PIB approves expansion plan for Chennai Airport
30 Jul, 2008

The Public Investment Board (PIB) has approved the Chennai airport expansion and modernization plans. The work is expected to start in Sept 2008. The Airports Authority of India (AAI) is planning to invest US$ 420.46 million, of which 80% will come from internal sources and remaining 20% from commercial borrowings to complete the project by October 2010.

Old Hyderabad Airport to be utilized for air shows
22 July 2008

The Centre has theoretically accepted the utilization of the old Hyderabad Airport for air shows and other general aviation services. Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Mr. Y. S. Rajasekhar Reddy said, “Hyderabad would become India's aviation hub with the international airport, an Aerospace and Precision Engineering SEZ coming up near the new airport and Begumpet airport becoming a centre for general aviation services and air shows.”

Nagarjuna Construction about to invest up to US$ 116.2 million in airports, ports
16 July 2008

Infrastructure giant Nagarjuna Construction Company Ltd is planning to invest US$ 116.27 million over the period of next three years to build port and airport infrastructure. The company is already involved in two small Greenfield airport projects in Karnataka and a deep water port in Machilipatnam in Andhra Pradesh.

Punj Lloyd JV firm plans to undertake ground handling work for NACIL
13 Jul, 2008

Swissport Punj Lloyd Pvt Ltd, a JV between Punj Lloyd and Swissport International, is currently in talks with National Aviation Company of India Ltd (NACIL) for undertaking its ground handling work. NACIL is the joint entity of Air India and Indian Airlines. The joint entity is also talking with companies like DIAL (Delhi International Airport Ltd), MIAL (Mumbai International Airport Ltd) as well as AAI (Airports Authority of India) for the ground handling projects.

Karnataka to build best aviation infrastructure
03 July 2008

Karnataka is on its way towards building one of the best aviation infrastructures in the country in the coming two years. The State has a number of new airports coming up which are being developed via Private Public Partnership (PPP) model. The Government is also planning to build airstrips wherever possible. There are helicopter taxis being run from Bangalore to the Bangalore International Airport (BIA).

 

Airlines

India signs an ‘open skies’ pact with EU
25 July 2008

Major airlines like Air India, Jet Airways, JetLite and the Deccan-Kingfisher, are planning to get more access to European destinations. India and European Union are about to sign a liberal aviation pact which will enable Indian airlines to cater more EU destinations as well as give EU carriers better access to India. This way, the pact will work like an ‘open skies’ agreement between India and the EU.

As per the Civil Aviation Ministry sources, Indian air carriers will get an approval to operate a virtually unrestricted number of flights to European destinations like London, Paris and Frankfurt. They can also sign code-share pacts with European carriers without requesting for government approval.

Boeing hikes India’s sales outlook by 10%
24 July 2008

Boeing, the world's second-biggest commercial aircraft maker, is expecting increased air-travel in India and has thus raised the country’s 20-year aircraft sales outlook by 10%. Boeing last year had projected a demand for 911 aircarfts for 2007-2026. The company has increased this number to 1,001 aircraft for the period of 2008-2027, which is worth more than US$ 105 billion at current list prices of aircraft. The 2008 sales outlook for India included 59 regional jets, 728 single aisle, 203 twin aisle and 11,747 and larger aircraft. Boeing is expected to witness 9% increase in demand for single aisle aircraft and 18% for twin aisle aircraft as compared to the last year’s forecast.

Wilbur Ross rescues SpiceJet with US$ 86.25 million
16 July 2008

US-based PE firm WL Ross & Co., promoted by billionaire Wilbur Ross has decided to make the investment of US$ 80 million in Spice Jet to support the budget airline that has been in financial crises due to increasing ATF prices. WL Ross & Co will buy the foreign currency convertible bonds (FCCBs) held by Istithmar and Goldman Sachs.

Kishore Gupta plans to head SpiceJet
12 July 2008

The Delhi-based LCC SpiceJet is planning to appoint Mr. Kishore Gupta, a member of its board since 2000, as the interim CEO, in place of Mr. Sidhantha Sharma who is to leave the airline at the end of the month.

Go Air about to reduce another 300 flights
11 July 2008

Go Air - low cost carrier (LCC), Promoted by the Wadia Group is expected to reduce another 300 flights from August 2008 due to sky-rocketing fuel prices. In July 2008, the airline halved its operations to 800 flights.

Committee to examine airlines' problems gets PM approval
10 July 2008

Prime Minister Mr. Manmohan Singh has given approval to set up a panel to look at various issues related to the financial crisis being faced by domestic airlines. The panel will be chaired by the Cabinet Secretary and will also include Finance Secretary, Civil Aviation Secretary, among other secretaries from the Department of Revenue, Petroleum & Natural Gas, Planning Commission. Other members in the committee will be Mr. Deepak Parekh, Chairman, HDFC and Mr. Raghuram, Professor IIM, Ahmedabad.

IBS, KLM airlines sign pact
04 July 2008

IBS Software Services, leading provider of IT solutions to travel industry, has inked an agreement with KLM Royal Dutch Airlines to provide its crew management solution - AvientCrew. This solution is used to optimize crew productivity by providing real-time alerts, crew data management and decision-support functions for problems solving. The system will also ensure that rosters comply with regulatory and governmental requirements, crew training, airport restrictions, airline-specific requirements and licensing.

Kingfisher Airlines to fly on International routes under its own brand
04 July 2008

Kingfisher Airlines is planning to expand its operations on international routes from September. Now that the Kingfisher Airlines-Deccan Aviation merger has been approved, the airline will fly on international routes under its own brand, even though it will fly under Deccan Aviation's flying permit. The airline has applied for over 50 destinations and is planning to have connectivity to the US, Europe and different Asian regions directly or indirectly from Bangalore and has received in writing slots to operate flights in San Francisco, JFK (New York) and Heathrow (London).

Kingfisher to save US$ 150 million with direct import of ATF
02 July 2008

Kingfisher Airlines is aiming to save at least US$ 150 million by importing air turbine fuel (ATF) directly from oil companies. According to Mr. Vijay Mallya, Chairman, UB Group, “It will kick off the arrangement with Reliance Industries (RIL) in two weeks. Direct imports will attract customs duty, but no sales tax, since it is not considered as ‘sale’. Kingfisher will meet 60% of its requirement through this channel.”

Jet Air shelves unit’s overseas expansion plans
01 July 2008

India’s top private airline, Jet Airways Ltd. has dropped plans for its discount unit JetLite to fly on overseas routes due to the tough market environment caused by rising ATF prices.

General Aviation

Airnetz about to launch air-taxi service
22 July 2008

Private air-charter service provider Airnetz Aviation is planning to launch its air-taxi service in India by next year. According to Mr. Atul Khekade, CEO, Airnetz Aviation, the company is placing an order of 25 single-and-double-engine aircraft for this purpose with aircraft manufacturing companies like Diamond Air, Epic Aircraft and Aero Aviation. The Company is making an investment of US$ 25 million to acquire these aircrafts and is also setting up a subsidiary company which will exclusively look after Airnetz's small-segment aircraft operation.

Global Vectra set to begin shuttle service in Metro cities
22 July 2008

Global Vectra Helicorp Ltd (GVHL), a provider of offshore helicopter services to India’s oil and gas sector, is planning to foray into the helicopter shuttle services between airports and cities like Mumbai, Bangalore, Mysore & Kolkata to ferry commuters who wish to avoid choked roads. The test ferry service will begin from Kolkata airport in the next quarter. The fare is expected to vary from US$ 93 to US$ 116 per trip as per the distance.

The company has bought two Bell 412 helicopters worth US$ 15 million and has submitted papers to the government to get necessary clearance to commence the service. Other companies, which offer helicopter services, include Mesco Airlines Ltd, Million Air Executive Jet Service and Pawan Hans Helicopters.

Corporate houses switch to Micro-jets from business jets
22 Jul, 2008

With increasing fuel prices, corporate houses are switching from business jets to micro jets, which can carry two to five people. Micro jets are beneficial as they are cheap, fuel efficient and easy to maintain when compared to business jets. There are some pitfalls associated with micro jets like lack of safety and increase in air congestion assuming introduction of hundreds of Micro-jets in the sky. The key players are Eclipse 500, Cessna Mustang, Safire Jet, and Diamond Twin Star.

MRO

HAL plans to set up MRO facility at old Bangalore airport
31 July 2008

Hindustan Aeronautics (HAL) is planning to set up a maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) facility with an investment of US$ 27.9 million to leverage its Bangalore airport asset, which closed to commercial aircraft on May 24, 2008 after transitioning commercial flight operations to Bangalore International Airport near Devanahalli. HAL is about to finalise a JV partner who will bring in the license for civil aircraft maintenance. The MRO facility will start with two hangars and a capacity to handle 50 aircraft per annum. Further, the Company is collaborating with National Aerospace Labs to design and manufacture a regional jet. The US$ 465 million plan will pit HAL against global aircraft manufacturers such as ATR, Embraer and Bombardier.

Satyam forms JV with Infospectrum
23 Jul, 2008

India's leading IT Company Satyam has signed a partnership agreement with US-based Infospectrum to serve the aviation industry by providing services to operators, third party maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) and component repair providers in the global aviation industry. As per the deal, Satyam plans to offer services like system configuration and installation, functional and technical training, integration and remote hosting in a software-as-a-service (SAAS) model.

Air Works about to invest US$ 50 million
15 July 2008

Air Works has announced its plans of launching a commercial maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) facility in Hosur near Bangalore with an investment of US$ 50 million. The company is planning to start its operations by September 2008 with one existing hangar and expected to complete two additional hangers by the year-end, designed to accommodate wide body aircraft, and two more by end of 2009.

With five modern and fully-equipped hangars, Air Works' MRO will provide services like airframe, aircraft paint shop, engine and APU maintenance, engine repair and overhaul, interior completions, passenger-to-freighter conversion, aircraft component repairs, avionic upgrades and spares.

Air Cargo

Gopinath invests US$ 50 million and signs a MoU with MADCL
15 Jul 2008

Air Deccan, owned by Capt. G R Gopinath, is about to raise US$ 50 million through private equity to part-fund his $200 million cargo venture to build an end-to end express logistics service provider delivering cargo to one's door step.

Capt. Gopinath is also planning to invest US$ 25 million to set up a state of the art integrated IT system, which helps in delivering cargo anywhere within 24 hours and also cut operational costs.

Capt. Gopinath has signed a MoU with Maharashtra Airport Development Company Ltd. (MADCL) to set up a warehousing facility over 50 acres of land at B.R. Ambedkar Airport in Nagpur with an investment of US$ 100 million. The central warehousing facility at the airport will assist in bringing down costs.

DIAL awards US$ 60 million contract to Siemens
09 July 2008

The Delhi International Airport Ltd. has awarded Siemens Mobility the US$ 60 million baggage handling system for the upcoming Terminal 3 at the Delhi airport.