Cruising heights by Newsline

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF’S NOTE

Accenture. Performance Undelivered n 2006, the global consulting badshah that had Tiger Woods as its face for years in its K Srinivasan report on the two then national carriers — Indian Airlines and Air India — said that the critical factor for their ‘sub-optimal’ performance was the fact that the two existed as separate entities and their fleet was old. Accenture said a merger was best because “consolidation can help companies increase efficiency and scale and serve customers more effectively” and “the key to realising these advantages, however, is planning for pre- and post-merger activities and integration”. According to the Accenture report, if the two airlines were merged and a new fleet was ordered, there would be a profit of `1,000 crore in year one of the merger and for the rest the sky was the limit. What you have instead is that the losses in the first year was slightly above the profits that Accenture had suggested: it was `1,200 crore. It went up to `2,600 crore in year two and `5,500 crore in the third year. Today, the losses are hovering around the `17,000 crore mark. Just around the time that Accenture began work on the Air India merger, they were awarded and — to the shock of many — accepted with alacrity the plum assignment of managing and advising on the merger of the Kingfisher-Air Deccan saga. It was a conflict of interest of the worst kind: managing two mega mergers in the same sector in the same country at the same time! But Accenture didn’t bat an eyelid in taking on both assignments, and to the eternal shame of the government, no one put a foot down in the government and told Accenture where to get off. To be fair to Accenture, they kept a level playing field for both mergers and both are ready to fall off the cliff almost back to back!

CRUISING HEIGHTS June 2012

No one’s asking any questions about the pots of good money that were wasted on this global consultant whose total result has been nought. The merger is on paper and if there are red flags that Accenture has shown at every corner — as some of them claim to have done — one doesn’t find any evidence of it in Rajiv Gandhi Bhawan. In fact, time and time again, in the first three years of the merger as the losses mounted, the anger and bitterness within Indian Airlines and Air India had to be seen to be believed. They simply laughed at the ‘Johny-Tonies’ — an euphemism for the suited-booted consultants who were ruining their future with all sorts of fancy ideas. There is much that the Maharaja’s men and women have to answer for. No doubt about that. But the fact is that they were led into a merger that they never wanted and they were forced into a marriage that was simply unworkable from day one. Maybe it’s time for Ajit Singh to acknowledge that the best way forward would be to bite the bullet and cut the Gordian knot and follow the Qantas model of separating the domestic and international operations and create a holding company to manage the two subsidiaries. As for Accenture, their swing has been wild and woefully off the mark. Like Tiger they need plenty of repair before they can start delivering again.

srini@newsline.in

contents

REVIVING THE MAHARAJA p29 THE AIR INDIA STRIKE, A HEAVY BLOW TO THE MAHARAJA THAT WAS RECUPERATING, HAS THROWN UP GRAVE QUESTIONS NOT JUST ABOUT AIR INDIA BUT ALSO ABOUT THE AIRLINES' PROFESSIONALISM. WHAT IS MORE IMPORTANT TO THE PILOTS AND THE GOVERNMENT: THEIR SELF-CENTRED INTERESTS OR THE REVIVAL OF THE NATIONAL CARRIER WHICH IS REPRESENTATIVE OF THE COUNTRY'S AVIATION HEALTH ON THE WORLD MAP?

EBACE.AERO

Xerox recently announced it was blending its cloud capabilities with the data expertise of AvFinity to provide airlines with an efficient, simpler way to communicate. Xerox’s on-demand cloud infrastructure along with the AvFinity’s patentpending software technology flawlessly shares important data and key transmissions from airlines to other carriers and innumerable flight authorities. These technological advancements often involve the use of different or unsuited communication formats that can inhibit airlines from efficientlysharing information with key aviation agencies and airline partners around the world. Xerox business cloud services are solving this problem by helping airlines share critical information, such as their flight plans and passenger details with aviation agencies such as the US’ Federal Aviation Administration, the Transportation Security Administration and Customs and border protection of destination countries. This means critical flight information arrives without interruption at its destination and meets each receiving party’s format and protocol requirements. “There is no room for error in ensuring safety in the skies,” said Ken Stephens, Xerox Senior VicePresident of cloud services. “Airlines can now leapfrog to the cloud to expedite their communications and do so at costs much lower than maintaining existing mainframe systems.” Stephens mentioned: “Airlines have long depended upon legacy communications systems to transport information. However, the skies are projected to become busier as conventional, low-cost and regional carriers all increase in numbers. To manage that growth, the aviation industry as a whole hopes to advance the way key information is apportioned.

ZNB.INDIA.COM

Off the cuff

Push for safety from the cloud

NEWS DIGEST

p20

One of the greatest miracles of the Indian aviation industry is the crisis-ridden Kingfisher that manages to fly occasionally plus AAI unveils Lucknow terminal, CAPA estimates for 2012-13 and the crash of the Sukhoi Superjet 100. CRUISING HEIGHTS June 2012

EBACE 2012

p38

Demonstrating its value in the midst of a challenging economic situation, the 12th Annual European Business Aviation Convention & Exhibition at Geneva was attended by around 12,638 people from 99 countries. A report on the show.

ARABIANSUPPLYCHAIN.COM

contents

CARGO

ARTICLES NEWS VIEWS EDITS INTERVIEWS CLIPPINGS PROFILES NEWS DIGEST

CRUISING HEIGHTS

p58

Volume VII No 2

The South is rising. In these times of economic distress, Air China Cargo and China Airlines' freighters have added new routes connecting Chennai. These highlight the growing importance of South India as an emerging market and cargo hub that is developing by leaps and bound.

Editor-in-Chief

K SRINIVASAN HEMANT RAWAT

Managing Editor

TIRTHANKAR GHOSH Group Consulting Editor

R KRISHNAN Consulting Editor

INTERVIEW NET EXPRESS

p41

For gadget-happy Indians, smartphones and tablets are becoming necessary accessories and taking the travel experience to a new level. The youth is making the most of it: they are used in the planning process of trips as well as the actual travel for a variety of purposes.

p26

The Dreamliner will be introduced for the first time in India. For Yasushi Isomura, Country Manager, Japan Airlines, the introduction of the Dreamliner reiterates the carrier's commitment to the Indian market and also indicates the importance of this market.

NANDU MANJESHWAR Assistant Editor

JUSTIN C MURIK , NIDHI SHARMA Copy Editor

ASHOK KUMAR Senior Sub-Editor-cum-Reporter

PUNIT MISHRA Senior Designer

RUCHI SINHA Design

MODASSAR NEHAL, MOHIT KANSAL NAGENDER DUBEY Picture Editor

PRADEEP CHANDRA Photo Editor

HC TIWARI Photographer

HEMANT RAWAT —————————— Director (Admin & Corporate Affairs)

RAJIV SINGH Director (Marketing) HEMANT RAWAT

PILATUS

RAKESH GERA Senior Manager (Sales & Marketing)

PRAVEEN SHARMA

AIR FORCE CHOPPERS

p47

After a spate of chopper accidents, Air Marshal (Retd) Rajkumar reels out some shocking statistics like none of the government-owned helipads being lisenced by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). Only nine helipads operated by private sector are licensed.

p51

The government’s decision to induct 75 Swiss-made trainer jets in the Indian Air Force comes as a grim reminder of a serious question in defence preparedness. How does India produce various state-of-theart ballistic missiles and nuclear weapons, but fails to produce a basic trainer aircraft for its rookie combat fliers?

CRUISING HEIGHTS NO ONE IS SERIOUS ABOUT AIR INDIA: AN ANGUISHED FORMER AIR INDIAN

www.cruisingheights.in

JUNE 2012 I `90

iss A Swr for traineAir the Force Pg 51

Clear-air Turbulence Just when a beleaguered Air India was raising its head, pilots struck work putting all chances of the national carrier’s revival in jeopardy

Plus

JAL Dreamliner woos Indian fliers

Only 9 helipads DGCA-licensed

Chartered air cargo in take-off mode

Cover Design: Ruchi Sinha Cover Photo:

Khaja Imaduddin Ali picasaweb.google.com

The total number of pages in this issue: 72+4

CRUISING HEIGHTS June 2012

Manager (PR)

ASHUTOSH MISHRA Sr. Executive (Coordination)

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Newsline Publications Pvt. Ltd., D-11 Basement, Nizamuddin (East), New Delhi -110 013, Tel: +91-11-41033381-82 All information in CRUISING HEIGHTS is derived from sources we consider reliable. It is passed on to our readers without any responsibility on our part. Opinions/views expressed by third parties in abstract or in interviews are not necessarily shared by us. Material appearing in the magazine cannot be reproduced in whole or in part(s) without prior permission. The publisher assumes no responsibility for material lost or damaged in transit. The publisher reserves the right to refuse, withdraw or otherwise deal with all advertisements without explanation. All advertisements must comply with the Indian Advertisements Code. The publisher will not be liable for any loss caused by any delay in publication, error or failure of advertisement to appear. Owned and published by K Srinivasan 4C Pocket-IV, Mayur Vihar Phase- I, Delhi-91 and printed by him at Nutech Photolithographers, B-240, Okhla Industrial Area, Phase- I, New Delhi-110020.

“ PERISCOPE

Prestige issue “It’s been a David versus Goliath story. Once we Gulf carriers) were small fry, but we are becoming the Goliaths.” QATAR AIRWAYS CEO AKBAR AL BAKER on European airlines’ claims that Gulf carriers unfairly grab market share.

Optimism unlimited “Reviving Air India would not be an easy task but is not impossible and that is why the government has offered all support.”

LETTERS TO EDITOR

The story No show (May, 2012) was interesting to read. It is heartening to know that India is working on developing its own 90-seater civilian aircraft with the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR). I hope that National Civil Aircraft (NCA-90) will give the muchneeded fillip to the ailing civil aviation scene in India. Dr Sudeep Kumar, Head of CSIR’s Planning and Performance Division, was rightly quoted, “It is a niche technology. India has its desired expertise through NAL to develop its very own national civilian aircraft.” Kumar Ranjan, Patna I enjoyed reading the cover story (Fear of flying, May 2012). I think Business Aviation holds a great potential for India as the story mentioned. In this scenario, India can well emerge as a leader as the country’s economic progress has fuelled the growth of General Aviation (GA). As a matter of fact, business jets are no longer seen as a luxury as they are in demand for chartered business, tourism and medical purposes. Ram Krishnan, Surat As a regular aviation watcher, I was amazed to read the extract, When Tatas had to say goodbye (May, 2012) and its revelations. First of all, I must congratulate MK Kaw for daring to write such a controversial book tearing apart the officialdom of the then Civil Aviation Minister CM Ibrahim and his cronyism. In his book, An Outsider Everywhere — Revelations by an Insider, he has rightly written, “The history of civil aviation in this country would have taken a different trajectory, if Tata-SIA had been allowed to float an airline.” Tejindar Sapra, Ludhiana

Befitting honour “The AAI is one of the very key organisations of the country and has been playing a vital role in providing efficient air transportation. AAI's contributions have helped in increasing the potential of our country.”

CIVIL AVIATION MINISTER AJIT SINGH on Airports Authority of India's consistent performance over the years.

Blurred vision “India lacks critical mass of aircraft. The Indian fleet is not too old, therefore depending entirely on domestic requirement is not an option for an MRO.” S RAVINARAYANAN, CEO, AXIS AEROSPACE on the feasibility of MROs in India.

Bold generalisation “The queen of the skies (Boeing 747-8 Intercontinental) is the result of great teamwork, of two great companies working together.” LUFTHANSA CHIEF OFFICER CARSTEN SPOHR on the induction of Boeing 747-8 Intercontinental into the Lufthansa’s fleet.

I have recently received three copies of Cruising Heights. I am impressed with the coverage, design and presentation of the magazines. Very high quality indeed. Air Marshal Rajkumar (Retd), Bengaluru All correspondence may be addressed to Editor, Cruising Heights, D-11 Basement, Nizamuddin (East), New Delhi -13, OR mail to cruisingheights@newsline.in.

AMRIT PANDURANGI, SENIOR DIRECTOR AT DELOITTE TOUCHE TOHMATSU on the revival plans of Air India.

CRUISING HEIGHTS June 2012

Chaotic plans “The government is looking at the issue of recent hike in airfares (on account of hike in various charges) at the New Delhi International Airport. The matter has been taken up with the Prime Minister's Office and Civil Aviation Ministry.” MINISTER OF STATE FOR TOURISM SULTAN AHMED on the recent hike in Delhi airport charges.

Unveiled: World’s best airports

Hong Kong International Airport bagging the third position. Four of the top five best airports were from Asia — Seoul, Singapore, Hong Kong and Beijing — while only three European airports — Amsterdam, Munich and Zurich — made it into the top ten. The world’s top 10 best airports were: Incheon International Airport Singapore Changi Airport Hong Kong International Airport Amsterdam Schiphol Airport Beijing Capital International Airport Munich Airport Zurich Airport Kuala Lumpur International Airport Vancouver International Airport Central Japan International Airport

COLD STATS

Skytrax, the UK-based air travel consultancy, recently unveiled the best airports in the world in the annual World Airport Awards. Various factors were taken into consideration, including ease of access (getting to and from the airport), terminal design and comfortableness, seating facilities, cleanliness, staff attitude, and customer perception of airport security and safety standards to assess the airports’ ranking. South Korea’s Incheon Airport was once again named the world’s best, taking the top award for the second time after 2009. “Looking across the entire survey, Incheon International Airport achieved top five finishes in eight out of ten eligible categories, which is a remarkable vote of confidence by airline travellers in standards being delivered at Incheon International Airport,” said Edward Plaisted, Chairman of SkyTrax. Singapore’s Changi Airport was named the second best airport with

LOOKING GLASS Welcome! I see you have cash to pay for Airport charges, Checked baggage, Duplicate e-ticket, Overweight baggage, Extra leg room, ‘Fat tax’ for overweight passengers…

XYZ Airlines

But we thought we were flying low-cost!!

Braving the odds “I am determined to see the Emirates secure further landing rights in Germany, regardless of opposition from domestic carrier Lufthansa.” SIR MAURICE FLANAGAN, EXECUTIVE VICE CHAIRMAN, Emirates Airline on the airline's landing rights in Germany.

Sporting spirit “I am actually somewhat different from my counterparts around Europe. I have no problem with what Middle East carriers are doing.” WILLIE WALSH, CHIEF EXECUTIVE, INTERNATIONAL AIRLINES GROUP, in his bid to woo Middle East carrier to join an alliance.

CRUISING HEIGHTS June 2012

TRAFFIC DATA

January-April 2012 witnessed a growth of 7.15 per cent in the number of passengers carried by domestic carriers. The figure was 203.6 lakh against 190.02 lakh during the corresponding period of the previous year. The domestic carrier that held the top position in the market was IndiGo with 23.8 per cent. Jet Airways was next with 21.4 per cent. However, if Jet Airways’ figure was coupled with JetLite’s 6.8 per cent, it was the leader with 28.2 per cent. The other carriers’ figures were: SpiceJet (17.7 per cent), Air India Domestic (17.6 per cent), GoAir (7.3 per cent) and Kingfisher (5.4 per cent). The passenger load factor in the month of April 2012 increased due to the beginning of the peak season, according to the figures released by the Director General of Civil Aviation. IndiGo led the carriers with a seat factor of 82 per cent in April (it was 76.5 per cent in March), GoAir’s was at 80.8 per cent (80.2 per cent in March), SpiceJet’s was 80 per cent (March: 73 per cent), Kingfisher 77 per cent (March: 69.5 per cent), JetLite 76.8 per cent (March: 74.1 per cent), Jet Airways 77.3 per cent (March: 75.8 per cent) and Air India 70.5 per cent (March: 68.9 per cent). The number of passenger complaints recorded by scheduled domestic airlines in April 2012 was 890. The number of passenger-related complaints was 1.8 per 10,000 passengers carried. GoAir had three complaints per 10,000 passengers while IndiGo had 2, Air India (Domestic) and Jet Airways both had 1.6, SpiceJet and JetLite had 1.5 and Kingfisher had 1.1. IndiGo led the airlines in the overall on-time performance of airlines in April 2012 at six metro airports — Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Bengaluru and Hyderabad —

with 86.8 per cent. The other airlines that followed were: Jet Airways and JetLite 86.5 per cent, GoAir 86.4 per cent, Kingfisher 81.2 per cent, SpiceJet 80.7 per cent and Air India (Domestic) 79.7 per cent.

Kingfisher also flew to four metros. Its on-time performance at Chennai was 87.3 per cent followed by Bengaluru (84.6 per cent), Delhi (79.8 per cent) and Mumbai (79.6 per cent). SpiceJet’s on-time performance at Kolkata was 89.5 per cent. The carrier’s performance at Hyderabad was 88 per cent, Delhi (85.3 per cent), Bengaluru (83.5 per cent), Mumbai (73.6 per cent) and Chennai (65.7 per cent).

APRIL SAW BETTER TIMES

ONCE AGAIN IndiGo’s on-time performance at Bengaluru was 92.1 per cent. The carrier’s performance at Delhi was 90.1 per cent, Hyderabad (87.9 per cent), Chennai (87 per cent), Kolkata (82.3 per cent) and Mumbai (80.8 per cent). Jet Airways and JetLite’s ontime performance at Chennai was 97.8 per cent. The two carriers’ landings and take-offs were: Kolkata (82.3 per cent), Hyderabad (94.2 per cent), and Bengaluru (87 per cent). The carrier’s performance was at Delhi (90.1 per cent), and Mumbai (80.8 per cent). GoAir flies to only four of the six metro airports. The carrier’s on-time performance at Kolkata was the highest at 95.6 per cent. In the other three metros, it was: Delhi (91 per cent), Mumbai (81.1 per cent), and Bengaluru (79.6 per cent).

CRUISING HEIGHTS June 2012

Air India’s on-time performance at Kolkata was 85 per cent. The carrier’s landings and take-offs at the other metros were: Hyderabad (84.7 per cent), Bengaluru (82.6 per cent), Chennai (81.2 per cent, Delhi (79.7 per cent) and Mumbai (73.9 per cent). According to the data received by the DGCA, the overall cancellation rate of flights in April 2012 was 1.5 per cent. Leading the carriers was Air India — Domestic (5.2 per cent) followed by Kingfisher (3.3 per cent), Jet Airways (0.6 per cent), JetLite (0.5 per cent), SpiceJet (0.4 per cent) and GoAir and IndiGo (0.1 per cent). The reasons for the cancellations: Miscellaneous 36.3 per cent, Technical 24.1 per cent, Operational 20.7 per cent, Weather 11.7 per cent and Commercial 7.1 per cent.

¢ PASSENGERS CARRIED BY SCHEDULED DOMESTIC AIRLINES

¢ MARKET SHARE OF SCHEDULED DOMESTIC AIRLINES

Passengers carried by domestic airlines during Jan-Apr 2012 were 203.6 lakh as against 190.02 lakh during the corresponding period of previous year thereby registering a growth of + 7.15 per cent. 2011 250

Growth

- YoY (+ 7.15%) - MoM (+8.99%)

203.6

190.02

IndiGo 23.8%

2012

Pax Carried (in Lakhs)

200

Air India (Dom) 17.6%

Jet Airways 21.4% Jet Airways + JetLite = 28.2% GoAir 7.3%

150 JetLite 6.8%

100 50

46.71

50.91

SpiceJ et 17.7%

¢ CANCELLATION DATA OF SCHEDULED DOMESTIC AIRLINES

0 YoY

Kingfisher 5.4%

MoM

• Over Cancelletion Rate in April 2012—1.5 per cent p

¢ On time performance (otp) OTP AT SIX METRO AIRPORTS 100

0.1

GoAir

0.1

SpiceJet

86.5

86.8

86.4

81.2

79.7

OTP (%)

IndiGo

80.7

0.4

JetLite

0.5

Jet Airways

0.6

Kingfisher

3.3

Air India (Dom)

5.2

Cancellation Rate (%)

¢ CAPACITY VS DEMAND 0

Capacity (ASKM)

SpiceJ et

GoAir

Jet Airways+JetLite

¢ PASSENGER LOAD FACTOR OF SCHEDULED DOMESTIC AIRLINES Mar 12

30 20 10 0 -10 -20 -30

Apr 12

100

-40 Apr May Jun Jul

Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr Year over Year

80 Seat Factor (%)

Demand (RPKM)

IndiGo % Change over Month

Kingfisher

Air India (Dom)

75.8 77.3

74.1

76.8

68.9 70.5

80.2 80.8

69.5

82 76.5

¢ REASONS FOR CANCELLATION

Consec/Misc 36.3%

40 20 0 Air India

JetLite

SpiceJ et

Jet Airways

Kingfisher

IndiGo GoAir

Technical 24.1%

The passenger load factor in the month of Apr 2012 has increased due to beginning of peak season.

Commercial 7.1%

¢ PASSENGER COMPLAINTS OF SCHEDULED DOMES-

Operational 20.7%

TIC AIRLINES

• Total number of complaints (Apr 2012) — 890 • Number of passenger-related complaints — 1.8 per 10,000 passengers carried Kingfisher

W eather 11.7%

¢ REASONS FOR DELAY

1.1 O p s 13.6%

JetLite

1.5

SpiceJ et

1.5

Jet Airways

1.6

Air India (dom)

1.6

Airp o rt 4.7% Reactionary 67.1%

IndiGo

T ech 4.1%

GoAir

AT C 4.0%

3 0

0.5

1.5

2.5

3.5

No. of Complaints/10,000 Pax

CRUISING HEIGHTS June 2012

W x 2.6% Pax 1.5% Ramp 1.2% Misc 1.2%

NEWS DIGEST

Star is a sprightly teen! Qatar in oneworld? Will Qatar Airways be the Middle Eastern carrier that will join an alliance? Perhaps, it will be the first one if what CEO Akbar Al Baker said recently is to be believed. “Cooperating with airlines and feeding traffic into each other's networks is always beneficial. We haven't been invited by anybody and if we are invited, yes, we would consider it in a positive way,” said Al Baker. He was obviously reacting to International Airlines Group (IAG) CEO Willie Walsh who said that he would be “amazed” if one of the Gulf carriers did not join a global airline alliance in 2012. Walsh also said that “it would be a healthy development” and “we have certainly discussed Gulf airline membership in oneworld at great length”. Indeed, Walsh has been a great defender of the Mid-East carriers but he felt that competition among themselves would not support the three Middle Eastern majors and made the pitch for at least one of them to join an alliance like BA's oneworld. “I personally believe the industry has matured to a point where we'll see Middle East carriers joining the alliances this year. I'd be amazed if this doesn't happen. Within oneworld we have been debating it. To my mind they are the key players.” Incidentally, Emirates, the largest of the region's carriers, said that it was unwilling to join an alliance since it wanted to focus on keeping a uniform brand across its own huge network even as Air France-KLM said that it was talking about a partnership with Etihad.

Fifteen years ago an event took place which would forever change the landscape of commercial aviation. Five forward-looking and like-minded CEOs took the bold decision to create the first-ever multilateral airline alliance: the Star Alliance network. Founding carriers Air Canada,

Lufthansa, Scandinavian Airlines, Thai and United all realised that with growing globalisation, the need for more international travel to a wider range of destinations would become increasingly important. As no airline on its own would be able to achieve this, these five airlines established the Star

SkyTeam launches Go Russia pass SkyTeam has launched its new Go Russia pass offering greater flexibility and cost savings on flights operated by Aeroflot within Russia. The pass is the latest in a series of Go Passes developed by SkyTeam to provide global customers with economical travel to suit their needs whether flying for business or leisure. The Go Russia pass is available to passengers traveling on flights originating outside Russia with any of SkyTeam’s 15 member airlines or on a Go Round the World ticket. Aeroflot — Russia’s flag carrier and a SkyTeam member since 2006 — operates an extensive network of domestic flights and more than 30 destinations are included from its hub at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport as part of the Go Russia pass. These include the famous financial, industrial and tourism centres of St Petersburg, the major energy producing regions of Surgut and Tyumen and the industrial cities of Nizhny Novgorod and Vladivostok. Customers purchasing a Go Russia pass can opt from a minimum of three to a maximum of 16 flight coupons. Fares CRUISING HEIGHTS June 2012

are calculated based on the number of miles flown non-stop, offering discounts of up to 20 per cent off standard fares, depending on the itinerary. Coupons have no minimum stay, open-jaw itineraries are permitted and passengers can stop in each city multiple times — giving them complete flexibility to plan their trips. The Go Russia pass began selling from May 2. SkyTeam members serving the alliance’s hub at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport include Air France, Alitalia, Czech Airlines, China Eastern, China Southern, Delta Air Lines, KLM and Korean Air. Aeroflot operates flights from Moscow to major cities throughout Europe, Asia, the Greater China region, North America, Africa and the Middle East.

Alliance network with the aim of becoming the “Leading global airline alliance for the high value international traveller”. In 15 years the Alliance has grown from five airlines offering a combined total of 6,000 daily flights to 578 airports in 106 countries to a network of 25 airlines carrying more than 600 million passengers on 20,500 daily flights to 1,293 airports in 190 countries. To paraphrase the CEO of one of the member carriers: “If Star Alliance doesn’t fly there, you probably don’t want to go.” In a formal communication to the flying public and his colleagues, former United Airlines Senior VP and current Star Alliance CEO Mark Schwab said: “Having grown from just five airlines in 1997, we couldn’t be more proud to now offer our services across more member airlines than any other network in the world. On behalf of all its member airlines, I’d like to extend a big thank you for your custom and alliance loyalty. You’ve earned it... In order to reward all our frequent travellers for their loyalty, all Star Alliance member carrier FFPs (frequent flier programmes) are offering

their most active frequent travellers a bonus of 15,000 miles/points. This will be awarded to the 15 FFP members registered in each programme who travel on the most Star Alliance airlines between now and November 14. For exact details, please refer to the individual FFPs via the following link: www.staralliance.com/en/benefits/frequent-flyer/. Star Alliance is also rewarding customers with a selection of “once in a lifetime” trips. In a web-based competition, participants have to find an aircraft, which is hidden somewhere on the Star Alliance network. The lucky winner and 14 friends can jet off to one of 27 global festivals. Further prizes include a Business Class Round the World ticket for two and 15 further round-trip air tickets to enjoy one of the 27 global festivals on offer. As part of a special promotion, the Star Alliance network has offered a 15 per cent discount on the Round the World (RTW) fares in Economy Class. All applicable taxes, fees and surcharges will not be discounted. Full details are available at www.staralliance.com

Malaysia Airlines set to join oneworld In business class, you are allowed four bags and a walking stick — plus another bag if you have a child! Malaysia Airlines has indicated that its plans to join the oneworld airline alliance are firmly on track. MAS also highlighted that its flights had been added to the oneworld

Dentsu America wins oneworld account oneworld has announced that New York-based full-service advertising agency Dentsu America will be its global agency of record. The win comes after a multi-agency pitch that was held in New York in February. Under the new partnership, Dentsu

round-the-world fare and that it is adding codeshare partnerships with oneworld members Cathay Pacific and Royal Jordanian. But there is no news about Malaysia Airlines’ planning for a closer partnership with Qantas, the airline sponsoring MAS into the oneworld alliance.

America will be responsible for oneworld’s strategic brand messaging and creative development as well as media planning duties worldwide.The company is all set to launch integrated communication activities later in the year which include multi-channel brand and marketing initiatives adapted across multiple languages and cultures to reflect the 800 destinations in 150 countries served by oneworld member airlines around the globe.

CRUISING HEIGHTS June 2012

NEWS DIGEST

Entertaining slugfest!

Back in the air PALESTINIAN AIRLINES IS BACK IN THE NEWS. GROUNDED FOR SEVEN YEARS, THE TINY AIRLINE WITH ONLY TWO 48-SEAT TURBOPROP PLANES AND TWO WEEKLY FLIGHTS HAS STARTED FLYING FROM ITS BORROWED HUB IN CAIRO FROM MAY 9. THE FLIGHTS BETWEEN EL-ARISH AND MARKA AIRBASE IN THE JORDANIAN CAPITAL OF AMMAN HAS HELPED GAZANS, WHO DO NOT HAVE TO TRAVEL 350 KM TO THE EGYPTIAN CAPITAL TO BOARD PLANES. THE STORY OF THE 15-YEAR-OLD AIRLINE BEGAN IN THE LATE 1990S WHEN IT LOOKED LIKE THE PALESTINIANS WERE ON THE VERGE OF A STATEHOOD DEAL WITH ISRAEL. AT THAT TIME, IT OPERATED FROM GAZA AIRPORT. Akbar al Baker

Clark on the Triple 7 Emirates President Tim Clarke told Reuters TV: “The 777 and its derivative is of great interest to us because we started taking the 777-300ERs in 2005 and they will start retiring in a 12 year period.” His comments came even as Boeing is considering a relook of its 777 with new wings and new engines that will be ready for service by the end of the decade. According to Clark, Boeing was “nearly there” in getting the revamp right. “We’ve been working with them for quite a long time and are a little bit exasperated by the time its taking,” he said. “My view is that a significant number of carriers will sign up for this airplane. I believe the demand is there. Anybody who has a 777 today of size of ER will be automatically interested in its derivative,” said Clarke. But there was a note of caution: “Well, I’m just saying we are watching it very closely. We don’t want to get caught in the same way as the 787s ... we can’t afford a three-year delay on this,” he told the TV interviewer.”

Qatar's Middle East expansion Qatar Airways is preparing for its 2012 Middle East route expansion with Iraq being added to the airline’s growing network.The northern Iraqi city of Erbil and capital Baghdad will join the airline’s international portfolio of routes over a period of two weeks. The addition of Iraq marks yet another move by the Doha-based airline to venture into high demand, underserved markets. With the launch of two routes in Iraq in the space of just two weeks, Qatar Airways will take its new start-ups in 2012 to six destinations, with a further seven routes planned by the end of the year. Qatar Airways Chief Executive Officer Akbar Al Baker said Iraq had long been under the microscope by the company’s planning team. “We constantly evaluate numerous route opportunities and taking into consideration a number of factors, we feel that now is the opportunity to venture into this market. With international corporate houses looking to do business in Iraq, frequent air access will ease travel to and from the country via our Doha hub,” said Al Baker.

CRUISING HEIGHTS June 2012

There is a slug fest on fare in Australia and the icing on the cake is that it extends not just to money saved, but to who is going to entertain passengers better. Both Qantas and Virgin Australia are stepping up their efforts to boost their in-flight technology. As Australia’s two largest airlines head towards an all-out price war on domestic routes, they have been doing their best to ensure they will be able to offer more than just an in-flight entertainment system, especially for those passengers sitting in business-class cabins. Virgin after a round of exhaustive trials has decided to offer Samsung tablet devices, which will be pre-loaded with movies, TV and audio programmes, to business passengers by the end of June. It will also be available to economy passengers for a fee. Meanwhile, Qantas has been handing out iPads to passengers, including those in economy, aboard one of its Boeing 767-300 aircraft since January on a trial basis. It gives them access to more than 200 hours of entertainment but not an internet connection. Qantas is still deciding whether to make iPads available on its wider domestic fleet.

Flying paper

masterpieces REDBULLPAPERWINGS.COM

It was as if there was a huge stack of flights waiting to land. No, there was no air traffic glitch and there was no congestion on the ground, it was just that paper plane flyers from Lebanon, Czech Republic, Poland, Turkey and the United States were crowned world champions in Salzburg, Austria after defeating rivals from over 80 countries in the first week of May. Elie Chemaly from Lebanon achieved the longest flight time with 10.68 seconds— the organisers of the Red Bull Paper Wings World tournament said in a statement. Chemaly, a student of ElectroMechanical Engineering at Saint Joseph University in Lebanon, topped competitors from 82 different countries. Chemaly had won the local competition, held at the Rafic Hariri Airport, where he scored 9.90 seconds. Czech Tomas Beck won the longest distance category at the finals with a 50.37-metre (165.25-foot) throw. But this was far from the current world records of 63.19 metres for distance and 27.9 seconds for airborne time. For the aerobatics category, in which the construction, art and design as well as flight performance of the paper plane are taken into account, two pilots received the top marks of 50 points. US pilot Ryan Naccarato and Tomasz Chodryra from Poland were awarded maximum points in the category by a jury led by Austrian Olympic ski jumping star Thomas Morgenstern. Victory in the Team Event went to the high flyers from Team Turkey, whose three-team members finished in the top ten in its respective categories. In all, 249 paper plane enthusiasts from 83 countries took part in the twoday event, selected from among 35,000 participants in some 600 qualification rounds worldwide. Regulations required that the planes be made out of a single A4 sheet of paper using no tools—such as scissors or glue—except in the aerobatics category.

CRUISING HEIGHTS June 2012

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Losing money — heavily

EGLOBALTRAVELMEDIA.COM.AU

International Consolidated Airlines IAG swung to a net loss of €146 million ($189 million) in the quarter to endMarch compared with a net profit of €33 million a year earlier. “The rise in unit revenues has not been enough to offset the rising fuel price,” IAG Chief Executive Willie Walsh said in response to the announcement. IAG owns British Airways and Iberia. IAG's loss underlines the escalating crisis among Europe's flag carriers as stubbornly high fuel prices have left the sector mired in red ink despite a rebound in passenger traffic as more efficient budget carriers take market share on short-haul routes and expanding Middle East airlines grab an increasing share of the longhaul market. IAG's performance was similar to poor first-quarter showings by Lufthansa and Air France that also reported disappointing first quarter earnings with net losses of €397 million and €368 million, respectively.

Peres dumps El Al for Air Canada

Bombardier Q400 booms Bombardier Aerospace’s Q400 NextGen aircraft kicked off the fourth leg of its world tour in Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). Following successful demonstration flights and static displays in Tblisi, Georgia and Saratov, Russia, the Q400 NextGen airliner — painted in its special “Get More” livery — is on its way to other regions of Russia. Russian carriers have been utilising regional jet and turboprop aircraft produced by Bombardier to access secondary or tertiary markets since 2003 when the Dash 8 aircraft became the first Westernbuilt regional aircraft to obtain Russian certification and registration. Final certification for the 50-seat Bombardier CRJ100/200 aircraft was obtained in 2006. Since then, there has been a significant increase in the number of Dash 8/Q-Series and CRJ100/200 aircraft operated by Russian and CIS airlines located in Belarus, Georgia, Armenia and Kazakhstan.

Thai turbulence

Thai Airways has sacked its President because of disagreements over strategy. Piyasvasti Amranand, a former energy minister, became President in October 2009 when the opposition Democrat party was in power. In the last three years, he has launched cost-cutting measures, including salary reduction. Thai Airways is 51 per cent owned by the government. Chokchai Panyayong, Vice-President in charge of Strategy and Business Development, has been appointed acting President. The airline’s Chairman, Ampon Kittiampon, told reporters: “The board has agreed to Piyasvasti Amranand terminate the President’s contract because he cannot work in unity with the strategy committee.” Jamsri Sukchotirat, Chairwoman of the airline’s union, told Reuters that she would ask the board for an explanation. “The board has to clarify the decision because he met key performance targets, the airline’s operations have improved and he has no problem working with employees,” Jamsri said. CRUISING HEIGHTS June 2012

Shimon Peres

ISRAEL’S NATIONAL CARRIER—EL AL—HAS APOLOGISED TO PRESIDENT SHIMON PERES AFTER ATTEMPTING TO CHARGE HIM NEARLY $5,000 TO BRING AN OXYGEN TANK ON AN OFFICIAL TRIP TO CANADA. IN INDIA, OFFICIALS WOULD HAVE BEEN SUSPENDED AND CARGESHEETED FOR THE SUPPOSED OUTRAGE, BUT PERES BRUSHED IT ASIDE AND COOLLY TOOK AIR CANADA INSTEAD FOR AN OFFICIAL VISIT TO THAT COUNTRY. ACCORDING TO PROTOCOL, AN OXYGEN TANK AND OTHER MEDICAL EQUIPMENT IS MANDATORY WHENEVER AN ISRAELI PRESIDENT OR PRIME MINISTER FLIES ABROAD. AN EL AL SPOKESWOMAN LATER SAID THAT THE AIRLINE HAD SENT THE 88YEAR-OLD PRESIDENT AN APOLOGY. BY THEN, PERES HAD ALREADY BOOKED HIS TRIP WITH AIR CANADA. PERES SAVED SOME MONEY FOR ISRAEL AS AIR CANADA DID NOT CHARGE PERES ANY FEE FOR THE OXYGEN TANK.

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ADDING UP THE NUMBERS

BIGGER

The Middle East Business Aviation Association and Fairs & Exhibitions are confident that the exhibition — MEBA —will be 10 per cent bigger than the last one in 2010. This year, the event is being held for the first time at the city’s new Dubai World Central airport. The 2012 show will be held in the DWC passenger terminal — currently unused, as the airport is handling only freight traffic — but will move in 2014 to a purpose-built exhibition hall at DWC that will be open in time for the Dubai air show in November 2013.

30%

Boeing aimed to boost the international portion of its defence sales to 30 per cent of its total sales to counter looming Pentagon cuts. “Our sights are set on that 30 per cent mark,” said Chief Executive Jim McNerney at the start of Boeing’s annual investor day.

CAPA expects Jet Airways could place a large narrowbody order for over 100 aircraft in FY2012/13 to meet both replacement and growth requirements. The airline is understood to be actively evaluating the A320neo and it is also likely to lease up to 10 A330s to support the expansion of its European route network.

Qantas has slashed more than 500 jobs, hinting further job losses are on the cards as the airline attempts to cut costs and save $100 million a year. CEO Alan Joyce said: “A decision like this is never easy. I know there will be disappointment among those workers directly affected, their fam-

ilies and their colleagues. We have sought to minimise the impact on our people, while delivering the best result for Qantas. Our cost base in heavy maintenance is 30 per cent higher than that of our competitors. We must close this gap to secure Qantas’ future viability and success.”

500 OUT

8+2= 10 Just eight Chinese airlines and two Indian carriers failed to submit carbon emissions data before the March 31 deadline stipulated in the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS). With more than 1,200 international carriers adhering to the deadline, the revelation suggests efforts spearheaded by China, India and Russia to oppose the carbon trading system are faltering. “We have given them until mid-June to report back their data,” EU climate commissioner Connie Hedegaard has said. Though opposition to the ETS remains widespread — with more than 20 countries attending a “coalition of the unwilling” conference in Moscow last February — the scheme’s detractors appear to have been swayed by EU threats of punitive measures for noncompliance.

CRUISING HEIGHTS June 2012

EC.EUROPA.EU

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10%

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ABOVE GROUND LEVEL ¨¨

Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh (second from left) and AAI Chairman V P Agrawal (fifth from left) along with other luminaries during the AAI anniversary celebrations.

AAI celebrates anniversary

GAGAN to be set up at all airports by next year

On the occasion of the 17th anniversary of the Airports Authority of India (AAI), a cultural evening with the theme — “Indralok se Indraprastha — A Runway Yatra”, was organised recently at Delhi. During the function, distribution of awards for the various achievements by the regions and airports also took place. Over 150 employees and their wards participated in different presentations. Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh was the chief guest. Personalities such as filmmaker Muzaffar Ali, Femina Miss India Earth 2011 Hasleen Kaur, Olympian (Boxing) Vijender Singh and Shatrughan Sinha, Member of Parliament (Lok Sabha), were the guests of honour.

For improving traffic management through timely information of

Kingfisher still flies — and how? O ne of the greatest miracles of the present aviation industry is that Kingfisher Airlines (KFA) is still flying — from where to where we don’t know and for how long also we don’t know. The view that it should have shut shop like the stunted Paramount Airways whose fleet size never grew beyond five has been held by many. Notwithstanding this, Vijay Mallya has thus far managed to keep his airline at least on the tarmac and fly his confused passengers once in a while to retain his precious licence. Perhaps, the best explanation of this phenomenon was given by Minister of Civil Aviation Ajit Singh the other day in Parliament when he said the DGCA rules said that a scheduled domestic operator needs at least five aircraft and that too flying in order to remain in business! Mallya claims he has twenty birds that occasionally chirp and flit around to remind others including those in the decision-making business that he is very much in business while for all practical part he is out of airline business. Kingfisher Airlines barely managed to survive being a subsidiary of United Breweries (Holdings) Limited. But on May 9, 2012, Vijay Mallya announced that Kingfisher Airlines had ceased to be its subsidiary even as UB Holdings had a significant exposure of

`12,000 crore to KFA. Announcing the results for financial year 2011-12, the UB Holdings net profit plunged sharply by over 83 per cent to `2.10 crore and KFA ceased to be a subsidiary on February 18, 2012 according to his statement made in the second week of May 2012. The airline ceasing to be a subsidiary happened after KFA allotted shares against optionally convertible debentures to certain entities. It may be recalled that UB (Holdings) had given significant guarantees on behalf of its subsidiary and associate companies. At the end of March 31, 2012, the total exposure of UB (Holdings) to KFA was `12,215 crore which were under various accounts including corporate guarantees to banks. These included investment in equity/preference capital of `2118.48 crore, corporate guarantees to banks/aircraft lessors at `8925.86 crore. Besides, it also included “advances at `1029.50 crore and other receivables of `141.09 crore”. In its filing, UB (Holdings) said certain corporate guarantees had been invoked and KFA was under negotiation in this regard with the relevant beneficiaries. At the end of December 2011, UB (Holdings) stake in KFA stood at 40.1 per cent which declines to 34.55 per cent on February 18, 2012,s after an increase in aircraft equity base pursuant to issue of shares

GAGAN is all set to usher in smooth air traffic operations in Indian airports.

aircraft movement, integration of met data and aeronautical information, the GPS-aided Geo Augmented Navigation system (GAGAN) would be installed across all airports in the country by June 2013. “It is a joint venture between AAI and the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). Once implemented, India would be the fourth country in the world to have a satellite-based navigation system after the USA, Japan and the European Consortium,” said V Somasundaram, Member, Air Navigation Services, AAI. FROM OUR FILES: A file photo of Kingfisher Chief Vijay Mallya cheering after launching the Kingfisher airlines.

CRUISING HEIGHTS June 2012

ABOVE GROUND LEVEL ¨¨ Itemiser DX trace detector certified for air cargo screening The next-generation Itemiser DX desktop explosives trace detection (ETD) system by Morpho Detection, the explosives and narcotics detection business of Morpho, Safran group’s security unit, was recently certified for air cargo screening by the UK Department for Transport (DfT). This certification from the UK is an important recognition of the Itemiser DX’s ability to protect the air cargo supply chain. “Morpho Detection is very pleased that DfT has approved our next-generation trace detection solution for use at air cargo facilities throughout the UK,” said Emmanuel Mounier, President and CEO, Morpho Detection International, Inc., the international sales and service division of Morpho Detection. “Morpho Detection is committed to providing the most advanced solutions to help air cargo facilities meet current and emerging security challenges with minimal impact on the flow of commerce.”

Gujarat readies to start air services In tune with the central government’s concept of promoting intra-state aviation, the Gujarat government has identified five circuits and 11 airstrips across the state for offshore and onshore services, and invited companies to start intra-state passenger and cargo aviation services. Earlier, Deccan Charters’ Captain Gopinath had taken an initiative to start intra-state service in Gujarat. However, the plan had to be shelved in the face of non-approval from the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), the regulatory body for the aviation sector in the country. Now. the state government has come out with a bidding process and a policy. A recent government bid mandates that the aircraft for intra-state

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to some entities in lieu of certain convertible bonds. As per BSE, UB (Holdings) stake in KFA came down further to 29.39 per cent on April 14, 2012. Significantly the entire holding of UB (Holdings) is pledged. So much so that UB (Holdings) that started development of luxury residential buildings — Kingfisher Towers — at UB city has even LOW ON BUSINESS: A deserted counter of Kingfisher airlines in one of entered into agreement the Indian airports. to sell part of this project. pay a huge premium to acquire KFA? If this is the fate of the principal, one Perhaps, it could turn out to be an even can well imagine the fate of KFA which bigger fiasco than what it was when KFA was till about four months ago its subtook over Air Deccan and Jet took over sidiary. It is an interesting coincidence, Sahara. In addition, KFA owes `60 crore to which just before KFA lost its subsidy stathe Central Board of Excise and Customs tus with UB (Holdings), or a month before, (CBEC) in unpaid service tax which has led the employees of the airline entered the to off and on freezing of its bank accounts. phase of ‘all work no pay’. With promoter Other than what it owes to Delhi and holdings dropping below 50 per cent psyMumbai airports, KFA has to pay up `280 chological barrier, even whatever little barcrore for landing, parking, navigation gaining position Mallya began to be erodcharges, etc. to state-owned Airports ed. Interestingly, while the promoters held Authority of India (AAI). The Central the same number of shares, their holdings Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) also conbegan to decline because of the increase in ducted an IT survey to find out the extent of KFA shares to meet some of the convertible non-disclosure of Tax Deducted at Source options (into equity) exercised by holders (TDS) by the airline. This, according to the of instrument. This even impacted banks Minister of State for Revenue, S S which had converted a part of their loans Palanimanickam was in the range of `352 into equity in January 2011 following the crore of which the airline managed to pay debt recast. `100 crore. This was the money the airline An interesting moment could arise allegedly collected as TDS but failed to when the government puts the FDI policy deposit with the IT authorities. KFA also in place when foreign airlines will be owes huge amounts to oil companies for allowed to invest in domestic Indian carrifuel it bought. Though it is virtually on a ers. The convoluted share structure of KFA cash-and-carry basis for its daily flight fuel is such that it seems banks and financial requirement, it indeed seems to be a most institutions may be holding a substantial modern global marvel that he is still manpart of the airline directly or indirectly. So aging to fly his aircraft albeit occasionally. what will be the bargaining position of With its international flights virtually Mallya to negotiate a win-win deal for himscrapped after an on-and-off tussle with self assuming his lobbying for FDI by forIATA and its International Clearing House, eign carriers is accepted and implemented? Mallya is now seeing only a very small The banks took 23 per cent of KFA equity part of his A320 fleet and ATRs flying. A and still have over `7000 crore of debt few months ago, KFA announced suspenunpaid. Can that be converted into equity? sion of many of its services and even If it does happen, then it will be for the first advised its unpaid staff to stay home till it time that we will have a hilarious spectacle managed fresh funding. It is interesting to of commercial banks, a majority from the note that precisely a year ago on June 11, public sector, trying to revive a failed 2011, Executive Vice-President of KFA, domestic airline. Will we see the SBI Manoj Chako, announced that the airline Chairman negotiating with foreign airlines would launch new flights on its domestic for a stake sale? If one goes by the BSE network connecting major metros with (Bombay Stock Exchange) value of KFA Tier-2 and 3 cities. He said its new expanshares, the scrip value leading to KFA’s sion plan would allow the airline to promarket value will be at least 10 times less vide first direct flights between Mumbai than what the banks have to recover from and Kolhapur, New Delhi and Pantnagar the carrier. Why would any foreign carrier and Jabalpur and Indore. Besides it also

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ABOVE GROUND LEVEL ¨¨ should be nine to 19 seater. “A study conducted by the state aviation department found operations feasible. We also studied similar services operational elsewhere, and are now working on a strategy to ensure longterm sustainability of the service,” state Tourism and Aviation Principal Secretary Vipul Mitra said.

Scanners to detect ‘human bombs’ Giving a major push to airport security in the country, the Cabinet Committee on Security will soon

CBC.CA

STALEMATE CONTINUES: A file photo of Kingfisher airlines’ staff shouting slogans during one the strikes.

State-of-the-art scanners at Indian airports can go a long way in reducing terrorism.

discuss an ambitious proposal to acquire highly sophisticated state-ofthe-art equipment at all major airports for scanning and checking both passengers and baggage, for “human bombs”, where explosive devices are surgically implanted in a human body. The move has come in the wake of a recent alert issued by the Intelligence Bureau through the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security that Indian airports could be targeted by human bombs, where the explosive can be implanted in the human body. It may not be very easy for security agencies and metal detectors to trace such explosive material. Once the CCS clears the proposal in principle, a committee of experts will be constituted to shortlist the kind of hi-tech equipment that is most suitable for the Indian scenario.

Nagpur airport bags award The Civil Aviation Ministry recently conferred a special AAI Chairman’s award to Nagpur’s Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar International Airport for successful installation and commissioning of a new Air Traffic Control (ATC) automation system ‘Indra’. The new system, developed by Indra Systems of Spain, was installed under the guidance of Airport Director

introduced direct flight between Mumbai and Trivandrum. He said the new flights would be operated on the company’s lowcost carrier Kingfisher Red (erstwhile Air Deccan) the booking for which had been opened. Six months from that date of announcement, November 2011, KFA began mass cancellation of flights and even saw Vijay Mallya himself blasting the media on November 13, 2011, for being responsible for the so-called mis- and disinformation about Kingfisher’s health. After two months, the staff, pilots and engineers began to complain about nonreceipt of salaries leading to a strike and

flight cancellations. On hindsight, it seems the decision to scrap the subsidiary status to KFA of UB (Holdings) could be the first step to prevent the mess engulfing Vijay Mallya’s 28 per cent holding in United Spirits Limited (USL). From 89 aircraft four years ago, the KFA fleet shrunk to 66 and today it is just about 20 or even less. Mallya also does not have any aircraft on order and whatever he had ordered earlier from the mighty A380s to smaller ATRs have all been cancelled — either by himself or due to default. Did anyone say that the Indian aviation industry is on an expansion mode?

Lucknow, Varanasi to go international ucknow and Varanasi airports might get international tag in the near future. The announcement was made by Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh who inaugurated the new terminal building at Lucknow airport. The two airports, which though have international flights operating from them, are currently Customs airport. Ajit Singh said, “UP has only two Customs airports — at Lucknow and Varanasi — which would be given the status of international airports soon. In UP, which has 16.1 per cent population of the country, only two per cent of total flights operate and only 2.5 per cent people fly. This situation needs to be improved.”

CRUISING HEIGHTS June 2012

UP Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav assured all possible help and said, “The state would be connected with international destinations as well as other cities.” Yadav asked the Civil Aviation Minister to consider the elevation of airports in Varanasi and Kanpur also. He said that the state government had already chalked out a detailed plan for development of airports in the state. “The new terminal building at Lucknow airport with enhanced passenger facilities will certainly attract and promote the tourism and will create the new opportunities of employment in the state,” he said.

Troubled times ahead: CAPA he Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation (CAPA)’s annual outlook for the fiscal 2012-13, released recently stated that Indian aviation was facing its most uncertain phase in more than a decade. After reporting an estimated record loss of just over $2 billion in the year ended March 31, 2012, the country’s carriers were facing “an equally challenging year ahead. Weak balance sheets, increasing costs, regulatory uncertainty, a sluggish Indian economy and a difficult global environment will continue to pile the pressure on airlines, especially the poorer performing carriers”. With the country’s carriers adding around 24 aircraft during the year including eight Q400s by SpiceJet, CAPA has estimated that there will be 7-8 per cent domestic capacity growth in FY2012/13. At the same time, domestic passenger traffic is expected to grow by 8-10 per cent in FY12/13. However, a lot will depend on fuel prices and other input costs on airfares. Commenting on the performance of the carriers, in the 12 months ending March 2013, it said that Air India would once again be the worst performer in the industry and report a loss of `70 billion ($1.3 billion). Kingfisher Airlines is projected to lose `12-14 billion ($220-260 million). However, the remaining four private carriers combined could post a modest profit of approximately `11 billion ($200 million).

CAPA has also pointed out that Air India could face a temporary shutdown due to human resources issues. The main hurdle that Air India has to overcome emanates from the merger between Air India and Indian Airlines. “The integration of human resources has been ineptly handled and almost willfully ignored, with nobody within the airline senior management or at the level of the government having taken responsibility,” comments CAPA and goes on to mention that “this has been a constant source of tension within employee ranks and after years of neglect a committee was established in 2011 under Justice Dharmadhikari to look into staff grievances. The committee submitted its report to the Ministry of Civil Aviation in early 2012. In the absence of any strategy of its own to deal with the issues at hand, the government is left with virtually no option but to implement the report’s recommendations.”(See also cover story, page 29) Additiionally, CAPA has warned that the “outcomes (of the Justice Dharmadhikari report) will meet with a mixed response from the unions and industrial action is likely”. It has also mentioned that though the government has taken a firm stance, “limiting discussions with the unions”, it may take the step of bringing about “a temporary shutdown of the airline” in the next two to three months after the report is accepted by the Government.

ABOVE GROUND LEVEL ¨¨

An outside view of the terminal at Nagpur airport.

Ashok Kumar Verma, who claimed that it would increase efficiency, reduce chances of mishaps and human error and ensure complete radar coverage. The fact that the city is centrally located and guides the movements of over 650 aircraft that pass over Nagpur-controlled airspace from Europe, Middle East and Africa to South East and East Asia and most of the domestic traffic from North to South and East to West, made it a good choice for the system’s debut.

Advanced ATS automation system at Tiruchi Airport An advanced ATS Automation System ,developed by Indra Systems, has been installed at Tiruchi airport for enhancing air traffic management and improving safety and efficiency. The system facilitates automatic exchange of flight information between Tiruchi and adjacent Air Traffic Control units, including Chennai and Thiruvananthapuram area control centres, besides improving air traffic management through timely information on aircraft movements and integrating meteorological data and aeronautical information. Flight data processing, situation data display, flight data display, control and monitoring display; data recording facility and database management constitute the key components of the system that ensures integrated traffic flow management between different phases of flight besides providing safety nets to enhance air safety.

UK award for Sikkim airport project

DAWN OF THE NEW ERA: Officials during the inaugaration of new integrated terminal building at Lucknow airport.

CRUISING HEIGHTS June 2012

Belfast-based geotechnical company Maccaferri recently won the ‘International Project of the Year’ prize at the Ground Engineering Awards for the challenging work of constructing reinforced soil walls and slopes at the

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ABOVE GROUND LEVEL ¨¨ new airport at Pakyong in Sikkim. Maccaferri worked with partners Mott MacDonald and Punj Lloyd on the £31 million project that featured a 550 metre wide, 1.7-km long corridor in which the runway and airport buildings are constructed for the Airports Authority of India.

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Bengaluru airport turns playport In order to make flying a memorable experience for children, Bengaluru International Airport recently came up with Playport, an activity specifically designed for young passengers who visit the airport in larger numbers during summer holidays. It offers a host of interactive exercises, fun-filled games, storytelling, magic shows, contests and much more to help children explore. “As the Gateway to South India, we try to see how the airport’s offering can be unique to the South Indian experience for every traveller. While this activity is for the passengers, we encourage the city dwellers to come and spend time here and make it a destination that they can visit during the summer holidays,” explained Sanjay Reddy, Managing Director, BIAL.

New food outlets at RGIA

An outside view of the facade at Hyderabad airport.

The Rajiv Gandhi International Airport (RGIA), which already has an exhaustive list of shopping and dining options for passengers, has added a Taste of India and Idli Factory outlets at the domestic departures of Hyderabad Airport’s passenger terminal building. Managed by the F&B operator HMS Host, the Taste of India and Idli Factory outlets meet international standards and facilitate fast and efficient services such as multiple billing counters to easy away queues, LCD menu display, etc, ensuring speedy service to travellers. The passengers can enjoy an airside view at the spanking new food outlets, which boast of imported fixture and furniture of international taste, design and comfort.

Sukhoi conundrum he crash of Sukhoi Superjet 100 in It is not the first time that the Sukhoi Indonesia on May 9, 2012 came as Superjet 100 plane has been caught on the bolt from the blue to those in the wrong foot. It has had a number of the flying profession and the airline minor mishaps while being flown by industry as it left many questions Russia’s Aeroflot. Aeroflot’s first Sukhoi unanswered. The Superjet crashed during Superjet spent several weeks grounded an exhibition flight with 45 people on after its delivery due to an air board included 8 Russians, 35 conditioning problem. Indonesians, a Frenchman and a US national — all of them died — and it has left a big question mark on the efficiency and performance of the aircraft. Apparently, Russia was pinning its hopes on the Sukhoi Superjet 100 becoming a major player in the modern aviation market and improving its image in an industry that has TOUCHING THE SKY: An Aeroflot Sukhoi Superjet 100 plane. been marred by recurrent crashes of Soviet-era jets. On the face of it, the Russian plane The Superjet was in Indonesia as part maker found buyers in Russia’s Aeroflot of a promotional tour of six Asian and Armenia’s Armavia. Its first countries and was planning to stop in Laos commercial flight was operated by and Vietnam before heading home. The Armavia in April 2011 and Aeroflot demonstration flight in Indonesia was part followed later that year. Interestingly, until of the plane’s first-ever promotional tour the latest incident, Indonesia was set to aiming to build excitement about the plane become one of Sukhoi’s largest clients for with top test pilots in the cockpit. the aircraft. In August last year, According to the media reports, the Indonesian regional carrier PT Sky pieces of wreckage found on the slopes of Aviation agreed to buy 12 of the planes Mt. Salak in Indonesia left a strong and in 2010, Kartika airline of Indonesia impression that the crash came from a agreed to buy 30 Superjets. The airline head-on collision rather than the plane also approached Indian buyers by swiping the mountain and crashing. participating in India Aviation 2012. “Indications of the failure of the aircraft’s “India is one of our priority markets. We systems and components were not see a good potential here,” Vladimir S discovered,” United Aircraft, the Prisyazhnyuk, President, Sukhoi Civil manufacturer of the 90-seat plane, said in Aircraft Company (SCAC), had said a statement. Though the investigations to during the India aviation meet. The find out the real truth behind the crash are company had also signed a preliminary still on, the enigma continues. agreement with India’s Aviotech Pvt Ltd for sale of 10 aircraft. The officials of the company though are quite optimistic about the future of Sukhoi Superjet 100. SuperJet International (SJI) CEO Nazario Cauceglia told reporters at the Regional Airline Association (RAA) annual convention in the US soon after the crash, “The crashed aircraft made its first flight in July 2009 and had accumulated more than 800 flight hours. No serious technical issues ever arose during previous flights. Every effort is being made to determine what went wrong and why. It does not alter our belief Vladimir S Prisyazhnyuk, in the aircraft or its safety. The President, Sukhoi sadness we feel … will Civil Aircraft remain with us forever.” Company (SCAC)

CRUISING HEIGHTS June 2012

INTERVIEW

CLOLOURS OF LIGHT: An inside view of the B787, where lighting will play an important role in passenger comfort.

Japan in all its colours on

the B787

What is so special about the JAL Dreamliner? The new B787 has unique Japanese touches that can be seen in the cabin lighting scheme. The state-of-the-art

Now we are only flying into Delhi… Of course, we are studying which destinations we can fly to. India has big potential and we are trying to see which market we can fly to. In fact, India is one of our most profitable routes. Right now, we don’t have any particular destination in mind but we are looking for some destination in the future. We are very hopeful about our India operations as we have growing business ties with India India is a big destination and that is why we started the Dreamliner from here and the second reason is that the 787 is smaller and good for mid-haul flights. At the same time, the flight to Japan is quite a long one and the airline can benefit from the efficiency of the plane. In the passenger demand, which category — business or economy — is more? The corporate demand is more than the leisure. In fact, we are trying to promote the regional market in Japan. After the tsunami, we are trying to bring in tourists to the country. We are organising a number of road shows and fam trips for agents and the media. From India, around 60,000 passengers travel to Japan every year of which only 20,000 are leisure. In fact, more people come to India from Japan. In 2009, 140,000 people came to India from Japan.

LED system has 15 hues that reflect the changing seasons and these different colours are prevalent during inflight operations such as the meal service and winding down for the night. Japanese culture, known to adapt lifestyle activities, including meal presentations (kaiseki) or clothes, to certain periods during the year, is highlighted in the plane.

We are doing well. This year we are expecting more profits than in last year. Despite the bad conditions — the tsunami, earthquake, etc were there — we are hoping to do well CRUISING HEIGHTS June 2012

Green, dubbed Wakaba, symbolising a young leaf that follows the brief bloooming of the sakura (cherry blossom), will be seen in use in May and June while blue or Natsuzora will signal the coming of summer and orange or Minori, reflecting autumn and harvest time, will be used from September to November.

How is Japan Airlines doing financially? We are doing well. This year we are expecting more profits than in last year. Despite the bad conditions — the tsunami, earthquake, etc were there — we are hoping to do well. We came out of government control last year. We are trying our best to relist within this fiscal year that is by March next year. We are now part of the government and out of the bankruptcy. Within this fiscal year, the government and the banks will sell Japan Airlines stock to general public. (Japan Airlines went bankrupt in 2010 with debts of about $28 billion and has recently filed preliminary documents to relist on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, according to a report. The move would complete an astonishing turnaround for the carrier.) Quite some time ago, you had your hotel business — the Nikko — in Delhi, which you have discontinued. Are you planning to start the hotel business in India again? I can say that there is a plan. Actually Japan Airlines sold a lot of stocks of the Nikko hotel brand to another hotel group. But we still have a certain percentage of stocks of Nikko hotel and we are planning to come back again.

COVER STORY

THAT IS EXACTLY WHAT OUR NATIONAL CARRIER AIR INDIA IS EXPERIENCING, THANKS TO PILOTS OWING ALLEGIANCE TO THE INDIAN PILOTS GUILD. CRUISING HEIGHTS BUREAU DETAILS THE TWISTS AND TURNS OF THE AIR INDIA SAGA.

Turbulence in the time of

r e h t a e clear w

The Air India

strike saga 2005

Air India orders 21 Boeing B-737-800, 23 Boeing B-777 and 27 Boeing B-787 air-

craft. For long term planning, the fleet composition included four Boeing B-747-400 for VVIP flying. Fleet to have 21 basic aircraft and 54 advanced aircraft. Likewise, Indian Airlines orders 43 Airbus A-320 family aircraft to replace ageing fleet of A-320 aircraft. Additionally, the board approves leasing 12 Airbus A-330 aircraft for long haul operations. Fleet to have 43 basic aircraft and 12 advanced aircraft. However, only 2 Airbus A330 joins the fleet. Rest cancelled due to the merger on the table. Therefore, on long term

CRUISING HEIGHTS June 2012

basis, there were only 43 basic aircraft and 2 advanced aircraft.

DECEMBER 22, 2006

Despite the merger on the table, Air India pilots get a lucrative wage agreement from 01/01/1997. This agreement was signed by individual pilots as IPG was not recognised at the time of the offer. Subsequently, all the pilots were paid arrears from 01/01/1997 which ran into crores of rupees to each pilot. Salient features of the wage agreement:

COVER STORY n May 7, 2012, the government warned of action against Air India pilots belonging to the Indian Pilots Guild (IPG), if they went ahead with their strike on issues which could be amicably resolved. The four issues on which the Air India pilots (flying wide bodies) decided to strike work were: Exclusive flying rights on Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft - that is, no sharing with Indian Airlines pilots; Payment of arrears from the time of Air India-Indian legal merger in 2007; Travel on first class when not flying; and, Right to be promoted as commanders within six years of joining flying duties in Air India. The Civil Aviation Minister, Ajit Singh, threatened that the government would cancel Air India’s international flights if the agitation snowballed. Disregarding the Minister’s pleas, the pilots, owing allegiance to IPG, dealt a body blow to the ailing carrier’s international operations, leaving thousands of passengers during the current busy/holiday season stranded. Subsequently, the Delhi High Court held the Air India pilots strike as illegal. Even so, the pilots, in clear disregard of the court ruling, continue with their strike even as we go to press. The more-thantwo-week-long strike has highlighted the issue of who actually owns Air India - The Air India Pilots, or the government, that seems to be bent upon wasting thousands of crores of tax-payers’ money to save Air India, when a section of Air India does not want it to be saved. The IPG suddenly struck work, after the Supreme Court backed the management decision to follow a one-to-one ratio of training pilots on the

X Y Z [ \ ]

50 per cent of the flying allowance to be paid in US dollars either in India or in overseas accounts Boeing B-737 becomes the basic aircraft for Air India Pilots The first command to all the pilots to be on basic aircraft only The company will deploy pilots from one aircraft to other as per the requirement of the company The agreement does not give any exclusivity on any aircraft to any individual pilot or any group of pilots. IPG very conveniently hides the fact that it is legally bound to fly B-737 as much as it is bound to fly B-777/787

Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh threatened that the government would cancel Air India’s international flights if the agitation snowballed.

——4

2007

Scheme of Amalgamation merging two airlines is adopted merging all the assets of both the companies into one. According to the scheme, the merged company is to honour all the agreements pre-merger. Further, any new agreement should not be detrimental to other affected party. For example, agreement signed with ICPA should not be detrimental to IPG.

APRIL 2007

Indian Airlines Ltd. comes out with an advertisement to hire pilots keeping in mind the future requirement and induction of proposed 12 A-330 (advanced widebody air-

CRUISING HEIGHTS June 2012

Dreamliners: one Indian Airlines pilot for one Air India pilot. True, there were pending issues which were exclusive not only to the pilot community, but also to many non-crew members of the Air India community. However, these could have been raised at a different time. Somehow, the Air India pilots chose to strike when the judicial ruling was not in their favour. The IPG demanded that this training be given only to the pilots of erstwhile Air India. Unwilling to move from their stand, the IPG members started reporting sick and stayed away from work, disrupting the whole network of international long-haul and ultra longhaul operations. Air India lost `300 crore in revenues in the first 16 days of strike. The management cracked down on the striking pilots by derecognising the IPG, and also terminating the services of nearly 100 pilots, including the executive committee members of the union. Even this action by the management cut no ice with the striking pilots who continued their agitation, despite the Delhi High Court order terming their strike “illegal” and restraining them from reporting sick. For long, Air India has been in news for all wrong reasons. It appears that at least one section of the carrier’s employees has been on strike every year in the recent past. The government recently approved the turnaround plan of Air India, which included equity infusion, conversion of short-term loans to long-term ones, issuance of non-convertible debentures for restructuring working capital, etc. The bailout package of `42000 crore came with riders, setting certain milestones detailed in the plan, which had to be met by the airlines over a period of 10 years. It included the promise to increase load factors in Air India, both domestic and international. craft). Such a step leads to excess number of pilots on Airbus fleet as 2 A-330 are inducted.

AUGUST 22, 2007

The Ministry of Corporate Affairs issues order to merge the two airlines. National Aviatin Company of India Ltd (NACIL) is born merging all the assets and to reap the benefits of the merger. V Thulasidas becomes the first CMD of the merged entity. Capt. N V Chandhoke (erstwhile Indian Airlines) becomes first Executive Director (Operations). Neither ICPA nor IPG made any representation to the ministry of civil aviation or to the ministry of corporate affairs against merger or issues rising out of merger.

Despite the government efforts to rescue the national carrier, the move was severely criticised by many in the media and the industry and it was said that it would be better to privatise the carrier than bailing it out. It was argued that giving the relief package to Air India alone was not justified, while the entire aviation industry was reeling under financial stress due to high fuel costs and high airport charges. Air India’s credibility has come under doubt following the unprofessional and selfish attitude of the pilots and other section of employees, on different occasions. The falling market share of Air India domestic has become a cause for concern. It may be mentioned here that Air India is overstaffed, if we take into account the staff on the rolls, as well as those who work on contract and are outsourced. The employees to aircraft ratio in Air India is 258, compared to 150 in Jet Airways, 118 in Kingfisher, 102 in IndiGo, 202 in Lufthansa, 169 in British Airways and 138 in Cathay Pacific Airways. Air India’s combined losses over the last four years are touching `25,000 crore. According to a senior ministry official, stopping long and medium-haul flights will help prevent 80 per cent losses of Air India, as they could not meet the operating costs resulting in heavy losses. However, it will be unfair to single out the employees for the chaotic condition Air India is in. Much has been talked and written about the lack of management - forget professional management - in Air India. The employee groups, on many occasions, have made public their fears that various management decisions appeared to favour the private players in the industry. They had listed a set of routes from which Air India withdrew its operations, even though the flights were doing well. These routes, incidentally, were immediately grabbed by the private

NOVEMBER 21, 2007

In the policy meeting for command on B777, moving Commanders from erstwhile Indian Airlines to fly B-777 is discussed.

JANUARY 14, 2008

Standardisation Committee meeting takes place. A proposal is put forward to immediately release 40 Commanders from A-320 fleet to undergo command training of B-777 due to lack of pilots to command B-777 aircraft.

FEBRUARY 5, 2008

In its letter to the CMD, IPG states, “As you are aware, prior to merger, the erstwhile Air India has placed an order for a number

Qantas replays AI saga In a move that seems a virtual replay of the Air India saga, half way across the world, Australia’s Qantas Group recently confirmed that the hitherto Qantas Airlines would now comprise two distinct businesses: Qantas International and Qantas Domestic. Effective July 1, in a major restructuring move, the Australian airline confirmed changes to its executive team, in the next phase of the five-year transformation plan, launched in August 2011. After the restructuring process, Qantas International and Qantas Domestic will have their own chief executives, as well as operational and commercial functions. Even the financial results will be reported separately. Alan Joyce, Chief Executive, Qantas Group, said the restructure would strengthen the Qantas Group’s portfolio and help deliver its strategic goals.

of B-777 and B-787. It has come to our knowledge that you may be inducting a huge number of pilots from erstwhile India Airlines to fly the B777, in the capacity of Commanders. You will appreciate that (this was done) unilaterally, without even consulting or negotiating with the IPG, the only pilots’ union existing in the erstwhile Air India. Inter alia, the service conditions include career progression of the pilots.” While opposing, IPG did not take into account that the pilots who were proposed to fly B-777 were already commanders. In the true spirit of merger, instead of asking for command slots on A-320, IPG choose to stop lateral movement of pilots.

CRUISING HEIGHTS June 2012

EMPTY COUNTERS: With no flights taking off, fliers also stayed away.

players as soon as Air India stopped flights. The employees have been wondering whether this was a design to eliminate the national carrier, after maligning it as being non-performing. Perhaps, the IPG has played into the hands of these forces. Is it not a coincidence that a top office-bearer of IPG is a politician who belongs to the political party that is a part of the UPA? When the Open Sky policy was announced in the early 90s, there was fear that the private sector participants would not have a level playing field against the well-established national carrier, which had the advantage of a well laid-out infrastructure, highly-skilled manpower, network connecting almost all major cities in India including the remote North-East, etc. The private players depended on their high level of service standards and punctuality and finally left the national carrier behind — in terms of market share — and became the leaders. Moreover, the repeated strikes in both Air India and erstwhile Indian Airlines were instrumental in their deterioration.

JUNE 9, 2008

Staff Notice is issued asking for volunteers for command upgrade for B-777. Those eligible were mainly from erstwhile Indian Airlines. IPG objects to the staff notice.

JULY 2008

IPG moves Bombay High Court to stop the lateral movement of pilots (Writ Petition No. 1615 of 2008). ICPA was not made party. ICPA did not follow the matter or raised any objections to IPG’s objection.

FEBRUARY 26, 2009

IPG signs “Deed of Recognition” with the management giving recognition to the

COVER STORY In 2001, the government merged the two national carriers, Air India and Indian Airlines, with the belief that this would result in a big and powerful airlines in Asia. It was also felt that there was unhealthy competition between the two carriers on certain routes. The government hoped the merger would give them a lot of advantages in terms of synergies of manpower and equipment - thus making it a force to reckon with. Five years after the merger was formalised, the then Civil Aviation Minister informed that 70 per cent of the process had been completed and the remaining 30 per cent issues would be addressed by the report of Justice Dharmadhikari Committee. All-out efforts by the five Chairmen and Managing Directors, who took charge during the post-merger period and the present incumbent, have failed to prevent the fortunes of Air India from nosediving. A reality check of the merger reflects a different picture. A unified single code for its entire operations, unification of reservation offices in different cities, award of contract for various flight activities, etc. are some of the areas where the merger has moved ahead. However, there is hardly any unification of the two entities on manpower and cross-utilisation of manpower and equipment happens rarely, at least at the major airports. Air India has the state-of-the-art aircraft for ultra-long-haul flights and its non-stop operations to the US and Canada are a product unmatched by any other carrier. There is no doubt that there are customers who are still loyal to the Maharaja for its ethnic flavour or nostalgia. The arrival of the 787 Dreamliners is expected to change the financial equations in favour of the carrier. The aircraft used in the short-haul journeys are also comparatively new. Despite these advantages, the airguild. The salient features of the deed: X The company agrees to recognise the guild for a period of two years. Y “The Indian Pilots’ Guild assures full cooperation in the maintenance of operations and agreed not to resort to any action that might in any way cause inconvenience to the passengers or disruption of flights...” Z “It is agreed that in view of the merger of erstwhile Indian Airlines and Air India into NACIL, the Company is at the liberty to look at ways and means to reduce the multiplicity of Unions. Indian Pilots’ Guild will extend its cooperation in this regard.” [ IPG will not hold political funds. However,

POLITICAL CLOUT: IPG President Jitendra Ahwad (extreme left) during the interaction with the press.

All-out efforts by the five Chairmen and Managing Directors, who took charge during the postmerger period and the present incumbent, have failed to prevent the fortunes of Air India from nosediving

line is unable to exploit the market as a preferred carrier. We are faced with various questions. Are the sales and marketing units doing enough to sell their products? Is there a system in place to monitor various routes and analyse their profitability? Are they able to discontinue a service if found unviable? Are their operations guided by commercial results or the mandarins of power? The airline spends nearly `20 crore more than its earnings every day. What is alarming is that very little is being done to address this serious issue. Either its endeavour to bring down costs has not worked, or no genuine effort has been put in to achieve that goal. Prior to the merger, both the carriers had registered meagre profits. Post-merger, their financial condition is deplorable. The airlines has an outstanding debt of around `60000 crore. Struggling to improve its revenues and yields, it has exhausted all its options of more borrowings for the working capital. It is high time the employees rose above their self-interests and acted more professionally to save the national carrier, which is indicative of the country’s aviation health on the world map.

JULY 26, 2010

Air India advertisement for hiring of B777 pilots appears in newspapers. This was contrary to the turnaround plan as spelt out by the Board of Directors. Air India hires 100 pilots through this ad.

JULY 27, 2010 according their constitution the President continues to be nominated by NCP, a political party. ICPA did not object to the recognition of IPG at any stage despite multiplicity of the unions and IPG being led by a political party.

FEBRUARY 25, 2010

IPG keeps option to go back to the court on the lateral movement of pilots if the need arises. The management provides them with this option in the deed of recognition.

JULY 25, 2010

The Board of Directors call a meeting of all the unions detailing the turnaround plan of the airline.

CRUISING HEIGHTS June 2012

ICPA writes a letter to the CMD objecting to the advetisement and offering their services for B-777/737/787 to bring in synergies and take advantage of economies of scale.

SEPTEMBER 22, 2010

The company invites applications from the Commanders of erstwhile Indian Airlines having command experience of 1000 hours on Boeing to fly 737-800 with Air India Express.

OCTOBER 12, 2010

In a letter to the CMD, IPG opposes lateral movement of erstwhile Indian Airlines commanders to B-737 aircraft in AI Express.

NOVEMBER 16, 2010

IPG writes a letter to the CMD saying, “The HR issues related to seniority of pilots in the merged entity must be addressed

prior to moving pilots from the Boeing fleet (Boeing 777/787) to the Airbus fleet (Airbus 319/320/321) or vice versa.”

DECEMBER 31, 2010

CMD orders to send 40 sets of pilots from erstwhile Indian Airlines for B-787 training.

FEBRUARY 1, 2011

Capt. Subodh Nigam with instructions from the CMD offers command slots on B777 to the Commanders of erstwhile Indian Airlines having a minimum command experience of 1000 hours on Airbus A-320: 137 erstwhile India Airlines commanders apply.

MARCH 7, 2011

Email from CMD to all the pilots of erstwhile Indian Airlines raises the concern of falling flying hours on Airbus A-320 fleet. One can very well infer that there has been shortage of pilots for B-737 and B-777. On the other hand there were more pilots for Airbus A-320 fleet.

MARCH 22, 2011

A meeting between IPG and erstwhile Air India management pilots is held. It was assured and documented by the management pilots to IPG that erstwhile Indian Airlines pilots will only be trained on B-787/777 aircraft only after the junior most pilot of erstwhile Air India is trained as commander on B-787/777 aircraft. No pilot from erstwhile Indian Airlines was part of the said meeting. Furthermore, by not involving ICPA, the management violated provisions of the scheme of amalgamation.

MAY 11, 2011

Concerns of IPG: X Pulling out all Air India pilots from Express flying B-737-800 in time-bound manner to B-777/787 (this meant IPG does not want to fly a basic aircraft before moving to an advanced aircraft) Y Seniority of co-pilots be resolved Z Equal number of command slots be given to IPG on Airbus A-320 (this is first time IPG expresses its desire to come on Airbus fleet) [ Career progression linked to the seniority ICPA’s views: X Career progression cannot be linked with the seniority as the case is worldwide. Only experience and aircraft manning requirement should be the consideration Y Seniority and parity is looked by Justice Dharmadhikari Committee; ICPA would like to wait for the report. Agreement: Both unions agreed to continue to talk about their issues. In the meantime equal number of sets from narrow body and wide body aircraft is agreed upon. The agreement takes care of the scheme of amalgamation and promise made to IPG to involve it for lateral movement of pilots.

OCTOBER 18, 2011

IPG writes to the CMD objecting to the agreement of October 8, 2011 suggesting changes in the agreement.

NOVEMBER 2011

IPG moves Bombay High Court against the agreement of October 8, 2011 and prays that erstwhile Indian Airlines pilots should not be trained till all erstwhile Air India pilots are trained as commanders on B-787.

DECEMBER 2011

The Government of India, Ministry of Civil Aviation issues a notification constituting Justice Dharmadhikari Committee to look into merger issues.

Air India starts command training on B777 of first officers who do not have any previous command experience on basic aircraft.

MAY 18, 2011

DECEMBER 19, 2011

Capt Subodh Nigam, Executive Director, Flight Safety, opposes direct command on B-777 raising flight safety concerns.

Ajit Singh takes over as the Minister of Civil aviation. ICPA writes a letter to the CMD with a copy to Ajit Singh, Minister of Civil Aviation, Dr Nasim Zaidi, Civil Aviation Secretary and E K Bharat Bhushan, Director General of Civil Aviation. In the letter ICPA objects to direct command on B777 due to flight safety reasons. The examples of various accidents and incidents are quoted.

OCTOBER 8, 2011

Historic day in the merged company. The four parties — a Management Pilot of erstwhile India Airlines Capt. R S Dhillon, a Management Pilot of erstwhile Air India Capt. Amitabh Singh, representatives of ICPA Capt. A. S. Bhinder, Capt. Rishabh Kapur and Capt. A Ahuja, and representatives of IPG, Capt. E. Kapadia, Capt. J Menon and Capt. Rohan Singh were signatories to the Record Note of Discussion. In the Record Note of Discussion, ICPA and IPG expressed their concerns and agreed on one issue:

JANUARY 2012

ICPA moves Delhi High Court to stop direct command training of co-pilots. ICPA also prays to the court to consider 137 volunteers for training on B-777.

JANUARY 12, 2012 CRUISING HEIGHTS June 2012

The DGCA sends Safety Audit report of Air India Express to operator. The report: Co-pilots who failed to qualify as Commanders on B-737 who are now being taken up for command on B-777 without having previous command experience. Y “It is pertinent to note that without any policy in place such an exercise of first command on B-777 a/c is being done without approvals from DGCA.” Essentially, this meant that pilots of erstwhile Air India were given command without keeping the interest of the company in mind.

MARCH 13, 2012

Bombay HC interim order in B-787 case stopped the training of erstwhile Indian Airlines pilots and did not recognise the letter dated March 22, 2011.

APRIL 20, 2012

ICPA moves Supreme Court against the order of March 13, 2012.

APRIL 23, 2012

Supreme Court’s order in B-787 case: “Operation of the impugned order shall remain stayed pending further orders from this court.” This vacated the stay and paved the way for erstwhile Indian Airlines pilots to commence training on B-787 aircraft. However, Air India’s operations department does not commence training of erstwhile Indian Airlines pilots.

MAY 2, 2012

ICPA goes back to the Supreme Court complaining against Air India.

MAY 4, 2012 IPG pilots start reporting sick.

MAY 11, 2012

Delhi High Court order in B-777 case: “44. Though, the domain of the courts are not to step into the domain of the Government policies; however, if the Government policy causes harms to the rights of the citizens, and the decision is arbitrary, then the courts certainly can interfere with. Therefore, if at this stage, it is interfered then the seniority of the petitioners (ICPA) would definitely be disturbed. 46. Therefore, in view of the discussion and submissions of the parties, I am of the considered opinion that till the report submitted by Justice Dharmadhikari Committee is implemented, the imparting of training on advance aircraft, in this manner, shall remains stayed. 47. I hereby make it clear that the pilots of Air India those who are already on training on advance aircrafts, they shall not be disturbed and those who already taken the training on advance aircraft shall be subject to the outcome of the instant petition.”

COVER STORY

From a Co-pilot to a Commander Erstwhile INDIAN AIRLINES

Erstwhile AIR INDIA

4 Airline Transport Pilot’s Licence (by DGCA).

4 Total 2750 hours of flying experience as Co-Pilot on Company Aircraft.

4 Minimum 3 years 2 months of service in company after released as Co-Pilot.

4 No such requirement.

4 No Maximum limit of years of service for promotion to commander it is subject to requirement of company.

4 If a Co-Pilot fails to clear ATPL licence exams conducted by DGCA within 3 years 2 months of service in company after released as Co-Pilot then he loses his seniority to his juniors. Subject to company requirements, his juniors who have cleared the exam within the stipulated 3 years 2 months of service in the company after being released as Co-Pilot and has attained ATPL would be taken up for command.

4 No such clause in their service but whenever company does require Commander and a CoPilot’s turn comes and he has not qualified ATPL then he looses his seniority to the junior. This junior who has ATPL Licence would be taken up for command.

From 2002-2003 onwards, both the airlines with plans of induction of new airplanes to their fleet started hiring pilots. Requirement of number of Commanders increased in both the airlines when new airplanes were inducted. Hence, the promotion of Co-Pilots to Commanders became faster, which reduced the duration as a Co-Pilot significantly from approximately 10 to 12 years as Co-Pilot to 4 to 5 years in both airlines. 1. The number of Co-pilots who meet the qualifications criteria for promotion to Commanders was more in erstwhile Indian Airlines than Air India basically for two

r o f y Crplaying field

levedlian Commercial aPilloottsto

The In PA) has . C I ( n o i t . Associa on the strike. say

Steps for a Co-Pilot to be a Commander Requirement of Commanders in any airline basically depends upon two factors: one, the airline is adding airplanes in its fleet; and, second, retirement of serving commanders. Both airlines promote Co-Pilot to Commander whenever airline has requirements for Commanders and it has nothing to do with the maximum number of years of service in both the Airlines. Both the airlines inducted airplanes to existing fleet from 2007 to 2011: Erstwhile Indian Airlines has a total of 45 planes (Basic aircraft: 43 from Airbus 320 family + Advanced aircraft like Airbus 330: 2) and erstwhile Air India has a total of 41 planes (Basic aircraft: 18 Boeing 737s + Advanced aircraft Boeing 777: 23). This addition of airplanes increased the requirement of Commanders in both the airlines. The requirement of Commanders was more in erstwhile Air India as the number of advances airplanes inducted was more than the basic airplanes. Advanced airplane requires 10 Commanders against 5 on basic airplanes because of different kind of operations. The requirement of commanders in both the airlines: Erstwhile Indian Airlines has a requirement of 235 Commanders (Basic aircraft: 43x5+Advanced aircraft 2x10=235) and erstwhile Air India needs 320 Commanders (Basic aircraft: 18x5+Advanced aircraft 23x10=230). It is evident that Air India required more Commanders than Indian Airlines but Air India did not have enough qualified Co-pilots to be promoted as Commanders for its planes. To meet the shortfall, Air India hired expat Commanders. Till date, there is a shortfall of Commanders in Air India, which is evident from the fact that there are 30 Expat Commanders and 63 Indian Commanders on contract as per crew list of March 2012.

X Y Z [

\ ]

reasons: The flying allowance of erstwhile Air India was fixed at 80 hours and did not depend on the actual hours flown whereas for an Indian Airlines’ Co-Pilot flying allowance was not fixed and it was as per the number of hours he had actually flown in the month. So, to get a bigger share of the cake, an Indian Airlines Co-Pilot flew more and he achieved required 2750 hours of flying experience as Co-pilot faster then his counterpart in Air India. 2. The fear of losing the seniority to his junior motivated Co-Pilots to clear the ATPL licence exams conducted by DGCA within 3

Difference between Commander and Co-Pilot

During flight Commander is supreme and sole responsible authority for operation of flight where as Co-Pilot is Second in Command assist Commander to discharge his duties. As far as flying an airplane both of them are equally qualified only difference is seating in cockpit where Commander sits on Left seat as he is trained to handle aircraft from left hand seat similarly a Co-Pilot sits on Right

CRUISING HEIGHTS June 2012

seat as he is trained to handle the aircraft from Right hand seat. It is Commander’s authority to give flying to a Co-Pilot and in the event when Co-pilot is flying the airplane ultimate responsibility for the safety of flight lies with Commander. The last and final line of defense for any flight is COMMANDER of that flight who is solely responsible for safety of the aircraft and its passengers.

3) 4)

Co-Pilot for Commander’s training, all the airlines ensure that Co-Pilots have sufficient flying experience as well as sufficient take off and landing experience. 2. Take off and landing technique remains same. Landing at advanced airports such as New York is easier compared to a less advanced airport such as Mangalore because advanced airports have better facilities for takeoff and landing. 3. By the nature of the operations of basic aircraft i.e. smaller airplanes, smaller sectors, more takeoffs and landings are involved enhancing and maturing piloting skills.

be promoted as first Comyears 2 months of servmander on Basic Aircraft, ice in the company which presently is Boeing after his release as 737. As per the wage Co-Pilot. Failing to AIR INDIA CO-PILOTS agreement of erstwhile clear the exam TAKE LONGER TO BE PROMOTED Air India, all the Co-Pilots within stipulated AS COMMANDERS? were given an opportunity to duration would have get promoted as Commanders let his juniors be promoted on Basic Airplanes: 44 of them as Commanders before him are still Commanders on Boeing whenever the company had 737s and many after having requirement for Commanders. Air flown as Commander on Basic India Co-Pilots were required to Airplanes are promoted as Comhave ATPLs whenever their turn manders on advanced airplanes for Commanders arrived. as per their career progression As per the policy, Co-Pilots of pattern. both the airlines are required to At present, there is a shortage of Commanders on Boeing 737 fleet which continues to employ

19 expat Commanders and 48 Indian commanders on contract. The present demand of erstwhile Air India Co-Pilots is like a bikini which conceals all the essentials and reveals only the non-essentials i.e. they want to be promoted as Commanders without becoming a commander on the basic aircraft as they fear that post-merger their counterparts who are more experienced than them will become Commanders on advanced airplanes. Reasons for giving first command on basic airplanes 1. Pilots are professionals and their skill is involved in takeoffs and landings. So before taking any

X At the time of the 2007 merger, following were the basic and

] Requirement of Pilots after dividing Boeing787 50:50 considering 10

WHY

BRIEF STATISTICS

advanced aircraft as per COPU report: Erstwhile INDIAN AIRLINES

Basic aircraft Boeing 737 Airbus 320 family

pilots per Basic Aircraft and 20 pilots per advanced aircraft: Erstwhile AIR INDIA

= 11 = 57

Basic aircraft Boeing 737 Airbus 310

Advanced aircraft Airbus 300

= 03

Advanced aircraft Boeing777

= 07

Total airplanes

= 71

Total airplanes

= 71

= 18 = 16

Basic aircraft Airbus 320 family Advanced aircraft Airbus 300 Total airplanes

= 56

Basic aircraft Boeing 737

Airbus 320 Airbus 330 Boeing 787

= 18 = 20 = 06

= 58

Total airplanes

= 44

Erstwhile AIR INDIA

Total airplanes

= 71.5

Boeing737 Boeing747 Boeing777 Boeing787

Total airplanes

Basic 18 x 10 = 180 Advance 39.5 x 20 = 790

Total Pilots required

= 970

On Rolls On Contract Expat

= 785 = 09 = 00

Erstwhile AIR INDIA

= 02

= 56 = 02 = 13.5

= 870

Erstwhile INDIAN AIRLINES

Advanced aircraft Boeing777 Boeing747

Erstwhile INDIAN AIRLINES

Basic 56 x 10 = 560 Advance 15.5 x 20 = 310

# On receiving 3 Boeing777 another 60 pilots will be required

Erstwhile AIR INDIA

per Advanced Aircraft): Erstwhile Indian Airlines: 600 (Basic 56x10+Advanced 2x20) and erstwhile Air India: 700 (Basic 18x10+Advanced 26x20). [ At present, the total surplus pilots strength is: Erstwhile Indian Airlines: 185 (785 on rolls) and erstwhile Air India: 25 (725 on rolls including 69 trainee cadet pilots). Erstwhile Indian Airlines has 185 surplus pilots until they receive all allocated 13.5 Boeing 787s whereas erstwhile Air India has 25 surplus pilots. Note: 725 pilots on the rolls of erstwhile AI includes 69 trainee cadet pilots on Boeing737.Indian Airlines does not have any trainee cadet pilots. \ After distributing 50:50 of the new Boeing 787 airplanes between the two cadres, the total strength of airplanes will be:

Erstwhile AIR INDIA

^ At present total pilots strength including contract and expat pilots is:

Z Requirement of Pilots today (10 pilots per Basic Aircraft and 20 pilots

Total Pilots required

Y At present following are the basic and advanced aircraft: Erstwhile INDIAN AIRLINES

Erstwhile INDIAN AIRLINES

Total Pilots

= 794

On Rolls On Contract Expat Air India Expat AIE

Total Pilots

= 725 = 15 = 11 = 19 = 856

_ Expected shortage of pilots on receiving 50:50 Boeing 787 is: Erstwhile INDIAN AIRLINES

Total shortage

= 85

Erstwhile AIR INDIA

Total shortage

= 245

` Erstwhile Indian Airlines pilots should be allocated more airplanes in merged Air India for three reasons: a. To replace expensive Expat pilots presently employed on advanced airplanes. b. Post-merger due to the replacement of IA routes by Air India Express airplanes mainly flown by erstwhile Air India pilots has resulted in under-utilization of erstwhile Indian Airlines pilots to 60 hrs a month against optimum utilisation of 90 hrs a month. c. By allocating more advanced airplanes to erstwhile Indian Airlines, the carrier will be doing justice to the Pilots as they are equal employees in a merged entity and have a legitimate right of career progression in the new company.

= 18 = 06 = 20 = 13.5 = 57.5

# 3 Boeing 777 yet to be delivered

CRUISING HEIGHTS June 2012

COVER STORY

NO ONE OUTLOOKINDIA

IS SERIOUS ABOUT DOWN BUT NOT OUT: Agitating Pilots shouting slogans during the strike.

AIR INDIA

The present strike by pilots owing allegiance to the IPG is only a part of a bigger malaise that is affecting Air India, comments Jitender Bhargava. It is indeed high time professionals took over the operations of Air India. Only then will Air India and the Maharaja live and flourish. or the second time in ten years, the Indian Pilots Guild (IPG) has faced the ignominy of being derecognised by the Air India management. In 2003, when the IPG went on a strike on the issue of SARS — refusing to operate to destinations in the SARSaffected countries and flights to any other destination if it had on board a passenger or crew who had travelled to any of the SARS-affected Asian countries in the preceding ten days. The demand was absolutely absurd as pilots of airlines even of the SARS-affected countries had not reacted in this manner. The then Air India management was thus left with no alternative but to strike hard at the agitating union; de-recognising the IPG and suspending over a hundred pilots. Capt. Vikrant Sansare, the general secretary of the IPG who led the strike was eventually dismissed from service. But Air India pilots haven’t been any different from their global community because pilots of various airlines worldwide have gone on strike one time or the other as they have the maximum power to paralyse the flights in the shortest possible time, which is what they did by reporting sick. IPG can be faulted for the current agitation on two counts. First, going on a strike without notice and second in pursuance of demands that did not merit a

The government needs to recognise the fact that if Air India has failed to perform over the years it is owing to several factors, not just labour issues. CRUISING HEIGHTS June 2012

strike at this juncture when the government was still in the process of completing formalities for infusion of the first tranche of the `30,000-crore bailout package. It is for these factors that the IPG is at the receiving end of public anger though the issues raised by IPG — not first class travel — do warrant a serious look. The strike is a direct fallout of the illconceived, poorly implemented merger even five years after it was given effect. As the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) report on Air India has pointed out, HR issues arising out of different work culture, varied promotion policies, pay structure, etc. were flagged prior to the merger but those pushing the merger agenda had hoped that the issues would be sorted out once the airlines merged. With no plans formulated to address the issues, as is very often the case in the government sector, the HR issues have been allowed to simmer. If it is pilots on agitation today, there can be no guarantee that another set of employees will not go on an agitation a month or two later, unless, of course, some expeditious action is initiated to set things right. Whilst there has been a tendency to put the entire blame on the doorsteps of IPG this time around, the problem runs much deeper, if one takes a dispassionate view of how the airline has been run since

the merger. The HR issues haven’t been addressed, and if they have been, then not very fairly. A question that needs to be posed is: What have the successive managements done since the merger to integrate the manpower, working conditions and to ensure that airline functions as one entity? At the time of merger, two executive directors — one from erstwhile Air India and the other from erstwhile Indian Airlines — were designated to look after integration matters. What have they done? What have the chief executives who have donned the positions since the merger done? Are they not accountable for lack of performance? Likewise, the Ministry of Civil Aviation was expected to guide Air India in resolution of HR issues, to quote the CAG report again. What has the Ministry done? Even the simple act of getting a committee of experts constituted to look into the entire gamut of principles of integration across various cadres, level mapping and seniority issues of post-merged entity besides the principles of pay/wage rationalisation and restructuring between all the employees of erstwhile Air India and Indian Airlines took them 3-1/2 years. The irony of it all is that it was a threat of strike by ICPA that prodded the Ministry to constitute the committee in February 2011. The current strike, howsoever illegitimate, should, therefore, be seen as a manifestation of employees seething anger at their issues not being addressed. The government also needs to recognise the facts that if Air India has failed to perform over the years it is owing to several factors, not just labour issues. The blame for many of the critical failures will, in fact, fall in the domain of the management or the government, in its capacity as the 100 per cent owner of the airline. The experiment on the constitution of the Board by inducting stalwarts from the private sector has failed to make any worthwhile difference. The chief executives, appointed since the merger, have had to be summarily sacked for non-performance unless, of course, the chief executive has been deft at managing the political environment in Delhi. Gustav Baldauf, who was appointed with enormous fanfare, lasted no more than nine months. If the recognition of Air India’s consistent failure over the years is there, why are the experiments on the same lines continuing endlessly in the hope that the results will be different this time around? Appointing chief executives of Air India is not akin to buying lottery tickets and hoping that some incumbent will hit the jackpot sometime. The management will have to strive to make that happen by managing the

Appointing chief executives of Air India is not akin to buying lottery tickets and hoping that some incumbent will hit the jackpot sometime CRUISING HEIGHTS June 2012

airline professionally. It is as simple as that! What is ironical in the current scenario is the lack of transparency? If the IPG and other erstwhile Air India employees have a perception, right or wrong, that the management is dominated by erstwhile Indian Airlines officials who are not being impartial in their dealings, the onus is on Chairman and Managing Director Rohit Nandan to allay such fears. Allowing such a perception to breed will only create greater hurdles in ensuring harmony. If today, most people have given up on Air India they have reasons for it, not borne out of cynicism but ground realities. Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh has been constantly and frequently articulating that government funds approved under the bailout package will be infused in Air India only on attainment of certain performance standards and milestones. If the recent past is any indication, the tax payers’ money shall most likely remain secure with the government because Air India has slipped to the fourth position in the domestic skies, and GoAir is on the verge of forging ahead to relegate Air India still further. There is thus an urgency for the management issues hindering improved performance to be put on the front burner for the minister and just not the pilots strike, which should be best left to the management to deal with, and Ajit Singh only providing the necessary insulation to the management from extraneous pressure. The unfortunate part is that no one is serious about Air India because no one is accountable. The most recent example is the way the airline is going about appointing the Chief Operating Officer of Air India. After first inviting applications from all eligible candidates cutting across management disciplines, as should be the case, it has now been amended to invite applications only from pilots with a certain number of flying hours, age, etc. How can a pilot run an airline when they have failed to successfully manage even the operations department, if the discontentment amongst pilots is any indication? Further, it is being openly speculated that the amended conditions have been tailormade for a particular pilot currently ruling the roost. Rohit Nandan, let professionalism drive Air India for improved results and not personal prejudices because even if a section of employees wins the current round, the loss ultimately will be for all of them — irrespective of whether they belong to the erstwhile Air India or the erstwhile Indian Airlines. (Jitender Bhargava was Executive Director of Air India)

ALL PHOTOS: EBACE.AERO

SPECIAL REPORT

GENERALLY CONFIDENT D

THE GENERAL AVIATION MARKET AROUND THE WORLD IS STILL WALLOWING THROUGH THE RIPPLE EFFECTS OF THE RECESSION. EVEN SO, THE RECENT EUROPEAN BUSINESS AVIATION CONVENTION & EXHIBITION, SPELT OPTIMISM AND CONFIDENCE. A REPORT.

LOOKING UP: The General Aviation business made a valiant stand at the recent EBACE expo; vigenettes from the expo this year.

espite the gloomy economy, the 12th annual European Business Aviation Convention & Exhibition (EBACE 2012) in Geneva “was one of the strongest EBACE shows yet, demonstrating its value”, the organisers claimed. The show attracted over 12,500 attendees from 99 countries — both compared favourably with the 2011 show. The show’s static display area — 10 per cent larger than that last year — had a record 60 aircraft. While the numbers were good, the general mood was one of concern and cautious optimism. Overshadowed by problems in the European financial markets, it was well attended but there was no great buzz. Cessna and Bombardier both launched new models but these did not capture the imagination of many visitors to the show. Latin America remains active, while Russia and Eastern Europe show “positive signs”. Brazil and Australia remain in the “good activity” group. However, there is overall disappointment in Western Europe due to a depressed pre-owned market. Another mature market, the US, has been disappointing. In India, sales have “stalled” for three years due to a weak currency and strong inflation. The Middle East remains relatively quiet. African activity is concentrated in oilproducing countries like Nigeria. Hawker Beechcraft was the only manufacturer that announced orders. This was partly to convey that it is still functioning as a company whilst in Chapter 11 (something that Europeans with strict bankruptcy laws often struggle to understand) and the future of the CRUISING HEIGHTS June 2012

SPECIAL REPORT

EBACE.AERO

company was regularly discussed. The biggest story of the show was the announcement by Fred Hochberg, Chairman and President, ExportImport Bank that he is committed to supporting US business jet manufacturers. It announced a new $350-million facility for Cessna Finance and also a new way to simplify and speed up applications from customers of other companies building business jets and helicopters in the US. Under the new scheme, qualified advisers will work with Ex-Im to reduce approval times for deals to fewer than four weeks. The first qualified adviser was Airfinance. Hochberg said that Ex-Im wanted to finance business jets and helicopters worth $1 billion by 2014. There were a number of advanced aircraft on display. Among them were: Gulfstream Aerospace Corp’s ultra-large-cabin, ultra-long-range Gulfstream G650 made its first trans-Atlantic crossing to Ebace squawk-free and non-stop in just 6 hours and 55 minutes. Bombardier announced that it would phase out its Learjet 40 and Learjet 45 and replace them next year with revamped versions: the Learjet 70 and Learjet 75. But the plane’s avionics, the systems that fly the airplane, will be brand new. It would be the same Garmin G5000 digital avionics developed by Rockwell Collins for the upcoming Learjet 85, as will be the ergonomics of the cockpit that will also be redesigned with the same general look and feel as the passenger cabin. The Vision Flight Deck is being rolled out across Bombardier’s various aircraft platforms in future corporate aircraft such as the Learjet 85, Global 7000 and 8000, as well as airliners like the CSeries. The changes, however, will be more than cosmetic. The new aircraft’s Honeywell engines will be 10 per cent more powerful, the winglets will be angled two additional degrees for improved aerodynamics, range will increase between four and five per cent to 2,000 nautical miles and runway length needed for takeoff and landing will be reduced between 500 feet and 700 feet, increasing the choice of airports for the revamped planes. Dassault’s in-development Falcon 2000S large-cabin business jet is beating its initial performance objectives, said Charles Edelstenne, CEO of Dassault Aviation. He was bullish about prospects for sales and told journalists at the company’s press conference at

HUGE GATHERING: EBACE expo attracted a large number of business visitors this year.

Fred Hochberg, Chairman and President, ExportImport Bank in EBACE 2012 announced that he is committed to supporting US business jet manufacturers EBACE that the market was in “a slow transition to recovery”. “Landing performance will be 10 per cent better than targeted numbers,” said Olivier Villa, Senior V-P for civil aircraft. Better than hoped-for low-speed performance was obtained with new inboard slats that “work together” with winglets. The improved landing distances should thus expand the number of secondary airports the aircraft can serve. Although the 2000S has a larger cabin, its target competitors are in the super-midsize category like the Gulfstream G280. Dassault claims to CRUISING HEIGHTS June 2012

have significantly better landing performance. So far, the landing distance that appeared on the 2000S’ performance sheet has been 2,600 feet at sea level for a “typical landing weight”. The Falcon 2000S prototype has undergone 300 hours of flight tests in about 130 flights. Still to come is testing the integration of the EASy II cockpit. Although he did use the word “recovery,” Edelstenne appeared cautious about the business aviation market. Sales are strong in the Far East, with 12 Falcon deliveries scheduled this year in China alone. The opponents in China business aviation have encouraged Dassault to plan to set up a Falcon service station in Beijing in 2013, possibly with a local partner. Other announcements at EBACE were: Cessna announced the super mid-size Citation Longitude. Flexjet will be the first company to offer fractional ownership of the Learjet 70 and Learjet 75 with deliveries scheduled for 2013. NetJets Europe launched a new aircraft management business. Work has begun on the design and manufacture of the first full-flight simulator for the HondaJet. Hawker Beechcraft will open a new parts and distribution warehouse in Bengaluru, India. The warehouse will be stocked in the next few weeks and operated by Airworks India Engineering. Sky Dragon Pacific launched a new iPad app — Sky Dragon — which helps independent project managers or completion facility managers keep clients informed about the progression of their aircraft build or large aircraft refurbishment project. CAE acquired the Oxford Aviation Academy for $314 million. Eurocopter announced two deals at EBACE in Geneva. The first was a contract signature for six Eurocopter AS350 B3e helicopters and one EC130 T2 to Eurocopter’s Swiss-based distributor, Europavia. Second, Eurocopter signed an agreement with Koçoglu Aviation for the first approved maintenance centre to be located in Turkey. Qatar Airways and fractional jet ownership provider Flexjet are to form an alliance to offer the Middle East airline’s passengers a seamless charter service throughout North America.

NetExpress CRUISING HEIGHTS

D I G I TA L T R E N D S F O R T R AV E L L E R E X P E R I E N C E

Unique travel networking site launched

HEMANT RAWAT

GADGET EMPOWERED: Tech-savvy traveller capturing one of Delhi’s monument on smartphone.

Gadget-happy gen are

happy travellers ndians are becoming gadget happy. According to a survey by TripAdvisor, the world’s largest travel planning site, smartphones and tablets are becoming essential travel accessories for Indians. The trend is clearly reflected in the survey of over 1000 respondents across the metro cities: while 65 per cent people said that they possessed a smartphone, 22 per cent were owners of a tablet. The ‘Mobile Device Travel Survey’ found that these smart devices were taking the travel experience to the next level and were utilised for taking/sharing photos, navigation and games, besides calls and messaging. Nikhil Ganju, TripAdvisor India’s Country Manager, believed that for techsavvy Indians, “mobile devices are becoming an integral part of their holidays”. Starting from pre-trip research on destinations, attractions, hotels to actual booking of accommodation or flights for the trip, to location - based services at the holiday destination; “the mobile fits all in the palm of your hand”, said Ganju. He further added, “The versatile mobile today serves as a navigation tool, camera,

gaming device, local directory… the list is exhaustive.” The use of mobiles in the travel process had to be understood in two phases: the first while planning the trip, where booking/researching for accommodation, flights and reading about destinations, city guides or walking tours are the three mains tasks the device is used for, and the second phase comprising travel. Here the mobile phone served the tasks of providing information about the destination, looking for good restaurants and booking them, and knowing the reviews of travellers. The six most downloaded travel applications were TripAdvisor, Google Maps, Make My Trip, Blackberry travel, IRCTC and Cleartrip. Young Indians have made the maximum use of technology as 77 per cent smartphone owners were in the age group of 25-35 years, and 28 per cent tablet owners were in the age group of 18-24. Moreover, 61 per cent respondents in the age group of 18-24 claimed to have used a mobile device to plan their trip.

TOP STORY

There is a good news for travel enthusiasts. A group of techies and Indian Institute of Management (IIM) graduates has launched JoGuru.com, a unique travel social networking site, which comprises the features of both, a social networking site and a travel search engine. Under this portal, all travel-related information will be custom-made according to the user’s requirements. Besides, the site will help the user connect with those who have already travelled to the chosen destinations or people living there. Praveen Kumar, Chief Executive Officer, JoGuru.com, said, “People spend hours on search engines looking for relevant travel information. How cool would it be if someone who knows more about my destination helps me search the Internet and plan for my trip? In return, I would like to help others plan their trips. This is what we at JoGuru call collaborative search and planning. Unfortunately, none of the search engines try to understand the context of the search before throwing millions of search results. JoGuru will change this.”

INSIDE>

42¨¨

INTERVIEW Varun Chadha, COO, JourneyMart.com on online travel trends.

46 ¨¨

SUCCESS MANTRA Social media’s power in deciding airports position.

46 ¨¨

BOARDING GET’S TECHIE JAL’s NFC based boarding passes.

Continued on Page 44 `

CRUISING HEIGHTS June 2012

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È Was it not a big risk to get into something like this? It was, and we had to evolve with the times. We developed a lot of information, which is helping us now. Essentially, we positioned ourselves as the information provider. That’s what differentiates us from the other Online Travel Agents (OTAs). They are transaction driven. We focus on the informative platform of travel, travel guides, holiday ideas, inspiring people, and catching them early in their travel planning stage. We try to retain them through the process by getting them products, helping them with our partnership with the fraternity, which includes OTAs, tour operators, and smaller operators. We back our information with a product so that there is some form of gratification for our users. È Do you think the market was ready for this concept? It wasn’t in 2001. Today, we have grown leaps and bounds because all the action is happening online; retail is happening online, travel is happening online. I guess we still have a long way to go in terms of online travel-related information. There was a study, which came out a couple of months back, where they looked at travellers, typically someone who would travel more than twice a year for leisure purposes, and found that they were using the Internet for social media and planning travel. Again, being online was a close second. So, online is definitely emerging as the number one source of planning and booking. È With so many sites out there, how are you different? We are trying to put our foot in the door to be that credible source of information, especially in the Indian context. The idea is to add value to the consumer. We are providing information like others but we are giving it differently. We are backed with an efficient and affective meta-search technology for online flights and hotels and offer a repertoire of travel products serviced by multiple travel service

AW AT

where we would connect buyers and sellers, a sort of a mall for travel concepts. Buyers would come, set up shop, and we would track sellers and let them meet and interact directly. We launched officially in 2001, when online travel was still a new concept.

F O R

T R A V E L L E R

providers to discover, plan and book your next holiday. It is the way we are delivering the information to them. The front where we are unique is holiday ideas. We have developed a very smart leisure search, which responds to the traveller’s preferences in terms of naming a destination, as each individual has his/her own preferences and tastes for a holiday. A person can play around with the search, put his/her details, and we will throw up destinations in India and abroad. We back that information with our travel guide section plus travel-related information, travel news, features, articles, and images. Holiday ideas are where we are unique. We are trying to be very comprehensive there, be offbeat. While we have run-of-the-mill sort of ideas, which include adventure, family holidays, we have tried to mix it up with music and culture, food and drinks, cosmopolitan, and offbeat spa. So, there is something for everyone. Product wise, we have the mall concept — 20-30 different providers use our platform to generate lease. So, essentially, we are trying to capture the travellers early in their planning, discovery stages, and then retain them through the booking process, through their life cycle of actually planning and booking the trip. In all this, we are trying to address the grievance that there is too much out there and someone needs to simplify things. How do I know that the information I am getting with Google search or Yahoo search is correct? That’s where we come in. We actually search 150 different sites for the result. So, if you’re searching for a hotel in Goa, we would check up 150 different sites, that include OTAs, some big tour operators, as well as hotels directly. In this way the user gets the best deal. We do the same with the packages. NT R

us a little about the company Q: Tell and how it came about. In 2000, we saw this opportunity, an A: exciting model in the online space. Conceptually, it started off as a platform

T R E N D S

HE MA

NetExpress

E X P E R I E N C E

È You talk about giving a review of the destination and information. Where is this information coming from? That is developed in-house. We use multiple sources. We actually visit those destinations, we read about them and talk to people. That’s how we bring in the credibility. È Who is your target audience? We are targeting the 25-45-age bracket, typically. We like to classify them as the urban contemporary traveller. The one looking for the extraordinary, beyond the beaten tracks, who is done with Goa and Kerala, and we offer them something different. Our packages appeal to a larger audience because we are offering many choices, all in one place.

D I G I T A L

T R E N D S

F O R

È How much have you grown? 100 per cent for the month of March this year from last year in terms of unique visitors. È So what is next? We are also going to launch a TV commercial. We will use some of our ideas and try to inspire people and get them to us for finding destinations, getting information and booking them. It will help us increase our audience space. This way we are actually focussing on growth in terms of visitation right now and we are letting our sites sort of take care of the repeat visitors. Our focus today is actually drawing a lot more traffic than trying to retain it. Being content heavy, informative and developing this search has helped us retain our users. È What has been your greatest challenge? Information content, generating good quality content; I think that has been a challenge. What is going to remain a

T R A V E L L E R

E X P E R I E N C E

challenge is sourcing of content. It is difficult and challenging to keep up-todate information. You have to be constantly fresh. You must have the pulse of every place that you are covering. È With so many sites available, how do you retain your clients? You have to keep innovating. You have to keep adding. That’s the game now. Loyalties are being challenged at every stage. We have to keep capturing the imagination of the person to keep drawing them back. Now whether it’s by providing a cheap flight ticket or content that’s user friendly and fun — you have to add value. The Internet is bridging the gap between the endservice provider and the consumer. So, the middleman is challenged to provide that extra bit of value. È What about the other middleman, the travel agent? Will he become nonexistent? He is severely challenged. Today,

“Innovation is the name of the game” JourneyMart.com’s innovative destination search tool provides the basis for choosing as well as discovering an ideal destination. Varun Chadha, COO, JourneyMart.com, talks to Meghna Bhaduri about the company’s ‘Unique & Innovative Holiday Search’ and what’s next.

NetExpress

airlines prefer to promote web-only fares. Hotels are doing it. They are all discounting on their sites. So the middleman is challenged. He has to either offer value, good rates or be innovative and provide information. But I don’t think he will become nonexistent because there are values that only he can bring to the table — convenience and expertise. He’s a onestop shop who simplifies the whole process, something that sometimes endservice providers can’t. While people search and plan online, bookings in terms of actual online transactions are not rising as fast. There are multiple factors for this. One is that people want tangibility. They want someone to speak to, to bargain with, and to customise. Also, credit cards become an issue, where the circulation of credit cards is not that high. So that’s where portals and providers are coming out with alternative modes of payment such as net banking, debit cards, etc. È Tell us a little more about your innovation. Absolutely. Our search is based on an in-house property called Destination Explorer, which is our travel guides — travel guides on 1,000 plus destinations in India and across the world, plus our logic of reason and season. I think we’ve got more than 17 reasons to travel because seasons take over as the months to travel. So it’s our expertise working, where we are giving recommendations to users, based on user preferences and giving a name to their destination. So, either you know where you want to go, and we give you the information, a product that is coming from multiple sources. Or, you don’t know where you want to go and we help you plan, based on your choices. We throw out options and it’s very user friendly. You can actually go and play around with it. Rather than it being static, it is dynamic to the extent that you can change your preferences and it will keep refreshing and throwing results. This is then backed with information and products. È What is the newest trend that is emerging in India now? City-getaway is big, especially for the typical middle class and upper middle class, where the disposable income has gone up. We cover nine major metros and travel-recommend destinations. People are challenged for time so this is a very emerging trend, especially with the youth.

CRUISING HEIGHTS June 2012

NetExpress

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Metro mobile mania

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Woes of a Mobile Traveller:

TRAVEL GOES TECH LEVEL

Bengaluru has maximum smartphone users

E X P E R I E N C E

The mobile travel revolution is not without its moments of frustration.

74%

Chennai has highest tablet phone owners

34%

42%

claim being hit with massive international roaming bills

65%

60%

travellers say poor connectivity, roaming charges main pain points

29.03% in the age group of

77%

smartphone owners in the age group of 25-35

Mobile — Best friend during travel

GRAPHIC: RUCHI SINHA

55%

W “Often” use it for multiple tasks

61%

W Use Facebook on mobile

31%

W Use it for check-in

TripAdvisor Google Maps Make My Trip Blackberry travel IRCTC Cleartrip

Pre-trip planning

37%

The new-age traveller was addicted to the mobile. This can be judged from the fact that 55 per cent respondents said they could not live without their mobile on a holiday, while only a meagre 16 per cent were unsure if they could manage without it. 58 per cent respondents said they often used their phone for tasks other than making calls when travelling and 61 per cent said they connected either often or sometimes to Facebook on mobile while travelling. Mobile check-in appeared to be the new trend with 31 per cent respondents claiming to use their device regularly for the purpose. This number swelled to 52 per cent in the age group of 18-24. The good news is that there was hardly any gender divide when it came to utilisation of mobiles for travel purpose. The report claimed that women were turning out ‘equally social’ on trips. Even though the picture appears bright, there were stumbling blocks, which need to be overcome. For more than 60 per

53%

used mobile to book flight or accommodation

Continued from Page 41 `

X Y Z [ \ ]

Top 3 cell uses for travel planning tasks

W Can’t live without mobile on a holiday

58%

18-24 say app functionality poorer than web

6 most downloaded travel apps

HEMANT RA WAT

28%

29.03%

60%

Techie Youngistan

tablet owners in the age group of 18-24

42%

respondents own a smartphone; 22% possess a tablet

used atleast 1 travel application

cent travellers, poor connectivity and roaming charges remain the major nuisance while travelling, followed by the discomfort of navigating on a small screen. A whopping 42 per cent claimed that they were hit with an unexpectedly large bill after using their mobile device while on international travel. This was probably the reason for 44 per cent people switching to the use of country-specific SIM cards most of the time while abroad. In the age group of 18-24 years, 29.03 per cent respondents informed that the biggest irritant was poor application functionality compared to a website. Bengaluru was the clear leader with the highest number of smartphone users (74 per cent), followed by Delhi (72 per cent) and Mumbai (70 per cent). Surprisingly, despite its position as an important IT hub, Hyderabad finished last with 57 per cent respondents possessing smart mobile devices. In the case of tablets, Chennai was far ahead of others with 34 per cent respondents claiming to own one, followed CRUISING HEIGHTS June 2012

While travelling

Book/research accommodation

Read about destinations, city guides or walking tours

Book/research flights

Book/research restaurants

Read about destinations, city Read traveller reviews guides or walking tours

by Delhi (27 per cent) and Bengaluru (21 per cent). Kolkata lagged far behind with just 18 per cent tablet owners. Chennai and Bengaluru comprised the maximum number of tech-friendly travel enthusiasts with 59 per cent respondents in both these cities claiming to have at least one travel application downloaded on their mobile device, the highest among all metros. This was followed closely by Mumbai (58 per cent), Hyderabad (57 per cent), Delhi (56 per cent) and Kolkata (40 per cent). 61 per cent Chennaites claimed to have used a mobile device to plan a trip followed by Delhi (52 per cent), Bengaluru (50 per cent), Mumbai (49 per cent), Hyderabad (46 per cent) and Kolkata (39 per cent). Delhiites emerged as the biggest Facebook addicts with 37 per cent informing that they often connect to Facebook on mobile while travelling. Bengaluru came a close second followed by Kolkata, Mumbai, Chennai and Hyderabad. — Nidhi Sharma

NetExpress

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RU DAGON/WIKIPEDIA

15 yrs of SITA Kiosks and growth continues

Fly in and out with Facebook, Twitter for company

An airport’s position/reputation depends on communication through social media, Internet and mobiles. That is the result of the Airports Council International (ACI) Europe recently released ‘Digital Report 2012’. According to the report, 77 per cent of Europe’s air passengers now travel through airports that are active in social media channels such as Facebook and Twitter. Comparing these figures to 2011’s ‘Airports 2.0’ report, social media use among Europe’s airports increased by 43 per cent yearon-year. The report points out that onethird of Europe’s airports either have or are currently developing a smartphone application. 98.7 per cent of Europe’s airports currently offer Internet access to their passengers, over half of which provide some form of free Internet access. The growth trends point that the future is bright towards Eastern Europe. In Central Eastern Europe alone, social media usage grew phenomenally — a whopping 800 per cent — over a 12month period. The report also highlights the five ways in which airports are using social media as a communication tool: corporate communications, crisis communications, customer service, informal relationship building and commercial promotion. Commenting on the latest figures, Olivier Jankovec, Director General, ACI Europe, said: “These latest figures reflect just how much more direct the relationship between the airport and the passenger has become. Europe’s airports are making a wide variety of information immediately available on a smartphone or similar device, empowering passengers to make their experience of the airport as informed and hassle-free as possible.” Among the various social networking websites, the research makes it evident that there is a strong preference for

Facebook over Twitter. It states that 91 per cent of airports or airport groups with a social media presence have a Facebook page while only 65 per cent have a Twitter feed. 45 per cent of European airports on Facebook have moved to the new ‘Timelines profile’. However, a majority of users see the value in both media, with 56 per cent of airports opting to have a presence on both platforms. Other social medial platforms like YouTube have a wide audience as 2,113,083 verified airport YouTube have been viewed over two million times. The report also informs that an average Google+ user spends 3.3 minutes a month on the platform, compared to 7.5 hours for Facebook. Airports across the globe are doing major experimentation with technology and putting more power in the hands of their customers through various digital weapons. Moscow Sheremetyevo airport is a striking example in the sense that in November 2011, the airport launched a service allowing passengers to check-in for their flight, via Skype. The service has also been extended to include mobile devices. Stuttgart airport in Germany is using blogs in a unique interactive manner for both internal and external communication. Helsinki airport in Finland made use of the experience of eight individuals who were made to travel and report on different airports and airlines. Zurich Airport Observation Deck has special telescopes that bring in live useful information about airport facilities and aircraft in view. The information provides passengers a glimpse of the future and brings to light the fact that the value of social media, smartphones and tablet computers, enhancing interaction between airports and passengers cannot be undermined.

SUCCESS MANTRA

CRUISING HEIGHTS June 2012

On May 11, Global air transport IT provider SITA celebrated the fifteenth anniversary of the launch of its self-service check-in kiosks which have been providing fast and easy check-in to millions of passengers. More than 5,200 SITA kiosks have helped reduce queuing lines at 200 airports around the world since 1997, when Air Alaska was the first one to receive it. SITA’s first common use selfservice (CUSS) kiosks made their appearance at Toronto Pearson International Airport in 2003, as part of the Greater Toronto Airport Authority’s $4.4 billion development programme. Then in 2009, SITA launched AirportConnect S3 Kiosk, the world’s most compact freestanding model, with the smallest footprint of any fully functioning check-in kiosk. These have rapidly become the ‘kiosk of choice’ for airlines and airports and this month the 1,000th AirportConnect S3 will be delivered by SITA. There has been a 20 per cent rise worldwide in the number of passengers who check-in at a kiosk. This is expected to continue to rise. Matthys Serfontein, SITA Vice President Airport Solutions, said: “Kiosk usage is part of a multichannel service offering from airlines and airports. SITA continues to work with our customers to develop new functionality to make kiosks even more useful. We’ve added secure payment processing for additional sales such as upgrades, local transport and meals and our industry survey shows that 70 percent of airlines plan to use kiosks for sales by 2014. Also, services such as self-baggage tagging and bag check at kiosks now allow passengers to experience true end to-end self-service check-in.”

FOCUS ON â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;COPTERS P47

P48

CHOPPER WOES

UNLICENSED HELIPADS

The Jharkhand CM was lucky to survive e a crash from an ill maintained chopper

Only nine helipads in the country are licensed by the DGCA

LUCKY ESCAPE : (Above)A picture of the crash site and (left) Chief Minister Arjun Munda recuperating in hospital.

t was indeed a miracle for Jharkhand Chief Minister Arjun Munda to have survived the deadly crash at the Birsa Munda Airport in Ranchi on May 9, 2012. Technical snags are believed to have developed in the rear rudder of the chopper that presumably rendered the pilot incapable of ensuring a normal landing. Consequently, he opted to expend the fuel in the chopper by hovering in the air before descending violently. But the pertinent question is: how long could such a threat to life be warded off with callous neglect by a section of the authorities entrusted with the safety measures of VIPs in the state? VIPs like Dr APJ Abdul Kalam, BJP stalwart Sahnawaz Hussain, MLA Bandhu Tirkey have also had miraculous escapes in the past in Jharkhand while traveling in the same chopper.The chopper, an AgustaWestland 109, was 21 years old and, contrary to set norms, was illmaintained and thus in a deplorable condition. Well-placed sources in the state police headquarters pointed out that

Jharkhandâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s I

copter gambit Chief Minister Arjun Munda of Jharkhand was the latest in a line of high-profile victims to have survived a crash in a decrepit and badly-maintained chopper, reports DP Sharan.

CRUISING HEIGHTS June 2012

before boarding the chopper recently at Dumka, the Deputy Chief Minister of Jharkhand, Hemant Soren, had made a terse remark about the deplorable condition of the chopper and questioned its safety. Senior police officials confided that the body of the chopper had developed minor cracks over the years and in the garb of maintenance these were plugged by using crude methods. As recently as April 27, the chopper carrying the Chief Minister had to force land at Jamshedpur due to inclement weather. But neither the remarks made by the Deputy CM, nor the threat of a possible mishap, during inclement weather, forced the civil aviation officials from performing their duties. The recurrence of technical snags, time and again, in the only chopper hired by the Jharkhand Government and its forced landings while transporting VIPs on different occasions is indicative enough of the lapses on the part of the authorities who are entrusted with the maintenance of the chopper. Continued on Page 50 `

FOCUS ON ‘COPTERS Bell honours heroes of aviation

Helicopter has ¤of Bell announced the second the Bell Helicopter

“Heroes of Aviation” series painting which pays tribute to the men and women who preserve freedom and save lives while using Bell Helicopters. The painting was unveiled at the Bell Helicopter exhibit during the annual Marine Corps Aviation Association (MCAA) 2012 Symposium

and Reunion and the Marine Aviation Centennial Celebration in the USA by John Garrison, president of Bell Helicopter. The painting pays tribute to Marine Capt. Casey “Porch” Blasingame and his unit who were called to help rescue a group of US Marines pinned down by the Taliban in Afghanistan in November 2010.

Sikorsky gives underprivileged kids joyrides As part of its Legacy of Heroes tour, ¤ileged Sikorsky recently gave 200 underprivchildren joyrides in its S-92 helicopters. The women pilots of the choppers interacted with the kids and also ate with them. The company also gave the children scholarships and health insurance. The cities visited by the Legacy of Heroes tour in India included Hyderabad, Chennai, Bengaluru, Mumbai and Delhi. Before this the tour had been to Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia and Singapore.

The six-member crew of the S-92 conducted briefings to highlight the multi-mission capability of the aircraft during the tour, which includes search-and-rescue (SAR) missions as well as a variety of transportation missions for accessing offshore oil and gas rigs, coastal surveillance, emergency medical transport and VIP transportation. The S-92 Legacy of Heroes tour to India had a special significance, as cabins for the S-92 helicopter are manufactured in Hyderabad.

Continued from Page 47 `

Jharkhand’s copter gambit The reason was to reap optimum benefits by both the chopper’s provider Aryan Aviation and authorities concerned — albeit at the cost of precious lives. The chopper was hired on wet-lease for fifty secured flying hours at the rate of `1 lakh per hour and hardly ever sent for maintenance for want of a stand-by, allegedly to reap the maximum pecuniary benefits from its undisrupted operation. The Jharkhand government that hired the chopper aimed to ensure its optimum utilisation. So each maintenance regime, which takes at least 3 to 5 days, neither suited the aviation agency, nor the state government, in terms of cost and time. The non-availability of a second chopper in Jharkhand and constraints of time provided enough excuses to the agency for not sparing the chopper for maintenance. On the issue of buying its own chopper instead of having a wetleased one, officials concerned, however, contended that the maintenance costs were high and the state government would have to pay for a permanent crew. The state police, with its own Dhruv helicopter, spends around `3 crore on maintenance annually.

Eurocopter’s X3 bags Howard Hughes Award

EUROCOPTER

improvement to the Eurocopter team that developed its X3 hybrid demonstrator aircraft. Eurocopter plans to present the X3 this summer to civil and military clients during a US tour. The Howard Hughes award is recognition of Eurocopter’s successful implementation of the hybrid helicopter concept, which uses two turboshaft engines to power a main rotor, along with two propellers installed on the tip of shortspan-fixed wings. This advanced cost effective, Vertical Takeoff and Landing (VTOL) aircraft has the speed of a turboprop-powered aircraft with the abilities of a helicopter.

BOEING

The American Helicopter Society ¤recognition (AHS) International awarded its annual for helicopter technology

Boeing bags Apache deals worth $668 million has won a $486 million ¤tionBoeing contract for low-rate initial producof 51 Apache helicopters, according to the American Department of Defense. The Apache choppers will be remanufactured in the new Block III configuration according to the firm fixed price contract. The new choppers are scheduled to be delivered to the US Army by the end of November 2014.

CRUISING HEIGHTS June 2012

The Block III modernised Longbows will be designed and equipped with the latest communications, navigation, sensor, and weapon systems. A Taiwanese deal worth $172 million to deliver an unspecified number of Apache Block III helicopters was also won by Boeing. This fixed-price contract is scheduled to run through the end of 2014. Interestingly, the Apache is also the frontrunner for the Indian armed forces’ tender for attack choppers. AH-64D Block III deals are projected to be a blend of re-manufacture and new-build orders globally.

AIR FORCE

A CLOSE LOOK AT THE GOVERNMENT’S DECISION TO BUY 75 PILATUS TRAINER AIRCRAFT FOR THE INDIAN AIR FORCE BRINGS A NUMBER OF ISSUES TO THE FORE, WRITES ABHIJIT BHATTACHARYYA, THE FIRST AMONG THEM BEING OUR INABILITY TO LEARN LEARNING LESSONS FROM USA, RUSSIA, CHINA AND EVEN PAKISTAN.

PILATUS

Swiss-made Pilatus aircraft has been purchased by a number of countries for its efficiency and good performance

A SWISS PLANE TO TRAIN THE BOYS IN BLUE CRUISING HEIGHTS June 2012

Pilatus PC-9 SEATING CAPACITY One or two pilots MAX TAKEOFF WEIGHT 3,200 kg RANGE 1,537 km POWERPLANT 1 × Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-62 turboprop FIRST FLIGHT 1984 MANUFACTURING COMPANY Pilatus Aircraft Ltd PURCHASING COUNTRIES Australia, Bulgaria, Croatia, Chad, Ireland, Mexico, Myanmar, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Slovenia, Switzerland, Thailand, Germany and United Kingdom.

he Government of India’s decision to induct 75 Swissmade trainer jets in the Indian Air Force must have come as music to the ears of the pilots of the Indian Air Force who have been going through a rough patch owing to paucity of basic trainers for the last few years. Hopefully, things are bound to look up for trainee pilots now. In the long run, however, a serious problem is bound to be addressed and redressed. How does India produce various types of sophisticated and state-ofthe-art inter-continental, short-range and mediu-range ballistic missiles and nuclear weapons but fails to produce a basic trainer aircraft for its rookie combat fliers? Indeed, the very selection of the Swiss trainer once again comes as a grim reminder to the nation of its fault lines in defence preparedness. It is a bad omen for the nation. Because no country can ever dream or aspire to be a superpower by depending wholly and solely on imported military hardware thereby giving leverage to alien arms producers to arm-twist the consumer (like India) during wars or similar crises. Nevertheless, it is not the case of this writer to stop the deal but to make an assessment of the world scenario as on date.

KAI KT-1 SEATING CAPACITY 2 in tandem MAX TAKEOFF WEIGHT 2,540 kg RANGE 1,333 km POWERPLANT 1 × Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-62 FIRST FLIGHT November 1991 MANUFACTURING COMPANY Korea Aerospace Industries PURCHASING COUNTRIES Indonesia, Republic of Korea, Turkey and Peru

The “new aircraft” PC-7 Mk-II built by Pilatus Aircraft Ltd, Stans, Switzerland, also has three subsidiaries based at the USA, Australia and Switzerland CRUISING HEIGHTS June 2012

WIKIPEDIA

COMPETING CONTENDERS

AIR FORCE

Beechcraft T-6 TexanII SEATING CAPACITY Two (1 student pilot, 1 instructor pilot) MAX TAKEOFF WEIGHT 2,948 kg RANGE 1,667 km POWERPLANT 1 × Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-68 turboprop FIRST FLIGHT 1992 MANUFACTURING COMPANY Hawker Beechcraft Corporation (HBC) PURCHASING COUNTRIES Canada, Germany, Greece, Israel, Mexico, Iraq, Morocco and United States

The “new aircraft” PC-7 Mk-II built by Pilatus Aircraft Ltd, Stans, Switzerland, also has three subsidiaries based at the USA, Australia and Switzerland. Launched in November 1998 with “21st century technology”, PC-7 II actually is the successor of Pilatus PC-21 basic turboprop trainer. With its maiden appearance on July 22, 2002 (where this writer was also present) at Farnborough Air Show, the “second development aircraft” unfortunately was “destroyed in a crash at Buochs, Switzerland, on January 13, 2005”. However, according to Jane’s All the World’s Aircraft 2011-2012, 25 Pilatus PC-21/7 Mk II have been ordered by the UAE on November 17, 2009; and the users include Singapore (19) and Switzerland (6). Pilatus Switzerland feels that there exists a market for 1000 aircraft over a 20-year period and it is confident of capturing 50 per cent share thereof. Further, with a reported “30- year life-cycle support cost” it would be interesting to follow the trajectory of the flight of this “basic turboprop trainer” of Swiss origin. Today’s focus being on the Indian Air Force let us begin with the position in New Delhi’s western neighbourhood: Pakistan. The comparison is quite stark.

SEATING CAPACITY 2 MAX TAKEOFF WEIGHT 3,175 kg RANGE 1916 km POWERPLANT 1 × Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A25C turboprop FIRST FLIGHT August 16, 1980 MANUFACTURING COMPANY Embraer PURCHASING COUNTRIES Angola, Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Egypt, Honduras, Iran, Kenya, Kuwait, Mauritania, Paraguay, Peru, United Kingdom, Venezuela

The Pakistan Aeronautical Complex, Kamra (District Attock), has so far built 327 “Mushshak three-seat light plane” with initial production version having been “used for training, communications and observation” and logged more than half a million flying hours by 1999. Although initially licence-built version of Sweden’s “Saab MFI-17 Supporter”, Pakistan appears to have adopted and adapted well as “at least half of surviving Pakistani Air Force Mushshaks have been upgraded to Super standard by 2009”. Pakistan first revealed its Super Mushshak at the Dubai Air Show in November 1997. The most interesting and important part of Pakistani military aviation is that Islamabad has succeeded in training its pilots with its own trainer aircraft. Thus, 92 aircraft are in use at Risalpur by Pakistani Air Force/Army; 36 by Pakistani Air Force and 117 by the Army. Besides, Islamabad has also successfully exported 26 craft to the Iranian Air Force; eight to the Omani Air Force; 20 to the Saudi Arabian Air Force and six to the Syrian Air Force, thereby enhancing its diplomatic and defence initiative in the user countries. And, that is no mean achievement for a “terror and terrorist-epicentre” state of the world. India’s bigger and stronger neigh-

PZL-130 Orlik SEATING CAPACITY 2 MAX TAKEOFF WEIGHT 2,950 kg RANGE 2,200 km POWERPLANT 1 × Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-25C turboprop FIRST FLIGHT October 24, 1984 MANUFACTURING COMPANY PZL Warszawa-Okecie PURCHASING COUNTRIES Poland

2.BP.BLOGSPOT.COM

PRZEMYSLAW “BLUESHADE” IDZKIEWICZ

BRAZILIAN AIR FORCE

Embraer EMB 312 Tucano

TAI Hürku SEATING CAPACITY one MAX TAKEOFF WEIGHT Not available RANGE 1,478 km POWERPLANT 1 × Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-68T turboprop aircraft engine FIRST FLIGHT Forecast for 2012 MANUFACTURING COMPANY Turkish Aerospace Industries PURCHASING COUNTRIES Turkey

Inputs by: Punit Mishra

The Pakistan Aeronautical Complex, Kamra (District Attock) have so far built 327 “Mushshak three-seat light plane”. Pakistan first revealed its Super Mushshak at the Dubai Air Show in 1997 CRUISING HEIGHTS June 2012

bour Beijing too appears to have gone ahead with its initial foray into basic trainer aircraft 6A in 1957, notwithstanding a disappointing trial thereof. Hence, the modified version followed, with a total of 1796 (all types) built by the end of 1986 mainly for the PLA Air Force, included in which were over 200 for foreign military customers (such as Albania, Bangladesh, Cambodia, North Korea, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Vietnam and Zambia). And, today unlike the Indian Air Force, the Chinese do not have to depend on imported machines to train their rookies in the air. China aside, South Korea too has come up with its “basic turboprop trainer/attack light plane” to reduce dependence on foreign suppliers, howsoever friendly they are. That comes as a signal to India to concentrate on “time-management” and a “technology-demonstration” formula to take care of the time and cost over-run, which constitutes the bane of India’s defence project management which in turn makes the country ceaselessly and sorely dependent on foreign supplier/manufacturer at the expense of its own “inefficiency and inferiority”. Thus, Seoul’s Korea Aerospace Industries Limited built KT-1 and KA-1 programme, launched in 1988, rolled out its

first craft on December 12, 1991, and made the first delivery of its products on November 7, 2000, thereby keeping the gestation period of the machine well under a healthy and manageable 13 years. The South Korean achievement is more praiseworthy because of the subsequent development of an improved version/model in 2000 and rolling it out in October 2009. Understandably, the Koreans have not only produced for its own air force but have also exported to Ankara (Turkey) and Djakarta (Indonesia) thereby enabling it to broaden to a three-dimension expansion of its country’s military, money and technology market, apart from flying the flag. Beyond Seoul, another Japanese aviation enterprising is rising. As Tokyo does not export its defence hardware (not yet, as on date), the entire inventory is consumed domestically. Thus began the development of Fuji Jukogyo Kabushiki Kaisha (Fuji Heavy Industries Limited) made T-5 two/four-seat primary trainer in 1984 with delivery to the Japan Military Self Defence Force in August 1988. Another interesting and intriguing aspect of Japan’s aviation enterprise is that the Fuji F-7 basic turboprop trainer, which was intended to replace the earlier version of its own country’s company, is being inducted into the Japanese defence forces “in preference to Pilatus-7”, which today is on its way into the Indian Air Force hangars as the trainer jet for rookie fliers. A few words on the past performance and record of the PC-7 may be in order to understand the future possibility, utility, performance and limitations during operational deployment of an imported aircraft by a big user (like India). The aircraft was used for close-air-support by

B HARRY/ACIG.ORG

KURUSH PAWAR/FLICKR

AIR FORCE

PROUD POSSESSION: (Above) HPT-32 Deepak trainer aircraft; and (top) Pakistan's Super Mushshak trainer aircraft.

Amidst this world scenario, India did make a fresh beginning with the design proposal for HPT-32 Deepak replacement as revealed at Aero India, Bengaluru, in February 2009 CRUISING HEIGHTS June 2012

Iraqi Air Force in the Iran-Iraq war of the 1980s and reportedly delivered chemical weapons against Iranians. In Africa, the Air Force of Chad used the plane to bomb rebel hideouts. In Latin America, the Mexican Air Force used it to confront the Zapatista Army of National Liberation. The aircraft, however, faced several mission failures in the past which brought to the fore a question mark about its quality from time to time. Thus, the South African Air Force grounded its entire fleet of PC-7s following a fatal crash on January 5, 2008. Apparently, “structural problem” caused the crash. Similarly, the Malaysian Air Force experienced its fifth accident involving the PC-7 aircraft in March 2010 when it exploded in mid-air during an air show. Mexico and Botswana air force too appear to have had fatal crash. Although nothing much can be read about these mishaps owing to inherent dangers in an air operation, what does cause concern is the inexplicably high rate of air crash in peace times. India, therefore, will have to be prepared to face and forestall any such eventuality in future. What then is the solution to the import-afflicted Air Force of New Delhi? The answer partly lies in learning lessons from the USA, Russia, China and even Turkey. Ankara, which till recently did not have much to show off its indigenous aircraft industry, has successfully gone on to make its own basic turboprop trainer “TAI Hurkus”, to at least partly replace the US-built Cessna T-37 operated by the Turkish Air Force. One must also appreciate the fact that the Turkish planners made it very clear that the trainer manufacturing programme was to start with an “eight-month conceptual design phase of an overall 59-month programme to replace its SF-260Ds”. The Government of India will have to shell out a lot of money for time-bound research and development projects and may avoid banking on the “goodwill” or “good enterprise” of private operators or the foreign suppliers. Amidst this world scenario, India did make a fresh beginning with the design proposal for HPT-32 Deepak replacement as revealed at Aero India, Bengaluru, in February 2009. However, as usual, we were slow to take off as the conceptual design had still not been launched officially by 2010. To make matters not-toobright, the latest adverse media report on HAL’s initiative and enterprise makes things look as if India is in for a long-haul before achieving its self-reliance goal, at least in basic trainer manufacturing for its rookie pilots. And that is the crux of the Indian handicap in the air.

A I R

C A R G O

L O G I S T I C S

CRUISING HEIGHTS www.cruisingheights.in I June 2012

Special

Delivery Opportunities exist for nonscheduled aircraft operators to transport goods that are not readily accepted by regular air operators. Page>60

China links with Chennai

MIHAN gets a firm push

First Flight is now in Middle East

China Airlinesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Chennai stop emphasizes the rise of the south

Nagpurâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s hub was chosen by the US as part of an export initiative

From Bahrain to Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Qatar

LAST IN/FIRST OUT

Weak cargo market troubles Asia Pacific carriers of fuel costs as a percentage of total expenses rose by 4 percentage points to 34 per cent, from 30 per cent in the previous year. Non-fuel expenditures grew by 9.6 per cent to $103 billion. For 2011, Asian airlines’ international international cargo traffic, expressed in freight tonne kilometres, fell by 4.8 per cent. Commenting on the 2011 financial results, Andrew Herdman, AAPA Director General said, “Asia Pacific carriers continued to outperform the overall industry in 2011, with continued growth in passenger numbers, but profit margins were squeezed by high oil prices, as well as the impact of a weak air cargo market. Overall, Asian airlines in aggregate made combined profits of $4.8 billion, but on revenues of $162 billion, that represents only a 3 per cent profit margin and a poor return on invested capital.” Looking ahead, Herdman said, “Airlines around the world are still facing a number of significant challenges in 2012, including the effects of persistently high oil prices, and slower economic growth in the major developed markets. So far this year, Asian airlines have continued to benefit from stronger economic growth within the region, seeing further growth in international passenger numbers.”

PRELIMINARY FINANCIAL performance figures released recently by the Association of Asia Pacific Airlines (AAPA) showed that Asia Pacific-based carriers in aggregate recorded $4.8 billion in net profits in 2011, 47 per cent lower than the record $9.0 billion achieved in the previous year. The surge in oil prices, and a weak cargo market, contributed to the fall in earnings. Total revenues for the region’s carriers reached $162 billion, 10 per cent higher compared to the $147 billion reported in 2010. Cargo revenues fell by 1.4 per cent to $22 billion in 2011 while passenger revenues grew by 15 per cent to $121 billion. Operating expenses increased by 15 per cent to $155 billion. The main cause of the increase was a 28 per cent surge in fuel costs, to $52 billion. The share

Change of guard at CNS and Cargo 2000 THE INTERNATIONAL Air Transport Association (IATA) announced that Michael Vorwerk has resigned and will end his term as President of Cargo Network Services Corporation (CNS), an IATA company, effective 31 July. At the same time,Vorwerk will also be leaving his concurrent Michael Vorwerk and Alex Popovich posting as Executive Director of Cargo 2000 (C2K) which is an IATA special interest group. Both announcements were made at the CNS Partnership Conference which opened today in Miami, Florida. Vorwerk has led CNS and C2K since 2009 while on a four-year secondment from Lufthansa Cargo. He will be returning to Lufthansa Cargo to take up new duties as Director Sales Development Germany & Board Representative Air Cargo Gateway Frankfurt. “I thank Michael for this three-and-half years of leadership contributions to the success of CNS and C2K. During that time he has enhanced the stakeholder relationships in both groups to hit many challenging targets in very difficult economic times.We wish Michael well in his future role. Michael leaves behind big shoes to fill,” said Des Vertannes, IATA’s Global Head of Cargo.

“A trade war over the issue of CO2 trade will demote the European aviation industry to the third league…Refusing the Frankfurt airport a few night-time takeoffs comes close to selfmutilation” ) Juergen Weber

Lufthansa supervisory board Chairman and former Chief Executive at the carrier's Annual General Meeting commenting on the night ban at Frankfurt and the EU-ETS.

CRUISING HEIGHTS June 2012

TRENDS CHAPMAN FREEBORN Airchartering has strengthened its specialist On Board Courier (OBC) product with the introduction of a new online tool for tracking shipments globally. In addition to receiving regular updates directly from the company’s Cologne-based OBC team, clients can now log in and view real-time updates on the status of their cargo — wherever it is in the world. Carsten Volk, Chapman Freeborn’s global product manager for OBC services, said: “Our innovative tracking tool has been developed in cooperation with Awery Airline Solutions and affords clients the opportunity to follow urgent OBC shipments online - from the sender to the recipient, detailing every arrival and departure movement in between. The technology helps to make our high quality and safe transportation service even more transparent for the customer.” Chapman Freeborn’s OBC service is a specialised transportation solution tailored to clients’ specific requirements, including the movement of time-critical spare parts, automotive cargo, important documents, pharmaceutical products and other urgent shipments. The company has specially trained couriers strategically located around the globe and a dedicated On Board Courier accompanies each shipment every step of the way, from pick up to delivery direct to the recipient - providing an entirely new standard of safety. The entire process is now fully trackable, with clients receiving continuous updates regarding their shipment’s status directly from the OBC team, as well as via the new online tracking tool.

CARGO

he China Airlines B747-400F that debuted at Chennai on May 16 marked the beginning of the twice weekly freighter service by Taiwan’s national carrier on the Taipei-Kuala LumpurChennai-LuxembourgTaipei route. The first Luxemburg-bound flight carried nearly 50 tonnes of cargo, comprising electronic items, automotive parts and consumer goods while the return flight also had electronics in addition to machinery and components. Like many carriers, China Airlines is eager to cash in on the India-China trade. In the year of 2010, the volume of trade between China and India grew to $61.8 billion. At hand to welcome the first China Airlines freighter were a host of senior staff from China Airlines including Brian Chou, Senior Vice President, KK Wu, Vice President, Sales and Marketing, Paul Hseuh, General Manager, Cargo Marketing and Planning, and HoJo Chang, Country General Manager, India. It

Brian Chou Senior Vice President

The new route via Chennai is very valuable for us. If the volume increases, the airline might consider having three services in a week to Chennai,” .

was amply clear that the carrier’s management was keen to ensure the success of the Chennai connection.

Among others, who were at the launch of the China Airlines services, were distinguished visitors from

the expatriate community, including David Hsu, Economic Counsellor and Director, Taipei Economic and Cultural Centre, George Lin, Director, Taipei World Trade Centre, Keng Lee, Director, Institute of Information Industry. Hsu was quick to point out that Taiwan had built up a significant level of investment in India, despite very few Taiwanese actually residing here. Just a few months ago in March this year - China

China links with Chennai

Taiwan’s China Airlines is the last of the carriers to touch Chennai - barely a couple of months ago Air China too started services to the city — and emphasizes the importance of the south Indian metro as an industrial and manufacturing hub. A report.

CRUISING HEIGHTS Jne 2012

Airlines withdrew its Delhi services. The $3.5 billion airline with a freighter fleet of 21 aircraft, the carrier had to stop its freighter services to the Indian capital due to poor volumes although it continued to carry belly cargo in its regular passenger flights coming from Taipei. Commented Brian Chou, "In the past, Delhi was the hub for us. However, today, it is Chennai which has emerged as a strong hub due to the presence of large manufacturing units, including mobile phones. The new route via Chennai is very valuable for us. If the volume increases, the airline might consider having three services in a week to Chennai,”he added. For Chennai Airport Director, E P Hareendranath, the China Airlines services was an indication that the recentlyrevamped metro airport operated by the Airports Authority of India being noticed. Hareendranath pointed out that "this freighter service to Chennai from Taipei is mainly to cater to the growing air shipment in electronic items to the city from Taiwan and mainland China.” Early indicators point out that the Chennai touchdowns augur well for China Airlines. Said Chou, "The allocation from Chennai was 40 metric tonnes on each flight. The export’s focus would be primarily on electronics, mobiles, pharmaceuticals, leather, textiles, etc. The imports into Chennai would mainly consist of electronics goods.”He went on to add: "This service will provide shippers more choices for cargo in/out of India and decrease cargo transit time between East Asia to India, as well as India to Europe.” In India’s burgeoning cargo market, Chennai occupies the third position,

ADDING NEW ROUTES: Brian Chou, Senior Vice-President, China Airlines, while unveiling the carrier’s weekly freighter service on the Taipei-Kuala Lumpur-Chennai-Luxembourg-Taipei route.

trailing behind Delhi and Mumbai in annual shipment volumes. However, in terms of shipment growth, Chennai International Airport is the country’s fastest-growing airport for exports and imports, predominantly comprising electronics, automotive parts, textile products and ready-made clothes and leather products. Chennai airport handled 19,843 tonnes of cargo in the month of February this year. Of the 8,321 tonnes of import cargo, 3,131 tonnes comprised electronics/electrical items.

The Chennai airport has been receiving 36 freighters in a month and China Airlines is not the only carrier making a beeline for the city.

Exports were to the tune of 11,523 tonnes. A substantial portion of electronic components come from Taiwan and mainland China to serve the needs of companies located in areas such as the electronic manufacturing hub of Sriperumbudur. The initiative highlights the importance that is being attached to the South Indian city as a cargo hub. The airport has been receiving 36 freighters in a month and China Airlines is not the only carrier that was keen to land in the city. In the middle of March this year, a B747-400 cargo aircraft of Air China Cargo Company landed in Chennai from Shanghai’s Pu Dong International Airport. That was the first cargo aircraft route to South Asia and Southeast Asia launched by Air China Cargo. The operation of the freighters have enhanced the transport capacity of Air China Cargo into the Asia Pacific market while linking first the two important industrial cities of Chennai and Chongqing and Chennai with North America, Europe, and Japan and Asia Pacific

CRUISING HEIGHTS June 2012

destinations using the Shanghai hub. The entry of China Airlines and Air China Cargo comes at a very crucial juncture. A number of carriers have been interested in enhancing flights to the country’s southern cities. Cathay Pacific cargo, for example, has recently started services to nearby Hyderabad after starting freighter flights from Bengaluru last year. ACC started the services to Chennai as a part of its plan to fill some of its new main-deck capacity. It obtained approval for the Shanghai-Chennai sector and aimed to fly the route thrice a week. Titus Diu, Air China Cargo’s COO was quoted saying that ACC had planned to send the Chennai flight to Chongqing. Indeed, the return leg of the flight from India to Shanghai does touch Chonqing. "We can carry cargo from India, plus we can feed traffic from Chongqing to our intercontinental departures out of Shanghai,”Diu said. Elsewhere in Asia, ACC has been looking at Dhaka, Singapore and Ho Chi Minh City.

CARGO

Specially delivered With the growth in the economy, non-scheduled aircraft operators have found a niche: they are ready to transport goods that are not readily accepted by regular air operators. A report by TIRTHANKAR GHOSH.

ver the last few years, while home-grown air cargo outfits have started and virtually withered away - the most recent example being Capt

G R Gopinath’s Deccan 360 and Capt Mukut Pathak’s Aryan Cargo Express (ACE) — the role of non-scheduled air cargo operators, who operate chartered flights, is gaining importance.

At the recent Indian Business Aviation Expo, Dhiraj Mathur, Executive Director and Leader of Aerospace and Defence Practice at PricewaterhouseCoopers

LEAPING FORWARD: Air Charter Service recently flown 25 armour-plated cross-country vehicles from Leipzig/Halle Airport to Damascus.

CRUISING HEIGHTS June 2012

India (PWC) pointed out that India was ready to witness rapid growth in the business aviation sector primarily due to the country’s geographic location and economic

growth. India’s geography offered an opportunity for growth of general and nonscheduled aviation due to the rising demand from the business houses in the country. India, according to Directorate General of Civil Aviation records, has seen a whopping rise in the number of non-scheduled airline operators: from 36 in 2000 to more than 200 in 2011. The number of jets and helicopters is estimated to jump from 600 in 2011 to about 1,800 aircraft by 2020, according to Capt Karan Singh, CEO of IndoPacific Aviation and MD of

Embraer Executive Business Regulations Jets, Asia Pacific, on Aircraft and the sidelines of Operators India Aviation 2012, Infrastructure Association the country’s (BAOA). are the main premier airshow While no issues that are held every other figures exist year at Hyderabad, restricting the of how many Vadim Feldzer “India, I would say, of this growth of Public Relations and is the second most number general aviation Communications important market in transport Manager, Dassault Asia and will drive in India cargo, those the growth over the in the next ten years.” from the AN-124 to the A business The constant refrain 310. So fast has the estimate that quite a few from the handful of NSOs business been growing — in do. In 2010, for example, has been the lack of support 2010, the sector saw three cargo traffic by NSOs from from government agencies times more growth from Kolkata Airport was highest that provide infrastructural India than in 2009 — that in the country [9. 6 per cent support. They have been Chapman opened an office of the total freight uplift demanding that the in Mumbai and is looking to from the airport, followed facilities provided to start one in Chennai. by Delhi (7.9), Hyderabad scheduled cargo operators Another international (7.1) and Bengaluru (6.7)]. should also be provided to charter service, Air Charter Simply put, there is a non-scheduled operations. Service (ACS), recently demand for more cargo Initiatives, however, started its first Indian office than that carried by regular have been seen over the in Mumbai offering both carriers. According to Capt past few months. At the end cargo and passenger Karan Singh, the mindset of of last year, for example, services. Said Tony the cargo industry in the the first dedicated air cargo Bauckham, Managing country has to change. The service was started in the Director, “India is a huge idea of using business North-East of the country, a emerging market and the aircraft for air cargo is still region of low connectivity. ninth largest economy in a growing one. However, a The service, operated by the world. We have been number of companies have Rudra GTL Aviation Pvt. planning this office opening started using business jets Ltd, started with flights for some time now as we to transport sensitive from Kolkata to Imphal. already have a strong client equipment, spares, Incidentally, Rudra GTL’s base here and felt that a documents, etc. especially routes stretch from one local presence was essential those that are time critical. corner of the North-East to to further grow our market Despite the high figures the other connecting share... Mumbai is one of and the potential, the air Kolkata to Guwahati, the top ten centres of charter business as far as Imphal, Agartala and commerce in the world, and cargo is concerned has been Bagdogra. The carrier has so was the stand out facing headwinds. wet-leased two ATR-72 candidate for the office’s According to Shailendra aircraft for the flights, each location.” Seth, Director, Chapman with a capacity of seven Market-wise aircraft Freeborn, there are tonnes. According to manufacturers too, speak of opportunities enough in Manosij Roy, Director of the growth potential of India with the rapid growth Rudra GTL Aviation, “The India. Said Jose Eduardo in the economy. However, market is a huge and Costas, VP-Sales and the business requires untapped one and Marketing, infrastructural to prove it we have support and an got bookings for “India, I would end to rules that the next year.” make operators go say, is the On the other around in circles. second most side is Naki Air The air charter Cargo, from far important business between away Miami in the India and Africa, market in Asia USA. Based in China and even Florida, Nakiis Europe and Russia J Eduardo Costas and will drive preparing to start was growing. VP-Sales & Marketing, the growth over all-cargo air Chapman handles Embraer Executive the next ten service directly a variety of Jets, Asia Pacific years.” from the southern airplanes regularly

CRUISING HEIGHTS June 2012

coastal city of Vishakapatnam to Dubai. The new service, according to Capt Rajan Nair, COO, “will be of enormous benefit to local manufacturers, and other shippers, who currently have to move their goods through several distant airports in order to get to the UAE, or to connect with international air cargo flights to destinations in Europe and North and South America.” Vishakapatnam is home to one of the country’s leading sectors, pharmaceutical, and the IT industry based in Andhra Pradesh. In addition, the region is home to a large expatriate population in the UAE. Capt Nair informed that Naki Air was a leading, innovative charter operator that specialised in establishing new cargo and passenger services that were customised to meet the needs of its customers. In India, it will be offering services in conjunction with a UAEbased air cargo operator. It has the capacity to utilise either A300-600 or B 727-200 freighter aircraft, depending on the

Dhiraj Mathur

Executive Director, Pricewaterhouse Coopers

India is ready to witness rapid growth in the business aviation sector primarily due to the country’s geographic location and economic growth.

Specialised charter services Even as this issue of Cruising Heights was going to press, the kind of specialised cargo charters mentioned in the story were taking place. Air Charter Service (ACS), one of the leading operators of cargo and passenger charter flights, recently flew out vehicles from Leipzig/Halle Airport to the Syrian capital, Damascus. With the work of the international UN observer mission becoming more dangerous in Syria, Air Charter Service took delivery of 25 armour-

plated cross-country vehicles at Leipzig/Halle Airport and transported them to Damascus International Airport so that the UN monitors can move about as safely as possible in the prevailing circumstances. Two A300 cargo planes and a McDonnell Douglas MD-11 were used to ship the items. PortGround, the ground services and freight- handling company at Leipzig/Halle Airport, carried out the loading work.

WITHOUT WINGS: Aryan Cargo Express, the domestic air cargo operator, had to close down its operations due to various reasons.

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cargo needs of customers. The carrier’s operation will be able to connect with major long-haul cargo carriers to provide seamless connections to Europe and North America, and to provide a global reach for its customers. According to Hercules Aviation’s Sujeen Paulose, though there was a great demand for air cargo charters, these were going lower because of the infrastructure. He felt that there was a great need for X-ray machines that could take care of outsized cargo. Also, goods could not be delayed at the airport — such delays frustrated NSOs. He also mentioned that since most of the airports in the country were slot-based, a small delay of 10 minutes could lead to the diversion of flights. Another manufacturer also at the India Aviation show was the French Dassault showcasing its Falcon 2000s. Giles Gautier, Vice President (Sales and Marketing) and Vadim Feldzer, Public Relations and Communications Manager, were vocal about the issues restricting the growth of general aviation in India. They pointed out that “regulations and infrastructure” were the main issues “because customers will need a bigger infrastructure… China started behind India but they are progressing very fast”. There are 150 airports in India, which are capable of handling general aviation aircraft. However, there is a significant variation in the level of infrastructure and facilities available at these airports. Aviation infrastructure capable of handling big commercial jets is not readily available in most of the Tier II and III cities in the country.

MIHAN gets a push Nagpur's MultiModal Hub has been chosen by the US Consulate in Mumbai along with two other Tier-II cities of Ahmedabad and Chandigarh as part of its National Export Initiative. GREAT FUTURE AHEAD: The under-construction Multi-Modal International Hub Airport or MIHAN at Nagpur.

fter a period of prolonged hibernation, the under-construction Multi-Modal International Hub Airport at Nagpur or MIHAN in the centre of the country has once again aroused interest among air cargo stakeholders. MIHAN is a mega project spread over 4,354 hectares and comprises two parts: the international airport that would act as a cargo hub and a Special Economic Zone. The airport is being planned on 1364 hectare. A parallel runway, 60 metres wide and 400 meters long is being built to facilitate landing of large cargo and passenger planes. The airport terminal will have a capacity of parking around 100 planes at a time. Once the international airport starts operations, it will handle 870,000 tons of cargo and cater to 14 million passengers a year. The boost to the project has come from a rather unexpected source: the US Consulate in Mumbai. In

2010, the US government decided to focus on Nagpur along with two other Tier-II cities of Ahmedabad in Gujarat and Chandigarh in the north as part of its National Export Initiative. The initiative’s aim is to double exports to the USA by 2015 and was taken up following a directive from the White House to explore markets in Tier-II cities of the country. The cities were chosen after their economic growth was gauged. The US, according to consulate officials, expects trade with India to cross the $50 billion dollar mark in the current year, a small leap from last year’s figure of around $48 billion. Nagpur has assumed importance as a destination for investments in logistics and pharmaceuticals: in fact, the two sectors are being projected by the US consulate in Mumbai to American companies for future investments. According to Robert Carlson, US Consul for Political and Economic Affairs, who was recently in

Nagpur with Richard Rothman, US Commercial Consul from Mumbai, Nagpur’s geographical position and the fact that MIHAN was under construction, were reason enough for pharma units to set up manufacturing plants. According to the Economic Survey for 2010-11 of Maharashtra, the MIHAN project will attract investments worth $20 billion in the next five years and generate 1,20,000 direct jobs. The city could become the pharma hub in the near future. In a recent move, pharma major Lupin has been allotted land in the MIHANSpecial Economic Zone. Carlson was reported saying that the proposed cargo hub could be ideal for shipping low volume, high value goods like pharmaceuticals. Drugs could be transported by air through the air cargo hub and that would help the sector to grow in Nagpur. In addition, there were moves to set up cold storages in the area. Lupin has already started

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the process for setting up a new state-of-the-art formulation manufacturing facility. Commenting on the location for the Greenfield project, Lupin’s Shamsher Gorawara, Head - Corporate Communications said that Nagpur was chosen “specifically because of its strategic proximity to key metros as well as international aviation routes. We are happy to be here at MIHAN and to be able to contribute to the development of the local economy”. The interest in Nagpur’s MIHAN project by the US officials came after the visit of the British Minister for Trade Investment and Business who led a business delegation to the city in 2009. The minister, Mervyn Davies, pointed out during his visit that Nagpur was one of the engine rooms for India’s growth. “UK firms should look beyond the obvious destinations of New Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore and explore the potential of emerging cities such as Nagpur”.

CARGO JOTTINGS First Flight opens office in Bahrain Domestic and international courier company First Flight Couriers recently launched its Bahrain office. The decision to locate in Bahrain reflects the kingdom’s established position as a regional logistics and transportation hub. Strategically located at the heart of the Gulf, Bahrain has long been considered the gateway to the region, with easy access to the large economies of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Qatar. With excellent transport infrastructure, and the causeway linking Bahrain to Saudi Arabia, Bahrain’s logistics industry has been growing fast in response to increasing demand from businesses. The Kingdom has made, and continues to make, significant investments in its logistics infrastructure, and the industry is set to flourish in the coming years as cargo volumes in the Gulf increases. Kamal bin Ahmed, Minister of Transportation and Acting Chief Executive of the Bahrain Economic Development Board, said: “Transport and logistics play an important role in our economy, not just through the jobs that they create directly, but by the way that they facilitate trade across Bahrain and the wider Middle East.” Said Johnson Mooda Thomas, Managing Director of First Flight Couriers (Middle East) commented: “There is very strong potential for growth in the Middle Eastern market, and in particular the trillion-dollar Gulf economies. With the shortest travel time between its seaport, airport and the logistics processing zones of anywhere in the Gulf, we think that Bahrain offers us the best location from which to access that opportunity.”

Naki Air Cargo unveils plans for India Naki Air Cargo is preparing to start all-cargo air service directly from Vishakapatnam, India, to Dubai, the UAE. This new service will be of enormous benefit to local manufacturers, and other shippers, who currently have to move their goods through several distant airports in order to get to the UAE, or to connect international air cargo flights to destinations in Europe and North and South America. The new air-cargo service will be of major economic benefit to

Lufthansa Cargo: Best European cargo carrier Lufthansa Cargo stood out once more as the best European cargo carrier at the “Cargo Airline of the Year Awards”. As in previous years, thousands of international forwarders again voted for the carrier as the best of Europe’s cargo airlines. At the Gala Awards night held in London, Thomas Egenolf, Director Italy & Malta, accepted the award on behalf of Lufthansa Cargo as well as additional accolade as best cargo carrier on Asia/Pacific routes. The British Air Cargo Media Group has been conferring the coveted awards for 29 years. “This year Lufthansa Cargo has had to contend not only with a general market slump, but also the damaging news of the introduction of

exporters in Vishakapatnam, home to one of India’s leading pharmaceutical industrial sectors, as well as the burgeoning IT industry based in Andhra Pradesh as well as the huge expatriate population living in the UAE, who regularly need to ship cargo home. Naki Air Cargo will be offering this service in conjunction with a UAE based air-cargo operator, and has the capacity to utilise either Airbus A300-600 or Boeing 727-200 freighter aircraft, depending on the cargo needs of its customers. Naki Air Cargo’s operation will be able to connect with major longhaul cargo carriers to provide seamless connections to Europe and North America, and to provide a global reach for its customers.

SkyCargo moves horses for Queen’s jubilee

SkyCargo bucks the global trend and brings in profits: The Emirates Group announced its 24th consecutive Two Emirates SkyCargo special freighter charters touched year of profit and companywide growth amidst unprecedented down in the UK, carrying a record cargo of over 100 horses. economic pressures and record high fuel prices. The company The first shipment of 70 horses, which touched down at the end posted a AED 2.3 billion ($ 629 million) net profit. of April, was the largest number ever transported by Emirates Revenue contributed by Emirates SkyCargo on a single freighter flight. airlines reached a record high of $17bn The second flight arrived two days up almost 15 per cent on the 2010-11 later carrying 42 horses. financial year. This, despite the rising The horses of the Royal Cavalry of cost of jet fuel hitting the airline's Oman were flown from Muscat to bottom line, with profit significantly Stansted on the carrier’s Boeing 777 lower than the previous year, at $409 freighter aircraft for the Diamond million. Jubilee Pageant, which took place in However, bucking the industry May at Windsor Castle. The Diamond trend, 2011-12 has been a strong one Jubilee Pageant is a major event for Emirates SkyCargo with revenues marking The Queen’s Diamond of $2.6 billion, an 8.4 per cent Jubilee. “With our Dubai hub now a major THE TRANSPORTER: Horse stalls ready for loading on increase on last year on account of an increase in freight tonnage and freight player in the world of horse racing, we an Emirates SkyCargo Boeing 777F at Muscat for the yield per Freight Tonne Kilometre have gained considerable experience flight to the UK. (FTKM) which rose by 5.4 per cent. in the care and transport of horses and SkyCargo's tonnage increased 1.7 per cent to reach 1796 fly hundreds across the globe every year,” said Hiran Perera, thousand tonnes. Emirates’ Senior Vice President - Cargo Planning & Freighters.

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a night-time ban on its busy Frankfurt hub. Undeterred, the German carrier has continued to outpace its rivals, particularly in Asia and Europe,” stated Air Cargo News Managing Director Nigel Tomkins. Thomas Egenolf emphasised that the award was above all an incentive to continue convincing customers by delivering the topmost quality. At the London presentation ceremony, he reaffirmed that the air cargo industry was and remained a highly competitive business. Lufthansa Cargo’s quality has also won recent acclaim from Hellmann Worldwide Logistics. The global logistics provider presented its European Award to the Lufthansa airfreight subsidiary in Wiesbaden. Hellmann branches across Europe had evaluated cargo airlines on the basis of six criteria, on which Lufthansa Cargo outperformed its globalcompetitors.

TNT Express wins prestigious award TNT Express was recently selected by customers as the winner for the “Best Service Logistics Provider’ of the year at the Logistics Week Awards 2012. The award under the ‘Users Choice’ category recognises EARNING LAURELS : Members of TNT Express receiving the award. TNT for excellence in operational performance, customer delight and change readiness among other parameters.

Blue Dart ushers profits in Q1 Blue Dart recently declared its financial results for the first quarter (Q1) ended March 31, 2012, at its board meeting held in Mumbai. The company posted `29.08 crore profit after tax for the quarter ended March 31, 2012. Income from operations for the quarter ended March 31, 2012, stood at `410.91 crore, an increase of 22.17 per cent over the corresponding quarter of the previous year.

Logistics will be the business of the future The Air Cargo Club of Delhi’s monthly luncheon meet was unusual this time around. The occasion normally sees speakers unrelated to the sector suggesting ways to enhance the quality of life. This meet, however, saw industry stalwarts as guest speakers: Tushar Jani, erstwhile chairman of Blue Dart Express and currently Group Chairman of Cargo Service Centre (CSC) and Radharamanan Panicker, Group CEO, CSC. They spoke on “How small, medium-sized freight companies can scale up”. Tushar Jani provided an earthy flavour to his talk dwelling on the huge opportunities available in India, where we have over 1.5 million truck operators and more than 15000 freight forwarders. He held out a few points of advice for the Indian freight forwarding community: Ê Learn how to give up powers and delegate down the line. Ê Understand the concept of ownership versus management Ê Get out of the old mindset and the fixation with big cities. Look at Tier-2 cities, like Amritsar, Indore, Patiala, Itanagar, Guwahati, etc. are going to become increasingly important for the logistics business in the near future. Ê He cited Shashi Kiran Shetty of AllCargo Global as an inspirational figure “having started as a clerk in a shipping line, his organisation today has presence in 98 countries”.

Finnair connects to Chongqing Finnair, the first carrier to open a direct flight route between Europe and China, has started four flights a week to Chongqing. The new route is a logical next step in the carrier’s strategy of offering the shortest connections between Asia and Europe via Helsinki. Finnair is flying Airbus A330 and A340 aircraft on the route, which takes eight and a half hours. In addition to four flights per week to Chongqing, in China Finnair flies daily to Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong from Helsinki, the most geographically logical transfer point for connecting with more than 50 destinations in Europe.

Cathay starts freighters from Hyderabad Cathay Pacific has announced its expansion with a twiceweekly B747-400F service to Hyderabad’s Rajiv Gandhi International Airport (RGIA). This development will make Cathay Pacific the first airline to offer air cargo services linking Hyderabad with Asia, South Pacific and the west coast of North and Latin Americas. RGIA’s cargo terminal is the country’s first modular integrated cargo facility spread over an area of 14,330 sq mtrs with a capacity to handle 150,000 metric tonnes of cargo annually. The terminal also has the only dedicated pharmaceutical handling facility, “The Pharma Zone”, in India that offers a truck-dock to airside temperature controlled environment for handling pharma products.

APPOINTMENTS

IBS GETS NEW CFO

HEALTHY DEBATE: Panellists putting their views in the luncheon meet.

has appointed Vikash Sureka as its Chief IBS Software Services, Financial Officer. He leading provider of will head the finance, new-generation IT legal, company affairs solutions to the and administration global travel, functions of IBS transportation and logistics industry, Vikash Sureka operations worldwide.

CRUISING HEIGHTS June 2012

GLOBETROTTING

CONFUSION ONBOARD z

Privacy concerns z In a bizarre incident, American Airlines sued a former Flight Attendant for releasing confidential information about airline passengers on his blog. The company filed the suit, NBC reported, alleging that Gailen David, a former Flight Attendant for the airline, published passenger information — including names, dates of flight, and flight destinations — on his blog, which is a violation of American Airline’s confidentiality policy. Bruce Hicks, a spokesman for American Airlines, told The Daily Caller that David was fired in March for violating

Playing havoc z

the airline’s privacy policy. “The travel information of American Airlines’ passengers is regarded both private and confidential, irrespective of their relationship to the company,” Hicks said in an official statement. David had also made allegations that airline executives were given precedence over paying customers, even bumping passengers that had already purchased their tickets. The airline denied these allegations.

A maniac pretender z elieve it or not, a man of Orange County, US, already facing a charge of illegally carrying a gun was arrested by Federal Agents after he told JetBlue employees that he sneaked a weapon onboard the plane. Jomoy Stevens was onboard a JetBlue flight that left Orlando and was headed to Puerto Rico when a Flight Attendant pointed out his large

A pilot during a dismissal hearing admitted that he put passengers’ life in danger during a furious cockpit row with his co-pilot. Under crossexamination, Captain Stephen Bird, who is in his 50s, was asked if the argument had potentially put his Flybe passengers in danger, as his whole attention was not on flying the plane. He replied, “Of course it did. It was a distraction.” It all happened when Captain Stephen Bird allegedly called First Officer Stephen Akers names and threatened him — while Akers also abused him with ‘F’ word. Captain Bird, of Northam, Devon, told the tribunal that banter was common between Flybe pilots, many of whom are ex-military. The captain said the comment was clearly full of beans and he did not realise former RAF Squadron Leader Akers found it derogatory, but he later apologised. When the flight encountered turbulence, Akers urged Captain Bird to avoid dark clouds for safety reasons. Later, Flybe sacked the experienced pilots saying the massive breakdown was a potential safety risk to crew and passengers on the Exeter to Malaga flight.

A woman caused a health scare that grounded a Delta Airlines flight at Chicago’s Midway airport. Lise Sievers was on her way back home from Africa when she noticed the rash. Considering the recent outbreak of monkeypox in the region, Seivers thought that she had caught monkeypox. Following the incident, The Center for Disease Control was alerted, giving officials enough time to prepare for the ensuing investigation. After properly reviewing the case, it was determined that nothing outrageously serious was taking place.

CRUISING HEIGHTS June 2012

gold necklace and asked if he was afraid someone would steal it. Stevens then put his hands by his waist and pointed that he had a weapon. The Flight Attendant told Stevens he couldn’t bring arms on the plane, asking him if he had one, and Stevens said, “Yes.” The Flight Attendant then told Stevens that passengers needed special permission to bring a weapon onboard and marvelled how he got a hold of the weapon on the flight. Stevens replied, “I smuggled it through the Transportation Security Administration (TSA).” The employee apprised the pilot, who returned to Orlando because of the possible threat. When the aircraft landed in Orlando, no weapons were found on Stevens or in the plane. Federal prosecutors in Orlando, US, filed a criminal complaint against Stevens charging him with making false information or threats concerning an aircraft. Stevens did not have a weapons permit, a Sheriff’s Office, Orange County, US, said.

A front-seat driver z

As a result, passengers were freaked out, particularly since officials were tight-lipped about the situation. However, after two hours of patiently waiting to see how the scenario unfolded, they were allowed to leave the plane and return to their monkeypoxfree lives.

Former Spice Girl Victoria Beckham landed herself in trouble after she posed for a picture in a crew-only seat on a Cathay Pacific flight from Hong Kong. Victoria wrote, “Cabin crew prepare for landing! Welcome to Beijing!! X vb.” She posted a photograph of her sitting in one of the crew seats and posing with the phone for the public address system while an air hostess sitting next to her drew a goofy facial gesture. A spokeswoman for Cathay Pacific airlines told the Associated Foreign Press, “It was inappropriate as the crew

Please don’t disturb! z

An Arizona man filed a complaint with police saying a Flight Attendant rudely woke him up by tapping his knee with a magazine. Kevin Johnson, 37, told Indianapolis Airport police, US, that he was sleeping on a chartered Million Air flight as it taxied to the gate, when the Flight Attendant struck him on the knee to wake him up, The Indianapolis Star reported. Johnson said as he slept and the plane taxied to the gate, he was rudely interrupted by a Flight Attendant, according to a police report. Officer Ricky Seconds wrote in the police report that Johnson had no physical signs of injury, no complaint of pain and no paralysis from the magazine.

Acting — according to his age z

A former flight attendant was arrested after police said he tried to steal an airplane from the Compton/Woodley airport in LA county, US. According to KTLA website, Troy Daniel Long is in detention after trying to steal a plane at gunpoint some time ago. Police stated that Long allegedly got into the office at

seats are only for the cabin crew and passengers should not be allowed to touch any of the aircraft equipment.” She added that the picture was not taken at any critical stage of the flight, such as take-off or landing. However, The Hong Kong Standard newspaper reported that Beckham, wife of English football star David Beckham, had been criticised on Internet forums for putting the flight’s safety at risk.

the Compton airport and took the keys for an airplane and when staff confronted him, he threatened them at gunpoint. The staff at the airport then called the police, who upon arrival noticed that the plane had not left. The twoseater Cessna 152 was still on the tarmac and lurching back and forth, according to Lieutenant Hocking of the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department. In the meantime, deputies surrounded the plane and Long turned off the engine and exited without incident. Later on, he was taken into custody by the FBI, according to KTLA, on suspicion of airplane piracy and taken to the Federal Metropolitan Detention Center, US.

Saint in the making z

In a bizarre incident onboard, traveller Rothstein Williams took offence during a BA trans-Atlantic flight when the woman flight attendant he was working with asked him to collect some glasses. Following the incident, Williams appeared before an employment tribunal in Reading, Berks, UK, where he sued BA for discrimination on religious grounds. The story goes like this: An Employment Tribunal Judge found out that the cabin crew member ended her instruction with the kindness “Darling” instead of using his name. And it contributed to a bigger dogfight between the two. Williams, aged 42 years, told the jury that he considered the term derogatory and added that not using his name offended his religious belief. However, Judge Hill told Williams that his claims could not be heard by a tribunal because he could not prove that he had been discriminated against. During a pre-hearing review of his case, Tribunal Judge Jessica Hill ruled that his claim did not have any legal basis and she rejected it.

CRUISING HEIGHTS June 2012

SNIPPETS

DOMESTIC AIRLINES AI, Asiana Airways enters code-share

SpiceJet ushers in international routes

AIR INDIA recently entered into a code-share agreement with Asiana Airways to provide direct connectivity with Seoul. Air India presently has code-share with 12 world airlines and with Asiana, it proposes to expand the codeshare agreement to freely include additional sectors on each other’s network, based on connectivity needs and approvals from the regulatory authorities. Code-share is a business arrangement where two or more airlines share the same flight. A seat can be purchased on one airline but the flight is actually operated by a cooperating airline under a different flight number or code. “As per the agreement, which would be finalised for implementation at the earliest, both Air India and Asiana Airways would share code on the flights operated by each other on the India-South Korea (Seoul) and vice versa sectors on a free flow basis,” an Air India official said. The required testing system for such code-share cooperation would begin at an early date, he added. Asiana Airways would also explore opportunities to fly to more destinations in India, subject to regulatory approvals. Both carriers are also preparing to integrate their Frequent Flyer Programmes (FFP) for mutual benefit to allow a passenger flying Asiana to earn points on his or her Air India FFP and vice versa. Asiana flights would also operate under an Air India code and vice versa.

LOW-COST carrier SpiceJet will now be expanding its operations in a big way and flying to six new international destinations. The Kalanithi Maran-owned airlines, which currently operates 14 international flights a week, will witness a five-fold increase with the addition of 63 overseas flights per week to its schedule this season. The budget carrier, which currently flies to Kathmandu and Colombo, will soon add destinations such as Hong Kong, Guangzhou, Male, Kabul, Dubai and Bangkok to its schedule. “We have okayed SpiceJet’s requests for overseas flights. They are supposed to begin operations from the current summer schedule as we understand,” a senior official of the Civil Aviation Ministry stated. Flying to more international destinations can help the airline

SPREADING ITS WINGS: SpiceJet will witness a the addition of 63 overseas flights per week to its schedule.

Jet wins travel award JET AIRWAYS was adjudged the Best Airline-Business/First Class (Indian) at the prestigious Lonely Planet Travel Awards 2012 which were held at Mumbai. Vice-President-Passenger Sales (India), Jet Airways, Sonu Kripalani received the award on behalf of the airline. This award, which is based upon reader’s response study conducted through an online poll and magazine, seeks to recognise and honour the best in class destinations, organisations and service providers based on an objective study conducted by Lonely Planet. Fairmont ties-up with Jet: As part of a new marketing campaign by Fairmont Hotels & Resorts and Jet Airways, guests and members of the hotel’s guest recognition programme, Fairmont President’s Club, will have the option of earning airline miles in Jet Airways’ frequent flyer programme, JetPrivilege. Under this launch offer, from May 7 to August 6, 2012, guests at Fairmont can earn triple miles ranging from 500 miles per night to a maximum of 2,000 miles per stay. “India is a dynamic, international market, and with our entry into Southeast Asia with the upcoming opening of Fairmont Jaipur, we see this as both a timely and strategic addition to our roll of airline partners,” said Serge Simard,

CRUISING HEIGHTS June 2012

IN THE LAP OF COMFORT: Passengers seated in a jet airlines plane enjoying the comfort of being with an award winning airline.

Regional Vice-President, Africa and India, Fairmont Hotels & Resorts. Commenting on the partnership, Sudheer Raghavan, Chief Commercial Officer, Jet Airways, said, “This partnership positions us among the leading airline frequent flyer programmes in India with the high value it offers members and the wide range of product choices. This alliance will allow JetPrivilege members to enjoy several unique benefits in select cities across the globe.” Introduces fourth daily service to Dubai from Mumbai: Jet Airways enhanced its connectivity with the United Arab Emirates, through the introduction of a fourth daily service between the two financial hubs of Mumbai and Dubai. This is the fourth daily frequency being introduced between the two cities and is expected to

Invision Air launches unique programme WITH the recent launch of Invision Air, entrepreneurs, business executives and other discerning flyers now have access to the convenience and comforts of a fleet of brand-new business BUSINESS AS USUAL: Vineet Phatak of Invision jets equipped with Air is all set to provide discerning flyers access the latest to brand-new business jets. technology and safety features. Invision Air gives the privileged traveller freedom from the schedules of commercial airlines, the gift of precious time saved and an opportunity to fly in complete privacy, arriving refreshed and rested. With an eye towards the fast-growing business aviation market and keeping the needs of modern high-end business and leisure travellers in mind, Invision Air now launches its Jet Card membership programme. Invision Air’s Jet Cards allow members access to business jets at low initial investments varying from `33.75 lakh for 25 hours to `1.2 crore for 100 hours of flight time. The Jet Card membership programme offers flexibility and price advantages to regular committed fliers. It is also an excellent choice for owners of private aircraft who need access to a high quality service while their own aircraft are under maintenance or being used by someone else. Commenting on the launch, Vinit Phatak said, “Using a Jet Card provides all the primary benefits of owning a jet without the high investment and headaches. We have structured our programmes at a price point similar to a three-series BMW/CClass Mercedes, five-series BMW/E-Class Mercedes, and a seven-series BMW/S-Class Mercedes; so if you can afford to buy one of these cars, you can afford to fly in a private jet.” VIMANAVARTA.COM

increase its aircraft utilisation time, which at present is at 12 hours a day. In addition, SpiceJet will take delivery of five Boeing 737 aircraft this year increasing its fleet from 32 at present to 37 by year end, which involves that it opens up more routes to deploy these planes. Expands network in South: SpiceJet recently has launched direct flight services from Kozhikode to Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Thiruvananthapuram. The carrier has introduced flights from Calicut to Bengaluru and Chennai, and also started services on the Hyderabad and Thiruvananthapuram routes. “SpiceJet is delighted to announce the addition of Calicut into its existing network of domestic destinations. Calicut is one of the major cities in Kerala and by connecting it with major cities across the southern region, we try and give more options for affordable and comfortable travel to the people of Calicut,” SpiceJet CEO Neil Mills said. Director General Civil Aviation (DGCA), Bharat Bhushan, said that SpiceJet would be operating Boeing aircraft as well as the latest Q400 NextGen turboprop aircraft from Bombardier. Bhushan said, “SpiceJet is one of the most exciting entrances into the civil aviation sector in India. Apart from being a very successful airline it is indeed a gratifying fact that is reaching out to some of the most difficult area and to some of the less serviced areas.” SpiceJet to perform better, says HSBC report: SpiceJet likely to perform comparatively better than its counterparts, according to an HSBC research report. “SpiceJet has been the largest beneficiary of the troubles of Kingfisher. We expect this will continue,” the report said. “Given our presumptions, we estimate FY 2013 to be a far better year than FY 2012, but still not bankable. We expect losses to continue in Q4 FY 2012. However, we expect the yield performance to hold up better this time than would have been the case with Kingfisher Airlines operating a full schedule,” the report said.

provide guests with the convenience of an additional noon service. The new service will complement the three flights already being operated by Jet Airways on the high demand Mumbai-Dubai route. With four flights to operate between Mumbai and Dubai, business and leisure customers of Jet Airways now have a wide choice of timings throughout the day. The flights are conveniently timed to connect with Jet Airways’ industryleading domestic network and fast-growing network to South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation/Association of Southeast Asian Nations points. The airline also operates daily direct flights to the Emirate of Dubai from Chennai, Delhi and Hyderabad, which makes the additional flight from Mumbai to Dubai the seventh daily direct service on this sector. The introduction of this new additional daily service from Mumbai to Dubai will further strengthen Jet Airways’ presence in the Gulf. Resumes flight bookings with MakeMyTrip: Jet Airways recently resumed its services with online travel services provider MakeMyTrip. “MakeMyTrip remains committed to providing comprehensive product offerings to our customers and we are pleased to inform that Jet Airways has resumed sale of tickets on our portal,” MakeMyTrip COO and Cofounder Keyur Joshi said in a statement.

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INTERNATIONAL AIRLINES Kenya Airways starts flights to New Delhi

strategy. "New Delhi is the second city after Mumbai that we Kenya Airways recently announced its commencement of will be flying to India, we intend to open four more flights to New Delhi starting May 16, 2012. The much destinations in the subcontinent as part of our 10 year anticipated expansion service marks strategy," said Dr Kenya Airways' Titus Naikuni, 57th global Kenya Airways' destination and Group Managing 2nd in India. Director and The launch of Chief Executive this new route Officer. highlights KQ's Dr Naikuni efforts to provide noted that the seamless travel destination has and accessibility INDIAN ODYSSEY: (L-R) Marcel Hungerbuehler-Chief Operating Officer, DIAL and Kenya Airways Chairman great business to travellers from Evanson Mwaniki cutting the red ribbon while unveiling the flights to New Delhi; Flight Stewards of Kenyan prospects as Africa to Indian Airways greeting audiences by Namaste. New Delhi is subcontinent and vice versa. one of the largest cities in India, and the most preferred city in The new route highlights Kenya Airways ambitious growth terms of information technology, investments, healthcare and plans to expand its network as part of its 10 year growth government relations.

AirAsiaX creates record load factor AIRASIA X recently announced another load factor record in the first quarter of 2012 with the handling of 0.69 million passengers, a growth of 7.5 per cent over the same quarter in 2011. This exceeded a capacity increase of 5.5 per cent to 4.5 billion Available-Seat-Kms (ASKs), which was achieved with the same aircraft fleet of nine Airbus A330s and two Airbus A340s, and tempered by the suspension of flights to Mumbai in February, and Delhi, Paris and London at the end of May. In terms of passenger traffic, AirAsia X grew by 12.4 per cent to 3.9 billion Revenue-Passenger-Kms (RPKs) for Q1-2012, resulting in a record-breaking quarterly load factor of 87 per cent. This is an increase of six percentage points from the same quarter last year, where it registered a load factor of 81 per cent. AirAsia X’s core markets in Australia, Greater China, and North Asia continues to deliver strong passenger growth, with continued positive increases in load factor, validating the airline’s strategy of re-balancing its network from Europe and India towards Australia and North Asia. Azran Osman-Rani, CEO of AirAsia X, said, “Our continued growth points to a clear positive demand trajectory for 2012 compared to 2011, despite the continuous higher and more volatile fuel prices and uncertain global economies and competition. The airline’s strategy is to establish an optimal network where there is scale, focussing on its core markets where AirAsia X is in a position of strength.”

T5: BA’s home hub voted best BRITISH AIRWAYS’ home hub T5 has been voted the world’s best airport terminal by airline travellers at the World Airport Awards held at the Passenger Terminal Expo in Vienna. Organised by independent survey company Skytrax, the awards are based on 12 million customer surveys completed over 10 months, covering 388 airports. “Despite initial teething problems when Terminal 5 opened in 2008, it has become a firm favourite with passengers,” said Edward Plaisted of Skytrax. “The architecture, ambience and terminal layout were repeatedly mentioned in the feedback in the survey, as well as the extensive range of shopping and dining options in the departures area,” Frank van der Post, British Airways Managing Director of

Brands and Customer Experience said. “It’s wonderful to see Terminal 5 being recognised as the world’s best airport terminal. The award really contributes to our brand promise of SIMPLY THE BEST: British Airways home hub providing world-class T5, voted the world’s best airport terminal. customer service.” “Terminal 5 is a great showcase of our vision of Heathrow’s future and the level of passenger experience we are working to deliver right across our airport. Together with a shopping experience, which responds to our customer’s demands, we are proud that our work towards becoming Europe’s hub of choice is being recognised by the most important judge, our passengers.”

Turkish Airlines takes green initiative FOR ENSURING the health of Turkish forests for generations, Turkish Airlines has come up with the initiative of planting a sapling for each child under the age of two flying on the airline. General Director of Forestry, Mustafa Kurtulmu?lu, Turkey thanked Turkish Airlines for its role in preserving the precious natural forests through a programme with children, as they will benefit the most from these trees in the years to come. Turkish Airlines’ Chief Executive Officer, Temel Kotil said, “I believe that this cooperation and collaboration will make our work more efficient and effective, enabling more people to enhance awareness of the importance of keeping our nation green.”

Lufthansa offers special fares for students LUFTHANSA RECENTLY introduced a special offer for Indian students travelling abroad this summer for higher studies. Students can avail a discount of `2500 on ticket fares to over 30 destinations in Europe and North America. All they need to do is directly book their tickets on www.lufthansa.com using the promotional code available at the Lufthansa Student Centre Microsite (www.lufthansa.com/students). Also on offer is

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additional baggage allowance at no extra cost - students can carry one extra piece of baggage (not weighing more than 23 kgs) while travelling with an Economy class ticket on Lufthansa operated flights to US and Canada till October 31, 2012. The Lufthansa Student Centre has become extremely popular with international students from India. An increasing number of Indian students regularly use the vast bank of information available on the microsite to find answers to their various questions — ranging from how to choose a university to how to enjoy a student’s life in a new city. Launched in April 2010, the microsite has already welcomed over 117,300 visitors.

Chennai is an important market for Cathay Pacific, which has been operating flights to the city since June 2008. Together with sister airline Dragonair, a total of 35 passenger flights and 35 freighter flights per week between Hong Kong and the four major gateways of Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai and Bengaluru are in service.

Virgin proffers a unique recording studio

IN PREPARATION for Malaysia Airlines’ entry into the oneworld alliance, the national carrier has streamlined its cabin baggage rules for all its domestic and international flights. Guests travelling in Economy Class of Malaysia’s national carrier will now be allowed one piece cabin baggage up to a maximum 7 kg instead of 5 kg. Guests in First and Business Classes have an allowance of two pieces of cabin baggage with a maximum weight of 7 kg each. Each cabin bag must not exceed 56 cm height, 36 cm length and 23 cm width. This new guideline is applicable for all air travel on or after May 15, 2012, and will be implemented across the airline’s extensive global network. Apart from the streamlined cabin baggage allowance, each guest can bring onboard either a notebook/laptop or a briefcase or a binocular bag. In addition, guests can also bring a small handbag and a walking stick. Those travelling with infants (below 24 months old), may also bring one bag containing baby food and nappies weighing up to 5 kg, a carry cot and a fully collapsible baby stroller.

Cathay introduces more flights from Chennai CATHAY PACIFIC Airways announced that it would increase frequencies between Chennai and Hong Kong from four flights a week to daily, with effect from September 1, 2012. The latest increase highlights the airline’s belief in the near and longterm potential of the Indian market and its ongoing work to strengthen Hong Kong’s position as one of the world’s leading international aviation hubs.

TRIPERS.NET

Malaysia simplifies cabin baggage allowance

MUSICAL TAKE OFF: Heathrow gets world’s first professional grade recording studio.

THE WORLD’S first professional grade recording studio has been installed in Virgin Atlantic’s Clubhouse at London’s Heathrow Airport because so many top class musicians and creative professionals fly with the airline. Airport departure lounges are often one of the few places where artists have time to relax and can simply sit and think. Music lovers and composers flying Upper Class with Virgin from New Delhi to London who think of a new tune or need a last minute radio edit to their latest single whilst waiting for their flight can use the studio and record it immediately rather than running the risk of forgetting it. The Virgin Atlantic Avid Edit Suite has been custom designed and built exclusively for the Clubhouse by AKA Design in London. It is compact but powerful, offering the industry standard professional digital and editing and mixing system Pro Tools. Greg Dawson, Virgin Atlantic Spokesman said, “As an airline we want to do all that we can to help every musician’s career take off. After ‘Garage’ and ‘House’ music we can now have ‘Clubhouse’ music! Once again Virgin Atlantic is at the forefront of new innovations to make travelling an amazing experience.”

Another year of profit for Emirates

Al Maktoum, Chairman and Chief Executive, Emirates Airline THE EMIRATES Group recently posted a $629 million net and Group. profit, making it its 24th consecutive year of gain and companyIntroduces 777 on Dublin route: Surging demand has led wide growth amidst unprecedented economic pressure and Emirates to introduce a larger aircraft, a 360-seat Boeing 777record high fuel prices, with 300ER, on its Dublin route Dnata marking its highest ever two months earlier than profit in 52 years of operation. planned. Just three weeks after The Group’s revenue reached a the January 9 launch of flights, record high, climbing to $18.4 Emirates had announced that a billion, which is an increase of larger aircraft would be fast17.8 per cent on last year’s tracked from July 1 this year. results. The Group’s cash However, after a further balance grew by 9.5 per cent, review of passenger load reaching a strong $4.8 billion. factors and aircraft “Achieving our 24th availability, it was decided consecutive year of profit and that the Airbus A330-200 maintaining an upward growth needed to be upgraded even trajectory is an achievement sooner and so Boeing 777MAKING RECORDS: An Emirates’ Boeing 777-300ER in Dublin. that belies the industry norm,” Pharmaceuticals and seafood are amongst the exports carried by Emirates 300ER was introduced on said Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed SkyCargo. May 1. CRUISING HEIGHTS June 2012

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TRAVEL & TOURISM Asia holds busiest inter-city routes

COMFORT STAY : An inside view of a room at Tune Hotel Pasar Baru, Jakarta.

Tune opens hotel in Jakarta THE CHAIN of Tune Hotels is expanding in Indonesia with the inauguration of its latest hotel in Pasar Baru, Jakarta, on July 12. The centrally located Tune Hotel at Pasar Baru would represent the global brand’s third property in Indonesia and the first hotel in central Jakarta. It will have 168 rooms in total, 117 doubles, 36 twin-sharing and a special needs room. The hotel is a short walk to South-East Asia’s largest wholesale complex, Mangga Dua and a few minutes drive to the Kemayoran Expo Centre. According to Mark Lankester, Tune Hotels’ Group CEO, “Jakarta has been on our radar screen for a long time now, with many of our guests consistently asking about our plans there. The wait is over and we are ecstatic with finally opening the first hotel in the capital of Indonesia. What better place than to be in the heart of where the rich and deep history of Jakarta came to be and being centrally located to food, shopping and entertainment in this large widely spread city. We look forward to being able to spread the word to our Indonesian neighbours and of course look after inbound travellers from SE Asia and beyond.” Philippines on the radar: Tune Hotels continues to expand in the Philippines with the opening of its latest hotel in Makati, Manila, on July 17. Tune Hotel Makati will have 213 rooms in total, 148 doubles, 63 twin-sharing and two special needs room. Makati has long been Metro Manila’s most prestigious business, shopping and entertainment districts and the hotel is surrounded by the world-class shopping malls of Rockwell Centre, Glorietta and Greenbelt as well as the central business district of Makati and Ayala Avenues. In addition, the tourist attractions of the Alaya Museum, Bonifacio Fort, Intramuros, Rizal Park and Chinatown are all within easy reach. Mark Lankester, Tune Hotels’ Group CEO, said, “When we opened the Tune Hotels in Angeles City, Cebu City and Ermita, many asked about Makati City. That question is now answered with the pre-opening sales of the Tune Hotel Makati! We’ve always been vocal about the Philippines as being an outstanding tourist destination that has yet to receive its due attention and part of what we aim to do is bring the due attention! Makati is a natural element of the Tune roadmap of national expansion in the Philippines and our aspirations involve being able to cater to the needs of not only leisure but business travelers both from within and inbound to the country.”

ASIA LEADS the world’s growth in travel and holds seven out of the ten busiest inter-city routes. In addition to the BRIC markets, Indonesia, the Philippines and Chile showed an impressive growth, according to analysis by the market intelligence solution Amadeus Total Demand. The review looks at trends in worldwide passenger demand between regions, countries and specific airports, comparing the full 2011 passenger volumes with 2010 data. All figures relate to passengers travelling between a given origin and final destination airport, irrespective of the number of connecting stops. The most important inter-regional growth patterns of last year are led by Asia. Traffic between Asia and Europe, and between Asia and North America, grew by 9 per cent. Traffic between Asia and the Middle East grew by 6 per cent reaching 38 million travellers in the year. David Brett, President of Amadeus Asia Pacific, said that the global findings were a striking reaffirmation of the rapid growth in the travel industry, which were are currently seeing across were Asia Pacific. “To hold seven of the world’s top ten inter-city routes all within the domestic borders of Asian countries is testament to the significant role APAC plays within the global travel market today. Amadeus is committed to delivering world-class solutions that help our customers get the most out of this expanding market and continue to grow their business.” Commenting on the analysis, Ankur Bhatia, Director, Amadeus India, said, “The surge in passenger traffic in Asia clearly states a tremendous growth the Asian economy has witnessed in recent times. Amadeus Total Demand offers comprehensive insights of the growing travel market in the region, to its partners through this analysis, which will further assist them to widen their business horizon in the rising markets and increase their business base.”

VFS opens Netherlands visa application centre THE CONSULATE General of The Netherlands in Mumbai has recently extended its service for collection of visa applications and delivery process to Chennai. This new facility will be operated at the Joint Visa Application Centre (JVAC), set up by VFS Global. VFS Global will be responsible for accepting applications for short stay Schengen visas to the Netherlands from applicants residing in Chennai and neighbouring areas. All visa applications will continue to be assessed and processed by the Consulate General of The Netherlands in Mumbai. The key features of the centre will be longer operating hours, dedicated website for easy access, visa information including visa types, applicable fees and application status, professional and responsive staff dedicated to handle visa queries, dedicated call centre unit, email support and door-step delivery of passports. Ambassador of The Netherlands to India, Bob Hiensch said, “We are happy to extend the cooperation with VFS Global to Chennai. Over a period of many years, VFS Global proved to be a reliable partner and we look forward to extend this not only to

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Chennai but to other Indian cities as well in the future.” Also VFS inaugurated Thailand Visa Application Centre in Chennai. VFS Global will manage and operate the Thai VAC at Prestige Atrium, Central Street. VFS Global will be responsible for accepting applications for Thai visas from applicants residing in Bengaluru as well as other parts of Karnataka. All applications will continue to be assessed and processed by the Royal Thai Consulate General, Chennai. The key features of the centre will be longer operating hours, dedicated website for easy access, visa information including visa types, applicable fees and application status, professional and responsive staff dedicated to handle visa queries, dedicated call center unit, email support and door step delivery of passports. The service would attract a nominal service fee, payable at the Thai VAC at the time of submitting the application.

Popular Kashmir tourist spot opens IT WAS after 22 long years that Bota Pathri, a popular tourist spot in Jammu and Kashmir, recently opened its doors for visitors. Also known as the Nagin Valley, the popular tourist spot is located merely nine kilometres away from Gulmarg. It had been closed due to militant-related threats. State Tourism Minister Nawang Rigzin Jora praised the Indian Army for restoring peace in the area and said that with the influx of the tourists in Bota Pathri, employment opportunities would be created. “Around 1.4 million tourists came here last year. The surge in the tourists visiting Gulmarg resulted in it getting congested. The virgin and pristine Bota Pathri is a good place for tourists to visit. The infrastructure over here is environment friendly and ecosensitive. Horse owners can earn their livelihood. I want that mountain biking should also start here. So it is good news for the people who are working in the tourism sector,” said Jora. The Tourism Department organised a ceremony formally announcing the opening of Bota Pathri, where Army men and tourist also participated.

BirdRes partners with Matrix

Accor ushers first Pullman hotel in India ACCOR UNVEILED its first Pullman hotel in India, the Pullman Gurgaon Central Park. Located in the National Capital Region (NCR) of Delhi, the new hotel features 285 rooms, three restaurants — Sen5es, LA Riviera and Puducherry; two bars — Citrique and Tiki Pool Bar; a spa — Mandara Spa, a saloon — Rod Anker Hair Saloon, a fitness centre, and indoor and outdoor venues for conference and meeting facilities. LA Riviera, Rod Anker Hair Saloon and Mandara Spa will be operational by mid-June 2012. Speaking about the Pullman brand, Xavier Louyot, VP-Global Marketing, Pullman Hotels & Resorts, said that Accor had 65 Pullman hotels worldwide including 21 in the Asia Pacific. Elaborating on its expansion plans, he added that Accor was planning to develop 150 Pullman hotels by 2015-2020 across the globe. In India, the hotel chain is planning to unveil three Pullman hotels in the northern and western regions in the country within three years’ time. Scott Davies, General Manager (Delegate), Accor Hotel Operations Delhi & NCR, said that Accor would target corporates, FITs, meetings and conference clients and leisure travellers for the new property.

MTDC launches ‘Maharashtra Unlimited’ MAHARASHTRA TOURISM Development Corporation (MTDC) recently released a quarterly journal Maharashtra Unlimited, which aims at showcasing the state’s tourist destinations, culture, history and artefacts and provide domestic and international tourists with an insight into the varied tourism offerings of Maharashtra. The magazine was unveiled at Sahyadri Guest House in Mumbai by State Tourism Minister, Chhagan Bhujbal.

HERITAGE-INDIA.COM

BIRDRES RECENTLY partnered with Matrix to offer International SIM Cards to Birdres customers. Through this B2B partnership, travel agents registered with Birdres will now be able to sell Matrix SIM cards without any documentation or paper work. The cards will be available though a simple payment process via customer-based credit cards and credit limit Ankur Bhatia on their account. This will not only allow them to have easy and quick access to booking but also provide real-time booking functionality. Moreover, travel agents will also be able to earn commission on every booking. Commenting on the partnership, Ankur Bhatia, Executive Director, Bird Group said, “We are pleased that Matrix has chosen Birdres as its preferred B2B partner. This partnership will offer Birdres customers an easy access to book Matrix SIM cards for its clients through a simple and hassle free payment process. It will further offer Matrix a large platform to offer its products and services to a wide range of travel agents all over India. At Birdres, we continue to offer flexible and user-friendly solutions to our partners and customers. This partnership with Matrix further strengthens our group’s entity as a leading B2B content distribution channel for the travel industry.” Speaking on the partnership, Gagan Dugal, Managing Director, Matrix said, “Through this partnership with Birdres, we have entered the B2B space to offer our services and products to a larger customer base. We are hopeful that this collaboration will enhance our sales and also benefit our partner by providing

it a hassle-free option to procure SIM cards for its clients.”

MORE TEETH TO TOURISM: Maharashtra Tourism Minister Chhagan Bhujbal (second from left) releasing the quarterly journal of MTDC.

The tourism board has roped in Pune-based Heritage India Communications Pvt Ltd. to compile and print the magazine, which costs `150 per issue. MTDC will hold the publishing rights for the magazine. “The importance of marketing as a tool has grown tremendously on a global scale. Nature has blessed Maharashtra with immense beauty and MTDC should make most of it and market Maharashtra on a global scale,” said Bhujbal.

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