Airport & Airline 2007 Expo

Jet Airways, Air Sahara Deal:
Jet Airways' deal to buy Air Sahara has fallen through. The US $500 million deal would have been the biggest in India's aviation, creating the country's largest airline. The deal was proving to be an expensive proposition for Jet Airways. Jet Airways controls about 35 percent of the Indian domestic airline market. Air Sahara controls about nine percent of the Indian market. (23 June 2006)

Industry Growth:
India recorded a 25 percent growth in air passenger traffic in the past year alone on the back of a booming economy and lower fares. The Indian airlines emerged as big buyers at last year's Paris Air Show, placing orders worth roughly US $12 billion. State-owned Indian and Air India will together be buying 111 new airplanes, including 50 wide-bodied long-range planes, and 43 Airbus aircraft to replace an existing fleet. (23 June 2006)

Boeing:
Boeing is evaluating the prospects for Connexion, its in-flight Internet venture. According to industry sources, Boeing may dump Connexion, which has failed to turn a profit in six years. If a suitable deal could not be reached, Boeing would be prepared to shut Connexion down, even though the service works as advertised and is used by a handful of international airlines on long-haul flights. (23 June 2006)

Kingfisher Airlines:
Kingfisher Airlines has entered the fray to acquire Air Sahara, whose deal with rival Jet Airways has run into rough weather. As per India's regulations, only Air Sahara and Jet Airways, among the private carriers, have the permission to operate international routes.
(23 June 2006)

Delta Airlines:
Delta Airlines is planning to launch nonstop flights between NewYork’s John F. Kennedy International Airport and Mumbai, India, and Accra, Ghana, effective 1 November 2006 and 11 December 2006, respectively. The new nonstop service from JFK to Mumbai and Accra will be operated with widebody aircraft featuring Delta’s refurbished business and economy class products. The 268-seat Boeing 777-200ER aircraft will be used to Mumbai while the 214-seat Boeing 767-300ER aircraft will fly to Accra. Delta will now discontinue its one-stop service to India via Paris-Charles de Gaulle. Delta will continue to serve Chennai with codeshare service via Paris on SkyTeam partner Air France, once codeshare approval is obtained.
(21 June 2006)

Etihad Airways:
Etihad Airways has announced the launch of flights connecting India with Kuwait and Khartoum with a stopover at Abu Dhabi. The new flights will start 1 July and 5 July 2006, respectively. With the launch of these new services, Etihad will add 14 new destinations to its network in just five months. It now offers passenger and cargo flights to 34 destinations across the Middle East, Asia, Europe, Africa and North America from India. (21 June 2006)

Indian Air Force:
According to recent survey by BBC, nearly 20 percent of Indian Air Force (IAF) pilots are doing desk jobs because of a shortage of planes. The IAF has about 790 aircraft in total, including 340 fighter planes. Only half the fleet is available at any given time while the rest are being serviced, the survey said. By 2010, the air forces' transport fleet will be reduced by nearly 40 percent. (21 June 2006)

Chennai Airport:
The modernisation and expansion of Chennai airport is preliminarily estimated to cost between Rs. 2,500 and Rs. 3,000 crore. Modernisation of Mumbai, Delhi, Hyderabad and Bangalore has already begun, and that of Chennai airport would commence by the end of this year. Nearly 35 non-metro airports across the country, including Tiruchirapalli, Coimbatore and Madurai, have been identified for upgradation to world class standards. All 35 airports would be rolled out for construction at one go in 2007-2008 and a total internal accrual of Rs. 8,000 crore will be required. (20 June 2006)

Air France:
Air France continues to develop its network to India. Starting 30 October 2006, Air France will operate three weekly flights to and from Chennai using its own aircraft. The flight will be operated using an Airbus A340 seating 291: 30 in l'Espace Affaires and 261 in Tempo. Air France will also increase capacity on other flights between Europe and India, with seven weekly flights from Paris to Bangalore instead of five. The Paris-Mumbai (Bombay) route will be operated using Boeing 777-300s with 310 seats instead of the Boeing 777-200s with 270 seats operated last winter. In all, Air France's capacity to India will be increased by 27 percent. (20 June 2006)

Jet, Sahara:
Jet Airways has demanded a renegotiating in the price of the deal with Sahara Airlines. Jet now also wants a 10-20 percent cut in the value of the deal. Offering to extend the deadline for the merger by another 15 days, Sahara has denied the possibility of a renegotiation.
(20 June 2006)

Jazeera Airways:
Jazeera Airways, Kuwait's new national airline, will start direct flights to New Delhi and Mumbai from 1 July 2006. The expansion plan for the Indian subcontinent follows addition of brand new aircraft to its Airbus A320 fleet scheduled for later this month and early July. With flights to the Indian subcontinent, the airline will grow from an airline of five destinations to 10 destinations. (19 June 2006)

Air Arabia:
Air Arabia, the low-cost airline in the Middle East and North Africa, will increase its frequency between Sharjah and Mumbai by an additional six flights per week. The move is in response to increasing customer demand for summer travel to the Indian city. The additional flights will be in operation until 16 July 2006. The total number of flights to Mumbai will go up to 13 flights a week as result of the decision. The new flight has been included with no change in the existing schedule of the airline. (19 June 2006)

United Airlines:
United Airlines has deemed India as its biggest offline market and plans to ramp up its sales and marketing activity in the country even though the airline is not likely to fly into India in the near future. The airline is keen to push its economy plus product in India as well as low-fare carrier Ted. It is also looking at driving growth of Indian traffic through international gateways, apart from Western Europe like Singapore and Japan. (19 June 2006)

Air India:
Air India is examining leasing about six wide-bodied aircraft to add capacity and replace some planes whose leases expire in the next few months. The national carrier was looking at dry-lease as well as the wet-lease route, in case aircraft were not available through the former. (19 June 2006)

India-Iceland Air Service Accord:
The Union Cabinet has approved an agreement to launch air services between India and Iceland. The agreement would pave the way for establishment of air links between the two countries, which would have the right to designate as many airlines as they wish to operate these services. The Cabinet also approved renewal of the agreement with Shastri Indo-Canadian Institute for another five years providing for a total financial assistance of Rs 13.45 crore for maintenance of its Delhi office and promoting Indian studies in Canada.
(16 June 2006)

Kingfisher Airlines:
Kingfisher Airlines has said that production delays on the Airbus A380 super jumbo will not affect its future business. Airbus has announced that production problems would delay deliveries of the Airbus A380 by six to seven months. Kingfisher has ordered 15 aircraft from Airbus, including five of the new super-jumbo A380s, a deal the manufacturer valued at US $3 billion. The order also includes five of the planned A350 and five long-haul A330s.
(16 June 2006)

US-India Airline:
Rahul Puranik, an America-based entrepreneur and backed by equity investors from America and UK, has sought the Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) nod to set up this new airline venture, christened Sapphire Airways. It will be a venture with US $100 million start-up equity capital. The airline intends to use the Indo-US Open Sky arrangement to start direct flights between India and America within the next 15 to 18 months. This will make Sapphire the third American carrier after Continental Airlines and American Airlines to start direct flights to India. The airline, which has appointed Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation to conduct its project feasibility, has shortlisted Boeing 777 and Airbus A340 as the preferred aircraft for its start-up fleet.
(16 June 2006)