NEWS| Air India to become a low-fare carrier

The Maharaja will have to give up his full-service carrier status and transform into a commoner — low-fare airline — on most domestic routes to survive.








On Wednesday, PM Manmohan Singh spent 90 minutes with aviation ministry honchos on the cash-strapped airline's woes and its demands for a bailout from the government. While he is learnt to have promised support to the national carrier, it was made abundantly clear that any bailout will come if — and only if — Air India is able to shed its flab, become competitive and completely transform itself. Otherwise, it's curtains for the airline.

After meeting the PM, aviation minister Praful Patel said the government has formed a four-member committee of secretaries — headed by the cabinet secretary and comprising of the finance, aviation secretaries and principal secretary to the PM.

"AI's restructuring plan along with the request for equity infusion-cum-loan has to be submitted to them within a month. Unless a series of measures are taken to improve the airline, it will not be possible for the government to keep supporting in unconditionally. This is one last chance Air India has got," Patel said.

This "radical restructuring" could mean Air India transforming into a low fare airline on almost all domestic routes except a few niche metro sectors where full service airlines get some business. In this downturn, only LCCs (low-cost carriers) have seen good load factors and both Jet and Kingfisher are increasingly using their domestic fleet for their budget arms.
The airline has lost about Rs 5,000 crore in 2008-09 and seen its working capital requirement increasing from Rs 2,369 crore in March this year to Rs 16,300 crore in May.
Times of India

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NEWS| Flydubai spreads its wings to three Indian cities

Starting mid-July, budget carrier flydubai will commence operations to three Indian cities, bringing the airline's total number of destinations to eight since its launch early this month.
The Dubai's first budget carrier said yesterday it will start flights to Indian's north eastern city of Lucknow on July 13, followed by Coimbatore in the south on July 14, and Chandigarh in the north west on July 23.







While the airline will fly to Lucknow four times a week, with fares starting from Dh425, it would operate a thrice-weekly service to Coimbatore for the same fare. And it would serve Chandigarh with a daily service with fares starting at Dh350.

The initiative to start the air service is part of an agreement between India and the UAE that allows each side a weekly seating capacity of over 29,000 in either direction on outbound flights, a senior Indian civil aviation ministry official was recently quoted as saying by an Indian financial daily Economic Times.

It added that flydubai will initially fly to smaller cities such as Lucknow, Coimbatore, Chandigarh and Jaipur.

Currently flying to four destinations — Beirut, Amman, Damascus and Alexandria, flydubai recently added Aleppo in Syria to its network of destinations.
And now, with three more destinations added, flydubai intends to fly between 14 and 16 destinations by the end of the year "subject to government approvals", a flydubai spokesperson told Emirates Business.

Shweta Jain/Emirates Business 24/7, UAE

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NEWS| Passenger held for creating trouble in aircraft

Thiruvananthapuram: A middle-aged man who allegedly created trouble onboard an Air India flight from Saudi Arabia that landed here was arrested by police.

Boban Daniel, 49, hailing from nearby Kollam District, was handed over to the police by CISF personnel based on a complaint from the flight commandant, official sources said.





Daniel was stated to be in an inebriated condition and misused the flight security jacket and also abused cabin crew when they asked him to remove the jacket, the sources said. He was produced in a court which remanded him to judicial custody till Thursday.

PTI/Times of India

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NEWS| New Flights| Kingfisher to start new Ranchi-Delhi flight

Kingfisher Airlines has decided to start a new flight to Delhi from the capital’s Birsa Munda Airport from July 1.

Kingfisher officials here have already been informed of the decision and have been asked to prepare themselves for the new venture. “We have been informed about the new Ranchi-Delhi flight service, which will start from July 1. However, we are yet to receive details of the schedule,” said Krishna, an airline official at the airport here.






Kingfisher already operates a Ranchi-Delhi flight service, which flies out 5.40pm and reaches Delhi via Patna. The new flight, in all likelihood, will fly in the morning.

At present, there are three daily flights on the Ranchi-Delhi route — Indian (departure at 3pm), MDLR (departure at 3.30pm) and Kingfisher’s evening flight. The new flight will be the fourth to connect Ranchi to the national capital.

The Telegraph

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KINGFISHER| Good Time| Photographs!

NEWS| Jet flies into Rs400 crore tax trouble

The Directorate General of Central Excise Intelligence or DGCEI, the agency responsible for monitoring evasion of excise and service tax, has issued a show-cause notice to Jet Airways (India) Ltd, the country’s second largest private carrier, relating to a potential service tax liability of at least Rs400 crore, according to two agency officials familiar with the development.





The service tax liability pertains to the import of services by Jet over the past five years.
The two officials asked not to be named because they are not the official spokespersons for DGCEI.
A show-cause notice is not an indictment, and only requires a company—Jet Airways, in this case—to explain its position.

In an email statement, a Jet Airways spokesperson said: “Jet Airways shall respond to the authorities concerned after examining the legal position.” She did not divulge further details.
Mint has reviewed a copy of the show-cause notice.

According to the DGCEI officials, the show-cause notice, issued in April, covers tax liability of 23 services that were imported. The officials declined to disclose the nature of services availed of by the carrier.

Typically, a company is given a month to respond to such notices but it can always ask for an extension. Jet Airways is yet to respond to the notice.

Jet Airways has been served the notice under the so-called reverse charge mechanism. Under this, it is the recipient of services, and not the provider, that needs to pay tax.
The reverse charge mechanism, which was introduced in 2002, stipulates that in case a non-resident Indian who does not have a business establishment in India offers such a service, the recipient of such services will have to pay the tax.

Subsequently, this rule was expanded and the concept of import of services was introduced to cover services provided to an India-based entity by an entity based outside the country.
In 2006, the government defined what it meant by the import of a service and started treating the recipient of such service as a deemed service provider, liable to pay tax.

Khushboo Narayan and P.R. Sanjai/Livemint

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NEWS| GMR says it may put Kingfisher on cash & carry

After state-run Airports Authority of India (AAI), its private partner at Delhi and Hyderabad airports, the GMR group, plans to initiate action against Vijay Mallya-owned Kingfisher Airlines for defaulting on payments at the two airports.

A senior GMR official, who did not wish to be named, told DNA his company plans to put the defaulting airline on a cash-&-carry mode in the next two days.


AAI has already put the defaulting airline on cash-cash-carry mode as its dues reportedly exceeded its bank guarantee of Rs 100 crore by Rs 53 crore.

Once an airline is shifted to cash-and-carry mode, it stops enjoying credit facility and has to pay as and when bills are presented.

"There is a small bank guarantee of Rs 4-5 crore, but that is not enough. We are not able to pay our service providers because airlines like Kingfisher are not paying fees on time. So, we have decided to follow our partner (AAI) and will put it (Kingfisher) on cash-and-carry mode to recover our dues," the GMR official said.

The official said Kingfisher's total outstanding to the private airport operator amounted to Rs 40 crore, including Rs 30 crore to Delhi International Airports and Rs 10 crore to Hyderabad International Airport.

Bangalore-based GMR operates the two airports along with AAI.

Praveena Sharma/Daily News & Analysis

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NEWS| People| American Airlines names Philip Lewin as country manager for India

American Airlines has announced the appointment of Philip Lewin as the country manager for India. As country manager, India, Philip will be heading American Airlines operations in India, including sales/marketing, airport operations and the accounting functions.

Philip brings with him a rich and varied experience that spans across several reputed airlines around the globe and has worked extensively in the area of alliances and partnerships, the airlines said.





Prior to his current assignment, Philip was working with American Airlines in Zurich as the regional business development manager for Germany, Switzerland, Italy & Russia / CIS. Before joining American Airlines, Philip represented oneworld alliance in Germany, Italy and Switzerland, having spent six years working for SWISS and Swissair in a variety of management positions.

23/06/09 Economic Times

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JOBS| Intl| Charter Sales Executive

About The Company

In the private charter industry, Air Charter Service has achieved a superb reputation for the individual service we offer to our customers. We are looking for outstanding individuals to join our team and ensure this exceptional levelof service continues as we expand worldwide. We are currently seeking an Executive Charter Broker to join our Dubai office.

Position Overview:





TheExecutive Charter Broker will be responsible for building relationships with a portfolio of clients who regularly need to charter private flights all over the world, while offering the best possible service at a competitive price.

Essential Responsibilities:

Generation of new business
Managing charter bookings
Client relationship management
Working with our marketing department on campaigns
Achieving targets
Qualifications:

Minimum of 2 years proven track record in a sales role
Exceptional communication skills
Self motivated & driven
Compensation and Benefits:

Generous base per year + uncapped commission structure + medical insurance
Regular opportunities to travel worldwide
A modern, professional working environment
A growing company with offices worldwide
Recently recognized as an ‘Outstanding Company’ for workplace engagement at the Times Best Companies to Work For awards 2009, Air Charter Service rewards hard working individuals with ongoing training, progression and excellent earning opportunities.


Apply to london@aircharter.co.uk

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NEWS| Kingfisher flight suffers bird-hit, passengers safe

A Kingfisher Airlines flight was on Wednesday forced to return to Indore airport shortly after it took-off for Mumbai, following a bird hit.
"The commander turned around the aircraft after it suffered a bird hit," a Kingfisher Airlines spokesperson told said.
The flight-IT 3148-which took off from Indore airport at 7.55 am, was scheduled to arrive at Mumbai at 8.55 am, the spokesperson said.





All passengers were off-loaded and an inspection of the aircraft was carried out, he said.
"During the inspection, engineers found that four blades had suffered damage," he said.
A new aircraft is being sent to ferry the stranded passengers, he said, adding, "engineers are working to get the aircraft back in flying condition."





27/05/09 PTI/Times of India

NEWS| Jet Airways introduces special Première fares to London

Jet Airways, India’s premier international airline, has introduced special Première fares to London from several Indian cities.
Jet Airways has introduced a special limited period offer for Première passengers from Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad, Kolkata and Pune travelling to London between May 29, 2009 and September 30, 2009.






Première passengers from the afore mentioned cities who book their tickets between May 29, 2009 and June 1, 2009, may avail of a special return fare of INR 60,000 to London, via Mumbai. This offer also extends to travellers on the Mumbai-London sector. *
For passengers unable to complete their travel bookings in the specified time period, the airline also offers Première travellers from Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Ahmedabad and Vadodara a special return fare of INR 89,000 to London, via Mumbai, for sale and travel with immediate effect. This offer also extends to travellers on the Mumbai-London sector.
Additionally, Jet Airways also offers Première travellers from Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Pune, Goa, Bengaluru and Hyderabad, a special return fare of
INR 94,000 to London, via Delhi, for sale and travel with immediate effect. Travellers from Delhi may avail of a special return Première fare of INR 1,06,000 to London for sale and travel with immediate effect.*
According to Mr. Wolfgang Prock-Schauer, CEO, Jet Airways, “Jet Airways has established itself as among the leading carriers on the competitive Indo-UK sector purely on the strength of its exceptional product quality and high service standards. Our Première product is arguably the best in its class, and offer exceptional value with the introduction of these special fares.”
Jet Airways flies daily, direct to London Heathrow from Mumbai and Delhi. For more details please log on to www.jetairways.com.






28/05/09 PRESS RELEASE/Jet Airways

NEWS| One arrested for air-hostess' murder

Police today claimed to have solved the murder of a 25 year-old air hostess Nitish Kumari with the arrest of a 23 year-old unemployed 'mobile phone thief'.


Outgoing Commissioner of Chennai Police, K Radhakrishnan, told reporters here that Sheikh Ismail who sneaked into Kumari's apartment at J J Nagar to steal her mobile phone, strangulated her to death after she raised an alarm.





"The accused made a call from the mobile to his sister which helped us trace him. The fingerprints recovered from the murder site also matched with that of Ismail," he said after handing over the mantle to new City Commissioner T Rajendiran.
Ismail also stole Kumari's laptop and some cash besides the mobile phone, he said.
A native of Bihar, the decomposed body of Kumari, an air-hostess with Air India, was found under a cot at her apartment on May 23 after police broke open the doors on being informed that foul smell emanated.





28/05/09 Chennai Online

NEWS| Emirates will add 22 weekly flights to India

Emirates airline on Thursday said it will add 22 weekly flights to India.
- a further expansion of its India operation as the country propels itself to become one of the world's fastest-growing aviation companies, encouraged by a liberalisation of the skies.
The Dubai-based airline will increase flights as a support for the Indian government's ambitious growth plan to attract 100 million travellers in 2010.





The existing service of 163 flights per week to 10 Indian gateways will be strengthened to 185 over the summer and winter periods.
High demand routes such as Ahmedabad, Chennai, Kolkata, Kozhikode and Thiruvananthapuram will be the chief beneficiaries.
Majid Al Mualla, Vice-President of Commercial Operations for West Asia and Indian Ocean said: "The global slowdown is not over yet, but the outlook for the future is showing signs of improvement.





29/05/09 Gulf News/Zawya.com

NEWS| Jet plans 10% reduction in domestic flights

Naresh Goyal-owned Jet Airways is all set to reduce domestic capacity by 10% within a month.




This will be over and above 20% capacity pruning the airline has done during November-May, to tackle slowdown in traffic and mounting losses. Jet's net loss touched Rs 961.4 crore in 2008-09.
However, the reduced capacity in domestic routes will be added to the international operations where the airline is making profit. So, some Boeing 737s deployed on the domestic side will be diverted to Gulf and southeast Asia. And, some 737s will be shifted to Jet's new low-cost brand, Konnect.
"In the reduced travel during this slowdown, the domestic aviation industry has 40% over-capacity. Ticket prices are about 30% below the cost recovery level. The industry as a whole has to remedy this situation but we are doing our bit. After cutting 20% domestic capacity from November to May, now we will go in for another 10% cut by June," said a senior official. At present about 40 of the 50 Boeing 737s in Jet's fleet are used on domestic side. In an ongoing route rationalisation that saw smaller planes being deployed on routes as per actual loads, Boeing 737s are now used to service all international sectors except North America, Europe and Mumbai-Singapore. Now more of these planes would be used for international expansion.
"Our EBIDTA growth on international sector is 24% in Q4 of 2008-09, a figure that was negative on first two quarters of last fiscal and 12% in Q3. The improved result, though the overall condition is still challenging, is substantially due to international operations doing better. We are almost done with our international long-haul restructuring and there will be gradual expansion here," Jet CEO Wolfgang Prock-Schaeur said. Better showing on international front helped Jet post a profit of Rs 53 crore in Q4 of 2008-09.





28/05/09 Saurabh Sinha/Times of India

KNOW| Co| Air Charter Service

Company history

ACS was founded in 1990 by Chris Leach as a small specialised aviation company, initially dealing with a small number of large contracts.

The Charter market had seemed saturated, with a small number of large established companies controlling the whole market along with a handful of one and 2 man brokerages and many thought that there was not enough room for a new big player.





ACS’s commitment to personal service proved popular in what had been described by some as a complacent market place and the company grew rapidly. ACS then furthered their commitment to providing exceptional customer service by opening regional offices.These offices were established with the aim of meeting the charter requirements of existing customers but also to extend ACS' charter services to international clients.

Each regional office was based on the same principles of customer service and every account manager worldwide was trained in the London office. ACS now employs over 100 staff around the globe speaking local languages and with expertise in their own regional markets and counts Middle Eastern royalty, the British government, major multinational corporations and non-profit organisations as its customers.


The company has grown on the following principles

• High quality personal Service
• 24/7 coverage
• Quick response times
• Continuous service from enquiry to post flight
• Expert knowledge of the industry.

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NEWS| Cayman Airways Launches Brand Enhancement Campaign

As part of the turn around strategy of the national airline, Cayman Airways has started to roll out a new look and feel. It started on Monday, November 5th with a newly enhanced livery of one of its 737-300 aircraft.

In his address, Minister of Tourism, the Honourable Charles Clifford noted that the Cayman Airways brand is symbolic of all our people, of all three of our islands and that this is best represented in our flag and our coat of arms.





He said “the goal of this campaign was give us all the opportunity to reflect on what is unique about our islands, our people, our culture and our heritage and to connect that, as it ought to be, to our symbol of national pride and one of our primary ambassadors, Cayman Airways.”

Chairperson Ms. Angelyn Hernandez said the brand enhancement campaign has given Sir Turtle his rightful position and we have infused the coat of arms by connecting the national airline with its Caymanian heritage. “We wanted to enhance Sir Turtle and his role and we needed to anchor our aircraft with something which identified our fleet anywhere it was seen, with the Cayman Islands. We needed to demonstrate that we are a proud and bold country. We believe that the design of the coat of arms flying high on our tail with all the glorious colours is such a representation.” Ms Hernandez pointed out.

Chief Executive Officer Mr. Patrick Strasburger said that the aircraft would have been repainted as part of the C-Check process and the opportunity was taken to give the aircraft a new look and feel at this time

Mr. Strasburger says, “Cayman Airways continues to improve its operations. We are working towards a more efficient and effective airline. Our employees are an integral part of our success and together we are working on ways to improve our company.”

Over the next year other aircraft will get their new identity as they go in for the industry mandated C- Checks. Other aspects of the brand enhancement campaign, such as uniforms, stationary, business cards, ticket counters, web-site, advertisements, vehicles and signage will be gradually updated according to replenishment needs.

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NEWS| Air India set to cut wages, stir looms

The fate of passengers scheduled to fly Air India July 1 onwards seems as uncertain as that of the airline itself. On Monday, the cash-strapped national carrier announced wage cuts to reduce its annual salary bill of Rs 3,100 crore for more than 31,000 employees by Rs 500 crore. This announcement, intriguingly made hours before a high-level meeting called by a worried PMO to discuss AI's survival strategy, could provoke the unions to dig in their heels.





Aside from token demonstrations, unions had threatened to go on strike to protest the earlier decision to delay payment of salaries until mid-July. "We were earlier told that salaries would be deferred by 15 days. Now the airline has issued a statement that wages will be cut, though we have not been told anything formally. Our protest schedule is drawn up till June 30 and what we are forced to do after that, like going on indefinite strike or something else will be decided in the coming days," said V J Deka, secretary of the Aviation Industry Employees' Guild that represents 7,800 AI employees.
In the statement announcing wage cuts, AI "reiterated its resolve to maintain its flights as per normal schedule and urged passengers to book for their travel on its flights as usual". However, the airline industry says looming uncertainty could cost AI dear.
AI, which has been steadily losing market share apart from Rs 15 crore daily, is seeking a bailout package from the government. On Monday, AI CMD Arvind Jadhav met the PM's principal secretary, T K A Nair, and aviation secretary M M Nambiar and is learnt to have pressed for a government lifeline. The aviation team reportedly spelt out steps such as deferring delivery of some widebody planes this year and cost-cutting measures such as wage cuts. The idea: convince the government to part with taxpayers' money to resuscitate the Maharaja.
Being a public sector enterprise, laying off is not going to be easy for the grossly overstaffed airline that has around 31,500 employees. Arguing for wage cuts, the airline's statement pointed out to employees that it had not resorted to retrenchment or layoff "till date".

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NEWS| Air India CMD meets cabinet secretary, gets bailout promise

The government has promised to do "everything" that is possible to save the country's flag carrier Air India, which is struggling hard to cope with a cash crunch, a senior airline official said Saturday.



This promise was made by Cabinet Secretary KM Chandrasekhar Saturday in a meeting with Air India's top brass, including its chairman and managing director Arvind Jadhav, the official, who did not wish to be named, said.
"The government now is taking us seriously and looking into our demands. We have been assured that the government would do everything to save the airline from the crisis," he said.
The airline management would meet TKA Nair, principal secretary at the Prime Minister's Office, Wednesday for further discussions.





Civil Aviation Secretary M Madhavan Nambiar was also present at Saturday's meeting.
When contacted, an Air India spokesperson refused to share any details.
Asked whether the airline officials met the cabinet secretary, he said: "I will neither admit nor deny this."
The Air India chairman has been camping in the capital for the last two days.Another airline official, on condition of anonymity, said that the U-turn in the government's stand shows that Air India's "pressure tactics" have succeeded.
National Aviation Co India Ltd, which owns Air India, had earlier announced that it would delay the June salaries of its employees by 15 days.
It also asked its top management to voluntarily forego one-month salary and productivity linked incentives.

IANS/Economic Times

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NEWS| Kingfisher plans UAE flights from several Indian cities

Kingfisher Airlines, which is due to launch its services to Dubai starting June 25, plans to connect to the UAE from a number of cities in India during the course of the year, according to a senior airline executive.







The India-based carrier, which was originally scheduled to launch the Bangaluru-Dubai route on March 7, deferred it given the slowdown in air travel and declining airfares.
A daily Bangaluru-Dubai service later this month would be followed by a direct flight from Bangaluru to Abu Dhabi soon after, said Siva Ramachandran, Kingfisher Airlines' Vice-President for Global Sales.

He said the airline is currently evaluating options for connecting Dubai with at least three more Indian cities — Delhi, Thiruvananthapuram and Hyderabad, despite economic crisis.
"All these services to Dubai will start this year itself. Meanwhile, we also may look to connect Thiruvananthapuram with Abu Dhabi following that," Ramachandran told Emirates Business.
Kingfisher Airlines' move comes close on the heels of archrival Jet Airways' plans of launching four new Indian routes from Dubai in the next two months. Jet Airways, which launched operations to the UAE last year with daily direct flights to Abu Dhabi in April, followed by Dubai in August, recently said it is planning to launch flights to Indian cities of Hyderabad, Kochi, Thiruvananthapuram and Mangalore.
Regarding the expansion within the Middle East, Kingfisher Airlines is weighing options for launching flights to Saudi Arabia and Kuwait this year, said Ramachandran.
"It is possible that we will start flights to Riyadh in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait this year itself, as part of our expansion plan for the Middle East. We are currently evaluating options for the same," he said.





Shweta Jain/Emirates Business 24-7, UAE

NEWS| Flight operations from Chennai to be hit from July

Chennai: With the Airport Authority of India (AAI) all set to start work on runway expansion from July, flight operations are expected to be crippled in Chennai for over two months when the main runway will be closed between 11 am and 5 pm.




After much deliberation over the issue, AAI chairman and his committee decided to stick to its original plan, which was highlighted in the Express issue dated March 16.
According to the plan, AAI had decided to close the main and secondary runways alternatively. The main runway 07/25, will now be closed to facilitate work on linkways and taxiways that connect the main and secondary runways for over two months from July, a senior AAI official said.
“There is no other option as connectivity between the main and secondary runways at various points is crucial. And if the secondary runway is to be made functional before the main runway, there must be proper exit and taxiways to minimise the flight occupational time on the operating runway. In this case, it would have not been feasible,” an AAI source said.
As per the current plan, work on link taxiways 1 and 2 will be taken up simultaneously and the main runway will be completely closed between 11 am and 5 pm. Airlines have been given a few options of closure time before the NOTAM (notice to airman) is issued. During this closure time, the secondary (RWY 12/30) will be available for operation and wide-bodied aircraft will have to reduce their payload - called payload penalty - for landing and take-off,” said a senior AAI official.





15/06/09 Mamta Todi/ExpressBuzz

NEWS| Liquidity problems force AI to delay June salary by 15 days

Mumbai/Delhi: The National Aviation Company of India (Nacil), the company that operates Air India, has decided to defer the payment of June salary to its 31,000 employees by 15 days due to severe liquidity crunch.






Air India top officials — general manager levels and department heads — have got an email, stating that the salary will be delayed by 15 days. The e-mail will be forwarded by department heads to their colleagues this week, said a senior official.
An AI spokesperson, in a text message on Sunday evening, confirmed to ET that the June salary, due at the end of the month, will be paid on July 15. The company had submitted a proposal to the ministry recently asking for a bailout package, the spokesperson added.
It was further learnt that Air India top officials were asked to meet the civil aviation ministry before the budget to work out the final package the government will be sanctioning for Nacil.
Last week, Air India, had tabled a blueprint to the aviation ministry on how it will utilise the Rs 14,000-crore bailout package, if it’s granted.
Another senior AI official said that Rs 14,000 crore package is necessary for the national carrier to run operations smoothly.
“We are not yet sure what the civil aviation ministry will finally approve in the budget,” the official said on condition of anonymity. When asked about any likely layoffs, he said there’s no layoffs plan as of now.
Incidentally, the decision on salary delay came after Air India CMD Arvind Jhadhav said that Nacil may have to take drastic steps to come out of the current situation. “We are trying to do a reality check, every group has to adopt some cost saving and revenue generation programmes,” Mr Jhadhav added.
Industry trackers say AI has not been in the best of health and the government bailout is critical. The cost of acquiring 144 aircraft has shot up from Rs 45,000 crore to Rs 50,000 crore on account of currency fluctuations.
15/06/09 Economic Times

NEWS| Jet Airways Konnect introduces 30 more flights to its pan-India network

In response to strong customer demand, effective June 13, 2009, Jet Airways Konnect, Jet Airways’ new all-economy service, will enhance its network to include thirty new flights to its current pan-India network of 62 daily flights.






Jet Airways Konnect currently links several destinations across India, including Kochi, Pune, Hyderabad, Coimbatore, Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Bhopal, Amritsar, Jorhat, Agartala and Guwahati with five major metros - Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru, Kolkata and Chennai.

With the launch of these new services, Jet Airways Konnect will link Hyderabad and Thiruvananthapuram with Chennai, while enhancing current services on the Coimbatore-Chennai sector. Jet Airways Konnect will also introduce services from Thiruvanathapuram and Mumbai to Bengaluru, while enhancing existing services on the Hyderabad-Bengaluru sector.
In addition, the airline has also introduced a new service on the Ahmedabad-Indore - Bhopal - Raipur - Hyderabad sector, among other services.

With the introduction of these new flights, the Jet Airways Konnect service will operate with a fleet of ten ATR 72-500 and three Boeing 737-800 aircraft on key domestic routes across India.

Travel Daily News

NEWS| Jet Airways, Kingfisher plan code sharing on domestic routes

Six months after announcing the biggest operational alliance in India's aviation sector, Jet Airways (India) Ltd and Kingfisher Airlines Ltd have agreed to initiate code-share on certain flights on the domestic route.





The two airlines together are the country's biggest private airlines by passengers carried and expect code sharing to garner more passenger traffic on their flights. Code sharing is a commercial agreement between airlines in which they can mutually use their two-letter identification code to book flights and sell seats under its own name on another carrier's flight. This helps airlines get a larger network using fewer flights and potentially fly different legs of a journey by issuing a single ticket.
Saroj K Datta, executive director, Jet Airways, told DNA, "We have drawn a plan on code sharing between the two airlines and will be submitting the proposal to the government shortly for approval."
Airlines planning to enter into passenger sharing alliances need to take approvals from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). Jet and Kingfisher will code share on domestic routes now and international routes would be reviewed later, Datta said. However, he denied commenting on the number of flights under consideration.
Kingfisher Airlines, in a statement, said, "We are in discussions with Jet Airways on code sharing certain routes and will be launching such flights shortly."
Datta said, "Code sharing will not result in any savings or profits, but will generate more traffic for both the parties."
Airlines are grappling with falling passenger numbers and the domestic airlines are likely to report combined losses of $2 billion, according to industry estimates. The air traffic during the first quarter of the current calendar year also slipped 12% as local carriers flew 13.68 lakh fewer passengers compared with the first quarter of last year.





28/05/09 Daily News & Analysis

NEWS| Kingfisher Airlines Introduces New Mobile Ticketing Solution

Kingfisher Airlines today announced the launch of King Mobile, a mobile ticketing solution.

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King Mobile will be available exclusively on ngpay, India’s fastest-growing mobile commerce service. This service will provide guests with a convenient option to book tickets anywhere, anytime and can be used on all GPRS enabled low-end as well as high-end phones. With this facility, guest can now book, pay and generate e-tickets on their phones as well as check miles and book Kingfisher Holidays.

To avail this service, guest will have to download the secure ngpay application on to their GPRS enabled phones by sending a sms KingMobile to 56388. Once King Mobile is installed after one-time registration, guest can book tickets, Kingfisher Holiday packages and also check their King Miles. E-tickets generated will be automatically emailed to the guests’ preferred email address which can be printed and used to gain entry inside the airport as well as for check-in using valid photo identification. On completion of the booking, e-ticket details will be stored automatically on the phone in the ngpay application for future access. The guest will also receive the booking details on his phone via SMS.





27/05/09 Thaindian.com

NEWS| New ground handling policy at six airports after 30 June

The civil aviation ministry plans to go ahead with the implementation of a new ground handling services policy at six key airports after the 30 June deadline passes, discounting the possibility of an extension of the cut-off date sought by airlines.





The new policy mandates that airlines outsource ground handling at the airports to private operators selected for the job. Its implementation has already been delayed.
With the June-end deadline approaching, civil aviation secretary M. Madhavan Nambiar reviewed the status of its implementation on Monday with top airport operators and National Aviation Co. of India Ltd-run Air India.

Under the new policy, only Air India, the airport operator and a third private operator will be allowed to provide ground handling services from July.
The meeting was attended by senior officials from the Airports Authority of India (AAI), which runs the Kolkata and Chennai airports, Delhi International Airport Pvt. Ltd, Mumbai International Airport Pvt. Ltd, Bangalore International Airport Ltd, GMR Hyderabad International Airport Pvt. Ltd and Air India’s chairman and managing director Arvind Jadhav.
The officials reviewed preparations of both the airport operators and the national carrier to implement the policy, said two senior government officials who didn’t want to be named. “It has been decided to put it in place from 1 July for all metro airport operators,” one of the two officials said.

Mumbai and New Delhi have already have selected at least one ground handler while the new Bangalore airport works with a single operator.
Chennai and Kolkata airports are expected to complete the process of selecting ground handlers by early June from among 11 bidders. Air India, which tied up with Singapore Air Terminal Services, or Sats, is also expected to be ready. Airport operators see ground handling as an additional revenue source. The combined annual revenue from ground handling services at the six airports is estimated at Rs500 crore.





26/05/09 Tarun Shukla/Livemint

NEWS| Jet Airways Q4 profit at Rs 53 crore

Jet Airways, the country’s largest private carrier, made a net profit of Rs 52.99 crore for the fourth quarter ended+ March 31, 2009, compared with a loss of Rs 221.18 crore for the same period of the previous fiscal.





The company accounts the profit for the fourth quarter to improved international performance, restructuring programmes, reduced fuel prices and exceptional items, which significantly improved EBITDA margin to 20.8 per cent.
The airline saved a large chunk in fuel costs compared to the fourth quarter of last fiscal, owing to the decrease in the fuel prices. Jet had to spend Rs 593.94 crore on fuel in quarter four, as compared to
Rs 1,080.21 crore that was spent for the same in the previous financial year. Jet also saw a rise in its earnings in the other operating incomes, basically by leasing out some of its aircraft to other airlines. Jet’s income stood at Rs 202.28 crore for the fourth quarter compared to Rs 72.57 crore in the year-ago period. Jet Airways has managed to lease out nine long haul aircraft to other airlines till now.
Jet’s consolidated income for the same stood at Rs 393.55 crore compared to Rs 141.82 crore last fiscal.
The airline, however, has posted a consolidated net loss of Rs 961.41 crore in the financial year ended March 31, 2009 compared with the net consolidated loss of Rs 653.87 crore in the previous financial year.






26/05/09 Business Standard

NEWS| Air India additional GM arrested

Ramesh Nambiar, additional general manager of Air India, was arrested on Monday by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI)





in connection with the Ordnance Factory Board (OFB) corruption scandal. According to sources in the CBI, Nambiar was responsible for striking deals with foreign suppliers and money transactions through hawala for former director general of OFB, Sudipta Ghosh. Ghosh, the main conspirator in this case, reportedly struck his maximum deals from Delhi. He is already under arrest since May 19.

Sources said Nambiar organised meetings for Ghosh at various hotels in Delhi and at a place in Gagan Vihar. “He acted as a conduit on behalf of Ghosh. He also helped Ghosh to launder ill-gotten money through hawala,” said Harsh Bhal, CBI spokesperson.







26/05/09 Indian Express

NEWS| SIA in another row

Singapore: Airlines, already embroiled in a five-month dispute with travel agents in India over sales commissions, now faces a similar problem Down Under.




Flight Centre, one of Australia's biggest travel companies with 800 outlets, has taken SIA off its list of 40 preferred airlines, and told staff to stop promoting the Singapore carrier to clients.
A Brisbane-based spokesman confirmed this when contacted by The Straits Times, but would not verify reports that the company is upset because SIA has refused to increase its 5 per cent commission on ticket sales.





25/05/09 The Straits Times