Ch april 2006

ATC WOES: TIME TO TAKE A CLOSE LOOK April 2006

Rs 60

Yes! Maybe not?

Maybe?

MERGER BLUES? WILL IA + AI MAKE THE DIFFERENCE?

plus: Kaw Committee report, Sahara update, hot spots in tourism and all our regular features

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EDITOR’S NOTE

Looking at Kalyanji, winking at Anandji

O

ne of the most popular items that Amitabh Bachchan performed during his spectacular stage shows in the eighties and nineties was a medley of hit sings that included the evergreen “kahin pe nighaen, kahin pe nishana…” Cavorting on the stage, he used to look towards the late Kalyanjibhai-the elder of the music duo Kalyanjibhai Anandjibhai who organised the music for these extravaganzas-and quickly turn towards the younger brother, Anandjibhai and croon: “kalyanji ko dekhen, anandji hon deewane…kahin pe nighaen,kahin pe nishana…”

Well Praful Patel these days reminds one of the Kalyanjibhai-Anandjibhai story. As one senior civil servant who once worked with him said: “there is a huge chasm between Praful Patel’s ostensible reason for going after an objective and the real reason on why indeed he is doing it.” He simply looks at Kalyanjibhai, when actually he is winking at Anandjibhai!

Take the Air India-Indian Airlines merger, for example. There may be a hundred different reasons on why the merger makes sense. But Praful Patel had himself shouted hoarse from the rooftops just two months back that the IA-AI alliance would really be a synergy between the two carriers and the merger, if it all it had to happen, was a distant possibility. In fact when some newspapers described his widely quoted speech at an IATA conference in Singapore as an indication of a merger, his hard working media officer, Moushmi Biswas had actually clarified through an SMS that what ‘PP’ meant was synergy between the two carriers.

That looked perfectly in order considering the statements that the Minister for Civil Aviation had made on various occasions. Here is a brief recap: “Both the airlines are acquiring aircraft that suit their needs and requirements. The next stage is to get their IPOs off the ground, improve their products and become competitive. (This was when IA and AI announced their fleet acquisition). Infact he told the media that Merrill Lynch would work out the CRUISING HEIGHTS April 2006

valuation of AI and IA’s road map to an IPO was on the drawing board.

In November, at the Economic Editor's Conference, PP said that synergy was the order of the day, the two airlines had to rationalise their routes and then gradually move towards the next step. According to a report in the Deccan Herald, “Mr Patel said he favoured synergy between state carriers Indian Airlines and Air-India.” Across the world, the scenario is synergy between major airlines: KLM has been taken over by Air France and Swiss Air by Lufthansa,” he said, adding that the fleet acquisition programme of the two airlines was under progress and clearance would be through by March 2006. He said initial public offering by both airlines was likely by March 2006.

So how has the scene changed so dramatically in less than four months for the same Mr. PP to lament that “merge or perish”. Clearly this looks like a case of the famous ‘Kalyanjibhai-Anandjibhai syndrome’. The Jet-Sahara merger is a development of the last four months and the controversy over transferring airport assets of Sahara to Jet has prompted Rajiv Gandhi Bhawan to appoint a committee to look into the whole issue. Why not be brave enough to provide leadership on the matter rather than use a route that questions your credibility. By all means allot the assets to Jet, but do that upfront and take the call with dignity, as the Minister. Off the record, as is the wont in bureaucratic circles, the general perception is that the IA-AI merger will create a benchmark that will be easy to follow.

That will really be a pity. For a man who prides himself on taking the bull by the horns, Praful Patel should carve out a policy that he believes would be appropriate for mergers and acquisitions that are likely to occur in Indian civil aviation. When you let airlines buy aircrafts, create a subsidiary to fly low cost overseas, push for new livery, take them along the IPO route and then say that the PM has waved the green signal for the merger, its clear that you have made a great presentation, but haven't laid all the facts on the table.

Actually, you are looking at Kalyanjibhai and winking at Anandjibhai !

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Off the cuff

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Why are we nervous?

Many of those who have been to the Sydney Olympic Games and, more recently, to the Commonwealth Games at Melbourne, believe that it will be a hard act to follow. Why, even Athens, observers state, provided a near flawless recap of Sydney in 2004.

Why is it that our sports admninistrators, politicians and civil servants are sceptical of providing a great follow up to Melbourne? If those who have to craft the games are the doubting thomases then what hope in hell do we have of staging the mother of all Commonwealth Games?

Perhaps one reason for this sceptism is the mind numbing number of agencies that one has to coordinate with, to get things moving on the ground. With less than four years to go for the Games, there is a huge amount of work to be done. The Metro is still gearing up for the games (although, there can be no doubt about their delivery. That's the very least one can say about Mr. Sridharan), the airports have just been privatised, and the Games village is still a ground zero site.

The only way we can go forward is to appoint a small committee to oversee the Games, appoint someone with the credentials and capacity for hard work to head the organising committee, empower him or her and let them get along with the administration of the Games.

That's what Melbourne, Athens and Sydney did. And that’s what India did when the Asiad was hosted in 1982. Buta Singh was vested with virtually unlimited powers and what he said was law.

For 2010,you need to have such a person in place, soon, very soon.

The twelve-minute show at Melbourne asking people to ‘Challo Dilli’ was smart sophisticated and incredible.

But if India has to be incredible when the Games indeed arrive, then we better get our act together quickly.

contents WILL IT WORK?

p24

The government is moving ahead full steam to merge Air India and Indian Airlines. Will it work? An in-depth analysis.

TRACKING THE BIRDS

p16

The Air Traffic Control in India is under severe strain. R Krishnan looks at the efforts to upgrade and modernise the country's ATC network CRUISING HEIGHTS April 2006

TOP PICKS

p32

India has had a gung ho year as far as tourism goes. A peek at the top destinations and the hot spots.

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ARTICLES NEWS VIEWS EDITS INTERVIEWS CLIPPINGS TRAVEL & TOURISM PROFILES NEWS DIGEST

CRITIQUE

p10

Will the Kaw committee report work.

An assessment.

Off the record

p6

Praful Patel's gift for Priya Ranjan Das Munshi

CRUISING HEIGHTS K. SRINIVASAN Editor

R. KRISHNAN Consulting Editor

ANAMIKA VERMA Editorial Coordinator

DUSHYANT PARASHAR Creative Director

BHART BHARDWAJ

Hyderabad Airport Update

News Digest p12

Thunder Down Under p42 Ambika wooes the Aussies in style as she promotes Incredible India

Art Director

RAJESH KUMAR BHOLA Designer

RAJIV KUMAR SINGH

Guest Column p22

Gen. Manager (Admn.)

LCC vs low cost

RENU MITTAL

NEWS SNIPPETS

Executive Director

p44

Air Deccan gets a hangar in Chennai

Back page

p48

Ferrying Flintoff, Dravid and Company around India

Editorial & Marketing office: D-11, Nizamuddin (East) New Delhi-110 014 Tel.: 41825251/50, Fax: 41825250 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.

Published and edited by K. Srinivasan for and on behalf of Newsline Publications Pvt Ltd. 4C Pocket IV Mayur Vihar Phase 1, Delhi 110091 and printed by K. Srinivasan at Kaveri Print Process, 114, Patparganj Industrial Area, Delhi.

India File p40 The CISF's new eyes Cover Illustration: Zahid Ali

CRUISING HEIGHTS April 2006

Vol 1 No 2

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PERISCOPE

Is it so?

“I

DIPANKAR MUKHERJEE CPI (M) member On the way Mumbai and Delhi airports have been privatised.

New Highs “Prior

to this campaign, Nepal was solely dependent on individual overseas tour operators to promote Nepal.”

LETTERS TO EDITOR

What appeared to me to be a simple move of taxing J class passengers appeared to be not that simple. The writer has shown those consequences in his article (If You Are J, You Are Taxed, March 2006) which I could never have even dreamt of. A job well done. I am now hooked to the magazine, and have instructed my secretary to send you the subscription cheque.

Nitin Phadnis, Mumbai

The Air Deccan story (Just Fly, Simply, March 2006) was very interesting. As I am a budding entrepreneur, I was quite curious to know the reason of the LCC's phenomenal success. I have learnt a lot from the article.

Honestly, there are very few Ladhanis in the world; but if the numbers of Gopinaths increase, Ladhanis, too, will increase in numbers.

Sanjay Patel, New Delhi

TEK BAHADUR DANGI CEO, Nepal Tourism Board On the launch of new tourism brand with the slogan 'Naturally Nepal, Once Is not Enough'.

Airbus Unlimited “The

delivery of single aisle aircraft will dominate the Indian market although there will also be demand for larger aircraft. These estimates are pessimistic and not optimistic.”

DR KIRAN RAO Executive Vice-President, Marketing and Contracts, and President, Airbus India

Jai Bharat!

“Emirates

has been recruiting cabin crew from India regularly and is very pleased with the high quality of applicants it receives from the country.”

The thing that I like the most about the magazine is its cover-no models, no poses, no gimmicks, no photography tricks-simple, real-life pictures but excellently shot. looks like your photographer waits for eternity before clicking even a single shot.

Rajesh Mishra, New Delhi I always knew that India was always the Promised Land.

Be it the early settlers in ancient India, the repeated invasions, the Mughals, the British, the trade... The list is endless. And now, it's skies have become the bone of contention in many a region (Battleground India, March 2006). Keep it up, India, I am proud of you.

Sheena George, on email All correspondence may be addressed to Editor, D-11, Nizamuddin East (basement) New Delhi - 110 014 OR mail at newslinepublications@rediffmail.com

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smell a scam here.”

SALEM OBAIDALLA Vice-President India and Nepal, Emirates

“We

‘J’ Woes

anticipate that many business passengers may now opt for economy seats, more so for shorthaul travel from the country, especially within the South East Asia and the Middle East region.”

B.K. ONG General Manager India, Singapore Airlines.

On the new tax in the Budget

CRUISING HEIGHTS April 2006

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Flights Lost to Fog

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Air Deccan had to

cancel 805 services.

Indian had to cancel 351 flights. Jet Airways

was third with 227 cancellations.

Air India and SpiceJet cancelled 72 flights each. Air Sahara cancelled 64 flights Alliance had to cancel 59 flights.

Kingfisher cancelled 43 flights. GoAir had to cancel six.

Who Buzzed How Much In January 2006, Air Deccan, Kingfisher and SpiceJet cornered nearly 27 per cent share of the domestic skies in January 2006.

Indian ended the month with a 25 per cent share.

Jet Airways controlled 34.7 per cent. Air Sahara maintained its share of 11 per cent. Air Deccan controlled 13.3 per cent. Kingfisher ended the month with 7.6 per cent. SpiceJet had to be satisfied with 6 per cent.

COLD STATS

As many as 1,640 flights were cancelled due to bad weather since December 2005.

LOOKING GLASS

TAKEOFF BLUES!

LANDING WOES!

.....We are fifth in line to take off. We should be airborne in twenty minutes. Sorry about the delay.

...Several flights are ahead of us. We are sixth in the queue and should land in 35 minutes. Sorry about the delay!

Illustrations by Zahid Ali

Kiwi Magnet “The best part of shooting in New Zealand apart from its beautiful locations

is the fact that it's quiet. You can shoot in peace without having crowds bothering you.” VASHU BHAGNANI, film-maker “It's [New Zealand] beautiful, the people are very friendly and it has excellent infrastructure for film making.” RAKESH ROSHAN, producer “I simply can't forget Queenstown. It's so clean that you can smell the freshness in the air.” JACKIE SHROFF, actor

CRUISING HEIGHTS April 2006

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OFF THE RECORD

Bzz.Zzz.zzz.

T

hat the Ministry of Civil Aviation does not want to enhanse the retirement age at IA and AI from 58 to 60 for the moment. Apparantly AI Chairman V Thulasidas and IA Chairman Vishwapati Trivedi aren’t in favour. Mantriji too seems to want to opt out of this. The biggest beneficiaries are likely to be Air Deccan, Kingfisher and IndiGo.These new airlines will have a ready supply of seasoned veterans from IA flowing into their stables.

HELLO ABANI

S

ay what you may about their fierce rivalry, but face to face both Dinesh Keskar and Kiran Rao are the epitome of friendliness and lighthearted bonhomie. At a recent function in Delhi, the two were at two different ends of the argument as far as country’s fleet strength (Circa 2020) was concerned. But one thing that the two agreed on was clear: if they managed to sell so many aircrafts, their bonuses was assured for sure.

What was Pachauri doing at the Taj

SO WHAT hap-

pened when Abani Roy went on an on about Jet Airways and how Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel was being soft on the country’s number one private sector carrier? Well finally it was West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadev Bhattacharya who spoke to his fellow leftist to take it easy and meet Naresh Goyal.Apparantly Roy did finally meet the Chairman of Jet Airways. But one doesn’t know what happened at this closed-door meeting. Guess it’s off the record.

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IT SURE does help

to have cricketers on your rolls. Ask Indian Airlines and they’ll tell you the number of blokes who work for them and play for India. That includes Yuvraj Singh, Mohd Kaif, Harbhajan Singh, Mohinder Singh Dhoni and Sreesanth (who has a scholarship with them) and prospective employee R P Singh. There is

also V V S Laxman who isn’t in the one-day squad and former fast bowler Javagal Srinnath who was with them till the other day. They also have Vijay Dhaiya and Nikhil Chopra who were in the national squad till recently.

Well, Indian Airlines hosted a party for the cricketers when they were in Delhi to play the second one day international and amongst who attended

CRUISING HEIGHTS April 2006

was the Minister of state for Home (Personnel) Suresh Pachauri.A thoroughbred politician from Madhya Pradesh, the Congress neta is well known to Indian Chairman Vishwapati Trivedi whose home cadre happens to be MP. Pachauri, one is glad to know takes interest in sports. No what we want to know is who gave whom those invaluable tips? Did

W T

he good news is that V K Verma may soon see light at the end of the tunnel. If reports are to be believed, the stage is set for Verma to clear all mandatory checks and be inducted in the Air India board. Meanwhile he has again been elected President of the Badminton Federation of India (BFI) and was there at the Melbourne Commonwealth Games to cheer the Indian contingent.

hy is it that Airport Authority of India (AAI)’s member (planning) blasting after his juniors all the time?

A.K. Mishra is retiring in October this year and he seems to be on overdrive on quite a few issues. And if his subordinates have a differing point of view he is not averse to ticking them off or issuing them a show cause notice.Is this any way to run a department?

Meanwhile AAI Chairman V Ramaligam will have plenty of vacancies to fill this year. Mishra himself retires in October this year and the new Director (Finance) is expected to takeover in April from V.D.V. Prasad Rao who lays down office after a fine innings. Pehaps the only bit of continuity is the good man himself. A slogger who comes early and goes home late.

with Yuvraj, Kaif and Dhoni?

Good luck Gohain

AFTER A

Yuvraj tell the Minister how to duck each time a bouncer was bowled or did Pachauriji tell the dapper southpaw from Chandigarh how to sway away from those horrid deliveries.

Considering that both have been hugely successful in ducking, Yuvraj on the cricket field and Pachauriji in politics, they could only have exchanged notes. For-

mer Olympian and the head of the IA Sports Control Boards Zafar Iqbal organized the dinner. Just days after the do, Iqbal was replaced by the corporations Director (Audit) R. Dayal who will now run the airline’s sports programme. It must be said to the credit of IA that have run a fine sports outlook.

Indian Hockey has been hugely patronised by the national carrier and other games too receive plenty of attention from them. It is just that cricket has run away with the spotlight.

CRUISING HEIGHTS April 2006

lifetime in the service of civil aviation Kanu Gohain is finally the DG at the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). A favourite of Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel, this mild mannered Assamese will be one of the most powerful DGs since independence. He is already the licensing authorities for all airports in the country. Now with the Kaw Committee and the new aviation policy under consideration of the government, there are several other areas of intervention like licensing ATC personnel that are likely to be moved from the Airport Authority to the DGCA.So don’t be surprised if the line gets longer opposite Safdarjung Airport as the favour seekers queue up to see the DG.

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OFF THE RECORD

The ‘Kola’ advise

Former DGCA Chairman H S Kola is one

Naresh Goyal

Saroj Duttta

of the smartest cookies in the Indian Civil Aviation Scene. After a long stint as a global advisor to the Afghanistan Civil Aviation Authority, Kola was seen the other day on the high table with the venerable men from Jet Airways—Chairman Naresh Goyal and his key number two, Saroj Dutta. All three got together to meet with pilots from Air Sahara who have been the thorn in the flesh, so to say, for the Jet Airways management.

Instrangient and tough as nails, they have resorted to a go-slow and are simply not willing to join the Jet fleet.

Well to cut a long story short, Goyal met the pilots in two batches and made an inspiring pep talk to let the merger go through, support him in his endeavor to create a world class company and promised to look after them. Some of the pilots said that Goyal promised a complete protection of the higher salaries they receive at Air Sahara. When the commanders spoke of the lesser scale in Jet and the problems that it could cause, Goyal apparently said: “hum hain na.” A bit like ICICI bank that is involved closely in the whole transfer of funds to Subroto Roy. Anyway to come back to Kola. The low profile Gurgaon based civil servant is expected to be the key driver of the Jet Airways-Air Sahara merger as far as helping them through layers and layers of bureaucratic red tape and queries at the DGCA is concerned.

Pervez

joins, Manchanda elevated PERVEZ AHMED has taken over as the new Chairman and Managing Director of ITDC.This Jammu and Kashmir cadre IAS officer has an awesome reputation as a sound administrator and is extremely well liked in his home state. Infact, Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad was extremely reluctant to let him go, but did so finally because he didn’t want to come in the way of his career. Interestingly, M S Manchanda who was holding charge of the CMD’s job has been himself elevated as the Director (Commercial) of the chain. Last heard theMinister had cleared his file, pleased that he had brought ITDC into profits during the short time that he was at the helm.

YEH DOSTI! PRAFUL PATEL is

willing to walk the last mile for his friends. Well that’s his reputation and usually he matches these words by deeds.

Just two examples in the last one-month should suffice. When Parliamentary Affairs Minister Priyaranjan Das Munshi wanted him to look at the possibility of setting up an airport in his constituency, Patel left no stone unturned in attending to his request. He went to see Priyo with the entire top brass of the Ministry and the Airports Authority Chairman P Ramalingam, to see how they could help facilitate the setting up of a strip at Raiganj.This is the constituency that Priyoda had shifted to from his traditional

Flying high 8

Howrah seat in the last elections. When last reports came in, the feasibility study had been completed and Mantriji had to take as call on when the new airstrip was to come up. Interestingly PP is the Vice President of the AIFF (All India Football Federation).

In a similar gesture he made sure that the Nationalist Congress Party was fully behind friend and retiring Rajya Sabha MP Rajiv Shukla when

his name was proposed from Maharashtra.The two are buddies and Patel has often sought Shukla’s intervention in matters concerning both aviation and life in general.

The last time, RS did his bit was by flying in with Shahrukh Khan for the centenary celebration at Gondia for Praful’s father. Look at the all round smiles. Don’t they look pleased as punch!

SRIDHAR NAGAR the dapper Chairman and Managing Director of Pawan Hans Corporation is highly regarded in Rajiv Gandhi Bhawan. At a recent meeting of senior officals, it was pointed out that Pawan Hans “gives us the least heartaches.” What the babus meant was the fact despite the string of problems the public sector helicopter company faced after the Mumbai floods last year, they have managed to quietly overcome these woes and be back right on top.

Mantriji is believed to be so impressed that he could well offer Sridhar a fresh assignment once his term is up. Any guesses on what it could be?

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“STRENGTHEN DGCA”

T

he Expenditure Reform Commission in its report of 2003 had recommended conversion of DGCA (Directorate General of Civil Aviation) into Civil Aviation Authority. As a regulator of safety it felt that it should be independent of the government since it was the state that overseas Air India, Indian Airlines, Pawan Hans and Airports Authority of India. The commission also suggested that itshould meet its expenditure budget by earning revenue from the services provided to the industry.

Foundation for Aviation and Sustainable Tourism, an autonomous research body in its study conducted for Planning Commission had favored creation of an Airport Economic Regulatory Authority to specially deal with monopoly issues related to airports coming in the private sector. Discussing the role of DGCA, the study had stated that the safety regulatory function is a state responsibility and should not be related with the revenue earned and its expenditure.

Naresh Chandra in its report “Road map

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The Kaw Committee report was recently presented to Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel.

A critique on the reports and its long term implications for the sector.

Taking note of increasing number of private airlines and airport operators the report has discussed the possibility of uncoordinated growth in airports.

CRUISING HEIGHTS April 2006

for the civil aviation sector” had also examined the relevance of regulatory mechanism for safety in aircraft operations and recommended reforms in DGCA to bring in transparency through participatory mechanism for policy formulation.

M K Kaw taking note of increasing number of private airlines and airport operators in his report has discussed the possibility of uncoordinated growth in airports, airlines, training institutions leading to unfair and unhealthy competition, monopolistic tariffs and airport charges and mushrooming of poor quality training institutes.

During discussion with the Kaw committee the representative of Indian as well as foreign airlines opined that DGCA should have a positive role with regard to facilitating a planned development of air transport industry and the related infrastructure in the country. For this purpose these representatives felt that DGCA should have regular interaction with the planning commission, airport operators and airlines on economic aspects of air trans-

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The Committee is clear that the privatisation of airports in Mumbai and Delhi and the possibility of more such ventures in the future makes its imperative to give the DGCA more powers.

Infact,its the only way out argues the report.

What about the AAI? Pictures shows the promotors of GMR and GVK enterprises with Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel and Secretary Ajay Prasad at the agreement ceremony. port and carry out economic analysis of traffic data for the benefit of the industry.

In this regard, the rules have already been amended to de regulate air carrier tariffs in India. But a provision has been kept where by DGCA is empowered to intervene in case of predatory or excessive pricing by a airline. Agreeing with this policy the committee has opined that DGCA can have a similar role with regard to the user charges levied by Airports and by keeping a check on the standard of services being provided by the airport to the users.

Further the DGCA can also be entrusted with the task of looking into the complaints and grievances put forth by all stake holders including airline passengers.

Kaw in his report says that he was aware that setting up of separate body to be called “Aviation Economic Regulatory Authority” has been recommended by Naresh Chandra committee. “But we are unable to endorse that recommendation since we think that multiplicity of regulatory bodies should be avoided as there is an in built risk of conflict of jurisdiction which may lead to chaos and confusion. In our opinion it will be better to use the DGCA itself for discharging the economic regulatory function including grievance redressal both in respect of Air Carrier and Airports.”

Another key recommendation of Kaw committee is with regard to air space management. Noting lack of a formal framework for airspace management and airspace administration in real time the committee has observed that though DGCA had been so far successfully resolving disputes or conflicts over the use of air space by civil and military users. Permanent restriction on its use, by military, more often than not, prevail due to national security reasons. The result is deviation in the route tracks, extra time and fuel costs to airline operator and adverse effect on the

Air space restrictions in India have become a severe bottleneck for the growth of the civil aviation.

CRUISING HEIGHTS April 2006

user/customer of air transport in terms of time and fares. There are other complexities as the air space is used also by Indian Space Research Organization, other state agencies for survey, non- commercial activities, private transporters, helicopter services providers, Defence Research and Development Organization etc.

In India, 35% of the total airspace area of 1048320 Sq. Nm (Nautical miles), i.e.

365122 Sq. Nm has been designated as restricted airspace for military activities from ground to unlimited vertical limits.

In Delhi, 70% of total air space is reserved for military use. Most of this restricted and reserved airspace is not available for civil use even when it is not in use by military users. Thus the benefits of technical advances especially, as provided by the satellite based air navigation system that allows direct and parallel flight tracks, saving time and fuel costs, is likely to remain unutilised.

The committee considers it necessary to adopt the concept of ‘Joint and Flexible use of the Indian Airspace for both Civil and military traffic. According to the international practices it is necessary to have civil military coordination at the operational and policy level to ensure efficient use of Indian air space, clearly defining the decision making powers. After hearing the Indian Air Force representative and Chairman, Airport Authority of India, the committee took note of the fact that in future the airports will be gradually privatised and the efficient use of air space as well as ATC function will be of utmost significance to ensure real time coordination of airspace as well as management of airspace at the government level.

In view of these observations, Kaw has recommended a comprehensive Air space management strategy to ensure healthy

growth of civil aviation in India.

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NEWS DIGEST

Sahara update

RONO DUTTA back to the US

N

GAURANG SHETTY In command

o doubt, that the Jet-Sahara merger was a big bang but many questions remain unanswered. Is the valuation pragmatic? Considering that Air Sahara's planes are all leased and the company has very little to offer in terms of tangible assets, is it ok to pay Rs.2,300 crore for market share and slots. In any case, Jet had to fight a hard battle to get approvals to take over the slots. Resistance from rivals like Indian Airlines and Kingfisher is not helping in any way. Same is the case with GMR and GVK, the private sector partners chosen for managing the Delhi and Mumbai airports; as they would rather prefer surrender of the slots so that fresh contracts could be given out. The Left parties have already expressed their reservations on the merger, citing the viewpoint of Indian Airlines.

Having said that, one cannot commit the mistake of underestimating Goyal. He has already worked his way thorough to ensure that new guidelines on mergers & acquisitions (M&As) are quickly announced by the civil aviation ministry. This obviates the need to wait for the proposed civil aviation policy which has missed many a deadline over the past eight years. Obviously, Jet is working hard to obtain a clean chit from the Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practices Commission (MRTPC), apart from the home ministry and the Directorate General of Civ-

il Aviation (DGCA). Considering his past track record, Goyal would find his way through sooner than later. The Ministry of Company Affairs has already cleared the deal.

A key fallout of the deal could be more pressure on the government to bring in a comprehensive civil aviation policy and set up an independent regulator for the sector. In any case, the government has to do this since airports are getting private management and two greenfield airports promoted by private sector players are coming up. Also, the government needs to work out ways for merging Air-India and Indian Airlines. All this would become far less complex if the aviation policy and regulatory mechanism are put in place.

ALOK SHARMA Mulling over his future The first milestone in implementing the merger was put in place by Jet through the recast of Air Sahara board and control of the subsidiary airline's management through a handpicked team.

Rono Dutta, the United Airlines honcho who took over as president of Air Sahara when the airline was looking forward to launching international operations, is shifting back to the US, Alok Sharma, executive vice president of Air Sahara, is said to be toying with several options including a top position in the merged entity, shift to one of the Sahara Group companies and an offer from a low-cost airline. While the top guns of Air Sahara are likely to adjust quickly, the complexity gets deeper when it comes to staff of the airline. While pilots, engineers cabin crew and other trained hands are likely to be absorbed by Jet, the nontechnical and non-specialised staff are could be less fortunate.

Since Jet plans to gain by keeping overheads low for the additional turnover of Rs.2,000 crore, people in several departments like marketing and airport services are on the verge of being declared surplus. In such cases, there may be only two options: Either join a Sahara Group company or look for a job in one of the new airlines. CVs of Sahara employees are making the rounds at Kingfisher and Spicejet, if headhunters are to be believed. Some Air Sahara staff are also looking for opening at Jagson Airlines which is now being piloted by former Air Sahara CEO U K Bose.

With so many permutations and combinations at work, Air Sahara seems to have been quite lucky to get away with a good valuation in a increasingly competitive market. Only time will tell whether Goyal was right in taking over Air Sahara. More specifically, whether it was worth the Rs.2,300 crore valuation that Jet has agreed to cough up. Till then, the airline industry can keep its fingers crossed.

A fallout of the deal could be pressure on the government to bring in a comprehensive civil aviation policy and set up an independent regulator.

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BOEING HAS stated that the Asia Pacific region will need some 7200 new commercial airplanes worth US $ 770 billion over the next 20 years making it the largest market outside North America. The long-range forecase for 2005-2024 period released by the US Aerospace giant said China alone will be ordering 2612 planes. Single aisle planes such as Boeing

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God’s own airline!

KERALA, GOD’S own country, is determined to push ahead with its plans for a full-fledged airline of its own. Notwithstanding the Ministry of Civil Aviation rejecting its proposal to start Air Kerala, the state government has decided to go ahead with its plan. At its first board meeting, held under the chairmanship of the state’s chief minister Oommen Chandy, it was decided that Air Kerala will have a share capital of Rs 20 crore (US $45 million), of which Rs 14 crore will be open to public subscription.

Alan R. Mullaly

How many aircraft?

737 will be the largest category of aircraft with projected deliveries of 3690 airplanes. Intermediate twin aisles such as Boeing 787 and 777 will comprise 2430 airplane deliveries while regional jets will account for 540 aircraft and jumbo jets pegged at 510 units.

With increased demand for meeting more direct non-stop flights to destinations Dinesh Keskar round the world, aircraft in the 200 to 400-seat category will meet such requirement.

Boeing expects passenger traffic within Asia-Pacific to grow six per cent per year outpacing the world average of 4.8 per cent during the next 20 years.

Worldwide, the US based manufacturer has projected those US 2.1 trillion dollars in orders for some 25,700 new commercial aircraft during Kiran Rao the next 20 years.

Interestingly the manufacturers’ two top honocs for the region,Dr Dinesh Keskar of Boeing and Dr Kiran Rao of Airbus were in Delhi last month for a Euromoney conference on Air Finance.Rao was gung ho on the Indian aviation scene and said he expected close to a 100 aircrafts up for purchase in the next 20 years.

Maybe that's the reason the two haven't slackened either their laser like focus or attention from the sub continent. Infact, insiders aver that they would probably be coming even more frequently considering that an MRO, training school and a huge number of other incentives are on the drawing board stage. As one of their friends quipped: `` No market with a 20 plus percent growth can afford even a movement's lapse in concentration. ``

Ommen Chandy According to a statement issued after the first board meeting, “to begin with, 2,50,000 people will be given shares valued at between Rs 5,000 and Rs 10,000”. M.A.Yousuf, a businessman from the state, based in the Middle East, and a member of Air Kerala board, said the number of shareholders would be increased to ten lakh progressively. He said the state government is awaiting a relaxation of some rules from the central government to go ahead with the proposed airline.

As per existing rules, no airline is allowed to fly international routes till it completes five years of flying business, fulfils the minimum requirement of ASKMs and has a fleet of 20 aircraft.

Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel has already gone on record to say that if the state government wishes it could start a domestic airline, but if it wishes to fly international destinations, even if it is Gulf, the eligibility conditions will have to be fulfilled.

Sometime ago, Kerala government announced that it would start its own airline that would fly to the Gulf to ferry the poor workers from the state working in various parts of the region. It had even disclosed that it would charge fares that would be 25 per cent lower than that charged by competing airlines.

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Kochi Airport

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NEWS DIGEST

O

Hyderabad update

perational trials at the new international airport in Shamshabad near Hyderabad, the capital city of Andhra Pradesh will begin by next year-end “There has been substantial progress in the past one year and the first flight could take off in the first quarter of 2008,” said Mr. T. Srinagesh, chief operating officer of the GMR Hyderabad International Airport Limited (GHIAL).

The foundation stone for Rs 17.6 billion project spread over 5,500 acres was laid on March 16 last year by Congress president Sonia Gandhi. About 11.77 million cubic metres of area has been cut of which 8.08 million cubic metres has been filled.

The initial phase of new airport will be capable of handling seven million passengers and more than 100,000 tonnes of cargo per year. “The ultimate capacity is over 50 million passengers and one million tonnes of cargo,” said Mr. Srinagesh.

At present, the Hyderabad airport records four million passenger movements with 11 international and seven domestic airlines operating. “The emergence of Hyderabad as a growth hub is getting new airlines like British Airways and Thai Airways to fly here.” He told reporters during a recent onsite visit.

The GHIAL is a joint venture company promoted by GMR group with 63 per cent equity stake, Malaysia Airports Holding Berhard (11 per cent), the Andhra Pradesh state government (13 per cent) and the Airports Authority of India (13 per cent).

As part of the Rs 5.57 billion contract, Larsen & Toubro is con-

structing the gateway's 4.2 km long and 60 metres wide runway, taxiways and aprons capable of accommodating even the largest airplane like Airbus A380.

It will also install airfield lighting and aviation hydrant systems besides constructing fire rescue station, roadways and cargo terminal. China State Construction and Engineering Hong Kong Limited will construct the passenger terminal building and install baggage handling system and a plethora of IT, electrical and mechanical systems under its Rs 6.15 billion contract.

The Chinese company recently built the Hong Kong airport that was rated as the world's best in 2004 by the International Air Transport Association (IATA). When the new airport (named after late prime minister Rajiv Gandhi) opens in 2008, its single terminal building will be equipped with 10 contact boarding gates, 20 remote stands, 60 common user terminal equipment (CUTE) check-in desks and eight self check-in kiosks, and 30 immigration counters.

It will also feature the latest IT systems including FIDS, BHS and airport operational database technology for the first time in India, said GMR officials. With modular design of passenger terminal, GHIAL will initially cover 100,000 square metres of floor space that will ensure rapid transit between domestic and international concourses. The complex will have a dedicated airport village with local flavour complete with shops for “meeters and greeters”. There will also be a business hotel near the terminal building.

Cricket and profits for Jeh Wadia WADIA GROUP promoted GoAir hopes to make profits in the next fiscal beginning April 2006 on revenues of Rs 600 crore to Rs 700 crore according to its Managing Director Jeh Wadia. He told newsmen recently, “We should be able to achieve cash break-even by end of the next fiscal”. GoAir launched its services in November 2005 and competes with low cost carriers like Air Deccan, Spice and even mid-fare carrier Kingfisher Airlines. It claims its fares are cheaper than any of what is offered by its competition. It has been appointed as the official carrier for ODI series between India and England. Go Air has three Airbus A 320 aircraft flying destinations such as Goa, Ahmedabad, Coimbatore, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Baroda, Chennai, Pune and Kochi. It plans to add another 30 aircraft in the next three years. It has already placed orders for 20 A 320s valued at US $ 1.5 billion. It will soon add new destinations to its schedule by connecting Delhi and Chennai.

Go has also launched a direct service from Mumbai to Srinagar and according to to commercial officials at the airline, they

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Air

have “received a huge number of enquiries and many from the film industry.” Makes perfect sense for Shahrukh to fly direct Mumbai-Srinagar rather than through Delhi, Smart thinking, Jeh.The BCCI tie up has also been a huge hit state insiders.

Apart from the journos and the teams, several passengers too have got in the charter special. These are full service flights and hugely welcomed by the players. As one of them said: `` imagine getting from Kochi to Guwahati.It would mean hop to Chennai and from there to Kolkata and onwards to Guwahati.We would be half dead by the time we arrived. On Go it was a three-hour non-stop swoop into Assam (see back page).

Interestingly another Go airline has announced plans to begin operations in the US. This new interisland carrier began selling one-way fares on its Web site for $39, sparking an airfare war in Hawaii. Phoenix-based Mesa Air Group Inc. said its new “go” airlines will start flying between Honolulu and Lihue, Kahului, Hilo and Kailua-Kona on June 9.

Mesa is one of America's largest regional carriers with 182 jets, 5,000 employees and annual revenues of $1 billion. Flying to over 170 cities under the America West Express and other brand names, it is the largest company to enter Hawaii's exclusive interisland market, dominated for decades by Hawaiian and Aloha airlines.

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SPECIAL REPORT

Who is at fault? Is it the Airlines or is it the Air Traffic C

Neither say aviation experts. Some airlines have accu s ATC is not doing its job. Officials reject this charge.

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GETTING READY TO LAND

Modernisation of our airports will remain a mirage, unless the ATCs are modernised both through infrastructure enhancement and greater staffing to perform what is a ‘pressure-cooker’ job.

R Krishnan looks at the road map to improve landings and takeoffs in the sub -continent.

T Control (ATC)?

u sed the

he traffic congestion in the air space over Delhi and Mumbai is well known. Helpless pilots are forced to take passengers on a joy ride, as no slot is available to make a quick landing. Often the hold over is for as long as forty minutes and at times when there is bunching of flights it is as much as one full hour. Recently, a scheduled flight from Mumbai to Delhi was asked to hold, forcing the pilot to fly over the Himalayan ranges with passengers getting a good over-view of the snow capped mountains.

Who is at fault? Is it the Airlines or is it the Air Traffic Control (ATC)? Neither say aviation experts. Airlines in their enthusiasm to ensure good on time performance routinely take off on time but are inevitably delayed on arrival. Perhaps they could start late to cut down the hold over time. But then what happens to their on time performance. ATC on the other hand is working under tremendous pressure as the boom in the civil aviation sector, (galloping at an unheard of 20 percent plus) was unimaginable till some time back.

Shortage of both physical and human infrastructure is telling on the ATC performance and it will take a while before one can expect any semblance of normalcy returning.

Some airlines have accused the ATC is not doing its job. But ATC officials reject this charge. Air Traffic Controllers say that they are not interested in keeping an aircraft under ATC, as it is a huge responsibility and liability. After all as soon as an aircraft lands

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SPECIAL REPORT

However, the most crucial point is the availability of rapid exit ways.

When an aircraft lands, does it take 30 seconds or 60 seconds or 90 seconds to clear the runway to allow the next in queue to land? (or for that matter takes off), the ATC's job is over. As they point out: delays occur even in the best of airports like Heathrow, Frankfurt, LA and Chicago. Maybe such a comparison is unfair and exaggerated considering the traffic here and what one gets at these great world airports. Just after terrorists struck World Trade Centre in New York on 9/11, nearly 4000 aircraft flying over US at that moment were brought down safely in just three hours. What we are seeing over Delhi and Mumbai could have been resolved had we got our act together better or had the foresight to anticipate the growth.

According to ATC sources, the core issue now is how to bring down 20 aircraft hovering over the two cities quickly with marginal delays compared to their scheduled time of arrival. It will depend not just on the runway availability but also on the two runways being parallel to each other. Take for instance, Mumbai, the two runways; one longer and other shorter actually cross each other appearing like the famous "Mr. X" in Bombay. In Delhi, the two runways - 0927 and 1028-are separate but follow a pattern of convergence; that is they would converge if they were extended for some more length. As a result only one runway each is available for use in Delhi and Mumbai.

Since there has to be a mandatory time gap and space gap between two arrivals or two departures or one each of landing and take off and vice versa, delays become inevitable. If there were two parallel runways such a problem would not arise.

However, the most crucial point is the availability of rapid exit ways. When an aircraft lands, does it take 30 seconds or 60

18

seconds or 90 seconds to clear the runway to allow the next in queue to land? Normally under Indian conditions the time gap is set at two minutes which means 30 aircraft movements (landing and take off) on a single runway.

In Delhi, the taxiway is at the end of the main runway and it turns at 90 degrees forcing the pilot to slow the aircraft before he gets on to the next runway for continuing his taxiing before he reaches the allotted parking bay to enable passengers to disembark.

This not so parallel or converging runway runs along the VIP/technical area. Airports Authority of India (AAI) has now built a new rapid exit way at 30 degrees on the runway 0927 to enable pilots to land and quickly get off the runway through the new 30degree turn exit way into the other runway.

While this would reduce the time to clear off the main runway, it will also speed up the process of clearing the other runway thus making it possible to use the second runway as well for take offs. All this is supposed to happen from April 2006 and the hourly aircraft movement is likely to increase to 45 (landing and take offs) from the present 30.

This indeed sounds very rosy but is it enough to meet the traffic demand when one looks at the number of domestic airlines that want to come to Delhi and Mumbai—the essential bread and butter corridor for airline operators. With the two major metros being handed over to the private sector, the new airport consortium may perhaps build additional two parallel runways in Delhi. As for Mumbai, the reclaiming of the 11-acre slum land will enable the construction of taxiways and exit ways at the CRUISING HEIGHTS April 2006

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end of the main runway to facilitate more number of aircraft movement. In any case Mumbai can make a difference only when it gets a brand new Greenfield airport.

Till 1999, ATC was on manual mode.

The flight progress system were on hand written strip. That system was upgraded in 1999 when ATC officers began getting automatic printouts of the flight status. It was subsequently upgraded with installation of secondary radar system. While the primary radar gave direction and distance, the secondary radar gave details of altitude, speed etc as well. Consequently, there was a big boost to safety element and the workload on ATC came down. But this system is already 6 years old and meanwhile there has been a tremendous increase in air traffic with the advent of new private carriers and increased international air traffic.

In the last two years the aviation market has grown by over 25 per cent and is continuing to grow at almost the same rate rendering the upgradation done six years ago virtually inadequate. While Mumbai is handling 600 aircraft movements in a day, it is around 560 in Delhi. Sources said if the 45 aircraft movements per hour gets stabilised in Delhi then it will be able to handle 900 movements in a day. All this sounds rosy but there are many ifs and buts and it is precisely here the need for new technical infrastructure and human element assumes importance.

Take for instance, Delhi airport; since the two runways are in a convergence mode, it may not be possible to enhance the aircraft movements as rapidly as suggested on paper. Simply because it would not be possible to have the arriving and departing aircraft move in the same direction. Under normal conditions with westerly winds, take offs and landings are against wind direction.

During monsoons the easterly winds take over making aircraft movements slightly difficult. And in winter, the fog ruins all flight plans. Consequentially, experts say to expect 900 movements in a day will be nothing short of an utopian dream. It is here the need for two more parallel runways assume importance as part of the upgradation of the physical infrastructure and the beefing of the ATC with more personnel to regulate the ever-rising air traffic.

During the NDA rule, there was a virtual freeze on all major airport upgrade investment by AAI even when it was urgently required. Soon after the UPA regime came in, the Delhi and Mumbai airport moderni-

sation once again took the front seat and AAI investment plans took the back seat.

Also, there has to be an all India upgrade of ATC. It has strength of 1500 of which 400 posts are vacant. While it is not unusual for ATC officers to do three shifts a day, the rising air traffic even in non-metros has forced AAI to divert ATC officers to smaller airports to meet the demand of low cost and regional airlines. For example, Mumbai and Hubli come under the same air space management/control. With the opening of Hubli, ATC had to post officials to handle Hubli thus reducing the strength in Mumbai. This was also true of Delhi that shared the same air space management with Jaipur. Some years ago, the Central government banned recruitment as a result the vacant posts in ATC were not filled up.

Observers stated that when the government can recruit people in armed forces, why should recruitment of such vital technical staff in Air Traffic Control management be banned. It is only recently that recruitment has been initiated to fill vacancies caused both by retirement and the proposed expansion of ATC services. Meanwhile, airlines and, newer ones at that, have asked for opening airports at Kolapur, Surat, Sholapur, Nashik, Hubli, Rajamundhry, Turicorin, Salem, Cooch Behar etc. Who will man the towers at these airports that were once in use but are in disuse for years because of a lack of traffic? It takes a minimum of two years to get one Air Traffic Controller fully trained to do his job competently. It is all the more complex with the vertical air separation being reduced from 2000 feet to 1000 feet.

AAI is already in the process of introducing Air Traffic Flow Management so that delays can be taken care of during the course of a flight. It is also introducing Route Navigation Performance Procedures based on ICAO prescription. In the latter, certain air space corridors are dedicated so that aircraft that have the necessary inter face equipment and pilots trained to use them are told to follow the dedicated air corridors. This greatly eases the pressure on landing schedules and the queue length shrinks very fast. This system has been made operational in the US and UK. Pilots have to maintain a distance of not more than three nautical miles behind the first arriving aircraft so that the congestion gets cleared faster and safely.

Strangely in the Indian skies officials have found pilots holding on to horizontal

Till 1999, ATC was on manual mode. The flight progress system were on hand written strip. That system was upgraded in 1999 when ATC officers began getting automatic printouts of the flight status.

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SPECIAL REPORT

The ‘Airspace’ breakdown THE TOTAL Indian airspace of about 2.8 million square nautical miles includes 1.8 million nautical miles of oceanic airspace. This is divided into 5 Flight Information Regions (FIR). Mumbai FIR is the largest with close to 1.4 million sq nautical miles including 1 million sq nautical miles of oceanic airspace.

Delhi FIR in contrast comprises entirely of continental airspace. Though, Guwahati FIR has been carved out by taking a part of Kolkata FIR, Air Traffic Control above 28,000 feet in Guwahati FIR is still with Kolkata. Air Traffic Management in Indian airspace is exercised through 11 Area Control Centres(ACC). Besides the five main ACCs at Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai and Guwahati, six more ACCs have been established at Ahmedabad, Nagpur, Varanasi, Trivandrum, Mangalore and Hyderabad. These six ACCs have been set up to mainly overcome the deficiency in CNS infrastructure.

Nearly 35 per cent of the continental airspace has been declared as restricted airspace and is not available for civilian air traffic. 70 per cent of the airspace over Northern India is reserved for military use leaving civil air traffic to use only narrow corridors along fixed routes. Thus a large chunk of the airspace remains underutilized or unexploited for flexible use even when there is no flying activity by defence aircraft.

There has been a manifold increase in air traffic due to large number of domestic airlines that have come up in past few years and additional flights by existing players. Though airspace capacity and en-route traffic flow has increased substantially consequent upon implementation of EMARSSH (Europe-Middle East-Asia Route Structure South of Himalayas) and RVSM this is not enough to cope with the demands of the exponential growth in air traffic. This is a challenge that calls for urgent initiatives as efficiency of management of air traffic services would depend on the availability of top class Communication, Navigation and Surveillance (CNS) infrastructure, ATC automation system and a large pool of well trained and qualified Air Traffic Controllers besides maximum flexibility in the use of the airspace.

In a significant observation Roy Paul Committee on ATM Systems and Capacity stated, "the role of Air Traffic Controllers is as important for air traffic infrastructure as that of pilots for airlines. It is a unique and highly specialized job that calls for a very high level of mental alertness, ability to make split second decisions and oral communication ability in English language. It is therefore important to attract very high quality human material for this profession. The present recruitment and human resource development policies of AAI are not capable of achieving the objective and there is an urgent need for introducing drastic changes in this area.

Accordingly, Roy Paul Committee recommended that Air Traffic Controllers recruitment should be at Class I level directly. (It may be recalled when CNS officials were recruited they were on Class I basis and were BEs or Btechs, unlike the ATCs who were BSc or MSc and did enjoy Class I ranking). The Committee also criticised the present policy of mindless application of equal opportunity of postings to different stations. It wanted the right persons with right training and experience to be posted at the right places. All future recruitments of ATCOs should be such that they will know that they will be posted to stations in those regions only because of their knowledge of that region. The chain of command for ATCOs should be directly under the ATM Directorate. ATCO recruitment should be planned carefully so that batches of 50 can be taken in at 6 monthly or yearly basis depending on the requirement.

An official committee has already been set up to look into these aspects of HR policy. In fact whatever the critics said (see main story) seems to have been neutralised

by Roy Paul Committee. The grudge of ATCOs needs to be addressed urgently. Otherwise all of us traveling public will have no choice but go around in circles in the air and twiddle our thumbs on the ground.

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CRUISING HEIGHTS April 2006

flight separation of 15 kilometers between two aircraft queuing to land.

Even if this procedure comes to be adopted in India, it will still not make a difference, especially for international flights, till such time the terminal capacity is increased enormously. Can you imagine what will happen if two Airbus A 380s land in quick succession in Delhi or Mumbai?

There is an urgent need to introduce a dynamic air traffic control system.

This means you ramp up staffing during peak hours and relax in non-peak hours. To do this you need more people. Ultimately it is a question of dealing with Four Aces - For Aviation to succeed to you need to ramp up ATC, improve Airport infrastructure and reframe Airline procedures.

People conversant with the happenings say problem would not have arisen had there been a balance at the time of recruitment between those who belonged to the ATC stream and the CNS. The staffing especially at the higher levels seemed loaded in favour of the later.

Critics also argue that while Delhi has two runways that may not be exactly parallel, it needs about 160 ATC officers to manage the airflow. But it already has about 167 out of a total 1050 located across the nation.

The rest are ancillary staff. There is need for people in Aerodrome control rating which is common for all. Besides you need people with surface control rating and radar control rating. The 200 odd ATC Junior Executives now being interviewed will have to undergo training in a phased manner for two years before they can be entrusted with individual responsibility. All this only shows that there should have been a very properly structured HR policy in the past. At least a beginning has been made. But what will happen once the private developers take over is the question? Obviously nobody would want to invest and reap trouble.

It may be recalled that a fortune - Rs 450 crore - was spent in 1991-92 to improve the facilities in Delhi and Mumbai. For whatever reason, the rapid exitways and surface control radars did not find place. Today they have the surface control radars. But there are still violations galore. Do you recall an incident where one of the authorised airport personnel on a scooter entered the no entry zone where his presence interfered with the signaling equipment. In Singapore even the Chairman of the CCAS is not allowed to enter the no entry zone where the surface movement radar are sup posed to do their job!

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GUEST COLUMN

“LOW FARES IS ONE THING BUT ACHIEVING LOW COSTS IS I THINK CRITICAL” VIJAY MALLYA

T

he mistake the most people have made in the past is to try to transplant a Western model.

Very clearly, India is one of the hottest investment destinations in the world and there is a lot of reportage on the opportunities in India and China. There has been phenomenal air traffic growth within India. According to the Civil Aviation ministry figures, January 2006 over January 2005 was plus 37 per cent. All forecasts point to 20 to 25 per cent annual growth over the next five years, year on year. But I think the easyJet model, as indeed the models of other low cost carriers that have been very successful in Europe and in Asia, is fundamentally based on lowering costs.

Low fares are one thing, but achieving low costs is, I think, critical. In India, we have the highest ATF prices in the world.

We have no secondary airports to fly to.

We cannot introduce point-to-point services because under the route-disbursal guidelines, if we fly on certain metro routes, such as between Mumbai and New Delhi, we are obligated, by law, to fly to secondary and tertiary routes and typically these routes would be in the Northeast or in Jammu and Kashmir where there isn’t very much traffic. Therefore, you are almost forced into operating on uneconomical sectors or social routes, and the govern-

ment introduced this legislation about 15 years ago to achieve a balance or a level playing field with India.

We have a tremendous shortage of pilots in India and so our pilots are probably the highest paid pilots anywhere, thus there is no cost differential between airlines. Our landing and parking charges and our R&FC charges are amongst the highest in the world; therefore, everybody pays the same cost and there is no airline in India that is able to cut these costs that are fundamental to operation. All other costs-yes, there are a few optional costs, but given Indian costs per se, those are very marginal given the overall context. I cannot see how a low cost model can work in India. Indeed, Kingfisher Airlines was never conceived as a low cost airline and was always conceived as a full service airline, but at true value, airlines have clearly been overcharging quite significantly. Therefore, my considered opinion is that the European model cannot be transplanted into India. There is no real opportunity for a low cost airline. There, of course, is huge opportunity for a true value carrier and definitely for quality.

Finally, the reason why India is such an attractive destination and the reason why India is posting an eight per cent-plus growth is because it is the middle class in India that is growing, and the middle class represents 400 million people with the

propensity to spend. A lot of people have been misguided into saying that we are going to transform the 14 million people who travel everyday by train into air travellers. Sadly, that’s not going to happen.

If you look at our current estimates for the month of February, we have the market leader Jet Airways with about 35 per cent market share. You have Air Sahara, which has recently been acquired by Jet Airways, with about 11 per cent of the market, giving a combined total of about 46 per cent to Jet Airways. Air Deccan has about 13 per cent of the market, but its model is pretty interesting because it has focused largely on turboprop operations connecting secondary cities of India that have never been served before. Now, that is an opportunity. When you use an ATR that has a very low operating cost and you try to start serving cities that have never been served before and have never seen air connectivity before, that is an opportunity. If you are talking of flying Boeings and Airbuses, it’s absolutely not going to work.

Kingfisher Airlines currently flies 11 brand new Airbus aircraft. We have, in 10 months of operations, already a 7.5 per cent market share, which, I think, is pretty good going. Clearly, we are double the published fares of, say, Air Deccan, which is a low cost carrier. We are achieving excellent load factors because of our

There is no real opportunity for a low cost airline. There, of course, is huge opportunity for a true value carrier and definitely for quality 22

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“

There simply is no room to expand without addressing some very tough social issues. Mumbai airport is surrounded by slums where there are hundreds of thousands of people living in huts. There has to be the political will to relocate them before that airport can expand. Now the two bidders for these airports have committed huge investments. Where are they going to recover these investments from? I dare say, there is half a chance they will try and recover it from airlines, pushing the costs up even further.

unique in-flight experience and the totality of the service that we provide.

If you look at India’s demographic profile, we are a young country and many people don’t know this. About 50 per cent of India’s 1.1 billion population is under 25 years of age and we have four hundred million kids out there who are coming into new jobs and well paying jobs and who are not saving as much as their parents/ancestors, but who are spending more on food, entertainment and travel. This trend is manifesting itself in other UB Group companies-our consumer product businesses where there is a clear demand and an increasing demand for high-end products.

Five years ago, you would never have seen the likes of a Louis Vuitton, Hugo Boss and Channel in India. Today every one of them is opening up and is very successful.

So, I believe that the true opportunity in India is to target the consuming class, which has the propensity to spend. This is not the railway passenger, but people who will truly pay for real quality. You have the class of people that will pay for quality, on the one hand, and you have a pretty high cost base, on the other. And it’s managing the two, achieving the right balance that is going to be successful.

We all talked about the criticality of costs and, as I mentioned, the cost structure is very high in India; but there is another critical dimension about which we haven’t had the opportunity to talk, and that is infrastructure. India is peculiar.

Fifty per cent of all traffic is between two cities, New Delhi and Mumbai.

Eighty-five per cent of all

traffic is between the five metropolitan cities. The future is in developing traffic between the secondary cities of India, where, currently, there is clearly no room for jets. One has to do the ATR route and that is why Kingfisher Airlines ordered 35 ATRs just with this objective.

As far as the airport infrastructure is concerned, we are already being charged an arm and a leg for overnight parking and landings and take off. Now, of course, Mumbai and New Delhi airports have been privatised. There simply is no room to expand without addressing some very tough social issues. Mumbai airport is surrounded by slums where there are hundreds of thousands of people living in huts.

There has to be the political will to relocate them before that airport can expand.

Now the two bidders for these airports have committed huge investments. Where are they going to recover these investments from? I dare say, there is half a chance they will try and recover it from airlines, pushing the costs up even further.

And so it’s better to be real about the V-S SIGN: Mallaya at the launch of Kingfisher Airline last year.

CRUISING HEIGHTS April 2006

”

opportunity in India and not to hype up the fact that there are 14 million railway passengers who will suddenly want to travel by air because of the obvious benefits of travelling by air. We really need to look at India’s spending power and where does the spending power really reside and what does the target audience want in terms of service and service delivery.

Kingfisher Airlines has also done something that is unique. We have the first-ever public private partnership where we outsourced our entire ground handling to the state owned domestic carrier, Indian. Indian, being a public sector organisation, has huge infrastructure, a huge workforce and its own dedicated terminal in both Mumbai and New Delhi, which are the most congested airports. So, instead of having a huge workforce at Kingfisher Airlines, what I did was outsourced the entire ground handling to Indian. We also get to fly out of the dedicated terminals of the state-owned carrier and that way we keep our costs low. But if I were to compare Kingfisher’s costs with easyJet’s, we would probably be two or three times higher, but, I guess, their fare structure is probably two or three times lower than ours. So I still maintain that you cannot transplant the classical European low cost model in India and say that this is going to work. India obviously needs additional capacity to meet the growing demands, but that will have to be at the middle to upper end of the market.

(This speech is excerpted from the remarks made by the Chairman of Kingfisher Airlines at the ITB, Berlin)

23 5

MERGER

COVER STORY

WILL THE ROADMAP SEE THE TWO CARRIERS TRYING TO RATIONALISE THEIR ROUTES, WORK THROUGH A HOLDING COMPANY AND THEN TAKE THE BIG STEP TOWARDS MERGER OR WILL IT SIMPLY BE A MERGER, LOCK, STOCK AND BARREL. 24

CRUISING HEIGHTS April 2006

SEASON In a dramatic move, Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel has announced that Indian and Air India will merge in the coming few months. It is being suggested that it could well happen

by October.R Krishnan presents a perspective on why the merger makes sense.

T

HE CONFUSION over whether Air India and Indian Airlines should synergise their operations or merge to form one national carrier seems to have been finally resolved. If one goes by the statement of the Union Minister of Civil Aviation Praful Patel following a presentation made by the two state owned carriers to the Prime Minister, the merger dream could become a reality

by October 2006.

In less than six months, if the Minister has his way, the country will have a mega carrier that will be bigger than most of the South East Asian carriers in terms of aircraft owned. However, there are several ifs and buts that will need to be ironed out before it becomes a workable proposition. One of the major stumbling blocks could be the marriage of two cultures: Air India’s Maharaja and Indian.

And till that integration is complete, the merger will not really achieve the potential that can be unleashed by the coming together of these two giants. Will it be a roadmap where the two carriers will try to rationalise their routes, set up a holding company and then take the big step towards merger or will it simply be a merger, lock, stock and barrel. The Minister has favoured the big bang

CRUISING HEIGHTS April 2006

25

MERGER

COVER STORY

WILL THE ROADMAP SEE THE TWO CARRIERS TRYING TO RATIONALISE THEIR ROUTES, WORK THROUGH A HOLDING COMPANY AND THEN TAKE THE BIG STEP TOWARDS MERGER OR WILL IT SIMPLY BE A MERGER, LOCK, STOCK AND BARREL. 24

CRUISING HEIGHTS April 2006

SEASON In a dramatic move, Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel has announced that Indian and Air India will merge in the coming few months. It is being suggested that it could well happen

by October.R Krishnan presents a perspective on why the merger makes sense.

T

HE CONFUSION over whether Air India and Indian Airlines should synergise their operations or merge to form one national carrier seems to have been finally resolved. If one goes by the statement of the Union Minister of Civil Aviation Praful Patel following a presentation made by the two state owned carriers to the Prime Minister, the merger dream could become a reality

by October 2006.

In less than six months, if the Minister has his way, the country will have a mega carrier that will be bigger than most of the South East Asian carriers in terms of aircraft owned. However, there are several ifs and buts that will need to be ironed out before it becomes a workable proposition. One of the major stumbling blocks could be the marriage of two cultures: Air India’s Maharaja and Indian.

And till that integration is complete, the merger will not really achieve the potential that can be unleashed by the coming together of these two giants. Will it be a roadmap where the two carriers will try to rationalise their routes, set up a holding company and then take the big step towards merger or will it simply be a merger, lock, stock and barrel. The Minister has favoured the big bang

CRUISING HEIGHTS April 2006

25

COVER STORY

Behind the scenes The nuts and bolts of the presentation was really put together by Air India’s Commercial Director V K Verma and Indian Deputy Managing Director Manet Paes.Of course they had inputs from several senior colleagues on both sides. But at the presentation for the Prime Minister, the two Chairman and Managing Directors-V Thulasidas of Air India and Vishwapati Trivedi of Indian accompanied Praful Patel.

While the presentation discussed all the options including synergy/holding company and merger, Patel crafted his arguments in such a precise manner that the Prime Minister is believed to have enthusiastically said “merger, by August 15 if possible.” Patel, apparently told the PM, that this would be unrealistic and the first step could be taken by October. Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia was equally enthusiastic for the merger.

There is no doubt that Patel will have to set up a dedicated team at Rajiv Gandhi Bhawan to oversee the transition.

Before that he will have to mollify employees on both sides who are asking questions for which no one has any answers.

Indian has already undergone a change in livery and Air India is in the process of a metamorphosis. So what happens now?

What will the new company be called? How soon will the balance sheets be merged? Who will tackle HR? What happens to the whole time directors?

Perhaps one of the most important steps in this direction

whether it will be loud enough only the coming months will reveal.

Almost unanimously everyone one spoke to—airline employees ,government representatives and aviation industry watchers—agree that there is no alternative to merger. Perhaps extreme caution would have been exercised had this idea been pursued a few years ago. For one Indian Airlines had a fairly respectable market share while Air India was on a revival mode.

In the last two years after government allowed private Indian domestic carriers to fly foreign routes, granted liberal open skies facility to Gulf, South East Asian, European and Asia-Pacific carriers and forged a formal open sky agreement with US whose economy has now began to boom once again, Air India faces a formidable onslaught from overseas carriers, while it has impacted Indian Airlines with relentless competition from entrenched as well as new private domestic carriers.

The situation is indeed baffling when you consider that when fuel prices were low till some years back and ticket prices were high. They cost perhaps twice as much as they are now. When actually it should have been the other way round.

After all, Indian Airlines’ monopoly was being slowly eroded by Jet and Air Sahara

26

will have to be a transparent straightforward approach.

As a matter of rule, the Ministry has been opaque on most issues leading to conflicting signals, confusion and, at worst, controversy.

The IA-AI merger is so complicated, anyway, that it really requires no icing!

we have a funny situation where the state owned carriers are competing with each other unmindful of the threat posed by foreign and domestic private carriers.

CRUISING HEIGHTS April 2006

and it would have made sense to not let airfares rule very high. Today, fuel prices have gone through the roof, more number of domestic carriers like Air Deccan, Spicejet, Kingfisher, GoAir, Paramount etc have made a name for themselves, but airfares have dropped to all time low. In the process, the market share of Indian Airlines is being eaten by the day and by the night.

One may argue that Indian Airlines is now making profits and this should not be disturbed. The fact is when the economy is growing by 8 to 9 per cent, if a service industry like airline does not make money there is something fundamentally wrong with it. Infact, both Air India and Indian Airlines should be doing far more to shore up their bottom lines than what has been done till now.

But we have a funny situation where the state owned carriers are competing with each other unmindful of the threat posed by foreign and domestic private carriers on the fortunes of both Air India and Indian Airlines.

A senior official said that the future of Air India and Indian Airlines “will remain bleak unless they harnessed their energies together despite the differing roles performed by them.” This has become all the more important today where competition has assumed an all together new

dimension. Instead of reacting or responding to it, the two state owned carriers have begun to resemble each other more and more. Air India feels the lack of domestic network has shut off opportunities for major global alliances.

Indian Airlines has been desperately looking for wide-bodied aircraft to fly on long haul routes. In the process, the two carriers are ending up sub-optimally utilising their fleet. And this is in the face of the onslaught launched by Emirates, Singapore Airlines, Lufthansa, British Airways etc which are now flying into multidestinations in India unlike their home bases which are only single destination points like Dubai, Singapore, London, Frankfurt etc.

It must be stated here that unlike the foreign carriers, Air India will have no option but to do hop-step and jump-at least till its inducts its new fleet—within India before flying to their final destination. Indian Airlines on the other hand will only specialise in departing from numerous points from within India to the Gulf and South East Asia. This practice will only intensify competition between Air India and Indian Airlines, hurt both and hardly help iun confronting competition head-on-be it the overseas carriers or the Jet-Sahara combine.

Air India and Indian Airlines fly to some common destinations like Bahrain, Dubai, Doha, Muscat, Sharjah, Kuwait, Bangkok, Singapore and Kuala Lumpur.

While Air India is operating Airbus A 310

VERMA AND PAES: The duo were the behind the scenes players who put together the differing positions in the correct perspective for the top brass.

MERGER PLUS: What is surprising is the speed at which Praful Patel has moved forward with the merger. Why this haste is a question most insiders ask.

CRUISING HEIGHTS April 2006

with 201 seats in a two class configuration, Indian Airlines deploys Airbus A 320 with 148 seats in a two class configuration. Take the case of Singapore where Air India has 20 flights a week and Indian Airlines 30 services a week adding up to a total of 50 flights from India. (Air India proposes to replace its A 310s by Air India Express’ Boeing 737-800 from mid-May 2006).

In the case of KL, the two airlines together operate 23 flights a week from India. To Singapore, the loads are not more than 65 per cent. This means out of the 50 flights only 33 statistically speaking achieve loads of 100 per cent leaving the remaining 17 flights with zero load. This may sound improbable. But it goes to show that in the absence of synergy or route rationalisation and in the context of the two airlines fixing their departures within minutes of each other from either KL or Singapore, the state owned carriers are leaving lot of room for other bigger and better carriers to wipe the market clean.

If their flight schedules are properly spaced they will be not only be in a formidable position to meet the competition, but also be able to redeploy the resultant surplus capacity so generated to other crucial sectors that are not being serviced where the argument so far is that they had no aircraft. Maybe we can even reduce the hopstep and jump options and fly direct to more destinations from India.

Anti-merger advocates will surely grab this opportunity to say that why merger when route rationalisation can do it. True. But what about cost cutting when fuel prices is going through the roof. There are a number of administrative cost involved in running an airline. These include awarding of airport contract, catering, office premises, GSA, engineering, cabin and pilot training, etc.

Except for engineering and training, most of the costs incurred abroad can be minimised if it is done by one instead of two entities. Even for training and engineering, such costs can be minimised if the two airlines are brought under one umbrella.

The need for dead flying will also more or less end.

Dead flying for the uninitiated is hopping from one city to another simply to begin a journey. For instance on the ChennaiSingapore route, AI first

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flies in an aircraft from its base at Mumbai with virtually zero load into Chennai before taking passengers on board at Chennai for the onwards trip. It’s the same story on the return leg.

If flight scheduling is one side of the coin, this is the other side. On the medium and long haul routes, the changes are even more dramatic. For instance, most foreign carriers have the hub and spoke arrangement at their home base. A Frankfurt, or London, Singapore or a Dubai is the Hub from where the spokes emanate. In the case of Air India, there is no hub and consequently no spoke either. If a passenger wants to fly from the US or Europe to the hinterland of India, there is no way he can be transported there unless he breaks journey in say Delhi or Mumbai where Air India concentrates its operation and takes another flight by another airline This is far from seamless, a concept that has made global alliance like Star so potent and powerful. Once you on an alliance flight, you are guaranteed a one journeyone check in privilege that makes travel; so, much easier and joyful. As a state owned carrier Indian Airlines can do it.

Yes. But in the present dispensation when both are competing against each other, the seamless connectivity has suffered and the winner has been the competition.

Perhaps the most important question that needs to addressed is the complex integration of the two HRs. Will a pilot in Indian Airlines flying A 320 never get a chance to fly medium / long haul sectors.

A simple hub and spoke based on synergy or rationalised route arrangement between Air India and Indian Airlines may lead to such a situation. This also seems to be endorsed by the aircraft type ordered by the two airlines as part of their latest fleet renewal plan.

A senior airline official said none could undo the aircraft purchase proposal. Hence, future decision on merger will have to focus on this issue carefully and seriously.

While Air India will have both wide body and narrow body, Indian Airlines will have only narrow body. Replying to criticism that Air India Express has gone in for narrow body Boeing 737-800 while also ordering for wide body 777s and 787s, it has been stated that Indian Airlines actually went in for two different types of narrow body Boeing 737-200s topped up with Airbus A 320 in 1987 when the Boeing fleets were still upto 15 years old.

Indian Airlines operated both IA and Alliance Air. It was only when IA’s Boeings became too old did it come under crit-

V THULASIDAS The AI Chairman is a firm pro-mergerwalla.He believes that the Maharaja can only survive if it has a solid backend domestic network to leveage its product.

VISHWAPATI TRIVEDI The Indian Chairman has been non-committal so far.It is likely he will reveal his mind in the coming weeks.

CRUISING HEIGHTS April 2006

icism. A single merged entity will have both types of aircraft for domestic, regional, medium haul and long haul operations.

While MRO and Ground Handling services can be consolidated the conversion of pilots from one aircraft type to another and from narrow to wide body will have to be ensured if the merger has to go through seamlessly. Pilots will have to be graduated and this will have to be guaranteed if flight schedules are not to be disrupted when merger is forced down the throats of the operational staff.

What is important is the operations and flight planning schedules. A single entity can do it far better than competing entities. And in future all fleet planning can be done uniformly. This will also make it easy to become a member of one or the other global alliance. Admission to a global alliance is possible only if the intending member is able to offer value to other members. Global alliance member airlines have recorded load factors of between 74 to 79 per cent on an average. This was five to ten per cent more than what was recorded by non-alliance members like Air India and Indian Airlines.

As per 2004-05 financial results of Air India and Indian Airlines, the combined revenue of the two state owned carriers was Rs 13,040 crore, net profits at Rs 162 crore, fleet size of 111, market share of 30 per cent, passenger carried 13.1 million, world rank of 35, Asia-Pacific rank of 12. Indian Airlines market share dropped from 100 per cent in 1990 to less than 28 per cent in 2005 in domestic operations. Air India’s market share during the same period fell from 24.5 per cent to 19.5 per cent. Interestingly, Indian Airlines market share on international operations over the same period rose from 6 per cent in 1990 (starting with Gulf evacuation following Iraq-Kuwait war) to 10.1 per cent in 2005. Air India lost part of its market share on Gulf operations to Indian Airlines as the latter flew to multiple destinations and hinterland of India.

At the end of it all, it is a question of how to meet the demands of the 37,000 employees of Air India (15,000) and Indian Airlines (22,000) and how to integrate them into accepting one culture. Certainly it is a daunting task. But can the future of the two state owned carriers be left to the employees alone? The airlines belong to the taxpayers of India and to the 13 million passengers (largely Indian and ethnic Indians) who fly them.

Considering that we are signing complex nuclear agreements, the HR issue should be

a walk in the park by that yardstick.

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SPECIAL REPORT

UNEXPLORED INDIA, ENCHANTS VISITORS

OFF THE BEATEN TRACK As the numbers grow,it is clear that tourists no more look to traditional destinations for their leisure as Neeta Lal discovers.What they are looking for is the enchanting and unexplored parts of incredible India !

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CRUISING HEIGHTS April 2006

N

ot long ago, most foreign vacationers in India would root for the formulaic offerings of the Golden Triangle (aka Delhi-Jaipur-Agra) in their bid to discover-to borrow from E.M. Forster-"the real India". After eyeballing the Taj Mahal, they would lift their collective jaws off its marbled floors to check out the Pink City's labyrinthine bazaars for bandhini/bangles/bindis. When their tans would have notched up a few more degrees of brown, they would move to Delhi's Janpath for some more shopping, the Red Fort/Qutub Minar and may be a quirky visit to Old Delhi before heading homewards.

Nagaland, huh? Kerala? Uttaranchal?

Weren't these mere blips on the foreigner's radar that barely registered even as he indulged the Golden Triumvirate?

Well, not anymore. Over the last few years, observe travel trade pundits, the profile of the inbound foreign traveller has undergone a discernible change. From traditional to experimental, conformist to avant garde. Ergo, many of the 3.8 million tourists who kissed Indian shores last year were to keen to check out hitherto unexplored terrain-the mist-swathed hills of Uttaranchal, the dewy backwaters of Kerala, the virgin beaches of Orissa, even the mysteryensconced Seven Sisters of the Northeast.

"More and more foreign travellers to India are opting to move away from routine destinations to check out newer ones," asserts Karan Anand, Director, Cox & Kings, Mumbai, one of India's largest travel companies. According to Anand, there are multifarious reasons for this shift.

Heightened product awareness, for one.

Unlike earlier, the inbound tourist is not relying on just his friendly neighbourhood tour operator for his inputs on India. The Internet has opened up a whole new vista for him. Hence, a few minutes of frenetic Googling will tell him, for instance, places that can offer him white-water rafting. Also companies that will organise it for him. And the best prices.

"Apart from product awareness, there's a pronounced product maturity as well," adds Subhash Goyal, Chairman, Stic Travels, New Delhi, who handled over 10,000 inbound foreign vacationers last year.

"India definitely has better infrastructure now, there's increased connectivity and improved accessibility to remote areas, which have collectively enhanced its appeal for the New Age traveller."

Also, with more and more international carriers flying into India-up from just a handful a few years ago to over 40 now-and a lot of them (BA, Air France, Delta, Emirates, for instance) flying directly to the

INCREDIBLE INDIA A kaliedscope of magical images.

The Internet has opened up a whole new vista for him. A few minutes of frenetic Googling will tell him places that can offer whitewater rafting. Also companies that will organise it and the best prices.

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South (without routing themselves through Delhi/Mumbai, unlike earlier), travel costs for a foreign traveller, too, have whittled down substantively. For example, if the tourist first flies to either Mumbai or Delhi and then takes a return connection to Kerala, his tour cost can ratchet up by Rs 15,000.

With direct connectivity, this is eliminated.

And, of course, who can overlook the exponential growth in India's aviation sector? Especially the LCCs (Low Cost Carriers) and the scheduled carriers segments that are offering breathlessly low airfares.

No wonder, you now have even Air Deccan flying to the Northeast at rock-bottom prices from all across the country.

"Along with an explosion in the aviation sector," elaborates Vineet Mahendru, Marketing Manager, Kuoni Travels, New Delhi, "one also has to factor in the Indian government's proactive role in developing new tourism circuits." Also, the Union government's tourism budget-up from Rs 350 crore in 2004 to Rs 800 crore this year-has played a catalytic role in changing the scenario. Ditto for initiatives such as the Atithi Devo Bhava campaign, which was unleashed worldwide at a cost of Rs 5 crore in 2003, monsoon tourism, rural tourism, ecotourism, medical tourism and Buddhist tourism, all of which collectively upped India's visibility in the world tourism mart.

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The Hotspots Orissa: The iridescent, white-sand beaches of Puri - relatively untouched by the crush of tourists - are a top draw for holidayers. Also, the city's rich architectural heritage, especially the Jagannath Temple, heritage buildings and museums. The 1,100 -sq km Chilika Lake - India's largest saltwater lake -- which stretches along the coastline in three different districts (Puri, Khurda, Ganjam) - is also a vacationer's favorite. The Similipal National Park - one of India's most unique biosphere reserves with exquisite species of flora/fauna and animals is another one of the state's highlights.

Kashmir: Pahalgam, Sonamarg and Srinagar are the state's most-visited sites.

Perhaps because vacationers can't seem to get enough of Srinagar's Dal Lake, Char Chinar and the breathtaking view of the mist-encased Himalayas. Pahalgam and Sonamarg - while guaranteeing great views of the mountains -- are also getting very popular for sports such as skiing and trekking.

Rajasthan: Jaipur, the Pink City -- with its irresistible combo of a rich architectural heritage, great cuisine, elephant/camel

34

rides and a fragrant, earthy flavor is a favorite with all vacationers. Close on the heels is Udaipur - a huge attraction for the glutinous Uday Sagar Lake -- and Ranthambore that promises a glimpse of wildlife at its renowned National Park.

Uttaranchal: Despite what the naysayers may predict, Mussoorie - with its clutch of attractions like Kempty Falls, Gun Hill, Lake Mist and of course the Mall --- is still one of state's top draws. As are Nainital/Almora/Kausani with their scintillating scenery. Also fast climbing the popularity charts is the Char Dham Yatra which takes one to some of India's most revered spiritual centres -- Yamunotri, Gangotri, Kedarnath and Badrinath.

Karnataka: Apart from Bangalore - also known as India's IT crucible -- which offers visitors a world-class cosmopolitan feel with its tony hotels, fine eateries and spas, the state is also renowned for its beaches at Mangalore, Murudeshwar and Gokarna. Teeming with wildlife, Karnataka's national parks at Bandipur, Nagarhole, Kabini and Biliguri are also very popular.

Goa: While many may profess that the

CRUISING HEIGHTS April 2006

`real' Goa lies in the interiors, in its heritage buildings and beautiful state properties, there's no denying that it is really its fantastic beaches that continue to enthrall the holidayers. The sandspreads at Panaji or Panjim, the state capital and Calangute are particular favorites though increasingly, tours to the Spice Yards and Goa's Rubber Plantations too, are becoming very popular.

The North-East: Though the whole region is increasingly getting a thumbs up from foreigners for its rich natural heritage - thickly wooded forests, exotic flora and fauna, exquisite birds and animals -- it is really Nagaland, Assam and Manipur that seem to be drawing the maximum crowds. More so because apart from natural beauty, the state governments here (in synergy with the Center) are also promoting activities like trekking, hiking, rock climbing, rappelling, even golf.

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MAGICAL SCENES from Gwalior (the city Palace), Jaipur (the Hawa Mahal and Jaisalmer (city room)

Small wonder, forex earnings from tourism, too, got a leg up-from Rs 16,429 crore in 2004 to Rs 21,828 crore in December 2005.

The Centre's increased synergy with state governments, too, has helped offer visitors a better and more diversified product. Kerala, J&K and the Northeastern region's sustained efforts in the overseas market, for instance, have helped lure a lot of foreign holidayers. Hence, in 2005-06, the central government enhanced the amount sanctioned to promote 53 tourism projects in the entire Northeast region by a whopping 75 per cent, to Rs 127.53 crore. This has helped showcase the multifaceted product range that India has to offer, by not restricting it to a tried-and-tested circuit. An aggressive marketing pitch by the Kerala government-to promote itself in all new source markets, especially Europe and USA-have borne rich dividends, too. Kerala has, in fact, gone a step ahead to woo tourists from the Far East as well.

Given this buoyant state of affairs, which experts predict will help draw over four million tourists to India in 2006, which are the top few destinations that the foreign traveller will visit in the coming season? A reality check by Cruising Heights: Kashmir: It ain't for nothing that they say a visit to Kashmir can divide your life into two. Before and after Kashmir. The relentless terrorism, and the bloodbaths, notwithstanding, the dazzling snow-capped beauty of the Himalayas and the breathtakingly verdant Kashmir Valley is a holidayer's

in 2005-06, the central government enhanced the amount sanctioned to promote 53 tourism projects in the entire Northeast region by a whopping 75 per cent, to Rs 127.53 crore.

CRUISING HEIGHTS April 2006

dream come true. No wonder goggle-eyed foreigners can still be spotted everywhere, soaking up all that Ghalib's favourite terra firma has to offer-walks amidst riotous gardens and fruit-laden orchards, shikara rides over glutinous, lotus-clogged waters, funfilled pony treks, cable-car rides over heartstoppingly beautiful terrain and syrupy sunsets over the Dal Lake.

From Srinagar, which offers stays in exciting, if somewhat rollicky, houseboats to Gulmarg, the meadow of flowers, to the picture-perfect beauty of Sonamarg and Pahalgam, the valley of shepherds, Kashmir is India's microcosmic Switzerland. And with the state government giving an added impetus to sports, like skiing and golf, in the region, even promoting National Winter Games here, the destination is successfully being pitched as a year-round one.

Orissa: India's astoundingly beautiful eastern state, with a 480-km stretch of a seamless coastline, had been hitherto untapped for its bountiful offerings. A pity, considering it has everything a foreign vacationer can dream of-splendiferous beaches, magnificent nature reserves, amazing architecture, ancient caves and a rich, vibrant culture. Right from Bhubaneswar, famously monikered as the 'Temple City', to Konark's amazingly-crafted Sun Temple and Puri, the state's spiritual core that hosts the worldrenowned Rathyatra, Orissa teems with endless possibilities.

The state is also a nature lover's paradise, with the Similipal National Reserve Forest

35

BACKWATER PARADISE A glide along the Kerala backwaters is like a scene from heaven! housing 1,076 species of plants, 231 types of birds, 29 kinds of reptiles and 87 varieties of orchids. The swamps of Bhitarkanika, world-renowned for the annual visit of the endangered Olive Ridley turtles from November to April, are also one of the largest tracts of estuarine forests in the world that spout rare varieties of mangrove plants. Close to Balasore, Chandipur has one of the world's most amazing beaches with an unusual ebb and flow of water that sucks up the sea almost five kilometres away from the beach! This gives visitors the unexpected pleasure of literally walking into the sea! Chandipur's dun-coloured sands, whistling casuarinas and shimmering waters complete the picture-perfect idyll‌.

Uttaranchal: The bewitching topography of the region, carpeted with fragrant flowers, green meadows and the Himalayan mountains, is increasingly becoming a top draw amongst foreign travellers. The mesmerising ghats of Haridwar/Rishikesh and Bageshwar, the spiritual centre at the confluence of Gomti and Saryu rivers are believed to liberate one from the eternal bondage of birth and death. Small wonder, package tours for the Char Dham Yatra, which takes visitors to Gangotri,

36

Char Dham Yatra, which takes visitors to Gangotri, Yamunotri, Kedranath and Badrinath, are proving to be very popular amongst the foreign visitors.

CRUISING HEIGHTS April 2006

Yamunotri, Kedranath and Badrinath, are proving to be very popular amongst the foreign visitors.

The region is also home to popular hill stations like Ranikhet, Nainital and Mussoorie, which offer glittering views of the Himalayan snow ranges and the Doon Valley.

Uttaranchal also boasts of world-famous national parks-the Rajaji National Park, home to 315 avifauna species, 23 species of animals and the Asian Elephant and the Corbett National Park, one of the finest habitats of the tiger in the world. Over 50 mammals, 580 types of birds and 25 reptile species have been recorded at Jim Corbett park, which is also home to predators like the tiger, the leopard and the wild dogs, antelopes, nilgai, ghoral, hog deer, sambhar, chital, barking deer, the rhesus monkey and black-faced langur.

To popularise Uttaranchal as a sports lover's paradise, the state government is aggressively promoting skiing at Auli, sited amidst the snow-capped Garhwal hills along a three-kilometre-long slope flanked by elegant deodar trees. Cable-car rides, trekking, nature trails complete the list of exciting must-do activities. In addition, the region's other scenic spots-Lansdowne,

Chamba, Pauri, Khirsu, Binsar, Almora, Pithoragarh and Munsyari-ensure that a tourist takes back unforgettable memories.

Rajasthan: Breathtaking forts and palaces, glittering lakes, nature reserves, national parks, temples, heritage properties, desert safaris‌ How can Rajasthan not be the quintessential top choice for a foreign tourist? The state is also synonymous with fairs and festivals. For, what can match the effervescence and vigour of the world-famous Pushkar Fair, held next to a picturesque lake encircled by hills on three sides and sand dunes on the fourth? The region is also home to 400 temples dedicated to Lord Brahma and is a perfect crucible for the annual religious and cattle fair, held during October-November.

Rajasthan's other famous hot spotsJaipur, Udaipur, Dungarpur, Jaisalmer, Barmer, Mt Abu-offer exciting travel possibilities. The Sariska Tiger Reserve is also a popular destination that offers a rare mingling of natural history with a richly imbued historical past. This dry, deciduous reserve, located in the undulating plateaus and wide valleys of the Aravali hills, is home to the 10th century Neeklanth temple, medieval Kankwari fort and rims of 32 Hindu temples of the sixth to 13th century,

The success of Kerala tourism is often held as an example for other states to emulate. And why not? The state has magically transformed itself from an unknown backwater into one of India's most alluring destinations.

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which are of archaeological importance.

Goa: Variously known as 'Pearl of the Orient' and a 'Tourist Paradise', Goa has been a major destination on the itinerary of international vacationers since the advent of the Hippies in the Sixties. Besides abundant natural beauty, travellers love Goa's infectious joie de vivre and the laidback, warm and friendly nature of the Goans.

Located on the Konkan coastal belt, the picturesque beauty of Goa, and the architectural splendour of its temples, churches and old houses, have made it a firm favourite with travellers around the world. But there's more to Goa than the surf, sand and the sea.

It has a unique soul enriched with history, a vibrant culture and some of the prettiest natural scenery that India has to offer. Much of the real Goa in fact lies in the interiors, sheltered in its heritage buildings and the hinterland, hidden away from its flamboyant coast.

Interestingly, legends from Hindu mythology credit Lord Parshuram, an incarnation of Lord Vishnu, with the creation of Goa. Over the centuries, various dynasties have ruled Goa-the Rashtrakutas, Kadambas, Silaharas, Chalukyas, Bahamani Muslims and, most famously, the Portuguese. Goa was liberated by the Indian Army from Portuguese colonisation in 1961 and became a Union Territory along with the enclaves of Daman and Diu. Hence, having been a rich melting point of races, religions and cultures of the East and the West over the centuries, today's Goa has a richly textured and distinct character.

Blessed with the glittering Terekhol, or Tiracol, Mandovi, Zuari, Chapora, Sal and Talpona rivers that tumble through the state, they also form the inland waterways to imbue Goa with beauty and romance. Along their way to the coast, these waterways form estuaries, creeks and bays, breaking the sandy, palm-fringed coastline, behind which lie the fishing villages among the coconut groves. Panaji (Panjim) is the state capital located on the banks of the Mandovi river and Vasco, Margao, Mapusa and Ponda are the other major towns. The vast green expanse of the Sahyadri mountain range adds its own brand of charm to the land.

Goa's sea and rivers abound in seafoodprawns, mackerels, sardines, crabs and lobsters, freshly plucked from the waters-form the staple of Goan cuisine. Small wonder, fabulous Goan cuisine melds different influences-Portuguese, French, English and Indian-with remarkable aplomb.

Kerala: The success of Kerala tourism is often held as an example for other states to emulate. And why not? The state has magically transformed itself from an unknown backwater into one of India's most alluring destinations. Its rich mosaic of inviting beaches, rolling hills, waterfalls, splendorous architecture, river cruises, spa pack-

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ages and Ayurvedic treatments have gone down well with the international traveller.

And, pray, who can resist the lure of attractions like the Kovalam beach, Ananthpura Lake Temple, Anjaroon Temple, the Allapuzha Krishna Temple, Anurkkara Dam and Aquatown, to name a few.

No wonder the state has gleaned a cache of tourism awards from across the globe.

Recently, the state was chosen by the World Tourism and Trade Council (WTTC) as one of the 12 finalists for the Tourism for Tomorrow Awards for Best Practice in Tourism around the world. Apparently, WTTC had received 100 applications from 35 countries for the coveted honour.

But what really spikes the adrenaline of the foreign traveller, more than the raft of Kerala's cosmopolitan offerings, is its therapeutic Ayurvedic treatments, fabulous spas and home-stays with the local people that initiate the traveller into the state's fascinating way of life. Although the region is dotted with a slew of star-rated hotels, its houseboats and heritage homes are the topmost draw amongst tourists. Another big attraction for a vacationer in Kerala is its cuisine-a fragrant blend of spices, rich aromas, fresh vegetables and glistening sea produce. Pure manna!

Karnataka: This southern Indian state has slowly been inching its way up the tourism barometer for its wide spectrum of offerings-a year-round temperate climate, a bevy of stay options ranging from seven-star to no-star and great cuisine. Natural beauty, too, is abundant-undulating hills, exciting wildlife, bird sanctuaries, secluded beaches, beautifully-crafted temples, museums and waterfalls that crash from vertiginous heights like milky foam (Hogenakal/Jog) into deep gorges, Karnataka has it all.

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GUESS: A classic monument from Karnataka? Take a guess?

Who would have thought a few years ago that the insurgency-ridden Northeastern states, pockmarked still with a bloody battle between the terrorists and the government, would one day become a top lure for a foreign tourist to India?

CRUISING HEIGHTS April 2006

Starting with its capital, Bangalore-popularly called India's IT hub-Karnataka offers exciting holiday options: stays in the best of five-star hotels, gourmet cuisine and fabulous shopping. The state also offers quick getaways to de-stress at resorts and lodges that have mushroomed across the state-the famous Kabini River Lodge, for instance.

The state is also renowned for its wildlife at Bandipur, Bheemeshwari and Kabini. And beaches? You bet. Mangalore, Mundeshwar, Gokarna, Manawantha, Karwar and Murudeshwar have some of the most splendid sand-spreads on earth.

The Northeast: Who would have thought a few years ago that the insurgency-ridden Northeastern states, pockmarked still with a bloody battle between the terrorists and the government, would one day become a top lure for a foreign tourist to India? Well, life's cyclic nature-and natural justice-has slowly put the pretty Seven Sisters-Nagaland, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Tripura, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh and Manipur-on the tourism front burner in the new millennium. What's definitely helped things, of course, is the state governments' fortuitous synergy with the Centre to develop good infrastructure, improve road/air/rail access and promote the region aggressively in the overseas markets. The results are evident.

Over five lakh tourists are projected to visit the region this year, up from about threeand-a-half lakh last year.

What's the region's magic tourism mantra? Well, natural beauty, for one. The region's abundant natural beauty, bountiful flora and fauna, exotic wildlife, fascinating riverine life, beaches, architecture, a rich and vibrant culture and flavourful cuisine coupled with a rapidly improving infra„ structure have spelt sure-fire success!

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God’s Own Country Shines THE CURRENT tourism season that began in November is being billed as the best ever in the state by industry experts. In the coming months, the state tourism ministry is organising a series of road shows to promote health tourism in the rainy season beginning in June.

The tourism season in Kerala usually begins in November and carries on till February. Then there is a break till June. Industry insiders say, on an average, there has been a growth of 15 percent in arrivals over 2004. Once known as the Venice of the East, Alappuzha appears to

Swagat Seva

Halwara airport gets green signal THE PMO has given, in principle, approval for setting up a Greenfields International Airport at Halwara Air Force base, near Ludhiana. Sources revealed that the state government would be required to provide the land and connectivity to the airport, which would be based on the Pune model. Pune airfield has been developed from the defence establishment where passenger and cargo facilities were made later by the civil administration. The Airport Authority of India (AAI) would be taking up the construction of the project, which includes constructing a civil terminal and cargo facilities, besides extending the runway.

SHORT & SNAPPY

Island shine

THE MINISTRY of Tourism and Civil Aviation have introduced a new concept-Swagat Seva-under the aegis of Akbar Travels of India, to take care of all the requirements of passengers arriving in and leaving Chennai. Swagat Seva, which took off in Thiruvananthapuram, had been introduced in Chennai for the first time, and Chennai is the first metropolitan city to introduce this new concept.

The concept would help meet all requirements, including flight tickets, special handling services to corporate executives, hotel booking, car rental arrangement, providing various facilities for the convenience of differently abled and aged passengers, medical assistance, instant travel insurance, escorting and helping children, and helping tourists plan longer tours. The Airport Authority of India has approved Swagat Seva for Akbar Travels after a stringent procedure and tender process. The new scheme would be providing these services at a cost of Rs 500 each and could be availed of from Swagat Seva counters at the international and domestic airports. The counter would be open round the clock.

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have regained its lost glory through the houseboat industry. In the last season there were around 250 houseboats and now the figure is touching 300. Of this, 40 per cent have air-conditioned rooms. Kovalam is another favourite tourist location that has grown tremendously in the last few years. The tourism industry in the state employs 8,00,000 people and on an average Rs 50 crore is invested in it every year. A significant change has been the increasing number of chartered flights from countries like Russia and Europe.

THE ANDAMAN AND NICOBAR islands are set to become a tourism hub, with the Centre planning to open ten more islands for visitors as well as coming up with an international airport there. There are 572 islands, but only seven islands, having good resorts and communication facilities, are open to the tourists now. The islands have about 90 per cent of forest cover with many national parks and wildlife sanctuaries. Tourism is a major source of income for the islands. The islands witness an annual turnover of over one lakh visitors, including about 5,000 foreign tourists.

Old is gold A DECADE ago, the future blacked out for many pilots when fledgling private airlines landed to never take off again. But with pilots in demand now, these middle-aged people have quit their jobs to sit for CPL exams once again, though they wonder how long this boom will last. It must be noted here that a CPL has to be renewed every two years and exams are held every three months. The booming aviation sector has also

The CISF’s new eyes THE CENTRAL Industrial Security Force (CISF), responsible for manning airport security, has roped in taxi drivers, loaders to act as spotters to identify suspicious people. Bringing them together to make them partners in the ‘fight against terror’, CISF gave them tips on how to identify suspicious people. All these drivers and loaders have been instructed to report any suspicious person or activity immediately to the CISF or the police. From giving them basic information on how to profile suspicious people on the basis of the clothes to telling them to stick to their parking spaces and not leave their vehicle unattended, the idea behind the exercise, CISF said, was to give taxi drivers a little lesson in common sense and courtesy. Apart from getting taxi drivers to remain on alert for potential terrorists, CISF officials also gave them some tips about security of women.

In yet another move, CISF has begun psycho-profiling all passengers to be able to correctly pin down potential hijackers, terrorists, gangsters, smugglers and drug-peddlers. Lessons in psycho-profiling, a method of examining psychological behaviour patterns by way of observation and questioning, were imparted to

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Aviation academy in Pune would get 250 hours of flying experience, and receive ground training in Pune. On completion of training, the pilots would obtain the commercial pilot licence to fly two-engine small aircraft. The academy would also provide training with the help of licensed Canadian instructors in the areas of customer service, such as ground handling, security, reservations, ticketing and airport management. The training would be of international standards with emphasis on on-the-job training.

fuelled the hopes of pilots over 60. With DGCA relaxing the retirement age of pilots to 65 many are waiting to take to the skies, once again. At AI, 50 such pilots are undergoing training.

Home-class hospitality FOLLOWING MALAYSIA, Germany, Britain, the tourism department in India is popularising the concept of home-stays.

While around 150 apartments from Delhi have enrolled with the tourism department for the purpose of providing home-stays, Mumbaikars have enrolled around 100 apartments till now. The concept of homestays entails staying with a family as their guest, being part of their daily lives and learning about their culture. The states where the idea is gaining acc-eptance are Karnataka, Goa and Kerala.

Sikkim has also introduced the concept in some of its villages.

PATA News PATA releases India Outbound report: The Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) recently released two reports: India Outbound Tourism - A PATA

Snapshot, and Total Tourism Russia. The 16-page India report details how quickly Indian outbound is growing, the destinations Indians prefer, the expected percentage growth rate in outbound travel over the next two years, and the reasons behind the boom.

Passion for overseas destinations, shopping and high per capita expenditure is a characteristic of the Indian traveller. Seven million Indians travel abroad each year, with the total growing at 10.5 per cent per year since 2001. PATA’s report shows that Singapore, Thailand and China receive the most Indians, but Sri Lanka is the fastest growing, averaging 35 per cent annual growth since 2000. Persistent strong economic growth, new airports in urban heartlands and air liberalisation continue to drive the Indian outbound boom.

PATA awards: PATA has announced the winners of the 2006 PATA Gold Awards. The winners will receive their awards during the 55th PATA Annual Conference in Pattaya, Thailand, April 23-27, 2006. The Environmental award went to Kerala Tourism, India, for its ‘Zero Waste Kovalam’ project, which aims to tackle the waste issue in the fishing village and beach destination of Kovalam by changing the way the community uses materials and resources.

the CISF early this year by officials of the Israel national airline El Al, one of the most security-conscious airlines in the world which has had this system for years and by officials of Indian intelligence agencies. The profiling exercise, implemented recently at the Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai, Kolkata, Hyderabad and Bangalore airports, apart from those in the Northeast, involves five steps. First is to look for three signs common to terrorists and other trouble-makers: (a) the passenger looks very focussed as he waits at the airport terminal or in the queue; (B) he sits in a corner at the terminal and appears keen to minimise visibility; and (c) he does not talk to other passengers but maintains a safe distance always. Anyone showing these signs will now be subjected to rigorous frisking, and if this does not satisfy the security personnel, they will, then, pose a series of questions to the passenger. El Al and the intelligence agencies have given a list of these questions to them. If satisfactory answers to these are not received, the passenger will be strip-searched the way George Fernandes was in the US post 9/11. Images of the passenger captured by CCTVs, too, would be observed to get an accurate picture.

CRUISING HEIGHTS April 2006

Indian ‘Roots’ THE MINISTRY of overseas Indian affairs’ (MOIA) effort to help persons of Indian origin (PIOs) abroad trace their antecedents in the land of their forefathers has started bearing fruit with the roots of eight people being traced in the district of Ballia in Uttar Pradesh.

The pilot project started by the ministry, called ‘Tracing the Roots’, is under way in the districts of Ballia and Bhojpur in Bihar. The Uttar Pradesh government has already created an archival database of 10,000 people who had migrated to different parts of the world in the 19th and early 20th centuries.

Illustrations by Zahid Ali

HEMANT H. SHAH, Managing Director of Cubex India, a Canada-based company and an NRI, in a joint venture, plans to invest $1 million, to set up an aviation academy in India to train pilots, maintenance engineers and technicians to meet shortage of skilled personnel in India’s expanding aviation industry. The academy would conduct short-term courses approved by the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) and Transport Canada to train pilots and ground staff. The pilots would be trained for six months in Winnipeg, Canada, where they

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SPECIAL REPORT

Ambika Soni in

Australia

T

OURISM MINISTER Ambika Soni was in Australia last month during the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne.

She used the opportunity to meet agents and top officials Down Under to promote Indian Tourism. A report.

“Bilateral interaction between the tourism business leaders presents a great opportunity for fast-tracking of tourism growth between India and Australia” declared Smt. Ms. Ambika Soni, Minister of Tourism and Culture at the ‘India-Australia Tourism Business Forum’ held in Melbourne on March 24. With the increasing interest in travel and investment between the two countries, the opportunities are immense, the Minister added.

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With the increasing interest in travel and investment between the two countries, the opportunities are immense.

CRUISING HEIGHTS April 2006

Ambika Soni’s visit Down Under was a great success by all accounts.

A special report.

The Forum represents implementation of the first stage of a joint Action Plan that was announced by Indian and Australian Tourism Ministers during the visit of the Australian Tourism Minister to Delhi in September last year.

A high level delegation, comprising of some of the India’s leading travel industry players, led by the Minister of Tourism and Culture was in Australia at the invitation of Australian Minister for Small Business and Tourism, Mrs Fran Bailey.

“Minister Soni’s visit to Australia represents the importance both countries are placing on building relationships to further boost the tourism flows between Australia and India”, Mrs. Fran Bailey said.

Minister Fran Bailey and Minister Soni

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also launched the National Chapter of Travel Tourism & Hospitality of the Australia India Business Council as a step in further enhancing participation and cooperation between the stakeholders in the Tourism Industry in the two countries.

The Minister also met a number of leading media representatives and Industry leaders and briefed them on the buoyant mood of Indian economy and the incredible opportunities for travel - be it for business, leisure, conferences or for rejuvenation of mind, body and soul. Tourism is about experiences and India’s experience promises to be unforgettable, the Minister quipped.

Later in Sydney,Ms Soni said : “In the last three years tourism arrivals from Aus-

HELLO AUSTRALIA: A collage of images from Ambika Soni’s Australia trip!

In the last three years tourism arrivals from Australia to India have almost doubled to a record setting figure of 100,000.

CRUISING HEIGHTS April 2006

tralia to India have almost doubled to a record setting figure of 100,000. It’s a fabulous achievement”, Ms Soni was speaking at a dinner reception on board a Sydney show boat cruise. She stated that the target was to double this in the next three years and make India the fastest growing destination in the Australian market.

The Minister was addressing more than 250 leading tour operators, travel agents and media including prominent travel wholesalers. Mr Amitabh Kant, Joint Secretary (Tourism), Mr Atul Chaturvedi, Director, Government of India, Ministry of Tourism, Mr E. K. Bharat Bhushan, Principal Secretary, Kerala Tourism, Mr Shanker Dhar, Regional Director Australasia, India Tourism, Sydney and a number of delegates accompanied the Minister. Madam Soni said that there was a growing interest in and awareness about India in Australia and this was a very welcome trend.

She was confident that 2006 would be another record year for India in the Australian market. During her presentation, Minister elucidated on the growth and expansion of India Tourism, which had emerged as the fastest growing global destination and emphasized on new products such as rural, medical and adventure tourism. Given the tourism resources India has, the Minister observed that the “sky is the limit” when looking at arrivals from Australia. The Minister said that “shortcomings were being attended to in order to facilitate travellers”. A main goal is to make “tourism affordable and accessible to all categories of travellers”.

In her address, the Minister stressed the need for continued public/private partnerships to ensure that India remains the fastest growing destination in the world.She believed that the lead up to the Commonwealth Games in New Delhi in 2010 will see even more partnerships and ensure even greater exposure for India’s burgeoning tourism sector.

Ms Soni also held a detailed briefing with a select group of travel wholesalers packaging India and a series of one-onone media interviews with well-known travel trade and consumer travel journalists. In addressing core issues raised by both groups, the Minister said that both the Central and State governments are dedicated to overcoming infrastructural difficulties. For instance, in the short term, hoteliers are immediately adding more rooms wherever possible. A number of major hotel projects are also in the pipeline, she said. The challenge for India Tourism was to create additional 100,000 hotel rooms in the country before the

2010 Commonwealth Games.

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SNIPPETS

DECCAN KHABAR Deccan’s first hangar in Chennai: The foundation stone for the first Air Deccan owned hangar was laid today at the Chennai Airport.

This world-class hangar facility would provide basic and medium- level maintenance checks. To ensure that this facility BHOOMIPUJA: Capt Gopinath at is in line with internathe ground breaking ceremony! tional standards, a team of engineers at Air Deccan has visited various facilities over the globe. The hangar is expected to be ready for operation in about 8-12 months.Attending the Bhoomi Puja Capt Gopinath commented “This would be just the beginning of the various investments Air Deccan plans to make in building up its infrastructure. Currently the ATR checks and maintenance are carried out at a leased hangar in Hosur and major checks and maintenance on the Airbus are carried out at overseas facilities. The Hangar facility would not only strengthen the engineering infrastructure but also reduce the maintenance expenses and ensure timely availability of hangar space. And it would also form an imperative for reducing the downtime of the aircraft and increase on time performance.

Rajahmundry Tuticorin on map: The airline has also launched flights from Hyderabad to Rajahmundry. Rajahmundry which has been unconnected by air for the last few years has been brought into the Indian Aviation Map by Air Deccan. Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Dr Y.S Rajasekhara Reddy traveled on the inaugural flight. The local residents of Rajahmundry received the first flight with a lot of enthusiasm and emotion. For the Tuticorin sector Dhanushkodi Athithan, MP and Rajasekhara Reddy and Gopi on the first flight to Rajhmundry

S Krishanswamy, Chief -Corporate Planning, Air Deccan were present at the launch function.

Ten short of a century!

EMIRATES’ IS JUST 10 short of a 100 aircraft fleet! It is expected to enter into triple digits for the very first time by end of this year. The airline recently received its ninetieth aircraft-a 777-300ER.Fitted to Emirates’ specifications, the brand new aircraft will add to the airline’s 11 existing Boeing 777-300ERs. Emirates’ fleet of Boeing 777-300ERs will escalate to 54 aircraft by 2014, making it the single largest aircraft type in the airline’s rapidly expanding fleet.

A substantial portion of Emirates’ future Boeing 777-300ERs was ordered at the recently concluded Dubai Air Show. During the five-day exhibition, Emirates placed the largest-ever order for Boeing 777 aircraft, valued at US$ 9.7 billion. This order comprises 24 Boeing 777-300ERs and 10 Boeing 777-200LR Worldliners - made famous for breaking the world distance record for a commercial airliner. Boasting one of the youngest and most technologically advanced fleet in the skies, Emirates’ fleet currently consists of 90 Boeing and Airbus aircraft, including 29 Airbus A330-200s, 12 Boeing 777-300ERs, 12 Boeing 777-300s, nine Boeing 777-200s, 10 Airbus A340-500s, eight A340-300s, one A310, six Boeing 747 freighters and three Airbus A310 freighters.

Emirates also have over 100 aircraft, including 45 Airbus A380 and 60 Boeing 777 worth over US$ 33 billion, pending delivery.

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CRUISING HEIGHTS April 2006

KENYA, HOME of Safaris, made a progressive step forward in promoting and enhancing its visibility in the Indian outbound tourism market. Taking the initiative is the Kenya Tourist Board, which recently announced ‘Seven Safari Attractions’ as a holistic and effective campaign to lure Indians at a specially concluded roadshow.

The roadshow comprised of a Kenya delegation of 9 large private tour companies exchanging views, ideas and business with more than 200 Indian travel companies.

India is the largest tourism revenue generator for Kenya from Asia, ahead of even China. The country witnessed the highest ever Indian arrivals of 32,030, a surge of over 31% from the previous year. The destination is growing in its popularity and the tourist board anticipates an over 35% growth from the current year from India.

Heading the delegation Dr Ongong’a Achieng, Managing Director, Kenya Tourist Board, said “In Asia, India would be the next big thing for Kenya. Our long standing history and cultural ties would provide us an edge to customise our products and strategies effectively in

Airbus bookings open: Air Deccan has announced the opening of bookings on all its Airbus flights for travel between July 1, 2006 and August 31, 2006. The Airbus sectors are: Ahmedabad, Baghdogra, Bangalore, Chennai, Cochin, Coimbatore, Delhi, Goa, Guwahati, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Mumbai, Nagpur, Port Blair, Pune, Srinagar, Trivandrum.

Number three on the list: The Bangalore headquartered LCC has moved up to the third slot in terms of market share. In just two and a half years into operations, Air Deccan has nearly doubled its market share from 7 percent to about 13.6 percent as of this January. Air Deccan at present flies to 53 destinations plying 215 flights a day, making it the airline with the largest network in the country. Besides being the only airline connecting some sectors such as Belgaum, Dehradun, Gwalior, Hubli, Jabalpur, Kanpur, Kolhapur, Nasik and Vijayawada.

Till date Air Deccan has flown over 3.7 million passengers.

Arriving in God’s own country: The carrier also announced its new base at Thiruvananthapuram this month. This will be the seventh base for Air Deccan after Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Chennai. A brand new Airbus A 320 that arrived on April three will be based in the Kerala capital. Thiruvananthapuram, the Southern most city of Kerala well known for its fabulous beaches, is already connected by Air Deccan to Chennai and Bangalore with daily flights.

The other cities in Kerala connected by Air Deccan are Cochin and Calicut. With Thiruvanathapuram becoming a major base, Air Deccan has announced the start of new Airbus sectors from here to Delhi via Chennai and to Mumbai via Cochin. These flights will begin operations on April 23.

Another award for Kingfisher KINGFISHER AIRLINES has won the “Best New Domestic Airline for Excellent Services and Cuisine” by the Pacific Area Travel Writers Association, at ITB Berlin. The award was received by A K Ravi Nedungadi, UB President and Group CFO, the holding company of Kingfisher Airlines, at a glittering ceremony attended by luminaries from the global travel trade industry. Speaking with media persons soon after the awards ceremony, a visibly elated Mr. Nedungadi commented, “This is the third international award that Kingfisher Airlines has bagged in as many months! It is gratifying to see that our approach of providing our guests with a delightful and unique flying experience has been recognized not just once, but twice and thrice over. In all the accolades received so far, service excellence has been the single unifying theme that resonates through the selection criteria that led to Kingfisher Airlines being chosen as a winner, hands down. Being recognised at a global forum like ITB Berlin is an honour and I would like to thank our valued guests who chose to fly Kingfisher Airlines”.

Royal Garden opens booking office

‘Seven Safaris’ to benchmark Kenya the market. The budget for the Indian market has already been doubled, indicating our seriousness and commitment to the market. The natural game reserves in Kenya are a delight for tourist from world-over, the luxury tented accommodation and the thought of being so close to nature, would surely be a memorable experience for

visiting Indians. We are also making efforts to market beach tourism in the Indian market.”

The “Seven Safari” attraction will comprise of wildlife, beach, adventure, cultural, sport, scenic and specialist safaris, which will unfold its own distinct facets, myriad experience and attraction’s for the Indian visitors to indulge and enjoy.

KENSINGTON’S LEADING five-star hotel, the Royal Garden is one of London’s most prestigious venues. Located on Kensington High Street, the hotel boasts a panoramic view of the capital’s skyline and with Kensington Palace just moments away, guests will find themselves in truly imperial surroundings. There is a special introductory offer valid up to June 30 for the Indian market.A stay at the Royal Garden Hotel places ‘shopaholics’ in the perfect spot, with a combination of local high street favourites and fashionable boutiques on the doorstep, as well as world famous stores Harrods and Harvey Nichols in nearby Knightsbridge.With stunning views over Kensington Palace towards the London skyline, the hotel offers a diversity of bedrooms and suites. Situated in London’s West End, Kensington has close proximity to Olympia, Earls Court Exhibition Centres, Gatwick and Heathrow Airports. With only a 2 minute walk from High Street Kensington Tube Station, there is easy access to the city.

CRUISING HEIGHTS April 2006

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SNIPPETS

NATIONAL TOURISM AWARDS PRESENTED PRESENTING THE National Tourism Awards for outstanding performance for the year 2004-05 in various sectors of tourism and travel at a glittering function on March 17, Ambika Soni, Minister for Tourism and Culture said that the Government had recently taken number of initiatives to ensure active participation of private sector in tourism promotion which includes scheme for infrastructure creation also.

She said Government is committed to provide all possible support to the travel and tourism industry as tourism is a high priority item on the agenda of the Government. Ms. Soni also awarded 24 students for the contest ‘What tourism Means to Me’ organized by the Ministry on World Tourism Day. Kerala has bagged Best Performing Tourism State Award for outstanding achievements in the area of Tourism. It has also won

Kerala Bags 6 Awards including Best Tourism State Award: Kerala has bagged six of the national tourism awards including the Performing Tourism State award for outstanding achievements in the area of tourism and the maintained Tourism Friendly Monuments award for Sakthan Thampuran Palace, Kochi, Best Eco friendly resort and Best Heritage Classic for Coconut Lagoon, Kumarakom, Best three-star resort for Brunton Boatyard, Kochi, Special awards for Invis’ Ayurveda The Mantra of Niramaya and Tourism India’s Kerala tourism Handbook. Mr. KC Venugopal, Kerala minister for tourism received the awards from the Union Minister. for Tourism, Government of India. Mr. EK Bharat Bhushan IAS, Principal Secretary, Kerala Tourism was also present National Tourism Award for Le Passage to India: Le Passage

The Minister for Tourism and Culture Ms. Ambika Soni presenting National Tourism Awards for Outstanding Performance in various areas of Tourism, in New Delhi on March 17, 2006 best maintained tourism friendly monuments award for Sakthan Thampuran Palace, Kochi.

Konaseema Tourism Project of Andhra Pradesh has been declared best tourism project in the country while Assam Bengal Navigation Project begged the award for most innovative tourism project. Beach Protection Council of Orissa was declared the best NGO working for the promotion of Tourism.

In the category of hotels, Oberoi Amarvilla, Agra and Taj Residency, Bangalore were declared the best hotels while The Marriot, Delhi got the prize for best Eco-Friendly Hotel and Coconut Lagoon, Kumarakom - Kerala won the best Eco-Friendly Resort.

On the occasion launching Incredible India Visa Great Breaks programme in collaboration with Visa International to promote India as preferred travel destination, Ms. Soni said that the programme is an excellent example of private sector partnership for the promotion of tourism. Briefing guests about the highlights of the programme, Country Manager South Asia, Santanu Mukherjee said that the programme had an immediate audience of over 277 million visa cardholders in the Asia Pacific region and 1.3 billion cardholders across the world. The programme would provide tourists with direct access to merchants thereby helping them to plan their visit more effectively.

Ms. Ambika Soni also release TV commercials prepared by the Ministry on North East, Jammu & Kashmir, Buddhist Circuit and Andaman & Nicobar.

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to India tours and travels was ranked second position in category one and given the prestigious National Tourism Award for the year 2004-2005. The award was jointly received by Mr. G Naqshband, Chairman Emeritus and Mr. Arjun Sharma, Managing Director of the company.This achievement is very significant to the industry because Le Passage to India is only three and a half years old and has recorded an unprecedented 100 per cent growth in its turnover in the year 2004-2005 over the previous year.

The Le passage team with the trophy!

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Appointments ANKUR BHATIA has been elected as the new Chairman of CII Delhi State Council, for the year 2006 - 07, states a release from CII. He takes over from Mr A K Kaul, Managing Director and CE0 of Horizon Industrial Products Pvt. Ltd. Bhatia is the Executive Director of the consortia of the Bird Group of Companies.Mr Kartik Bharat Ram has been elected as the Vice Chairman, CII Delhi State Council for the year 2006 -07; he takes over from Ankur. He is the Vice President (IT &HR) of SRF Ltd.

SUDHIR M. PAL has joined as Corporate Executive Chef bas~d in Mumbai.Sudhir has done his Diploma in Hotel Management, Catering and Applied Nutrition from IHM, Mumbai. Sudhir has 21 years of diverse experience in the hospitality industry. His last assignment was with The Orchid, Mumbai from 1997 till 2005 as their Executive Chef. Prior to that he was with the Ambassador’s Sky Chef, leela Kempinski and Oberoi Towers, all in Mumbai. He has worked in the Middle East at the Dubai Metropolitan - Dubai and with Sahara Hotel Riyadh K.S.A. He also had a short stint with a luxury Cruise liner ‘RCCl’ in Miami. During his tenure in the Middle East, Sudhir was awarded a bronze medal and a certificate of merit in the Salon Culinaire Competition. He has also actively contributed articles to various newspapers and magazines.

Gulf Air’s New Simulator Centre CROWN PRINCE of the Kingdom of Bahrain and Commander-inChief of Bahrain Defence Force Shaikh Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa innagurated the Gulf Air Flight Simulator Centre located at Gulf Air’s headquarters in Muharraq.The BD3.5 million, state-ofthe-art facility, incorporating the latest technologies, modern infrastructure and a unique design, is all set for the grand opening after months of planning and construction.” The simulator centre will be a great asset to Gulf Air and to the Kingdom of Bahrain,” says Gulf Air President and Chief Executive James Hogan. “We are delighted and honoured that the Crown Prince has consented to open the centre. We appreciate his support and that of the Kingdom of Bahrain to Gulf Air’s development plans and growth.”

American Airlines Launches the DEL EXPRESS AMERICAN AIRLINES, the world’s largest airline has announced the launch of the Del Express Ticket Service exclusively for its passengers flying from India. With the launch of this new service, passengers can now make reservations, purchase tickets, make changes, book AAdvantage awards and process many other transactions through just a single telephone call to American Airlines toll free number 1800-180-7300.

The new service is designed to offer greater convenience and saving of valuable time to passengers of American Airlines. Speaking on the launch, Ms. Nisha Maharaj, Regional Manager - Indian Subcontinent, American Airlines, said,” American Airlines is renowned for launching customer friendly initiatives that contribute towards making our customers’ lives simpler and hassle free. The launch of Del Express Ticket service is a step towards making us more accessible to our customers and offering them an opportunity to make their reservations through the simple process without wastage of any time or effort

ATOAI elections THE OFFICE bearers of the Adventure Tour Operators Association of India (ATOAI) have been re-elected for a second term from 2006 to 2008 at the recently held ATOAI elections in Delhi. The ATOAI is a national body comprising 150 tour operators promoting Adventure and Eco Tourism in India.

Mr. Ajeet Bajaj- Managing Director, Snow Leopard Adventures Pvt. Ltd, has been re-elected as the President while Mr. Mandip Singh SoinFounder and president, IBEX Expeditions Pvt. Ltd. has been re-elected as Vice-President of the association. Mr. Ravi Kalra- Managing Director, Travel Inn Holidays Pvt. Ltd. and Mr. Tejbir Singh Anand- Director, Holiday Moods Adventure Pvt. Ltd. have been also re-elected as Secretary and Treasurer respectively.

The ATOAI office bearers in their second term aim to take the association to new heights and to get international recognition. The office bearers will also try to resolve issues that have been plaguing adventure tourism in the country. To ensure wider participation from its members, the association aims to open associate chapters in various states, especially the Himalayan States.

For the next two years, the focus will be on major industry issues such as having a clean environment, quality control, trained adventure guides, educational seminars for training of outdoor staff in First Aid/ CPR etc.

The association also plans to make its website more interactive and member friendly.

The new team also announced a “Youth Cross-cultural Mountain Conservation Meet” that is being organised with assistance from HET-Japan. The event, to be held for the first time in India, is to be held in “The Valley of Flowers- Uttaranchal” in August, 2006.

CRUISING HEIGHTS April 2006

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Visiting cricketers will no more complain about the torture of criss crossing across India. And the men or should it be (Boys) in blue will also smile for a change. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has in a paradigm shift decided that cricketers will henceforth travel, at least for the taxing oneday games, by a chartered aircraft. The seven match ODI series between India and England was the first opportunity to get the charters going. Jeh Wadia’s GoAir won the right to be the official carrier.

And they are as happy as the cricketers for this unique opportunity.

Sharing some fun music was the irrepressible Mahendra Singh Dhoni (why on earth dark glasses at 30,000 feet, Mr Dhoni?) with the camera shy Rudra Pratap Singh and the bloke from Vadodara for company .Irfan Pathan as usual has a smile on his face. The all economy A 320 had apart from the Indian and English team and their spouses, a large number of journos who heaved a sigh of relief at the comfort level provided by the charter.

Taking a nap is Rahul Dravid. But in between he did find time for a few interviews with mainline dailies. And sharing the comfortable front row with him is coach Greg Chappel. Now who is the middle seat reserved for? Sourav Ganguly?

Who are you?

Well that’s English player Sajid Mahmood with the earplugs firmly in place and Pathan closely following him. The flight from Kochi (after the fourth one dayer) to Guwahati was a three-hour direct service. In normal times (or should we say Jagmohan Dalmia times), the teams would fly to Chennai, and then catch a flight to Kolkata before taking a shuttle into Guwahati.Phew. What a waste of time and energy. Simply no way to Go(by)Air!

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