate.

India's government is spending US$10 billion in the next five years to improve airports, Mr Patel had said on June 21 in Mumbai.

'It's the area of highest concern,' Mr Patel said. 'We are sensitive to this demand and we will respond to this positively. It will also receive the highest attention.' - Bloomberg

Copyright © 2005 Singapore Press Holdings Ltd. All rights reserved.

Indian Plan Panel Favours Investment by Foreign Carriers

NEW DELHI, June 24 Asia Pulse - The Planning Commission has suggested reviewing a policy that debars foreign carriers from investing in domestic ones, saying airline operations required expertise as much as capital.

"There is a case for reviewing this policy as operation of airlines requires expertise as much as it does capital," the Mid-Term Appraisal (MTA) of the Tenth Plan has said.

Noting that foreign direct investment in airlines had been raised to 49 per cent, the MTA document pointed out that foreign airlines "are still debarred from equity participation in domestic air transport operations".

On privatisation of Air India and Indian Airlines, it said: "A fresh exercise for restructuring" the two public sector carriers to make them competitive could be considered.

It pointed out that the process of disinvestment, which was undertaken "to improve the operational efficiency and financial performance" of the two public sector carriers, could not be completed as the qualified bidders withdrew due to several factors.

The disinvestment process could also not be resumed due to the unfavourable circumstances prevailing in the global aviation industry at that time, the MTA said.

Hong Kong : Beggars can't be choosers - air talks must be put in perspective
24 June 2005
South China Morning Post

Murmurs around Government House are that Hong Kong negotiators have been pressing India to return to the table for more bilateral aviation talks after the last round earlier this year ended sharply just one day into the discussions.

Given the potential windfall for the local economy - from Hong Kong's retailers, who stand to gain from the growing number of affluent Indian travellers, to our airlines and airport community - the collapse of the last round was a big disappointment. It left both sides red-faced, for starkly different reasons.

But bilateral negotiations by nature are a constant work in progress and missed opportunities during previous rounds are soon overshadowed by any new deal.

There is an adage that numbers say what you want them to. When Hong Kong's aviation community looks at the volume of traffic on the Indian route last year - 233,000 travellers, up 50 per cent year on year - it sees growth.

Moreover, the airlines see growth that cannot be captured due to the limitations of the present agreement.

When India looks at those same numbers, they see a small market that is barely worth breaking a sweat over.

For Hong Kong, an India deal is a priority - perhaps second only to an expansion of the agreement with the mainland. If only the Indians saw it the same way.

For the Indian negotiating team, greater access to the Hong Kong market - or perhaps more importantly the ability to use Hong Kong as transit point to the United States - would be a small fillip for new carriers such as Jet Airways and Air Sahara. But it is not going to make or break them.

Jet Airways, for one, has already signalled intentions to fly direct from India to the US using Boeing's new extended range 777 aircraft.

India's established carriers, Air India and Indian Airlines, with the political influence to push the Indian side to the table, have yet to fully utilise rights won under the 2001 accord. They are largely content with the status quo.

Air India, which has four weekly frequencies to Hong Kong it does not use at present, has said that it will point its new long-range jets westwards for at least the next few years, towards its traditional bread and butter markets in the US and Europe.

So huff and puff as the Hong Kong technocrats might, it is unlikely India's senior negotiators, who left the truncated last round of talks with a bad taste in their mouths, will be persuaded back to the table any time soon.

The fact is Hong Kong is the side with the begging bowl in its hand, as has increasingly been the case since China started allowing more foreign carriers to fly direct to its major cities.

The decline of our gateway status is eroding our negotiating leverage and the comparative wish-lists of India and Hong Kong would appear to indicate that our bowl is too big to hide. So why try?

When the last round of talks collapsed on January 27, a senior government negotiator told Below Deck: "We asked for a lot more [destinations in India] and a lot more frequencies. We offered them anything they want, but they wouldn't agree."

Given that India appears to want and need very little from Hong Kong, perhaps a more measured approach is required next time.

According to sources close to the government, senior members of the Hong Kong team have expressed optimism that there will be a new round of talks this month or next.

Let's hope so. But given the acrimony surrounding the last break-up - and given that we do not have much to offer India - they may be well advised to take care of other businesses in the interim.

According to people close to the US negotiating team, the Economic Development and Labour Bureau last week turned down a request from Washington for a new round of bilateral discussions next month.

Let's hope the request was not turned down so Hong Kong could put to bed a deal with India first.

^^ that's pretty fishy but i wonder what the motives are. Will post the same in local section.

drwho, i wonder if youre indian....

Go India!!!!!!!

Business Times - 27 Jun 2005

GoAir to buy 50 Boeing or Airbus planes

(NEW DELHI) Go Airlines Pvt, a closely held airline set up by the Wadia family, which controls India's largest cookies producer, said it is in talks to buy as many as 50 planes from either Airbus SAS or Boeing Co.

The Mumbai-based company's GoAir unit is in discussions to buy Airbus A320 or Boeing's 737 planes for delivery in 2007 and 2008, said Jeh Wadia, deputy managing director of Bombay Burmah Trading Corp, a Wadia unit. He did not give the orders' value.

India has been Asia's biggest buyer of new aircraft so far this year, with six airlines ordering 220 planes valued at US$25.24 billion this year from Airbus, Boeing and Empresa Brasileira de Aeronautica. Orders by Kingfisher Airways Ltd and other Indian low-fare airlines made up 28 per cent of the US$48.7 billion of orders Airbus and Boeing received recently at the Paris Air Show.

Four low-fare carriers have started flying in India in the past two years and at least six, including GoAir, are planning to begin operating, tapping the 20 per cent annual growth in air travel in Asia's fourth-largest economy.

GoAir will decide on the purchase by the end of the year, said Mr Wadia, whose family owns stakes in a textile company and in Britannia Industries Ltd, India's biggest cookies maker.

GoAir plans to start flying in October with leased aircraft, four of which have already been signed for, Mr Wadia said. It is in talks to lease five more planes, he said, without giving details.

India's domestic and overseas air traffic increased 22 per cent in the year ended March, to 59.27 million, according to the Airports Authority of India. - Bloomberg

Copyright © 2005 Singapore Press Holdings Ltd. All rights reserved.

New Airport To Be Built In India's IT Hub To Open In '08
27 June 2005

BANGALORE, India (AP)--Lenders and shareholders have signed the funding agreement for an international airport to be built in India's information technology hub, Bangalore, after numerous delays, a top official said Monday.

The new airport will be ready in April 2008 with a capacity to handle more than five million passengers a year, Albert Brunner, CEO of Bangalore International Airport Ltd., told The Associated Press.

Bangalore, the capital of southern Karnataka state, is the hub of India's software and back-office outsourcing industry, accounting for a third of the country's export revenues of $17.2 billion from the sector.

The project, originally conceived in 1991, witnessed delays and consequent cost increases due to bureaucratic wrangling.

"We have to take the task before us seriously, because we have to complete the project within 33 months and meet rapidly increasing demand," he said.

The new airport will replace a domestic airport that also handles international flights in Bangalore. Most airlines complain the existing airport is cramped and can't handle any additional flights.

It will cost 14.11 billion rupees ($1=INR43.5), 23.1% of which will come from shareholders and the rest from lenders.

Among equity share holders, 40% will be owned by Siemens Project Ventures, 17% each by Zurich International Airport and Indian construction giant Larsen & Toubro Ltd. (500510.BY), while the Indian government and the government of southern Karnataka state will hold 13% each.

Only 16 million airplane tickets are sold in India each year, despite a population of more than one billion. However, demand for air travel is increasing by 25% annually with the arrival of low-cost carriers.

^ Any renderings of new Bangalore Int'l Airport? :) :) :)

India No Legal Issue Pending For Airports' Privatization
27 June 2005

NEW DELHI (Dow Jones)--India's Law Minister Hasraj Bhardwaj Monday said his ministry has cleared the proposed privatization of the Mumbai and Delhi airports.

"We have cleared the project. We are only vetting the bid documents. There are no legal issues outstanding," Bhardwaj told reporters.

Last week, India's Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel said the revised documents for privatizing the Mumbai and Delhi airports would be sent to the Law Ministry for final approval, as there were some legal issues.

The Indian government is selling 74% of its stake in the country's two busiest airports in an bid to improve infrastructure and services.

Of the 74%, overseas companies can bid for up to 49%. The 26% not up for sale will be in the hands of the state-run Airports Authority of India.

Seven consortia, comprising both Indian and overseas companies, have expressed interest in buying the government stakes in the two airports.

On the separate matter of a proposal to allow foreign direct investment in Indian law firms, Bhardwaj said, "We are not ready yet."

The proposal has been referred to the Bar Council of India, he said.

"Unless the Bar Council takes a view, we can't take a decision on it," the minister said.

^ Any renderings of new Bangalore Int'l Airport? :) :) :)

there are some renderings here : http://www.karnataka.com/watch/blr-airport/snaps.shtml

Sahara gets slot at Heathrow
27 June 2005
The Times of India

NEW DELHI: Air Sahara claimed a major victory in its quest for expanding overseas operations by bagging a daily landing slot at London Heathrow airport. This will help it mount a daily flight between Delhi and London from the winter of 2005.

Sources said that Airports Co-ordination Ltd - the company in-charge of managing airport slots in several European airports - awarded Sahara a daily slot at Heathrow. Air Sahara manager (schedule planning) Debasis Saha, confirmed the development saying: "Air Sahara was awarded the Heathrow slots last weekend in Berlin."

Sahara is preparing to start direct flights from Delhi to London this winter, and has signed a deal to lease three Boeing 777-200ER (extended range) planes.

Business Times - 28 Jun 2005

Indian Air may place US$2.2b Airbus orders

(NEW DELHI) Indian Airlines Ltd, the nation's biggest domestic carrier by fleet, may be able to buy its first new aircraft since 1992 in two weeks to compete with a half dozen low-fare rivals in Asia's fourth-largest economy.

India's government, which owns and manages Indian Airlines, will decide in two weeks if the New Delhi-based carrier should pay Airbus SAS an estimated US$2.2 billion for 43 planes, said the civil aviation secretary Ajay Prasad.

Four new carriers began operations since Indian Airlines' 2002 fleet renewal plan and six others are awaiting permission to fly. Kingfisher Airlines Ltd, IndiGo and other low-fare airlines have ordered 213 planes so far this year valued at US$24 billion from Airbus, Boeing Co and Empresa Brasileira de Aeronautica, preparing to tap India's 20 per cent annual air travel growth.

'It is essential that Indian Airlines keeps pace with the expansion plans of its rivals,' said Kapil Kaul, the CEO for the India unit of the Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation, which advises governments on airlines.

Indian Airlines wants four A320, 20 of the A319 models and 19 A321 planes to replace some of the 65 aircraft in its fleet and to expand, according to its proposal. The three aircraft models selected can carry between 124 and 185 passengers each and fly as far as 3,700 nautical miles between India's major cities. Each aircraft has a list price of between US$54.4 million and US$80 million.

The government's Cabinet committee on economic affairs will consider Indian Airlines' plan very soon, Mr Prasad said.

India's public investment board, which approves large investments by state-owned companies, approved Indian Airlines' purchase plan in November. The civil aviation ministry has since been negotiating final prices with Airbus and also sought opinion from other ministries.

'The process of inter-ministerial consultation is nearing completion,' Mr Prasad said.

Indian Airlines, which also flies to Singapore and Dubai in addition to its domestic routes, is also in talks to lease six A319, 10 A320 and 12 wide bodied aircraft, said spokesman Ashok Sharma. Indian Airlines has leased 12 planes since 2002, he said.

Air India Ltd, the nation's biggest state-owned overseas carrier, is negotiating final prices with Boeing Co for buying up to 68 planes, Mr Prasad said.

The order comprises 50 twin-aisle planes valued at US$6.9 billion by Boeing and 18 single-aisle Boeing 737 planes, Air India said in April. The airline still hasn't placed the order.

The state-run airline may sell as much as 20 per cent of its equity in an initial public offer this year, Mr Prasad said. Air India, which last month invited bids from merchant banks for the share sale, may sell stock 'in winter 2005', Mr Prasad said. - Bloomberg

Copyright © 2005 Singapore Press Holdings Ltd. All rights reserved.

Bangalore airport gets loans, starts work next week

BANGALORE, June 28 (Reuters) - A private consortium led by Germany's Siemens AG has tied up loans for a $325 million international airport in India's booming technology city of Bangalore and will start work next week, an official said.

"The main thing was financial closure. Half the money for the project has to come from debt," Vinay Kumar, principal secretary in-charge of infrastructure in the government of the southern state of Karnataka, told Reuters on Tuesday.

The Bangalore International Airport Ltd. (BIAL), owned 40 percent by Siemens, is expected to begin operations in April, 2008.

Kumar said the 14.12 billion rupees ($325 million) airport can handle up to 5 million passengers a year, but the 3,900-acre project north of Bangalore can be further developed to take eight times as many passengers.

The showpiece project was bogged down by regulatory delays that raised the cost originally estimated at 11.5 billion rupees, while an outsourcing boom choked Bangalore's infrastructure, considered a key constraint to its sustained growth.

Bangalore accounts for some 35 percent of India's $17.2 billion software and business service export industry that employs more than one million people.

Switzerland's Zurich airport operator Unique and leading Indian construction firm Larsen & Toubro hold 17 percent each in BIAL.

The remaining stakes are divided equally between the government of Karnataka, whose capital is Bangalore, and the federal government's National Airport Authority.

BIAL has a 30-year agreement to run the new airport under a build-operate-transfer plan, with a provision to extend the term for another 30 years.

Kumar said ICICI Bank , which led the debt arrangement, would give 7.35 billion rupees in loans for the airport, while the state government would extend a 10-year, interest-free loan of up to 3.5 billion rupees. Equity investments total 3.35 billion rupees.

Other Indian cities, including Hyderabad, the southern rival to Bangalore, are also planning privately funded airports.

"Bangalore is a pioneering project. Others will benefit a lot (from our experience)," Kumar said.

Officials had earlier this month secured a bank guarantee from the State Bank of India , India's largest commercial bank, to help the debt plan. ($1 = 43.5 rupees)

Air India to add Jakarta-Mumbai flights
The Jakarta Post
28 June 2005

India's national flag carrier, Air India, plans to increase its flights on the Jakarta-Mumbai route, but also to terminate other services.

Air India Manager for Indonesia Ranjana N. Adsul said on Monday that beginning July 10 the airline would serve the Jakarta-Mumbai route three times a week -- on Sundays, Mondays and Wednesdays.

The airline currently serves three destinations from Jakarta -- Mumbai, Delhi and Chennai, all via Singapore.

Adsul said the airline would add another flight on the Jakarta-Mumbai route on Fridays, starting on Aug. 19.

From its hub in Mumbai, the airline connects cities in India with the European, Middle Eastern and African countries, as well as the United States.

"Our reason for serving only the Jakarta-Mumbai route is because Mumbai is one of the busiest cities in India. It is a major commercial center," said Adsul, adding that her company saw great potential for growth in commercial relations between Indonesia and India in the future.

Two-way trade between India and Indonesia stood at US$3 billion in 2004, a significant increase from the previous year's $2.4 billion.

Adsul explained that with more Indian investors coming to Indonesia, her company expected its business to increase by between 20 percent and 25 percent this year.

The company was also targeting an 80 percent increase in the number of passengers flying to India to 45,000 this year from around 25,000 last year.

The Air India board has approved a plan to increase the size of the airline's fleet by 74 aircraft in addition to its existing fleet of 21 aircraft, which include Boeing 777-200 ERs, 747-400s, 747-400 Combis and Airbus 310s.

The plan, which is expected to be fully completed by 2012, is based on an annualized capacity growth of 12 percent over the period.

Adsul said that Air India expected a significant increase in the number of Indians visiting Indonesia following the extension of the visa-on-arrival policy to India.

Wednesday June 29, 8:22 AM
Growth in budget airlines reveals untapped demand in India

AP - When a former Indian army officer and occasional silkworm farmer was looking around for business opportunities a couple years ago, he didn't choose software outsourcing _ which had put his city, Bangalore, on the global prosperity map.

Instead, he set up an airline, becoming the first Indian investor to take advantage of the untapped potential for budget aviation in a country with an exploding middle class.

"It was one approach to look at our people as one billion hungry mouths to feed. It was quite another to look at them as one billion hungry consumers," said G. R. Gopinath, 53.

In August 2003, he started Air Deccan, offering fares at least 30 percent lower than full-service carriers and helping change the face of Indian air travel. Following concepts common in the West, he cut costs by eliminating in-flight meals, pruning crews, adding more seats and selling tickets on the Internet.

Air Deccan's first full year of operation ended in March with just over a million passengers, according to Gopinath. This year, with the company adding more planes and destinations, they expect to carry 4 million people.

For decades, air travel in India had been expensive and largely dominated by state-owned carriers. In the fiscal year that ended March 2005, some 16 million plane tickets were sold in India _ roughly equal to five days' traffic in the United States.

But Gopinath's gamble got the ball rolling, and he was followed by a bevy of new budget carriers and hordes of first-time flyers.

Those 16 million seats reflected a 27 percent jump over the year before, and aviation experts expect business to continue to rise by 25 percent per year for the foreseeable future.

With more than 1 billion people in India, investors are talking serious business.

"We have broken the social barrier to flying," Gopinath said. "We are bringing on board those who didn't dare ask to be flown earlier. We estimate that there are 450 million to 500 million people in the middle-class and lower-middle-class category who can become airline customers."

The Indian government opened up the aviation sector to private companies as part of an economic liberalization plan that began in 1991. Officials expect there to be 50 million passengers by 2010, and India's civil aviation minister, Praful Patel, promised earlier this year to kickstart upgrade plans for 80 airports across the country.

One new budget airline was started by liquor baron Vijay Mallya. His Kingfisher Airlines started operations in May 2005, offering what he calls "value flying" _ service midway between traditional and budget travel.

In all, half a dozen budget airlines have started operating in India in the last two years, with more planning to enter the market.

The low fares are the key draw. Air Deccan says 40 percent of its first-time passengers say the cheap prices are why they've chosen to fly.

Poorly connected small towns are also benefitting from the new business.

"Our market lies in very small towns, where 90 or 95 people need to fly to big cities each day. We have identified 311 such routes across India and 40 percent of national demand is going to come from these routes," said software businessman J. W. Lobo, managing director of Air One Feeder Airline Pvt. Ltd., which plans to start service in August.

The emerging buzz in India's aviation was evident mid-June at the Paris Air Show, aviation's biggest gathering. There, Indian carriers placed orders for 125 airliners, most of them with European manufacturer Airbus.

IndiGo, a soon-to-open New Delhi-based budget airline alone agreed to buy 100 Airbus A320 planes, at a cost of US$6 billion at catalog prices. Kingfisher ordered 15 planes, including five A380 superjumbos.

All of India's airlines, including the public sector giants Air India and Indian Airlines, together own fewer than 200 planes, but various low-cost airlines have announced plans to buy around 220 planes in the next five years.

Investment too is flowing. The privately held Air Deccan obtained venture capital funding of US$40 million in late 2004 and plans an initial public offer of stock to raise at least US$250 million.

Kingfisher will invest US$40 million and SpiceJet will spend US$28 million to build up their fleet and train personnel.

The airlines say they aren't worried about intensifying competition.

"India is such a vast country, it actually needs more planes," said Seema Luthra, vice president of InterGlobe Enterprises, which owns IndiGo, set to start flying in early 2006.

"Across the nation, we will fly to any place where we can land our planes," she said.

Dubai-bound Emirates flight returns to India after suspected bird hit

NEW DELHI, June 28 (AFP) - A Dubai-bound Emirates flight from the southern Indian city of Hyderabad returned 20 minutes after take-off following a suspected bird hit, a report said Tuesday.

Pilots of the Emirates EK 527 flight with 177 passengers on board decided to return to the international airport due to a technical snag, airport officials told the Press Trust of India news agency.

Two blades of an engine were found slightly damaged after the plane landed safely, they added.

The snag was being fixed by the technical staff and the flight was due to depart later Tuesday.

Business Times - 04 Jul 2005

India carrier sees robust traffic on S'pore, KL routes

Jet Airways also planning to start flights from cities like Delhi, Bangalore

By VEN SREENIVASAN

(SINGAPORE) Privately owned Indian airline Jet Airways, which plans to use the Republic as its hub for East Asia, has been enjoying robust traffic on its Mumbai-Singapore and Chennai-Kuala Lumpur flights, and expects this to pick up further when the Singapore-India Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA) kicks in.

Its vice-president for South-east Asia, V Raja, told BT over the weekend that the airline was enjoying strong growth in both leisure and business traffic.

'The loads have been very good in the 75 days we have been flying to Singapore and we expect this to get even better with CECA,' he said.

'Right now, the inbound leisure traveller from India is doing the triangular route - flying into Singapore, then hopping over to KL, before flying back to India. But with CECA, we expect to see more business travellers. We also expect to see strong growth in cargo volumes as trade picks up.'

The economic pact, which was signed by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and his Indian counterpart Manmohan Singh last week, takes effect on Aug 1. Experts say that besides boosting bilateral trade to US$10 billion from the current US$7 billion, it will lift travel restrictions and facilitate increased flow of people and investment.

Meanwhile, Jet Airways is planning to turn its Singapore base into a hub for its East Asian operations.

'Singapore is already our regional headquarters,' Mr Raja said. 'We would like to make it our hub for our route expansion in East Asia.'

Jet Airways envisages services to Bangkok and Hong Kong soon, then to more cities further east. Mr Raja said that his airline would also be applying to start services between Singapore and Kuala Lumpur to other Indian cities such as New Delhi and Bangalore.

Jet Airways, which has earned a reputation as India's best domestic airline within a short span of 12 years of operation, has a fleet of 47 planes whose average age is under five years.

The company, which raised some US$436 million in its initial public offering earlier this year, recently placed an order worth almost US$5 billion for 20 Boeing and 10 Airbus aircraft.

Founded by Naresh Goyal, Jet Airways currently operates some 2,000 weekly flights to 42 destinations. Besides Singapore and KL, its oversees destinations are Heathrow, Colombo and Katmandu. It will soon be starting services to Brussels and Newark, New Jersey.

Mr Raja said that despite robust loads and strong growth in passenger traffic, his airline had no immediate plans to plug into an alliance network with other carriers. 'This is a macro decision for head office,' he said. 'Such tie-ups will have to take into consideration the global business scenario in aviation.'

Copyright © 2005 Singapore Press Holdings Ltd. All rights reserved.

Emirates to Expand Operations in India

NEW DELHI, July 4 Asia Pulse - The UAE's premier carrier, Emirates, said it was interested in expanding its operations from India depending on the air traffic rights granted to it and was planning to build a training centre for aviation-related activities in the country.

"This regional training centre will be the first outside Dubai and offer courses ranging from ticketing, management, customer services and telephone techniques to training of engineers and cabin crew," Nabil Sultan, the airline's Senior Vice President (Commercial Operations) for West Asia and Indian Ocean, said here Friday.

"India has the ingredients for creation of such a centre of excellence which would become a division of our training college in Dubai", he said, adding that the centre would in the first year cater only to Emirates'needs and openedup to travel agents, tour operators and others in future.

Maintaining that Emirates could contemplate shifting some of its back offices to India, he said the airline already had its international call centre operating out of the country for the past two years. With the scale of its operations growing, the UAE carrier was contemplating a major expansion.

Replying to questions on the traffic demand between India and UAE as well as the increased operations of low-cost carriers (LCCs) like Air India Express, Sultan said though the LCCs had filled up the gap for certain market segments like labour traffic, the "exponential growth" in passenger traffic between India and Dubai in the near future would not affect operations of the Emirates and other normal- fare airlines.

The Indian subcontinent, Sultan said, contributed to about 10 per cent of the airline's total revenue collection.

Indian airports groan amid civil aviation sector boom
Low-cost air travel growth is straining old infrastructure, writes Amrit Dhillon
30 June 2005
South China Morning Post

When Akash Gupta arrived at New Delhi's Palam airport recently to catch a flight to Hyderabad, there was nowhere to sit in the departure lounge. All seats were taken.

Every few seconds in the crowded lounge came an announcement that a flight - to Mumbai, Lucknow, Calcutta, Chennai - was delayed.

"I go to Hyderabad regularly to do maintenance on power plants and it's never been as busy as this. Delays have become routine and it feels more like [being in] a railway platform than a departure lounge," said Mr Gupta.

This happens when a civil aviation industry suddenly roars into life, leaving the supporting infrastructure tottering.

India's airports, supply of pilots, landing slots and air traffic control were intended to cater to one state-owned domestic airline and only minor modifications have been made at some bigger airports to accommodate two private airlines - Sahara and Jet Airways.

Now the industry is enjoying an unprecedented boom as low-cost airlines put air travel within the reach of millions of Indians.

The country's first low-cost airline was Deccan Air, launched in 2003 with just one aircraft. Now it has 18. Recently, two other similar airlines were launched - Kingfisher and SpiceJet. Half a dozen more will be launched in the next six months.

Last year, the industry grew 23 per cent, making India the third fastest-growing aviation market in the world after China and Japan. Aviation experts expect it to maintain a more than 20 per cent growth rate over the next five years.

The Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation (Capa) in New Delhi forecasts that air traffic in India will grow by five million passengers annually over the next 10 years. But the business environment looks squally and turbulent.

Take the pilot shortage. About 10 flights are cancelled each day due to a lack of pilots.

"India needs 3,000 to 4,000 additional pilots in the next five years. The shortage of pilots and maintenance workers will have serious repercussions on growth," said Kapil Kaul, chief of Capa's India office.

The airports are shabby, small, inefficient and chaotic. One of the domestic terminals at Palam airport was built to handle 600 passengers a day; now it handles nearly 2,000. Experts say that the government needs to spend about US$400 million to modernise each airport.

As for landing slots, there are far too few for the number of airlines popping up.

Air traffic controllers, accustomed to the pre-boom days when they handled a limited number of flights, are struggling to cope.

The firms launching the new airlines are also coming under scrutiny. Some, like Kingfisher, owned by liquor baron Vijay Mallya of the UB Group, or Go Air, promoted by textile tycoon Nusli Wadi's son, Jeh Wadia, represent established and well-known names. The others are less renowned.

"The only model that can work in India is one that offers the cheapest prices," said Mr Wadia.

If these airlines hope to lure some of the 15 million Indians who travel on trains every day, the price has to be rock-bottom or lower.

Airline LOT Cancels Planned New Delhi Route
5 July 2005

WARSAW (Dow Jones)--Poland's national carrier Polskie Linie Lotnicze LOT SA (PLL.YY) has decided not to go ahead with a planned New Delhi route in October, the daily Rzeczpospolita reported.

LOT had planned three flights a week to New Dehli, starting October 31, with the route to be followed by Beijing and Singapore or Bangkok.

Newspaper Web site: http://www.rzeczpospolita.pl

Indian airports groan amid civil aviation sector boom
Low-cost air travel growth is straining old infrastructure, writes Amrit Dhillon


Good. Hopefully this will FORCE India to upgrade its bloody wet cardboard box airports to international standards.

08 July 2005

Jet Airways eyes stronger presence in key international markets
By Jeana Wong, Channel NewsAsia

SINGAPORE : Jet Airways is optimistic about air traffic growth between Singapore and India, thanks to the bilateral economic cooperation agreement between the two countries that takes effect next month.

India is seeing a boom in its airline industry, and to ride on this growth, Jet Airways says it will focus on strengthening its presence in key international markets.

Jet Airways is gearing up for accelerated demand for flights between Singapore and India.

Already, Singapore is one of the top destinations for Indian carriers, but Jet Airways says, it expects to see even bigger growth.

Wolfgang Prock-Schauer, CEO, Jet Airways, said, "We're not starting from a low base because the traffic between India and Singapore is in the 1 million passengers plus. So it's 1.1 million passengers on an annual basis, which makes it out of India, among the top 4, 5 markets....Last year, the market between India and Singapore has been developing in double digit growth rates. And we see with this economic, broader economic agreement, that this trend will be continued."

With a strong foothold in its domestic market, Jet Airways is confident of giving big players in key markets a run for their money.

It is aiming for a stronger presence in the US, UK, Thailand and Malaysia.

Singapore is also one of its key international markets.
Mr Wolfgang Prock-Schauer said, "You have a strong O&D...origin destination traffic. So traffic which originates in India and stops here in Singapore and the other way around. So this traffic will increase. And for that we have, we want to serve these markets....It's better to focus on certain markets but where you fly, you should be recognised as a major player."

And Jet Airways plans to increase flight frequencies in its key markets to attract more business travellers.

It is also going on the offensive to protect its market share from startup carriers by offering discounts on unused seats for selected routes. - CNA/ms

Copyright © 2005 MCN International Pte Ltd

Air Canada to Serve Delhi Via Zurich with Introduction of Year-Round Daily Service to Switzerland and India

MONTREAL, July 8 /CNW Telbec/ - Air Canada today announced that effective October 30, 2005, it will serve Delhi via Zurich on a daily year-round basis from Toronto. The transfer of flights to India via Switzerland will allow Air Canada to re-introduce year-round service to Zurich while improving its schedule to India with an increase to daily flights from its current three-times weekly non-stop service from Toronto. In addition, Air Canada plans to pursue a codeshare agreement with future Star Alliance member, Swiss International Air Lines, by which SWISS would sell seats on a codeshare basis on the Air Canada-operated flights via Zurich.

"By offering same-plane, one-stop service to India via Switzerland, Air Canada customers will benefit from an expanded choice of year-round daily flights to both Zurich and Delhi," said Ben Smith, Vice President, Network Planning. "We look forward to pursuing talks on commercial cooperation with SWISS, our future Star Alliance partner, to serve the Europe-India market as well. Moreover, deployment of right-sized Boeing 767-300ER aircraft on the route will allow us to optimize use of passenger and cargo capacity, and reintroduce our premium Executive First product in the Zurich market on a year-round asis."

Flights will be operated using 212-seat Boeing 767-300ER aircraft offering a choice of Executive First and Hospitality service. Flight attendants speaking Hindi, Punjabi and German, as well as English and French, will be available to serve customers in their choice of language. Customers will be offered a choice of western and Indian meals, and the in-flight entertainment program will include a number of German-language selections, as well as Indian "Bollywood" recent releases on the Zurich-Delhi segment.

Air Canada has timed its Zurich/Delhi service to offer excellent connections to and from cities across Canada via its main hub in Toronto.

Toronto Zurich Zurich Delhi
AC878 18:40 08:35 (+1) 10:10 22:20

Delhi Zurich Zurich Toronto
AC879 02:30 07:00 09:55 13:05

Indian Airlines to Expand Global Ops, Start Feeder Services

NEW DELHI, July 12 Asia Pulse - In the face of growing competition in the aviation market, Indian Airlines has said it plans to lease 12 wide-bodied aircraft to expand its international operations and another six turbo-prop ATRs to launch feeder services in some parts of the country, other than the Northeast.

At a presentation before the Parliamentary Consultative Committee on Civil Aviation, the public sector carrier also announced plans to join a global alliance in the long run to enable it gain from the resultant access to new market through code-sharing and interline flows, enhance its global image, upgrade technology and service standards.

The airline said it planned to start dedicated cargo operations by converting its Boeing 737s into freighters, with the proposal being approved by the IA Board, an official statement said.

Observing that in short-term it would meet its fleet requirements through lease, the IA told the Parliamentary panel meeting chaired by Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel that it was evaluating ten A-320s for lease.

Five A-319s have been leased for IA subsidiary Alliance Air and would be inducted by October this year. IA now has 17 A-320s and four ATRs, for Northeast operations, on lease.

(PTI)

Air India to Begin Mauritius Flights From Sept 12

LONDON, July 12 Asia Pulse - Air India will launch its direct flights from India to Mauritius from September 12, its Chairman and Managing Director V Tulasidas said.

Air India is firmly on its growth path, Tulasidas said.

"We plan to introduce direct flight to Mauritius from September 12 and shortly thereafter to South Africa," he said.

Tulasidas, who was the main guest at a function organised in his honour by the Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan here, said last night that the national carrier would be adding 68 aircraft in one go, most of them being the latest state-of-the art planes.

Eighteen were meant for Air India Express.

He said the first Boeing 787 "dream-line aircraft" would join the Air India fleet in 2008.
ADVERTISEMENT

Present on the occasion were Lord Slim, Manick Dalal, Chairman of the Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Councillor David William, Deputy Mayor of Hammersmith and Fulham and Joginder Sangar, Vice chairman of the Bhavan here.

(PTI)

Wednesday July 13, 4:35 AM
American Plans Nonstop Route to India

AP - American Airlines plans its longest nonstop flight, from Chicago to Delhi, India, after agreeing with pilots on long-haul routes.

American said Tuesday it would begin service between O'Hare International Airport and Delhi on Nov. 15, pending government approval.

The route is nearly 7,500 miles. American plans to use 236-seat Boeing 777 aircraft for the trip.

Henry Joyner, American's senior vice president for planning, said the route was part of the airline's international growth strategy. Passenger and cargo traffic are growing rapidly in India.

Earlier Tuesday, the Allied Pilots Association, which represents American's pilots, said it had reached agreement with the carrier to allow the longer flights.

Ralph Hunter, the union president, said American must be a global airline to thrive, "and this agreement is a big step towards that goal."

American, a unit of Fort Worth-based AMR Corp., also said Tuesday it had agreed to negotiate with Indian carrier Air Sahara over selling seats on each other's flights, an arrangement known as code-sharing.

Under the agreement, members of American's and Air Sahara's frequent-flier programs would be able to earn and redeem miles on both airlines' networks.

The service to Delhi and the deal with Air Sahara come three months after the United States and India announced they had agreed to relax limits on carriers from each country operating in the other.

AMR shares fell 19 cents, or 1.5 percent, to close at $12.48 on the New York Stock Exchange Tuesday.

Indian govt wants 2.2 bln usd order for 43 Airbus planes re-examined -minister
15 July 2005

NEW DELHI (AFX) - The government wants a planned 2.2 bln usd deal to buy 43 Airbus passenger aircraft for state-run domestic carrier Indian Airlines re-examined, Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel said.

The Indian Airlines board has already cleared the acquisition of 20 Airbus A-319s, 19 A-321s and four A-320s, but the finance ministry is not satisfied the price is the best possible and has blocked the deal.

Patel said he now wants a committee of experts to be appointed by India's prime minister to re-examine the issue.

'I will write to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh after he comes back from the United States and then he may appoint a committee,' Patel told Agence France-Presse.

The minister said the move is to ensure 'absolute transparency' in the negotiation of prices.

Singh is scheduled to visit the United States from July 18 to 20.

The proposal to buy the 43 Airbus aircraft has been under discussion for the past two years, as it requires clearance from several layers of the government due to the size of the order.

Delays were compounded when the Congress-led government, which came to power in May last year, asked Indian Airlines to start the process afresh.

Indian Airlines was the nation's largest domestic airlines until three to four years ago, but has lost market share to private airline Jet Airways, which has one of Asia's newest Boeing fleets.

According to industry officials, Indian Airlines has lost even more market share in the past two to three months due to the takeoff of a number of low-cost airlines in India's domestic skies.

Report: US Airways executive steps down to work for new Indian airline IndiGo
16 July 2005

WASHINGTON (AP) - An executive who helped guide US Airways Group Inc.'s bankruptcy reorganization is resigning to become CEO of IndiGo, a startup Indian airline, The Washington Post reported Saturday.

N. Bruce Ashby, 44, will step down as US Airway's head of marketing by the end of the month, the newspaper reported.

Low-cost airline IndiGo is expected to begin operation in 2006. One of the company's lead investors is Rakesh Gangwal, a former chief executive at US Airways who Ashby served under as vice president of planning.

Ashby was also a member of the steering committee that helped orchestrate US Airways' merger with America West. US Airways executives say the merger should be competed by early October.

"It's uncertain as to whether there will be more (executive resignations) and over what period of time," said US Airways spokesman David Castelveter.

Has Mumbai's International Airport started to underago renovation yet?

Not yet, AAI has received bids for BOM and DEL airports! It'll take it's own time.

Is taking pictures at Indian airports still illegal?

Azerbaijan Airlines Starts Delhi-Baku-Delhi Flights

NEW DELHI, July 19 Asia Pulse - Azerbaijan Airlines, the national carrier of the Central Asian republic, announced its entry into the Indian aviation sector with the launch of twice-a-week direct service between Delhi and Baku.

"Initially we will operate on the Delhi-Baku-Delhi route offering connections to London and Moscow," Azerbaijan Airlines Country Representative Khanlar Karimov told reporters here.

While the Delhi-Baku round trip will cost around US$550 (approx Rs 24,000), the airlines is offering a cheaper fare for a round trip to London from Delhi via Baku at Rs 20,000.

"By November, we will operate additional two flights from Delhi to Baku," Karimov said, adding the airlines was also looking at connecting Mumbai and Amritsar in a year's time.

The airlines will be utilising its Airbus A320, A319 and Boeing 757 jets for the Indian operations.

Although the airlines has got permision from the Civil Aviation ministry for operating seven flights a week, Karimov said it would take time for it to fully utilise the quota.

He said the airlines was in the process of negotiations with Indian carriers, including Jet Airways, Indian Airlines and Spice Jet for mutual ticket acceptance agreements to cover the Indian subcontinent.

(PTI)

Is taking pictures at Indian airports still illegal?
Never knew that it was illegal!

Is taking pictures at Indian airports still illegal?
i dont know the details,but if i am correct it is ok to take pictures now. The law against taking pics in and outside the airport was repealed this year

Lufthansa Increases Flights From India, Introduces New Cuisine

NEW DELHI, July 20 Asia Pulse - Leading European carrier Lufthansa announced an increase in its weekly services from India and introduction of new cuisine on long haul flights to cater to the growing number of Indian travellers.

Designating noted Indian chef Hemant Oberoi, the Chef de Cuisine of Taj Hotel in Mumbai, as the 'Star Chef', Lufthansa's Director (South Asia) Werner Heesen said the number of Indian passengers to Germany had grown considerably in the recent past with the recently liberalised bilateral air traffic agreement.

Lufthansa would add six services this October end to its 32 flights a week at present connecting Frankfurt with Mumbai, Chennai, Bangalore and Hyderabad, and Munich with Delhi, he said.

Observing that travellers from different regions in India had varied food choices, Heesen said the meals offered on the flight would cater to different palates and diverse culinary tastes.

He said the choice of meals on board were made on the basis of customer feedback and consequent improvement of existing meals plus introduction of new ones.

As per the fresh culinary plan designed to pamper high class travellers, Lufthansa would offer 66 dishes for the First Class and 42 for Business Class passengers. While such menus were already being offered on Delhi-Munich sector, they would be introduced in other sectors from September 1.

Maintaining that meals on board were different from those available in restaurants, Oberoi said each meal, therefore, had to be innovatively prepared and ensured that it remained tasty and satisfying at a height of 30,000 feet.

Lufthansa Increases Flights From India, Introduces New Cuisine

NEW DELHI, July 20 Asia Pulse - Leading European carrier Lufthansa announced an increase in its weekly services from India and introduction of new cuisine on long haul flights to cater to the growing number of Indian travellers.

Designating noted Indian chef Hemant Oberoi, the Chef de Cuisine of Taj Hotel in Mumbai, as the 'Star Chef', Lufthansa's Director (South Asia) Werner Heesen said the number of Indian passengers to Germany had grown considerably in the recent past with the recently liberalised bilateral air traffic agreement.

Lufthansa would add six services this October end to its 32 flights a week at present connecting Frankfurt with Mumbai, Chennai, Bangalore and Hyderabad, and Munich with Delhi, he said.

Observing that travellers from different regions in India had varied food choices, Heesen said the meals offered on the flight would cater to different palates and diverse culinary tastes.

He said the choice of meals on board were made on the basis of customer feedback and consequent improvement of existing meals plus introduction of new ones.

As per the fresh culinary plan designed to pamper high class travellers, Lufthansa would offer 66 dishes for the First Class and 42 for Business Class passengers. While such menus were already being offered on Delhi-Munich sector, they would be introduced in other sectors from September 1.

Maintaining that meals on board were different from those available in restaurants, Oberoi said each meal, therefore, had to be innovatively prepared and ensured that it remained tasty and satisfying at a height of 30,000 feet.
Wonderful!

India may renegotiate $2 bln, 43 plane Airbus deal

NEW DELHI, July 21 (Reuters) - The Indian government plans to renegotiate an order worth about $2 billion from European plane maker Airbus [ARBU.UL] for state-run domestic carrier Indian Airlines [IA.UL], the civil aviation minister said on Thursday.

Praful Patel said the government had set up a panel to "make one last attempt" to reduce the cost of the 43 Airbus aircraft, a proposed order that was approved last November by India's Public Investment Board but still needed final government approval.

The Indian Airlines board had originally approved the purchase in March 2002.

"I agree there could be a delay of a few months in the acquisition of the aircraft," Patel told reporters. "These are high value transactions so therefore there should be the maximum possible transparency and everyone wants to be careful."

Indian Airlines plans to buy 19 A319s, four A320s and 20 A321s as part of a five-year fleet renewal programme.

The government had decided to renegotiate the purchase from Airbus, which is owned 80 percent by European aerospace group EADS and 20 percent by Britain's BAE Systems , as the government felt the current price was too high.

All the aircraft will be fitted with CFM-56 engines made jointly by General Electric Co. and Snecma [SNEC.UL], a state-controlled French aerospace company.

"The finance ministry and the civil aviation ministry have agreed that it is in the best interest of the carrier that there should be a renegotiation for better price," Patel said.

The decision comes after Airbus's public protest against state-run carrier Air-India's [AI.UL] decision to buy 50 long-range planes from U.S. arch-rival Boeing Co. for about $7 billion, alleging some irregularities in the deal.

Ninety percent of the Indian Airlines acquisition cost will be funded by foreign borrowings guaranteed by the government.

The new planes will allow it to retire older jets as it attempts to win back market share.

India's nascent private airline industry is taking off, with low-cost carriers vying for passengers as fares fall. Carriers have been modernising fleets and expanding as the government deregulates the sector.

Indian carriers accounted for more than half of the $13 billion of jet deals carved up between Boeing and Airbus at the Paris air show in June.

Indian Airlines IPO Inches Ahead
Price, Fleet Key
21 July 2005

NEW DELHI (Dow Jones)--Buoyed by the surge in air travel and a booming stock market, state-run Indian Airlines (IAIR.YY) Thursday moved closer toward an initial public offering, inviting bids from advisers.

In a newspaper advertisement, the carrier said interested banks would have to submit bids by August end.

"We will evaluate the bids soon after the date so that we can appoint the advisers at the earliest possible time," said a senior Indian Airlines official, who didn't want to be named.

The selected banks will advise the company on the quantum, pricing, valuation, and timing of the offering.

The official said the carrier is preparing to tap the market either at end of this year or early in 2006.

The government, which owns all of Indian Airlines, has said it plans to sell a 10%-15% stake.

"We need the money to fund our fleet expansion," said the official.

Analysts say the government may have to clear the airline's proposal to buy 43 Airbus (ABI.YY) planes worth $2.2 billion before the issue.

The proposal has been pending since March 2002.

Although Indian Airlines began as a monopoly domestic carrier, its growth has been hobbled by its aging fleet, shortage of aircraft, and high costs since the aviation sector was opened to competition in the mid '90s.

Kapil Kaul, chief executive officer at the Center for Asia Pacific Aviation, a consultancy, said most Indian Airlines planes are about 20 years old while the average commercial airliner is only 15 years old.

Indian Airlines now has 62 aircraft and a market share under 40%, trailing privately owned Jet Airways (532617.BY), which started operations in 1993 and listed on the stock exchange in March this year.

India's aviation sector is witnessing double-digit growth mainly due to rising middle class incomes and government measures to deregulate the sector.

In the financial year ended March 31, 2005, Indian passengers on domestic and international routes made a total of 48.7 million trips, up 11% on year.

Over the past year, low cost airlines like Air Deccan, Spice Jet (500285.BY) and Kingfisher Airlines have started operations, further nibbling into Indian Airlines' market share.

The equities market has also surged to record levels. The benchmark Sensex has gained 10% since the start of the year, crossing the key 7,000-point level on June 20. It hit a record 7,392.67 on July 20.

"I am not very optimistic about the (Indian Airlines) IPO," said Asia Pacific Aviation's Kaul.

"The issue will fare reasonably well. But it has to be priced properly," said Kalpesh Parekh, an analyst at ASK Raymond James.

Jet's IPO, priced at a steep INR1,100 ($25.3) per share, was subscribed 16.2 times. The company raised INR18.98 billion by selling 17.26 million shares.

"There cannot be any comparison with Jet," said Kaul, who feels that Indian Airlines will have to price its issue much lower.

Gurunath Mudlapur, head of research of Khandwala Securities Ltd. said the government's support in terms of guarantees given to the airline for aircraft purchases will also influence the issue.

Indian Airlines posted its first profit in three years in the year ended March 31, 2004, attributing it to increased passenger traffic. For the quarter ended June 30, 2005, it recorded a five-fold rise in net profit to INR284.50 million, helped by cost cutting.

Analysts say managing costs will remain a challenge. Many point out that the airline's workforce, currently numbering 18,562, needs trimming.

question is what the trade union will say about IPO.

Just a random question, but when is AI going to start receiving its Boeing order? Are these planes actually going to have MODERN amenities (personal TV, functioning radio, video games, etc.) and are they going to be more spacious than the current fleet? I'm wondering mainly because it seems like AI planes are held together by glue and haven't been changed in fifty years even though every flight is packed. :)

India, Philippines Sign Liberalised Air Traffic Agreement

NEW DELHI, July 22 Asia Pulse - India and the Philippines today agreed to liberalize bilateral civil aviation traffic under which each side will operate up to a maximum seven flights a week and have access to more destinations.

The agreement was formalized in a Memorandum of Understanding signed by the two sides wrapping up two days extensive deliberations here to revise their existing Air Services Agreement signed in 1949.

Under the MoU, designated carriers of India and the Philippines will be able to operate upto a maximum of seven flights per week with any aircraft not exceeding the capacity of Boeing 747 and will have access to four ports of call each, an official release here said.

While air carriers of the Philippines will be able mount flights to Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata and Chennai, airlines of India will be able to operate flights to Manila and three other places to be selected, it said adding a new route schedule between the two countries was being drafted.

The Philippines expressed keeness to operate flights to Bangalore and Hyderabad.

Under the MoU, the designated airlines of one country can enter into operative arrangements,including code sharing, with the designated airlines of the other.

Civil Aviation Secretary Ajay Prasad led the Indian team at the talks while the Filipino Deputy Foreign Minister Franklin M Ebdalin headed his country's delegation.

(PTI)

SkyTeam strengthens position in India with KLM service to Hyderabad

AMSTERDAM, July 25 (AFP) - The SkyTeam alliance, consisting of Air France-KLM and US carrier Northwest, will reinforce its position in India this winter as KLM launches flights from Amsterdam to Hyderabad, KLM said in a statement Monday.

KLM which is part of Air France will start thrice-weekly flights between Amsterdam and Hyderabad as of October 30. In addition KLM will increase its capacity on its daily service to New Delhi.

For the winter schedule Northwest airlines will start daily roundtrip flights between Amsterdam and Bangalore while Air France will operate five roundtrip flights a week between Paris and Bangalore.

In the fiscal year 2004-2005 the number of international and domestic passengers in India grew 22 percent to 42 million, KLM said.

A view of the interior of the newly-expanded Terminal 1-B of Chatrapati Shivaji International Airport in Mumbai as of 26-07-2005.

http://tinypic.com/9hkwhg.jpg
copyright:PTI

First Flight Takes Off From Rain-Soaked Mumbai

MUMBAI, July 29 Asia Pulse - Nearly two days after the Mumbai airport was closed down due to incessant rains and flooding of the runway, Indian Airlines Thursday operated its first flight out of the city with 144 passengers onboard to Delhi.

The Indian Airlines Airbus A-320 left the Mumbai airport at 1:20 pm, airline sources said here.

Earlier, with limited navigational aids made available by the Airports Authority of India (AAI), the city airport was made "partially operational" and four aircraft, including three with relief materials, landed early Thursday.

"A special flight with Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (NSI:ONGC) Chairman Subir Raha and his team also landed as we have made the airport available for visual landing by aircraft with the help of limited navigational aids such as the localiser and the distance measuring equipment", AAI airport director Sudhir Kumar said.

Kumar said water has receded and visibility (upto 2.5 km) has improved considerably.

The Mumbai airport had been closed since 2.30 pm on Tuesday.

The flights were suspended after the runway of Mumbai airport was flooded when the Mithi river adjoining the airport, overflowed and inundated it.

(PTI)

Looks like HYD airport project is catching up with the one in Bangalore. This is a very healthy development as the competition heats up..

An extract from business-standard

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Referring to the Bangalore international airport achieving financial closure in June 2005, Andhra Pradesh chief minister announced that the financial closure for the Hyderabad international airport is scheduled to be concluded tomorrow.

“Well, if your airport project commences commercial operations in March 2008, we will also do it at the same time, perhaps with a day's gap,” he said.

He also referred to the 8-lane 160-km outer ringroad project with 20 satellite towns proposed around Hyderabad and the knowledge corridor being planned to house IT, ITeS, banking and education sectors in 20,000 acres near the city.

Reddy also expressed his keenness on public-private-participation (PPP) in drinking water, waste water management, sectorwise infrastructure development to suit sectors such as apparel, pharma, agro-processing and auto clusters. He also invited PPPs in building integrated residential enclaves in Hyderabad, Tirupati and Warangal.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Air India Jet Skids Off Runway In Mumbai; No Injuries
30 July 2005

BOMBAY (AP)--An Air India (AIN.YY) plane to Chicago skidded off the runway of the international airport in rain-battered Bombay and got stuck in soft ground, but no injuries were reported among the crew and the 335 passengers, an airline spokesman said.

All passengers on the Boeing 747-400 from India's software hub of Bangalore to Chicago via Bombay and Frankfurt have been evacuated and shifted to another plane, said Jeetendra Bhargava, Air India spokesman.

The runway was closed temporarily, he said.

The airport was closed Tuesday after record monsoon rains lashed Bombay and its outlying areas, claiming nearly 750 lives. Some runways reopened Thursday.

Friday August 19, 8:22 PM
India's Wadia Group Plans Low-Cost Airline

AP - Indian industrial conglomerate Wadia group, best known for its textile brand Bombay Dyeing, will launch a low-cost airline in October and is in talks with Airbus and Boeing Co. to buy 50 new jets over the next five to seven years, an official said Friday.

The new carrier, GoAir, will operate with up to 22 used Airbus A-320 planes for the first two years, when deliveries of the new planes will begin, Jeh Wadia, managing director of GoAirline (India) Pvt. Ltd, told The Associated Press.

"We want to be the lowest-cost airline in India," Wadia said, adding his airline would target passengers traveling in air-conditioned train coaches and overnight bus services.

Wadia declined to divulge investment details, but 50 new mid-size aircraft typically cost $3 billion under list prices.

The first flight will take off from the western city of Bombay, where the Wadias have their head office, but its destination or other routes have not been decided yet, he said. Each flight will offer 180 seats in a single class.

GoAir's acquisition plans take the total number of aircraft to be acquired by Indian budget carriers in the next five years to 305.

For decades, air travel in India had been expensive and largely dominated by state-owned carriers. But several new budget carriers have been attracting first-time flyers and aviation experts expect business to grow by 25 percent per year.

In the fiscal year that ended March 2005, some 16 million plane tickets were sold in India. Budget carriers offer at least 30 percent lower fares compared to big carriers and have schemes that sell tickets for as low as $16 each.

Budget carriers cut costs by doing away with in-flight meals, adding more seats, selling tickets on the Internet and working with a small crew.

India's first low-cost carrier, Air Deccan, began operations in August 2003 and hopes to serve 4 million tickets in the fiscal year ending March 2006.

SpiceJet and Kingfisher Airlines began operations in early 2005 and at least half a dozen budget carriers plan to begin operations in the next few months.

The Wadia group is engaged in textiles, chemicals, food, plantations, health care and education.

Indian Airlines plane with 87 aboard makes emergency landing

NEW DELHI, Aug 27 (AFP) - An Indian Airlines plane with 87 passengers aboard made an emergency landing soon after takeoff at New Delhi's airport Saturday following the pilot's detection of a technical fault, a report said.

The plane was on a domestic flight to the southern city of Hyderabad, the Press Trust of India reported, quoting unidentified police sources.

It returned to the airport within half an hour of its departure after the pilot detected a hydraulic problem, the news agency said.

Fire engines and ambulances rushed to the runway and the plane arrived safely, the report said.

Delhi, Mumbai airports to be modernised

The modernisation drive for Delhi and Mumbai airports is finally ready for take-off. Civil aviation minister Praful Patel on Wednesday announced that the final transaction document inviting financial and technical bids from private developers for Delhi and Mumbai airport modernisation will be issued next week.

The bids from the eight shortlisted bidders -- which include the Reliance group and the Bharti-Changi consortium -- would be received by mid-September 2005, Patel told the Parliamentary Consultative Committee meeting on Wednesday.

Replying to queries raised about Delhi and Mumbai airports, the minister said the process of modernisation and restructuring of the two airports was underway. He regretted the delay but stated that the objective was to build world-class airports in the league of Kuala Lumpur and Dubai airports.

The empowered group of ministers (eGoM) had recently decided that the airports will be handed over to the successful bidders in the current state only and clearing of land and evacuation of illegal dwellers will have to undertaken by the company.

The eGoM had also postponed the last date for seeking bids from the shortlisted private developer consortia in view of objections raised by the Attorney General of India, finance ministry and Planning Commission, that the current modalities of the modernisation exercise might lead to serious legal wrangles.

The last date for accepting bids has been postponed as the transaction documents for the two projects were being reviewed to avoid any legal issues. The redrafted documentation has now been cleared by the law ministry and will be issued to the bidders next week.

In Delhi, bidders will be allowed to utilise 5% of the total area earmarked for the new airport for commercial development, while 70% will be set aside for runway development.

Indian airline passenger arrrested after bomb hoax

NEW DELHI, Aug 29 (AFP) - An Indian airline passenger was arrested Monday after starting a bomb scare which halted a domestic flight as it was about to take off, an airline spokeswoman said.

"The passenger was insisting on using his mobile phone even when we were taxiing," the Jet Airways spokesman said.

"Suddenly he started shouting there was a bomb on board, bomb on board. So the flight was abandoned and taken to a secluded area."

She said security guards rummaged through the baggage and cargo but found nothing. The flight finally took off from New Delhi for the southern city of Bangalore after a four-hour delay.

"The passenger was taken into police custody. So there were 98 passengers instead of 99 when the flight finally took off," the spokeswoman added.

It was not known when the man would be brought before a court.

OH NO

India raises aviation fuel price to offset soaring global oil prices

NEW DELHI, Aug 31 (AFP) - State-run Indian oil firms would raise the price of aviation fuel by five percent from Wednesday midnight (1830 GMT)to offset the soaring global oil prices, an official said.

"Jet fuel prices for domestic airlines are being hiked," an official of Indian Oil Corp, the country's biggest oil retailer, said.

The hike in aviation fuel prices is expected to trigger an increase in air ticket prices as the component constitutes nearly a third of the airlines' operating costs.

India, which imports nearly 70 percent of its oil needs, has so far refrained from hiking the price of commonly consumed fuels such as petrol and kerosene.

But officials expect the government to soon raise the prices of all fuels as state-run oil distribution firms were piling up huge losses in order to protect consumers from the impact of global oil prices which crossed 70 dollars per barrel this week.

India, UK Sign Deals On Aviation, Film, Oil
8 September 2005

NEW DELHI (AP)--The leaders of the U.K. and India said they had reinforced the strong ties between their nations at talks Thursday, signing deals to increase flights between the countries and boost cooperation between their film and oil industries.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair said that in two days of meetings with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh the countries had helped "cement the new modern relationship between Britain and India."

In a reflection of that relationship, Blair and Singh inked a deal allowing the number of direct passenger flights between Britain and India to triple this year from the 84 a week currently permitted, and possibly to double again next year.

The deal replaces a 1951 treaty and also includes fair competition guarantees and new safety and security rules as well removing some price restrictions.

"Our relationship is very special and one that contains exceptional potential," Singh said told reporters. "Both governments are determined to realize this potential."

Officials from both sides provided few details of the film and oil deals.

India and Britain also signed an agreement on protecting intellectual property rights, boosting training and education on patent enforcement, an issue of major concern to Western companies that say their movies and music are being pirated in countries like India.

Singh said that Blair also reiterated Britain's support for India's bid to have a permanent seat on the U.N. Security Council. He said the two discussed terrorism as well.

Britain and India have had good relations and strong business and cultural ties for years, following a rocky period surrounding India's independence in 1947. There are a million Britons of Indian descent, and the volume of travel between the nations is heavy.

"We are two countries that have undergone a lot of change," Blair said after the meeting on the banks of a lake surrounded by 17th century palaces in Udaipur in the northwestern desert state of Rajasthan.

"A few years ago, people coming in from abroad, buying up English companies and turning them around would have been controversial," he said. "We benefited from that opening up and certainly there is need to continue that process."

Before the meeting with Singh, Blair got a taste of traditional India when his convoy was repeatedly slowed by herds of cattle - revered by Hindu Indians - that meandered freely on the road in Udaipur.

While some in the West view India's rise as a threat, Blair argues it presents a major opportunity for increased trade. He says Europe must embrace, not resist, fast-paced global economic integration and build close relationships with new trading partners.

That's what he has sought to do on his four-day Asian visit aimed at increasing Europe's business ties with India and China, two burgeoning economic powers. China was his first stop.

The prime minister, whose country holds the rotating E.U. presidency, led India-E.U. talks on Wednesday.

At those talks, the two sides signed agreements on trade, technology and security cooperation, and India underscored what officials said was a turning point in relations between the two sides by announcing a plan to spend $2.2 billion on new Airbus planes.

A joint statement released after the summit said India and the E.U. had pledged to boost anti-terrorism cooperation and crack down on terrorist financing and money laundering.

The leaders said a trade board would be created to promote business between India and Europe, and they agreed to work together to find clean energy sources to fight global warming. The E.U. also pledged to press for India's participation in an international nuclear fusion research program.

Blair was scheduled to fly home to London later Thursday.

Indian Royal To Start Luxury Domestic Airline
13 September 2005

NEW DELHI (AP)--An Indian royal is banking on his heritage to fill seats in his latest venture - a luxury domestic airline that will even have a separate cabin for servants.

Srikanta Datta Narasimharaja Wodeyar is still deciding whether to call his new venture Sky Palace or Palace in the Sky. But if all goes according to plan, his airline will in late 2006 or 2007 start flying wealthy Indians between the country's cities.

Wodeyar, who will be the airline's chairman, would be the maharaja of Mysore, in southern India, if the country's socialist-inspired constitution hadn't dispensed with such titles in 1950.

But the old royal families still have cachet, and Wodeyar is hoping his name will lend the airline an aristocratic air that will help it fill a niche in India's expanding air travel market, which for decades was largely dominated by state-owned airlines.

The government opened the market in the 1990s and several new budget carriers have been driving down prices and attracting first-time flyers, leading aviation experts to forecast 25% a year growth for the industry.

Wodeyar is hoping to cash in on that growth. But his airline will be anything but budget.

"We're targeting the type of person who drives in a Mercedes," he told The Associated Press in a telephone interview from Mysore.

The bulk of the seats will essentially be what other airlines sell as first class - seats will be 54 inches wide, about triple the standard 18-inch economy seat, he said, adding that fares will be competitive for their class.

There will, however, be an economy cabin of between eight and 15 seats "for servants," Wodeyar said.

"There are people who may want to travel with one or two servants," he explained. "But they don't have to fly in the same cabin."

Details are still being worked out, but he said the startup cost should be about $100 million and that initially the airline will have only two planes. The fleet should grow to 21 jets within the first 18 months of operation, he said, adding that the airline would eventually fly to more than three dozen cities.

Austrian carrier plans to increase services to India
13 September 2005
Associated Press Newswires

BOMBAY, India -- The Austrian Airlines Group said Tuesday it plans to expand its services to southern India to tap into a growing numbers of Indian air travelers.

Austrian Airlines already operates daily flights from Vienna to India's capital New Delhi and began a five-times-a-week service to Bombay on Sept. 1.

Josef Burger, chief commercial officer, said the airline may consider a third destination such as Madras, Bangalore or Hyderabad in southern India.

The group includes Austrian Airlines, Austrian Arrows and Lauda Air and covers 130 destinations in 66 countries.

"Last year 39,000 Indians visited Austria and this trend continues to rise," Burger told reporters Tuesday. He said the airline was in touch with the Austrian tourist industry to increase tourist traffic from India.

The airline is keen to exploit the huge number of Indians traveling overseas for vacations. Burger estimated that about 50 million Indian tourists could afford to travel outside the country.

Chief Executive Officer Vagn Soerensen said the carrier expected to carry 145,000 passengers on the New Delhi-Vienna route this year and 30,000 passengers on the Bombay service for the remainder of the year.

The airline added Shanghai and Singapore to its services last year and its new service to Bombay is part of expansion plans on long-haul routes.

India's Kingfisher: fuel challenging, growth intact

AMSTERDAM, Sept 15 (Reuters) - India's Kingfisher Airlines said on Thursday it was feeling the heat from high oil prices but was on track to make a profit in its second year and expand abroad with a new fleet of superjumbo planes.

"We are facing huge challenges at the moment. The fuel price is set by the Indian government on a monthly basis and we are not allowed to hedge," Chief Operating Officer Nigel Harwood told the World Low-Cost Airline summit in Amsterdam.

Kingfisher sprung a huge $3 billion order for 15 Airbus aircraft, including five superjumbo A380s, in June as it seeks to capitalise on India's fast-growing air traffic.

The three-month-old carrier last week called for proposals to supply engines for the five mid-sized A330 aircraft it plans to acquire but did not expect to make a decision on the contract until at least the end of 2005, he said.

Contracts to supply engines for all 15 planes would be worth more than $1 billion. The A330 contract could determine who also supplies engines for the five A380s and five long-haul A350s it has on order.

"We could make a complete decision on all engine types but at the moment the focus is pretty much on the A330," Harwood told Reuters.

Kingfisher is the brainchild of liquor tycoon Vijay Mallya, whose UB Group makes Kingfisher beer, India's top-selling brand, and a host of lifestyle goods.

India's newly deregulated aviation sector is forecast to grow 20 percent a year over the next five years as budget carriers draw in rail passengers in a country where less than 1 percent of the billion-plus people travel by air.

Kingfisher competes with a swathe of carriers but Harwood said he expected many of India's airlines to fold or consolidate as ticket prices were too low.

"It will be a bloodbath in India," he told the conference, echoing the words used by Ryanair to describe the European market a year ago.

India has also been hit by a severe pilot shortage as new airlines pay large sums to poach staff from rival airlines.

Harwood said Kingfisher was in talks with several companies to set up an in-house pilot training academy in 2007.

Sunday September 25, 11:35 AM
State airlines face dogfight for Indian skies

NEW DELHI (AFP) - Air India and its domestic counterpart, Indian Airlines, are buying more than 100 planes to revamp ageing fleets but still face a bruising battle to win back market share, analysts say.

To reclaim India's crowded skies, the state-run carriers must jettison their bureaucratic management style and prune bloated workforces in order to outwit rivals who are driving down ticket prices, they say.

Industry watchers also say that the Indian state airlines boast some of the region's top managerial talent but are unable to achieve their potential because of rigid government control

"Restructuring of both carriers is long overdue," said Kapil Kaul, chief executive officer of the India office of the Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation, a consultancy. "It's high time they moved toward professionalising their managements. Otherwise, they'll just keep bleeding."

Indian Airlines is planning to buy 43 Airbus aircraft while Air India expects to get the government go-ahead soon to buy up to 68 Boeing jets.

The carriers, which used to rule Indian skies before liberalisation opened the way to competition in the early 1990s, are expected to start taking delivery of the new planes in 2006.

The fleet revamps and expansions will help the airlines in their fight to regain market share, analysts say, but they add that more will be needed in terms of aggressive marketing and promotions.

"Aircraft is a basic need," said Subhash Goyal, president of the Indian Association of Tour Operators. "We must compliment the government for taking the purchase decision, but that alone will not be enough.

"Both the airlines should upgrade their product in terms of service."

From its former monopoly position, Indian Airlines has seen its market share slump to 33 percent of the domestic passenger market, behind Jet Airways, which has 43 percent and regularly wins awards for good service and food.

Aside from Jet, Indian Airlines is facing competition from three new domestic carriers launched in the past 18 months which have slashed tickets to close to rail travel prices through tight financial controls.

Air India, famed for its smiling maharaja mascot, is also in the doldrums with just 20 percent of Indian international passenger traffic.

It faces merciless competition from rivals who are discounting tickets by 15 to 20 percent, analysts say.

India's cumbersome red tape and political interference is stifling the ability of the carriers to make nimble decisions and match the aggressive tactics of its rivals, say industry-watchers.

"We hope to have a product with much greater appeal with the new aircraft," an Indian Airlines spokesman said, but he added that the airline planned no changes to its management operations.

Global consultancy firm A.T. Kearney had been appointed to recommend organisational changes with the aim of sharpening the international carrier's competitive edge.

But a former Air India board member, who did not want to be identified, said there was "little hope" of a big change in their business tactics.

He said the two airlines should join their networks to take on rivals, but added that the move would never materialise as long as the government was in the cockpit.

Independent New Delhi-based transport consultant O.P. Ahuja urged the Congress Party government to sell off stakes in the airlines, a move hotly opposed by its leftist backers, on whom it relies for support in parliament.

"It would bring in more professional management," said Ahuja. "Otherwise, I'm afraid they will lose the game."

Aside from their bureaucratic management style, analysts say the two airlines are also hobbled by too many staff. The airlines have a combined workforce of 35,000, with a ratio of 350 to 400 staff to an aircraft.

Most airlines around the globe have no more than 100 employees per plane.

"I don't see how Indian Airlines and Air India can compete with their present cost structure," said Kaul.

India looks to sell 10 to 20 percent of Air India, Indian Airlines

MUMBAI, Sept 26 (AFP) - India plans to sell 10 to 20 per cent of its stakes in state-owned Air India and Indian Airlines in initial public offerings (IPOs) planned for next year aimed at financing fleet expansion, a report said Monday.

"The actual figure will depend upon the recommendation of financial consultants who will be appointed shortly," Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel told a business conference in Mumbai, the Press Trust of India reported.

Patel said earlier that the IPOs were slated for early 2006.

They are planned to help fund the state-run airlines' expansion requirements

The government recently approved domestic carrier Indian Airlines' plans to buy 43 aircraft from European planemaker Airbus to update its ageing fleet.

International flag-carrier Air India expects to get the government go-ahead soon to buy up to 68 jets from US aircraft giant Boeing.

"Not only these two airlines, but all other airlines need to have healthy balance sheets before going for expansion. Therefore, we need to enhance the equity base (of Air India and Indian Airlines)," Patel said.

While India's aviation industry has been growing quickly, it was still a long way from achieving maturity in terms of infrastructure, equity capital and flights, he added.

"The objective of my ministry is to spread aviation beyond Mumbai and Delhi," Patel said, noting that the vast bulk of India's one billion plus population still travels by rail.

"Air traffic in India accounts for 0.5 per cent of our population. This figure can easily grow 10 times," he said.