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#1 · (Edited)
#41 ·
: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.
 
#43 ·
AI-Indian a blip on competition radar

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.
 
#44 · (Edited)
"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.
 
#45 ·
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...
 
#46 ·
Bhubaneswar airport upgrade stalled

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.
 
#47 ·
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.
 
#48 ·
India surpasses Italy in terms of number of aircrafts with scheduled airlines

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
 
#50 ·
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.
 
#52 ·
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?
 
#53 ·
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.
 
#54 ·
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.
 
#55 ·
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.
 
#56 ·
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.
 
#57 ·
Penang pushes for direct service from Chennai


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.
 
#58 ·
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
 
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