3rd India Airport & Airline 2009 Expo

Delhi airport’s third runway with round-the-clock operation opens
30 October 2008

The recently inaugurated third runway at Indira Gandhi International Airport, Delhi is made available for round-the-clock operations. Delhi International Airport (P) Ltd inaugurated the runway for commercial operations on September 25th. The runway was completed more than six months ahead of its scheduled date of February 2009.

Bill for Airport Economic Regulatory Authority cleared
24 October 2008

The Airport Economic Regulatory Authority Bill was passed by the Parliament. The clearance has opened its way for the establishment of the authority that will have a chairperson and two full-time members. The authority now will have the power to protect the reasonable interest of the users and to regulate the tariff for aeronautical services at major airports.

Besides this, the authority will have the power to determine tariff and the amount of development fees and passenger service fee that these airports can charge.

Bangalore airport slows expansion process
20 October 2008

The expansion process of Bangalore’s new airport is going slow in the face of a traffic decline.

The airport was expected to have a dream take-off on the back of phenomenal traffic growth during 2005-07. But there has been a dramatic fall in monthly traffic for all airports in India since June 2008. BIAL is currently conducting a study on the current trend and based on the results that will be out in two-three months, the authority will take a decision on the next expansion plan.

Chennai airport expansion work commences
10 October 2008

The work on the construction of US$ 250 million Kamaraj Domestic Terminal Phase II at the Chennai Airport began with ‘bhoomi pooja’ in the presence of Airport Director, Mr. K. Nadarajan and other eminent personalities. The construction work includes multi-level car parking, a substation, surface car parking for international terminal, an elevated road in front of the terminal building and 17 aero bridges.

RGIA airport witnesses cargo growth
06 October 2008
Source: The Hindu Business Line

Rajiv Gandhi International Airport (RGIA) has registered international cargo handling of 18,000 tonnes during the period of April-September 2008 as against 11,000 tonnes in the corresponding period at the Begumpet airport. According to Chief Commercial Officer of RGIA, Mr. A Vishwanath, “We have registered a 50% growth during the period.”

Air India ties up with American Express
30 October 2008

Air India has formed a tie up with American Express (AmEx). As per the tie -up, an AmEx cardholder in the country would be entitled to some free tickets as well as a specific discount, if the cardholder travels by Air India. The tie-up is expected to promote and benefit both parties.

Jet Airways has entered into a codeshare arrangement with JetLite, its wholly-owned subsidiary as part of its constant efforts to provide passengers synergetic benefits when they choose to fly with the Jet group. Under the agreement, Jet is planning to place its marketing code (9w) on key domestic routes operated by JetLite enabling both airlines to offer passengers better connections and a wider network.

Jet Airways is planning to sign an agreement to form an alliance of wide-ranging proportions to offer rationalized and reduced costs, improved standard of service, and wide options of air travel to consumers. The economy slump in the world has badly impacted the world aviation industry. This tie-up will also enable a stabilization of the Indian aviation industry in the larger public interest for the benefit of the customer during the current downturn.

Private jet charter service provider, Airnetz Aviation, has introduced its first Global Distribution System (GDS) in Indian and Asian private jet industry to meet the growing demand for private charter flights. The GDS allows flyer-search, select and lease a private jet and aircraft online through a single-window worldwide-computerized reservation network. Airnetz states that the Company has over 100 corporate clients globally with over 180 aircrafts in its India network and over 4,000 aircrafts in its global fleet network.

Hawker Beechcraft diversifying into Indian market to fight with economic slump
26 October 2008

US based leading global corporate jets’ producer, Hawker Beechcraft is fighting the global economic downturn by diversifying into India, Brazil and Russia. According to Company Vice President of International sales Sean McGeough, “During the last downturn in the 1980s we had all our eggs in one basket, the US, but this time India, Brazil, Russia and a few other countries are helping us to fight the downturn much better. Outside the US, India is the company's second largest market after Brazil, McGeough said. "We are selling about 10-12 aircrafts a year in India while we sell about 30 in Brazil."

The company recently inked a 10-aircraft deal with ISIS Group, an Indian property developer and investment company. The Company has also tied up with Delhi-based InterGlobe General Aviation, the promoters of private Indian low cost carrier IndiGo Airlines.

Indo-US bilateral trade likely to exceed US$ 50 billion mark in 2008
16 October 2008

According to the United States Commercial Service, the total indo-US bilateral trade is likely to exceed US$ 50 billion by the end of 2008 against US$ 41.6 billion last year. After signing the nuclear deal between the two countries recently, the trade volumes are expected to increase further not only with India but other countries too.

According to Mr. Steven White, Charge D' Affairs, the US Embassy, aviation exports accounted for about US$ 6 billion (34.4%) of the total US$ 17.6 billion US exports to India in 2007. The growth has been quite rapid with $6 billion in 2007 from $2 billion in 2006, and there is huge potential for further increase.

US companies eyeing opportunities in aviation infrastructure in India
15 October 2008

After selling aircrafts and components, the development of infrastructure in India's aviation sector is now becoming the focus of the American aerospace industry. India is updating its Air Traffic Control system and the US is willing to support its effort with next-generation satellite-based systems. If this collaboration goes well, India’s ‘GAGAN’ project that foresees building a constellation of small, low orbiting satellites will receive huge benefits.

Aircraft maintenance shows business potential of US$1 billion in India
22 October 2008

Even though the Indian aviation industry is unstable at the moment, experts see a growing potential for the MRO segment. Currently, the MRO market is valued at US$ 405 Million and expected to reach US$ 1.07 billion by 2013. Boeing, which has already tied up with Air India to set up MROs in India, has announced JVs in the MRO business, while others are waiting for approval from the government to address tax issues for entering the Indian market.

GoAir is in the process of signing a US$ 40-million contract with Air France for maintenance of its aircrafts. The airline has already signed a Letter of Intent (LOI) with Air France. The formal agreement will be sealed soon. The contract will be for the maintenance of 20 aircrafts for a period of six years.

National Aviation Company of India Limited (NACIL) has inked a 50:50 JV with European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company (EADS) to set up a MRO centre in Hyderabad. It will start its operations from early 2009 at Indira Gandhi International Airport, Delhi after getting an approval from the government. Under this agreement, the JV will initially undertake airframe maintenance and repair of NACIL's Airbus aircraft.

According to EADS officials, the MRO facility will also cater to markets in the South Asia Region and neighboring countries. It is estimated that by 2013, over 100 single-aisle aircrafts and around 10 wide body aircrafts will be maintained and the centre will employ 250 to 300 Indian technical personnel.

Upbeat over growing demand for regional jets, Canada-based Bombardier is considering options to set up maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) facilities in India. Air India is currently operating three CRJ700s and Jet flies seven CRJ 200s, manufactured by BACA. Bombardier is now aggressively planning to showcase its CRJ 900 regional jets in the Indian market.

The Company is promoting "one of the most advanced turbo-prop aircrafts" Q-400 Next Gen along with its CRJ Next Gen series. India and China are experiencing the highest forecast growth rates for regional and single-aisle commercial aircrafts. The company is forecasting a demand of 1,548 aircrafts of 20-149 seat capacity between the 2008 to 2027 period in the entire Asia- Pacific region.

Emirates about to enhance its cargo operations from India
26 October 2008

Dubai-based international airline Emirates is planning to increase its cargo capacity to 2,647 tonnes from India by February 2009 following the airline's increased number of flights. This increase in the cargo capacity of the airline is expected to provide a significant thrust to goods movement from Bangalore which exports engineering goods, chemicals and pharmaceuticals, electronic hardware and readymade garments.

Cargo capacity of Emirates from Mumbai is expected to increase to 671 tonnes from its current capacity of 572 tonnes while cargo capacity from Delhi is likely to increase from 306 tonnes to 389 tonnes every week.

Air India CMD censured by government for leave-without-pay plan
22 October 2008
Source: Times of India

State-owned carrier Air India Head Mr. Raghu Menon was censured by the government for his proposal to offer leave without pay to 15,000 employees. Oil Minister Mr. Murli Deora took exception to Mr. Menon's proposals during a meeting of the Federation of Indian Airlines and Civil Aviation Minister Mr. Praful Patel to resolve the crisis arising out of mounting fuel bill arrears.

During the week 13 October – 18 October 2008, Mr. Menon had announced that Air India was planning to offer three to five years leave without pay to 15,000 of its employees in an attempt to cut costs. The employees would have the option to return to service at the last drawn pay and seniority, if they so wished after the end of the period.

The Civil Aviation Ministry is yet to receive a communication from the private airlines namely Jet and Kingfisher to formalize their deal. Both the airlines forged the alliance to get the monopoly and safeguard the interests of the industry. This arrangement will also help to reduce costs and improve services.