Airport & Airline 2007 Expo

Finnair:
Finnair will start a scheduled air service between Helsinki and New Delhi from 31 October 2006 to tap the growing business and tourism ties between India and the Scandinavian countries. The Finnair service is claimed to be the fastest between Delhi and northern Europe. Finnair will deploy a McDonnell Douglas MD-11 aircraft for the service that will have a frequency of thrice a week. The airline is planning to use Airbus A-340 or A-350 aircraft and make it a daily service from next year onward. (31 May 2006)

China Eastern Airlines:
China Eastern Airlines will deploy Indian nationals as airhostess for the first time. Indian airhostesses will be hired on its Beijing-Shanghai-New Delhi flight from 3 June 2006. The airline recently announced that 16 Indian girls had completed professional training as air stewardesses and would work on the Beijing-Shanghai-New Delhi route. They are the first group of Indian stewardesses ever hired by a Chinese air company. To recruit foreign stewardesses is one of the measures China Eastern Airlines has taken to further localise its air services. Currently, the company has recruited 100 in-flight attendants from foreign countries including Japan, South Korea and India. It is planning to recruit more attendants from Russia and the Philippines. (31 May 2006)

Bell Helicopter:
Bell Helicopter, the US aviation major, is in the race to sell 197 helicopters to the Indian Army in a deal estimated to be worth nearly US $400 million. The company, which chalked up sales of US $20 million in India last year, expects demand for its helicopters will be largely from sectors like emergency medical services, corporate transportation and services for offshore oil fields. The company expects the Indian market for helicopters to grow to 4.3 billion dollars over the next 20 years, with 40 percent of the demand from the civilian sector. The company is also looking at India as a regional hub for training and product support. Bell currently has over 50 percent share of the Indian market for rotary aircraft, having sold 70 of the 120 helicopters flying in the country. Its major customers in India include Pawan Hans and Deccan Aviation. (31 May 2006)

Non-Metro Airports' Revenue:
Rapid growth in low-cost airline business increased the revenue of non-metro airports like Hyderabad, Coimbatore, Ahmedabad, Cochin and Pune by more than 50 percent in 2005-06. Domestic aircraft movement in Hyderabad has grown 64.9 percent in 2005-06, followed by Coimbatore, Ahmedabad and Pune. Aircraft movement in Delhi grew 31.4 percent. Hyderabad alone handled 40,875 domestic aircraft in 2005-06. Other airports registering high growth in revenue are Jaipur, Udaipur, Srinagar, Amritsar, Ambala, etc. (30 May 2006)

Mergers:
Of late there have been changes in the strategy of private airline operators by way of consolidation of their operations, which can lead to monopolistic situations in the civil aviation sector. A parliamentary committee has expressed a need to check the upcoming acquisition trend. While formulating the new civil aviation policy, all consequences of mergers of airlines, including the matter of reallocation of infrastructural facilities at airports, would be addressed properly. (30 May 2006)

Investment in Airports:
The Airports Authority of India (AAI) will invest Rs. 15 billion to modernise at least 10 non-metro airports in the country by 2008. AAI is awaiting approval from the ministry of civil aviation on the list of airports to be covered in the first phase of the non-metro airport modernisation program. It has already identified 12 cities, which include Jaipur, Udaipur, Srinagar, Amritsar, Ambala, Thiruvananthapuram, Vishakapatnam, Mangalore, Nagpur, Goa, Varanasi and Trichy. Of these 12, 10 will be modernised using the public-private partnership (PPP) model. AAI will take care of modernisation of terminals, parking bays, taxiways and runways. Kolkata and Chennai airports will soon get fully-operational second runways, hence upgrading the airports to handle more flights as well as reduce the chances of flight disruption. AAI will train the air traffic controllers and airport staff to efficiently handle the upgraded infrastructure. (30 May 2006)

Airport Revamping:
The Airport Authority of India (AAI) has given the green signal for revamping the Mohanbari airport at Dibrugarh. A Rs. 51 crore plan has already been prepared and the revamping has been handed over to Calcutta’s Tantia Company. The Mohanbari airport has become one of the busiest airports of Upper Assam owing to its proximity with leading companies like the OIL, ONGC, Coal India, and the tea gardens. The infrastructure upgrade is likely to be completed by end of next year, after which the airport will be one of the best in the region. According to the modernisation plan, the length of the runway will be increased from 6,000 ft to 7,500 ft, which is the required length for an Airbus to land. The night landing facility will help four flights operate at the same time. For upgrading security measures, closed-circuit cameras and a fire alarm system will also be installed. (29 May 2006)

Cathay Pacific Airways:
Outside its home market China, India is Cathay Pacific Airways' top priority. The airline intends to focus its efforts on expanding presence in India. The Hong Kong-based airline is more than doubling its cargo capacity out of India with direct flights to Mumbai and Chennai. Cathay Pacific is bullish about the Indian cargo market and intends to continue growing rapidly. The airline plans additional frequencies to the Delhi service and also route all returning Europe to Hong Kong freighters via India. (29 May 2006)

Kingfisher Airlines:
Kingfisher Airlines is in talks with state-owned aircraft maker Hindustan Aeronautics and European manufacturer Eurocopter to buy helicopters for launching a city-to-airport charter service across India. The airline is evaluating HAL's advanced light helicopter 'Dhruv' and Eurocopter. The airline plans to connect city-centers with airports, thereby reducing travel time. The service would be available only for airline passengers. The airline recently launched daily service to Srinagar from Mumbai and Delhi. With the launch of these new routes, Kingfisher will offer more than 70 daily flights, connecting 16 cities in the country. The airline is scouting for acquisitions in the US, and is in talks with four leading US-based airlines. The airline recently floated a US subsidiary, Kingfisher International Airlines Inc, in a bid to launch non-stop flights from New York to various Indian cities. It also signed a deal with Airbus to acquire five A 340-500 aircraft worth $1 billion for flights to the US. Kingfisher also signed a participating carrier agreement with Worldspan, LP to allow the airline to communicate with travel retailers and provide more extensive data electronically during the sales process.
(29 May 2006)

2006 Asia Pacific Aviation Summit:
Brisbane will be hosting the 2006 Asia Pacific Aviation Summit, the region's premier aviation forum, to be held at the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Center from July 26-28. The conference is an acknowledgement of the state's emergence as a key center for defence aerospace support, R&D and aviation training and maintenance for the Asia Pacific. The conference will also be an opportunity to gain insights into the growth and the opportunities in the Indian and Chinese markets. (27 May 2006)

Aviation Experts in India:
The United States has decided to appoint a treasury attache and an attache for intellectual property rights in India. The US will also appoint a special official to deal with the aviation sector. According to Michael Owen, US Consul General in India, the Bush administration's decision to appoint these diplomats is in response to the increasing volume of financial transactions by US institutional investors, and in view of the R&D opportunities likely to be explored jointly by American pharmaceutical companies and their Indian partners. The US will open a full-fledged patents and trademarks office next year. (27 May 2006)

Online Travel Mall:
Indiatimes.com, India's premier portal, has launched a new version of its travel site. The new site is the result of extensive consumer and industry studies and boasts of new functionalities and an unbeatable width of travel product offerings be it airlines, hotel rooms or holiday packages, in addition to air ticket auctions. Indiatimes Travel now offers the widest range of domestic airlines, comparable through a single window as well as available on dynamic auction and fixed price fares. (27 May 2006)

Jet Airways:
Jet Airways expects to have its total business coming from the e-ticketing facility by 2007. Presently, 20 percent of its business comes through e-ticketing, which is expected to touch 50 percent mark in the next three months. The airline expects the entire business to be based on e-ticketing by 2007. The airline is expecting around 2,000 agents to deliver their services using the e-ticketing facility. It will be installing five "Kiosk Check-ins" at Mumbai, Delhi and Banglore airports, which will provide its e-ticket customers automated services like of name and PNR verification and seat selection and a printout of boarding pass. Jet Airways has made an order to install Boeing’s Class 3 Electronic Flight Bag on 10 new 777-300ERs. Delivery of the planes is set to begin in early 2007. Jet Airways will be the first airline in India to operate a Class 3 EFB. (26 May 2006)

BannceAir:
BannceAir, a new scheduled point-to-point airline connecting Heathrow to India will take to the skies and join the competition for passengers by the end of June 2006. The airline had obtained a scheduled airline license from the British Aviation Authority four months ago to run the service, with permission to fly into third countries still pending. It has also been granted permission by the Indian ministry of civil aviation to fly to two destinations in India, with a third destination still pending. The carrier also plans to have three daily flights to three non-metro destinations in India. (26 May 2006)

Singapore Airlines:
Singapore Airlines has introduced a new plan of fares for key destinations in South Asia from Kolkata. The newly-introduced plan allows the passenger to travel to several destinations in South East Asia at Rs. 14,000. Priced as the lowest return fare in the Economy class, this plan also takes the passengers to a joyride to Kuala Lumpur, Peneng, Langkawi without additional tariffs being charged. (26 May 2006)

KLM Airlines:
KLM-Northwest announced the launch of self-service check-in facility for its passengers flying out of Mumbai airport. The airlines said it had installed three self-service check-in machines in co-operation with the Airports Authority of India (AAI) at the Mumbai International Airport. KLM-Northwest currently offers 18 weekly flights from India, including a daily flight to Amsterdam from Delhi and Mumbai and four weekly flights from Hyderabad to Amsterdam. (25 May 2006)

Continental Airlines:
Owing to a remarkable response to its recently-launched non-stop Delhi-New York flight, Continental Airlines has introduced online check-in to enable passengers skip the hassle of queues at the airport. The online check-in system would enable a passenger to acquire a boarding pass at the click of a button from the American carrier's website by entering confirmation number. The airline has also introduced escorted transfer from Delhi's domestic to the international airport. (25 May 2006)

Indian:
Indian will introduce more direct flights to Gulf countries from South India from 1 June 2006.Indian would be operating daily direct flights in the Chennai-Dubai and Kozhikode-Dubai sectors, while providing a new link between Thiruvanthapuram and Kuwait every Wednesday. Indian has also increased its frequency from the present four flights a week to six flights between Thiruvananthapuram and Sharjah. The airline is likely to utilise the 50-seater ATR aircraft to operate flights to more international destinations, and may also explore the option of operating on some key domestic routes. (25 May 2006)

Scarcity of Pilots:
As the country witnesses an unprecedented boom in civil aviation sector, scarcity of pilots has become a big challenge not just for fledgling airlines but for established players as well. At present, India is facing a shortage of 3,500 pilots with the domestic airlines set to add 300-plus aircraft in next three to five years. Air Deccan currently has over 350 pilots and would need over 2,000 pilots following its fleet enhancement program. Air-India is planning to recruit engineering and science graduates from college campuses to train them as pilots. Jet Airways would require 1,000 pilots in next two years, and is looking at expatriates to bridge the gap. Indian has also started a vigorous recruitment drive, while airlines like Paramount Airways, SpiceJet, GoAir and other start-up airlines are scouting for foreign pilots. (24 May 2006)

SriLankan Airlines:
SriLankan Airlines will expand services into India, flying to Goa from October this year, with plans to up frequencies to existing destinations. The twice weekly flights to the Indian coastal resort town of Goa will also be the national carrier’s fiftieth global destination and the tenth to India. The flights to Goa will also act as a link for travelers between Goa and destinations in the Europe and the Middle East. There is also a large volume of traffic between India and Sri Lanka, which is expected to increase. India is Sri Lanka’s top tourist generating market, ahead of the UK, with large numbers of Indian shoppers descending on the island. (24 May 2006)

Goa Airport:
According to the state government of Goa, the central government will pump in Rs. 5 billion to give a facelift to Dabolim airport at Goa. The Airport Authority of India (AAI), in collaboration with the Indian Navy, had planned to build a new terminal with four aero-bridges to facilitate landing of wide-bodied aircrafts as part of strengthening the Dabolim airport. The AAI would soon acquire nine acres of land from the Navy and start extending the airport besides pressing into service the instrument landing facility to operate in nights. The Navy, which has been controlling the Goa airport, has agreed to allow direct landing of all scheduled flights in Goa instead of Mumbai even as Air India is considering starting a direct flight between Dubai and Goa. Several foreign private airlines including Virgin Atlantic from Europe, Lufthansa from Frankfurt, Midland from Manchester and Air Arabia from Sharjah are ready to run flights directly to Goa. All these steps are being taken to strengthen the existing airport in Goa to meet the projected future traffic, which is expected to touch 4,308 international flights and 17,480 domestic flights by 2013-14. (24 May 2006)

Jagson Airlines:
Jagson Airlines, the latest kid on the budget airline block, has announced plans to buy 20 Airbus A321 jets for us $1.3 billion. Under the deal, it has placed orders for 14 aircraft and retained an option to buy six more at a later date. But it plans to launch its scheduled services with a fleet of leased planes. The airline recently bought its first two helicopters for more than US $10 million, which would be used for expanding operations in the northern and north-eastern regions. The 26-seater helicopters, from Kazan Helicopters, would fly in the states of Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh where the company currently operates two Dornier aircrafts. Helicopters would also help Jagson expand services to the mountainous north-eastern states. (23 May 2006)

SATS, Air India:
Singapore Airport Terminal Services (SATS) and Air India (AI) have entered into a joint venture for cargo handling at the new Bangalore International Airport. The AI-SATS consortium is one of two consortiums awarded a 20-year Service Provider Right Holder contract to provide cargo handling services at the new airport at Devanahalli, which is expected to open in April 2008. The other consortium is the Boppa-Menzies partnership. Cargo at Bangalore is expected to triple in the next 10-15 years from the current annual throughput of 120,000 tonnes. (23 May 2006)

Club One Air:
Club One Air, India`s first fractional ownership aircraft, plans to foray in Gujarat. The company is in talks with companies in Ahmedabad and is scouting for clients in Baroda and Surat. Club One Air, which completed one year last month, provides customised business travel solutions to top corporate and global business leaders. The airline is now planning to expand in Bangalore and Kolkota among the metros and even to some smaller cities this year. The airline will invest Rs. 10 billion to buy 40 aircraft by the end of 2007. New aircrafts will be a mix of small and medium jets, helicopters, turbo propelled aircraft and large jets. Club One Air plans to increase its fleet size to 100 in two to three years. (23 May 2006)

Aircraft Delivery:
A parliamentary committee on transport, tourism and culture , in its 106th report, has asked the government to take all steps to ensure time schedules fixed for delivery of aircraft to Air-India and Indian airlines by foreign manufacturers, including invoking the penalty clauses if the need arose. The committee has also asked civil aviation ministry to invoke penalty clauses in the terms and conditions of the purchases in the event of failure. The committee, headed by CPI (M) M.P. Sitaram Yechury, also asked the government to ensure that the commitments made by aircraft manufacturers, Boeing and Airbus Industrie, to set up training centers, investing in areas like pilot training as well as on facilities for aircraft maintenance and repairs were implemented. (22 May 2006)

Deccan Aviation:
The total number of applications received by Deccan Aviation for its initial public offering was between 11 percent and 12 percent of the total subscription on offer. The airline expects large QIBs (qualified institutional bidders) to subscribe. As per SEBI guidelines, in the book building process, 50 percent has to be reserved for the QIBs while the rest, which constitutes high net worth individuals and the retailers can be underwritten. In the case of Deccan Aviation, the rest of the subscription has been underwritten by Enam and ICICI Securities. Deccan Aviation's offer for 2,45,46,000 equity shares with a price band of Rs. 150 and Rs. 175 per share with a face value of Rs. 10 will close on 23 May 2006. (22 May 2006)

Air Fare War:
The imminent entry of three Delhi-based airlines -- Indigo Airlines, Jagson Airlines and Indus Air -- is set to trigger another fare war in the domestic aviation sector. While Indus Air will take off next month, Indigo and Jagson are beginning operations in July. Since the value proposition will be more or less in line with that offered by existing players, the fight for marketshare is likely to be fought on fares. Fares will come down by about 10 to 15 percent with the launch of these three new carriers," according to industry players. Indigo is planning to offer fares in line with other low-cost carriers, while Jagson is planning economical fares in two classes. Indus Air is targetting North India routes, and will start operations with two CRJ-200 aircraft with a seat configuration of 50 each. Jagson will start with two Airbus 320 aircraft and Indigo will start with one Airbus 320 aircraft. Each Airbus 320 aircraft has a seat configuration of about 150. (22 May 2006)

Etihad Airways:
Etihad Airways, the national airline of the UAE, plans to double the capacity of the existing flights from Mumbai and Delhi shortly. The airline now operates 10 flights, seven from Mumbai and three from Delhi to Abu Dhabi each week. The airline is looking at enhancing Mumbai services to 14 flights a week and daily flights from Delhi. The airline is also looking at the possibility of adding two or three cities to its existing network and planning to buy new aircraft to its fleet of aircraft by the end of this year. Looking at the growing need of airlines by the Indian community in Gulf, UK and North America, Etihad is planning for heavy investment in coming years to meet requirements. Etihad may also explore destinations such as Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi, Bangalore, Hyderbad and Chennai. (20 May 2006)

IGI Airport:
The Union home ministry has decided to implement the Advance Passenger Information System (APIS) by the month end to slash the waiting time for passengers at immigration counters by more than half. Initially, the scheme will be launched in a phased manner before it is made operational. On an average, a passenger spends nearly eight to ten minutes for immigration clearance. Under the APIS, the immigration authorities will receive advance information for passengers as soon as the flight takes off from New Delhi. The information regarding the passenger’s passport and visa will have to be provided by the airlines concerned. (20 May 2006)

Modernisation of Delhi Airport:
The GMR-led consortium mandated to modernise Delhi has hired a host of international consultants to assist in the project implementation. Growtalent, an HR firm, will soon start talking to the employees of the Airports Authority of India (AAI) to chalk out their career progression plan. UK-based Mott MacDonald has been hired as the lead technical advisor to the project, and three companies including National Air Traffic Services of UK, Airservices Australia and German ATC are in the race for providing consultancy services to improve the efficiency of air traffic controller. A combined international and domestic terminal as well as a parallel runway would be ready before the Commonwealth Games in New Delhi in 2010.
(20 May 2006)

Hyderabad Airport:
Hyderabad is emerging as the fastest growing airport in the Southern Region of India recording a growth of almost 43 percent in domestic passengers handled during April-March 2005-06. The latest data complied by the Airports Authority of India (AAI) reveals that Hyderabad airport handled 29.94 lakh domestic passengers, up from 20.95 lakh handled during the corresponding period in the previous year. In terms of aircraft movement, Hyderabad recorded a growth of 45 percent having handled 40,875 domestic aircraft in 2005-06 compared to 28,144 during the previous year. (19 MAY 2006)

Entry Barrier Raised:
With the queue of airline start-ups waiting to take off in the Indian skies growing by the day, government has finally decided to raise the entry barrier for the aviation industry. The government has also decided to reduce the average age of aircraft being imported into India for commercial airline operations by five years. These regulations will be part of the new civil aviation policy that has been drafted and is awaiting nod from the Cabinet. The government has decided to marginally increase entry barrier for new airlines as far as equity capital for floating an airline is concerned. (19 MAY 2006)

Paramount Airways:
After divesting 12 percent stake in favour of private equity players such as India Growth Fund (IGF) and Bennet, Coleman & Company, Paramount Airways is likely to dilute another 10 percent of its equity to global private equity funds. According to industry sources, Paramount is valued at US $500 million. Five overseas private equity funds are in talks with Paramount, which operates exclusive business class seats till now, for picking up about 10 percent stake. Paramount is the only domestic airline flying Embraer planes. The airline has also chalked out plans to acquire 15 Embraer aircraft for US $525 million including Embraer 170 to 195.
(19 MAY 2006)

Airbus:
Airbus is planning to start the process of setting up a maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) facility in India next year to service the fleet of a large number of aircraft, both public and private carriers, in the country. The company will start the process of establishing an engineering set up in India in 2007. This setup will be used to service the big fleet of our aircraft and this support will be our focus now, confirmed Gustav Humbert, President and CEO, Airbus. Airbus would also establish high-tech training centers for pilots and facilities for maintenance of aircraft in India. (18 May 2006)

Private airlines capture 75 percent market share:
According to recent reports, private airlines captured over 75 percent market share in the domestic sector in March this year. The private sector airlines handle over 85 percent of the domestic air traffic at Bangalore airport, 75.7 percent at Mumbai, 70.6 percent at Delhi, and 74 percent in Chennai. Praful Patel, Minister for Civil Aviation, said that the increase in the share of private airlines in domestic air traffic was primarily due to the establishment of new airlines and large-scale induction of capacity in the domestic sector. Further, some private airlines had gained market share by offering lower airfares, he added. (17 May 2006)

Mobissimo enters India:
Mobissimo, Inc. has launched its Indian site, giving Indian consumers direct access to the largest selection and best travel deals available domestically and worldwide. Mobissimo would cover a complete array of travel options in India, including local online travel agencies like MakeMyTrip and airlines serving Indian domestic and international markets like Air France, British Airways, Emirates, Jet Airways, Kingfisher, Singapore Airlines, SpiceJet and Virgin Atlantic. (17 May 2006)

Indo-Pak air service operations revived:
The air service operations between India and Pakistan have been revived and have agreed to open their airspace for over-flights for the airlines of both countries. The designated airlines are entitled to operate five, three and four services per week on the Karachi-Mumbai, Karachi-Delhi and Lahore-Delhi routes respectively. Bilateral traffic right have been offered to all eligible Indian scheduled carriers. (17 May 2006)