‘Indians would be flying such an aircraft for the first time’<\/span><\/span> Allow regional airlines to flourish<\/span> I started with a dream \u00e2\u20ac\u201d that every Indian should fly: Gopinath<\/span><\/span> Tough times ahead for airlines as Asia wealth well runs dry<\/span><\/span> Pavan Kaula: Soaring high<\/span> Look before you leap <\/span> The Big range<\/span> How Lata Pada rose above Air India pain<\/sp\nan><\/span> Flight traffic makes the fare tick<\/span><\/span> Consolidation in the aviation sector a global trend<\/span><\/span> Airline industry runs into turbulence but travellers rejoice<\/span> Ours is the best low cost model<\/span><\/span> Aviation takes off, but no regulator in sight<\/span><\/span> What about our security right now?<\/span><\/span> Air India revelations leave Canadians dismayed<\/span><\/span> US: Eyeing the Indian skies<\/span> There is no denying that India (arguably next to China) is the world’s hot spot for business. Aviation is no exception and this time it is the Big Daddy that has shown keen interest in the aviation sector of India. Scorching the sky<\/span> Airbus Gets a Boost from India<\/span><\/span> On the right track<\/span><\/span> Altitude Adjustment<\/span><\/span> Indian outsourcers’ sky-high ambitions<\/span><\/span> Losing money, buying planes and growing fast<\/span><\/span> Air Deccan\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s financial woes are temporary: Gopinath<\/span><\/span> Aviation sector has reached a point of inflection <\/span> INTERVIEW: V THULASIDAS<\/span><\/span> How\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the merger with Indian Airlines progressing? There’s always been news that human resource integration is posing great difficulty?<\/span><\/p>\n It’s progressing smoothly. Wage negotiations are 80% completed and the rest are in advanced stages and even the arrears have been paid. Watch out for the battle in the skies<\/span> A hot-air plane<\/span><\/span> Culpability the key Air India question<\/span> Is A380 suitable for India\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s airlines?<\/span> Sky’s the limit for India flight boom<\/span> \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcAviation sector stretched with too many players\u00e2\u20ac\u2122<\/span><\/span> What Sarkozy\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s win means to aviation<\/span><\/span> Towards world-class airports<\/span> For India\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Airlines, Passengers Are Plentiful but Profits Are Scarce<\/span><\/span> Challenges posed by merger of carriers not insurmountable: Thulasidas<\/span> Airport branding is here to stay<\/span><\/span> INTERVIEW: Francesco Violante, SITA CEO<\/span><\/span> Budget carriers struggle to raise yield<\/span> ‘Indians would be flying such an aircraft for the first time’Times of IndiaMay 31, 2007When the Indian Air Force begins its Round The World in a microlight aircraft expedition on June 1, all eyes will be on the aircraft, and its two pilots, who, if all goes well, would accomplish the task in a world […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-212","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/indianaviationnews.net\/newsarchives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/212","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/indianaviationnews.net\/newsarchives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/indianaviationnews.net\/newsarchives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indianaviationnews.net\/newsarchives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indianaviationnews.net\/newsarchives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=212"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/indianaviationnews.net\/newsarchives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/212\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/indianaviationnews.net\/newsarchives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=212"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indianaviationnews.net\/newsarchives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=212"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indianaviationnews.net\/newsarchives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=212"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
Times of India
May 31, 2007<\/a>
When the Indian Air Force begins its Round The World in a microlight aircraft expedition on June 1, all eyes will be on the aircraft, and its two pilots, who, if all goes well, would accomplish the task in a world record time of 64 days. We caught up with the leader of the expedition, Wing Commander Rahul Monga a day before he set off for a tough, but in his words “nothing is impossible” mission. Excerpts.
All set for your historic expedition.<\/span>
Yes. From our side, whatever was required to be done, and more, has already been done. Some things can be foreseen, some cannot be, so no amount of planning can really help.
Read The Rest >>><\/a><\/p>\n
Economic Times
May 29, 2007<\/a>
The civil aviation ministry\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s move to allow merchant airports in India ties up nicely with its decision to overhaul the route dispersal guidelines. In fact, the government would do well to completely do away with route dispersal \u00e2\u20ac\u201d all airlines are required to deploy a certain minimum capacity on the unviable category II and category III routes such as the Northeast and Jammu & Kashmir \u00e2\u20ac\u201d in order to encourage regional airlines to take wing.
Merchant airports, as they are envisaged, will be owned and operated by private firms. The entrepreneur will have to set up and operate an airport on the basis of commercial viability, with government\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s role restricted only to ensuring safety and security.
Read The Rest >>><\/a><\/p>\n
Vinay Sarawagi
Daily News & Analysis
May 27, 2007<\/a>
Captain GR Gopinath<\/span>, founder of Air Deccan, India\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s first low-cost airline, has brought air travel within the grasp of the middle-class Indian. He tells Vinay Sarawagi<\/span> how he built the second largest airline in the country.
How difficult was it to build a company from scratch?<\/span>
I started with a dream \u00e2\u20ac\u201d that every Indian should fly. It was challenging, and everyone I approached said the idea of a low-cost airline was impossible. Initially, I didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have funds, not even a team. A dream and a business plan were not enough to attract people. But I was looking for those who shared my vision, and were willing to work hard for it; a team that was ready to believe in this business model of empowering every Indian to fly.
Read The Rest of The Interview>>><\/a><\/p>\n
Cargonews Asia, Hong Kong
May 27, 2007<\/a>
The days of making big profits on the Asia-Europe route are over for European carriers due to excess capacity which is hurting yields. Correspondents Phil Hastings from London and Ian Putzger from Toronto outline the various pressures faced by the carriers.
Several factors are combining to make business life much tougher this year for European airlines offering air cargo capacity out of Asia.
Having long been used to working with a marked imbalance between westbound and eastbound volumes, with the former far exceeding the latter, they are now also having to deal with excess capacity and resulting increased yield pressures ex-Asia, certain Asian air freight traffic flows being switched to sea freight, and adverse currency influences.
Read The Rest >>><\/a><\/p>\n
The Hindu
K. Jeshi
May 27, 2007<\/a>
If he had a magic wand he would fill the sky with innovative aircraft. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153We are one billion people and look at the sky, it is always empty, where are the aircraft?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d asks Pavan Kaula.
When this retired pilot flies his plan-built Long-EZ, there is very little traffic and that he says is not very encouraging. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Getting flight level and clearances for low altitudes up to 18,000 ft is a breeze. Yet, the traffic is miniscule. In the U.S., there are 37,000 airfields and it has more air traffic than the rest of the planet. Here, we have just 300 airfields and the roads are getting overcrowded. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time we looked at the skies for transport,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he declares. For his personal transport, Pavan has built the Long-EZ aircraft, a canard layout type designed by one of the world\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s greatest aerospace designers, Burt Rutan.
Read The Rest >>><\/a><\/p>\n
Aman Dhall
Economic Times
May 27, 2007<\/a>
Don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t judge a book by its cover. Literally \u00e2\u20ac\u201d if you are planning to buy a travel policy. That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s precisely because customers invariably get lured by tempting previews rather than substance while buying a cover. But on the flipside, a consumer hardly has any choice in the market. Why? Because a majority of travel insurance policies are sold as a package.
But what\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s wrong with packaging, you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d ask. Well, a lot, say experts, as it gets difficult to avoid the trap \u00e2\u20ac\u201d particularly of duplicating your insurance coverage. Let\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s understand this in detail.
Read The Rest >>><\/a><\/p>\n
Kavitha Iyer
Indian Express
May 27, 2007<\/a>
As quiet makeover plans complement the big boom expected from a proposed air cargo hub and multi-product SEZ, Nagpur is a city on the move. From a Tier II city, it is heading towards Tier I status, from the capital of a backward region to a global destination for investment and business, AT 29, this Blackberry-wielding industrialist armed with a business degree from the UK is a young boss operating from his family\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s offices in Nagpur, Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Bangalore, Ranchi and Durgapur. Favourite city? \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Nagpur,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Abhishek Jayaswal says without hesitation. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153The quality of life here is simply addictive.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d
Read The Rest >>> <\/a><\/p>\n
Deirdre Kelly
Globe and Mail, Canada
May 26, 2007<\/a>
For the hour that dancer Lata Pada will be on stage as part of the Luminato festival in June, the Air India disaster that claimed the lives of her husband and two young daughters will mercifully be out of her thoughts. Instead of the shining faces of her children, who were 15 and 18 at the time of their death, she will be concentrating on executing the complex steps of the centuries-old dance form – bharatanatyam – that she has been perfecting since she was a girl in her native India. A sense of serenity will replace the rage and frustration she admits consumed her in the aftermath of the bombing 22 years ago.
Read The Rest >>><\/a><\/p>\n
Times of India
May 25, 2007<\/a>
Mumbai: In these times of cut-throat competition, the first of the battles between airline rivals plays out on the fare front. In a price-sensitive market like India, only an airline with smart principles of inventory management can reach that delicate balance between load factors and yields. What stands out starkly in this aviation boom as compared to the one in the early ’90s is that filling up an aircraft has become easier now. In the early nineties when a host of airlines launched services, there wasn’t much action in terms of fare structures.
Read The Rest >>><\/a><\/p>\n
Vishakha Talreja
Economic Times
May 23, 2007<\/a>
With the aviation industry witnessing an annual growth of 25%, India is today one of the fastest growing aviation markets. We are indeed living in the exciting times as many first time flyers fulfill their fancy of flying. Thanks to the low-cost airline boom. India\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s air traffic registered a whooping 46.6% growth last year. ET talks to Ron Kuhlmann , transportation consultant, Unisys, to know where India fits in the global aviation map.
Experts say that Jet-Sahara merger is probably just the beginning of the \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcconsolidation\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 trend in the Indian aviation sector. Is this a healthy trend?
Consolidation in the aviation sector is more or less a global trend at present. Alitalia (Italian airline) is looking for a suitor. BMI might merge with Lufthansa. Consolidation trend is healthy. The world does not need such a vast array of carriers. In a global marketplace, competition will be well served, even with fewer players.
Read The Rest >>><\/a><\/p>\n
UNI\/Navhind Times
May 21, 2007<\/a>
New Delhi: Emergency landings, chronic delays and huge financial losses continue to infect the country\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s airline industry that has grown at breakneck speed in recent years. There is a quantum increase in passenger numbers, formation of new airlines by entrepreneurs, ready financing from banks and aggressive sales campaigns by aircraft manufacturers Boeing and Airbus. But the industry remains financially sick and many airlines struggle to meet day-to-day expenses even as they order more planes. Outdated airports stagger under the crush of passengers and flights. Optimists, including many entrepreneurs who are backing the airlines, repeat a familiar mantra: growth will take care of problems.
Read The Rest >>><\/a><\/p>\n
Deccan Herald
May 21, 2007<\/a>
<\/span><\/span>
While full-service carrier Kingfisher Airlines and budget airline Air Deccan are at each other\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s throat, low-frill SpiceJet (SJ) is concentrating on building up on its strong points. Refraining from flying to too many destinations like Air Deccan or transforming into a legacy airline like Kingfisher or Jet Airways, SJ may even turn into profit this fiscal while other carriers are still bleeding. SJ\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Director <\/span>Ajay Singh <\/span>spoke to <\/span>B S Arun of Deccan Herald<\/span> on his company\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s plans:<\/span>
DH: Unlike Kingfisher and Air Deccan why is SpiceJet keeping a low profile and remaining quiet?
AS: It is deliberate. We want to put our heads down and focus on our performance. Ours is the best low cost model. Our costs are low because of 25 per cent lower cost of operation than others. Our services are good, operations are on time and hence we have good image amongst the passengers.
Read The Rest >>><\/a><\/p>\n
V Jayanth,
The Hindu
May 21, 2007<\/a>
The aviation scenario in India seems to be on the boil. Partial privatisation of airports has taken place; after a phase of unabated expansion and birth of new private airlines, there could be a period of consolidation; new greenfield airports may be opened to traffic in the first half of 2008; most airlines will start acquiring new aircraft from late this year and this should climax in the acquisition of the new Airbus A 380 by Kingfisher in 2010. From a distance, it looks like an aircraft getting full throttle on the runway, readying for take off. But aviation experts sound a big note of caution \u00e2\u20ac\u201d if the growth and expansion turn out to be unbridled, there could be turbulent skies ahead. A new dimension has been added by the reported official-level discussion on permitting “merchant airports” to be built entirely by the private sector, with possible infusion of 100 per cent foreign direct investment.
Read The Rest >>><\/a><\/p>\n
Lorrie Goldstein
London Free Press, Canada
May 21, 2007<\/a>
The daily revelations of lax security now spilling out of Justice John Major’s inquiry into the 1985 terrorist attack on Air India Flight 182 are disturbing enough.
But what’s frightening is the possibility things aren’t much better today at Canada’s airports.
As credible witness after witness testifies before Major to a series of security and other blunders that contributed to the deaths of 329 innocent people 22 years ago, we should remember that sim
\nilar warnings are being sounded about lax security right now.
Read The Rest >>><\/a><\/p>\n
Sheila Copps
Edmonton Sun, Canada
May 20, 2007<\/a>
With the bombshells being dropped on the Air India inquiry, the biggest question is why the answers have taken so long. The reality is that successive governments resisted a real examination of the most massive loss of Canadian life in history. Would this stonewalling have happened if the majority of Air India passengers had been white? Would police and politicians have minimized the gravity of the situation? The answer is no. As a country, we like to consider ourselves as colour blind and take pride in the harmony in cultural diversity of Canada.
Read The Rest >>><\/a><\/p>\n
Express TravelWorld
May 18, 2007<\/a>
The first ever US-India Aviation Partnership Summit held in New Delhi from April 23 to 25, 2007 proved to be a meeting of like minds, with an active exchange of ideas in the field of technology and security systems, and planning managerial and strategic activities. More importantly, it focussed on the challenges in the field of air traffic management. E<\/span>xpress AviationWorld<\/span> brings to you the action directly from the summit’s epicentre.<\/span><\/p>\n
Read The Rest >>><\/a><\/p>\n
Express TravelWorld
May 18, 2007<\/a>
With the tag-line ‘Choo lo Aasman’ and an added distinction of being the only all-vegetarian, full-service airline in the Indian skies, MDLR Airlines, the brainchild of<\/span> Gopal Goyal<\/span>, promises the stars and more to its passengers. <\/span>Praveen K Singh<\/span> outlines the maverick’s vision<\/span>.
Carving a niche in the cluttered skies is perhaps a task more insurmountable than a guaranteed smooth landing on an overcrowded airstrip. But an airline that considers its passengers as ‘partners in progress’ is conclusively different. An added positive is its starkly clear positioning of being an all-vegetarian airline. The Murli Dhar Lakh Ram (MDLR) group is piloting this new trend in the skies, and in the cockpit is Gopal Goyal, its managing director, hailing from a small-town named Sirsa, in Haryana.
Read The Rest >>><\/a><\/p>\n
Carol Matlack
BusinessWeek
May 17, 2007<\/a>
In the sales war between Airbus and Boeing, no battleground has been more fiercely contested than India. Rapidly expanding Indian carriers, including a crop of new discount airlines, have ordered close to $40 billion worth of big jets over the past two years.
Who’s ahead? So far, it’s Airbus, which has bagged 295 orders from Indian customers since January, 2005, vs. 138 for Boeing (BA). The value of Boeing’s order book, close to $20 billion at list prices, is nearer to Airbus’ roughly $22 billion in Indian orders because the U.S. planemaker has sold proportionately more widebody jets, which carry a higher price tag.
Read The Rest >>><\/a><\/p>\n
Gour Kanjilal
Express TravelWorld
May 17, 2007<\/a>
A liberalised civil aviation policy has made radical changes in the aviation sector during the last two years. The economic stimuli of airlines, airports and their direct affiliates can be judged by the number of jobs they have created not only in travel but also in other industries.
Demand for air transport is rising and new airlines are being launched every month. Indus Air, the tenth domestic airlines in India, has finally started operations. Apart from this, the fact that the Finance Ministry is considering a proposal to allow domestic airlines to hedge ATF has boosted the sector further. Currently, carriers are allowed to hedge ATF for international flights but are not allowed to do so for domestic operations. Since fuel accounts for 40 per cent of the total cost, airlines now feel confident that the move will allow it to stablise costs and check losses.
Read The Rest >>><\/a><\/p>\n
Simon Robinson
TIME
New Delhi
May 17, 2007<\/a>
Thanks to India’s economic prosperity and the booming growth of its airline industry, more Indians are flying today than ever. But they are enjoying it less, because more than half of all domestic flights are delayed 30 min. or more.
If passengers are frustrated, so are airlines, which are starting to lose money despite brisk demand. The problem: the country’s superannuated airports have been overwhelmed. Since the government opened India’s skies to greater competition four years ago, the number of air passengers has nearly doubled, from 48.8 million in the year ending March 31, 2004, to 95 million today.
Read The Rest >>><\/a><\/p>\n
Nandini Lakshman\/BusinessWeek
ZDNet Asia
May 16, 2007<\/a>
India’s supercharged aviation industry, the fastest growing in the world, is being buoyed by huge jumps in passenger traffic and startup domestic air carriers.
And though India’s commercial aviation sector is not without its problems–service delays are chronic and the industry is losing a pile of rupees–its long-term growth prospects have both Boeing and Airbus stepping up their investments in India to meet what’s expected to be vast demand for new passenger jets well into the next decade.
If the current growth dynamics hold, there could be big spin-off benefits for the major outsourcing firms that can deliver quality engineering and design work, as well as other services, to big airline manufacturers.
Read The Rest >>><\/a><\/p>\n
HEATHER TIMMONS,
International Herald Tribune
Deccan Herald
May 14, 2007<\/a>
Emergency landings, chronic delays, and millions of dollars in losses \u00e2\u20ac\u201d and that is just the month of April. India\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s airline industry has grown at breakneck speed, with a dozen local airlines carrying 33 million passengers on easy financing from banks and aggressive sales campaigns by Boeing and Airbus.
Now, when they are supposed to be turning profits, they are losing money and buying more planes \u00e2\u20ac\u201d including a handful of doubledecker Airbus 380s.
Kingfisher Airlines of India has ordered five of the planes, and has options for five more, despite the fact that it has not yet made a profit.
Read The Rest >>><\/a><\/p>\n
Mehul Srivastava
Livemint
May 14, 2007<\/a>
New Delhi: G.R. Gopinath, the charismatic entrepreneur who went from being an organic farmer to running India\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s biggest low-cost airline, has found himself and his airline in the news in the last few weeks. Deccan Aviation Ltd, which operates Air Deccan, announced losses of Rs213 crore for the January-March quarter, its biggest loss since it went public. The company is involved in a high-profile search for up to $100 million in private equity to stay afloat and Kingfisher Airlines Ltd chairman and chief executive Vijay Mallya is already biting at the heels, telling everyone he is interested in the four-year-old airline, which carries one out of every five domestic passengers.
In a wide-ranging telephone interview with Mint, Gopinath says the airline\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s financial woes are temporary, and that private equity investors are on their way to bail out the airline. He sets the record straight on a week of high-profile back-and-forth barbs between him and Mallya, and talks about how frustratingly close he feels the airline is to breaking even.
Edited excerpts>>><\/a><\/p>\n
D. Murali and C. Ramesh
The Hindu
May 14, 2007<\/a>
Chennai: The Indian aviation sector is faced with several challenges that need to be met expeditiously in order to unlock its true potential. And the challenges that require priority attention relate to inadequate airport infrastructure and, more importantly, inefficient management of existing airports, according to Mr Kuljit Singh, Partner, Ernst & Young.
Speaking to Business Line, he said that the other challenges constraining the sector\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s growth include regulatory curbs, high fuel prices compared to international standards and increasing pressure on margins.
Read The Rest >>><\/a><\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153We have all brand new aircraft in the AI-Express fleet\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/span><\/span>
Atreyee Dev Roy
Financial Express
May 14, 2007<\/a>
The Tripura cadre IAS officer of the 1972 batch, V Thulasidas, took over the reins of Air India at the end of 2003. Under his dynamic leadership the public sector airline is now back into making profits. Right in the thick of action during this turbulent period when Indian civil aviation is witnessing exponential growth, a sharp increase in the market share of low cost carriers and mega mergers, Thulasidas speaks to FE\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Atreyee Dev Roy<\/span> on the progress of Air India\u00e2\u20ac\u201cIndian Airlines merger process, prospects and on acquisition of the latest aircrafts.<\/p>\n
Read The Rest of The Interview >>><\/a><\/p>\n
Sudhir Chowdhury
Financial Express
May 14, 2007<\/a>
Size does matter at least in the case of the Airbus A380 super-jumbo and probably it justifies the excitement and hype around the biggest airplane capable of carrying 550 passengers when it flew into India last week. But the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, incorporating advanced materials, systems and engines to provide superior performance levels, including a 20% improvement in fuel performance, might steal the thunder from its long time competitor in the global aviation industry.
Read The Rest >>><\/a><\/p>\n
Times of India
May 13, 2007<\/a>
F<\/span>or all the attention that the Airbus A380 got on its demo flight to Mumbai and Delhi this week, the aircraft essentially is about as revolutionary as the latest Nike shoe. Commercial aviation has in the past provided great opportunity for aircraft designers. Radical ideas that began in aerospace have often led to technological jumps that have found applications elsewhere. But aircraft design of the recent past has moved along very predictable lines. Most new aircraft are either larger or smaller variants of existing ones, and part of what is called a family. New planes, that will spawn their own families like the A380, use time-tested, commercially successful templates forged in the 1970s.
At its core, the A380 is a plane with a bigger fuselage tube, using technology not largely different from others in the Airbus stable.
Read The Rest >>><\/a><\/p>\n
Thomas Walkom
Toronto Star, Canada
May 12, 2007<\/a>
T<\/span>here are two separate aspects to the Air India investigation.
The first involves happenstance, coincidence and the question that always nags after any tragedy. Call it the “if only” scenario.
If only Canadian Pacific airline workers in Vancouver on June 22, 1985, hadn’t let a passenger check unaccompanied luggage through to Toronto. If only the X-ray scanners in Toronto had been working when luggage from that CP flight was reloaded onto Air India Flight 181. If only Toronto airport workers screening baggage for explosives hadn’t been using a faulty detector. The list can go on. In the case of the Air India bombing, it does.
Read The Rest >>><\/span><\/a><\/p>\n
Hormuz P Mama
Economic Times
May 11, 2007<\/a>
A showpiece of Europe\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s aerospace engineering, the A380 is nonetheless currently too large for India\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s airlines. Larger aircraft generally offer lower seat-km costs, greater spaciousness and passenger comfort, and reduced airport runway congestion than smaller ones. The new A380 will consume about 12% less fuel than the older Boeing 747-400, and will allow Heathrow airport, for instance, to handle 10 million more passengers without any increase in aircraft movements.
Read The Rest >>><\/a><\/p>\n
Damian Grammaticas
BBC News, UK
May 10, 2007<\/a>
New Delhi: India is now the fastest growing aviation market in the world.A rapidly expanding economy, incredibly cheap fares and bullish new airlines are all driving the growth.Hundreds of new aircraft are being ordered and airports like Delhi are planning to handle up to 100 million passengers a year, more than any airport in the world does today.
On the tarmac at Delhi’s International Airport you can see the change happening.
The air is filled with the roar of jet engines as new airliners land, disgorge their passengers, then head off on their next trip.
Fuel trucks and baggage trolleys trundle purposefully to and fro. A dark haze hangs in the sky turning the setting sun into a soft, red disc.
Read The Rest >>><\/a><\/p>\n
Shaheen Mansuri
Financial Express
May 09, 2007<\/a>
Mumbai: Despite the bullish projections for India, new entrants into the domestic aviation industry are finding it tough to make headway in the marketplace. Industry experts say the situation has worsened because of inadequate airport infrastructure and manpower shortages that serve to increase costs and reduce efficiency.
To regulate the entry of new players, the DGCA has recently raised the minimum equity requirement for a five-fleet carrier from Rs 30 crore to Rs 50 crore. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153With the new norm in place, only the serious players will consider entering the market,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d said industry sources. Applications for licence have been rising steadily in the past few months.
Read The Rest>>><\/a><\/p>\n
Financial Express
May 08, 2007<\/a>
After running what was perhaps one of the most intriguing electoral campaigns of recent times, Nicolas Sarkozy has won the French Presidency. But in any election that involves such a large degree of public posturing, brought on by a dual round system that requires either candidate in the two-contender final to slide tactically towards the left or right to pick up votes of those knocked out of the fray in round one, just what the result implies in terms of policy is hard to tell. Yet, one thing of direct relevance to India\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s aviation sector may be assessed with some degree of confidence. Sarkozy may have been a right-of-centre candidate arguing for closer ties with the US and a larger role for the market (which may include some labour market flexibility, that old French taboo), but do not be surprised if he takes up the cause of Airbus sales in India\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s fast-expanding market for commercial aircraft. The Airbus-380 that famously landed at Delhi Airport on Sunday may be a sign of more to come.
Read The Rest >>><\/a><\/p>\n
Atreyee Dev Roy
Financial Express
May 08, 200<\/a>7<\/a>
The robust annual growth of over 40% in air traffic has once again brought to the center stage the country\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s highly inadequate infrastructure. The inadequacy of the airport infrastructure has been acknowledged by no less a person that civil aviation minister Praful Patel who maintains that the growth in traffic will necessitate rapid development of world-class infrastructure.
According to estimates, the development of the country\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s airport infrastructure, including the metro, non-metro, greenfield airports and cargo hubs, would require Rs 40,000 crore. In the last two years some initiatives have been taken in this direction, the notable one being the modernisation of Delhi and Mumbai airports.A review of some of the projects provides a better view of the potential and problems confronting this core sector.
Read The Rest >>><\/a><\/p>\n
Heather Timmons
New York Times, US
May 07, 2007<\/a>
New Delhi: Emergency landings, chronic delays and millions of dollars in losses \u00e2\u20ac\u201d and that is just the month of April.
India\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s airline industry has grown at breakneck speed, with a dozen local airlines carrying 33 million passengers on easy financing from banks and aggressive sales campaigns by Boeing and Airbus.
Now, when they are supposed to be turning profits, they are losing money and buying more planes \u00e2\u20ac\u201d including a handful of doubledecker Airbus 380s.
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Tarun Shukla
Livemint
May 07, 2207<\/a>
New Delhi: V. Thulasidas, the chairman and managing director of Air India, the country\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s state-owned international carrier, is the man in the hot seat at the ministry of civil aviation these days. Not only is he tasked with working out the details of the merger between Air India and Indian, he is expected to be the first chairman of the merged entity, which will be the fourth-largest airline in Asia.
In an exclusive interview Thulasidas talks about how critical it is for Air India and Indian to merge and keep upgrading their fleet to be able to remain in the business; plans of combining Alliance Air, a unit of Indian, and Air India Express, Air India\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s international budget airline, to form a low-cost carrier with international operations to take on India\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s current crop of no-frills airlines; and rationalization of overlapping routes of Air India and Indian.
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Shobha John
Times of India
May 06, 2007<\/a>
What do Changi in Singapore, John Lennon in Liverpool and Dubai have in common? They\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re airports driven by branding. And that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s given these world-class airports a flying start. And our airports? Nowhere close to them with their simple, basic structures meant for planes to simply land and take-off. But all that is set to change. Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport (CSIA), being privatised by Mumbai International Airport Pvt Ltd (MIAL), will be the first private airport in India to brand itself and vie with others for a slice of passenger loyalty and footfalls.
In fact, the concept of airport branding is still a nascent phenomenon, barely 20 years old.
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\u00e2\u20ac\u02dcIndian aviation IT market worth $130-$ 200 mn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122<\/span><\/span>
Lekha Agarwal
Mumbai Newsline
May 05, 2007<\/a>
Mumbai: On Wednesday, Mumbai\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport went live with India\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s first modern airport management system, powered by SITA\u00e2\u20ac\u201da leading provider of air transport communications and IT solutions with a presence in 220 countries. On his maiden visit to India since he was appointed CEO of SITA last year, Geneva-based Francesco Violante, who is also the chairman of SITA subsidiaries OnAir and CHAMP Cargosystem\u00e2\u20ac\u201dthe ventures focussed on in-flight communications services and IT initiatives for air cargo respectively, spoke to our correspondent about IT solutions for Indian airports and airlines, as they switch to the best hi-tech available globally for the aviation industry.
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Ranju Sarkar
Hindustan Times
May 02, 2007<\/a>
New Delhi: Last week, Deccan Aviation, which runs budget carrier Air Deccan, announced a loss of Rs 213 crore for the quarter ended March 2007. Rising losses have been a worry for airlines as they fast run out of cash raised from investors.
The biggest question facing airlines today is how to raise yields and sustain the cash burn? This is best reflected in the pressure on yields-almost all budget carriers have been saying that they are Rs 200-500 (yields per seat) away from beginning to make money or achieving cash break-even. But given the operating environment-high infrastructure and fuel costs coupled with brutal price wars-and the more price-sensitive travellers who patronise them, will the budget carriers in India be ever able to increase yields?
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