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67-yr-old has heart attack on Jet flight

Mumbai: A Jet Airways flight from Mumbai to Chandigarh returned from the runway on Monday morning after one of the passengers, a senior citizen, suffered a heart attack.
Flight 9W 2057 proceeded to runway 09-27 for take-off at 11am, a passenger said.
"The flight was supposed to leave at 10.10am but got delayed because it could not get a slot," he said. "Sant Singh, 67, fainted when the plane was taxiing towards the runway."
While the crew attended to Singh, the captain cancelled the take-off and proceeded to bay number 3. A doctor of Mumbai International Airport Limited (MIAL) reached the aircraft at 11.09am and Singh was taken for treatment.

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Safety dogs Bangalore airport

Bangalore: The city airport seems to be under threat again. However, the terror this time is not human, but canine.
If the airport authorities are to be believed, then the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagar Palike (BBMP) has only turned a deaf ear to their pleas for help.
Alarmed at the growing menace of strays at the airport, the Bangalore International Airport Ltd (BIAL) had sought the BBMP's help recently.
It has been 10 days since the authorities wrote to the civic body, but there has been no response. Now, airport officials say that these dogs could pose a grave hazard to flights as well as passengers.
In 2009, the BBMP had gone out of its way to rid the airport of strays. It had used its funds for the operation, hoping that the airport authorities would compensate the BBMP.
However, the authorities allegedly did not do so. So this time, the civic body has flatly refused, saying that the airport is not in its jurisdiction. It has also suggested that the airport authorities hire the services of private firm to clear out strays.

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Southern air link for Chandigarh soon

Chandigarh: There is good news for IT professionals as Chandigarh will enjoy air connectivity with Bangalore and Hyderabad from October 1. Private carrier, Jet Airways, has launched a new flight from Bangalore to Chandigarh and from Chandigarh to Hyderabad which would connect Delhi on the way.
The aeroplane would take off from Bangalore and land in Chandigarh via Delhi, and thereafter depart from Chandigarh to Hyderabad, again stopping in Delhi on the way.
Sources said the flight would be regularized between Chandigarh-Bangalore-Chandigarh after analyzing the feedback. ??A call as to whether it will fly to both the cities or one of them will be taken later,?? the sources added.
According to authorities, the flight will take off from Bengaluru International Airport at 12.50 pm and reach Chandigarh domestic airport at 4.55 pm. Thereafter, it would depart for Hyderabad at 5.25 pm and touch down at 9 pm. The flight would have a 45-minute halt at Delhi airport.

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Embraer jets rescue Indian airlines domestic demand

Embraer is attempting to swoon a variety of Indian airlines into purchasing at least one commercial jets with up to 120 seats.
The aerospace company went into talks with airlines in a bid to sell over 50 aircraft over the next decade, the Hindustan Time reported.
The company hopes carriers will recognise the benefits the aeroplanes could have in targeting the domestic passenger demand.
With expectations to deliver up to 55 aircraft by 2019, Embraer Asia Pacific Vice President Alex Glock said the aircraft will assist airlines carry the 44 million annual domestic passenger traffic.
"Sixty one percent of this, that is 27 million, is witnessed in category II and III cities, for which the Embraer commercial jets are best suited."

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Hong Kong company unveils new look of Male’ airport

Male: The Hong Kong based architectural company, Integrated Design Associates (IDA) has unveiled the new look of the Male' international airport, under its expansion and modernization project.
The IDA has come up with an impressive new design that will "encompass the entire scope of the airport, including a full concept design, detailed expansion schemes and the construction supervision of the new terminal, including 12 aircraft bays, spread over an area of 55,000m2," the Maldives Traveller magazine revealed.
The four-year construction plan will also add a large seaplane port to house 42 sea aircraft.
Singaporean architect and Founder of IDA, Winston Shu, famed for his technically complex industrial buildings as well as his energy efficient 'green offices' will personally oversee the makeover of the airport, according to the magazine.
The IDA has been contracted by the Indian infrastructure consortium GMR and Malaysia Airports Holdings to oversee the high-tech construction.
Earlier this year, the government leased out the Male' international airport to GMR and Malaysia Airport Holdings to expand, manage and operate it for the next 25 years.
The GMR is set to control of the airport in November this year, midst a pledge to complete the project by 1 July 2014.

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More danger spots identified at Mumabi airport

Mumbai: The Mumbai airport operator has brought new collision-prone spots on the airfield to the notice of pilots, bringing the tally of danger spots to six The Airport Authority of India (AAI) declared these spots in a circular issued on September 23. All the new danger spots are at the intersections of
taxiways parallel to the secondary runway.
This would mean there are chances of airplanes colliding with each other, or other vehicles on the airfield, or skidding off the runway.
These spots were identified based on previous such instances. These spots are more critical now because from November onwards to July 1, 2011, the main runway will be a shut for repairs daily from 9am to 5pm.
As a result, only the smaller runway will handle all the 702 take-offs and landings for eight hours a day.
The intersection of taxiway K1 and E7, taxiway N and N1, taxiway S and S1 and taxiway W1 and E1 are the new danger spots listed in the circular.

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JetLite set to deposit Rs 70 cr in Sahara tax dues dispute

New Delhi: In a setback to Jetlite (India) Ltd (formerly Sahara Airlines Ltd), the Supreme Court on Monday dismissed the airline's plea challenging the Delhi High Court order that asked Jetlite to predeposit Rs 60 crore and give a bank guarantee of Rs 10 crore before the sectoral tribunal entertained its appeal.
In order to entertain the appeal itself, the Customs, Excise & Service Tax Appellate Tribunal had earlier insisted that of the total service tax demand of around Rs 258 crore, the company should deposite Rs 100 crore as a pre-deposit pending final settlement. Jet bought Air Sahara in April 2007 for Rs 1,450 crore and later rebranded it to JetLite. Of this purchase price, Jet had paid Rs 900 crore in instalments by April 20, 2008. The tax demand was raised on the basis of the operations of the earlier Air Sahara, before its takeover by Jet.

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Luxury brands reach the skies, advertise in charter flights

Mumbai: To grab the eyeballs of high networth individuals (HNI's), several luxury brands are advertising in charter planes. What's more, the general aviation industry doesn't seem to be complaining.
It gives an opportunity for the affluent class, hopping on to a chopper or a charter to kill their journey time, by enjoying the ads for a villa or a BMW on board.
"Since lot of luxury brands are coming to India, and there is a growing number of air charter flyers, luxury brands advertising inside an aircraft has opened up a new channel for advertising in the niche," says an official from Airnetz Aviation Private Ltd.
Airnetz, a third party agent,has contracted a fleet of 100 aircraft in India and 700 globally.
Airnetz has been receiving advertising contracts for the past one month from apartments and villas in two and three tier cities outside Mumbai and their price-range starts from Rs 1 Crore, generating 10 to 12 queries and selling 1 villa in the process.

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No cash, but AI on hiring spree

New Delhi: Cash-strapped Air India is on a big ticket appointment spree. After hiring a COO for an annual package of over Rs 3 crore, the national carrier is all set to hire a COO (chief operating officer) for AI Express and three more senior officials for AI that could cost the Maharaja about Rs 4 crore every year.
The airline's board will meet here on Tuesday to discuss and possibly approve the appointment of Capt Pawan Arora as AI Express COO, former IBM executive Karan Khara as AI's chief strategy officer, Stefan Sukumar as chief training officer and Kamaljit Rattan as chief information officer. The merged Air India- Indian Airlines entity, National Aviation Company of India's human resources committee is learnt to have cleared three of these four names, including AI Express COO.
The new AI Express COO and AI's chief training officer are likely to get an annual package of Rs 1.2 crore each. AI's chief strategy and information posts could come with a package of Rs 95 lakh and Rs 48 lakh, respectively.

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Aviation ministry backs AAI right to lease city-side land

New Delhi: The state-owned Airports Authority of India (AAI) has proposed to lease its city-side land at nearly 35 non-metro airports instead of following a public-private partnership pattern suggested by the finance ministry, which seeks to improve non-aeronautical infrastructure along with private firms.
India's largest airport operator has got the backing of civil aviation ministry which is of the view that airport agency has the right to lease its land under AAI Act. The differences over infrastructure development around the airport between the civil aviation ministry and other government departments including the Planning Commission have delayed the city-side works at smaller airports such as Lucknow, Dehradun, Vishakhapatnam and Ahmedabad.

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RBI raises risk weight on restructured airline loans

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has increased the risk weight on restructured loans for the airline industry, requiring lenders to set aside additional capital to reflect the state of a sector that is weighed down by losses and debt.
The central bank has directed a consortium of banks, led by State Bank of India (SBI), the nation's largest lender, to assign the loans a risk weight of 150%, increasing it from 100%.
The order has significant implications for the banks. Under current norms, banks in India have to maintain a capital adequacy ratio, expressed as the ratio of capital to risk-weighted assets, of 9%, meaning they have to set aside Rs.9 for every Rs.100 they lend.
Once the risk weight is raised from 100% to 150%, they will have to set aside Rs.13.5 of capital on each Rs.100 they lend, raising the cost of the restructuring exercise for the banks.
In August, RBI gave its go-ahead to SBI to restructure the debt of the airline industry. SBI is leading a 13-bank consortium to restructure the loans of the industry.
SBI has exposure of about Rs.3,000 crore to the airline industry, according to the bank's chairman O.P. Bhatt.
IDBI Bank Ltd has exposure of Rs.3,500 crore; Bank of India and Bank of Baroda have exposure of around Rs.4,000 crore and about Rs.3,500 crore, respectively.

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Rampant mining threatens Mangalore airport

Bangalore: Three months after one of India's worst ever air disasters, Mangalore airport is in focus again. It may be the site of another mishap, if rampant mining under the runway isn't stopped immediately.
Laterite rocks are being mined right under the Mangalore's famed tabletop airport which is housed on a hillock. Laterite maintains soil stability. There's a huge demand for the material as it is used widely in construction.
Leo Saldanha, Coordinator, Environment Support Group, says: "If laterite rocks are removed at the wrong place it could lead to landslides and potentially destabilise the airport itself. Secondly, lot of explosives are used, so it disturbs the neighbourhood. It means more bird activity. The fact that it's a table top airport means birds can rise from anywhere around the valley and explosion can threaten aircraft with bird hits."
Bangalore: Three months after one of India's worst ever air disasters, Mangalore airport is in focus again. It may be the site of another mishap, if rampant mining under the runway isn't stopped immediately.
The Deputy Commissioner of Mangalore V Ponnuraj admits quarrying is being done near Mangalore and has been objected by DGCA. But he says the DGCA has not yet formally written a letter to them.

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Juhu airport: short of air traffic controllers

Mumbai: An acute shortage of air traffic controllers at the Juhu airport has restricted helicopter operations at the airport over the last month. Though offshore flight movements have not been affected, helicopter operators say they are finding it difficult to conduct test flights or maintenence flights that are crucial to smooth functioning of choppers.
The Juhu airport sees around 90 to 100 helicopter movements a day. The airport is being considered by the AAI to accommodate some flights from Mumbai airport in a bid to reduce congestion there.
Most of the movements out of the Juhu airport are for offshore operations to Bombay High with only a few flights made around the city by tour operators for recreational or other purposes. "There is a lot of flying that operators have to do for testing and maintenence purposes which has been restricted greatly since last month," said Captain Uday Gelli, president of the Rotary Wings Association of India (Western Region). For the last month the Juhu ATC is allowing flights for tests and maintenence only after 2 pm. Earlier these were allowed throughout the day, chopper operators said.

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54 airlines owe Tk 316 crore to CAAB

Dhaka: As many as 54 local and foreign airlines owe Taka 316 crore as outstanding bills to Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh (CAAB), Civil Aviation and Tourism Minister GM Quader told the House on Sunday.
Replying to a question from treasury bench member Shahiduzzman Sarker (AL-Naogaon-02), he said the CAAB would get the highest amount of Taka 144,40,45,435 from Biman Bangladesh Airlines.
Other airlines which have outstanding included Air India, Indian Air, Jet Air, Air Deccan, Sahara Air, East West, Damania, Vaiyadut Dut, United Air, Best Air, Jum Air, Young One, Air Parabat, Aertechnologies, South Asian Airways, King Fisher Air, Aero Bengal Airlines, Aviana Air, Saudia Airlines, Emirates Airlines, Thai Airlines, Druk Air, Air Arabia, Iran Air, Iraqi Airways, KLM, Fin Air, Uzbekistan, Royal Jordan, Royal Nepal airlines, Royal Brunei, Al- Italia, LTU International, Turkeministan, Cargo Lux, Ethiopian Air, Romanian Air, Louda Air, Olympic Air, Napes, Kanwar Modelift Air, Bulgaria, Philippines Air, MK Air, Yogaslavia, Virgin Air, Sri Lanka Air, Japan Air, Bismillah Airlines and Fuket Airlines, Quader aid.
The Civil Aviation Minister said reminder letters were already sent to the concerned airlines requesting them to pay off the outstanding bills while a money suit was lodged against Aero Bengal.

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Mumbai airport a nightmare, says Jet ED

Mumbai: If the capacity and efficiency of Mumbai's airport is not increased urgently, airlines would be forced to drop Mumbai from their destination list, warned S K Datta, executive director, Jet Airways.
S K DattaDatta said: "Managing operations at the Mumbai airport, which has nearly reached saturation in terms of handling airline traffic, has become a nightmare for airlines. Irrespective of when and where the second airport is developed, the government must decide, as an interim measure, to increase the existing capacity and efficiency of the current airport."
He was speaking at a well–attended roundtable titled 'Mumbai's Second Airport: It's Time to THINK BIG', jointly organised by Observer Research Foundation (ORF) and Bombay First.
The proposed Panvel airport at Navi Mumbai would be a gross mistake, as it would reach saturation in just about 25 years after commencement of operations. "When that happens Mumbai will not have land available for the development of a third airport," said aerospace analyst Hormuz P Mama, who has done a detailed report on the subject for ORF Mumbai.

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AI plans to sell 6 Boeing freighters

Mumbai: National air carrier Air India plans to sell its six Boeing freighters with indications that the airline may shelve its plans to spin off its cargo business into a separate subsidiary.
"We are looking at selling out our six Boeing 737-200 freighters as the plans to have a dedicated cargo business through a subsidiary is unlikely to take off now," Air India sources said here.
Air India will be inviting tenders from interested companies to phase out these aircraft, sources said. Besides, the airline has already put on sale its four A-310 freighters, they said.
The six Boeing 737-200 freighters belong to the erstwhile Indian Airlines and were converted into cargo planes from passenger aircraft in 2007, as the airline had plans to launch a dedicated domestic cargo service using Nagpur as its hub.

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Airfares likely to go up 20% in festive season

Mumbai: Though airlines have not announced any increase in fares, travellers will have to brace up for an over-20% hike during the upcoming festive and holiday season. Beginning mid-October, carriers are expecting over 90% load factors due to festivals like Durga pooja, Diwali, Dassera and Christmas. Another reason for the hike in fares is due to the civil aviation ministry curtailing around 6% of flight take-off and landings in the upcoming winter schedule. Though not a peak season, 4 million passengers travelled by air during August. Industry watchers expect airlines to carry around 5 million passengers each month in the upcoming festive season.
Private carrier Jet Airways' spokesperson said, "As of now, we do not have any fare hikes." Jet has a market share of 27% and it carried 11 lakh passengers in the previous month. Similarly, its competitors Kingfisher Airlines, Air India, Indigo and SpiceJet have not announced a fare hike yet.
Says Subhash Goyal, chairman, STIC Travel Group, "Previously, airlines used to announce fare hikes whenever they felt they should pass on the additional cost they incur. These days, fares are increased purely on demand-supply basis. As the demand becomes robust, fares also tend to increase." Goyal further added that previously, airlines compulsorily had to inform the Directorate General of Civil Aviation about a hike in fares, with valid reasons for the hike.

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Religare seeks govt nod to start regional airline

New Delhi: Religare Voyages Ltd, a subsidiary of Malvinder Singh-promoted Religare Enterprises Ltd, has applied for permission to start a regional airline that may later be expanded into a full-fledged carrier.
The concept of airlines that operate small aircraft devoted to a particular region of India was proposed by aviation minister Praful Patel three years ago, but hasn't quite taken off.
Experts say this was because large carriers such as Air India, Jet Airways and Kingfisher Airlines also own a significant fleet of smaller aircraft and have left too few routes uncovered.
The Delhi-based Religare runs air-taxi services and charter operations on a non-scheduled operating airline licence with a fleet of 11 aircraft. It includes a Falcon 7X-long range luxury business jet, Falcon 2000 business jet, two Bell helicopters and two Beechcraft Hawker 1900D.
The firm has sought permission from the aviation ministry to use its two Beechcraft turboprops, with 17 seats, to launch operations.
If approved, this will be the first time that such small aircraft will fly on scheduled operations, although the model is common in the West, used by carriers such as Continental Airlines.
Religare Voyages plans to bring in some 18-50 seat aircraft over the next three years, as smaller airports do not allow planes that are any larger.

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Trivandrum new terminal may take off without inauguration

New Delhi: The new international terminal at the Trivandrum airport may start commercial operations without any inauguration ceremony. The Kerala government wants Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to inaugurate the terminal but the PM has not been able to find time for the occasion.
"We are looking at starting commercial operations without any inauguration ceremony but there are some other issues to be resolved and the moment they are resolved, we will take a call on the operations," said a senior AAI (Airports Authority of India) official, who did not want to be identified.
The international terminal of the AAI-run airport was to start commercial operations from July 16.
"The inauguration has been delayed due to non-availability of time with the PM, thus, hampering our revenue generation. We plan to start operations and PM will dedicate the terminal to the nation whenever he gets time," said another AAI official on condition of anonymity.
The new terminal has been built by AAI at a cost of Rs 289 crore and has received permission to charge a user development fee (UDF) of Rs 755 per departing international passenger for 10 years.

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'Panvel airport may be saturated in 25 years'

Mumbai: The city's second airport should not be built in Panvel, simply because it may reach its saturation level of 50 million passengers a year in just 25 years, which could prove to be grossly inadequate and lead to disastrous consequences for the economy, experts and concerned citizens said at a discussion organized by Observer Research Foundation (ORF) on Saturday.
Given the proximity of the site to the creek, there is little scope for expansion. Experts fear that by the time the airport reaches saturation, there will be no land available near Mumbai for a third airport.
Hence, the consensus was that the government must think big about Mumbai's new airport. The second airport must not only be built at the best possible site from the environmental point of view, it must have an ultimate capacity of at least 100 million passengers a year, which is the norm for all major airports in the world, including the one at Delhi.
Among the participants were Saroj Datta, executive director of Jet Airways, Hormuz P Mama, senior aerospace analyst, Jitender Bhargava, former executive director of Air India, T P Anantheswaran of IBM, Abhijit Mehta, president of Global Markets, economist Ajit Ranade, Sulakshana Mahajan, chief urban planner of the Mumbai Transport Support Unit, Luis Miranda, president and CEO of IDFC private equity, Narinder Nayyar, Chairman of Bombay First, transport activists Ashok Datar and Sudhir Badami and Sudheendra Kulkarni, chairperson of the ORF.

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Create a parallel runway at Juhu airport first: Aviation industry

Mumbai: While the debate rages on about the feasibility of the Navi Mumbai airport, the aviation industry thinks that a parallel runway at the current airport can provide interim relief till the new one is ready. It has proposed that this can be done by shifting slum-dwellers to Juhu airport land, which is lying unused.
The wait for a new airport is getting on the nerves of the civil aviation industry. "It is too late to find a new airport as the current one is highly choked. Besides, with the new rules of arrival and departure, the air traffic movement (ATM) at Mumbai airport has gone down tremendously," said Saroj Datta, executive director, Jet Airways. The ATM, which was 36-40 arrivals per hour, is now barely 30-32 per hour. "With the current runway being closed for repairs and airport expansion, the next six months are going to be horrendous," he said.
"We are only looking at the long-term solution. The new airport will take a lot of time. Till then, some interim measures are required to ease the situation. A parallel runway should be built so that it takes care of the increased ATM capacity till the new airport is built," he said. "Without a parallel runway, I don't know how long the Mumbai airport will function smoothly. Like the new airport, a parallel runway should also be given equal attention," he added.
According to experts, the single runway capacity utilisation is much less at Mumbai compared to other airports in the world.

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Air India introduces Hub and Spoke service

Bangalore: Air India, the National Carrier, will introduce a daily Hub and Spoke flight from Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Kochi to Delhi with effect from October 31, 2010, to connect its non-stop flights to New York, Chicago, Toronto and Tokyo.
According to a press release here today from Air India passengers originating their international travel from Chennai to New York, Chicago and Toronto, can travel daily by Air India Flight AI 643, leaving Chennai from Anna International Departure Terminal at 2010 Hrs. and reaching Delhi at 2305 Hrs. Similarly from Bangalore, AI 623 will depart at 2010 Hrs. to reach Delhi at 2245 Hrs, from Hyderabad AI 127 will depart at 2135 hrs. to reach Delhi at 2340 Hrs. and from Cochin AI 693 to depart at 1935 Hrs. and reach Delhi 2245 Hrs.
The onward Flights AI 101 to New York will leave Delhi at 0040 Hrs. to arrive New York at 0645 hrs. (local time), Flight AI 127 to Chicago will leave Delhi at 0105 Hrs. to arrive Chicago at 0700 Hrs (local time) and Flight AI 187 to Toronto will leave from Delhi at 0125 Hrs. to arrive at 0745 Hrs.(local time) in Toronto.
Air India's daily code-share flights to Zurich and Vienna and thrice-weekly flights to Moscow, will also be connected to this Hub and Spoke flight with three and half hours transit time at Delhi.

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Mumbai loses busiest airport tag to Delhi

New Delhi: Mumbai, which has traditionally been India's busiest airport, has lost its coveted title to Delhi. While the airport's aircraft handling capacity has taken a severe hit due to the closing of two cross runways for recarpeting, Delhi is all set to add three more operational runways by October-end to its kitty.
The aviation ministry has finalised the winter schedule for this year which will see 3,475 daily domestic flights in India. Thanks to its enhanced capacity, IGI airport will see 630 flights operating daily. Mumbai is now way behind with the constrained airport being allowed just 490 daily flights. Indian carriers wanted to have 573 daily flights from Mumbai. But the unavailability of the two cross runways grounded their demand.
Post-slowdown, India has been recording double digit growth in domestic air travel. This buoyant demand is expected to shoot up in the peak winter travel season because of which airlines wanted to have 573 daily flights out of Mumbai. "The flights that have been allowed are much less. Fares anyway rise in peak season and coupled with low supply of airline seats, this could spell a double whammy for air travellers in and out of Mumbai in terms of fares," said an airline CEO.

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Jet Airways announces launch of India-Italy service

Mumbai: Jet Airways, India's premier international airline, today announced that it will commence daily non-stop flights from the national capital New Delhi to Milan from December 5th, 2010. The service on the India-Italy route will make Milan the twenty-fourth international destination on Jet Airways' network. The airline will introduce this new service to the fashion and design capital of the world using its state-of-the-art Airbus 330-200 aircraft.
With Milan strategically located at the heart of Central Europe, Jet Airways' daily non-stop service will allow its guests enhanced connectivity from Milan to several Italian cities like Florence, Rome, Venice and Pisa, besides easy access to other European destinations like Paris, Düsseldorf, Hamburg, Helsinki, Lisbon, Madrid, Zurich, Vienna, Belgrade and Budapest in conjunction with its interline partners.
This new flight, the only one to offer a direct air link on the India – Italy route will also effectively utilize New Delhi's new state-of-the-art Terminal 3, as an operational hub offering seamless connectivity to and from India. Guests traveling from Milan to India will be able to connect to over 42 destinations on Jet Airways' network within India and will also have access to travel onwards to Jet Airways' destinations of Kathmandu, Dhaka, Colombo and further onto Asian destinations like Singapore, Bangkok, and Hong Kong.
Flight 9W 142 will depart Delhi at 1255 hours, arriving in Milan at 1800 hrs. On the return leg, flight 9W 141 will depart Milan at 2125 hrs, arriving in Delhi at 0955 hrs.*
According to Mr. Nikos Kardassis, CEO, Jet Airways, "Jet Airways is delighted to bridge two ancient and historical civilizations, which now play a very important role in the twenty first century. Milan – a truly international and cosmopolitan city is recognized globally, as not only the fashion and design capital of the world but also as the engine room of the Italian economy.
We are confident that Jet Airways will soon emerge as the preferred carrier on this popular route given our unparalleled network in India and ever expanding international footprint. Milan, as indeed the European Union is an important market for us and we are convinced of capturing and growing the market. We believe that this new route has the potential to serve the needs of our discerning corporate and leisure travelers," he added.
Configured in two classes, with 30 seats in Première (Business Class) 190 seats in Economy, the spacious full-length wide-bodied twin aisle cabin of the A330-200 will truly make for a more pleasurable flying experience. The airline's Première guests will enjoy a 180 degree flat bed with lumbar support and massage systems, oversized table, telephony, SMS, Email and live text news to deliver a flying office, state-of-the-art On-Demand Panasonic In-Flight Entertainment (IFE), as well as the finest in-flight dining and service, among other amenities.
Italy has historically been one of Europe's main trade, business, finance and industrial hubs. But perhaps more important from an Indian perspective has been the burgeoning trend of bilateral trade between the two countries, which is pegged at over US$ 8 billion and is estimated to surpass US $10 billion soon. The two countries share strong ties in businesses ranging from automotive, textiles, heavy engineering, infrastructure, energy, clean technology to food-processing and agri-food business etc., Other areas of cooperation that are emerging include industrial design, science, IT, biotechnology and services. Importantly Milan is also set to play host to the 2015 Universal Exposition, which will showcase the latest scientific and technological innovations.
From a travel and tourism perspective, Italy offers an amalgamation of both the modern and traditional, given its rich historical and cultural heritage. Italy's ancient monuments and archeological sites and world famous works of art make it one of the most sought after tourist destinations. Similarly, Italians have also always appreciated Indian culture, traditions and aesthetics, with a deep passion for Indian textiles, art and architecture. These are perhaps among the many reasons why places like Rajasthan, Goa, Khajuraho, Kerala, Maharashtra are popular tourist destinations amongst Italian tourists.
Milan will be the twenty-fourth destination in the airline's international network. Jet Airways currently flies to New York (both JFK and Newark), Toronto, Brussels, London (Heathrow), Hong Kong, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Colombo, Bangkok, Kathmandu, Dhaka, Kuwait, Bahrain, Muscat, Doha, Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Jeddah, Sharjah, Riyadh and Johannesburg.
Jet Airways will offer attractive inaugural fares as part of this launch, for which guests may get in touch with their nearest travel agent or the airline call centre on 39893333 or log on to www.jetairways.com

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Airlines to trim losses by Rs 2,000 cr in 2010: Iata

New Delhi: Global airline industry body International Air Transport Association (Iata) on Thursday said Indian airlines would cut its losses by more than a quarter to about Rs 2,000 crore in 2010, as passenger traffic has rebounded on the back of strong economy.
"The domestic traffic (in India) has grown 20% in the last year. Another positive for carriers in 2010 is the price of fuel," Iata director-general Giovanni Bisignani said here at a CII conference.
Domestic carriers, including Jet Airways, Kingfisher Airlines and Air India are estimated to have together lost about Rs 8,000 crore in the financial year ending March 2010.
Iata, which represents nearly 80% airlines in the world, has already revised the profit forecast positively. It has predicted a profit of $8.9 billion this year for global airlines as against its June estimate of $2.5 billion.
Bisignani meanwhile lobbied for relaxation in foreign direct investment (FDI) rules so that foreign carriers could invest in cash-starved local carriers. "India allows 100% FDI in mass rapid transport systems, ports and harbours, hotels and tourism. But it restricts foreign ownership of airlines to 49%, the IATA director-general said.

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Dial-a-chopper service may become reality by 2020

New Delhi: A fleet of a few thousand helicopters will fly along dedicated air corridors in Indian cities by 2020 if the civil aviation ministry has its way, a fitting plan to announce the country's new-found status in the comity of nations.
The ministry is working on a policy to kick off helicopter services in a big way as major Indian cities face ground congestion, making movement difficult even in cases of health and security-related emergencies.
"The ministry is working towards having enough infrastructure for about 5,000 helicopters," said an official with the ministry.
"We have written to the urban development ministry proposing development of a helipad alongside every hospital and to the highways authority suggesting provision of a helipad every 100 km so as to provide quicker rescue to accident victims," he said, adding that responses are expected by the month-end.
The ministry is also in talks with the Airports Authority of India (AAI) to have a separate Heliport Authority, which will provide infrastructure to support growth of this segment.
It has also sought a separate air corridor for helicopter services, like the ones in developed nations. "This will help in unhindered movement of helicopters without disrupting aircraft movement," he said.

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Airline yields finally set to take off

Bangalore: Last fiscal, even when the demand was rising and airlines were registering high load factors, stiff competition in the sector had kept the average fares or airline yields — net revenue per passenger — low.

Dreamliner delay forces AI plan tweak

New Delhi: The Air India board is likely to hire four Airbus 330s for the South East Asian and West Asian routes till its Dreamliner jets arrive. The board will also decide on key appointments at its board meeting later this week.

Cathay Pacific to Exercise Purchase Rights for 6 Boeing 777-300ERs

HD video below] Cathay Pacific has signed an agreement with Boeing to exercise purchase rights for six more Boeing 777-300ERs with an estimated value of HK$12.5 billion at list price.

Jobs- Passenger Service Agent- Air France

The main responsibilities for Passenger Service Agents are to:

Quick Domestic Passenger Numbers

Air India 7.30 lakh domestic passengers,

Jet Airways and its LCCJet Lite flew 7.79 lakh and 2.99 lakh passengers respectively.

Jobs- Operations Agent- Air France

The main responsibilities of an Operations Agent are to:

- Coordinate the daily operations in the Central Loading Document environment to ensure safety, security, punctuality, and proper application of all existing procedures.
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- Issue the Weight & Balance Load Sheet as part of the Central Loading Document.

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- 401(k)
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Airport visa goof-up in holiday horror

Calcutta: A US-based Nepalese homemaker headed for a holiday in Thailand via Calcutta was cleared for boarding at the city airport despite not holding a Thai visa, leaving her to face 18 hours of detention in Bangkok before she was deported.
Tsomala Lama, 33, has accused Thai Airways and immigration officials at the city airport of misleading her into thinking that she was eligible for the tourist visa-on-arrival facility at Suvarnabhumi and other airports in Thailand.
"No official at the Thai Airways or immigration counter told me that a passenger passing through a third country doesn't qualify for a visa on arrival, irrespective of nationality," she told Metro on Monday, recounting the holiday that went horribly wrong.
On discovering that she was not carrying a visa, officials at Suvarnabhumi airport had threatened her with indefinite detention and a fine of $10,000.
A senior immigration official said California resident Tsomala, who holds a Nepalese passport and an American green card, wouldn't have got a tourist visa on arrival in Bangkok even if she had travelled directly from the US. "Thailand doesn't offer that facility to some countries, including Nepal. Since the lady holds a Nepalese passport, she would need to apply for and get a visa either in Nepal or the US, where she enjoys permanent residency," he added.
If Tsomala was ignorant about the Thai visa rule, what about the officials who allowed her to board the Bangkok flight on Saturday night? Vutichai Kampanartsanyakorn, the city-based general manager of Thai Airways, said: "This is surprising. I will look into the matter. Even if our staff gave her a boarding pass, she should have been stopped at immigration."

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Jet Airways bags 'Best Full Service Airline- International (Indian)' and 'Best Full Service Airline- Domestic' awards

 

Mumbai: Jet Airways, India's premier international airline, has been conferred with the prestigious 'Best Full Service Airline- International (Indian)' and 'Best Full Service Airline- Domestic' awards for 2009 by the Air Passengers Association of India (APAI).
Mr. Saroj Datta, Executive Director- Jet Airways, received the award on behalf of the airline, at a seminar on the Responsibility & Rights of Airline Passengers, jointly organised by CAI (Consumer Association of India) and APAI on September 18, 2010 at Chennai, attended by several luminaries from the trade and travel industry, and members of the media. The awards were given out by Sri K Shanmugam, IAS , Secretary, Finance & former Secretary, Dept. of Consumer Affairs and Food, Govt. of Tamil Nadu.
Receiving the awards, Mr. Datta said, "On behalf of Jet Airways, I would like to thank the APAI for this distinct recognition and honour. Importantly, these awards holds special significance as they are a recognition of our renowned service by none other than our guests. Jet Airways is committed to delivering truly world class service and has worked to continually enhance the excellent in-flight product and service on all our flights. These awards stand testimony to our commitment to continually focus on the needs of our guests, thus offering them a truly world-class travel experience."
The largest private airline operator in the country (with its all-economy subsidiary JetLite), Jet Airways currently flies to 23 international destinations across North America, Europe, Asia, Africa and the Gulf, including New York (both JFK and Newark), Toronto, Brussels, London (Heathrow), Johannesburg, Hong Kong, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Colombo, Bangkok, Kathmandu, Dhaka, Kuwait, Bahrain, Muscat, Doha, Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Jeddah, Sharjah, Dammam and Riyadh.
Jet Airways was previously honoured by the APAI as the 'Best Full Service Airline-India' in 2007, and as the 'Best Full Service Airline in India' in 2008.
The Air Passengers Association of India (APAI) is India's only national, non-profit organization totally dedicated to the welfare of the air passenger.

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M'lore air crash: Kerala CM resents delay in solatium payment

Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala Chief Minister VS Achuthanandan on Tuesday urged the Centre to take urgent steps to provide compensation at the international standard to the families of those killed in air crash at Mangalore airport on May 22, which included 54 Keralaites. In a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh,
Achuthanandan said as per the Montreal Convention,the families of the victims were entitiled to Rs 70 lakh each.
Though the Centre had initially promised that the bereaved families would be adequately compensated, what could be learned later was that Air India was trying to go back on this and work out the solatium by factoring in the income profile of each of the victims.

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14 yrs on, India yet to act on air safety proposals

Mumbai: Whether any lessons are learnt from the Mangalore air tragedy remains to be seen. But some vital air safety recommendations following the 1996 Charkhi Dadri mid-air collision, which killed 349 passengers, have not yet been implemented.
Justice R C Lahoti in his inquiry report on the Charkhi Dadri crash had recommended the formation of an independent air traffic control. Most countries such as Australia, the US, UK, France, Spain have autonomous ATC organisations. Fourteen years later though, the country still to act on Lahoti's air safety recommendation.
While the plans to corporatise air traffic control (ATC) got going last year — the corporatised entity is likey to be called Air Navigation Services Corporation (ANSC) — recent developments indicate that air traffic control may not be made into an independent body as recommended by Lahoti report.

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Jet Airways gets nod for flights to Milan

The ministry of civil aviation has approved a proposal by Jet Airways (India) Ltd to fly to Milan in Italy and has also given its permission for the carrier to increase its frequency of flights to short-haul international destinations such as Dubai, Bangkok and Colombo from various Indian cities, said two senior civil aviation ministry officials familiar with the development.
"We had approved the proposal of Jet Airways to fly to Milan in addition to Dubai, Bangkok and Colombo. The carrier may start its operations by next month or so," said one of the officials. Both ministry officials declined to be identified.
This approval last week will allow Jet Airways to access the largely untapped India-Italy market, which is currently served through indirect connections. Mounting losses had forced Italian government-owned Alitalia, run by Linee Aeree Italiane SpA, to withdraw from the Indian market in March 2008.
Besides Milan, Jet Airways will now also consider flying to other European destinations, said a senior Jet executive, marking the lifting of a freeze India's largest airline by passengers carried had imposed on long-haul route expansion following the financial crisis of 2008.
Jet Airways launched international flights in 2004 and expanded aggressively on long-haul routes, but imposed a moratorium of new long-haul international flights in November 2008 after a credit crunch and economic slowdown in the wake of the collapse of US investment bank Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. in September 2008.
As a part of resuming its long-distance route expansion, Jet Airways had applied for permission to fly to other international routes including Mexico and Paris.
 
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Jet plan to mop up funds slows over OCB stake

New Delhi: The cash crunch imposed by restrictive government policies is hurting the domestic airline sector, despite the Indian economy beginning to accelerate again in 2010-11. Among the country's three largest airlines, Jet Airways is best-placed to raise capital both from the international market and from within India, but has to contend with a foreign investment cap of 49% for the civil aviation sector.
A policy mismatch has ensured that Jet Airways, despite having the largest fleet strength among the three airlines, has an equity structure out of whack with sectoral rules. It was born from an 'overseas corporate body' (OCB) Tail Winds in the early nineties, but a mid-stream policy restriction in 2003 hit the company's plans. Foreign investment policy was changed in the wake of the stock scam, designating OCBs as foreign entities despite being majority held by non-resident Indians. Jet's equity structure, therefore, soared overnight making it a 'foreign-owned' airline.
Jet's board cleared a proposal to raise around $400 million. But any issue of depository receipts or foreign currency convertible bonds will breach the 49% cap. In fact, Jet is working out means to offload its foreign holding to domestic investors to comply with the norms.
The airline's low capital base could impact its plan to expand its routes fast. Last December, the civil aviation ministry had said the foreign holding in the company was in violation of prevailing foreign direct investment (FDI) guidelines for air transport sector and asked the company to comply with the law in three years.

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Airlines may get to borrow overseas

The government will selectively allow local airlines to borrow money from abroad to repay debt taken in India, civil aviation minister Praful Patel said.
The move is part of several measures the government is adopting to help debt-ridden carriers. Funds raised via external commercial borrowings, or ECBs, cannot be used to repay Indian rupee debt.
Jet Airways (India) Ltd, the country's largest airline by passengers carried, sought a relaxation from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) for raising around Rs.3,000 crore through ECBs to repay its high-cost domestic debt.
"Some of it will be allowed," Patel said on Monday on allowing Jet's request. He did not specify the quantum or time frame for such a move. "Ultimately, it's not a question of good or bad, right or wrong, if the sector is in (a) problem... It's been done for cement, steel and many other sectors in the past. Why not for aviation?"
He pointed out that RBI has already granted airlines partial relief on restructuring their loans. Some of their debt will be converted into term loans or have moratoriums of two-three years, reducing the pressure on cash flows, he said.

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Qantas passengers to sue Airbus over plunge terror

Sydney: Dozens of Qantas passengers and crew are launching a multi-million dollar case against Airbus and a component-maker over a terrifying mid-air plunge which left scores injured, a lawyer said on Monday.
Attorney Floyd Wisner said he was representing 76 passengers and crew who were on the 2008 flight which dived steeply twice, tossing people around the cabin and forcing an emergency landing at a remote Australian air force base.
Wisner refused to put a figure on the compensation sought in US courts from Europe's Airbus and American firm Northrop Grumman, which made a data unit on the plane, but said it would be in the millions of dollars.
Among the mostly Australian group he is representing, which also includes passengers from Britain, Sri Lanka, India and Singapore, are the three Qantas pilots who were on the flight, he said.

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The Airbus A330-300 was flying at 37,000 feet from Singapore to Perth in October 2008 when the autopilot disengaged and the plane nose-dived, plunging 650 feet (200 metres) and throwing passengers and loose items around the cabin.
After the pilots brought it back to altitude, the plane went into another plunge and dropped another 400 feet. More than 100 people were injured.
Many passengers travelling that day were so traumatised by the incident they are no longer able to fly, he added.
He said he believed the captain of the flight, a former "top gun pilot from the US Navy", had not flown since.
Wisner, whose practice is devoted to aviation cases, said he had been contacted by Australian lawyers to work on the compensation claims before the statute of limitations expires on October 7 this year.
He said if the claims were not settled, he expected the case to go to trial in the US within two years.
Qantas, which prides itself on its safety record, said the incident was an "exceptionally rare event", noting that the Australian Transport Safety Bureau was yet to release its final report into the cause of the plunges.

Breath tests must for crew of all Indian flights

 New Delhi: After recommending permanent suspension of pilots' licences for flying or even trying to fly an aircraft in an inebriated state, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation has upped the ante for keeping passengers safe from tipsy crew. DGCA chief Nasim Zaidi has proposed 100% pre-flight breath analyser tests for the entire crew — pilots and cabin crew — of all scheduled domestic and international flights operated by Indian carriers. At present, only random checks take place that are intensified during festive seasons and New Year's Eve. Scheduled airlines are expected to do 60% crew's pre-flight testing on a random basis.

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Now, flights to Aurangabad, Ahmedabad from Nagpur

Nagpur: Indigo Airlines has recently fulfilled a long-pending demand to start regular flights to Ahmedabad (the commercial capital of Gujrat) while JetLite also plans to extend its Nagpur- Mumbai flight to Aurangabad soon.
Sources at the airport said, "As the Indigo flight will be operated on the Delhi-Nagpur-Pune-Ahmedabad route, it means Nagpurians will get connectivity to Ahmedabad with a low-cost option."
In addition, Air India Express also plans to resume its international flight to Dubai from Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar International Airport, Nagpur, this giving another flight option on the Ahmedabad sector. This route will be serviced by a flight on the Mumbai-Nagpur-Ahmedabad-Dubai sector.
TOI had recently highlighted that anticipating increase in demand during the festive season ahead, most airlines operating from Nagpur, especially on domestic sectors, are keen to increase the number of flights and connectivity to many cities by October.

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MIAL wants 200 trees on flight path pruned

Mumbai: To remove obstructions for arriving flights, the Mumbai International Airport Ltd (MIAL) has sought permission of the BMC to prune about 200 trees.
"MIAL has sought permission to be allowed to prune 198 trees," said C B Rokade, Deputy Municipal Commissioner. "A few weeks back, we had given them permission to prune eight trees," said Rokade.
A recent survey by MIAL found over 200 trees over the prescribed height/obstruction limit. The last such survey was in 2003 by the Airports Authority of India (AAI), said a MIAL spokesperson.
At one end of the 27/09 runway is the Jari Mari slums while at the other end is the Milan Subway off the Western Express Highway. One end of the other runway 14 / 32, is towards Vile Parle-Juhu. The prescribed height of a tree is ideally 2 per cent of its distance from the beginning of the runway, said the spokesperson

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DGCA team to inspect Thiruvanathapuram new terminal

Thiruvanathapuram: A team of officials of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) would be inspecting the new terminal at the Thiruvanathapuram International Airport this week.
According to sources, the DGCA team would be inspecting the new terminal during September 22-24. The DGCA would be checking whether the new terminal meets the various technical standards, including security aspects. ''The inspection is quite crucial,'' said sources.
With a formal commissioning of the new terminal getting delayed indefinitely, the Airports Authority of India (AAI) is also looking into the option of operating the new terminal prior to a formal launch. Once the DGCA's clearance is received, the airport would become operational at any moment, depending on directions from the AAI, said sources.
Law Minister M Vijayakumar has convened a meeting of top officials of the AAI in Thiruvananthapuram and other State Government officials concerned on Wednesday to review the progress of the works, including that of the approach road.

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BEST to take back buses from airlines

Mumbai: The air-conditioned King Long buses, meant for the city, will no longer be used to ferry passengers at the airport. The Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) undertaking has decided to withdraw all 30 King Long buses rented to aviation companies for ferrying passengers between the terminal and the aircraft. The BEST had procured these buses under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Renewal Mission (JNNURM) scheme.
Hindustan Times had on August 28 reported that the Union urban development department was unhappy with the BEST's decision to rent 30 of the 270 King Long buses it had procured.
"The buses allotted to aviation companies will be withdrawn within a month," BEST committee member Ravi Raja said. "If that is not done, the BEST will not get the balance Rs 90 crore under the JNNURM for buying more buses." The BEST is in the process of procuring 1,000 single-decker buses, Midi-buses and air-conditioned King Long buses under the JNNURM.
Sources in the BEST said the King Long buses at the airport will be replaced by the BEST's red air-conditioned buses. The BEST procured the King Long buses for Rs 65 to Rs 70 lakh a bus under the JNNURM with funding from the state government and the Centre. It had planned to rent 63 King Long buses to Jet Airways and Air India through Cambata Aviation Private Limited for which it was to earn Rs 1.85 lakh on one bus every month.
The BEST decided to allot these buses to airlines to recover losses it incurred by running these buses.

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Indian entrepreneur taps regional demand for fresh food by air mail

An Indian entrepreneur has launched an air freight business to ship fresh Japanese vegetables and fish to mainland Asia.
The service is growing popular with Japanese agricultural cooperatives and catalog-based retailers who sell organic vegetables and are eager to cash in on growing demand for Japanese produce among the wealthy.
Pankaj Garg, 44, president of Innovation Thru Energy Co., a venture based in Tokyo's Marunouchi business district, launched the service in August in a tieup with Japan Airlines Corp.
The key to keeping the products fresh is a special refrigeration method powered by an "ice battery," which can keep produce at a constant temperature much longer than dry ice through the use of multiple refrigerant plates.
The battery works like a "cooling pillow" used to provide relief to people who have fevers. Prior to shipping, it is cooled in a freezer.
Garg majored in information technology at an Indian university before coming to Japan in 1988 to work for a major steel company.
It was in 2006 that he came upon the ice battery system developed by a Taiwanese research institute and decided to develop a system that would allow Japanese growers to export their products to first-class hotels and well-off Asian consumers.
Bankrupt JAL, which is aiming to develop a business for transporting high-class foodstuffs by air as part of its turnaround efforts, took note of Garg. In the summer of 2009, Japan Airlines International Co. came calling.
Ryuhei Nomoto, manager of the company's marketing division, was initially skeptical of the ice battery's reliability. But an experiment proved that the preset temperature inside the storage box containing the battery could be maintained even in flight.

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Lost baggage tops flier complaints

Mumbai: More than a fifth of air passenger complaints last month were of lost baggage, followed by airline staff being rude, according to nation-wide data released by the civil aviation ministry on Friday. This is the first time that the ministry has taken stock of passenger grievances. Of the 1,078 complaints recorded, 22 per cent were from passengers who had lost their baggage during transit. The next common complaint, accounting for 11 per cent of grievances, was of airline staff — both crew and ground — being uncooperative.
Almost 40 lakh people flew domestic airlines last month. Baggage loss is one of the greatest passenger inconveniences, with 25 million bags being lost across the globe during transit last year, according to the International Air Transport Association. Though the most common passenger problem, compensation for lost baggage is not part of the government's new policy on passenger rights.
The Air Passenger Association of India had pointed out these gaps when the policy was being drafted. "Baggage loss is the most common problem. How can the regulator ignore it," the president Sudhakar Reddy asked.

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AI plans fewer TUs for smooth talks

Mumbai: Struggling flag carrier Air India, whose restructuring efforts have been hampered due to frequent strikes by trade unions, is working towards framing a new policy in consultation with trade unions to create just a single union in each staff category.
National Aviation Company of India (Nacil) plans to roll out the policy within six months in order to facilitate smoother dialogues between the management and employees on important issues concerning the airline.
The carrier, which has 11 recognised trade unions representing pilots, engineers, officers and non-executive categories, wants to streamline and eliminate duplication of unions within the same category. The carrier has around 31,000 employees across various categories.
The presence of more than one union within a category, in the past, impacted discussions on critical issues. For instance, Indian Pilots Guild has 300 plus Air India pilots as its members, while Indian Commercial Pilots Association has more than 500 pilots from the erstwhile Indian Airlines. Pilots from both unions have different pay structures, making Nacil's work tough on the negotiations front when it comes to framing certain policies. Two unions—the Air Corporation Employees Union and the All India Aircraft Engineers Association, were derecognised in May after members went on a flash strike to protest a 'gag order' by the management.

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Smaller airports' city side to get private facelift

New Delhi: India's rapidly increasing air travellers will in a few years have better facilities and flying experience even at the smaller airports as the government has approved cityside development of non-metro airports through private participation, which will help raise funds for their modernisation.
The Airports Authority of India, or AAI, will lease out land around the airports for 30 years, extendable by another 30 years, for some upfront payment and yearly rentals.
"The ministry will issue formal orders to the authority next week and city-side development of 10 airports in Phase-I will be undertaken, to begin with," a ministry official told ET.
These airports include Ahmadabad, Jaipur, Lucknow, Amritsar, Indore, Vishakhapatnam, Guwahati and Bhubaneshwar.
The ministry has, however, clarified that maintenance of the terminal building will not be included in the scope of city-side development of the airports, clearly indicating that the intent is not to privatise these airports on the lines of those in Delhi and Mumbai.

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AI pilots say training facilities 'pathetic’

New Delhi: Pilots of Air India have raised serious doubts about the airline's flight safety. The 700-member strong ICPA (Indian Commercial Pilots Association) — the biggest AI pilot association — has written to the management complaining about the
"pathetic state" of training facilities at the airline's Central Training Establishment (CTE), Hyderabad.
Sent on September 13, the confidential ICPA mail points out that "more than half of the 522 fatalities in airline accidents in the US since 2000 have been linked to problems with simulators".
The association has said the Airbus A320 simulators at the training centre were more than two decades old.
While "in other airlines the simulators are maintained in a 'top-class' condition", says the pilots' mail, the ones in the CTE are "in a pathetic state".
Trainee pilots, the ICPA said, were unable to get a feel of more than half of the emergency situations that can arise while flying an aircraft "as the state of simulators does not permit their simulation".

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Pilots have a nip, then nap in airborne planes

Chennai: With a recent court of inquiry revealing that the pilot of the Air India aircraft that crashed at the Mangalore airport had dozed off for over 90 minutes, air passengers are raising concerns over the safety and security norms in the civil aviation sector. DGCA officials maintain that there is no proper system to monitor "controlled naps" inside the cockpit.
"Though some airliners have certain measures to monitor 'controlled naps' inside the cockpit, India's aviation industry is yet to frame rules and guidelines to address this issue," said a senior official of Airports Authority of India (AAI). "Though a maximum of 30 minutes' controlled nap is allowed, none of the airliners has ever taken action on its violation," Capt. M. Ranganathan, an aviation expert and veteran pilot, told this newspaper.
Another cause of concern is that about 200 pilots have failed breath analyser tests for alcohol before takeoff in the last two years. "Both airlines and the Aviation ministry are ignoring the safety concerns of air passengers...." said Mr D. Sudhakara Reddy, founder president of Air Passengers' Association of India (APAI).
While addressing a seminar on the rights and responsibilities of air passengers, Mr Reddy also alleged that authorities were ignoring the serious issue that over 40 airports in the country were running without proper safety norms.

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Kingfisher plans to add Mysore, Pant Nagar in its network

MUMBAI: Vijaya Mallya-owned private air-carrier, Kingfisher Airlines, plans to launch an air service for Mysore in Karnataka and Pant Nagar in Uttarakhand by October, a source said.

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Air traffic gets back to normal in Srinagar

Srinagar: Operations at Srinagar International Airport resumed on Friday after a fortnight-long closure for its runway resurfacing. "The air services resumed after the airport was handed over to civil aviation authorities following the completion of the resurfacing work," said Airport Authority of India director V K Gupta.
The flights operated from south Kashmir's Awantipora's air base for the first 12 days, but were suspended due to worsening situation in the Valley on September 13

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Air India gets fleet cover despite high claims

Mumbai: Air India has managed to get quotes for its fleet insurance at a marginal increase over the previous year despite claims of close to $100 million. ICICI Lombard General Insurance has emerged the lowest bidder in the tender for fleet insurance floated by the National carrier. The net cost of covering Air India's `45,000 crore fleet as per ICICI Lombard's bid is around $30 million against $25 million in the previous year. The increase is not very significant considering the large claims in the previous year.
The national air carrier faced claims of close to $100 million after a Boeing 737-800 crashed while landing in Mangalore on May 22, killing 158 people on board. A year earlier, the airline lodged a $16 million claim after a fire incident in a Mangalore-bound flight in Mumbai. State-owned insurer New India is understood to have bid close to ICICI Lombard but appears to have lost out by half a million dollars.
Three bidders had applied for the fleet cover of National Aviation Company of India — the largest airline in the country which owns the Air India, Indian and Alliance Air brands. Besides ICICI Lombard, there was a consortium of state-owned companies led by New India Assurance. The insurer with the expiring policy was a consortium led by Reliance General Insurance with Iffco Tokio, HDFC Ergo and Bajaj Allianz as part of the consortium. This time Reliance General has stayed out and the group of private companies is led by IFFCO Tokio General Insurance.

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Aerobridges at Lohegaon airport await DGCA nod

Pune: Two imported electro-mechanically driven passenger boarding bridges, commonly referred to as aerobridges, are operationally ready at the Lohegaon airport. However, they cannot go functional as the safety experts of the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) are yet to give their clearance.
"The safety team's confirmation for the date of inspection is awaited. The equipment has been installed and trials have been conducted too," Lohegaon airport's officiating director D Prasad told TOI on Friday.
It was almost 18 months ago when the then director of AAI Pune, G Chandramouli, had declared that the airport would have new aerobridges which would soon be functional. The AAI had since acquired the imported equipment from the Indonesian manufacturing and construction firm P T Bukaka that was also given the responsibility of installing the bridges.

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Defence objections delay heliport at Nariman Point

Mumbai: Stuck in the permission glitch of various ministries of the central government, the heliports planned by the state government at Nariman Point and Nerul may not be able to meet their deadlines.
The state government has sent a reminder letter to the Centre requesting it to speed up the procedure for granting permission.
The defence ministry has raised strong objections to the heliport at Nariman Point, which is proposed to be constructed on a jetty and on the lines of the one in Manhattan, New York.
After a high-power committee finalised its decision for the heliports at Nariman Point and Nerul in March, the letters from the state government were sent to the various departments of the central government. Though the state government could have procured the coastal regulation zone (CRZ) permission, there was no response from the ministry of environment and forest.
The state government has set a certain time-frame for the project as it does for all other infrastructure projects. It wanted to complete all administrative procedures for the project by December and throw the heliports operational in two years after that.

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Sacked airhostess wins 20-yr battle against AI

Mumbai: Mumbai: Patience pays off. The proverbial saying came true for airhostess Shashikala Jatav who has won a legal battle against her employer, Air India, twenty years after the airline gave her the pink slip. She was dismissed from the services when she was pregnant for the second time.
A division bench of Justice P B Majmudar and Justice Anoop Mohta on Thursday dismissed an appeal filed by Air India and directed the airline to reinstate Jatav. "The litigation between the two parties has been going on since the last two decades. Disciplinary proceedings were initiated against the respondent (Jatav) in 1990 by Air India on the grounds that she absented herself on the expiry of leave, which was granted to her. She was pregnant at that time and delivered a child later on. Her child is now an adult, but the legal matter is still on," observed the judges. The court also noted that Air India had tried to settle the case with Jatav, during the legal battle, but it failed.
Jatav was employed as a trainee airhostess on February 17, 1983. Initially, she applied for earned leave from June 1, 1988, to July 1, 1988, which was extended till October 1990. Jatav delivered two children during the said period and extended her leave to look after the infants as her husband was working in Muscat at that time.
Jatav was subjected to departmental enquiry for extending her leave time and again. She was dismissed from the service, by a model standing order ( Central) issued by a deputy director on December 11, 1992, on the grounds that she had remained absent without leave for over 10 days.
Jatav's advocate Mohan Bir Singh argued that though she was entitled to maternity leave up to two pregnancies under service rules, harsh action was taken against Jatav. "She could not present herself for the inquiry as she had two kids to take care of," argued Singh.

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SpiceJet in spot over safety norms breach

New Delhi: Days after media baron Kalanithi Maran's much-hyped takeover of SpiceJet, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) severely indicted the low-cost private airline for not conforming to safety standards.
A DGCA report has pointed out serious lapses highlighting the carrier's disregard for passenger safety. In violation of civil aviation norms, some senior commanders who were not qualified to operate flights during the monsoon were rostered for flying.
Capt Vijay Swaminathan operated flights between April 1 and April 4 despite his medical fitness certificate having expired on March 31.
The airline is still using the air operator permit (AOP) issued to Royal Airways, the old name of SpiceJet, in 2005 instead of getting a new permit.
The DGCA carried out a safety audit of the airline from June 28 to July 1. On August 11, the aviation regulator wrote to SpiceJet, asking it to take corrective action within four weeks.
Among the charges against the airline is violating flight duty timings (FDTL/FTL) beyond the extension limits (for pilots and cabin crew).
This was a serious issue and could affect flight safety since pilots are not rested, a senior commander said. Gupta said at times FDTL violations went beyond the company's control because of ATC delays etc, but "we will rectify it". The DGCA also directed the airline to get a fresh AOP. "The AOP was originally issued in favour of Royal Airways Ltd.

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Gaps in radar coverage create blind spots on air routes

Chennai: Near misses as in the case of the Visakhapatnam-Chennai Kingfisher flight and Chennai-Visakhapatnam Jet Airways flight that flew at the same altitude on a collision course have become alarmingly frequent as a result of blind spots in the sky due to inadequate radar coverage.
A blind spot is a stretch on a route where flights often vanish from the monitors of air traffic controllers. Such zones are seen as vulnerable to dangerous situations although all commercial airliners have traffic collision avoidance systems (TCAS) installed onboard to warn pilots of aircraft in the vicinity, say experts.
On Wednesday, the Kingfisher pilot was the first to spot the other aircraft coming towards him at the same level and called Chennai air traffic control which, by then, had also noticed that the two aircraft were at the same altitude. The ATC then instructed the Kingfisher aircraft to climb before the TCAS could sound an alarm.
In June this year, a mid-air collision was similarly averted only after the TCAS sounded a collision warning inside the cockpits of a Chennai- Madurai Air India aircraft and a Thiruvananthapuram-Chennai Jet Airways aircraft. The two were flying through another radar blind spot when the incident happened.
In the absence of radar coverage over such areas, where air traffic goes unmonitored for several kilometres, safety clearly hinges on the collision avoidance system.
The trouble spots in the south are over Madurai and Tiruchi on the Chennai-Thiruvananthapuram route, over Mangalore and Bellary on the Chennai- Mumbai route, over Bangalore and Hyderabad on the Chennai- Delhi route and over the sea 150 miles from Visakhapatnam on the Chennai-Kolkata and Chennai-Visakhapatnam route.
The Chennai-Delhi and Chennai-Mumbai routes are specially problematic because of the presence of Bangalore, Hyderabad and Mangalore airports which tend to increase traffic. Aircraft coming in to land or take off from these airports often intersect the routes. Efficient radar coverage is crucial in these areas, said an official.

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Airlines face short of 300 pilots now

NEW DELHI: Passengers have come out of hiding. Airports are humming again. Now, if only there were enough pilots around. The country's airlines have drawn up ambitious expansion plans against a brightening backdrop, but are confronted with a severe shortage of experienced pilots. Industry estimates peg the shortage at 300 at present, but the number will swell to nearly 700 once a government order that bars expat pilots takes effect from next July.

A beefed-up fleet size is certain to amplify the shortage. The number of aircraft operated by low-cost carriers such as IndiGo, SpiceJet and GoAir is estimated to more than double to 130 in five years. Full-service players such as Jet Airways, Air India and Kingfisher Airlines that together operate nearly 350 aircraft, too, are expanding. Jet, the country's biggest private airline, plans to increase capacity by 15% this year. Air India has ordered 28 Dreamliners due for next September.

For the aviation sector, 700 is a weighty number given that an airline requires 10 pilots per aircraft. "It is a serious problem. But no regulator will be inconsiderate enough to have the industry grounded because of a deadline," said Kapil Kaul, South Asia CEO of Centre for Asia-Pacific Aviation, a global aviation consultancy. Airlines are not taking chances though. "In order to ensure that airlines' expansion continues unhindered, we have asked the aviation regulator (DGCA) to extend the deadline for expat pilots," said Federation of Indian Airlines general secretary Anil Baijal.

Whether the government enforces its deadline remains to be seen, the way out for airlines is to increase hiring. Indeed, there is a huge pool of trainee pilots to fill vacancies. But hiring in the aviation sector is different from any other in that only those who have had at least four years of flying experience can become captains. In India, there has always been a dearth of pilots at this level. The influx of expats into the Indian aviation scene was spawned by this shortage. "Although training of junior pilots has begun, it will be difficult to cope without the expat pilots," said a senior executive of a full service carrier.

The problem has been accentuated by a dearth of commanders and veterans who can train the recruits. Hiring and training in this category took a backseat during the slowdown and that is hurting airlines now. "It takes four to five years of training for a junior pilot to be able to become a captain," said Bird Group executive director Ankur Bhatia.

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/news-by-industry/transportation/airlines-/-aviation/Airlines-face-short-of-300-pilots-now/articleshow/6575722.cms

Air India gets fleet cover despite high claims

MUMBAI: Air India has managed to get quotes for its fleet insurance at a marginal increase over the previous year despite claims of close to $100 million. ICICI Lombard General Insurance has emerged the lowest bidder in the tender for fleet insurance floated by the National carrier. The net cost of covering Air India's `45,000 crore fleet as per ICICI Lombard's bid is around $30 million against $25 million in the previous year. The increase is not very significant considering the large claims in the previous year.

The national air carrier faced claims of close to $100 million after a Boeing 737-80 crashed while landing in Mangalore on May 22, killing 158 people on board. A year earlier, the airline lodged a $16 million claim after a fire incident in a Mangalore-bound flight in Mumbai. State-owned insurer New India is understood to have bid close to ICICI Lombard but appears to have lost out by half a million dollars.

Three bidders had applied for the fleet cover of National Aviation Company of India — the largest airline in the country which owns the Air India, Indian and Alliance Air brands. Besides ICICI Lombard, there was a consortium of state-owned companies led by New India Assurance. The insurer with the expiring policy was a consortium led by Reliance General Insurance with Iffco Tokio, HDFC Ergo and Bajaj Allianz as part of the consortium. This time Reliance General has stayed out and the group of private companies is led by IFFCO Tokio General Insurance.

The brokers for ICICI Lombard were Independent Insurance Brokers — a domestic firm backed by Jardine Lloyd Thompson from UK. New India was supported by Aon Global India backed by Aon internationally. Ace Insurance Brokers and Marsh India which were the brokers for the expiring policy supported the bid put in by the private insurers led by Iffco Tokio.

Air India appears to have got a better deal in rates partly because the reinsurers who paid the claims under the expiring policies were not part of the standard aviation market which includes London-based reinsurers and Chartis — the new name for AIG's aviation underwriting unit. Sources said there is capacity in the market but placing the cover would be a bit tight considering the aggressive pricing.

Like most other Airlines, Air India, too, is going through financial difficulties. However, considering the state-ownership underwriters are not worried that the financial circumstances will compromise security features. The other positives are that the average age of the fleet is expected to decline. The airline has also demonstrated its willingness to put in place am investigation process and take corrective measures after every incident, sources said.

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/news-by-industry/transportation/airlines-/-aviation/Air-India-gets-fleet-cover-despite-high-claims/articleshow/6575742.cms

Ramco Makes Major Inroads In India

GMR Hyderabad International Airport Ltd. will very soon award its entire information technology contract to Ramco Systems, The DAILY has learned.
The project will be operational in April 2011. Ramco was not available for comment.
The contract will be one of the first work orders for Ramco's entire system in India. The project value is unknown.
Ramco's Aviation Group provides functionality for integrating a wide range of operations from maintenance planning and scheduling, line, hangar, shop and engine maintenance, reliability and engineering and technical records to human resource management, purchasing, inventory, warranty, maintenance financials, third-party maintenance and sales. The applications are tightly integrated and capable of operating stand-alone as required.
The suite of aviation and MRO software components is also adaptable for integration with existing applications.
In an unrelated development, Ramco announced it is aiming to have 20-25% growth in revenue for the current financial year owing to demand from verticals, including aviation, manufacturing and government.

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The Maharaja’s trousers don’t fit

Air India's attempt to the dress up the Maharaja's gloomy image with smarter uniforms has failed to take off. Flight pursers operating the loss-making airline's international flights continue to don old uniforms because their new trousers are ill-fitting. Sanctioned more than a year ago,
flight pursers are saying that a significant number of the new trousers need alterations. They were supposed to switch to the new uniform — a white shirt and a black trouser — in August 2009. The women crew has switched to their new uniforms — a blue saree and jacket — last year.
Air India spokesperson did not respond to an email asking him the reason behind the delay or if any action has been taken to rectify the error.
The airline has conducted several trial sessions for the male attendants. As per the requirement of the crew, the trousers were sent back to the tailor.
Airlines sources said the investment for a wardrobe change was part of the airline's strategy to recover losses of more than Rs. 5000 crore termed as the "turn around" by the Prime Minister's office.

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Vigilance officers beat me up, says A-I staffer

An Air India aircraft service engineer, who is being investigated for getting his attendance marked by a proxy, has filed a complaint saying he was assaulted during the inquiry, on Wednesday.
D K Mohan has been admitted to the Godrej hospital in Vikhroli, even as airline officials rubbished the allegation, saying he was trying to evade questioning.
There was high drama at Air India's Kalina office on Wednesday. At around 11 am, Mohan and his three other colleagues were present before the vigilance department.
An airline employee said, "Three men confessed to manipulating the attendance, but Mohan pleaded not guilty.
The department's deputy manager, Kishore Prabhu, insisted Mohan give it in writing that he had given his swipe card to a colleague. When he refused, Prabhu slapped and kicked him."
Mohan complained to the Aviation Industry Employees Guild, who took up the matter with Air India's Chief Vigilance Officer Urmila Subbarao.
Mohan's colleague said, "Subbarao said she cannot acknowledge the incident because there were no witnesses to the incident. Mohan was sent to the medical department."
Later in the day, Mohan was again called to the vigilance department, when he complained of dizziness, and was referred to the Godrej hospital. He was admitted to the Emergency Ward after doctors' initial reluctance.
General surgeon, Dr S V Pandit, said Mohan has no external injuries and is being administered pain killers.
A sub-inspector from Santacruz Airport Police Station recorded Mohan's statement.

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