The Year That Was: 2007

Ministry of Civil Aviation: Year End Review 2007
Press Information Bureau
Dec 29, 2007
New Delhi: All of us are aware that India’s economy has captured world imagination and alongwith this Indian aviation has grown as a significant compliment. The Civil Aviation Sector in the country has witnessed a boom as the domestic passenger carriage, cargo movement and international air traffic have shown exponential growth. This growth has been largely due to policy of increased liberalization both on domestic and international sectors. The year 2007 has been especially remarkable for the growth witnessed in passenger traffic. During the year 2007, domestic airline passenger traffic has shown a growth of 36.74% in first nine months (January to September, 2007) as compared to the corresponding period of 2006. Further, the scheduled domestic air services are now available to/from 82 airports as against nearly 75 in the year 2006.
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An eventful year at Delhi airport
The Hindu
Parul Sharma
New Delhi: In the month of May in the year just gone by, Delhi International Airport (Private) Limited completed one year of operations at Delhi airport.The consortium led by Bangalore-based GMR Group started many new ventures at the airport, a few of which are expected to be completed in 2008 to help in making it a world-class facility.The year began with laying of the foundation stone for a new integrated passenger terminal (Terminal 3) and a new runway (11-29).
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Year of mergers and more
Sanjay Singh
The Statesman
Jan 02, 2008
New Delhi: The year 2007 was possibly the most happening year for the domestic aviation sector. The year witnessed consolidation through mergers and acquisitions. First the merger of Air India with Indian, two State-run airlines. The merger of Sahara airlines with Jet Airways in the private sector also took place. This was followed by Kingfisher Airlines acquiring 46 per cent stakes in the low-cost airline Air Deccan.
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Read On >>>Aviation in 2008: Mallya has hands full amid mergers
Lalatendu Mishra
Hindustan Times
Dec 28, 2007
Mumbai: The Indian civil aviation sector is heading for an exciting time in 2008 and the New Year could prove to be a turning point for many players. Aviation and liquor czar Vijay Mallya will continue to dominate the civil aviation space by piloting the Kingfisher Airlines-Deccan merger and enabling Kingfisher to fly to the US, amidst stiff opposition from one of Mallya's arch rivals and a section of decision makers in Delhi.
Mallya will have to dedicate a sizeable amount of his time and money for his aviation business, as 2008 is a crucial year for his now badly bleeding two airlines. Captain GR Gopinath, the erstwhile poster boy of Indian aviation, will embark on the second phase of entrepreneurship creating something equally challenging in the aviation space.
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Nacil eyes 50% revenue growth
Sindhu Bhattacharya
Daily News & Analysis
Dec 28, 2007
New Delhi: As 2008 draws closer, National Aviation Company (Nacil), the entity formed after merging Air-India and Indian Airlines, is all geared up to welcome the New Year with its own set of resolutions. The highlights of its plans for 2008 include induction of 20 new aircraft in its ageing fleet, commencement of a non-stop flight between Delhi and New York in February and Bangalore-San Fransisco thereafter. Also, the carrier’s regional operations would get a boost with the induction of two 70-seater CRJs. This will help the company’s low-cost venture Air India Express as JetLite, another low-cost carrier, will start its flights in the Gulf sectors from January.
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A year of airlines consolidation
Ashwini Phadnis
Business Line
Dec 28, 2007
New Delhi: The year 2007 will probably be best remembered as the year when consolidation through mergers and acquisitions was witnessed in the domestic aviation industry. The year began with the merger of Air India and Indian getting under way. Soon thereafter, the buyout of Air Sahara by Jet Airways, which had been caught in litigation for more than a year, was also completed. A few months later, Kingfisher Airlines acquired a 26 per cent stake in the low-cost airline Air Deccan and later, through an open offer, increased its stake to 46 per cent.
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The death of a dream
Anjuli Bhargava
Business Standard
Dec 31, 2007
New Delhi: On December 18, 2007, Captain G R Gopinath was executive chairman of Deccan Aviation, the company he created with a lot of chutzpah, a little money and one big dream: to bring air travel within the reach of the Indian middle class. Giving him company as vice-chairman was Vijay Mallya, the investor who bought into Deccan Aviation with a little bit of deception, a lot of money and another big dream: to be the king of the Indian, and one day, global skies. Just a day later, on December 19, their positions were reversed, as the board of Deccan Aviation decided to merge with Mallya's Kingfisher Airlines. Mallya became the chairman of the merged entity, and Gopinath became its vice-chairman. Clearly, a lot of money had the last laugh, over a lot of chutzpah. And one dream had been crushed under the boot of the other.
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Low-cost airlines are set for a great gig
Shauvik Ghosh
Financial Express
December 30, 2007
The merger in 2007 of full-service carrier Kingfisher with Air Deccan and the latter’s re-branding has lent a new perspective to the low-cost carrier segment.
Analysts believe Air Deccan may now enter a middle area between low-cost airlines and full-service carriers, providing some basic frills but on the whole remaining low-cost.
This development could bring in new survival kits for low-cost airlines this year. In 2007, the segment exploded, with carriers like Air Deccan, Spice jet and Goair stepping up operations. The year also saw the entry of the erstwhile Air Sahara as low-cost carrier JetLite under the Jet Airways banner.
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Sky’s the limit
Tarun Shukla
New Delhi
Dec 31 2007
With state-owned airline Air India joining the largest operatingnetwork of global carriers, Star Alliance, Mint takes a closer look at the changes passengers can expect.
What are the early key changes travellers can expect? In the next 12-18 months, by which time Air India will be fully integrated into the Star Alliance network, passengers from and into India will see the power of increased connectivity, frequent-flyer air mile swaps, and better service levels.
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Merger mania in Indian skies
Sify
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