Asean Open Sky Regime:
India is considering becoming a party to the proposed ‘open sky’ regime being evolved by the Asean nations to enhance air connectivity within the region. There has been no formal offer made to us by the Asean as yet. However, some informal discussions have taken place and we are considering becoming a party. An ‘open sky’ regime will mean allowing any number of flights, frequencies and size of aircraft to any destination in the region. It will be a boon for Indian carriers if India’s desire to join the proposed regime fructifies. (15 September 2006)

New Domestic Airlines:
The Indian government has received up to five license approval requests to start new domestic airlines. "We have received at least four to five requests for local airlines," said Civil Aviation Secretary, Ajay Prasad. Prasad didn't disclose how many of the requests were for licenses to start low-cost or full-service airlines. (15 September 2006)

Air India:
Air-India is all set to pick up stake in the proposed $100 million MRO facility of Boeing in Nagpur. The airline's stake in the facility will be in the form of contribution of its engineering assets and infrastructure located at its base in Mumbai as well as its human resources. According to sources said Air-India will pick up a substantial stake and be a major shareholder in the project next to Boeing. Boeing is also planning to induct a technological partner into the project. (14 September 2006)

Air India, Indian Merger:
The cut-off date for the proposed merger of the two state-run airlines, Air India and Indian, has been fixed as 31 March 2007, according to Praful Patel, Union Civil Aviation Minister. Consultants are preparing both short-term and long-term reports of the proposed merger after studying the changing dynamics of the global and domestic aviation sector.
(13 September 2006)

Air India:
Air India has awarded a contract worth US $70 million to France-based Thales for installation of an advanced passenger entertainment system on 23 Boeing aircraft to be inducted in the international flag carrier from February next year. Under the agreement, the entertainment system to be installed in 23 B-777s would comprise Thales Top Series digital audio and video on-demand entertainment systems at every seat. A 23-inch display system would be installed in the First Class followed by 15 inch and 10.6 inch in Business and Economy classes.
(13 September 2006)

Paramount Airways:
Paramount Airways is planning to launch its third Madurai-Chennai service with a link to Hyderabad on Friday. The airline aimed to operate 56 flights from next month from the current 24 flights it was operating now. The airline had planned to introduce flights between Tirupathi and Vishakapatnam in October and Madurai-Bangalore flight from November. It had also planned to connect prime destinations in south India, he said. (13 September 2006)

Chennai and Kolkata Airport Modernisation:
The government will take a final decision on the modernisation of Chennai and Kolkata airports within a month, while the merger of the state-owned Indian Airlines and Air India will be completed by March next. The process for modernising both the airports had been put on the fast track with the center planning to complete consultations with Tamil Nadu and West Bengal governments. While Tamil Nadu favours private participation on the line of Delhi and Mumbai and the West Bengal Government wants the work to be done by the AAI.
(12 September 2006)

In-flight Catering Contracts:
GMR Hyderabad International Airport has awarded two in-flight catering concessions to LSG Sky Chef and Sky Gourmet. The contract is awarded for selling up world-class in-flight catering units in the upcoming international airport. The in-flight catering concessions will be extensively involved in financing, constructing, operating and maintaining in-flight kitchen facilities for provision of in-flight kitchen services. Both the in-flight catering units will cater to 7,500 meals each per day capacity in the initial phase. (12 September 2006)

Kathmandu-Varanasi Flights:
Indian will start daily flights on the Kathmandu-Varanasi-Kathmandu sector in response to the mounting demand from Nepal residents as well as European tourists. The service was suspended on 27 March last year, about two months after King Gyanendra dismissed the government of prime minister Sher Bahadur Deuba and seized absolute power through a bloodless coup. The Airbus 320, which can accommodate 145 passengers, will run afternoon flights. (11 September 2006)

Entry Barriers:
The government is likely to take a fresh look at the existing entry barriers for new airlines to enter the Indian skies. Under the existing rules, a new airline has to have a fleet of five aircraft and an equity capital of at least Rs 300 million, among other things, to get a scheduled operator license, which allows them to operate in the domestic sector with a published time-table. A large number of private carriers had folded up in the early 1990s, leaving behind only the state-owned airlines, besides Jet Airways and Air Sahara in the field. (11 September 2006)

Jet Airways:
Jet Airways has entered into India’s first Interline e-ticketing agreement with KLM Royal Dutch Airlines through global distribution systems (GDS). This facility of electronic ticketing process for hassle free traveling has also been extended with Northwest Airlines and British Airways. This facility would expand Jet Airways’ existing e-ticketing capabilities and distribution.
(11 September 2006)

Flights to Bodh Gaya:
Five new flights to Bodh Gaya will be launched for the rush season, which will see millions of Buddhist monks and tourists around the globe to pay tribute to the God. The five flights, which are to start from October this year, will be separately launched by India Airlines for Gaya-Bangkok thrice a week, Gaya-Rangoon twice a week, Gaya-Guwahati-Bangkok once a week, Air Deccan for Gaya-Kolkata daily and Thai Air for Gaya-Varanasi-Bangkok daily.
(9 September 2006)

Indian:
Indian is studying the possibilities of operating direct flights between Doha and Mumbai and destinations in north India. The bilateral Air Services Agreement (ASA) between Qatar and India, he said, would permit such flights since India follows an 'Open Skies' policy with Qatar. (9 September 2006)

No-frills Terminal:
Air Deccan MD Captain Gopinath has proposed no-frills terminal at the IGI for low-cost carriers to the GMR group. London has the Stanstead terminal exclusively for low cost carriers. The idea is to have very fast aircraft movement in which planes land; unload; get departing passengers and their baggage on board, and then take off fast. (9 September 2006)

Emirates Airline:
Emirates Airline is gearing up for the launch of its eight-flights-a-week service to Bangalore, starting from 29 October 2006. Currently, Emirates serves south India with 31 weekly flights to Chennai, Hyderabad, Kochi and Thiruvananthapuram, offering over 8,000 seats and 500 tonnes of cargo capacity. The airline plans to operate some of the world’s most technologically advanced aircraft — the modern Airbus A330-200 and the larger capacity Boeing 777-200 — to Bangalore. (8 September 2006)

Finnair:
Finnair, which is launching its scheduled services to the sub-continent on October 30, is on the look out for a domestic code share partner, besides studying the possibility of moving labour intensive aircraft maintenance services to India. The Finnish flag carrier, which is part of the Oneworld Alliance, is in talks with some full-service Indian carriers initially for a pro-rata agreement. Finnair has already tied up with Mumbai-based ambassador group for in-flight catering. (8 September 2006)

Air Deccan:
Air Deccan will soon start operating flights to the scenic Kangra valley in Himachal Pradesh. The Kangra airport was recently upgraded and 50-seater planes can now land there. The airport's runway has been increased from 3,900 feet to 4,500 feet to enable 50-seater planes to land here with ease. The authorities plan to start trial flights after which daily flights would be started from Delhi to Kangra. Air Deccan has also promised to bring down the tariffs by half on this proposed route. Currently, Jagson Airlines is operating three flights a week to Kangra from Delhi. (7 September 2006)

RAK Airways:
UAE's new airline, RAK Airways, plans to start flights to India when it takes off in January 2007. RAK, the fourth airline from the UAE after Emirates, Ethihad and Air Arabia, will also start flight services to neighbouring Iran . In its first year, the airline will fly twice a week to 15 destinations in India and Iran. It is making preparations including recruitment of staff and negotiating contracts for the first flights to Iran and India. RAK plans to expand its India operation in 2008. (7 September 2006)

Airbus, Boeing:
Boeing (BA) and Airbus are busy locking up orders in one of the fastest-growing aviation markets on the planet. In late August, the companies committed a combined US $2.8 billion in investments over the next 15 years to set up technology centers, maintenance and repair facilities, and pilot training schools in India. Nearly, US $70 billion in aircraft orders will be up for grabs over the next 20 years, Boeing and Airbus project, as the industry builds out its air fleet. (7 September 2006)

Online Travel:
A new report by PhoCusWright, "The Emerging Online Travel Marketplace in India," estimates that online leisure/unmanaged business travel gross bookings in India totaled US $295 million in 2005 and will grow nearly sevenfold in just three years to go beyond US $2 billion by 2008. Both supply and demand forces are responsible for the booming growth. PhoCusWright noted that, as in many other travel markets, LCCs have been instrumental in driving Indian consumers to use Web sites to arrange their bookings. (6 September 2006)

Kingfisher Airlines:
Kingfisher Airlines has launched daily services connecting Jaipur to Hyderabad via Mumbai. The airline has also launched two direct flights connecting Mumbai to Hyderabad using the A320 aircraft. With the launch of this new sector, Kingfisher now operates over 108 flights daily across 17 key Indian business and leisure destinations. (6 September 2006)

Air Mauritius India:
Air Mauritius India has introduced two brand new Airbus 340-300E to replace the Boeing aircrafts in its fleet. The new aircraft would be used for operating daily flights between Mumbai and Mauritius, two weekly flights from Delhi and one weekly flight from Chennai. The flight would have 12 first class cocoon type seats, 33 business class seats and 264 economy class seats on each aircraft. The airline is planning to introduce 14 more flights in its fleet. It is also planning an operation to Bangalore and has already obtained the traffic rights. The airline is also considering the possibility of connecting India and China via Chennai. (6 September 2006)

Air-India:
Air India has relaxed the new security measures that had angered passengers from Bahrain, but the ban on liquids and duty free purchases would continue. Passengers will now be allowed to carry laptops, cameras and mobile phones on board aircraft as cabin baggage. Travel documents, cash, jewellery, medicines, other documents and infant food are allowed on board. (5 September 2006)

Jet Airways:
Jet Airways has launched its new international flight linking New Delhi with Singapore, making it the first Indian carrier to provide three direct services between Singapore and the metro cities of Chennai, Mumbai and Delhi. The daily service will be operated with the new generation B737 - 800 aircraft. This direct service to Singapore will be the third direct non-stop flight operated by the company from India to Singapore. The airline already operates daily direct flights from Chennai and Mumbai to Singapore. (5 September 2006)

Boeing:
Boeing has recently delivered the first Next-Generation 737 equipped with an in-seat video entertainment system. The airplane, a Jet Airways 737-800, has seven-inch video monitors mounted in the back of every seat in economy class and nine-inch video monitors mounted in the seat arms in business class. The system offers passengers audio and video on-demand movies, games and in-fight information. To date, three customers have ordered the in-seat video system option, which is manufactured by Panasonic and Thales. (5 September 2006)

Cargo Business:
The airlines companies are looking at greenfield airports like Mangalore and Hyderabad with much optimism to promote growth in the aviation cargo. Air India's cargo share is totaled to 10 percent and is expecting to further it in the months to come. The airlines experts feel that aviation cargo industry is growing at 8 percent per annum rate and it will continue growing at this pace till 2010. (4 September 2006)

Delta Airlines:
Delta Airlines is planning a Mumbai-Paris-New York non-stop flight from November this year. The airline is also planning to outsource the Indian crew's jobs to an American team. It plans to close its Mumbai base and outsource the ticketing and marketing jobs to a local private firm. Last year, Delta Airlines and its subsidiaries had filed voluntary petitions for reorganisation under the US Bankruptcy Code. (4 September 2006)

Air India:
Kerala Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan handed over 15 acres of land to Air India to set up an aircraft maintenance unit. The decision to give land to Air India was taken by former chief minister Oommen Chandy in 2005 but its implementation got delayed due to various reasons. Once the engineering unit comes up, it will provide direct and indirect employment to a large number of people. (3 September 2006)

Fuel Surcharge:
Leading airlines plan to hike the fuel surcharge by Rs. 100 to Rs. 750 a ticket on all domestic routes starting next week, citing a rise in aviation turbine fuel prices. This is the fourth time in 2006 that carriers have hiked the fuel surcharge. Jet Airways, Air Deccan are planning to increase the surcharge by Rs 100, according to sources. Other low-cost carriers, too, have similar plans. (3 September 2006)

EADS:
Airbus and its parent company, European Aeronautic Defense and Space (EADS), are maneuvering to maintain their sales lead in commercial planes and shut Boeing out of a major defense deal in India. EADS plans to pour as much as US $2.6 billion into India over the next 15 years. India is gearing up to seal one of the largest fighter deals in recent years, with plans to buy 126 planes. EADS believes that its Typhoon fighter is an "excellent candidate" for the Indian Air Force. (1 September 2006)

Air Sahara:
Sahara Airlines has announced a scheme of unlimited flights in a year for a price equivalent to paying Rs. 699 a day (for 365 days). Para-banking is the backbone of the group’s business. It has over 61 million depositors served by 9.1 lakh staff in over 1,500 branches. Sahara’s ‘fly unlimited’ offer works out to a total payout of Rs 2,55,135 in 365 days. A customer will need to take at least 73 flights on the Delhi-Mumbai, 77 on Delhi-Kolkata and 88 flights on the Mumbai-Bangalore routes to be able to recoup the investment. But passengers will need to pay the airport taxes and the fuel surcharge for each flight they take. (1 September 2006)

Air-India:
Air-India would start flying daily non-stop from New York to Mumbai from April 2007. The non-stop between the two countries by India’s national carries is expected to give tough competition to the two US airlines — Continental Airways and American Airlines — which fly non-stop to New Delhi. Mathur said A-I is also looking at three other American cities — Washington D.C., Houston/Dallas and San Francisco as part of its next phase of expansion plans in US. In the next phase of expansion, A-I is looking to start its service to Vancouver. The duration of the non-stop flight, would be 13 to 14 hours, as against 17-18 hours with a stopover in Europe. (1 September 2006)