Continued from here

ttp://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=143494

Indigo to introduce new daily flights from 10 March on the following routes

1) Chennai Delhi Chennai
2) Chennai Mumbai Chennai (2nd flight)
3) Delhi Mumbai Delhi

Chennai Airporthttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9a/ChennaiAirport.jpg:


There seems to be plenty of room around Chennai airport to the right of the picture for expansion without the need for a greenfield airport in Chennai, I don't see any problem with land aquisition there.

In contrast, Kolkata airport could hardly be more boxed in and surrounded by homes. It seems it would be very difficult to acquire land for expansion of Kolkata airport without upsetting a lot of people, but it should still be tried before going ahead with a greenfield airport, which would force the current airport to shut down.

Kolkata airport:
http://www.knowindia.net/pics/airports/kolkata_airport3.jpg
http://www.knowindia.net/pics/airports/kolkata_airport2.jpg

anyone know if air india has become a member of the star alliance yet? I thought it was in the works.

Only after the Air India-Indian merger they will plan to join.

After the merger is finished, the combined entity will decide on the issue of joining the Star Alliance or any other global airline consortium to leverage better operational efficiency in international and domestic operations.
Source (http://www.business-standard.com/common/storypage.php?autono=275316&leftnm=1&subLeft=0&chkFlg=)

IOC pumping up fuelling infrastructure at airports

V. Sajeev Kumar

The company has given orders for 40 additional bowzers for refuelling to meet the growing demand.

Riding on the boom in the air traffic in the country, Indian Oil Corporation Ltd is upgrading its infrastructure facilities it has created at various airports. This is to provide better service aircraft in supplying aviation fuel as the company controls over 97 airports out of 117 in the country. Indian Oil, with a share of 65 per cent of the aviation fuel market, is the major player both in civil and defence airports thereby meeting the requirements of 21 domestic, 64 international and 250 private airlines.

Between one sunrise and the next, Indian Oil refuels 1,400 aircraft — that is, one aircraft every minute somewhere in the country — a senior official of Indian Oil told Business Line on the sidelines of the International Aviation conference in Kochi.

Air Traffic

The aviation fuel business, he says, is growing at about 20 per cent, and this is expected to continue on account of the growth in the aviation industry. The setting up of extensive network of fuel supply infrastructure by several oil companies had also helped to achieve the surge in air traffic in the recent period that prompted airlines to fly to locations, hitherto, considered remote.

Given the growth in the sector, Indian Oil is upgrading its aviation operating service standards by entering into strategic tie-ups with international oil majors. Indian Oil has forged an alliance with Air BP, one of the largest aviation fuel companies in the world, for technology innovations. The aviation industry, he said, is moving towards a global bench. The customers are global and they demand the same standards everywhere. In this situation, the tie-ups with global companies would further help transfer significant learning in the business. Likewise, Indian Oil had a joint venture company AviOil Ltd in partnership with Nyco SA of France and Balmer Lawrie.

Indian Oil's safety and quality standards are also benchmarked to global partners. The company is trying to move towards hydrant refuelling system at pumps at airports, which allows flights to fuel faster.

Hydrant Refuelling

The system was recently commissioned at the Kolkata airport and is setting up a more advanced automated hydrant refuelling system at the Thiruvananthapuram airport. The facility will be ready in two months and with this, the Thiruvananthapuram airport will be the first airport in the country to have such facility.

In Chennai, he said, the company is laying a pipeline directly from the supply point to the aviation fuel station, not only to ensure speedy supplies, but also to eliminate truck movement. In anticipation of the airport upgrade programme, the company is leading a consortium of global infrastructure companies, such as Skytanking and Indian Oil Tanking Ltd, for setting up new generation facilities at the new Bangalore International Airport Ltd.

"In Mauritius, we are a part of the consortium of energy majors supplying aviation fuel to several international airlines. We have already achieved a market share of 25 per cent there and are also looking at African markets. Since we have a terminal facility in Mauritius, it is much easier to enter Africa," he said.

ATF Prices

Indian Oil is moving towards technology innovations. To become the least cost supplier, he said there is a need for getting advanced technology. The company has ordered for 40 new additional bowzers for refuelling schedule to meet the growing demand. Today ever more number of aircraft taking off and there is a need to keep pace with the airline industry. The company's philosophy in aviation is "least cost supplier to customer and no delay in service," he said.

The official also stressed the need for rationalisation of the sales tax structure by State governments to bring down the ATF prices. Various State governments are charging different types of taxes for ATF and there is a need for a uniform structure. Today, aviation fuel prices, which is linked to international crude oil prices, constitute 35 per cent of the operating cost of any aircraft. If the State governments decide to bring down the prices, it would help airlines operate more services at competitive rates, he added.

Apart from this, he hoped the airport modernisation programme and related infrastructure development taken up recently at several airports would help sustain the growth in the aviation sector in next few years.

Nice to see that state-of-the-art facilities like hydrant distribution are being set up in major airports. This ATF taxation issue is a long standing woe of the aviation industry, and I hope the State Govt.s rethink their "bleed the golden goose till it dies" policy soon! :okay:

Dabolim Airport (Goa)

New Terminal u/c ???
photo copyright lovelylyan

http://img179.imageshack.us/img179/5540/goaairportlovelylyannb8.jpg

photo copyright krishnaraj

http://img179.imageshack.us/img179/6940/goaairportkrishnarajzh1.jpg

`Air Sahara to increase presence in South' (http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2007/02/28/stories/2007022800550700.htm)


Air Sahara is to increase its presence in south India from March this year, the airline President, Mr Alok Sharma, said here on Tuesday.

"We will be adding Coimbatore on to the route map. Not only will the airline be extending the daily Delhi-Bangalore flight to Coimbatore, but it will also operate a daily flight from Bangalore. In addition, the airline will operate two new daily flights from Delhi to Kochi.

"While one flight will operate through Bangalore, the other flight will be go through Hyderabad," Mr Sharma said. The new flights are to be operated from March 10.

In addition, the airline has also started new flights on the Hyderabad-Pune and Nagpur-Pune sectors.

Air Sahara has also announced the start of two new daily flights between Delhi-Male and Thiruvananthapuram-Male from March 10. The airline has announced a change in the daily Delhi-Singapore flight that would now operate on the Delhi-Kuala Lumpur-Singapore sector. Kuala Lumpur would be the fifth international destination of the airline.

The airline has also received permission from the Government to operate a daily flight to Bangkok and Bishkek. "We will look to operate the Bishkek flight from next winter," Mr Sharma said.

Air traffic grew by 35.5% in April-Sept (http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2007/02/28/stories/2007022805701100.htm)


Domestic and international air passenger traffic grew by 35.5 per cent during April-September last year, according to the Economic Survey 2006-07.

The Survey indicates that while international passenger traffic grew by 15.8 per cent, domestic air passenger traffic posted 44.6 per cent growth.

The air cargo market recorded growth of 12 per cent, with international cargo carriage growing by 13.8 per cent and domestic cargo carriage by 8.7 per cent.

During the year, the Government set in motion a number of initiatives to improve connectivity, including awarding the contract for modernisation of Delhi and Mumbai airports to consortia led by the GMR and GVK groups respectively.

In addition, the Committee on Infrastructure approved the task force report for development of 35 non-metro airports.

The modernisation of these airports would be done by the Airports Authority of India (AAI).

The 35 airports to be taken up for modernisation include those at Coimbatore, Madurai, Tiruchi, Thiruvananthapuram, Visakhapatnam, Mangalore, Pune and Port Blair.

The year also saw the Government issue no-objection certificates for the import or acquisition of 42 aircraft by scheduled operators, 62 aircraft by non-scheduled operators and 31 aircraft by private operators.

Besides, in-principle approval for 135 aircraft was also granted to scheduled operators.

After a gap of several years, Indian signed an agreement to purchase 43 Airbus aircraft during the year, with the first aircraft joining the fleet before the end of the year.

Air India, which is to purchase 68 Boeing aircraft, also received the first aircraft of the order during the year.

The number of airlines operating in the country also increased, with at least two - Go Air and IndiGo - starting operations.

During 2006, private sector airlines introduced 22 new routes, the Survey added.

Paramount to land in western India (http://business-standard.com/compindustry/storypage.php?tab=r&autono=276101&subLeft=1&leftnm=1)

Paramount Airways, promoted by the Madurai-based textile manufacturer Paramount Group, is planning to enter western India, with Mumbai as its focal point.

M Thiagarajan, Managing Director, Paramount Airways, said: "We are operating over 50 flights in South India. We top the marketshare with 26 per cent in the period-ended December 2006 followed by 24 per cent each by Indian Airlines and Jet Airways."

"We are dominating the south Indian market and that is almost saturated. Now we are planning to enter western Indian with Mumbai as the hub. Our strategy is to dominate region after region region. We would be operating from Mumbai to other western destinations such as Ahmedabad, Bhuj, Nashik and others," Thiagarajan, one of the youngest airline company managing directors in the world, said.

This Chennai-based airline operated the Chennai-Delhi long haul service and later withdrew its operations.

"We realised that short haul services and regional connectivity would make sense for us. Now we connect almost all south Indian destinations like Coimbatore, Kochi, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Madurai and Chennai," he said.

The airline, which operates five Embraer aircraft presently, has placed orders for 15 more aircraft, with a listed price of $40 million each.

"With more airplanes coming in we will start linking western India to south India and later, by 2010, Paramount Airways will have a pan-India presence," Thiagarajan said.

Paramount Airways is a full service airline operating business and first class. "We are not in the low cost business. Our model is different. The focus is on passenger comfort and every seat is either a window or an aisle. There are no middle seats," he said.

The e-check-in, valet service, lounge facilities for all passengers are some of the service offered by this airline.

Paramount Airways is also planning to construct a hangar in Chennai for which Airports Authority of India (AAI) has already allotted land.

"Brazilian aircraft manufacturer Embraer would be associating with the airline company in transferring technological know-how," sources said.

Gossip? Will the new merged entity have a new name? Does that mean new logo, new paint jobs?

Speculations over name, 'Maharajah' still on
Tuesday February 27 2007 10:48 IST
http://www.newindpress.com/NewsItems.asp?ID=IEO20070227002655&Page=O&Title=Thiruvananthapuram&Topic=0

T'PURAM: With the merger of Air India and Indian drawing closer, speculations are rife about the name of the new company and the fate of Maharajah, the mascot of Air India.

Air Indian or Indian Air is among the likely names for the new national carrier, according to sources.

It is learnt that the name of the new airline has already been decided, but is kept under wraps.

Though the chances of retaining either Air India or Indian as the title of the new company are bleak, sources in the airline industry point to the fact that since the title Air India has already been well established all over the world it would be better to retain the title Air India from a commercial point of view.

The title Air Indian, a combination of Air India and Indian, is also doing the rounds. What adds to the workability of the title is that it sounds similar to Air India.

An entirely different change in the title will force the new company to invest heavily in popularising the new title. Hence the chances for titles like Bharat are also bleak. Moreover, the title Bharat is not familiar to foreigners.

Tata Airlines which was started in 1932 by J R D Tata became Air India in 1953 with the Centre acquiring major stakes. Indian Airlines was also started in 1953.

Air-India's logo 'Maharajah' which made its appearance in 1946 has become a familiar figure. The fate of 'Maharajah' too hangs in the balance with the merger of the national carriers.

The proposal for Air India-Indian merger was approved by the empowered committee of Union Ministers last week and it is now pending Cabinet approval.

The buggers should not touch Air India and the Maharaja. I love both of them.

Air Indian sounds odd. It has no flow. It's like Air American or Air Germany. If they want to do that then Indian Airways might be a way to go.

sell it to tata and rename it as tata airways ... just as it was. That sounds good

Retain the name Air India for the merged company.

To invoke the grand old memories of Tata's aviation is best left to bleeding hearts and grand memories of once upon a great airline with great management .. till GoI (Govt. of Indira) fornicated this company and made it into a mess that it is today.

Personally I would like to see Tata getting into the aviation business again; perhaps in a different phase / area of aviation than just starting another airline. They could perhaps dabble into offering something far more unique than what is on offer in India for av. business.

As for Air India + Indian Airlines guess work on what the new name would be? My nomination is for Indiair (pronounced as "INDI-AIR" )

IMHO - 'airlines / airways' is way too 70s-80s lexicon. 21st century names of air-line companies need to be different

Cheers
P2p4



sell it to tata and rename it as tata airways ... just as it was. That sounds good

The problem with Indiair (aside from it sounding like an airline from Indiana) and others with that sort of name is that it makes the airline sound like some sort of startup LCC. Adding airline/airways gives it that classic established sounding name.

whats wrong with air india? outside india thats the only known indian airline name anyways. and with the word india itself increasing its brand-worthiness, its worthwhile to piggy-back on it

Nothing wrong with Air India. I hope they keep that but it seems they've already chosen a new name so the speculation has begun. Then again, maybe they're being sneaky and keeping Air India and just saying there will be a change.

i have no doubt they will change the name. re-branding seems to be the new thing, so much easier than actually making real changes

i would be happiest if they removed any reference to india at all. would save most indians a lot of embarassment

How about an Indian name?

Meghdoot
Rajdoot
Varuna
:cheers2:

AIX 13th aircraft tails, VT-AXP

http://img85.imageshack.us/img85/9347/383ggggnk7.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

http://img85.imageshack.us/img85/7913/384817760a2c986dc87mln3.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

Copyright Rick Schlamp

AIX 13th aircraft tails, VT-AXP

http://img85.imageshack.us/img85/9347/383ggggnk7.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

http://img85.imageshack.us/img85/7913/384817760a2c986dc87mln3.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

Copyright Rick Schlamp

Raja Ravi Varma?

Raja Ravi Varma?

yes

I like the artwork of the tails.

Very different.

deleted:

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/NEWS/India/Mumbai_airport_plans_yet_to_be_ironed_out/articleshow/1633894.cms

AIX 13th aircraft tails, VT-AXP

http://img85.imageshack.us/img85/9347/383ggggnk7.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

http://img85.imageshack.us/img85/7913/384817760a2c986dc87mln3.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

Copyright Rick Schlamp

Awesome artwork! Raja Ravi Varma's masterpieces, no less. Gotta hand it to AIE for choosing the images and to the Boeing paintshop for this superb job. :okay:

Nice to see that state-of-the-art facilities like hydrant distribution are being set up in major airports. This ATF taxation issue is a long standing woe of the aviation industry, and I hope the State Govt.s rethink their "bleed the golden goose till it dies" policy soon!

And here it is - hydrant refuelling at Trivandrum International Airport! :okay:

http://img254.imageshack.us/img254/2898/picture030rsug6.jpg

Hope to see this at all the other major airports soon.

Awesome artwork! Raja Ravi Varma's masterpieces, no less. Gotta hand it to AIE for choosing the images and to the Boeing paintshop for this superb job. :okay:

It is my understanding that the tails are decals and not paint.

And here it is - hydrant refuelling at Trivandrum International Airport! :okay:


I'm surprised that BOM/DEL did not already have this, or do they?

Kingfisher to start flights to Lakshadweep (http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/002200703021512.htm)


Kingfisher Airlines will launch flights to Lakshadweep, the first by any private carrier, from tomorrow.

The Bangalore-Kochi-Agatti flight will operate thrice a week - Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, airport sources said.

The airline would use a 42-seater aircraft for operating the service. The first flight will be landing at Agatti at 1.30 pm tomorrow, the sources said.

Merged airline to take shape in 4 months: Patel (http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/businessline/blnus/14021406.htm)


The new entity formed after the merger of state-run carriers Air India and Indian will be in place within four months, the Civil Aviation Minister, Mr Praful Patel informed the Parliament on Friday.

Announcing the Government's decision to merge the two airlines in Parliament, Mr Patel said the amalgamation process would be carried out in phases over two years and its technical formalities put in place in the next 16 weeks.

"It is estimated this decision would result in the net benefit of Rs 600 crore at the end of third year of merger," he said in a statement laid in both Houses of Parliament.

"The technical and procedural formalities for merging the two airlines would begin immediately and one company with one name, one brand, one logo, one code and single financials is expected to be in place within the coming 16 weeks", he said.

Maintaining that the new airline would be comparable to any other major airline "at least in this region", Mr Patel said it would have a fleet of about 112 aircraft, with both international and domestic footprint.

The carrier would "set fresh benchmarks for efficiency and reliability, thus benefiting the civil aviation sector in the country, specially the travelling public", he said.

Mr Patel said in the past decade, the financial position of the two carriers had been adversely affected due to intense competition and their inability to induct new fleet. There had been a growing tendency of consolidation in the aviation sector, enabli ng airlines to achieve synergies and reduce costs, he added.

How about an Indian name?

Meghdoot
Rajdoot
Varuna
:cheers2:


The merged airline should not have the name 'air india', as it has a connotation of lousy service - I could write several pages on the subject. 'Indian Airlines' is no better.

Perhaps 'Indian' for the merged airline would be better, and replace the Maharaja with something else, because it gives the impression of a bufoon.

Anyway I would be happy if the service of the merged airline is elevated to world class standards.

Pretty strong words there Ved. Personally, I like the Maharajah. The thing about image is that it can be built, and if the new airline is really keen on reinventing itself, it can do so and in a couple of years people will talk about its quality instead of its bad service.

A new name and a new face will require a lot of work and a lot of money to establish the name recognition that Air India and its mascot has already.

Well said Kronik re brand 're'-imaging. I too would vote for the Maharaja but this is where I would depart in opinion.

The mascot of Maharaja has been cute no doubt but I developed a dislike to its 'bending & folding hands'. This is a new era, a new India and I feel, the Maharaja better be portrayed in dignity - or else - chuck him alltogether for some other mascot. The current Mah looks overly condescending.

This is my personal opinion though and does not mean that I am 100% against the current mascot.


Pretty strong words there Ved. Personally, I like the Maharajah. The thing about image is that it can be built, and if the new airline is really keen on reinventing itself, it can do so and in a couple of years people will talk about its quality instead of its bad service.

A new name and a new face will require a lot of work and a lot of money to establish the name recognition that Air India and its mascot has already.

A new name and a new face will require a lot of work and a lot of money to establish the name recognition that Air India and its mascot has already.

That is true for most companies where there is goodwill. For AirIndia/Indian Airlines they should start afresh with clean slate. Atleast they can eliminate negative goodwill :-)

We need New brand, New company, new focus most importantly new higher management that can turn around the huge assets they possess into operational profitability and eventually develop into a good brand over a period of time. If you look at the numbers, mostly Indians use AirIndia/Indian Airlines. Rebranding the new company to Indians is an easy task as we already know the airlines very well and we keep a tab on the changes.

To attract worldwide travellers, it is a tough task in a competitive industry. As of now it is a fact that there are no takers for Air India. I feel ashamed talking about Air India and travelled 4 times on US-India route in the last three years and never had a pleasant experience.

But as the travellers grew to india it can establish as a branded player with improved service.

Simple Example: How many people know Jet Airways and Air Sahara outside India? Not many.

But they are establishing their brand by providing quality service at international standards. Firstly among indians and with the rest. I am expecting the merged airlines do the same. Restablish a new image, new brand and new levels of service.

I have to admit that just renaming the airline would not do any good. Look at "Indian Airlines" to "Indian". Old wine in new bottle?

http://img161.imageshack.us/img161/2239/jetairwaysa330200vtjwffeh4.jpg (http://imageshack.us)


Photo from Planepictures.net

sweet

is that 9W's new colour scheme or is that plane still to be painted? coz that plane looks pretty lousy..

the engine looks sexy though.. :cheers:

is that 9W's new colour scheme or is that plane still to be painted?


nah, still to be painted

:banana:

Thiruvananthapuram: Work on the Rs.245.58-crore world-class international terminal complex of the Thiruvananthapuram airport is on in full swing.

Piling work for the terminal building on the Chakka side has begun. The work on the Rs.165-crore first phase, which includes the Rs.115-crore terminal building, apron and car park, will be carried out round-the-clock.

"To ensure that there is no delay owing to the monsoon, labourers will be put on three shifts. The international terminal will be completed by September 2008," Airport director K. Natarajan told The Hindu (http://www.hindu.com/2007/02/10/stories/2007021025650300.htm).

is that 9W's new colour scheme or is that plane still to be painted? coz that plane looks pretty lousy..

the engine looks sexy though.. :cheers:

Wow, is this really a serious question?

AI-Indian a blip on competition radar (http://business-standard.com/common/storypage_c.php?leftnm=10&bKeyFlag=BO&autono=276576&chkFlg=)

Even as the government is aiming at creating an airline behemoth to take on Asian tigers such as Singapore Airlines and Thai Airways, the merged Air-India and Indian Airlines entity will not dominate even the Indian skies.

India's private sector carriers have already become a force to reckon with and could gain in clout if allowed to fly international routes.

The total fleet of the unified entity constitutes 30 per cent of the total number of aircraft owned by Indian carriers. While the combined turnover of the merged entity is over 50 per cent of the Indian carriers’ turnover, it accounts for only 26 per cent of passengers.

The combined revenue of Air India and Indian Airlines is around Rs 16,000 crore, while they flew 11.7 million passengers in the last financial year.

The merged entity will, however, have a larger share of airport infrastructure. The entity will control over 70 per cent of the real estate at airports (such as parking bays, hangars and maintenance slots) in Mumbai and Delhi.

According to current statistics, the entity will control 25 per cent share in parking bays at the two metro airports, Delhi and Mumbai and will also own over 60 per cent of engineering services centres in the country.

Singapore Airlines handles over 17 million passengers with just 90 planes, while Thai Air ferries 17.9 million with 85 planes. The total fleet size of Air-India and Indian Airlines is 122.

"The merger cannot be viewed in the context of mere numbers. The actual benefit will come from the synergies followed by a cost reduction," an Air India official said.

Take an example. Air-India and Indian Airlines operate over 10 flights a day to Singapore with an average load factor of 55 to 60 per cent.

"Post-merger, this could be curtailed to 5 flights with an 85 per cent load factor. Meanwhile, the merged entity can deploy additional capacity elsewhere to increase its network," the official added.

"The carriers can also cut short their human resources at overseas and domestic airports," added a government official.

AI-Indian a blip on competition radar (http://business-standard.com/common/storypage_c.php?leftnm=10&bKeyFlag=BO&autono=276576&chkFlg=)
"The merger cannot be viewed in the context of mere numbers. The actual benefit will come from the synergies followed by a cost reduction," an Air India official said.

Take an example. Air-India and Indian Airlines operate over 10 flights a day to Singapore with an average load factor of 55 to 60 per cent.

"Post-merger, this could be curtailed to 5 flights with an 85 per cent load factor. Meanwhile, the merged entity can deploy additional capacity elsewhere to increase its network," the official added.

"The carriers can also cut short their human resources at overseas and domestic airports," added a government official.
this sounds good.
hopefully, the passengers would benefit too. esp, passengers heading to n fro Intl destinations shouldn't have to wait at odd hours enroute for connecting flights.

URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2007/03/05/stories/2007030506321200.htm

Single mega airline to face challenges


NEW DELHI: With the Union Cabinet approving the merger plan of the two State-owned carriers, Air India and Indian Airlines, the Civil Aviation Ministry is gearing up to complete the formalities over the next few weeks.

...Aviation experts feel that the single mega airline will face the challenge of different fleet compositions, reservation and tickets on domestic and international sectors, integration of human resources, training of pilots, maintaining spares, engineering and jet shops and maintenance, repair and overhaul facilities.

Route rationalisation :The most time-consuming and challenging process can well turn out to be route rationalisation on the international sectors where both Air India and Indianserve as well as adopting a common ticketing and reservation system in all cities of their operations. Both airlines have gone for e-ticketing and Indianrecently launched web check-in facility as well.

By the time the merger formalities are completed over the next two years, the new airline will have 112 aircraft and employee strength of about 33,000. Both airliners have begun fleet renewal plan and phased induction of new passenger jetliners.

While Air India will see the induction of 68 new planes ordered from U.S. aircraft manufacturer Boeing between this April and 2012 , Indianhas opted for 43 aircraft of Airbus family from European consortium Airbus Industrie of which the first one (Airbus A-319) was inducted a few months ago and the next one is due this summer...

Bhubaneswar airport upgrade stalled (http://business-standard.com/compindustry/storypage.php?tab=r&autono=276524&subLeft=1&leftnm=1)

The Rs 250 crore plan of the Airport Authority of India (AAI) to upgrade the status of Biju Patnaik airport, Bhubaneswar, to an international airport by 2010 is yet to take off.

Under the upgradation plan, the runway of the airport was proposed to be extended from existing 9000 feet to10,500 feet to facilitate the operation of Boeing 747 aircraft.

The state government was requested to provide 75 acres for the runway expansion, the work on which was scheduled to begin in September 2006.

However, things have not moved as expected.

The state government is yet to provide the required land to the Airport Authority of India (AAI).

Although the existing 7500 feet length of the runway is good enough for landing and takeoff of Airbus 320, Boeing 737 and ATR aircraft which are presently coming to Bhubaneswar, the runway expansion is necessary to meet the future requirement.

The modernisation proposal also contained a plan to construct a new integrated international terminal building complex at a cost of Rs.150 crore.

This was planned to be a world class building with features like modular design, glass glazing, aero bridges with glass walls and capable of accommodating about 500 passenger. But the work on this is yet to start.

Though land is available with AAI for construction of this terminal, work has not begun because of delay in finalisation of the upgradation master plan.

"An action plan has been drawn and there could be announcement in this regard soon", Sanjay Jain, Director, Biju Patanaik Airport told Business Standard.

A Swedish consultant has been appointed to prepare a master plan for upgradation of Bhubaneswar Airport and it is expected to give its report in phases.

Jain, however, said, work on apron extension, which is expected to cost Rs 12 crore, has begun in February.

Similarly work on setting up commercial complex under city site development is about to start.

The process has got underway following preparation of feasibility report for establishment of multiplexes, shopping malls, hotel and other commercial complexes near the airport as per the policy of the civil aviation ministry.

Once the modernisation of Biju Pattanaik airport is over it would sustain the traffic for another 20 years as the infrastructure so created could handle 30 aircraft per hour.

AAI chairman K Ramalingam had made a declaration about the modernisation and expansion of Bhubaneswar Airport in July last year after meeting Orissa CM Naveen Patnaik.

The state government, being faced with resistance of the local people over land acquisition for the proposed runway extension, it has not been able to handover the promised land to AAI.

land an issue again.

Having a Boeing widebody fleet and an Airbus narrowbody fleet shouldn't be a problem. Other airlines do it without any issues such as British Airways, United Airlines*, Alitalia* or soon Air Canada to name a few. AIX operates as a separate entity anyway. So I see five pools of pilots, 744, 777, 787, 737, and A32x, which probably exist already anyway.


*Their bankruptcies have nothing to do with this decision.

India's total commercial aircraft tally (with scheduled airlines) touched 360 this month, surpassing that of Italy's. It has climbed many places during the last 18 months or so, and now only the following countries have a larger fleet size.

USA, China, UK, Japan, Germany and Canada

any link........^^

Sammy, though I agree with you in general, it all boils down to having more inventories of spares and the higher number of administrative work hours pertaining to each 'type' of a plane.

Choosing an array of different types of a/c for a single airline is either dictated - or - mooted on various factors (load factor, fuel efficiency per load, revenue per aircraft IN AIR versus ON GROUND etc, future expansion of routes, possibilities of offering long-hauls/short-hauls etc )

On the other hand, a fine balance is also maintained on what % of aircraft should be ordered/used to maximise a good complement of fleet strenght vis-a-vis the factors mentioned in para.2 (as above).

Warm Regards
p2p4

Having a Boeing widebody fleet and an Airbus narrowbody fleet shouldn't be a problem. Other airlines do it without any issues such as British Airways, United Airlines*, Alitalia* or soon Air Canada to name a few. AIX operates as a separate entity anyway. So I see five pools of pilots, 744, 777, 787, 737, and A32x, which probably exist already anyway.


*Their bankruptcies have nothing to do with this decision.

Wow, is this really a serious question?

umm, yeah - i really wasn't sure.. thanks for clarifying (sort of.. :ohno: )

Clearing air: Peak hour air fares to take off

TIMES NEWS NETWORK[ MONDAY, MARCH 05, 2007 08:33:59 PM]

NEW DELHI: Air travel during the peak hours is likely to become costly as the government plans to introduce differential tariffs for peak and non-peak hours. Airline companies may have to pay double charges for flying
during peak hours (between 7 to 10 in the morning and 6 to 10 in the evening) while the non-peak hour tariffs between midnight and 5 am may be halved. While the move would raise the cost for airline companies, the government believes it would curtail the peak hour congestion.

"We are working on a clear system of incentives or disincentives for airlines operating services during three peak hours in the morning and four in the evening," civil aviation secretary Ashok Chawla told reporters here on Monday.

The airports on which these charges would be effective are Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore. Mr Chawla, who took over a month ago, indicated that airport and navigation charges could be doubled during peak hours and halved between midnight and 0500 hours.

The burden on airlines due to the increase in airport and navigation charges could in turn be passed on to consumers travelling during peak hours. The secretary said the increase in these charges would be effective from the last Sunday of March, when the summer schedule of airlines begins.

He, however, said the hike in charges would 'essentially be a short-term solution'. "In the long-term, we have to provide more facilities like additional runways and rapid-exit taxiways to overcome congestion. This should be in place by June 2008," he added. He said the three airports were handling between 15% to 20% of excess traffic during peak hours compared to their capacities.

Asked about the 'grandfather rights' of the airlines to operate in peak hours, the secretary agreed these airlines had a right "but the charges can always be calibrated". Grandfather rights are those under which airlines operating on peak-hour slots for several years can claim their right on them.

Mr Chawla also said there would be no difference in the charges for low-cost carriers and full-frill ones during peak hours; though these would vary for different types of aircraft they operate during this period to these airports.


Stupidity at its best. So now the govt is going to control indirectly the number of flights offered (at peak times) by increasing landing charges. Shouldn't that be decided by the demand. This is bad news for aviation.

Why dont they get their act together and upgrade runways and ATC technology?

http://www.telegraphindia.com/1070306/asp/business/story_7474514.asp

City airport revamp set for take-off
OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT
Makeover mode

New Delhi, March 5: A decision on the modernisation of the Calcutta airport will be taken in a month, civil aviation secretary Ashok Chawla said today.

“We have now reached a stage where we are ready to take a decision ... It will not take more than a month,” Chawla said.

He said the Airports Authority of India (AAI) would take up the Rs 2,000-crore Calcutta airport modernisation project. “While 40 per cent of it will be taken up in the Eleventh Plan, the remaining part will be carried out in the Twelfth Plan.”

Chawla said the AAI would have to get official approvals, including that of the finance ministry’s public investment board.

Asked about the financing of the project, he said while the AAI could implement the entire project out if its internal accruals, it could also depend on market borrowings on the basis of its capital accumulation, which is worth over Rs 4,000 crore.

He said AAI would also have to spend about Rs 4,000 crore for the airside development of 35 non-metro airports.

Work on several of the projects has started already.

On the modernisation of the Chennai airport, he said, “We must get to some finality on the issue of land acquisition for its expansion, including construction of another runway. It should not take more than two months.”

Chawla also announced that a PPP (public-private partnership) cell would be opened in the ministry to pursue the development of the non-aeronautical side of these non-metro airports.

About the Mumbai airport, he said the airport would reach its peak capacity by 2012-13, handling 40 million passengers annually.

The differential peak/non-peak tariffs constitutes a market-based mechanism for managing the peak-hour supply-demand shortfall. The alternative is a non-market based mechanism like rationing, which is a bad idea. It is prone to rent-seeking (aka corruption) and inhibits fair competition. I would welcome a price based mechanism for managing this situation. It is also used in other airports around the world. When there are differential tariffs between different airports based on differences in demand, what is fundamentally wrong with differential pricing for different hours of day? Of course, this should not be something set by the ministry of civil aviation, but if the airport operators themselves decide on this, I see no problem with it.

The above is set by the ministry to discourage travellers from flying at peak hours. Shouldn't the demand/supply balance out by market dynamics. The price of tickets would go up during peak hours. This impacts business travellers and it impact's productivity and overall output.

I understand the rationale of doing this on short term basis. And this is one way of reducing demand when there is a shortage in the market. Who else to blame for the congestion, but the Govt's inability to take decisions in a timely manner.

There was a pic posted some time back by someone..

MDLR set for launch

http://cities.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=224307

One of the largest infrastructure groups in Gurgaon, MDLR, is launching its own airline in the first week of March. Chandigarh will be the centre of its operation.

The MDLR Airline will connect Chandigarh with Delhi, Ranchi and Kolkata as of now and it plans to link the city with Mumbai, Jaipur, Surat and Port Blair in the next two months.

Koustav Dhar, president, MDLR Airline, said it would be a full service airline at par with Jet and Kingfisher. "We are introducing reliable four-jet engine, AVRO-RJ 70, for the first time in the country. With 64 economy class and 6 business class seats, vegetarian food on board, we will not only be a full service airline but are also serious about providing all comfort to our passengers," Dhar said.

The MDLR group is owned by Gopal Goyal of Sirsa, Haryana. The airline is branding itself as 'Haryana's own' airline'. "Our chairman belongs to Haryana and he is keen on linking Chandigarh with all major cities of the country. Ours will be 'Haryana's own airline' , for all airlines operating to and from Chandigarh are owned by outsiders," Dhar said.

"There will be 10 to 12 slabs in fares. This will depend on how early tickets have been booked before the date of travel and also on the number of tickets," Dhar said. The airline will begin operation with a daily flight from Chandigarh to Delhi-Ranchi-Kolkata and back.

Penang pushes for direct service from Chennai (http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2007/03/07/stories/2007030702921000.htm)


The Government of Penang is in talks with two Indian airlines, asking them to operate direct flights between Chennai and Penang. This was disclosed here today by the Chief Minister of Penang, Dr Koh Tsu Koon, at a press conference organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry. (Penang is a state of Malaysia.)

As of now, flights from Chennai reach Penang via Singapore or Kuala Lumpur. Malaysian Industrial Development Authority (MIDA) offices would soon be set up in Chennai and Bangalore, he said.

I think you misunderstood my post. The article seemed to be implying that because AI/IC were buying Boeing/Airbus that this would be a problem somehow. I was just stating that it wouldn't be a problem at all and that other airlines have done it successfully. It is not like the widebodies and the narrowbodies have much in common so even if they were both Airbus or both Boeing they would still be required to have a different pool of pilots, different stock of parts and different maintenance infrastructure.

I guess my comment about different pools of pilots for all the types was somewhat not related but the current situation is not bad at all. Only five different types and this could eventually drop if the 744s are retired. Actually, I am going to say it's four right now because AIX seems to be run as a separate entitiy and their employees don't seem to be regular AI employees. So to compare to say Continental Airlines, they have a very streamlined fleet and they to have four types, 777, 767/757, 737 and in a few years the 787.

Sammy, though I agree with you in general, it all boils down to having more inventories of spares and the higher number of administrative work hours pertaining to each 'type' of a plane.mi

Choosing an array of different types of a/c for a single airline is either dictated - or - mooted on various factors (load factor, fuel efficiency per load, revenue per aircraft IN AIR versus ON GROUND etc, future expansion of routes, possibilities of offering long-hauls/short-hauls etc )

On the other hand, a fine balance is also maintained on what % of aircraft should be ordered/used to maximise a good complement of fleet strenght vis-a-vis the factors mentioned in para.2 (as above).

Warm Regards
p2p4

umm, yeah - i really wasn't sure.. thanks for clarifying (sort of.. :ohno: )

Sorry, I didn't mean to offend. I honestly didn't think someone would think that was a final livery.

^^ hey don't worry about it dude - i just don't know the first thing about planes and wanted a clarification - i guess i went overboard with the " :ohno: " smilie!! i wasn't offended or anything..

:cheers:

Hi Guys,
I am not sure if you are all already aware of this site where we can see the rankings of major airports of India in terms of aircraft and passenger traffic.

http://www.airportsindia.org.in/traffic_news/traffic_news.jsp

Continental Airlines to take off on Mumbai-New York route (http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2007/03/08/stories/2007030802510700.htm)


Continental Airlines, the world's fifth largest airline, announced on Wednesday daily non-stop flights between Mumbai and New York effective October 31, subject to government approval.

Mumbai will be the thirtiethcity in Continental's trans-Atlantic route network. Currently it is operating a New Delhi-New York non-stop service since 2005.

The new service will link 230 other cities in North, Central and South America, through Continental's new unique New York hub at Newark Liberty International Airport. The new daily flight will operate a 283-seater Boeing 777-200 aircraft, carrying 48 passengers in the BusinessFirst cabin and 235 passengers in the Economy class. Flying time will be approximately 16 hours 15 minutes West-bound (Mumbai-New York) and 14 hours 50 minutes East-bound (New York-Mumbai)

Over the next few months, Continental will hire staff for its ground operations in Mumbai. ``For our Mumbai operations, we will hire almost the equal number of people recruited earlier in Delhi,'' said Mr Laurent Recoura, Senior Country Director-India, Continental. Currently, Delhi operations include 25 Continental employees recruited at the Delhi airport and a Marketing and Sales team outsourced to `Stic' travel group, Continental's general sales agent in India.

The BusinessFirst service has features like specially-engineered electronic sleeper-seats in a 2-2-2 configuration with adjustable `winged' headrests. Other features include privacy hoods and large seat-wide wingers for greater privacy. All seats feature a laptop computer power outlet, a satellite phone, a flexible neck-reading light and a personal entertainment system offering 16 channels of video games.

The airline plans to install audio-video on demand in the BusinessFirst and Economy cabins. It will allow customers to choose from more than 250 movies, 300 short subject programs and 150 compact discs with a jukebox feature to make individual playlists. In addition, the system has 25 video games and the interactive `Berlitz World Traveller' foreign language program.

Mumbai's 2nd airport to get Cabinet nod soon (http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2007/03/08/stories/2007030806550100.htm)


Mumbai's second international airport at Panvel, which has been 10 years in the planning, is likely to get Union Cabinet approval in a month's time, according to Mr Sanjay Ubale, Secretary, Special Projects, Government of Maharashtra.

Soon after Cabinet approval, and after environment impact assessment (being done by Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay), tenders would be issued for the project, he said.

The airport would be fully operational by 2009, added Mr D.K. Sankaran, Chief Secretary, Maharashtra, at a news briefing on the "transformation of Mumbai into a world-class metropolis."

CIDCO, the city's planning agency for Navi Mumbai (where Panvel is located) has already acquired 2,058 hectares or 90 per cent of the land required for the airport, he said.

By the time it is ready, the airport will cost Rs 9,000 crore, said Mr Ubale.

A special purpose vehicle is being established for the project. The Maharashtra Government and the Airports Authority of India will hold 13 per cent stake each in the SPV, while the private developer will hold 74 per cent.

Other key infrastructure projects necessary for the airport, such as the Mumbai Trans Harbour Sea Link project, which will connect Navi Mumbai with Mumbai itself, were also being accelerated, said the Chief Secretary. Mumbai must not lose out to other cities such as Hyderabad and Bangalore, said Mr Sankaran.

Is Mr. Sankaran kidding himself into beleiving that the Panvel AP will be fully functional by 2009? 2019 would be more like it but unless he's talking of putting up a mere 'shed n shelter', his crystal ball date just doesn't bite !
We've seen how the new Hyd / Bang a/ports have taken their time... and they are not even fully operational !

Mumbai's 2nd airport to get Cabinet nod soon (http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2007/03/08/stories/2007030806550100.htm)


Mumbai's second international airport at Panvel, which has been 10 years in the planning, is likely to get Union Cabinet approval in a month's time, according to Mr Sanjay Ubale, Secretary, Special Projects, Government of Maharashtra.

Soon after Cabinet approval, and after environment impact assessment (being done by Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay), tenders would be issued for the project, he said.

The airport would be fully operational by 2009, added Mr D.K. Sankaran, Chief Secretary, Maharashtra, at a news briefing on the "transformation of Mumbai into a world-class metropolis."

CIDCO, the city's planning agency for Navi Mumbai (where Panvel is located) has already acquired 2,058 hectares or 90 per cent of the land required for the airport, he said.

By the time it is ready, the airport will cost Rs 9,000 crore, said Mr Ubale.

A special purpose vehicle is being established for the project. The Maharashtra Government and the Airports Authority of India will hold 13 per cent stake each in the SPV, while the private developer will hold 74 per cent.

Other key infrastructure projects necessary for the airport, such as the Mumbai Trans Harbour Sea Link project, which will connect Navi Mumbai with Mumbai itself, were also being accelerated, said the Chief Secretary. Mumbai must not lose out to other cities such as Hyderabad and Bangalore, said Mr Sankaran.

Satellite navigation launch by 2008 (http://business-standard.com/compindustry/storypage.php?tab=r&autono=276862&subLeft=1&leftnm=1)

India is on the verge of entering the big league in global aviation with the launch of satellite-based navigation system, Gagan, next year, Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel said today.

Gagan, (global navigation satellite system-aided geo augmented navigation), being developed jointly by the Airports Authority of India and the Indian Space Research Organisation, will be launched in 2008.

"Having such an advanced system will launch India into the future. It is the next generation of technology, which will enable handling of large volumes of air traffic," Patel said, while inaugurating the International Civil Aviation Organisation’s navigational systems panel meet here.

Patel said there was an urgent need to upgrade technical skills to make Indian skies safe and secure, on a par with the best in the world.Observing that air traffic was increasing rapidly "almost at an alarming rate", "India will match and bring its systems on a par with any aviation power," Patel said.

Systems similar to Gagan are being developed by the US, the European Union and Japan.On Gagan, AAI Chairman K Ramalingam said the technology demonstration phase of the system had "shown better than expected results". The system was now being integrated with the geo-stationary satellite INMARSAT-4F1.

"Encouraged by its initial success, it has now been decided to initiate the final operational phase, in which its coverage area will be extended to the oceanic airspace also," Ramalingam said.

To meet the fog problem, he said the second runway at Delhi airport was being upgraded to CAT-IIIB instrument landing system, while CAT-II capabilities were being created in Kolkata, Jaipur, Amritsar and Lucknow.

Navi Mumbai airport will offer good returns: Study (http://business-standard.com/economy/storypage.php?tab=r&autono=276952&subLeft=1&leftnm=3)

The Rs 9,000 crore second airport project for Mumbai, promoted by the state government-owned corporation City & Industrial Development Corporation (Cidco) is one of the most lucrative projects financially with 17.5 per cent internal rate of return (IRR) says the financial viability study of well-known financial institute IL&FS.

Speaking to Business Standard Joint Managing Director of the Cidco Deepak Kapoor said, in the January meeting between Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel and Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh the project had got a push.

During the meeting it was decided to consider the high project cost to get project's financial viability study done, so we asked IL&FS to do the study on project's financial viability.

The study says, by 2030 Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) will generate an air traffic of 90 million passengers per annum and even after one uses Sahar and Santa Cruz airports to its optimum capacity these two airports can't handle the traffic beyond 40 million passengers, per year.

So there is a need for a second airport in MMR considering the 50 million passengers need to be catered to and when the second airport reaches its optimum capacity, the IRR will reach around 17.5 per cent.

The sensitivity analysis also shows that even if the present trend of rising cement and steel price continues or some unseen events escalate the cost of project abnormally or actual passengers traffic doesn't grow to the projected levels even then, the IRR for project will not fall below 13 per cent.

He further said, we expect union cabinet will clear the project in month or two and after which it will take one and half to two years for us to appoint the consultants, float global tenders and select the partner etc. & hope to see first flight from this new air port taking off in 2013 or 2014.

It will be the greenfield project with private partner brining 74 per cent equity & Airport Authority of India and Cidco holding remaining 26 per cent, equally, he added.

Meanwhile speaking to reporters Sanjiv Ubale, secretary (special projects) said, "State government has submitted a final proposal for the second airport near Panvel to the Centre and it is expected Union Cabinet will clear this project within one month."

Project will spread over 2,058 hectares of land, the implementing agency for project Cidco has 1,150 hectares in its possession, nearly 450 hectares of land is owned by various other state government agencies a transfer process for which will be initiated very soon and rest will be acquired after Union Cabinet formally approves the project, said Ubale.

And there are no issues like rehabilitation or displacement of farmers is involved for the rest of the land, Ubale calimed.

Alliance to operate daily Kochi-Aggati flight from July (http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2007/03/09/stories/2007030900950700.htm)


Alliance Air, the wholly owned subsidiary of Indian, is to introduce new daily flight between Kochi and Aggati from July this year. In a statement the airline has said that the flight will be operated with a 48-seater ATR-42 aircraft.

The flight will leave Kochi at 11.50 a.m. and arrive at 1.15 p.m. In the return direction, the flight will leave Agatti at 1.35 p.m. and arrive in Kochi at 3 p.m.

What's up with Air Deccan? They really need to get their act together of proper computerization (assuming the report is true). How can a manifest go missing and an airline not know how many passengers it has issued boarding passes? The only positive thing the flights are going full!

A Janata airline is fine. But safety is utmost.

CISF halts crammed plane at takeoff
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Cities/Kolkata/CISF_halts_crammed_plane_at_takeoff/articleshow/1738707.cms

A Delhi-bound Air Deccan flight attempted to take off from Patna airport with six excess passengers on board before being grounded by securitymen at the last minute.

Blatantly violating the most basic air safety norm on aircraft weight, the cabin crew of Air Deccan flight DN 727 tried to adjust the six adults — four men and two women — by asking parents to carry children on the lap.

"The cabin staff managed to convince four sets of parents, but others refused to comply. The aircraft, scheduled to take off at 7.30 pm, has been stranded for over an hour due to the chaos," passenger Mriganko Tripathy told TOI over the phone from the aircraft on Thursday. Alerted about the incident, Airports Authority of India regional executive director S P S Baxi reacted with disbelief: "This cannot happen.

How can children be passed off as infants? I'll immediately look into the matter." His prompt phone call to the Patna airport manager led to the Central Industrial Security Force intervention. The excess passengers were forced off the aircraft.

The plane finally took off at 9.45 pm. Sources in the aviation industry, including veteran pilots, have reacted to the incident with shock.

"The trim sheet is sacrosanct. The weight of the carriage comprising passengers, luggage and fuel is extremely crucial.

Especially so in the aircraft of a low-cost carrier that flies more passengers than a legacy carrier," explained an Airbus A 320 pilot. Both Indian Airlines and Air Deccan use the A-320 aircraft. While the former has 135 seats, the latter uses a 180-seat configuration. Air safety regulator Director General of Civil Aviation has the average weight of adults, children and infants laid down in its guidelines for computing the trim sheet.

"Carrying even an extra kilogram can put all passengers at risk. By allowing six adults to sit in place of children is disastrous. The pilot may have been carrying less luggage and fuel to be within the safety limit, but it goes against the norms," another official said.

When questioned by airport officials, Air Deccan staff said additional boarding passes had been issued by mistake due to non-availability of the flight manifest (passenger list).

"The aircraft was on the Ranchi-Patna-Delhi route.We did not know how many passengers were on the flight already," a ground staff said

It is a repeat of the Sunday offload fiasco in Kolkata when seven bona fide passengers were forced off the Air Deccan aircraft to Agartala after the airline issued 186 boarding passes.

Air Deccan to expand its fleet
http://www.ibnlive.com/news/air-deccan-to-expand-its-fleet/35447-7.html

Low cost flier Air Deccan has announced that it will add four more aircraft to its fleet strength before the year end.

The Budget airlines Chief Operating officer Warwick Brady, who made the announcement in Chennai on Wednesday, was quoted by news agency PTI as saying that with the addition, the airlines fleet strength would go upto 53, including 23 Airbuses.

Jodhpur, Udaipur, Dharmasala, Dimapur and Jamshedpur would be brought under the airlines map before the year-end.

For the first time in aviation history, Chennai would have a direct daily flight to Agartala from March 26. Brady also said that Chennai would also have direct flight to Bhubaneshwar from that day. The airlines would also introduce additional daily flight to Madurai from that day, he said.

The company expected to start earning profit from 2008-09, he added.

HAL ground-handling gets no-frills lot’s goat
http://dnaindia.com/report.asp?NewsID=1083344

It’s one of the busiest airports in the country and every airline want to add more frequencies to Bangalore, but four carriers are not happy flying to this city.

Their unhappiness stems from the discriminatory policy on the ground- handling activities at the airport, which is operated by state-owned Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL).

These four airlines - SpiceJet Ltd, IndiGo, GoAir and Paramount Air - have to compulsorily utilise the ground-handling services of HAL/Indian Airlines joint working group (JWG). This turns out to be much costlier for them than self- handling or outsourcing.

With three of them being low-cost carriers (SpiceJet Ltd, IndiGo and GoAir), such a policy is detrimental to their business model and puts them at a huge disadvantage with other carriers (Jet Airways, Air Deccan, Kingfisher Air, Indian Airlines and Air Sahara), which are being allowed to self-handle or outsource it to third parties.

The carriers are paying out three times more fees for ground handling (that includes baggage loading and unloading, coaches, passenger buses and push back trucks) to HAL/Indian Airlines JWG than the average market rate.

Currently, they are paying Rs 18,000 for per turn and pushback, which is somewhere near Rs 6,000 at other airports, where they are allowed to self- handle.

And it is not just higher charges that is niggling them, they also have to suffer inconsistency in services.

“We have made several requests to HAL and the defence ministry to give us a level-playing field, but till now it has fallen on deaf ears. And we are not looking at lowering the existing rate; we want to be given a choice to select our own ground handler, so that we can improve our performance. The airport is facing a shortage of passenger buses, this sometimes delays our flight, and being a low-cost carrier, we are very particular about our turnaround time,” lamented Steve Steers, vice-president (customer care), SpiceJet Ltd.

It’s the same for the other three carriers. They want HAL to rectify this flawed policy. “The defence ministry must take note of this illogical policy and amend it,” said a senior executive of another low-cost carrier.

In a letter signed by senior executives of all the four airlines, they have put forth two proposals for correcting the discriminatory policy.

“We request you to consider one of the two proposals to bring these costs more in line with the market rate. The first would be to allow us to self- handle, if we choose. The second would be to allow two or three other ground handlers of our choice to operate at Bangalore and compete in service and cost for our business,” says the letter addressed to HAL chairman Ashok Kumar Baweja.

What's up with Air Deccan? They really need to get their act together of proper computerization (assuming the report is true). How can a manifest go missing and an airline not know how many passengers it has issued boarding passes? The only positive thing the flights are going full!

A Janata airline is fine. But safety is utmost.

CISF halts crammed plane at takeoff
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Cities/Kolkata/CISF_halts_crammed_plane_at_takeoff/articleshow/1738707.cms

my family and quite a few friends have black-listed air deccan. they are worse than indian railways when it comes to scheduling and keeping to the timetable. they cancel flights abruptly, delay flights for hours to get extra passengers, etc. not worth it at all

me too. it is worse than state transport bus. I almost spend three days in the airport trying to board air deccan. Everytime they cancelled their flights just before boarding and refused to return ticket money.

Utimately i had to call my AMEX bank to cancel the payment.

[/I]The flying elephant
Mar 8th 2007 | DELHI
From The Economist print edition


The merger of India's state-owned airlines heralds an industry shakeout

IT WAS on a helicopter flight from Mumbai to Goa that Captain G. R. Gopinath had a vision of lifting Indians to the skies. Far below, silver television aerials were glinting from mud huts: signs of an economic boom that India's four main airlines, at that time, had failed to capitalise on. So in 2003 Mr Gopinath launched India's first low-cost carrier, Air Deccan, and started a craze. India now has 13 passenger airlines and a dozen awaiting permission to launch. The number of domestic passengers increased by around 30% last year.

Hence the government's approval, on March 1st, of a long-standing proposal to merge four badly run state-owned carriers, in order to make them more competitive in a crowded market. The four are Air India, which mostly flies internationally, Indian (formerly Indian Airlines), which is mostly domestic, and their respective low-cost and regional subsidiaries, Air India Express and Alliance Air. Both the big firms have had to endure years of political meddling and underinvestment, and have lost out to sleeker competitors as a result. Indian, which until 1994 had a monopoly on domestic passenger services, now has a market share of 17% and falling, despite getting most government business.

Some immediate benefits are promised. The new airline, which is scheduled to emerge after four months, will have 121 aircraft and 30,000 employees, making it one of the world's 25 biggest. That should interest investors: the government means to float 10-20% of the new entity on the stockmarket to raise cash and, it dares to dream, standards too. The government is hoping for a tie-up with one of the global airline alliances, membership of which would multiply foreign passengers. Ending competition between the state-owned firms will also benefit their main shareholder. At present, three of them vie for the same passengers to Singapore.

Cleared for take-off

There is also huge potential for rationalisation of ground handling, engineering, sales offices and so on. Air India is one of only a handful of large airlines without a big domestic feeder airline. The others—Emirates, Singapore and Virgin Atlantic—have none of its potential advantages as a national carrier of a vast and thickly populated land. According to Praful Patel, the minister for civil aviation, the merger will cost $50m and will reap annualised benefits of $150m. He calls it a “no-brainer”.

He may be right. Only around 1% of India's 1.1 billion people fly, so there is a lot of room for growth. The 35m-40m domestic air tickets they are predicted to buy this year compares with 130m in China. But to realise this potential, the newly merged union of Air India and Indian will need overhauling at every level. For one thing, its competitors are fierce. India's biggest domestic carrier, Jet Airways, with 27% of the market, aims to make half of its revenues from international flights by 2009. Given its big domestic base and good service, this would make it a strong candidate for a global alliance.

To increase efficiency, newly merged companies usually cut jobs—and the state-owned airlines, which employ some 400 people per aircraft, roughly twice the international average, have jobs to burn. But to soothe the government's communist allies, Mr Patel has promised that not one job will be lost. Mr Gopinath, one of many sceptics about the merger, says it is “like tying together two legs of an elephant.”

Still, the new airline will have two big advantages. The first, after years of under-investment in state firms, is new aircraft worth $10 billion. Air India and its subsidiary will soon start receiving 68 new planes, including Boeing 777s and 787s, which will enable it for the first time to fly non-stop between India and America. Indian has 43 new aircraft on the way. Second, the merger comes at a time of rapid growth. If sustained, reckons Binit Somaia of the Centre for Asia-Pacific Aviation in Sydney, it could mop up the new airline's excess labour within three years.

If the industry's long-term health is assured, the short term is murkier—as ever in India. Under pressure from low-cost carriers, all domestic airlines have slashed prices, and most are losing money. A few years ago the average Jet Airways fare from Delhi to Mumbai was around 8,000 rupees ($180), twice today's average. Since mid-2006 passenger loads have shrunk to some 60-70% of capacity for both low-cost and full-service carriers. That is roughly 10% below profitable levels.

Increased capacity partly explains this, but not completely. Some analysts expect official figures on passenger numbers, which grew by 45% between April and October, to show more moderate growth in the second half of the financial year that ended last month. This might indicate that some of the pent-up demand for affordable air travel, from businessmen and middle-class families, has been satisfied. Even the cheapest carriers are, after all, usually dearer than India's buses and trains, which carry 25m passengers a day.

Another reason for slackening demand could be disenchantment with flying. India's aviation infrastructure is overstretched, causing annoying delays at every stage of a journey. Delhi airport's domestic terminal was built to carry 7.3m passengers a year, but handles twice that number. Aircraft flying from Mumbai to Delhi, a two-hour trip, routinely circle in the air for another hour while a landing slot is found. New airports are due to open in Bangalore and Hyderabad next year. Private investors are developing old ones in Delhi and Mumbai, but these will have little extra capacity until 2010.

Some airlines are finding novel ways to relieve these pressures. At a time of high world demand for new aircraft, Deccan has raised $100m by selling some of its options on new airliners. Others have tried new business models: Paramount, a small regional carrier based in Chennai, offers only business- or first-class service.

Nonetheless, ticket prices are simply too low for most carriers to turn a profit. At some stage they will have to rise, which will turn off more potential flyers. By that time, however, more consolidation within the industry may have further cut the number of airlines left in the air. “Everybody's bleeding, everyone's losing money,” says Vijay Mallya, the boss of Kingfisher Airlines, a high-end, full-service carrier. “The question is: Who has the staying power to escape the bloodbath?”

http://www.economist.com/business/PrinterFriendly.cfm?story_id=8823629

Tenders to develop city-side of 10 non-metro airports in 2 months (http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2007/03/10/stories/2007031004991000.htm)


The airports at 35 non-metro cities including those at Tiruchi, Kozhikode, Tirupati and Hubli could soon not only get modern terminal buildings, but also world-class hotels and restaurants around the airport.

This will become possible largely on account of the Government indicating on Friday that it would issue tenders inviting the private sector to participate in the city-side development of 10 non-metro airports within the next two-months.

"We should come up with the proposals in the next 45-60 days. The interested parties can respond to these. Even as these proposals are put out, the Airports Authority of India is taking a number of steps to improve the facilities in secondary airports," the Civil Aviation Secretary, Mr Ashok Chawla, said.

Mr Chawla was speaking at a seminar on `India aviation forum 2007: Sustain and fly high', that had been organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry.

The 10 airports, for which tenders are to be issued within the next two months, form part of the Government plan to develop 35 non-metro airports in a time bound manner.

While the airside and terminal building development at these 35 airports would be done by AAI, the investments for commercial development of land would come from the private sector.

Sources indicated that the non-aeronautical activities that are likely to be allowed at these airports include putting up of hotels, restaurants, parking lots, cargo-handling facilities and other tourism-related activities.

The 35 non-metro cities where the airports are to get a facelift include Nagpur, Thiruvananthapuram, Vishakhapatnam, Vadodara and Amritsar.

Award of Contracts

The Minister for Civil Aviation, Mr Praful Patel, has already indicated that the Government will complete the process of award of contracts for all 35 non-metro airports by 2010.

Asked whether the Government planned to have a model concession agreement for private sector development of airports, the Secretary said that a cell in the Planning Commission was working on developing such a framework.

Dec-06 Dec-05 % growth Projected - 2007 (millions)
Mumbai 2147940 1802114 19.2 25.3
Delhi 1956329 1540430 27 23
Chennai 864691 634821 36.2 10.2
Bangalore 793732 606694 30.8 9.3
Kolkatta 587045 440500 33.3 6.9
Hyderabad 564918 411441 37.3 6.7
Ahmedabad 259860 201607 28.9 3.1
Goa 258640 208078 24.3 3
Cochin 245477 191966 27.9 2.9
Trivandrum 171874 125931 36.5 2
Pune 155720 92597 68.2 1.8
Guwahati 114768 65924 74.1 1.4
Calicut 107147 95177 12.6 1.3
Jaipur 101028 52950 90.8 1.2
Coimbatore 82765 60564 36.7 1

Isn't this amazing? Who would have thought that Chennai would be breaking into the 10 million club this year - or for that matter Delhi in the 20 M club. Look at the traffic growth in places like Guwahati, Jaipur and Pune - air traffic expansion in India is all across the country and not limited to a few metros or regions - is that not wonderful?

Pune airport's traffic increased suddenly, because the only airport in Pune, which is owned by the Indian Airforce was opened up a little more for private airlines. There are still many restrictions and time limits like very few airlines can land and take off after 10pm.
Being operate by the airforce has a lot of limitations for growth. They wont let the construction of a new runway at the airport. They wont expand as its their land and not Mah Govt's. A small Mig-29 mishap closed the airport for 6 hours 2 weeks ago. No planes were allowed to land. :bash:

Hopefully the new Greenfield airport starts construction by next year.(unless the airforce objects again with an excuse ). This might increase the traffic to more than double than now.

Lufthansa plans direct Mumbai-Munich flight
http://www.financialexpress.com/fe_full_story.php?content_id=157391

German carrier Lufthansa is all set to launch a direct Mumbai-Munich flight by early next year. This, executive vice-president Thierry Antinoiri said on Saturday, is part of Lufthansa’s strategy to become the most Indian European airline”.

The airline, currently in the process of finalising details of the direct Mumbai-Munich flight, currently operates 45 weekly flights from six destinations in India.

Percentage growth over 2005 in brackets:

Mumbai 21375051 (23)
Delhi 19373415 (28)
Chennai 8476707 (35)
Bangalore 7420531 (46)
Kolkatta 5635017 (41)
Hyderabad 5369843 (49)
Cochin 2392499 (35)
Ahmedabad 2374356 (44)
Goa 2047362 (37)
Trivandrum 1650615 (28)

Jet Airways adds new London flight from Ahmedabad
http://in.today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=businessNews&storyID=2007-03-12T151645Z_01_NOOTR_RTRJONC_0_India-290660-1.xml&archived=False

Jet Airways Ltd, India's top domestic airline, said on Monday it would add a direct flight to London from Ahmedabad from April 3.

Jet will fly two non-stop flights per week to London from Ahmedabad initially and fly three flights a week from May, it said. Jet will operate an Airbus A330-200 aircraft.

Jet already flies to London from Mumbai, New Delhi and Amritsar.

Faced with increasing competition from new discount carriers in India, Jet is expanding its international operations. It already flies to south Asia, Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand and will add North America, Europe, Africa and more Asian cities.

Jet expects to get half its overall revenue from international operations by March 2009.

Those interested in news about the Chennai airport expansion -

‘Airport expansion not at cost of poor’ (http://www.indianexpress.com/story/25384.html)

Chief Minister, M Karunanidhi on Sunday assured that no development programme would be carried out at the cost of the poor. In 2005, the Jayalalithaa government had accepted the AAI’s suggestion of acquiring nearly 1,500 acres of land on the northern side of the airport and undertaking a Rs 23 crore modernisation plan. Yesterday, DMK’s ally, the PMK leader, Dr S Ramadoss, had urged the government to give up the airport expansion plans as several people had built their houses in and around that area and had been living there for years.

Those interested in news about the Chennai airport expansion -

‘Airport expansion not at cost of poor’ (http://www.indianexpress.com/story/25384.html)

Just as well , a greenfield airport is better anyway.

Local airlines to spread wings globally (http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2007/03/13/stories/2007031303361000.htm)


Domestic airlines are all set to expand their international operations with the Government clearing the proposal of Jet Airways and Indian among others to operate more international flights.

The move is to see Jet Airways not only start a service between Bangalore and London but also operate a larger Airbus A-330 aircraft on the Chennai-Singapore and Mumbai-Singapore sectors. Currently, the airline operates a Boeing 737-800 aircraft on the Singapore route.

Besides, it has been permitted to operate on the Mumbai-Johannesburg and Mumbai-Shanghai-San Francisco routes.

In addition, the proposal of Indian to operate a daily flight to China (Guangzhou) and another flight on the India-Singapore-Australia route has also been cleared.

The Government clearance permits the airlines to start operating these new flights anytime after March 28. this year.

In anticipation of Government clearances, Jet Airways and Indian had ordered more aircraft.

Those interested in news about the Chennai airport expansion -

‘Airport expansion not at cost of poor’ (http://www.indianexpress.com/story/25384.html)

http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/004200703101935.htm


PMK fires another salvo at DMK Govt.

Chennai, March 10 (PTI): Firing another salvo against Tamil Nadu's DMK government, its ally PMK today said it should not be adamant in going ahead with the expansion of the airport at Meenambakkam here.

PMK founder, S Ramadoss, who has been critical of several State Government decisions, including the setting up of satellite towns in farm lands, said in a statement that a new greenfield airport could be set up either at Oragadam or Sriperumbudur, away from the city.

This should be done instead of expanding the existing airport which, he said, would displace a number of residents in the area who had constructed houses long ago.

"Is it humane to displace them on the plea of economic development. Won't their economy be shattered, if they are displaced?" he asked.

On Chief Minister M Karunanidhi's reported remarks that Chennai will not be a metropolis if the airport is not expanded, he said a Madras High Court judge had said while delivering a verdict that Chennai was no more a city, but hell.

Expressing the hope that Karunanidhi will be firm on his assurances about handling the issue in a humane manner, Ramadoss said those who had built houses by investing their small savings should not be put to hardship.

Hundreds of residents in Ankaputhur and surrounding areas near Meenambakkam, who had received notices that their land would be acquired for expanding the airport, had sent telegrams to the Chief Minister to seek his intervention.

Over 14,000 houses and a number of places of worship will be demolished if the government goes ahead with the expansion plan and this will result in 1.5 lakh people being displaced, they said.

1.5 lakh people is a lot and if there are indeed sites available for a greenfield airport, the option should be explored.

Federation of Indian airlines launches it's website.

FIA (http://www.fiaindia.in/)

From the website.

The Federation of Indian Airlines (FIA) is an apex industry body which has been formed by the scheduled carriers in India. The airline industry has come together to form a single representative body, which will address a collaborative growth-agenda for the industry and focus on Inter-airline cooperation across different issues.

I like the slide show on the opening page. The opening page also has links to the websites of member airlines.

From the ePaper of Times of India. Sorry no link.

ON THE FAST TRACK
Centre’s nod for second airport by month-end
Saurabh Sinha | TNN

New Delhi: The Union Cabinet could clear the proposal for the second airport at Mumbai before the month-end. Aviation minister Praful Patel said this here on Tuesday after a meeting with the Federation of Indian Airlines (FIA) in which the issue of congestion dominated the proceedings. While Delhi is expected to get a new runway by mid-2008 that could help ease congestion, the existing Mumbai airport is yet to find place for another runway.
“We are looking at having more flights to and from Pune as a way of decongesting Mumbai. In addition, the second airport proposal could be cleared by the Union Cabinet this month itself,’’ Patel said. The government had decided to speed up the proposal for the new airport at Navi Mumbai ever since it became clear that building another runway at the existing airport would be very tough.
The hurdles include factors like acquiring more land outside airport complex from private owners at prohibitive prices and then tall structures falling in the flight approach path of the new runway.
Among other things, both Delhi and Mumbai are facing the problem of a large number of small planes using the same airport and slowing down general aviation because of which congestion and delays have become endemic. Patel has ruled out banning turboprop aircraft in peak hours at the two choked airports. “We can’t deny people in small towns peak hour connectivity to metros,’’ he said.
Both the GMR and GVK groups, which are developing Delhi and Mumbai airports, respectively, have asked the aviation ministry to shift such small aircraft to small alternate airfields in the two cities. Because of congestion, private carriers have levied a surcharge of Rs 150 as their planes spend a lot on burning fuel while hovering idly. FIA member and Kingfisher CMD Vijay Mallya said airlines would have to continue levying that till the situation improves.
While Delhi was hoping for relief from next year, the Centre’s nod for a new airport in Mumbai could improve things in the financial capital soon.

Air India Express to Colombo
http://www.dailynews.lk/2007/03/15/fin02.asp

Air India Express, the low cost Indian airline, will be operating direct flights daily to Colombo from Chennai. This is the third airline from India, after Jet Air and Air Sahara in recent times to add Colombo to their international destinations. This is a clear indication that Colombo is gaining popularity as an emerging major airline destination.

Air India Express offers flights to seven international destinations; Dubai, Sharjah, Abu Dhabi, Al Ain, Muscat, Salalah and Singapore from nine Indian cities, Kozhikode, Kochi, Thiruvananthpuram, Mumbai, Delhi, Pune, Amritsar, Chennai and Mangalore.

Effective March 25, Air India Express will introduce flights between Bahrain/Doha and Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi, Kozhikode, Mangalore and Mumbai.

Additionally, two weekly flights between Mumbai/Pune and Singapore will operate. Three weekly flights between Thiruchirapally and Singapore will also commence. The airline is also looking at operating direct flights from Colombo to Indian destinations in the future.

Mihin Air, the budget airline from Sri Lanka too successfully operated a test flight to India and is expected to operate flights to three destinations in India soon.

With SriLankan, Air India, Indian Airlines, Air Sahara and Jet Air operating flights to India, there would be over 250 flights from Colombo to Indian destinations per week. This would increase the tourism potential too.

Summer flights: heat is on
http://www.financialexpress.com/fe_full_story.php?content_id=157827

To cope with the aviation boom, domestic airlines have asked the Directorate General of Civil Aviation for permission to operate 40% additional flights this summer to take the daily total to 3,500, up from 2,500 in the summer of 2006.
Airlines carried nearly 29 million domestic passengers up to November 2006, a growth of 47% over the corresponding period of 2005 (domestic traffic grew 29.59% in 2005-06).

In the winter schedule of 2006-07, the number of slots went up by 500 and a similar increase was expected in the new schedule, industry sources said. Jet Airways has 350 slots and has asked for 60 more for the summer schedule. Kingfisher Airlines has 158 slots and has requested for 80 more. Indian Airlines has 400 flights a day, but refused to divulge the number of new slots applied for.

Delhi and Mumbai may not see any major changes in schedules, as the government is unlikely to accommodate more flights during peak hours (7 am to 10 am and 6 pm to 10 pm). But no airline currently flying prime-time slots in the two metros would be pulled out to ease congestion.

A final decision will be taken at the three-day Airline Schedule Committee meeting scheduled to start from Thursday.

Air Deccan launches more daily flights
http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/006200703140314.htm

Air Deccan will launch daily flights connecting Hyderabad-Bhubaneshwar and Vizag-Bhubaneshwar from March 26.

"The daily flights will link Hyderabad and Bhubaneshwar via Delhi and Vizag and Bhubaneshwar for the first time," Chief Revenue Officer of the firm Samyukth Sridharan told reporters on Tuesday.

He said, Air Deccan has the unique distinction of flying the largest number of people everyday to and from Hyderabad.

With a market share of 19.7 per cent, Air Deccan has the largest network covering 61 airports, plying over 300 flights a day, he said.

However, he was reluctant to divulge the breakup on the profits, with reference to Hyderabad operations.

Hyderabad-Bhubaneshwar flight will be twice a day, morning and evening, whereas the other flight from Vizag to Bhubaneshwar would be once at 9.20 am daily at Vizag and in turn, 11 am at Bhubaneshwar.

Airports facing 50% ATC shortfall (http://www.financialexpress.com/fe_full_story.php?content_id=158066)

India’s two largest airports--Delhi and Mumbai--have just 100 air traffic controllers guiding 500 planes daily, nearly 40-50% short of the requirement. The 87 domestic airports have just 1,000 air traffic controllers, grossly inadequate for the booming aviation sector. At 2,500 flights per day, India needs a minimum of 2,500 ATCs. Yet, an official from the Airport Authority India (AAI) admitted that no ATCs have been recruited in the last five years.

ATCs co-ordinate movements of aircraft, keep them at safe distances from each other and direct them during take-off and landing, thereby ensuring smooth traffic flow with minimal delays. The shortfall not only compromises air traffic safety but also poses a question mark over future expansion plans of domestic carriers.

With the domestic airlines asking the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) for permission to operate 40% additional flights this summer, taking the daily total to 3,500, up from 2,500 in the summer of 2006, this shortage is set to become acute. Additional flights would add to the work pressure of the existing ATCs, since there would be 600 flights each day over Mumbai and Delhi airports this summer.

An operations head with a domestic airline said, “The task of ensuring safe operations of commercial and private aircraft falls on an ATC. In India, especially at the metro airports, the ATCs have to guide an aircraft every three minutes for take-offs and landing. There should be adequate traffic controllers to guide the movement of aircraft.”

The situation has reached alarming levels where an ATC guides planes through some 14-15 routes at the same time. “According to international norms, there should be one radar controller for every route, with one person manning arrival and another, departure. Surprisingly, in India, a single ATC does both the jobs,” the airline official said.

Industry analyst Amar Kedia cites the rapid growth in the aviation sector as a reason for the shortage of ATCs. “Two years ago, over 800 flights took off and landed at the Mumbai airport on a particular day in the summer schedule. This was a record in itself. This year, if the DGCA approves an increase in the slots given to various airline operators, it will be really a daunting task for the controllers to manage the traffic,” he said.

The question is, does the government have a plan?

Air India, Indian to be Merged into a New Company

NEW DELHI, Mar 12: As a first step towards the mega merger of Air-India and Indian, the government is likely to form the ‘new company’ within a week. The new company, into which the two carriers shall be merged, will be registered under the under the Companies Act of 1956. Out of the two legal routes envisaged by the civil aviation ministry for the merger, the government has chosen the option of forming a new company under Sections 391 and 394 of the Companies Act.

...While the new company will be registered within the next week, the civil aviation ministry may require about 4 months to complete major legal and procedural formalities. However, the total integration process of the two carriers may take about 2-3 years, sources said.

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/News/News_By_Industry/Transportation/Airlines__Aviation/Air_India_Indian_to_be_merged_into_new_co/articleshow/1749862.cms

7-month ban on new flights to Delhi, Mumbai airports (http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2007/03/20/stories/2007032005870100.htm)


There will be no new flights to and from Delhi and Mumbai over the coming seven months. The Government has decided to freeze at the existing levels the number of flights that can be operated by domestic airlines from these two airports during the forthcoming summer season.

Contemplated in the wake of increasing congestion at these two airports, the ban would apply to any new flight that an airline wants to operate during the peak hours.

The Government, however, is yet to decide on what constitutes peak hours for both the airports that are the busiest in the country. There are sections in the Government that feel the peak hours extend from 7 to 10 a.m. and from 6 to 10 p.m.

The decision to freeze the number of flights at the existing levels was taken at a meeting the Secretary, Civil Aviation, Mr Ashok Chawla, had with senior airline officials. Top officials of Air Sahara, SpiceJet and Jet Airways were present at the meeting.

Traditionally, the Government approves airline schedules twice annually, in March for summer and in October for the winter schedules. This is done primarily as the Government controls the slots at the airports and also to ensure that passengers are not inconvenienced due to delays at the airports.

Justifying the decision, senior Government officials said that Delhi and Mumbai airports cannot handle more than 30 flights an hour. "Till proper infrastructure is created some steps will have to be taken to ensure that congestion at these airports is kept to a bare minimum," officials indicated.

Another measure under consideration to mitigate the congestion problem is to allow Delhi airport to increase to four hours in the morning the time during which simultaneous use of both runways would be permitted. "The private sector airport operator in Delhi, Delhi International Airport Ltd, is also planning to allow use of simultaneous runway during the evening hours shortly. This too will go a long way in improving the problems faced by the operators," a senior Government official said.

At Mumbai, the airport operator plans to allow the use of the cross runway soon, that should also help in easing the problems airlines face while flying from and to the city.

According to airline officials, at Delhi and Mumbai airports, there were about 3,200 aircraft `movements' in a week during the summer schedule of 2005, up from 2,400-2,500 in the preceding schedule. A typical aircraft `movement' is described as either a take-off or a landing. "The number has obviously gone up now," the officials said.

The congestion problem is also heightened by the shortage of enough trained Air Traffic Controllers in the country and there have been suggestions to recruit and train more people for this job.

At the meeting, the Government also asked the airlines to show greater transparency for the charges levied. "The airlines were requested to put on their Web site details of the services available as also the charges for these. The passengers should also be made aware of what portion of the ticket is refundable and which are not in case they seek a refund," officials said.

Indus Airways: Amritsar airlinked to Mumbai and Chandigarh

“We are ready to walk that extra mile to implement our vision for sprucing up the infrastructure of Punjab, including road, rail and air connectivity,” Punjab Finance Minister Manpreet Badal said, while inaugurating the daily flight of Indus Airways from Amritsar to Mumbai.

It is the first time that Chandigarh would be connected to Amritsar by air with this flight. Indus has major plans for the region, including connecting Chandigarh and Amritsar to all major metros of the country. Amritsar was added to the Delhi-Chandigarh-Mumbai route to provide a direct link to Mumbai-bound passengers from the holy city.

http://cities.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=227534

Air Deccan stage-manages cheating of passengers (http://www.ibnlive.com/news/india/03_2007/air-deccan-stagemanages-cheating-of-passengers-36509.html)

Bangalore, Mumbai: February 11, 2007 - 5:25 AM: The Air Deccan Counter at the Bangalore airport is a noisy place, with off-loaded passengers fighting for what they have paid and what is rightfully theirs.

Says an off-loaded passenger, Prashant Jotawar, "I was here at 5:20 AM, but someone from Air Deccan came and wrote 5:30 at the counter, saying you cannot board as you are three minutes late."

February 14, 2007 - 5:25 AM: The same counter at Bangalore airport saw the same scenes being replayed.

Says another off-loaded passenger, Debashish Chaudhary, "First the Air Deccan people had written 5:15 AM or 5:20 AM. Then he took the ticket and manipulated it, making the time 5:30 AM or 5:35 AM. You can see it on my ticket distinctly."

To find out more, CNN-IBN went undercover as passengers on February 27 and found that off-loading people seems like a part of the Air Deccan manager's daily routine.

" No ma'am, you are late," is what he told a member of the CNN-IBN Special Investigation Team. A little blue mark on the ticket, which says you are allegedly three minutes late is all that it takes to leave passengers high and dry.

"You are one minute late and you lose Rs 7,000 here," says an irate passenger.

And passengers are left pleading to get onto a flight that they had every right to be on. One hears passengers saying things like, "I am going home after two years and only for 12 hours at that. Please let me on that flight."

So how is this entire operation is managed?

When you check in, the first thing that goes slow is the baggage screening process. Then there is only one check in counter and the line there stretches forever. The Check-In staff at the counter is purposely told to slow down and you are declared as having come late even if you come early.

Says an Airports Authority of India (AAI) official, Bangalore, on condition of anonymity, "They slow down the counter work and the sales department sells more tickets."

CNN-IBN: So, you are saying they overbook?

AAI Official: Exactly!

Air Deccan, however, is quick to blame it all on a systems glitch.

Says MD Air Deccan, Captain G R Gopinath, "There were some over bookings. Our website was hacked by some unknown elements. There were flights showing on the computer, that did not exist!"

However, airport officials concede that the scam is an open secret.

Says an Airport Manager named Laxman, "They say you have come outside half an hour so we can't let you board the plane. This has been happening to too many passengers!"

So day after day, passengers get taken for a ride and an airline can continue to bend the rules because the DGCA - the aviation watchdog - is fast asleep.

Air Deccan stage-manages cheating of passengers (http://www.ibnlive.com/news/india/03_2007/air-deccan-stagemanages-cheating-of-passengers-36509.html)

so the DGCA doesn't allow overbooking for low-cost airlines? Is that true?

Air Deccan is cheating the passengers by marking them late and not refunding them their money (the least they can do in case of an overbooking scenario where the passenger is not at fault).

Captain Gopinath doesn't sound convincing at all with his hacking excuse. But of course the full context of his statement is not shown.

so the DGCA doesn't allow overbooking for low-cost airlines? Is that true?

Air Deccan is cheating the passengers by marking them late and not refunding them their money (the least they can do in case of an overbooking scenario where the passenger is not at fault).

Captain Gopinath doesn't sound convincing at all with his hacking excuse. But of course the full context of his statement is not shown.

I don't think issue is allowing overbooking. The issue is how the airline responds when more passengers show up than available seats. They just cannot use the tactics like the one mentioned in the report.

I have run into that kind of situation in US many times - mainly with Delta and Southwest. In both cases, not only did they refund my total fair, they put me on a later flight and gave me a $100 voucher for future travel. DGCA is not acting against the unethical means adopted by Air Deccan.

i said it earlier i will say it again - avoid air deccan like the plague. its worse than indian railways. problem is in the absence of a strong regulator and our pathetic legal system, esp consumer courts, they get away unpunished

Praful to decide brand, logo of merged AI-Indian family
TIMES NEWS NETWORK [MONDAY, MARCH 19, 2007 01:19:38 AM]

While the Air India building in Mumbai is considered the favourite for housing the headquarters of the merged entity, there is a demand for having the headquarters in Delhi since the merged entity would be a prestigious central PSU.

In the case of brand and logo, continued use of the Air India Maharajah as mascot for the premium airline is under consideration.

The low-cost services of the merged entity may use the Indian brand, it is understood.

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/News/News_By_Industry/Transportation/Airlines__Aviation/Praful_to_decide_brand_logo_of_merged_AI-Indian_family/articleshow/1776312.cms

:cheers:

When aircraft operators defied government (http://ia.rediff.com/money/2007/mar/22airline.htm)

Rejecting a government directive to withdraw the contentious "congestion" surcharge imposed on all air tickets by Wednesday, airline companies have said there is no question of a rollback.

However, the carriers are divided on whether to openly defy the government or merely change the classification and adjust the Rs 150 paid per passenger in the basic fare.

Congestion surcharge is a charge passengers pay to airlines to cover the cost of aircraft burning extra fuel ahead of landing and take-off. Hectic negotiations are on to reach a possible consensus.

"Though the Directorate General of Civil Aviation has asked us to review the congestion surcharge, we do not plan to lift it," Vijay Mallya, chairman and CEO of Kingfisher Airlines, told Business Standard.

However, Air Deccan and SpiceJet have decided to load the surcharge on the basic fare.

G R Gopinath, CEO of Air Deccan, said, "The whole idea of having the surcharge was to draw the government's attention to the problem of congestion. In that we have been successful."

The Delhi high court recently asked the ministry to look into the issue and respond, following a public interest litigation challenging the imposition of the levy. The congestion surcharge enables carriers to garner revenue of nearly Rs 300 crore.

Airline executives say aircraft have to wait for 45 minutes to an hour to land at airports like Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore. A single-minute delay for a small aircraft costs Rs 2,100 -- which is virtually what a passenger pays on a budget carrier between Delhi and Mumbai.

"Congestion is a fact at metro airports. So, we had to levy a congestion surcharge to meet the cost of additional fuel burnt. If the government insists on us withdrawing the surcharge, it could be adjusted under a new name," an airline executive cautioned.

Union Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel has clarified that domestic airfares are not regulated by the government after the repeal of Air Corporation Act 1953 and airlines are free to charge fares.

In its bid to ease congestion at metro airports, the DGCA has announced a plan to impose a differential tariff for peak and non-peak hour operations. It has also asked the government not to allow in the summer new services in peak hours at Delhi and Mumbai airports.

33% growth in air passenger traffic: AAI data (http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2007/03/23/stories/2007032306470700.htm)

The expansion of domestic low-cost airlines network and the decision of international airlines to offer connectivity to more destinations, helped the country's airports register an increase of more than 33 per cent in passengers handled during January-December 2006 as compared to the same period in the previous year.

Growth

The latest data complied by Airports Authority of India (AAI) shows that all the airports handled 90.44 million passengers during the calendar year 2006 compared with 67.95 million handled during the same period in the previous year.

During January-December 2006, the domestic passenger traffic stood at 65.69 million, registering a growth of close to 42 per cent over the previous 12-month period.

Among the airports that recorded high growth rates in passenger traffic right through the year include Coimbatore, Hyderabad, Chennai and Bangalore.

For two successive years, December has been the best month for the domestic airports in terms of the number of passengers handled.

In December 2006, the airports handled 9.48 million passengers including 6.93 million domestic and 2.54 million international passengers, while during the same month in the preceding year it was 7.24 million passengers including 4.99 million domestic and 2.25 million international passengers.

Airports Expansion

During 2006, while the low-cost airline, IndiGo started operations, other low-cost airlines such as SpiceJet and Air Deccan expanded their route network offering the customers more choice in terms of fares and airlines.

In the international skies, the Kuwaiti low-cost airline, Jazeera Airways also launched regular services to Delhi and Mumbai in July last year, while Air India Express, the state-owned low-cost airline, expanded its operations connecting more Indian cities with international destinations.

Image overhaul for Jet Airways
2007-03-23 16:07:20 Source : Moneycontrol.com

New colours, new logo and a spanking new uniform - India's largest private sector airline Jet Airways is getting ready to take off with a spanking new corporate identity, reports CNBC-TV18.

India's largest domestic carrier Jet Airways is going in for a complete brand overhaul, to be launched on April 3. The airline will don new colours, a new logo and a brand new uniform for its crew, which is fashioned by a European designer. Its brand new Boeing 777 aircraft with a 3 class configuration will also be showcased.

http://news.moneycontrol.com/india/news/business/jetairwaysboeing777/imageoverhaulfo/market/stocks/article/273133

Jet to launch US flight by July-August (http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/holnus/006200703231650.htm)

Jet Airways, the country's top private airline, will launch its long-planned maiden flight to the US via Belgium by July-August this year and make Ahmedabad the fourth Indian city in its network to have direct flights to London's Heathrow airport from April 3.

The premier private carrier had earlier decided to start the Mumbai-Brussels-Newark flight on August 15, but efforts are now being made to advance the launch date, highly-placed sources in the airline told PTI here.

Jet's American operations have been delayed by almost two years as it was originally scheduled in October 2005. The delay was caused by an inquiry by US Department of Transportation after an American company of the same name alleged that its Indian namesake had underworld links.

The charges were investigated and subsequently found to be untrue. Jet was later given security clearance by Home Ministry last year.

The flight, to be operated by a Boeing-777 aircraft with a three-class configuration, may have an inaugural offer of an economy class return ticket at Rs 45,000 plus taxes.

Sources said the Ahmedabad-London Heathrow flight would be launched on April three as a twice-a-week service, but the frequency would be increased to thrice-a-week from May 1. It already operates to London from Delhi, Mumbai and Amritsar.

The initial economy return fare on this sector would be an attractive Rs 22,000 plus taxes only, they said, adding this inaugural fare was likely to be valid for a month.

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/147/431738580_c1dd48e492.jpg

photo courtesy: Matt Cawby

I was expecting something better. This seems to be slight modification of the current livery. They have not got rid of the broken egg.

^^ looks good

AI-Indian merger to take shape in 2 weeks
March 24, 2007 13:27 IST

The new airline to be formed after the merger of state-owned carriers Air India and Indian will start taking shape within a fortnight as key decisions like appointment of a chairman and managing director, brand name, mascot, and logo will be finalised in this period.

"You will see everything falling in place in two weeks. I am sure that it will be broadly to the satisfaction of all concerned," Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel said in an interview to Karan Thapar to be broadcast on television channels CNN-IBN and CNBC.


http://in.rediff.com/money/2007/mar/24ai.htm

Chennai airport being spruced up (http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2007/03/26/stories/2007032602360300.htm)


In the current year, the Airports Authority of India has invested Rs 100 crore in Chennai airport — in strengthening the secondary runway, re-carpeting main taxi track, `shoulder turning pad' and installing runway edge lights, according to Mr Dinesh Kumar, Airport Director.

Now, thanks to the growing traffic, the airport is to be refurbished further, he said. The airport is set to record a 39 per cent increase in domestic passenger traffic and around 8 per cent increase in international passenger traffic for fiscal ending March 2007 when compared with the previous year.

Currently, 19 international carriers and nine domestic airlines offer flights from/to Chennai. The numbers are set to increase. Many airlines want to touch Chennai. For instance, Qatar Airways is to start a Chennai-Doha flight on Monday.

Because of the increasing load, the airport is being spruced up . The international terminal is to be expanded to 12,000 sq ft. It would have two levels (ground floor and first floor). Around 1,200 sq ft of space has been added in the departure area and work in the rest of the area would be completed by May, Mr Kumar said. The departure area will soon have a food court as well.

For incoming international travellers there would be a new `slope type' baggage conveyor system instead of the present `flat type', making it easier for passengers to pick up their baggage.

A second domestic terminal would come up in five acres of land adjacent to the Kamaraj Domestic Terminal. Global architects would provide design for the terminal, he said.

According to Mr Kumar, the existing infrastructure would be sufficient for the next five years. However, with carriers planning to expand their fleet and the likely surge in passenger traffic, there is a need start working on expansion for future needs.

Praful's interview on AI-IA merger - Devils Advocate IBNLIVE.COM

http://www.ibnlive.com/news/on-mission-merger-patel-says-dream-airline-on-anvil/top/36921-3.html?xml&news=Devil`s%20Advocate:%20Praful%20Patel&pubDate=Mon%2C+26+Mar+2007+04%3A52%3A56++0100&keyword=ibn_home

I'll believe those "guarantees" when an aircraft order is concluded in under six months.

^^

Nice interview..the questions were straight out..the kind of stuff we would like to know on this forum..

However, this was my first time watching an interview by Karan..is he typically this hot headed and impatient? It seemed that he just wouldn't give Praful Patel a chance to reply comprehensively. Of the 15 minutes interviewing, he probably spoke for about 10..

Interesting interview.

More on MDLR Airline

http://img267.imageshack.us/img267/4427/mdlrairlinezm2.jpg

MDLR group floats airline, to start operations in April
http://www.agencyfaqs.com/news/stories/2007/03/26/17377.html

Come April, India will have one more full service airline in the Indian skies. Gurgaon-based realty firm MDLR group is floating an airline company, MDLR Airlines, which will operate as a regional carrier.

“The commercial launch of MDLR Airlines is expected by the first week of April. We will be flying the BAe AVRO RJ-70, which is a four engine jet with 70 seats. This will be the only airline to serve purely vegetarian food on board,” Koustav M Dhar, president (commercial & special projects) MDLR Airlines, said.

Sources said the model of MDLR Airlines is similar to Chennai-based Paramount Airways with business class and first class configuration.

“Paramount Airways primarily operate in the south Indian market, while MDLR Airlines in the northern side. Both airlines have lots of similar features,” industry analysts pointed out.

MDLR Airlines will have 6 business class seats and 64 economy seats. The economy fare will start from Rs 1000 and there will four different buckets for Club fares (business class). The airline will start regional operations from cities such as Chandigarh, Delhi, Ranchi and Kolkata. It has also plans to enter western India by connecting Surat, Bhavnagar, Mumbai and Goa.

“Initially, we will be having two BAe AVRO RJ jets and later we will increase it to five. In the meantime, we are talking to aircraft manufacturers such as Bombardier, Embraer and ATR for acquiring more jets,” Dhar said. The company wants to have 35-40 aircraft in its fleet by 2010, he added.

Airline executives added that BAe jets are suitable for short landing in the airports of north India which are having short runways.

Asked about the intense competition in the Indian aviation scene, Dhar said there is potential market in tier-II cities as airline companies do not stick to regional operations. “Our idea is to stick to regional operations,” Dhar added.

MDLR group, the promoter of the airline, has its business interests in commercial and residential real estate development including shopping malls, residential colonies and group housing projects, farmland development, resorts, restaurants and airlines.

They could have at least been a little more creative choosing a name for the airline. Interesting choice of aircraft too but not bad.

Jet to spruce up image ahead of US foray (http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/News/News_By_Industry/Transportation/Airlines__Aviation/Jet_to_spruce_up_image_ahead_of_US_foray/articleshow/1807198.cms)

Faced with fierce competition in the domestic skies and a trans-Atlantic foray into the United States later this year, India’s largest airline by marketshare Jet Airways is gearing up with a massive rebranding of its product. ET has a preview of the airline’s new look, designed by international consultants Landor Associates that is to be unveiled next month.

The current livery was designed 14 years ago when the airline was launched and has been unchanged since.

The rebranding includes new designs for the aircraft interiors, new seats with inflight entertainment systems (IFE), new uniform designs for the cabin-crew as well as ground staff put together by Italian designers and a new look for the aircraft.

Jet has retained its trademark blue and yellow colours and the `flying sun’ on its tail, however the planes will now have a softer touch with two ochre bands running through the front of the aircraft.

Its name is now in a different grey typeset and the Indian flag earlier located in the front of the fuselage is now in the rear. The Jet Airways COO (chief commercial officer) Garry Kingshott is spearheading the redesign. UK advertising agency M&C Saatchi will handle the ad campaign.

The redesign coincides with a huge fleet induction programme starting at the end of April. The Mumbai-based airline will start taking deliveries of wide-bodied, long haul planes from both Boeing and Airbus over the next few years.

The first Boeing 777 aircraft, configured in three classes, arrives in the end of April. The first class with just eight seats will have separate cabins for each passenger, sources said. The aircraft will be initially deployed on the India-London routes, replacing the leased Airbus A340s that are currently being used on the sector.

About five of these aircraft will be in by August when they will start operating to the United States. ``The US flights will be a catalyst for a huge expansion in Jet Airways global operations. About 40% of the airline’s total flights will be on international routes within two years’’, the Jet CEO Wolfgang Prock-Schauer had earlier said.

Karan Thapar's questioning and cross-questioning seem to be MORE like a prosecution lawyer than a well qualified interviewer.

Praful is perhaps the best man that happened to the Aviation Ministry and it is time we give him enough rope to move the mammoth monolith. If not for him, we would not have seen the private airlines in the first place.

Karan Thapar.. have some patience and some decency to keep quiet instead of shooting off your verbal volleys. They and your domineering gestures are an irritating pain in the arse !



Praful's interview on AI-IA merger - Devils Advocate IBNLIVE.COM

http://www.ibnlive.com/news/on-mission-merger-patel-says-dream-airline-on-anvil/top/36921-3.html?xml&news=Devil`s%20Advocate:%20Praful%20Patel&pubDate=Mon%2C+26+Mar+2007+04%3A52%3A56++0100&keyword=ibn_home

When I clicked the link to the interview I didn't realize there was video and just saw part of the transcript. This interviewer is an idiot. He is questioning the abilities of everyone, even Accenture which it seems he's never heard of (maybe he knows Arthur Andersen?), yet it is him that is unable to do is job properly with his constant interruptions and ludicrous request for guarantees. I understand he's playing "Devil's Advocate" but this is ridiculous.

^^ looks good

AI-Indian merger to take shape in 2 weeks
March 24, 2007 13:27 IST

The new airline to be formed after the merger of state-owned carriers Air India and Indian will start taking shape within a fortnight as key decisions like appointment of a chairman and managing director, brand name, mascot, and logo will be finalised in this period.

"You will see everything falling in place in two weeks. I am sure that it will be broadly to the satisfaction of all concerned," Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel said in an interview to Karan Thapar to be broadcast on television channels CNN-IBN and CNBC.


http://in.rediff.com/money/2007/mar/24ai.htm

then what? what is the economic benefit of this whole deal?

MP

then what? what is the economic benefit of this whole deal?

MP

Maybe Accenture will know.

When I clicked the link to the interview I didn't realize there was video and just saw part of the transcript. This interviewer is an idiot. He is questioning the abilities of everyone, even Accenture which it seems he's never heard of (maybe he knows Arthur Andersen?), yet it is him that is unable to do is job properly with his constant interruptions and ludicrous request for guarantees. I understand he's playing "Devil's Advocate" but this is ridiculous.

you can feel he is trying to act like a great interviewer like jeremy paxman on hardtalk or something, but karan thapar has always been an idiot who loves his voice too much. i dont know why he invites someone else to talk to, he seems to be do most of the talking anyways

you can feel he is trying to act like a great interviewer like jeremy paxman on hardtalk or something, but karan thapar has always been an idiot who loves his voice too much. i dont know why he invites someone else to talk to, he seems to be do most of the talking anyways

you must see his other sessions.....makes you feel the one with praful patel in it was just friendly banter.....

Oh yeah. Karan was a lot friendlier with Praful. You got to see other episodes, he is all over them. Lot of current audience likes this type of questioning and it sells.

Remember zee tv Rajat Sharma's "Aaj Ka Adalat". It was a popular show a while back and I used to enjoy his commanding questions to politicians.

Finnair to add Mumbai as its new route (http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/006200703260322.htm)


As part of its strategy to focus on Asian countries including India, Finnish carrier Finnair on Sunday said it would launch a new service to Mumbai on June 17 and increase the frequency of flights to the national capital.

Mumbai is a completely new destination to be launched, with five days a week service, Finnair said in a statement.

Moreover, in mid-May the current three-weekly frequency for flights to national capital will be increased to daily.

"Mumbai was chosen as a new long-haul destination because of great demand and in response to requests from Finnish and Indian customers," Petteri Kostermaa, responsible for scheduled route strategy at Finnair, said.

Noting that Mumbai was India's centre of business and logistics, Kostermaa said there is big potential for tourist traffic to Europe as country's most affluent people live in the area.

A-I Express starts its maiden Mangalore-Qatar service (http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/006200703260323.htm)


The inaugural flight of Air-India's budget airline from Doha to Mangalore, Air-India Express, took off from Doha International Airport on Sunday.

The flight with nearly 50 per cent of the seats allotted to Qatar lying vacant, will arrive at Mangalore via Bahrain.

Air-India sources said that against Qatar's allotted quota of 80 seats, 40 seats have already been booked. The officials termed the response "encouraging".

Mumbai, Kozhikode, Kochi and Thiruvananthapuram are the other destinations where Air-India Express services are being offered. Bookings for these places have already started pouring in.

Kerala and Mangalore are the most sought after destinations. The response to Mumbai is yet to pick up, he said. To begin with, there will be 10 flights a week, four each to Mumbai and Kerala plus two to Mangalore.

Air-India has planned to operate one more flight to Kochi every Thursday by the end of April.

Air India launches operations from Trichi

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/NEWS/India/Air_India_launches_operations_from_Trichi/articleshow/1812408.cms

State-run carrier Air India Express, a subsidiary of Air India, today launched operations to Singapore and Dubai from here.

The airline would operate flights to Singapore via Chennai thrice a week on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. In the return direction, the flights would be on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, but would not touch Chennai.

The flights to Dubai would be on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, with the return flights also on the same days.

The first flight to Chennai was flagged off this noon from the newly constructed runway.

S Ranganthan, Executive Director, Ground Services, Air India, said Tiruchirappalli was the tenth destination on the Air India Express network.

The airlines would make the two services as daily flights once the Airports Authority of India (AAI) completed the expansion project.

Mumbai International airport voted best in India

Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport has been voted as the 'Best Airport in India' in a survey of passengers and opinion makers conducted by Air Passengers Association of India.
The survey, conducted among APAI members, aviation correspondents and frequent travellers from various industry bodies, considered service efficiency and improvement in passenger facilities as the main parameters, a release said.

"To be ranked the best airport in India reinforces our commitment to maintain high service standards and provide the best experience to passengers. It is our vision to upgrade CSIA into a world-class airport," G V Sanjay Reddy, managing director, Mumbai International Airport Pvt Ltd said.

http://www.rediff.com/money/2007/mar/27airport.htm

Thats a surprise!

not really

its quite a good airport in terms of efficiency, speed and even comfort. only needs some aesthetics

mumbai airport the best?? wow!!

mumbai airport the best?? wow!! .... hush hush... only in India.

im looking for photos of amritsar airport. does anybody knows any??

im looking for photos of amritsar airport. does anybody knows any??

http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showpost.php?p=10997117&postcount=288

ive seen these photos before. does anybody has more pictures of amritsar(old and new termninal building)???

Qatar Airways is expanding its services across Asia, and the Indian sub-continent with new flights to the southern Indian capital city of Chennai and the tropical island of Bali in Indonesia. The flights will connect these destinations to the Qatari capital, Doha.

Qatar Airways already serves five cities across India - Delhi, Mumbai, Cochin, Trivandrum and Hyderabad, as well as the Indonesian capital, Jakarta.

According to Qatar Airways chief executive officer, Akbar Al Baker, the airline expects passenger demand for both routes to be significant.

On the Chennai route, Qatar Airways will operate daily flights using an Airbus A321 with a 12-seat business class and 132-seat economy class configuration.

http://www.domain-b.com/aero/20070328_destination.htm

As part of its expansion plans in India, Finnish carrier Finnair is all set to add Mumbai as the second destination and increase frequency to New Delhi to every day of the week.

Finnair, which currently operates three flights from here, will begin its daily flights from mid May. From Mumbai, it will operate five times a week starting June 17.

'India is a very strategic market for us. We have less recognition here, which is why we are trying to promote Finland not only as a viable business destination but also as a preferred holiday destination,' Ambassador of Finland Asko Numminen said at a press conference here Wednesday.

'Indians today have more consumption capacity than Europeans. Last year almost nine million Indians travelled abroad and we want a majority of them to travel to Finland,' he added.

With Finnair's latest move, India will be connected by 12 flights a week to Finland. The carrier started its India operations in October 2006 and boasts of running the shortest route between India and any EU country, taking barely six-and-a-half hours.

According to Seppo I. Keranen, head of Finpro India, a Finnish trade promotion body: 'Last year, we had a 47 percent increase in visas to Finland. This year we hope that will surge tremendously with the addition of Mumbai, India's commercial hub.'

Keranen also said that it plans to add Chennai as its next destination, mainly because Finnish mobile giant Nokia has set up a manufacturing facility there.

'We are constantly trying our best to increase our presence here. Gradually I can see there is increasing awareness about Finland in India,' said Taina Tornstrom, Finnair director for the Indian subcontinent.

'Mumbai is India's biggest business city and centre of business and logistics. India's most affluent population lives in the area, too, so there is big potential for tourist traffic to Europe.'

http://www.indiaprwire.com/businessnews/20070328/21719.htm

Mumbai International airport voted best in India



http://www.rediff.com/money/2007/mar/27airport.htm

any idea about the rest of the airports.....

Chanchal Pal Chauhan / New Delhi March 29, 2007



Blending the names of the country’s state-owned domestic and international carriers, Indian and Air-India, respectively, the government is planning to brand the merged entity as “Air Indian”. The Cabinet cleared a proposal to merge the two airlines last month.

Sources close to the development reveal that after hectic negotiations and several rounds of meetings, the choice of brand was a unanimous one.

A new company called National Aviation Company Ltd has been registered by the government to amalgamate the two airlines along with their low-fare subsidiaries, Air India Express (of Air India) and Alliance Air (of Indian).

As for the new airline’s logo, Air India’s famed “Maharaja” is reported to have found more favour than Indian’s “Ashok Chakra” at discussions involving the brass of the two carriers. An official announcement on the decision is expected next week.

When contacted, an Air India spokesperson said, “We have not been informed of the new brand or the logo yet. A decision on the broad contours of the proposed merger is expected soon.”

The logic behind the new brand name is to maintain the current top position of Air India on the ABC directory, which lists airlines alphabetically and is widely used as a reference book by the International Air Transport Association, other international airlines and tour operators worldwide.

An Air-India functionary told Business Standard, “It makes sense and is practical to retain the names of both the airlines.”

Also, the initials of the new airline would remain A-I.”“It makes sense and is practical to retain the names of both the airlines. Also, the initials of the new airline would remain A-I.”

There was intense pressure from the staff of the two airlines to maintain their respective identities in the new brand.

While the Air India staff had maintained that their international brand equity is much higher, the union representatives of Indian Airlines were lobbying for their stronger brand value due to higher passenger load than Air India.


http://www.business-standard.com/common/storypage_c.php?leftnm=10&bKeyFlag=BO&autono=279250&chkFlg=

How much did they spent to come up with the new name. What does it take to figure out (Air India + Indian Air) = Air Indian, if you take out the common letters.

Air india + Indian = Air Indian = Boriiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiing......

( not that i want it to be something wacky ..........only i feel they could have been a bit more creative )

Why can't it just be Air India. Has a longer heritage, somewhat higher brand equity (both are bad but AI has an edge in my opinion). And it makes sense - typically, most airlines with the prefix 'Air' have the country's name, instead of the nationality - you either have "Nationality" Airlines, or Air "Nation". I have not seen any other airline with the name Air "Nationality" as "Air Indian" would be.

How much did they spent to come up with the new name. What does it take to figure out (Air India + Indian Air) = Air Indian, if you take out the common letters.

Air Indian was what I was guessing. But it is kind of boring. They should have stuck with Air India.

Did you guys know about a project underway to install runway lights/PAPI at all AAI airports (including the smallest ones that only have ATR operations)? I was not aware of this until earlier today. This pretty significant project has slipped under the radar (at least under my radar). Until a few years ago, many of the relatively important airports did not have runway lights and hence not just had restricted schedules, but also faced flight cancellations whenever flights were delayed beyond the evening hours.

ya air indian sounds weird ...!

Air Indian sounds rather forced. BTW, when will the new livery be shown?

Fly Kangra to Delhi every day
http://www.tribuneindia.com/2007/20070329/main5.htm

Air Deccan has started operating daily flights from New Delhi to the scenic valley of Kangra situated on the foothills of the Dhauladhar range of mountains in Himachal Pradesh from today.

Earlier, Jagson Airlines has been operating only three flights a week to Kangra valley from Delhi via Pathankot.

The towns of Dharamsala and McLeodganj are within 15 km radius from the airport and were one of the most sought after destinations by high-end tourists, especially foreigners.

The flight was inaugurated by union minister for civil aviation Praful Patel.

After inaugurating the first flight and the new terminal building of the airport, Patel told media persons that the union government was seriously considering to connect important cities of the northern region by air. He said the runway of Kulu airport would also be increased for 50-seater planes to land there.

Replying to a question, he said all airports which were under the control of the Airports Authority of India would get night-landing facility by the end of this year. The Kangra airport would get this facility within three months, he said.

Pardon my French, but "Air Indian" my balls.

Air India is a much classier name any day. Oh come on Fraful bhai, kem chho? big mental block chhe?

the aunties onboard need to go . change the flight attendants , not the name .

the aunties onboard need to go . change the flight attendants , not the name .

Giving priority/respect for elders is our culture, cricket players and airindia attendants are no exception.

Yes Sridhar, the govt spent quite a bit on these systems not only now but some equipment was bought even a decade back. You would be surprised with disgust that it t sat rusting in cargo warehouses for lack of initiative on implementation. With the dramatic push in air-services industry and the compellation to provide better technical facilities, I guess these equipments have been given a big reconsideration. ( I would hate to deduce a guess that some of the old hardware sat unused, but someone made a good commission under the aegis of 'procurement department'.

Now the anti-climax Sridhar ! Delhi Airport had CAT-III-C infrastructure equipment lying unsed and unopened for over 8 years!! Thanks perhaps to Praful-ji, that development in airports will see a dramatic rise in safety systems and such infrastructure.

Regds
p2p4

Did you guys know about a project underway to install runway lights/PAPI at all AAI airports (including the smallest ones that only have ATR operations)? I was not aware of this until earlier today. This pretty significant project has slipped under the radar (at least under my radar). Until a few years ago, many of the relatively important airports did not have runway lights and hence not just had restricted schedules, but also faced flight cancellations whenever flights were delayed beyond the evening hours.

Why can't it just be Air India. Has a longer heritage, somewhat higher brand equity (both are bad but AI has an edge in my opinion). And it makes sense - typically, most airlines with the prefix 'Air' have the country's name, instead of the nationality - you either have "Nationality" Airlines, or Air "Nation". I have not seen any other airline with the name Air "Nationality" as "Air Indian" would be.
i agree.

Giving priority/respect for elders is our culture, cricket players and airindia attendants are no exception.

let me add politicians to the list

AI-Indian New Look Video: http://www.ibnlive.com/videos/37252/air-indiaindian-set-for-new-look.html

AI-Indian New Look Video: http://www.ibnlive.com/videos/37252/air-indiaindian-set-for-new-look.html

screen capture - the CNN-IBN version

http://img252.imageshack.us/img252/1589/airindianewlooksmp2.jpg

not bad......

The new logo is cool, but the fuse livery is really drab. It's all white except for the reddish-orange bit in the back. They shouldve figured out a way to update A-I's palace windows.

i would have loved to see some saffron and green wrapping around that plane.

Giving priority/respect for elders is our culture, cricket players and airindia attendants are no exception.

lol sure . but seriously those fat aunties en board once ruined my whole trip on 747 :bash:

"Fat aunties" do not necessarily mean poor quality airline customer service. Neither do pretty models ensure quality airline customer service. It is all about an airline's general work culture and ethics.

i would have loved to see some saffron and green wrapping around that plane.

Well it's still not official. So we will have to wait for the official release.

Pretty models might not ensure quality customer service, but they sure do make the trip more enjoyable. :cheers:

I doubt it will look anything like that. That looks like someone at CNN-IBN discovered Photoshop last week and decided to give it a go. That's not even the current Centaur.

Having seen what they came up for Air India Express, I hope it will be something kickass like that.

not bad......
" And the new logo is expected to look something like this ... "
Youve got to be kidding :lol:

It's not finalized yet. We will have to wait a few more days

An interesting opinion

Racism in the air
William H Avery

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/OPINION/Editorial/Racism_in_the_air/articleshow/1835313.cms

Etihad Airways: India flights & destinations to double
http://www.moneycontrol.com/india/news/pressnews/etihadairwaysabudhabi/indiaflightsdes/market/stocks/article/273761

Etihad Airways, the UAE’s national airline, is set to expand its services to India with the launch of two new routes from Abu Dhabi to Thiruvananthapuram (Trivandrum) and Kochi (Cochin) in the southern Indian state of Kerala.

The new cities will double Etihad’s destinations in India to four, joining highly successful services to the commercial capital Mumbai and national capital New Delhi.

Flights from Abu Dhabi to Thiruvananthapuram will begin on 31 May, 2007 and to Kochi on 3 June, 2007.

Etihad will also increase the frequency on its Abu Dhabi to New Delhi route from three flights-per-week to a daily service at the beginning of June 2007, which will see the total number of Etihad flights to India each week rise from 10 to 21.

James Hogan, Etihad Airways’ chief executive, said: “India has and always will be one of Etihad’s cornerstone markets because of the historical ties with the UAE and both countries’ growing position as world-class business and holiday destinations. India is now the second fastest growing economy in the world and the demand for frequent travel to and from the Middle East will continue to increase for the foreseeable future.”

The Abu Dhabi-based airline’s services to southern India will provide an important link for the many thousands of Keralites living and working in the UAE and across the Middle East, in addition to leisure travellers flying from Europe via Abu Dhabi for holidays in the state of Kerala.

Etihad will operate the Thiruvananthapuram and Kochi services three and four times-per-week respectively and both routes are expected to increase to daily flights from October 2007.

An interesting opinion

Racism in the air
William H Avery

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/OPINION/Editorial/Racism_in_the_air/articleshow/1835313.cms

Mr. Avery is skimming the surface of a deep rooted social monstrosity.........

For a large newspaper like The Times of India there are way too many popup ads.

What is racist about asking for "clear complexion, unblemished, unscarred"?

It is discriminatory towards people of darker complexion. Like Goram said, this discrimination is very deep rooted in India. Fair & Lovely people make a killing in India due to this affinity towards a fairer skin.

Yes but a "clear" complexion has nothing to do with the color of ones skin. They just don't want zitfaced applicants. You can be dark as night and have a clear complexion.

There is no way to prove/disprove what they mean by "clear". We can only go by their track record in selecting their cabin crew.

No, clear is clear and fair is fair. I think the author just picked that up (from the Jet Airways site) and wanted to use it to strengthen his claim even though it's not accurate. If it said "fair" then yes, that is completely different. They just don't want people with acne, tattoos, scars and such.

With that said, I'm not saying there is no discrimination but the author is wrongly quoting that requirement.

Yes Sridhar, the govt spent quite a bit on these systems not only now but some equipment was bought even a decade back. You would be surprised with disgust that it t sat rusting in cargo warehouses for lack of initiative on implementation. With the dramatic push in air-services industry and the compellation to provide better technical facilities, I guess these equipments have been given a big reconsideration. ( I would hate to deduce a guess that some of the old hardware sat unused, but someone made a good commission under the aegis of 'procurement department'.

Now the anti-climax Sridhar ! Delhi Airport had CAT-III-C infrastructure equipment lying unsed and unopened for over 8 years!! Thanks perhaps to Praful-ji, that development in airports will see a dramatic rise in safety systems and such infrastructure.

Regds
p2p4

Thanks for the info! The officials have an opportunity for commission again, given that the equipment needs to be installed and also perhaps procured afresh, given that it would have rusted away in the warehouse (assuming it was not stolen during this period, again with the connivance of the same officials).

DGCA may allow in-flight mobile use (http://business-standard.com/compindustry/storypage.php?tab=r&autono=279798&subLeft=1&leftnm=1)

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) may soon allow domestic airlines to permit passengers to use mobile phones and access mail on PDAs while air-borne.

Sources said the DGCA is reviewing tests by the US-based Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and European Air Safety Agency (EASA) on mobile phone usage on board aircraft.

At present, passengers are asked to switch off their mobile phones in-flight on the assumption that telecom signals may interfere with the plane’s navigational tools and ground-based communications. But tests carried out by global agencies on airlines such as Emirates and Ryan Air have shown that there is no danger or disturbance.

International players such as British Airways, Virgin Atlantic and Qantas are also planning to install GSM mobile technology on board aircraft.

In India, Kingfisher Airlines could be the first off the block. The airline has sought government permission and started talks with German telephone equipment company OnAir to install technology allowing passengers to use GSM mobile phones while in the air.

Under the new technology, GSM phone signals will be transferred from the cabin through a satellite to a GSM network on earth and connect the in-flight caller to the receiver of the call.

Indus Air stops operations (http://business-standard.com/compindustry/storypage.php?tab=r&autono=279764&subLeft=1&leftnm=1)

Indus Air, a regional airline, has suspended operations from last week, just three months after its commercial launch.

Sources from the government said financial problems had led to the suspension of operations. Operated as a full-service airline from mid-December 2006, Indus Air was promoted by liquor company Mohan Meakins.

At present, there are nine domestic scheduled passenger airlines -- Indian Airlines, Jet Airways, Air Sahara, Air Deccan, Kingfisher Airlines, SpiceJet, Paramount Airways, GoAir and IndiGo apart from Indus Air.

According to the industry analysts, domestic airlines are expected to make a cumulative loss of Rs 1,800 crore to Rs 2,250 crore in 2006-07 in the overcrowded Indian aviation space.

Indus Air Director Krishnan Gopal Beri confirmed the suspension of commercial operations. “We have suspended operations temporarily owing to the shortage of spare parts. We have requested aircraft leasing company GE Commercial Aviation Service (GECAS) to avail parts of Bombardier aircraft. Safety is the most important aspect and the moment we get the necessary spares, we will start operations,” Beri told Business Standard.

An airport representative of Indus Air said the passengers who had booked tickets in advance would get refunds.

Indus Air, which holds a scheduled operating licence, was connecting feeder routes such as Amritsar and Chandigarh to Mumbai and Delhi with two 50-seater Bombardier CRJ 200 aircraft. The airline served food and other facilities during travel unlike budget carriers.

A senior government official pointed out that the airline had failed to pay lease rentals of its two aircraft, which led to cancellation of registration of the aircraft. “The ministry of civil aviation will take a final call on the licence status of Indus Air considering the changed norms of operations,”the official added.

wow. i remember Indus Air ordering 100 Airbus aircrafts recently. How can they be financial trouble right away? Conflicting statements.

wow. i remember Indus Air ordering 100 Airbus aircrafts recently.

That was IndiGo, not Indus.

Traffic news for Dec 2006

http://www.airportsindia.org.in/traffic_news/TRDEC2006_1.pdf

Traffic news for Jan 2007

http://www.airportsindia.org.in/traffic_news/TRJAN2007.pdf

DGCA may allow in-flight mobile use (http://business-standard.com/compindustry/storypage.php?tab=r&autono=279798&subLeft=1&leftnm=1)

Ah..and you thought cell phones were a menace only in Indian theaters...there goes that hour of sleep.. :)

Air Deccan plans flying 12 m passengers next fiscal (http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2007/04/05/stories/2007040506371100.htm)


Mumbai April 4 Air Deccan, the country's first low cost carrier, will be flying 12 million passengers in its next financial year starting July 2007.

The Managing Director, Captain G.R. Gopinath, told newspersons on Wednesday that there had been a rise in the number of passengers flown from 5.5 million in the year ending June 2006 to around 8 million till June 2007.

He said the airline would continue to focus on connecting non-metro areas.

New locales

Keeping with its motto — `Simplyfly' — the airline plans to add locales such as Ludhiana, Chandigarh, Shimla and others to its schedule in the near future. He also added Air Deccan would resume its Nashik flights soon.

The airline, a listed company on the stock markets, is looking to increase its revenue from other activities from the extant nine per cent to 25 per cent by the next financial year, he said.

The local newspaper here in Austin recently printed an article on the "Bangalore Express". Basically, it's about the Lufthansa flight from San Fran to Bangalore.

http://www.statesman.com/business/content/business/stories/other/04/02/2flight.html

Hey, another Austinite. Good deal.

Exodus of key executives from Jet Airways (http://www.telegraphindia.com/1070405/asp/business/story_7608898.asp)

The first few paras of the news from Kolkata Telegraph...

Mumbai/New Delhi, April 4: Days ahead of its scheduled global launch to cater to an international clientele, Jet Airways has been hit by a string of resignations, even as it seeks a public relations firm to prop up its image abroad.

Five key executives, including vice-president (Southeast Asia) V. Raja and head of training Michael Tan, have disembarked from the Jet family since March.

The airline’s vice-president (communications) Nandini Verma was the latest to join the list after she put in her papers today.

Others in the list include senior general manager Vijay Sethi and another senior executive Ravindran.

According to sources, discontent among the executives over the management practices had led to the development.............

One hopes, that airlines in INdia will allocate a certain 9enclosed) part of an aircraft to be assigned as a 'MOBILE CONVERSATION' area instead of allowing the banal banter throughout the a/c. My proposal would be to assign the rear section of the a/c (near the toilets).

Either that, or I hope, the airlines will make mobile phone calls so astronomically expensive that the ordinary Champaklaak Bhampaklaal Chandalaaal will think twice before making a call to announce to his driver "haaa Raamu.. i have lended (sic) just now u come pick my bags jaldise.. !"

I really hope the DGCA rethinks the decision to allow M.phones. Or - should we forumers write to the DGCA as a united front? The least we want is a menace eating away our sleep.

Cheers
p2p4

Ah..and you thought cell phones were a menace only in Indian theaters...there goes that hour of sleep.. :)

I doubt they'll allocate a place for this. The lav areas get crowded as it is and they'll never take out seats for this.

As for cost, if you are using your own cellphone the cost would be the same as any other call you'd make on it except maybe some roaming charges but that is not something the airline can control.

Also, in your example, if the passenger has landed it shouldn't matter as you're allowed to use your cell upon landing right now anyway.

National carriers likely to lose Gulf route monopoly (http://www.indianexpress.com/story/27633.html)

Air India is likely to be the brand name of the new merged national carrier and Maharaja its mascot, but the monopoly enjoyed by the state-owned carriers, Air India and Indian (Airlines), in operating flights to the lucrative Gulf sector is all set to end this year. The government is considering not to extend the restrictions preventing private airlines from flying on Gulf routes.

This move would mean that private carriers like Air Sahara and Jet Airways, meeting the government criteria of having five years of experience in the domestic sector and a minimum fleet strength of 20 aircraft, would become eligible to launch flights to Gulf countries.

The restrictions on private carriers preventing them to fly to the Gulf countries — Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Oman, Qatar and Kuwait— expire on December 31 this year. “The government is not likely to review this decision and hence the restrictions will not be extended,” sources in the ministry said.

While opening up the overseas routes a few years back, the government had authorised only the national carriers to fly to the Gulf countries in a bid to protect them from competition. Now, the government is of the view that the unified national carrier, with it’s enhanced fleet and wider route coverage, will be able to take on the competition.

Meanwhile, sources said the Accenture-led consortium, advising the Civil Aviation Ministry on the merger, has recommended that Air Indian would be a preferred brand name for the new entity. “Their recommendation follows a detailed analysis of issues like brand recall.

The consultants have further advised that if Air India is accepted as the brand name, the brand recall value of Indian Airlines should also be brought into the liver— things like the logo and the orange colour used on aircraft,” top sources said.

The consultants have also advised that Maharaja be retained as the airline’s mascot. Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel is likely to take a final call on the issue in 10 days time.

Merged IA-AI to fly with Air India brand
[ 6 Apr, 2007 0034 hrs IST TIMES NEWS NETWORK ]

NEW DELHI: Love it or hate it, the brand name Air India is most likely to be retained for the new mega carrier government is going to create by merging AI and Indian Airlines. Ditto for the Maharaja which is going to remain the mascot.

Accenture, the consultant appointed to handle the merger process, has submitted its report to the civil aviation ministry and is learnt to have suggested that AI enjoys a very strong brand recall across the world and this name should stay.

Apart from the brand name, the other 'concrete' suggestion given by Accenture is that the design of livery and logo of the merged airline be such that looking at it reminds people of Indian Airlines.

"The logo and livery of the merged airline would use orange colour so that it has familiarity for Indian Airlines travellers within the country," said a source.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/NEWS/India_Business/Merged_IA-AI_to_fly_with_Air_India_brand/articleshow/1862713.cms

what is all this nonsense ........wastage of public money :bash:
who cares what name is or livery is for Air India/Indian Airlines/Air Indian whatever its called now ......its like painting off a donkey and calling it as a horse :bash:

Air Arabia takes off to Ahmedabad
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/News/News_By_Industry/Transportation/Air_Arabia_takes_off_to_Ahmedabad_/articleshow/1856698.cms

Air Arabia, the first low-cost carrier in the Middle-East and North Africa, has started its daily direct flight to Ahmedabad from Sharjah.

The inaugural flight to Ahmedabad's Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport from Sharjah took off yesterday. Ahmedabad is the seventh city on the destionation map of the airlines after Chennai, Jaipur, Kochi, Mumbai, Nagpur and Thiruvananthapuram in India.

TN makes land available for second runway at Chennai (http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2007/04/06/stories/2007040606791000.htm)


The Tamil Nadu Government has made available 700-800 acres of land for the modernisation of Chennai airport, a senior official of the Ministry of Civil Aviation said on Thursday.

"We received a communication from the State Government that it has got 700-800 acres of land for the second runway to come up at Chennai. At present, technical experts are examining the proposal to see whether it is a feasible proposition. A decision on whether the modernisation should be done at the existing airport or a greenfield airport should come up will be taken in about a week," the official added.

The proposed modernisation of the airport had been delayed as the State Government was keen to have a greenfield airport and had identified sites on which it could come up.

The Centre, however, made it clear that the greenfield airport could come up only if the existing airport was shut down.

The proposal now being examined is to upgrade the existing airport, for which also land is to be made available.

In-principle nod for Jet, SpiceJet aircraft import (http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2007/04/06/stories/2007040606901000.htm)


The Government has given `in-principle' approval for low-cost airline SpiceJet and full service airline Jet Airways to collectively import 14 Boeing 737-800 aircraft.

Sources told Business Line that both the proposals were cleared at the meeting of the Aircraft Acquisitions Committee (AAC) — an inter-ministerial body that has representation from the Ministry of Civil Aviation, Directorate General of Civil Aviation and other Government departments.

While SpiceJet, which has a current fleet of 10 Boeing 737-800 aircraft, has been given in-principle permission to import an additional 10 Boeing 737-800 aircraft, Jet Airways has been given permission to import an additional 4 Boeing 737-800 aircraft. The airline currently has 26 Boeing 737-800 aircraft in its fleet.

At the meeting, the proposal of non-scheduled airline Jagson Airways to import or acquire two Dash-8 aircraft that can seat 52 was also cleared. At present, the airline operates 3 Dornier aircraft and 3 helicopters.

what is all this nonsense ........wastage of public money
who cares what name is or livery is for Air India/Indian Airlines/Air Indian whatever its called now ......its like painting off a donkey and calling it as a horse

At some point all airlines have to re-brand and re-launch their airlines abeit with new livery, logos etc. Air India was well over due for a re-launch. Im glad that they are keeping the AI name and mascot. This will only benefit the airline. :banana:

Mallya plans Mumbai-Pune chopper service

Mumbai, April 5: Mumbai to Pune in 19 minutes flat, promises liquor baron and Chairman of Kingfisher Airlines Vijay Mallya. His team is now in the process of giving final touches to a business plan that proposes an air link between the financial capital and the satellite city, by utilising the Mahalaxmi and Pune racecourses. The plan is to commence with six daily flights on a 15-seater chopper.

Mallya had initially planned it as an exclusive service for Kingfisher First passengers, however, it has “transcended well beyond a service for first class guests” and will be a scheduled passenger service now.

An Indian Air Force (IAF) base, currently no additional civil flights are allowed at the Pune airport between 6 am and 10 pm.


19 mins seems less for a chopper...i believe it must be atleast 30-40 mins for a 170 km distance.
“Pune is a growing metropolis and desperately requires air connectivity. With IAF continuing to block additional civil flights , we cannot capitalise on this opportunity. But that does not destroy the demand on the route,” said Mallya. He is likely to purchase the choppers either from Eurocopter and Augusta, who have been short-listed for the project.




http://cities.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=230348

NEW DELHI: The government is planning to lift the restriction of a minimum distance of 150 km between two international airports. This would allow major cities to have two international airports to cope with growing passenger traffic. As of now, no city has two airports though booming traffic has mounted heavy burden on airport infrastructure.

The civil aviation ministry is likely to permit construction of greenfield international airports within 150 km of existing airports on a case-to-case basis, officials said. The move is in addition to the ministry’s proposal to allow construction of fully private or merchant airports. It is expected to boost air connectivity and reduce congestion by allowing multiple international airports near a busy airport.

Civil aviation minister Praful Patel has already indicated that multiple domestic airports can be allowed within a 150-km distance of an existing international airport. Now the government wants to relax the restriction in the case of international airports too.

“The proposal to allow multiple international airports within a certain range is under consideration. A final call on the front is expected soon,” a senior official said.

The idea of multiple international airports has been proposed during the latest review of the civil aviation policy, the official said. However, the facility will be allowed only on a case-to-case basis after studying the specific needs of the city or region concerned. If a metropolitan city that already has an airport can generate substantial traffic for another airport, the permission may be granted.

The move would pave way for multiple airports around metro cities. Recently, the West Bengal government proposed construction of an international airport with private participation close to the Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport. However, no decision has been taken.

The government has already made a special exception in case of the proposed greenfield airport at Navi Mumbai, which is within 150-km distance of the existing Mumbai international airport. While the existing airport is being modernised by the GVK-led consortium, groundwork is on for construction of a new airport at Navi Mumbai.
The civil aviation ministry has already moved a Cabinet Note for construction of the greenfield international airport at Navi Mumbai.

In the case of Delhi, however, the government may have to win the consent of the GMR-led consortium that now runs the airport. While the privatisation process for Mumbai specifically included a provision allowing construction of a new airport at Navi Mumbai, the New Delhi project is bound by the mandatory 150-km separation.

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/Soon_two_intl_airports_within_150-Km/articleshow/1868126.cms

http://img172.imageshack.us/img172/9009/indianairlinesadom2.jpg

Road to growth passes through airstrips (http://business-standard.com/compindustry/storypage.php?tab=r&autono=280232&subLeft=1&leftnm=1)

The $4 billion OP Jindal Group had been busy setting up a five-star hotel in Vidyanagar in Karnataka. But, it soon realised that it would need infrastructure to bring in tourists to the nearby heritage destination of Hampi.

Soon after, the Jindals opened its private airstrip for commercial operations. The decision proved a big success. Budget carrier Air Deccan now operates daily flights connecting Bangalore and Goa to Vidyanagar. Full-service carrier Kingfisher Airlines has also shown an interest in operating flights from Vidyanagar to Mumbai and Hubli.

Like Jindal, several Indian companies are looking at upgrading airstrips to improve access to industrial projects. For instance, the Tata Group is keen to develop its airstrip at Jamshedpur, where Tata Steel's plant is located to accommodate larger aircraft. Reliance Industries, GMR Group and GVK Group have also joined the race.

Reliance Industries is looking at airstrips at its special economic zone in Haryana and some cities in Gujarat, where most of its business is situated. Airlines like Air Deccan are also exploring the business prospects of airstrip development.

For instance, it is in talks with Tata Steel to explore the possibilities of a daily flight from Jamshedpur to Kolkata. And the Andhra Pradesh government has also moved in—it is ready to upgrade airstrips in small towns and cities in a joint venture with private parties if airlines want to start services.

The Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) is also planning to develop these airstrips and is expected to hold a high-level meeting with state governments for public- private participation. It is also encouraging companies to develop their own private airstrips and airport.

“Since airstrips enable regional connectivity, the government may give airstrips in blocks for development to private parties as it may not be feasible to run a single airstrip. It may also extend viability gap funding to support these projects,” says a government official.

MoCA is also looking at setting up greenfield airstrips to be developed by private players built on privately-owned land.

“Airstrips are basically roads with more strength to handle aircraft. The maximum investment required for an airstrip, including night landing facilities, would only cost Rs 20 crore. With assured air connectivity, the developer can go for IT parks or other hospitality ventures around the airport as real estate prices would be lower when compared to the major cities,” Air Deccan, managing director, G R Gopinath points out.

http://deshgujarat.com/2007/03/17/praful-patels-speechim-gujaratis-nominee-in-delhienglish-mp3/

Link to the actual speech, much of it is in Gujarati but i'll list the salient aviation related points.


Air Travel is now so cheap that even Laloo has to worry about how to compete in his budgets
Young India views Air Travel as a realistic mode of transport unlike previous generations
Need to be 400 Airports in India
Nobody should be more than 50km from an Airport
Air Travel must be used for Cargo and Tourism as well as just Transport
Goa Airport must have increased opening hours and flights
In the coming decade, Aviation will be a high growth sector
Orrisa, Jharkhand, Bihar need connectivity to attract investment
Its easier to travel from Nagaland to London than from Nagaland to Kochin, that situation must change
In the coming years, Ahmedabad Airport will be one of the best airports in the world
Surat Airport will become operational on 1st May (Gujarat Day), 1st Flight will go to Dehli

URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2007/04/10/stories/2007041006690500.htm
ILS calibration further delayed

VISAKHAPATNAM: It seems that not only the railways even the civil aviation ministry has taken the people of Visakhapatnam for granted as the calibration of the newly-laid category I Instrument Landing System (ILS) in the new runway of the airport here is further getting delayed.

The March deadline set by AAI Chairman K. Ramalingam is already over and still the new runway, night landing facilities and ILS are yet to be opened to air traffic enabling expansion of air operations in the city of destiny.

Though the technical team of the Airport Authority of India (AAI) from Delhi completed the preliminary work relating to tuning of ILS early this month, the trial of the hi-tech equipment could not be completed unless it is calibrated from a special Dornier flight.

Patient wait : Interestingly the team from Delhi, which patiently waited for over a week for the arrival of the aircraft, returned to the headquarters after completing their assignment. They will come back one day prior to the actual arrival of the aircraft. Sources said a clear picture on the exact date of arrival of the calibration aircraft will emerge only after April 15 as the AAI headquarters had given priority of taking up the work in some other airports "which is more important than Visakhapatnam."
Disappointed : Owing to non-availability of night landing facility, many of the private airlines, which wanted to introduce more services to this industrial city in the summer, which is the peak period in terms of passenger traffic and revenue, feel disappointed...
Excellent planning!

It's all over the news today with TOI (http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/183_aboard_aging_aircraft_of_AI_have_a_close_shave/articleshow/1881412.cms) leading the sensational brigade.- I will let the picture do the talking

photo cc right vm2827

http://img155.imageshack.us/img155/2553/airindiadelhivm2827ek1.jpg

Two downed planes...thats what happens when you try operating an airline using abunch of 20 year old planes and overstress them by not having enough aircraft to cater to demand...

Jet Airways has renegotiated the deal to buy out Air Sahara at Rs. 1400crore - Rs. 1500 crore. Jet Airways had earlier valued Air Sahara at Rs. 2200 crore.

http://www.ibnlive.com/news/business/04_2007/jet-to-buy-sahara-at-lower-price-38157.html


TV-18 network has learnt exclusively that Jet Air is in fresh talks to buy out Air Sahara again.


This time the valuations are seen around Rs 1400 crore to Rs 1500 crore. Jet Air had earlier valued Sahara at Rs 2200 crore in a failed buyout bid.


TV18 network has learnt the deal is likely to close in two to three months and Sahara is waiting for the settlement with Jet.


Jet announced in March 2006 that its plans to buy Sahara were back on track again.


After the deal fell through, following Jet's failure to get regulatory clearances by the deadline of June 21 last year, both parties moved court and the matter was directed for arbitration.


A week after the proposed merger between Jet and Sahara fell through - a merger that was touted as the biggest aviation deal in India - the legal battle lines were drawn and later the deal capped a series of developments.


Following the scrap of the acquisition deal, both the parties moved to court to stop the other party from operating the escrow account opened for the deal.
\

Two downed planes...thats what happens when you try operating an airline using abunch of 20 year old planes and overstress them by not having enough aircraft to cater to demand...

The age of the aircraft has nothing to do with it. This could have happened to a new aircraft as well. Look at Northwest Airlines some of their DC-9s are pushing 40 years, if they haven't reached that already.

The 767 in question is only 12-13 years old.

Thiruvananthapuram: Qatar Airways, the national airline of Qatar, would soon commence freighter service from Doha to Thiruvananthapuram international airport.

"The airline is expecting the third freighter to joint the fleet in the last week of July and we hope to commence the service from August," Regional Manager, Cargo, India Sub-continent, Anil Bhagat, told The Hindu here. As per the proposal worked out by the airline, the freighter service from Doha to Thiruvananthapuram would be on a weekly basis. In the return direction, the freighter will proceed via Colombo to Doha.

On introduction, the freighter service would be the first of its kind to operate to the premier airport of the State. The freighter service would be able to carry 42 tonnes of cargo at a stretch. The freighter would have a pilot, co-pilot and a loadmaster as the crew.

The airline is eyeing the unaccompanied baggage of Non-Resident Keralites and the export of perishables, especially fruits and vegetables, from Thiruvananthapuram to the Middle East.

Qatar Airways has 11 per cent share in the cargo being uplifted from Thiruvananthapuram. At present, the airline uplifts five tonnes of cargo daily in the regular flight that is operated from Doha to Thiruvananthapuram using A-321 aircraft.

Trivandrum International Airport is one of the leading sources of international air cargo among Indian airports. It exports the majority of cargo from the State and is now set to get its first dedicated freighter service. With upto a dozen international flights every day, significant amounts of cargo are already being lifted in the cargo holds of passenger aircraft. With the rapidly expanding cargo traffic, more dedicated freighter services are expected to commence soon. :)

What happened to that aircraft? skidded off runway?

Greenfield airports planned in Karnataka cities (http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2007/04/11/stories/2007041102022100.htm)


At least three smaller cities of Karnataka could be abuzz with air activity in the next 2-3 years if a new initiative to develop greenfield airports across the State succeeds.

The latest attempt is to bring Shimoga and northern cities Bijapur and Gulbarga into the air loop in the first phase, connecting them with capital city Bangalore and other regional hubs.

Minimum Investment


The State Infrastructure Development Department set the ball rolling on Monday by inviting expressions of interest from private investors.

The model would be smaller but similar to the large PPP (public-private partnership) airport projects taking shape in Bangalore or Hyderabad, according to a source familiar with the project. Here too, the State may chip in with the required Government or acquired land — and perhaps offer some form of financial support — for its part.

It has been estimated that each of these new airports would warrant a minimum investment of Rs 25-30 crore for just the airport side.

"People are already interested in tier-2 and tier-3 cities. For now, we are focussing on the service (or air link) aspect and not yet pushing for the commercial component of airports," which could mean more investments, the source said.

Central Plan

The current plan is to select a developer in the next six months and build the airport within two years through special-purpose vehicles. Each airport may require 200-600 acres of land. The State Government has identified 457 acres in Bijapur and is looking at acquiring 500 acres more; in Gulbarga, it has identified 567 acres; and 750 acres at Shimoga.

These three towns have not seen air activity so far unlike Mysore, Hubli or Bellary, which have partly operational or idle airstrips and which are being revived through a separate Central plan. Among the many tier-2 cities that are clamouring for connectivity, Bijapur and Gulbarga are tourist destinations and Shimoga is in the Malnad belt.

Feasibility Studies

The next phase of airport infrastructure development may cover Raichur, Hassan and Kushalnagar. Feasibility studies that have been done or are under way for the three cities indicate that this would prepare the ground for smaller 40-70-seater turboprop aircraft such as the ATRs.

By bringing air cover to some of these places not even linked by rail, the State Government hopes to reduce regional and economic disparities, especially with booming Bangalore.

What happened to that aircraft? skidded off runway?

No, the nose gear collapsed.

http://www.hindu.com/2007/04/10/stories/2007041016310400.htm

CHENNAI : Hyderabad and Bangalore will have new greenfield airports, perhaps by 2008. Chennai had a head start over them in becoming an aviation gateway to southern India. More international airlines and flights connect Chennai to the rest of the world, and many of these airlines want to increase their services to the Tamil Nadu capital.

But strangely, Chennai's pitch for comprehensive modernisation and expansion of the existing airport has not taken off. Between the Centre and the State Government, a decision needs to be taken whether the metropolis will have a greenfield airport, or just have a new terminal added to the existing facility near Meenambakkam.

Once that decision is taken, the rest may fall into place. If it is going to be a new airport, it may require about 5,000 acres of land, which becomes a critical and sensitive issue. It may take, at least, three years to get such an airport in place.

As an alternative, if the Governments settle for just another terminal building, the airport needs to be redesigned and upgraded to international standards. Even then, a sizeable extent of land becomes essential to achieve that objective. But land seems to be the toughest challenge ahead for the State Government and the Airports Authority of India.

Depending on the decision, the Centre, that is, the Aviation Ministry and the AAI, will have to decide the model: should it be an AAI project, or go the Delhi or Mumbai way to a private sector- led consortium.

The delay in taking this crucial decision on the future of the Chennai airport may even impact its current position and role in the aviation network — international, regional and domestic. Already, aircraft movement, passenger traffic and cargo handling have shown a steady and significant increase over the years. In 2006-07, the growth in the domestic passenger traffic was 38 per cent (at nearly 58 lakh), while international passenger traffic grew by 6.30 per cent (at almost 27.75 lakh). AAI sources project a 16 per cent growth in international passenger traffic, and a 20 per cent rise in domestic passengers over the next five years.

Going by the latest reports from New Delhi, it appears that the State Government may settle for a new terminal building. That is why it has reportedly identified about 700 to 800 acres of land for the expansion.

Can the existing airport handle this growth? After all, the AAI has been implementing expansion and modernisation projects here in recent years. The Anna International terminal and the Kamaraj domestic terminals were constructed in the1980s.

Airport Director Dinesh Kumar says the present expansion work will help in both passenger and aircraft movement for the next five years. But the expansion requires additional land. As soon as the required land is allocated, the development works can begin.

On the benefits of a greenfield airport, Mr. Dinesh Kumar explains that there are distinct advantages as it can be planned with a futuristic perspective. As far as the AAI is concerned, there are no plans at present to build a new airport. But, a second domestic module was on the drawing board, for which global architects have submitted their designs to the AAI.

As part of improving facilities, the Authority added 20 parking bays last year and another 16 will be added in the current financial year. The bays were used by airlines to park their aircrafts at night. On amenities for the passengers, Mr. Dinesh Kumar says on-line baggage screening system has been introduced. Chennai will be the first airport where the system would be introduced in the country. Similarly, a new slope-type baggage conveyor system will be installed in the international arrival area to replace the flat-type conveyor system.

All these are perhaps interim, adhoc arrangements and improvements.

The question before the State Government is whether a new terminal in the existing airport is adequate to meet the projected demands for at least two or three decades? Will there be enough space then to take up further expansion when required?

Or will it be a better option to go in for a full-fledged Greenfield airport that can cater to the needs of at least 30 years, with enough space for expansion? The answers to these questions may be available very soon.

(With inputs from P. Oppili and Susan Muthalaly)

Restrictions on new airports set to go
A Business Correspondent - Project Monitor
The civil aviation ministry is planning to lift the restriction of a minimum distance of 150 km between two international airports. This will enable major cities to have two international airports to cope with growing passenger traffic.

The permission will be granted only on a case-to-case basis after conducting a study. The move is in addition to the ministry's proposal to allow construction of fully private or merchant airports. It is expected to boost air connectivity and reduce congestion.

Recently, the West Bengal government proposed the construction of an international airport with private participation close to the Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport.

The civil aviation ministry has submitted the plan for Navi Mumbai airport to the Union Cabinet. The ministry took this decision since the clearance of slums around Mumbai's Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport has hit a roadblock and is delaying its expansion.

The ministry has already approved the proposed greenfield airport at Navi Mumbai, within 150 km distance of the existing Mumbai international airport. With the International Civil Aviation Organisation giving the green signal to the plan, the Cabinet's approval is expected this month. GVK, which has undertaken the modernisation of Mumbai Airport, is facing hurdles in building another runway in the available space, since the state government is unable to clear encroachments.

Meanwhile, the Delhi International Airport also plans to build its third 4,430-metre long runway Code-F standard, capable of accommodating the dream aircraft A380. But the development is impeded as 20,000 locals of Nangal Dewat adjoining the airport are yet to evacuate the land, despite being offered an alternative location in D block, Vasant Kunj.

Elsewhere, the Tamil Nadu government has made about 700-800 acres of additional land available near Chennai Airport for a second runway. The civil aviation ministry has asked Airports Authority of India to examine the feasibility of the project. The government is considering either expanding the existing airport or developing a greenfield one.

The ministry is also awaiting clearance for Port Blair to be declared as an international airport. Work on the Kolkata Airport is expected will begin in three months.
[09 April 2007]

Feasibility study for Agra international airport (http://business-standard.com/economy/storypage.php?tab=r&autono=280873&subLeft=1&leftnm=3)

Six months after the Union Ministry for Civil Aviation approved the concept of Public-Private Partnership in the construction of the Agra international airport on the Agra-Delhi National Highway, the ministry has decided to finally conduct the feasibility study for the airport in the last week of April.

According to the UP tourism ministry sources, the approval for the airport had been given by the union tourism minister Ambika Soni on 28 May 2006 and the minister had suggested that a feasibility study of the airport site be conducted without delay so that the project could move forward.

On 3 September 2006, the Ministry of Civil Aviation discussed and agreed on a Public-Private Partnership model for construction and operation of the airport with the state, centre and private entrepreneurs as partners.

Despite the approval six months back, the feasibility study was not conducted. It was only after repeated reminders from Agra divisional commissioner Ashok Kumar and the UP Tourism department that the ministry has finally agreed to send a team of experts to conduct the study of the site chosen by the local administration for the international airport.

According to the sources, the team will arrive in the last week of April, finally paving the way for the much awaited international airport at Agra.

Jet signs deal with Sahara Group for takeover of Air Sahara
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Jet_set_go_Deal_for_Air_Sahara_takeover_signed/articleshow/1897914.cms


Private carrier Jet Airways on Thursday signed a renewed deal to take over competitor Air Sahara, after the offer received the sanction of a three-member arbitration panel here.

The deal was signed after the panel comprising British Judge Lord Stein and Supreme Court Justices S P Bharucha and Jeevan Reddy, vetted the draft proposal prepared by Jet and Sahara. The two then submitted a revised and final proposal to the three-member court-monitored committee, sources close to the development said.

The deal is understood to value Air Sahara at Rs 2,050 crore, of which Rs 600 crore is expected to be adjusted as arrears, interest and other liabilities.

Blue Dart plans Rs 220 mn expansion in South
http://www.myiris.com/newsCentre/newsPopup.php?fileR=20070412083806043&dir=2007/04/12&secID=livenews

Blue Dart Express, the air express, courier and package distribution company, earmarked, nearly half its planned infrastructure expansion for the year in the South, reports Business Line.

Announcing the inauguration of a 21,750-sq ft warehouse facility in Chennai, Anil Khanna, managing director, Blue Dart, said that, 23 of the 57 facilities coming up at a cost of Rs 220 million, will be in the South in the current year.

Chennai, will get six of the new facilities, the city having emerged as a major hub, with the growth of automobile, telecommunication, information technology and banking and financial services. Blue Dart will operate a direct ground run between Chennai and Kolkata.

The company, is looking at expanding its aircraft fleet, which is now operating at about 80-85% load factor.

Tulsi N. Mirchandaney, senior vice-president, marketing and projects, said that, the company is planning additional air capacities. It will induct a Boeing 757 by the year-end to add to its fleet of seven Boeings. Chennai is the headquarters of Blue Dart Aviation and is connected to all the major cities by air.

The South handled over 19 million shipments last year, against Blue Dart`s total of about 57 million domestic shipments and 630,000 international shipments.

With the growth in the financial services and banking, the company`s, augmenting its capacity to handle small packages.

Jet likely to go for makeover
http://www.ndtvprofit.com/homepage/storybusinessnew.asp?id=37573&template=

It's clearly a do-or-die situation for Jet Airways, as it seems to gearing up to take competition head-on with a fresh branding and a new business strategy.

Sources have told NDTV that Jet Airways is repositioning itself as a premium carrier to take on Vijay Mally's Kingfisher Airlines head on.

On the cards are plans to launch a new look with a new logo, new colour and a fresh branding. Besides, Shah Rukh Khan is expected to promote Jet; he is already on Jet Airways board.

It looks quite unlikely that Jet will position the newly acquired Air Sahara's business as low cost operations.

Analysts say that many of the Sahara flights are at peak hours and discounting such flight would not be meaningful.

Refurbishment of planes

Moreover, meeting the demand of the budget and premium traveler and running them as parallel business is not only complex but very risky. Globally, there are enough failed stories of airlines trying to change feathers that could dissuade Jet.

A complete revamp of the airline's operations including refurbishment of planes is a significant move, also keeping in mind the emergence of a strong national carrier post the merger of Air India and Indian Airlines.

Meanwhile, archrival Vijay Mallya starts taking delivery of jumbo jets and Kingfisher's international operations launch is hardly an year away.

Besides, as the budget carriers are getting more and more aggressive, Goyal has never found his airline in such a situation ever before.

Originally posted by SanjuPalyat in the Calicut thread..

Calicut International Airport update in Mathrubhumi

http://i157.photobucket.com/albums/t70/sanjupalayat/calicutintairportbldg.jpg

Can someone please translate?

^^

Nothing much of details about the terminal. It says,

* Will be opened on 23rd (guess it is April)

* It is a partial opening. Departure Hall is almost ready, so it will be opened on 23rd.

* Customs, Emigration and Airline Counters to shift to new terminal within 23.

* At present Arrival and Departure is through a single terminal, so there is rush always, now that would be eliminated to a great extent.

^^

Thanks Sudheesh.

:)

Jet Airways to inaugurate its European hub at Brussels airport in May
http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/006200704141811.htm

India's largest private airline company Jet Airways will inaugurate its European hub at Brussels' airport on May 2.

Naresh Goyal, chairman of Jet Airways, will be present at the contract signing ceremony with Brussels Airlines and Brussels Airport, while Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt will be the chief guest. India's ambassador to Belgium and the EU, Dipak Chatterjee will grace the occasion, the Jet Airways said today.

New additions to the Jet Airway's fleet, a Boeing 777, straight from the factory in Seattle, and a brand new Airbus 330, will make a stop at Brussels Airport for the event. Jet Airways is expected to begin its daily flight to Newark in the US with a stopover in Brussels in early August. It is also expected to launch a daily flight to Toronto with a stopover in Brussels around the end of this year. The service will provide the first direct air link between Belgium and India.

Boeing gets 75-acre land in Nagpur for MRO (http://inhome.rediff.com/money/2007/mar/30boeing.htm)

The Maharashtra Airport Development Company has decided to allocate 75 acres of land in Nagpur to aircraft major Boeing to set up its prestigious $100 million maintenance repair and overhaul (MRO) facility.

"The MADC, headed by state Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh, in a crucial meeting in Mumbai has finally agreed to part with 75 acres of land for Boeing," MADC managing director and vice chairman R C Sinha said on Friday.

He said a decision on how much land should be given for the facility was delayed, as the aircraft manufacturer had initially demanded 80 acres adjacent to the 'Dr Babasahbe Ambedkar International Airport' in Nagpur which the MADC was reluctant to part with.

Boeing had, in April last year, announced the decision to set up the MRO in the city. It was part of an agreement with civil aviation ministry while giving final touches to procurement of a fleet of Boeing aircraft for national carrier Air India.

The meeting specially convened by MADC in Mumbai on Thursday was attended by senior officials of the corporation and Boeing, including its vice president Dinesh Keskar.

When contacted, Keskar, who is based in Boeing's headquarters in Seattle, said: "We will soon perform the ground breaking function and hold a press conference."

Sinha said the price of the 75 acres of land has not been finalised but has been left to the state government to decide.

MADC sources said Boeing has shortlisted Air India as partner for setting up the MRO and was in search of a third partner "for smooth running of the project."


______________________________________________

Looks like India's 3 planned MRO's are all coming along NH7..
Nagpur with a Boeing MRO
Hyderabad with a MRO for A320's and B737's
Bangalore with a MRO for Airbus

Alliance may lease or buy 16 turbo-props (http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2007/04/16/stories/2007041603950300.htm)


Alliance Air, the 100 per cent subsidiary of Indian, plans to either lease or purchase up to 16 turbo-prop aircraft to expand its operations.

The airline has entered the market seeking information on the various types of 50-seater turbo prop-aircraft that are available and likely dates by when the aircraft could be delivered to Alliance Air.

"No decision has yet been taken on the number of aircraft that we will lease or purchase. It is possible that we lease all 16 or go in for a mix of purchasing some and leasing some other aircraft to meet our requirement. A clearer picture on what route should be followed will emerge shortly after we get a response from the market," sources said.

The airline plans to acquire these aircraft over the next 18 months.

If a decision is taken to purchase aircraft, it will be the first time since Alliance started operations in 1996 that the airline will be buying fresh aircraft.

The airline, that started operations with aircraft leased from Indian Airlines, currently has a fleet of 17 aircraft that includes 11 Boeing 737, ATR 42 and Dornier aircraft.

A decision to purchase aircraft would make Alliance the fourth State-owned airline to enter the market. Indian, Air India and Air India Express have together ordered 111 brand new aircraft with the combined deal being valued at more than Rs 30,000 crore.

Jet unveils new corporate identity

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Jet_unveils_new_corporate_identity/articleshow/1915496.cms

MUMBAI: Positioning itself as a global airline, Jet Airways has unveiled a new corporate identity and aircraft's livery (outside look).

The corporate identity and brand mark has been refreshed to include a swirl of colour reminiscent of a typical Indian dupatta (scarf).

The new look retains the golden 'flying sun' and dark blue as a primary colour, but introduces ribbons of yellow and gold that make the mark more modern and inclusive.

The airline has introduced fresh airline uniform for the cabin crew designed by Italian designer Roberto Capucci.

Jet Airways has also decided to rename Air Sahara as 'JETLITE'.

"We are repositioning Jet Airways as a global airline with the highest international standards but with a touch of India," said Gaurang Shetty, Jet Airways' Vice-President of Marketing.

Jet Airways worked with Landor and Associates of London in making its corporate identity and aircraft livery match with customers in international markets.

"We have retained many of the familiar elements of our corporate identity, and colours, but have contemporised them to make the brand more relevant to global markets," said Shetty.

The airline uniform reflects distinctive international look capturing spirit of new India and a meeting point between East and West, the company said.

This uniform is a sincere and humble tribute to the deep beauty of India, Capucci said in message.

Non-metro airports: Govt to select partners by year-end (http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2007/04/17/stories/2007041705141000.htm)


The Government plans to select the joint venture partners or private consortium that would take up the development of the 35 non-metro airports by the end of the year.

"The process of selection of joint venture or private consortium for development of individual airports or airports in a cluster approach will be finalised by December this year," a senior Government official said.

Consultants

The Government has already appointed Capital Fortunes, Hyderabad, as consultants for preparing the project reports for development of 12 non-metro airports in the southern and western parts of the country.

In addition, UTI Bank, Mumbai, has been given the mandate to prepare similar reports for 12 airports in the north and north-eastern region.

The city side development at these 24 airports will be done through the public-private partnership route. The land use recommended by the global technical advisors and international financial consultants allows construction of hotels, convention centres, food courts, flight kitchen, petrol pumps, hospitals, shopping malls, hyper marts, golf courses and cargo warehouses among others.

The selected parties would however, have to abide with the provisions of the Airports Authority of India (AAI) Act while making use of the land, sources said.

It is estimated that the development work at all the 35 airports will cost Rs 4,662 crore, monies that are to be generated through internal resources, officials said.

Air Mauritius plans flights to Bangalore (http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2007/04/17/stories/2007041700690700.htm)


With the number of Indian tourists to Mauritius (especially from South India) going up by 50 per cent in the last three years, Air Mauritius plans to start a direct Bangalore-Mauritius flight by mid-2008.

Speaking to Business Line on the potential of the Indian market, the Chief Executive Officer, Mr Manoj R.K. Ujoodha, said, "India is going to be an important market with an emerging middle class and the rising per capita income of the Indian population. Lot of Indians wish to travel, and we capture a very small percentage of that."

Going by the figures from the Mauritius Tourism Promotion Authority, India, around 37,000 Indians travelled to Mauritius in 2006. "We are expecting a growth of 10 to 15 per cent in 2007, primarily because of the higher carrying capacity of Air Mauritius," said Mr Rajeev Nangia, Associate Director, Mauritius Tourism. The airline recently replaced its Boeing 767s with A340 to raise its seating capacity by 70 per cent. Airbus A330 will be introduced in November, Mr Ujoodha said.

Revenue target

Air Mauritius is looking at their Indian strategy in terms of revenue with the target of Rs 100 crore in 2007-08. In 2006-07, the revenues from India were Rs 74.5 crore.

Strengthening its presence in India, the airline has appointed Mr Girish Vidwans as Head of Sales & Marketing for India and Mr Sampath Kumar Jayram as Sales & Marketing Manager for the southern region. "We will be finalising someone for New Delhi soon," he said. Also, representative offices in Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Pune, Kochi, Bangalore and Chandigarh are to be set up to tap the tourism potential in these cities.

Jet unveils new corporate identity

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Jet_unveils_new_corporate_identity/articleshow/1915496.cms


Jet makes Lite of Air Sahara -
Watch the news video@CNN-IBN (http://www.ibnlive.com/videos/38662/jet-makes-lite-of-air-sahara.html)

http://www.financialexpress.com/fe_full_story.php?content_id=161464

Don’t undermine AAI role in airport modernisation: Left
POLITICAL BUREAU
Posted online: Wednesday, April 18, 2007 at 0000 hours IST


NEW DELHI, APR 17 : The Left Front government in West Bengal may be wooing private players for industrialization projects in the state, but when it comes to the Centre, the CPI(M) and its trade union arm, Citu are still raising hackles of the government by continuing to oppose their entry in projects aimed at modernising airports.

In a letter to the Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh on Tuesday, both the Citu chief MK Pandhe and CPI(M) politburo member Sitaram Yechury opposed the entry of private players in modernisation projects of airports. The letters have been sent on the eve of a Cabinet committee meet on infrastructure, expected to be held on Wednesday.


Claiming that the step was also in violation of the common minimum programme, Pandhe said the involvement of private players in the modernisation programme of 35 non-metro airports would “undermine the role of AAI, a profit-making government organisation.”

Opening up a front against Planning Commission deputy chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia, the Citu president opposed the commission’s directive to the Airports Authority of India to “modernise Kolkata airport through joint venture route and Chennai airport through public-private partnership route. “

It reminded that during modernisation of Delhi and Mumbai airports, the Prime Minister had assured the Left parties that “except these two airports, others would be modernised by the AAI.”

What does this mean? Are both Kolkata and Chennai airports to be modernized in PPP model as Mumbai and Delhi? What's the difference between a joint venture and a public private partnership? What's the poiint of setting up a subsidiary just for Kolkata airport?

Airport on PM tarmac
http://www.telegraphindia.com/1070418/asp/frontpage/story_7661768.asp

New Delhi, April 17: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will tomorrow vet a Rs 1,542-crore proposal to turn Calcutta airport into a swanky 50-ft tall steel-and-glass structure capable of handling up to 20 million air travellers a year.

The Airports Authority of India, which has drafted the proposal with help from Aeroport de Paris, will make a presentation before Singh and his infrastructure committee.

If cleared, the project will take off some time this year. It is likely to be completed in 30 months.

Under the project, two new terminals will be built — one with the capacity to handle 15 million domestic travellers (up from 4.06 million) and another that can handle 5 million international passengers (up from 8.2 lakh).

These will be built at a cost of Rs 700 crore and Rs 600 crore respectively. The second runway will be extended from 2,339 metres to 3,239 metres, work on which has begun.

There will be 48 parking bays for large aircraft (up from 28 now) and six to eight aerobridges that work simultaneously.

This airport will, however, be able to handle the growing air traffic only till 2016. After that, a second, larger airport will have to be built to handle a projected 80 million passengers by 2025.

Singh and his power team will tomorrow decide who the Calcutta airport modernisation job should go to: the state-run AAI or a subsidiary firm that the AAI will set up in which the government could later bring in a joint venture partner.

According to the AAI, a subsidiary will create problems as the new company will be treated as a financially weaker entity requiring government approval at every stage. In contrast, the AAI, which enjoys a higher credit rating, can take most decisions at its board level.

Govt asks AAI to modernise Kolkata airport

Succumbing to pressures from the left parties, the committee on infrastructure set up under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has decided to undertake the modernisation and upgradation of the Kolkata airport under Airport Authority of India (AAI).

AAI will invest Rs 1,542 crore to upgrade the airport, which would include adding a new terminal for domestic and international traffic, and increasing its capacity to handle over 20 million passengers annually (from the current capacity of 4.4 million).

About Rs 1,300 crore will be spent by AAI for a new terminal, Rs 100 crore for upgrading cargo as well as the runaway, while the upgradation of navigational systems would require another Rs 100 crore.

The government has deferred its decision on the privatisation of the Chennai airport. Briefing reporters in Delhi, Civil Aviation minister Praful Patel said: "There is no clarity on land and we will take a final decision in consultation with the state government and go by their approach.
The committee will meet again on 31st May to take a final call on the Chennai airport.."http://www.business-standard.com/common/storypage_c_online.php?leftnm=11&bKeyFlag=IN&autono=22495

Govt asks AAI to modernise Kolkata airport

http://www.business-standard.com/common/storypage_c_online.php?leftnm=11&bKeyFlag=IN&autono=22495

Disaster! The incompetency of the AAI will continue for the forseeable future in Kolkata airport with privatisation not being allowed. meanwhile, no news of when the new greenfield airport, if ever, will come up?

Disaster! The incompetency of the AAI will continue for the forseeable future in Kolkata airport with privatisation not being allowed. meanwhile, no news of when the new greenfield airport, if ever, will come up?

Well the AAI can give out the contracts to other companies (hopefully competent companies). My guess, this way any cut money, kickbacks and bribes will go to AAI employees, ministers and leaders. The Left Front and the trade unions were probably worried that if the airports are handed over to the private sector, the taps of the black moolah to their coffers would be turned off. Nobody wants to lose their sources of illegal income. Just my hypothesis.

:)

The overall cost seems to be 5,000 crore in the long run.
http://www.business-standard.com/economy/storypage.php?leftnm=3&subLeft=1&chklogin=N&autono=281754&tab=r

Modernisation of Chennai airport is being held up due to unavailability of land. Is there no land availablity problem at Kolkata airport? Can it expand further to the east with more runways than the existing two and more terminals to the east aswell?

Air Deccan plans foray into cargo services (http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2007/04/20/stories/2007042000740700.htm)


Can a consumer hope to get seasonal fruits from far off production centres sooner than he does now, that too at a relatively lower cost?

That possibility appears imminent as the low cost domestic airliner, Air Deccan which set a trend in introducing the `no-frills' air travel three years ago is planning a repeat, this time in offering low cost cargo services by taking advantage of its fast growing network of air services linking regional airports.

The Bangalore-based airline is poised to enter into domestic cargo services shortly. To facilitate this the board of Air Deccan has already approved floating a new subsidiary that would run a low cost domestic air cargo services, according to Air Deccan officials.

Indications are that the new service from the airline will take off within a month or so.

"We are actively strategising to begin low cost cargo operations with the conviction that transporting apples from Kashmir to Chennai at a lowest possible cost will give a much needed boost to our primary economy," an Air Deccan communication has said.

Air Deccan's proposed entry into freight service is backed by the projected market outlook, as the growth for dedicated air freight service, as projected by Airbus Industries' survey, is expected to go up from the present eight to 165 services a day by 2026. Going by the demand surge for air cargo service, the Civil Aviation Ministry itself has estimated the country's need for dedicated cargo plane to touch 500 in 10 years' time.

In the meantime, the low cost airlines' agenda of widening its air network to cover more tier-2 cities of economic and historic/cultural importance is expected to get further boost as Air Deccan is to soon launch flights linking Bodhgaya and Jamshedpur to Kolkata, Ludhiana and Kangra to Delhi and new long sector flight connectivity between Chennai and Jammu (via Madurai) and Kolkata and Jaipur (via Delhi). The airline is also planning to link Salem in Tamil Nadu with Bangalore, the closest metro airport, which can happen much before its proposal to run flight service from Chennai to Salem.

Coimbatore, among the earliest regional airports to attract Air Deccan has turned out to be its strong forte with the airline flying approximately 35,000 passengers to and from the city every month and it runs 15 flights daily. Its daily flights linking Coimbatore with Mumbai and Chennai run with a passenger complements at 80 per cent and above.

Air Deccan plans foray into cargo services (http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2007/04/20/stories/2007042000740700.htm)


Coimbatore, among the earliest regional airports to attract Air Deccan has turned out to be its strong forte with the airline flying approximately 35,000 passengers to and from the city every month and it runs 15 flights daily. Its daily flights linking Coimbatore with Mumbai and Chennai run with a passenger complements at 80 per cent and above.

Air Deccan only operates 6 daily flights out of Coimbatore.. 2 to Blr, 2 to Madras, 1 to Cochin and 1 to mumbai.

Air Deccan only operates 6 daily flights out of Coimbatore.. 2 to Blr, 2 to Madras, 1 to Cochin and 1 to mumbai.

Air Deccan operates 8 daily flights from Coimbatore

Mumbai - 2
Chennai - 2
Trivandrum -1
Bangalore - 2
Hyderabad(Via Cochin) - 1
Ahmedabad(This flight is operated via BLR)

Mihin Lanka Air services to India soon (http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2007/04/21/stories/2007042101060500.htm)


The new low-cost airline promoted by the Sri Lankan Government, Mihin Lanka Air, will soon expand its operations to India, said the Additional Director-General, Sri Lanka Tourism, Mr Dileep Mudadeniya.

"The airline plans to start operating to India soon. The airline has already done some test flights to India," Mr Mudadeniya said at a press conference. The airline that currently operates four times-a-week between Colombo and Dubai plans to operate regular flights to Thiruvananthapuram and Tiruchi.

While the airfare between Sri Lanka and India has not yet been firmed up, Mihin Lanka Air charges $246 for a return ticket between Colombo and Dubai, while SriLankan airlines charges $439.88 for the same journey.

Jet Airways completes Sahara acquisition (http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2007/04/21/stories/2007042105120200.htm)


The Jet Airways buy-out of Air Sahara, which has been going on since January 2006, was closed today with Jet Airways transferring Rs 400 crore to Air Sahara to acquire all the shares of the latter.

A new management team led by the Chief Commercial Officer of Jet Airways, Mr Gary Kingshott, took charge at Air Sahara on Friday, soon after the Air Sahara President, Mr Alok Sharma, resigned.

Prolonged Arbitration

In a statement Jet Airways said that with the closure of the transaction, Air Sahara has become its wholly owned subsidiary. "It is the intention of Jet Airway to operate Air Sahara as a separate entity while improving the operational and financial performance of the business by leveraging the size of Jet Airways. It is also proposed to re-brand the airline as JetLite in due course," the statement adds.

After prolonged arbitration, on April 12 this year, Jet Airways agreed to purchase Air Sahara. In a statement to the BSE, Jet Airways said that it had acquired Air Sahara for Rs 1,450 crore including Rs 500 crore that had already been paid.

To close the deal, Jet Airways was to transfer Rs 400 crore to Air Sahara before the close of banking hours on Friday. The balance of Rs 550 crore is payable in four interest free annual equal instalments commencing on or before March 30, 2008.

Air Deccan looks at Kolkata as major `biz hub' (http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2007/04/21/stories/2007042100861100.htm)


Air Deccan plans to make Kolkata a "major business hub," according to Capt. G.R. Gopinath, Managing Director of the airline.

The airline, which launched the daily non-stop flights between Kolkata and Dimapur (via Imphal), also plans to link Kolkata with non-metro cities as soon as airports are developed in these places.

"We have aggressive plans to go into non-metro cities. Currently, 80 per cent of our flights are in non-metro cities and we plan to link Kolkata with cities like Coochbehar, Bodh Gaya, Jamshedpur, Rourkela and Jorhat as soon as airports are ready in these places," Capt. Gopinath told a press conference.

The airline now operates over 70 flights a day to and from Kolkata to 19 destinations across the country.

On an average, Air Deccan carries over one lakh passengers a month from Kolkata against an estimated capacity of 1.25 lakh passengers a month.

The airline, which has five 48-seater ATR Turboprop aircraft and two 180-seater Airbus A-320 aircraft based at Kolkata, has recorded 85-90 per cent passenger load factor in the last six months.

According to Capt. Gopinath, this year the company will utilise its resources to improve internal infrastructure and training to its staff, pilots and engineers.

Expansion plan

As a part of its expansion plan, Air Deccan will acquire a total of 80 aircraft over the next 80 months with one aircraft being inducted every month.

The company plans to raise $50-$100 million through private equity placement to fund its expansion plans.

According to the Air Deccan chief, the airline does not expect to record any net profit in the current quarter. Selling nearly 20,000-25,000 tickets a day, the airline incurs Rs 300-350 loss per seat.

"We are growing at a very fast pace. We have to find out how to continue our growth and get into profitability," he added.

The airline will also set up a separate cargo division with dedicated cargo fleets by the end of the current calendar year.

perhaps we should use the other Kolkata airport thread for posting news related to it.

@Suncity - It would good if you can transfer some posts from here to the other thread and rename it to something like 'Kolkata Airport Developments'

perhaps we should use the other Kolkata airport thread for posting news related to it.

@Suncity - It would good if you can transfer some posts from here to the other thread and rename it to something like 'Kolkata Airport Developments'

Right now the Kolkata airport thread is not needed. It was my mistake to start it. I assumed there was a similar thread for Chennai airports etc when there wasn't. There is very little news regarding Kolkata airport apart from in stops and starts , and I'm guessing there won't be much real news coming through until they actually break ground on modernisation in a few months.

I dunno how to shut down the thread, any help?

Low-cost carriers here, sky’s not the limit for Amdavadis

Express News Service

Ahmedabad, April 15: With seven domestic airlines operating 90 flights daily and four international airlines touching down at least thrice a week, Ahmedabad is fast becoming one of the busiest airports in the country. The airlines carried 2.2 lakh passengers in 2006, an unprecedented leap from less than 20,000 till 1995. The fight between the Railways and low-cost airlines, too, has changed the scenario for Amdavadis. Decreasing ticket prices have now made flying an affordable reality for them.

Ahmedabad Airport Director SD Awasthi says passengers have more than doubled in the last two years. Behind this phenomenon are low-cost carriers whose cheap fares have weaned away several Gujarati business travellers, who till recently preferred the Karnavati Express to Mumbai or the Rajdhani to New Delhi.

Khushi Mehta, a management professional likes to fly with Spice Jet instead of taking a train to Mumbai or New Delhi. She says, “It’s much more convenient as it suits my budget.”

Mehta represents the changing face of Amdavadi passengers who has switched over to low-cost flights from trains owing to factors like cost and time. Abhinav Dhavle, a college student also likes to fly with low-cost carriers, given an option between taking a train or a flight. He says, “Time means money and if a low-cost carrier offers me sufficient amount of comfort and saves me time, then I usually prefer to fly.”

http://cities.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=231840

Right now the Kolkata airport thread is not needed. It was my mistake to start it. I assumed there was a similar thread for Chennai airports etc when there wasn't. There is very little news regarding Kolkata airport apart from in stops and starts , and I'm guessing there won't be much real news coming through until they actually break ground on modernisation in a few months.

I dunno how to shut down the thread, any help?

I believe, the Kolkata airport thread was closed a few weeks back.

Special Correspondent

State Government also examining option of a greenfield airport

http://www.hindu.com/2007/04/21/stories/2007042105450100.htm



CHENNAI: "The Government has decided to go in for modernisation and expansion of Chennai airport in coordination with the Government of India.

The State Government is also examining the option of establishing a greenfield airport," Transport Minister K.N. Nehru informed the Assembly on Friday.

The Transport department's policy note, which was taken as read by the Minister, stated that through expansion, the State could meet its future requirements without difficulty.

"In the recent past, Chennai has grown as a hub for foreign direct investment in sectors such as manufacturing, automobile, electronic hardware, information technology, services, etc. Such investments are still growing. Apart from this, a large number of foreign investors such as Ford, Hyundai, Saint Gobain, Motorola, Nokia, Dell, Flextronics, Mahindra Renault etc., have made Chennai their production base. Tamil Nadu is also an important destination for foreign tourists. In the recent years, the Chennai airport has recorded significant growth in both passenger traffic and cargo movement."

It was keeping all these in mind that the expansion of the Chennai airport was decided, it said.

On expansion of non-metro airports, the State Government is taking steps to provide land for their expansion and modernisation in Coimbatore, Madurai, Tiruchi and Tuticorin.


I believe, the Kolkata airport thread was closed a few weeks back.


It seems the Chennai government have decided to follow the Kolkata model by upgrading the current airport and building a new one. It's still not clear whether modernisation will be done through AAI or privately here though.

Chennai Airport upgrade till now

In Focus

Chin up, Chennai

Perhaps the proverbial tortoise, the Chennai International Airport has finally taken a reality check and is tackling core issues like infrastructure. Sangeetha Neeraja charts the progress

Growth always has it proximate precipitators. One such is congestion, or increased passenger/aircraft movement. A clear example of this is the Chennai International Airport, with its recent meteoric increase in domestic passenger traffic close to six million in the last year from its moderate 4.17 million the year before.

This has led the airport authorities to revise its over-stretched and fast depleting infrastructural edifice. A year ago, the airport looked settled in its own sedate ways with its tired appearance and chaotic traffic. Today, it sports a new look and the influx of traffic is well contained.

The credit goes to the Airports Authority of India (AAI), which was quick to gather its wits and elbow its way to make space for the impenitent rise in human and aircraft traffic. According to Dinesh Kumar, the airport director, AAI was quick to plan and implement an integrated change and improve infrastructure with due focus on decongestion and traffic management.

God speed

AAI has its inherent objectives of accelerating the integrated expansion and modernising airports to make them on par with international standards. What is praiseworthy is the way and the speed in which the expansion was planned and carried out without wavering from its focus of decongesting and introducing services for passengers.

"The budget earmarked for the year 2006-2007 was Rs 100 crore. With that at our disposal, we planned swiftly and acted in a synchronised manner, prioritising the areas of concern. Since we faced a dramatic increase of 39 per cent in the domestic passenger traffic in 2005-2006, we realised the urgency involved in tackling close to two million domestic passengers. We finally came to a decision to construct Departure II in the domestic terminal," Kumar reveals.

Capacity building in terms of infrastructure was inevitable. So plans were made to extend this development to the entire Chennai airport.

An enthusiastic Kumar adds, "The fundamental structural development is the core, but value additions will make the change more profound. For every traveller landing in Chennai, the first impression is definitely influenced by the look and the facilities available at the airport. Customer satisfaction played an important role in the changes we carried forward."


Domestic terminal: Departure II

A new block is under construction at two levels, which would add about 10,000 sq mts inclusive of both the levels. The authorities also plan to install an escalator here that will help decongest the area during arrival times
Prior to April 2006, jostling one's way through the departure gate was like getting past the pearly gates. It was a single-point departure then and the check-in area was extremely small. The need for expansion made the planners make inventive use of the previously underutilised space, which resulted in the creation of some 1,000 sq mts. It has a dedicated traffic lane from the terminal from where five airlines take off.

From the unused space emerged Departure II. One can see the changes, right from the corridor outside the domestic terminal with a glass wall (that will be extended to the entire façade of the Chennai Airport both in the domestic and international terminals) where the over-walked tiles are replaced by vitrified anti-skid floor tiles. The change is more visible inside the passenger lounge. The same flooring continues inside that are spotted with plants. Sleek LCD screens adorn the walls and pillars; one LCD screen gives discerning passengers a map of the airport.

There is also a decent food court. The black signboards with white letters look aesthetic when compared with the old yellow ones. Check-in areas and visitor's lobbies have also seen expansions but the work is still in progress. Ample seating space and massage chairs (recliners) have made waiting comfortable.

BSNL has installed payphones inside the passenger lounge but the latest addition to Departure II is the music kiosks, where songs can be downloaded legally and cheaply for as low as Rs 5 into iPods, Mp3 players, pen drives and CDs.

Arrival

Expansion in this area is happening on similar lines and is still in progress. Its Security Hold Area (SHA) is being developed; the ground floor has already been expanded towards the air side to provide more space for the passengers. AAI now plans to install escalators here, creating a new SHA on the first floor, thereby diverting traffic and effectively managing congestion.

International terminal: Departure

AAI added about 1,200 sq mts of additional space to the international departure terminal in December last year. New modern trolleys with extra maneuverability were introduced. A new feature at the terminal is the recently installed and conspicuous revolving glass door that will have automatic security locks.

Feedback forms show that foreign visitors to the airport have expressed satisfaction. Meanwhile, work is under progress for the facelift of the façade near the corridor.


Arrival

A new block is under construction at two levels, which would add about 10,000 sq mts inclusive of both the levels. The authorities also plan to install an escalator here that will help decongest the area during arrival times. An in-line baggage inspection system has been introduced along with a new type of carousal baggage conveyor system instead of the flap-type conveyors. Kumar is confident that all expansion work will get done by April 2007.

Other facilities

Parking stands
According to Kumar, there was a 35 per cent increase in the total aircraft movement at the Chennai airport during 2005-2006. To cope with the increased aircraft traffic and to keep up with the night parking requests, 19 additional aircraft parking stands have been added. In an effort to strengthen the secondary runway, the work on the lighting system is complete. Shoulders have also been provided on both sides for increased safety.

Safety and security
Safety measures are followed as per the instructions of the ICAO. The fire and rescue personnel are exposed to regular fire drills and mock exercises to make them ready to meet any unforeseen contingencies.

Human Resources
The AAI maintains a healthy relation with the trade union and it was pleasantly surprising to witness this sense of belonging in a bureaucratic government body. The various departments at work are involved in decision making. Kumar says, "The Chennai Airport is a place where consultative participatory management takes place. Every department plays a role in the management of the airport, everybody is made to feel important and given ear when they come up with new innovative ideas. All of us work together in a synergy."

He adds that the reason the development is fast paced is due to this sense of belonging the employees have about Chennai Airport, which has created a win-win situation for everybody. The staff of AAI is constantly trained by in-house training institutions like Delhi-based NIAMAR (National Institute of Airport Management & Research) and CATC (Civil Aviation Training Centre) in Allahabad.

Commercial activities
Most of the airports worldwide generate 60-70 per cent of their revenue through non-aeronautical activities. The government of India has given total freedom to the AAI in raising revenue through non-aeronautical activities.

"The AAI in Chennai is poised to take full advantage of the clause. We have already made a start with city-side advertisement sites that bring in good business to AAI. Also, the international transit lounge has private lounges leased out by the AAI to hotels, who pay the lease money and maintain them, Kumar reveals.

Moreover, the few shops in the transit lounge will soon be expanded into malls. The AAI is looking at providing a real shopping experience to travellers and hopes to offer visitors a cultural experience of shopping.

Building a new domestic module over an area of five acres is a long-term plan. This module will come up next to the existing Kamaraj terminal and architectural designs for it from global consultants have already been received.

These expansions have evidently been planned keeping the future in mind without disrupting the present - even with so much construction activity, these modifications have caused minimal constraints to passenger comfort.

A Jet Airways advt announcing New York flights

http://img180.imageshack.us/img180/3951/jetairwaysnycwb3.jpg

Biggest bird gets a May date with Delhi

TOI epaper

The world’s largest passenger airliner — Airbus A 380 — is coming to Delhi early next month on its first ever trip to India. An Airbus team spent a few days at IGI Airport, studying the feasibility of landing the mega plane there, which is yet to begin regular commercial flights, landing and taking off from the existing runway.

The experts are learnt to have given the go-ahead as the airport management has promised to take special steps for the plane which is being brought in jointly by Airbus Industries, Kingfisher (the only Indian airline to have ordered this plane) and DIAL.

This move comes exactly a year before the new runway, that would be able to handle this flight, gets ready in Delhi. ‘‘The A 380 requires a 60-metre-wide paved runway with shoulder (open green area) of 7.5 m on either side. So the collective width of air strip required is 75 m. At IGI, the runway is 45-m-wide but there are shoulders of 15 m on each side which adds up to 75 m,’’ said sources. So the overall width of the existing runway will be adequate for ‘holding’ the plane. The additional paved area is required to ensure that no small stones start flying around under the great impact caused by the giant aircraft’s movement. DIAL will comb the entire area so that nothing ‘harmful’ comes in the way of the plane.

The main runway’s length is not an issue. Compared to the Boeing 747, the A 380 required 19% less runway length to take off and 5% less for landing. ‘‘The A 380 would get airborne and land in 7,000 feet and use about 500 feet less than the jumbo. So the runway length was not even considered as an issue,’’ said sources. Passengers would alight and dismount from the plane from a specially prepared step ladder.

In fact, the ‘‘gentle giant’’ — called so because of its super quiet interiors and take off — would be operating two flights out of Delhi during its stay here. On each of these flights, the plane would fly over north India before returning to land here. After its stay here, the plane would leave for Mumbai. So far Kingfisher is the only Indian carrier that has ordered the A 380. While delivery of the first of five planes was to begin in 2010, the now legendary delays have meant that Kingfisher will get the first one in mid-2011.

I hate it when they say New York when it's really New Jersey. Maybe it's because I'm from NJ but alas, my favorite airline, Continental, does the same thing so can't really complain.

???


Jet Air looks West for HQ, hub

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Jet_Air_looks_to_West_for_HQ_hub/articleshow/1940534.cms

Frustrated by the lack of infrastructure in India, Jet Airways chairman Naresh Goyal has finally embraced Horace Greeley's immortal line: "Go West, young man and grow up with the country".

On May 2, the airline is expected to make an announcement on how Brussels will be its operational hub and London, the company's headquarters. While it has been known for a while that Jet Airways will fly from India to North America through Brussels, the scale of the operation has remained under wraps.

As things turn out, until 2001, Belgium had Sabena Airlines — the country's national carrier. During the mid-nineties the airline got into a terrible financial mess and the government, after years of subsidising losses, took a call to get out.

After trying various permutations and combinations that ended in disaster, the airline finally shut down in November 2001. With that, Brussels also lost out on an opportunity to emerge as a hub along the lines of Frankfurt and Amsterdam even though it offered airlines much the same advantages these cities did.

Jet Airways, on its part, has been looking for a base that will allow the airline to service global markets. Indian cities were ruled out because they don't have the infrastructure to be a hub. "We can't wait until 2010 for new airports," said Naresh Goyal, chairman, Jet Airways.

Other European cities that have the infrastructure did not have as many parking slots or the inclination to offer as much support as Jet would have liked. That is when, the airline zeroed in on Brussels.

The Belgian government, it seems, was delighted at the prospect of an airline setting up its operational base in the city and agreed to form a new entity, in association with Jet Air.

While it is not known how much equity the Belgian government and Jet will hold in it, the explicit purpose of this new entity will be to upgrade Brussels Airport into one that can function as a global airline hub.

The funds that will be needed for this upgrade will come from the Belgian government. Goyal declined to talk on the details of the investments and what kind of upgrades will be made at the airport. "That is for the Belgian Prime Minister to talk about," he said. "And he will in a few days."

On its part, Jet is expected to launch a campaign that will position itself as a global carrier — and not just an Indian one. A few days ago, the airline introduced new uniforms for its cabin crew and livery for the aircraft.

It has also entered into code share agreements with other airlines that will give Jet access to a larger network of cities in other parts of Europe. Cabin crew are also being recruited from countries that Jet intends to fly into.

Goyal also squashed speculation that domestically, the airline business would be split between Jet and its new low-cost subsidiary Jet Lite. The buzz was that Jet Airways would fly only international destinations while Jetlite would cater to the domestic market.

India may call bids for new Mumbai airport by year-end
(http://in.today.reuters.com/news/NewsArticle.aspx?type=businessNews&storyID=2007-04-23T174400Z_01_NOOTR_RTRJONC_0_India-295297-1.xml)

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India expects to invite bids for a greenfield airport in Mumbai by the end of the year, Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel said on Monday.

"The land issues have been resolved. The government will now proceed for cabinet approval on bidding," Patel told reporters on the sidelines of the U.S.-India Aviation Partnership Summit.

The Navi Mumbai International Airport is to be built at a cost of 42.35 billion rupees on public-private partnership by forming a special purpose company.

The project is designed to ease congestion at Mumbai's existing airports, among the busiest in the country.

Maharashtra's City and Industrial Development Corp. and the state-run Airport Authority of India will hold equity to the extent of 26 percent and the rest will be held by a private developer.

Air travel demand for Mumbai is expected to grow to 91 million passengers per year by 2030/31 from 20 million passengers per year in 2006/07, according to government figures.

The Mumbai airport is expected to become saturated by 2013, which has necessitated the demand for a new airport.

India is working to modernise its airports and develop greenfield projects in private public partnership to improve its creaky infrastructure, which analysts say may impede economic growth.


_______________________

Chandigarh airport expansion faces unique hurdle (http://www.domain-b.com/aero/20070423_airports.htm)

New Delhi: The Punjab government may have taken a cue from the central government's latest directives on SEZ land acquisition in asking the Airport Authority of India (AAI) to acquire land directly from farmers for expansion of the airport at Chandigarh. According to reports, the Punjab government may have asked the AAI to directly acquire 300 acres of land, which it needs in order to expand the perimeter of the airport, from the farmers themselves.

According to reports, AAI officials have said that since the airport would also help Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Chandigarh, the Punjab government feels it is not incumbent on them to bear the cost alone. AAI officials, in turn, have said that it is not possible for them to purchase land, expected to cost around Rs400 crore, and fork out an additional Rs300 crore for completing the project.

This has prompted the AAI to take up the matter with the civil aviation ministry, asking it for guidelines that will help them to tackle such cases.

Faced with a unique predicament, AAI officials are also pointing fingers at the Centre for its failure to come out with a clear-cut civil aviation policy. The proposed policy is still to see the light of day even after a number of years, and even as the country's aviation sector is experiencing an unparalleled boom.

It may be mentioned that the problem has come up with only the Chandigarh airport, for the Punjab government had earlier provided land for the Amritsar and Sahnewal airport projects.

MDLR Airlines ready to take off on April 27
http://cities.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=232938

Chandigarh: The MDLR Airlines has finally started bookings for its flights between Chandigarh and Delhi. President of MDLR Airlines Koustav Dhar confirmed that the airlines is scheduled to start operations from the 27th of this month.

The airline would stretch the Chandigarh-Delhi flight to Ranchi from May 3 followed by Chandigarh-Delhi-Ranchi-Kolkata from May 16.

MDLR Airlines would operate six days a week with no services on Sunday.

The airline is using Jet AVRO - RJ 70 planes that have seating capacity of 70 passengers.

With the suspension of Indus Airways operations, MDLR is expected to receive a tremendous response. Theother factor that goes in the favour of MDLR Airlines is the morning time slot.

“We have a morning flight at 7.30 am from Chandigarh to Delhi and a return flight from Delhi to Chandigarh is scheduled for 6 pm with its arrival here scheduled at 6.40 pm. This makes it convenient for anyone to return home after a day’s work in Delhi and we are sure that this would be the USP of our airline,” said an MDLR official.

Also, unlike other airlines that operate here and are based in Delhi, MDLR Airlines aircrafts would be parked at the Chandigarh airport in night.

Kingfisher Airlines launches flights on three new routes from Mumbai (http://www.dailyindia.com/show/135758.php/Kingfisher-Airlines-launches-flights-on-three-new-routes-from-Mumbai)


Mumbai, Apr.23: Kingfisher Airlines today announced the launch of conveniently timed, direct flights from Mumbai to Nagpur, Indore and Guwahati.

With the launch of services on these three new sectors, Kingfisher Airlines now connects 28 cities with 163 flights a day on the wings of a fleet of 26 brand new aircraft.

Commenting on the launch of these new routes, Dr. Vijay Mallya, Chairman and CEO, Kingfisher Airlines Limited said, "Kingfisher Airlines has redefined the experience of flying and has come to be regarded as an airline that sets new benchmarks in service excellence for the industry."

"Through the launch of these new routes, Kingfisher Airlines reaffirms its commitment toward addressing the needs of its guests by providing connectivity between the commercial capital of the country and other cities that are rapidly emerging as centres of economic activity," he added.

The new services between Mumbai-Nagpur and Mumbai-Indore will also facilitate passengers in Bhopal and Raipur, as Nagpur and Indore are the nearest cities offering airport facilities.

____________________

IA tunes up in-flight entertainment system

NEW DELHI: Call it the life jacket for inflight entertainment systems, Indian Airlines has asked Airbus to have a DVD channel on all 42 aircraft it would be supplying to it from June onwards.

The mix of A-319, 320 and 321s were to have a moving map and five video channels. But recently IA CMD V Trivedi was flying back to India on a foreign airliner and the plane's audio system was not working. The cabin crew immediately put on a silent movie's DVD and passengers didn't feel the pinch.

Following this experience, Trivedi asked Airbus to install an additional DVD channel — at no extra cost — on all the planes it would be supplying one a piece every month from this June.

Airbus has complied with this request and all new IA planes would now have this facility. Each seat of these new aircraft would have an individual screen.

Read On (http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Business/India_Business/IA_tunes_up_in-flight_entertainment_system/articleshow/1940545.cms)

Praful Patel: FDI may move beyond 49pc in select areas of aviation


New Delhi: Indian civil aviation minister, Praful Patel, said Monday that the government is open to a review of its policies related to FDI in aviation. Though he ruled out any immediate moves to allow foreign airlines to pick up stake in Indian carriers, he clarified that the country is looking at liberalising policies related to the sector in order to attract investment. Patel was addressing the US-India Aviation Partnership Summit.

Ruling out FDI in Indian carriers, Patel, however, said that the government is considering a proposal to raise the 49% cap on FDI for non-scheduled operations, sea-planes and helicopters. "Government policies are not frozen, but they are moulded according to the changing requirements of the sector," he said.

Pointing out the 'enormous potential' of the Indian aviation sector, Patel said if only 10% of Indians switched to air travel in the next few years, compared with less than 1% now, the country "will require about 5,000 planes in place of 300 now".

As per civil aviation ministry estimates, India's booming aviation sector will need investments worth $120 billion by 2020. Of this amount, two-thirds is likely to be absorbed by aircraft purchases, and the remaining by infrastructure. The number of civilian aircraft in the country is also estimated to swell from 350 to 1,000 by 2020.

Read on (http://www.domain-b.com/aero/20070424_praful_patel.htm)

___________________

AAI to extend Jammu airport runway for larger aircraft operations
(http://www.domain-b.com/aero/20070424_airport_runway.htm)

New Delhi: The Airport Authority of India (AAI) has decided to extend the runway at Jammu airport from 6000 ft. to about 9000 ft, which will render it capable of handling Airbus A320 and Boeing 737-800 type of aircraft. The decision was taken at a joint meeting between J&K chief minister Ghulam Nabi Azad and the union minister of civil aviation, Praful Patel.

The meeting was attended by a host of officials, including those from the AAI.

Jammu has seen an unprecedented growth in aircraft movement, which has gone up from 36 per week in 2004-05 to the current figure of 168 per week. This growth has made it necessary to expand the terminal building to cope with the traffic growth, expand the apron to accommodate more aircraft and to extend the runway in order to cater to bigger aircraft, the statement said.

Plans are also being finalized to improve and modify the terminal building for better space utilization to meet the needs of growing number of airline operators and passengers and also a separate administrative complex.

Ive flown on the Jammu-Delhi sector twice and Indian Airlines and Jet both operate A-320's and B-737's to Jammu from different places already :wtf:

Decks cleared for Mumbai airport takeoff
OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

http://www.telegraphindia.com/1070424/asp/business/story_7688901.asp

Patel: The way ahead
New Delhi, April 23: Mumbai may soon get its second international airport with the Centre planning to invite bids for equity participation in the project by the year-end.

“Land issues relating to the project have been resolved. The government will now proceed for cabinet approval on bidding,” civil aviation minister Praful Patel said at an Indo-US aviation seminar here today.

After Mumbai, it will be the turn of Delhi and then Calcutta to get a new airport.

Sources said the government was likely to give its permission for an international airport at Noida. Calcutta, too, will need another airport by 2016, the sources added.

According to a government estimate, Indian airports will handle 400 million passengers a year by 2020. The traffic on domestic routes will rise six-fold to 180 million by 2020 from about 32 million now.

The projections for Mumbai — India’s principal aviation gateway — is 91 million passengers by 2030-31 from the present 20 million.

The proposed Navi Mumbai International Airport will cost around Rs 4,235 crore. It will be run on the public-private partnership principle through an SPV.

The Airport Authority of India and Maharashtra’s City and Industrial Development Corporation will jointly hold a 26 per cent in the SPV, with the private partner picking up the remaining 74 per cent.

Patel said there was a possibility of increasing the FDI in companies operating helicopters, seaplanes and chartered airlines from the present limit of 49 per cent.

Officials said this might even go up to 74 per cent. They said the norms might be relaxed for cargo airlines as well.

AI Cargo gets first freighter Airbus A310 aircraft (http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2007/04/25/stories/2007042501071100.htm)

Air India Cargo, a subsidiary of Air India, has taken delivery of its first freighter A-310 aircraft and plans to start dedicated cargo operations on the India-Kuwait-Germany sector shortly. "The aircraft, an AirbusA-310 that was earlier being used for passenger operations, has been completely refurbished and delivered to Air India. The aircraft may begin operations in June," a senior airline official said. The airline is to convert six Airbus A-310 aircraft into freighters at an estimated cost of $6 million each.

The decision to look at converting the Airbus A-310 aircraft should help the airline become a more serious player in the growing cargo market.

Currently, Air India enjoys a market share of 10 per cent of the total exports and about 12 per cent of total imports.

Two more airlines express interest to operate from Coimbatore

http://www.hindu.com/2007/04/24/stories/2007042410000100.htm

Coimbatore: The local unit of the Airports Authority of India has put forward a proposal for a Rs. 30-crore parallel taxiway to ease peak-hour runway congestion. There was a steep growth in passenger and aircraft movement during 2006-07. Two more airlines have expressed an interest to operate from Coimbatore.

Airport Director K. Hemalatha told The Hindu that a parallel taxiway would solve the problem of peak-hour runway congestion. Once a flight touches down, it takes 10 to 12 minutes to taxi its way to the apron and to come to a "full stop halt."

During this time, another landing or takeoff is not possible. With a parallel taxiway, on touching down the aircraft could leave the runway free for a waiting aircraft. There are seven parking bays available. With a parallel taxiway, pilots need not hover over Coimbatore.

The number of passengers increased to 8.9 lakh during 2006-07 from 5.74 lakh in 2005-06: a growth of over 56 per cent. Similarly, aircraft movement increased from 9,311 in 2005-06 to 12,750 in 2006-07. The number of landings and take-offs has touched 56 a day. Thanks to the entry of a number of low-cost, no-frills airliners, aircraft and passenger movement has grown.

Spice Jet has expressed an interest to operate from Coimbatore by May or June. Silk Air wants to come in by November.

The AAI is modernising the fire station at a cost of Rs. 2.24 crore. This will increase the number of crash fire tenders to four from the present three.

SpiceJet to acquire 10 new Boeings (http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/News/News_By_Industry/Transportation/SpiceJet_to_acquire_10_new_Boeings/articleshow/1952082.cms)

NEW DELHI: Delhi-based low-cost carrier SpiceJet gearing up to go global in 2010. The current policy is to allow domestic airlines to fly abroad provided it has completed five years of domestic operations.

SpiceJet on Tuesday placed additional orders for 10 new Boeing 737-800/900 ER aircraft at a list price of $700 million. The 10 new aircraft will enter the fleet between 2009 and 2011, taking the total fleet size to 35. SpiceJet had earlier placed orders for 20 aircraft, whose delivery would be completed by October 2008.

Analysts tracking the company said the airline is keen to fly to neighbouring destinations in South East Asia and the Gulf. When contacted Siddhant Sharma, CEO, SpiceJet, refused to comment on the carrier’s international ambitions. SpiceJet would pay $10 million upfront for fresh orders, while the remaining would be financed by raising debt and through sale-and-lease buyback of aircraft.

Domestic carriers have been lobbying with the government for relaxing the five-year moratorium for flying abroad and bringing it down to three years. They have been arguing for a level-playing field for domestic players on this issue.

Many start-up international carriers are flying into India while Indian carriers are barred from flying out. Carries such as Air Deccan and Kingfisher Airlines are planning to fly from international destinations into the country, if the government does not relent.

Air Deccan’s parent company, Deccan Aviation, has entered into a joint venture with a Sri Lankan company to fly from the Island nation to several destinations into India. Kingfisher Airlines is currently working on getting approvals from the US authorities for direct flights between San Fransisco and Bangalore by middle of next year.

If government relaxes the norms, airline analysts expect Indian low cost carriers to connect major Indian cities to destinations in South East Asia. All this comes at a time when Malaysia-based low cost carrier Air Asia is gearing up to launch long-haul flights between Asia, Europe and the United States. Plans include connecting several Indian cities into the long-haul sector.

sudipto.dey@timesgroup.com

With pics!

Jet Airways offers travellers private cabin to India - for less than a BA first class seat

http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/article-23393932-details/Airline+offers+travellers+private+cabin+to+India+-+for+less+than+a+BA+first+class+seat/article.do

Virgin reaction
http://news.independent.co.uk/business/news/article2486658.ece

A Virgin spokesman pointed out that Jet's new First Class cabins will only be available on its Boeing 777-300ER aircraft, nine of which are on order, whereas it offered an Upper Class service on all its aircraft.

"That means the product is not consistent. You either have a service available on all aircraft or you don't."

Virgin, which flies daily to Delhi and Mumbai, said that it welcomed the advent of more competition but the spokesman added: "All Jet is doing is playing catch-up with what are already two very good Western carriers."

:nuts: