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EDITOR-IN-CHIEF’S NOTE
Which sleeping pill did you take?
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f the Continental Airlines’ frisking of former President A P J Abdul Kalam tells us anything, it is that the wheels of the civil service move slowly, very slowly indeed! A senior security official at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport had filed a formal report mentioning in great detail the humiliating body search that Kalam had to undergo in his own country before boarding a flight for New York on the night of April 21. The report was, as is the rule, sent to both the North Block (Home Ministry) and the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) that is supervised by the Ministry of Civil Aviation. For a good two months-plus, the entire matter lay buried in the labyrinth that is the Home Ministry, and the myriad offices of the BCAS. Almost two-and-a-half months after the incident, the BCAS issued a show cause notice to the airline on why action should not be taken against them. They were given seven days to reply. When no reply was forthcoming, the BCAS chose to stay silent on the issue, which exploded in Parliament when the Government lodged a First Information Report (FIR) against the “concerned staff” of Continental Airlines. “The frisking was absolutely unpardonable,” Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel told the Rajya Sabha. Member after member stood up to chastise Continental
CRUISING HEIGHTS August 2009
Airlines for having frisked the former President. But in the anger and anguish, no one asked as to why nothing had been done in the two-and-a-half months since the incident took place. One insider at the airport said that the Mail Today expose was a consequence of the total silence from the BCAS. “We had no way of expressing our unhappiness at the silence,” he said. The icing on the cake really was the FIR, after which all hell broke loose in Parliament. So what really is the moral of the story? If you ask the senior security staff at the airport, it will, perhaps, be that they are better off as reporters filing reports with newspapers, rather than dealing with superiors in the BCAS. Also, that it is time that we put some of their VVIPs under the scanner. One remembers how the likes of Strobe Talbott and Richard Armitage were handled like state guests with cars at the tarmac. Why not give them the FAA treatment so that there is a certain reciprocity? Twice a year, the FAA looks at the security preparedness of Indian airports. Maybe it is time to send our chaps to look at how well the American airports are managed. After all, 9/11 happened when the big fish got their airport network. Finally, it is time to ask a few questions of the BCAS. Which sleeping pill did they consume in the time between April and June that put them in such a deep slumber? And to use one of Praful Patel’s favourite phrase, maybe it’s time “for a few heads to roll”.
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Profiling is the answer Even as investigators try to sift through the debris to find out the causes of Air France 447 crash, there are some who say the accident could have been the handiwork of terrorists. If that be so, why weren’t the terrorists detected during boarding? Philip Baum, editor of Aviation Security International, writing in The Times of London recently, pointed out that airport security was still stuck in the past, combating the terrorism of the 1960s and 1970s. The archway metal detector and the X-ray machine have been perfect for detecting dense, metallic objects carried on the person or in baggage. More than 40 years later, the same technologies are used. But the metal detector cannot find explosives — plastic or liquid in any form — or any weapons made out of ceramic, wood, glass or polycarbonate. And while significant improvements have been made to X-ray machines, they have yet to prove effective in detecting improvised explosive devices. The way out is to introduce profiling. One only needs to look to the Israeli experience. When Japanese Red Army terrorists attacked Lod Airport in 1972, the Israelis realised that the system had to be modified to identify “intent” through behavioural analysis rather than focus on target groups. And it worked. Profiling already takes place at airports all the time. Customs and immigration agents intercept people on a daily basis — but at the end of a flight. They know the signs to look for. So why, when our lives are at stake, do we not screen people using this proven, common-sense methodology before people board a flight?
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contents
LOOKING INDIA
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With a large number of airlines in the region looking at India as one of the world's fastest-growing cargo centres, the Middle East is naturally emerging as an important hub for cargo movement, leading to expansion of capacities and flights from and to India.
NEWS DIGEST OFF THE RECORD
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Air India’s new Chairman and Managing Director Arvind Jadhav is busy fine-tuning the facility of video conferencing into an art. Plus some more tales from the Air India house. CRUISING HEIGHTS August 2009
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The current downturn notwithstanding, Boeing sees long-term growth prospects in India, which its Senior Vice President Dinesh Keskar says is resonating with more positive than negative. Plus: The ongoing dispute between Jet Airways and Air Sahara, which is now in the court of law.
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ARTICLES NEWS VIEWS EDITS INTERVIEWS CLIPPINGS TRAVEL & TOURISM PROFILES NEWS DIGEST
CHOCKS OFF
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CRUISING HEIGHTS Volume IV No 4
Editor-in-Chief
K SRINIVASAN Managing Editor TIRTHANKAR GHOSH
Consulting Editor R KRISHNAN
FOCUS
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Pawan Hans has been in the service of the Lakshadweep administration since 1987 and has today turned into a lifeline for the islands. From saving human lives to ferrying passengers, its helicopters are always in service.
More and more Full Service Carriers in India are rethinking their business model to move towards the low-cost airline mode, as, increasingly, load factors are being determined by fares.
GLOBETROTTING
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When Canadian musician Dave Carroll avenged himself with songs after his guitar was smashed by United Airlines’ employees, and the carrier refused to pay up.
Senior Editor RENU RANGELA
Reporter PUNIT MISHRA
Art Director BHART BHARDWAJ
Design RUCHI SINHA, PRADEEP JHA, RAVINDER GUSAIN
Photo Editor H C TIWARI
Director
RAVI SHARMA (Mob. 9650433900)
Gen Manager RAJIV SINGH (Mob. 9810030533)
Regional Manager(Mumbai) MADHURI REKHI (Mob. 9769439988)
Asst. Manager (Corporate Affairs) AMIT SINHA (Mob. 9650433099)
SPOTLIGHT
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Asst. Manager (Sales) PINTU WAHENGBAM
Endorsing the growing potential in India’s cargo industry, Geopost has entered the country through a JV, marking a major landmark step in the Indian express parcel market.
(Mob. 9650433088)
Subscription JAYA SINGH (Mob. 9650433044)
BACK PAGE
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Zero Gravity Corporation hosted the world's first-ever weightless wedding, that saw the groom and the bride virtually floating into matrimony to make their special moment even more memorable.
SNIPPETS
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The Ramada, Gurgaon has come out with a host of packages to bring in corporates in a big way, even as domestic airlines are opting for special fares to woo travellers this monoon. All this and more.
Cover photos: Courtesy: Emirates SkyCargo, Etihad Crystal Cargo and Qatar Cargo Cover design: Ruchi Sinha
CRUISING HEIGHTS August 2009
Executive Director RENU MITTAL Editorial & Marketing office: Newsline Publications Pvt. Ltd., C-15, Sector 6, Noida 201 301, Tele: +91-120-4145555 Mumbai: Ms Madhuri Rekhi (Mob. 09769439988) Platina, 9th floor, C-Block, G-59, Next to Citibank Bandra Kurla Complex, Bandra (East), Mumbai 400051, Tel.: +91 22 3953 0528 All information in CRUISING HEIGHTS is derived from sources we consider reliable. It is passed on to our readers without any responsibility on our part. Opinions/views expressed by third parties in abstract or in interviews are not necessarily shared by us. Material appearing in the magazine cannot be reproduced in whole or in part(s) without prior permission. The publisher assumes no responsibility for material lost or damaged in transit. The publisher reserves the right to refuse, withdraw or otherwise deal with all advertisements without explanation. All advertisements must comply with the Indian Advertisements Code. The publisher will not be liable for any loss caused by any delay in publication, error or failure of advertisement to appear. Owned and published by K Srinivasan 4C Pocket-IV, Mayur Vihar Phase-I, Delhi-91 and printed by him at Nutech Photolithographers, B-240, Okhla Industrial Area, Phase-I, New Delhi-110020.
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Brothers in distress
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“It is our duty to extend all support and give all possible assistance to Air India, in order to improve its profits and the bottomline.” TAAI President RAJJI RAI on the association’s decision to give preferential treatment to Air India and other national carriers in their hour of crisis.
LETTERS TO EDITOR
The cover story, An Emperor without his clothes; All in the open now!; No short-cuts, please! (July ‘09) was written in the right perspective. These three men have got contrasting styles of management and seem poised to do something remarkable. As a matter of fact, these three men have got their tasks cut out. The interview of Naseem Zaidi unveils that he is clear about his plans of taking DGCA ahead towards growth. M Thiagrajan’s interview indicates that this young lad has got big plans under his sleeve for his coveted airline. And the story on Arvind Jadhav suggests that though Air India is passing through tumultuous times, yet it is capable of sailing through, with the help of its able strategist, Arvind Jadhav. Kumar Kunal, Patna July 2009
Illustrations: Rajeev Kumar
“This is the right time for quick expansion of infrastructure as the construction costs are low.” Secretary, Ministry of Civil Aviation, M MADHAVAN NAMBIAR, reiterating the Centre’s commitment to meeting the targeted timeline for modernisation of Chennai and Kolkata airports.
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The positive side of Air India (July ‘09) was a pleasure to read. Air India cargo is indeed set to create a difference on the Indian cargo map. As a matter of fact, Air India cargo is putting its best foot forward to position itself in the market at a time when the market has become extremely tight amid the global economic downturn. It is important to note that Air India cargo’s diversification process will provide the much-needed fillip to the ailing Indian cargo business, as it might end the hegemony of other cargo private players. However, this is just the beginning and it is, therefore, too early to come to any definite conclusions in this regard. Anubhuti Dayal, Chandigarh
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Right time
The spotlight story Aviation scores at Paris Air Show 2009 (July ‘09) unveiled some interesting facts about the show. The Paris Air Show has been one of the most sought after air shows in the world. And this time, the show was completing its 100th year. However, it didn’t live up to the expectations of the audience, primarily on account of the thanda response it got from participants. The reason was obvious and evident: global economic recession coupled with the Air France episode. Still, the air show managed to attract attention as aircraft buying from airline companies touched a new high. Parag Mathur, Nashik
Of no good “I don’t personally believe that it will do any good to the industry by itself... the only reason anyone wants to invest will be because (they want) to get a share of the Indian market rather than to improve the calibre of the airline or to provide capital.” Jet Airways Executive Director SAROJ KUMAR DATTA on the debate on allowing foreign investment in Indian carriers.
All for promotion “We have always believed in stimulating the market with attractive fares.” SpiceJet COO SAMYUKTH SRIDHARAN on the latest move by airlines to cut down on fares.
Strategic decision “The A321 will help us realise our ambitious and attainable goals and we are delighted with our aircraft choice.” Paramount Airways MD M THIAGARAJAN on the airline’s move to buy 10 A321s.
All correspondence may be addressed to Editor, Cruising Heights, C-15, Sector 6, Noida 201 301 OR mail to cruisingheights@newsline.in
CRUISING HEIGHTS August 2009
Need for review “The bilaterals policy (bilateral air services agreement) should be reviewed.” Congress MP SANJAY NIRUPAM, alleging in Parliament that private airlines were given more profitable routes.
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Growing shadow of air accidents
While 2006 and 2009 registered three major air accidents, the years 2004, 2007 and 2008 registered only one major air accident each. 2003 and 2005 registered two major air accidents each. The deadliest plane accidents in history remain the collision between two Boeing 747s at Tenerife in the Canary Islands, in which 583 were killed on March 27, 1977, and the crash on August 12, 1985 of a Boeing 747 belonging to Japan Airlines flying between Tokyo and Osaka, when 520 were killed. Interestingly, Air France and Yemeni Airways accidents in 2009, which saw heavy casualties, were both Airbus planes.
COLD STATS
Since 2003, air accidents are rising, and so are the casualties. After the recent crash of a Yemeni Airbus A310, the airline industry is on its toes to try and reduce the number of accidents and retain the confidence of travellers. However, the facts and figures regarding the air accidents do not evoke much confidence. More than 2,000 people have lost their lives in air accidents since 2003. 2003 registered maximum casualties, when more than 500 people died, while 2004 registered close to 150 deaths. In the year 2005, the number stood at 310; 2006 - 449; 2007 - 199; 2008 - 154; and till July 1, 2009 - 430.
LOOKING GLASS
No job cuts “Air India will not sack employees but financial and organisational restructuring is on the cards.” Union Civil Aviation Minister PRAFUL PATEL, while once again ruling out any job cuts in Air India.
Legacy of integration “There is an integration legacy, you know. Everyone is looking for incentives and promotions. If I were to go for a merit-based system, I may have to promote a junior officer. This would lead to more issues.” Air India CMD ARVIND JADHAV on the integration of employees of Air India and Indian Airlines.
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‘Yes, those were the glory days, Mr Jadhav’ Dear Mr Jadhav, Some of your predecessors have indicated that they would like to restore Air India to its former “glory”. I sincerely believe that they have no concept of what were Air India’s glory days. Mr J R D Tata once mentioned to me that when Air India was nationalised in 1953, he feared that it would become another department of the Ministry of Communications (there was no Civil Aviation Ministry at that time). Pandit Nehru set to allay Mr Tata’s fears by telling him that he wanted the latter to continue to steer the airline as its Chairman, and that too as a purely commercial venture. In 1957, when I joined the airline, this statement held true. During my 24 years with the airline, we went through three phases — the Parsi Raj, the South Indian Raj and the Raghu Raj. Looking back, I firmly believe that the airline had its best days during the so-called Parsi Raj, even
and these by the 747s, and still the culture within the company was that of a privately run airline. There was a challenge in the air, and initiative and innovation were encouraged. At this point, I would like to mention a very important issue — the grade of Air-India’s Chief Executive. It had always been that of a Secretary to the Government of India. In 1978, when Air Marshall P C Lal was appointed as Chairman and Mr K G Appusamy was Managing Director, both officers were in the Secretary’s grade. As Deputy Managing Director, I was in the grade of Additional Secretary to the Govt. of India. Do you realise, Mr Jadhav, that you have been downgraded!!! The Civil Aviation Secretary was always a Member of the Board and attended all Board meetings. When Mr Narottam Sahgal, ICS, was Aviation Secretary, I was honoured to be consult-
Graphics: Courtesy Air India
‘Looking back, I firmly believe that the airline had its best days during the so-called Parsi Raj, even though, for the first 10 years, we had as our Chief Executive an ICS officer’ 6
Those were the days, my friend: the Maharaja ruled supreme during Inder Sethi and Bobby Kooka’s regime.
though, for the first 10 years, we had as our Chief Executive an ICS officer, Mr B R Patel. I am happy to state that, as Head of Pricing, it was my privilege to work with him and learn from his experience and decision making. Mr Patel gave his deputies great latitude and both Mr S K Kooka (as Commercial Director) and Mr A F Dubash (as Planning Director) built two great teams (both at home and overseas), which helped them to guide the airline in its most formative years. In the majority of cases, the airline recruited and placed the right people in the right jobs, be they at outstations or at headquarters. I, for one, was slated to spend my entire career at headquarters and did not have the advantage of an overseas posting. However, I felt well rewarded. At the age of 42, I believe I was the youngest person to occupy the post of Commercial Director, having risen from the lowest rung of the officer cadre in the space of 20 years. We were a highly motivated bunch of people and we thrived in this atmosphere. Many of us who showed initiative were amply rewarded for our performance. Morale was high, the airline was going places, we replaced the propeller aircraft with 707s, CRUISING HEIGHTS August 2009
ed by him one day prior to each Board meeting on items of commercial nature. Mr Sahgal made it a point to meet me the evening before the meeting and get my views. When Mr Nirmal Mukherjee, ICS, took over as Aviation Secretary, he called me (I was Commercial Director at that time) at home one evening and said that he had learnt that I was a personal friend of Mr Ross Stainton, the then Managing Director of British Airways. I replied in the affirmative. He then asked if I could undertake a trip to London, meet with Ross Stainton and get him to withdraw BA’s opposition to an important issue in the bilateral talks with the British. I immediately took a flight, met Ross Stainton and in fact, played a game of golf with him. We came to an agreement which I reported to Mr Mukherjee on the phone from London. I was warmly congratulated by him. That, Mr Jadhav, was “motivation”. Unfortunately, this is lacking in today’s Air India. Where is the incentive or motivation when you have (if I am correctly informed) as many as 120 officers in the grade of Commercial Manager and above? When I was promoted as Commercial
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ON RECORD Manager Planning, we had 12 people in the CM/Dy. CD grade, both in headquarters and overseas. One had to work hard and perform well above normal expectations to be promoted. Promotions were merit-based; today, they are seniority-based. Where is the incentive to perform? The glory days of Air India were too good to last and I still remember when, in mid-1979, on a flight from Delhi to Bombay, Mr K G Appusamy, the then MD, told me “Inder, the culture is changing and you may not be happy with the changes that I foresee. I suggest you look for another job.” And so, soon after the arrival of Mr Raghu Raj as CMD, I left the airline. Every year, I feel that Air India had reached its lowest level, but I wake up some mornings to find that a new level has been found. Today, we have a situation where: When Delhi sneezes, the airline gets influenza. When Delhi says “Jump”, the 22nd floor responds with a question “How high”? When the Ministry says, “Upgrade the minister’s maid servant to Business class”, the airline says “Ji Hazoor”. Do you sincerely believe the airline can recapture its glory days? Forget it. While writing this e-mail, I looked back at a letter that I received from Mr J R D Tata on the occasion of my appointment as Dy. MD and I would like to quote: “It makes me happy to know that Government, whose ways of dealing with public sector organisations are often unpredictable, has, in this case, recognised the importance of a dynamic enterprise like Air India having, at the top of their management, young men chosen entirely on the basis of merit, ability, competence and experience.” It would have deeply saddened Mr Tata to learn that Air India is no longer a “dynamic enterprise”, and that promotions, by and large, are based upon who your “Sugar Daddy” is in Delhi. The introduction of the so-called Raghu Raj era heralded interference from the Ministry of Civil Aviation. Mr Raghu Raj looked for instructions (not guidance) from Delhi whenever a staff had to be posted overseas or promoted. He abrogated all authority to the powers that be in Delhi, and that is when the rot set in. Mr Jadhav, in the so-called “Glory Days”, I was able to thwart the wishes of a very senior Cabinet ranking minister by telling him that his son would be promoted to a higher grade at the right time and when I felt it would cause him the least embarrassment. His son was then 60th on the list of seniority on his grade. Yes, those were the glory days of Air India when we could say “No” to a Cabinet Minister. Guess what? Soon after I left Air India, Mr Raghu Raj promoted 65 staff in that grade to accommodate the wishes of that minister. The glory days of Air India were over and the glory days of politicians took over. Prior to my leaving the airline, we had transferred a number of senior managers overseas, and moved some from one station to another. One of them had been unhappy with his move from Kuwait to Nairobi but was willing to accept the change.
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Guess what? Soon after Mr. Raghu Raj took over, this transfer was held back. The concerned staff’s brother was an MP and the latter requested that the change not take place. Yes, the glory days of Air India were over and the glory days of politicians took over. When Air India first thought of bringing out an in-flight magazine, the then Civil Aviation Secretary wanted the contract to be given to his son’s publishing company. We did not do so; instead it was awarded to a company with years of experience in publishing such periodicals. Yes, those were the glory days of Air India when we could say “No” to a Civil Aviation Secretary. I can give you a large number of such instances, but I guess these will suffice for the time being. Let me now come back to your status as CMD in the grade of Joint Secretary rather than Secretary. As CMD, you are entitled to travel in First class, and so are a number of your senior executives. Other high ranking executives are entitled to Business class travel. Your predecessor eliminated First class travel privileges. I disagree with this decision. You have now eliminated Business class travel for your senior staff and I am unable to understand the reasoning behind this. Someone told me that this was done to appease the Minister of Civil Aviation, because his request to upgrade one of his friends could not be accommodated as there were no seats left in the Business class cabin after seating staff on duty who were entitled to such class of travel. If this is correct, it amounts to “killing a fly with a hammer”. It also takes away the dignity of the office. The staff who are entitled to travel in the upper classes have earned this privilege. They have worked hard to earn it and fully deserve it. To take away this privilege is, in my humble opinion, a de-motivating factor and will definitely result in lowering morale. There is a very simple solution to this problem and your experts in Revenue Management or Space Control (as we called it in my time) can easily find a compromise. Mr Jadhav, you may not be able to restore the status of the CMD to that of Secretary to the Government of India, but you can certainly restore the dignity of the chair that you occupy and those of your senior executives. Please do not demean the dignity of your senior executives by making them travel in Economy class while the maidservant of the minister is travelling in Business class. By all means, upgrade the maidservant, but please do not treat your senior staff as “cattle”. I would earnestly request you to restore this privilege at the earliest possible. Yours truly, Inder Sethi (Inder Sethi is former managing director and commercial director of Air India. The subject of this e-mail to AI CMD Arvind Jadhav is ‘Air India — The glory that was’.)
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‘Please do not demean the dignity of your senior executives by making them travel in Economy class while the maidservant of the minister is travelling in Business class’
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OFF THE RECORD
Ananth Kumar
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Arun Jaitley
hat is common between Rajiv Pratap Rudy, Prakash Javadekar, Nishikant Dubey, Rajiv Shukla and Arun Jaitley? Well, all are members of Parliament — of the Rajya Sabha — barring Dubey. But that’s not their claim to fame. Their real claim to fame, though, is the fact that all of them are trenchant critics of the Civil Aviation Minister and, in particular, his Air India policy. Topping the list is Prakash Javadekar, the inscrutable Maharashtrian who can put an Egyptian mummy to shame when he appears on TV. But this dyed-in-thewool RSSwalla has shaken up Rajiv Gandhi Bhavan by his frontal blast on the
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is good of him that he has decided to take an impartial line despite being a friend of the minister,” said one employee. However, they are most disappointed by the wall of silence from three former notables — Sharad Yadav and Ananth Kumar, both of whom have been former Civil Aviation Ministers, and the Chairman of the Standing Committee on Transportation and Tourism, Sitaram Yechuri. “Yechuri has let the employees affairs of the Ministry, and of the Airports Authority Air India in particular. of India (AAI) down, and When journos jokingly now he is letting us down. asked about his info, he All these Communists talk said: “This is just the tip of about workers’ rights and the iceberg, aaage aage how they will launch a dekhiye, hota hai kya.” struggle for workers’ Those in the know say rights. Where is Yechuri that Javadekar has a combiwhen it is time to come to nation of lethal Air India our rescue?” they ask. union leaders as his friends, As for Sharad Yadav, topped by disgruntled, dishe feels that this entire illusioned and angry process of liberalisation employees who are deeply has been a total disaster, Sitaram Yechuri cut up at the manner in and it is best if India goes which Air India was treated during back to the towering heights of the prothe past five years and want to settle tected public sector economy. As he says scores with many. in his typical style: “Yanee ke, Air India Apart from, of course, Praful national asset hai.” Patel, on whom the Maharaja’s men So where does it leave dear Ananth and women direct their principal ire Kumar? Busy as he is with internal poli(each time Arvind Jadhav asks them tics of the BJP and the succession war to tighten their belt, they have some- within, he has decided to give this battle thing to say about the Minister), royale a miss. This is more than compenthey have plenty to say about for- sated by the presence of Rajiv Pratap mer CMD Vasudevan Thulasi- Rudy, the firebrand predecessor to Praful das and Raghu Menon, and Patel. Between him and Javadekar, they many other officers who have decided to take the battle to the man they describe as the from Gondia. ‘favourites of these two’. Finally, a word about Arun Jaitley. No, But what has really he hasn’t spoken on Air India, but as the surprised them is the leader of the BJP in the Rajya Sabha, he attack by Rajiv Shukla on has given free reign to the mascots of the the working of the airline. ‘Free Air India’ campaign. That, despite “We did not expect this. After being a PP friend. As they say, all is fair in all, he too has been the beneficiary love and war. At the moment, it is a war. of upgrades and sundry other advan- Just wait for an update on when peace tages that are available to MPs. But it breaks out. If indeed it does!
Foes and
friends
CRUISING HEIGHTS August 2009
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NEWS DIGEST
Boeing on India
B
Photo: H.C. Tiwari
oeing remains bullish on India, and sees quicker market recovery in Indian aviation industry fortunes. It also sees longterm growth prospects, according to Boeing’s current market outlook unveiled by its Senior Vice President Dr Dinesh Keskar (of BCA), who has since been posted to New Delhi as President, Boeing India. Addressing a news conference, Dr Keskar said Boeing forecasts that over the next 20 years, the Indian market will require 1,000 Dinesh Keskar at a press conference to share Boeing’s India outlook. commercial jets, valued at approximately $100 billion — a market going back to the high levels of 2007 after includes India, Dr Keskar said that that represents over 3 per cent of Boeing the recent downturn. “There is strength according to Boeing, India’s projected Commercial Airplanes’ (BCA) forecasted and resilience in the Indian commercial GDP growth over the next 20 years would market worldwide. Indian economy aviation sector over the long term, and the average six and a half per cent annually, averaged 7 per cent annual growth over the potential for future growth of air travel, driving a resurgence of demand and past 10 years and India remains one of the both domestically and internationally, is capacity growth for the country’s airlines. strongest growing economies in the world. among the greatest in the world, and “If you take a realistic and broad look at The good news, he said, was the Boeing will continue its efforts to be the India market, what resonates is that record growth in air travel, which India’s preferred partner and aerospace there is more positive than negative, and expanded rapidly in the last eight years provider,” said Keskar. the prospect for continued long-term due to liberalisation and favourable Notwithstanding the recent downturn growth remains high,” he added. economic environment and was now in the global aviation business, that Asked about deferment or cancellation
INFRASTRUCTURE
NEWS...
NEW AIRPORTS GET GO-AHEAD
Airport construction activity in the country is at a peak and new Greenfield airports are scheduled to come up over the next two years at Pakyong in Sikkim, Shimoga, Gulbarga, Bijapur and Hassan in Karnataka. Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel confirmed this in the Lok Sabha. The minister further revealed that ‘inprinciple’ approval has also been accorded to the establishment of airports at Navi Mumbai and Sindhudurg in Maharashtra, Mopa in Goa, Kannur in Kerala, Durgapur in West Bengal, Itanagar
in Arunachal Pradesh and Gwalior in Madhya Pradesh (for cargo airport). Further, proposals have been received for establishment of new airports at Chakan, Shirdi and Solapur in Maharashtra, Kushinagar, Greater Noida in Uttar Pradesh, Ludhiana in Punjab, Karaikal in Puducherry, Cheitu in Nagarland and Paladi in Rajasthan. A proposal for setting up of a cargo airport at Jhajhar in Haryana has also been received. The government provides financial assistance for the development of existing and new airports in the North-East Region. As per this policy, the government is providing 90 per cent of the funding of the cost for the construction of the new Greenfield airport at Pakyong Sikkim.
PARTIAL PRIVATISATION TAKES OFF
Tiruchi and Udaipur airports will be partially privatised, Aviation Minister Praful Patel told Parliament. As per the concept, other than the terminal buildings, the operational area and the runway, areas including car parking, courier and cargo facilities would be handed
Praful Patel
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CRUISING HEIGHTS August 2009
Tiruchi airport
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NEWS DIGEST of Air India orders, Keskar said he had not heard anything so far from Air India. As for Boeing, its aircraft are being used by Air India mainly for its international operations, and as such, he hinted that they did not create the kind of excess capacity problem being witnessed in the domestic sector. Even though Keskar was very measured in his response, the fact that Boeing’s market outlook painted a fairly positive picture has not been lost. In this context, he said the June 2009 traffic data showed that the bottoming out is virtually over and there could be a pace towards recovery. But his most important
carriers on major trunk routes. For instance, on Delhi-Mumbai, it was down from $70 per passenger to $20 per passenger, largely riding on falling fuel costs and cost cutting by carriers themselves. So, his comments that India is economically and financially better than the rest of the world, and its aviation industry will come out quicker than globally, should ring good news to our battered desi airline operators. As for India’s international market, he said it was fragmenting very fast, and this was basically due to the fact that passengers of all kinds, but largely businessmen, preferred point-to-point travel rather than ‘hop stop and jump’. In August 2008, for example, there were only three airlines flying on the India-UKIndia sector, and largely to Mumbai and Delhi. Today, there are six carriers and they are touching nearly six points in India from London, with weekly frequencies multiplying geometrically. All this clearly indicated Air India’s Boeing planes are not creating excess capacity. that the days of B747 jumbo observation was the coming home, in a big and A380 super jumbo are over. “Due to way, of the LCCs. Once criticised by the this popular and fast rising demand, even FSCs, data now showed that LCCs were airlines are looking for smaller/medium increasingly eating into the market share of capacity modern jets to connect FSCs, including those FSCs which owned international destinations.” In this context, domestic LCCs. Keskar said Boeing strongly believed its The second most important much delayed Dreamliner B787 will come observation in support of his statistics was as a great boon to the airlines and the the loss per passenger for Indian domestic travelling public.
F
or the last 15 years or so, it was ‘On Your Marks, Get Set, No Go’ for Changi Airport International (CAI) of Singapore in India. After many broken JVs, at last in July 2009, CAI made its first investment in a serious airport-cum-city project, or what is called the Bengal Aerotropolis Project Limited (BAPL), being set up at Andal, about 192 kilometers from Kolkata. Changi first tied up with Tatas to bid for building the new Bangalore airport, as it was then called, in 1994, when the project was mooted under then Chief Minister Deve Gowda. However, the Tatas were left out in
over to private companies under Private-Public Partnership arrangements. The AAI would lease the land to the private operator and the operator would pay the AAI a licence fee.
years, Delhi airport should cross Hong Kong and Singapore,” he added. As to the Navi Mumbai airport project, he said they had not yet decided whether to bid for it.
GMR: NO SMALL AIRPORTS
The GMR Group does not include small airport projects as part of its current strategy. Talking to the media recently after receiving the TERI Corporate Social Responsibility award from President Pratibha Patil, Group Chairman G M Rao said, “We want to go for bigger airports where more than five million passengers travel.” “We want to be at airports where we not only undertake development work but also operations. That is our strategy now. We are ready to go for bigger airports not only in India but also abroad,” he said. When asked as to how the Group was coping with the decline in revenue due to shortfall in the number of passengers at the Delhi airport project, he said it was a temporary phenomenon as “international traffic has gone up while domestic traffic has come down.” “It will slowly pick up. We are expecting that in a couple of
14
Changi tales
DIAL GARBAGE FOR POWER
Now this is new indeed. DIAL is set to produce electricity from garbage. The company will soon set up a municipal solid waste processing complex to generate electricity from household garbage. The power generation plant, which is called a municipal
CRUISING HEIGHTS August 2009
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Photo Courtesy: moodiereport.com
West Bengal takes a leaf from Changi airport.
the cold by Changi when it withdrew, just as Singapore Airlines had done earlier, about eight years ago, withdrawing from a Tata bid at a crucial juncture. Therefore, to ensure that it did not end up projecting itself as a non-serious player, CAI’s CEO Wong Woon Liong addressed a press conference to state that CAI has bought 26 per cent stake in BAPL for $20 million, or nearly Rs 96 crore, for setting up India’s first airport-city project at Andal.
BAPL has been promoted by Pragati Social Infrastructure and Development Limited, Lend Lease Company (India) Ltd, Citystar Infrastructures Ltd. and Pragati 47 Development Limited. Changi sees attractive returns on its investment in the medium and long term from this project. Both Wong and CAI Deputy CEO Eugene Gan were inducted into BAPL’s 10-member Board on July 17, 2009. CAI would review the master plan
CRUISING HEIGHTS August 2009
of the Greenfield airport, supervise the execution of the project, and also train senior management of BAPL at Singapore Aviation Academy. The debt-equity ratio of the project is 1:2.25 in the initial investment, of which the airport alone may require investment of Rs 230 crore. According to Wong and Subrata Paul, CEO of BAPL, the total investment in the first phase from all stakeholders could be as much as Rs 2,000 crore. The financial closure of the project has been achieved, said Paul, who also indicated that the seven-year project, estimated to cost Rs 10,000 crore, would include setting up of a domestic regional airport at Andal, with development of logistics, supply chain management and IT hub subsequently. The construction work on the project would commence by the first quarter of 2010, and the airport may become operational by 2011-2012. While only Air India has so far shown any interest in operating from here, the initial survey shows air traffic of 35 lakh from this airport from 2012. The airport, to be spread over 650 acres, will have a runway of 2800 X 40 meters to handle A320 and B737 type aircraft. The passenger terminal will have a space of 4,850 square meters.
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NEWS DIGEST
Acquisition of 2,182 acres for the project is well under way and is expected to be completed by end 2009 or early 2010. But considering the kind of pulls and pressures displayed publicly by politicians, it would be a major task for BAPL authorities to get all the land they want without any major hassle. Earlier, it was estimated that nearly 3,000 acres would be needed, but after Coal India Limited said some of the land belonged to its prospecting area and carried huge coal deposits, nearly 400 acres had to be carved out from BAPL land needs. The remaining land, after what is earmarked for the airport, will be for a township and industrial hubs. It was reported earlier, before the elections, that Mamata didi and her Trinamul Congress would create problems. After its losses in the Lok Sabha elections, even the CPI(M) changed its tune and said the West Bengal state government would not venture to acquire land from land owners and farmers, and it would be left to the private enterprise setting up the project to directly negotiate with the land owners and pay the market related compensation. The state government would step in only when it was absolutely necessary. After Mamata Banerjee took over Rail Bhawan in Delhi, people say her immediate appetite for a Singur-like agitation has taken a holiday. One really hopes so. Otherwise Changi will have to once again look elsewhere.
Goyalnama
W
hat is Jet Airways’ promoter Naresh Goyal upto? His dispute with former Air Sahara boss Subroto Roy, which has been going on since Nareshji bought out Air Sahara more than two years ago, refuses to die down. The latest we saw in the media was that both the parties to the dispute had told Bombay High Court that there could be no out of court settlement. So, we will have to assume that there will be a judicial verdict, howsoever long it may take. In the meantime, Air Sahara, which Nareshji took over, has been rechristened JetLite and converted as the low cost arm of Jet Airways.
Naresh Goyal
solid waste processing complex, will be set up near the landfill site in Ghazipur in east Delhi. DIAL, in a joint venture with Selco International, will set up the plant on build, own, operate and transfer basis. The Delhi government will provide land to set up the electricity generation complex. The plant will utilise about 1,300 tonnes of the more than 7,600 tonnes of solid waste produced in Delhi every day. Officials said about 8-10 mega watt (MW) electricity would be generated from this plant, using refuse-derived fuel technology. Reports said 51 per cent of the power generated at this plant would be procured by BSES Yamuna Power Limited, while the bidder would be able to sell the remaining 51 per cent to third parties.
CHENNAI TO GET TRAVELATOR
Ready to move on.
16
Financially, the performance of JetLite, despite having the same Boeing 737 fleet as the main carrier Jet Airways, has been a disaster, and with much smaller fleet and network it delivered a much bigger loss on a standalone basis. So the foreign advisors on whom Nareshji has so much faith suggested that he better start yet another LCC, and this time he called it Jet Konnect, with Konnect painted on the upper half of the fuselage of its aircraft fleet. Launched in May 2009, Jet Konnect started its innings with two Boeing 737s and six ATR72s. Now comes news from Jet Airways CCO Sudheer
In a few years, the Chennai airport will have a 602-metre long travelator (conveyor belt for people movement). The travelator will extend from the eastern end of the upcoming new domestic terminal and go all the way
up to the western end of the upcoming new international terminal. Unlike in most international airports, the travelator is coming up outside the terminal buildings, at a mezzanine level underneath an elevated motorway on which passengers drive down to their respective departure points. The elevated motorway is being constructed as part of the Rs 2,121-crore airport expansion-cummodernisation project, which is being implemented by the Chennai-based Consolidated Construction Consortium Ltd. The elevated motorway links either end of the airport to the GST Road, the city road at which the airport lies. The travelator is to be housed in an aluminium-clad concrete tube with glass sidewalls. On either side of the ‘connector tube’ will be granite-paved 1-metre-wide space for people to walk, in case they choose not to use the belts.
MIAL TAKES MONSOON STEPS
The Mumbai International Airport Limited (MIAL) has undertaken various measures to minimise inconvenience to passengers during this monsoon. These include stocking up extra food and water to serve passengers during emergency. Also, the airlines are making sure travellers are properly cared for in case of flight delays or cancellations. In case a passenger reaches the
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NEWS DIGEST Raghavan that Jet Konnect will be expanded with the induction of more Boeing 737 aircraft and ATRs. Sudheer Raghavan said Jet may not just expand the network of Jet Konnect domestically, but even launch some flights on Jet’s international routes. The idea was that when the market requires, they will press into service Jet Konnect. All of these decisions could materialise before the close of calendar year 2009, or even with the start of the winter schedule in October ‘09, said Jet CCO. We have earlier mentioned in a previous issue of CRUISING HEIGHTS that Naresh Goyal had ordered that 10 of the Boeing 737s in the Jet Airways fleet be reconfigured into all-Economy seating, instead of the famous Jet product of Business or Premium class and Economy. With most passengers preferring No Shows (not in the sense it is used in airline parlance but literally, with sharp fall in Business class loads), it made sense to go allEconomy. This is where the comments of Jet’s CEO Wolfgang Prock-Schauer assume importance. He has been quoted in the media as saying, “Given the present tough times, for the short to medium term, the company has been forced to adjust to market realities.” It was in this context that Jet was also keen to capture the price-sensitive markets through Jet Konnect. So if we compare the observation of the CCO Sudheer Raghavan and CEO ProckSchauer, it seems that Jet Konnect will
largely only connect the domestic stations and not the international destinations. In any case, one wonders how Naresh Goyal proposes to get permission to fly Jet Konnect, with its 737-800s, to within a range of four hours, say to UAE or Southeast Asia. It may be recalled Air India Express could not fly into Kuala Lumpur and had to fly on Air India Flight Number as it had no bilateral entitlements since it was nominated. The issue had to be resolved later. Similarly, how will Jet Konnect get the right to fly foreign destinations unless Jet Airways allows it to utilise its rights, which will further require DGCA approval etc? It appears that this whole business goes deeper than what meets the eye. In our view, the idea of widening and deepening the network of Jet Konnect may have to do more with the decent burial Naresh Goyal would want for the unlucky JetLite. After all, did Vijay Mallya not kill the brand of Air Deccan first by calling it Simplifly Deccan and later as Kingfisher Red? It is a different matter that since he called it so, his company is in deeper red and he also has been forced to devote nearly 50 per cent of his fleet to operate on the so called LCC model — a prospect which stares Naresh Goyal also starkly in the face. Like Mallya, who delayed deliveries of A320s, Naresh Goyal has not just deferred taking delivery of two of his Boeing 777s
airport late and misses his flight, certain airlines say they will try to make it easier for the passengers. “We will check whether the passenger should be refunded his full fare or accommodated on the next flight,” the AI spokesperson said. SpiceJet officials said, “Guests who reach late will have the
but also five Boeing 737-800s. These will now be received in 2011, 2012 and 2013. These were earlier scheduled to come in 2010 and early 2011. As for those narrow bodies which were scheduled to come in 2011 and 2012, that may remain unchanged. Perhaps there is a hidden lesson in this. In our estimation, Naresh Goyal may, over time, ensure that Jet Konnect gets prominence and JetLite, as a brand, is subsumed by it. While this is only speculation, what is not is the definite trend towards LCCisation of Full Service Carriers. A couple of years ago, when Indian aviation was indeed flying high, the likes of Wolfgang Prock-Shauer, and even Mallya, never lost an opportunity to fire the LCCs and blaze at how they were spoiling the market. Now, after two years of repeated stinging by the LCC experience, the two big boys have themselves decided to become more of LCC and less of FSC. Look at Jet Airways. Beginning July 2009, it offered 110 of its 290 flights as nofrill services. The 110 flights will be offered by Jet sub-brand Jet Konnect. The onground and in-flight service on Jet Konnect will be delivered by Jet Airways staff (unlike largely retrained Air Sahara staff in JetLite), though travellers will have to buy their meals on board. Incidentally, a recent frequent flyer told us that he was offered vada on such a FSC and he found that the hole in the vada was bigger than the vada
option to get their flights rescheduled at no extra cost. Refreshments will be provided to guests in case their flights are delayed over two hours. We are also arranging for covered trolleys to ensure that baggage does not get wet in the rain.”
NEW JAIPUR TERMINAL WOOS PASSENGERS
A state-of-the-art building with an impressive entrance gate made of sandstone and Dholpuri stones, along with Rajasthani paintings on the walls. Two fountains on both sides of the terminal, dotted with palm trees, to ensure that normal temperature is maintained within the airport premises. And adjustable shades on the transparent side walls of the building to The new look. control the passage of sunlight into the airport premises, thereby cutting down heavily Continued on page 22
Tackling monsoon woes.
18
CRUISING HEIGHTS August 2009
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NEWS DIGEST itself, which is a mathematical impossibility. What it means is, FSCs are now not just scaling down their service but even the size of the meal. Coming back to our story, JetLite, on its own, operates 109 daily flights. Taking Jet Konnect and JetLite together, 220 of Jet Airways’ overall flight offerings per day will be all-Economy and low-fare comparatively. Notwithstanding the slight revival in the domestic traffic in June 2009, which is as high as it was in the pre-crisis days of June 2007, the issue of low fares is not lost on the passengers. In fact, they have taught a lesson to the ‘Movers and Shakers’ of Aviation business, like Naresh Goyal and Vijay Mallya, clearly sending them the message that ‘you can fix the policy makers but you cannot fix the public’. Or else, why would Jet and Kingfisher become more LCC and less FSC? So we come back to our estimation (or did we say speculation?), over time Jet Konnect will become the LCC arm of Jet Airways, and JetLite, under the heavy weight of its losses, may fly into oblivion. That, we think, is the way to go, because you only need the aircraft and not the airline, even if you bought it unwisely in the first place.
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T
An oily story
he oil leak refuses to go. The losses the public sector oil marketing companies (OMCs) made in May 2009 were virtually equal to what most domestic airlines owed to them in unpaid jet fuel bills. Even as the oil bill continued to be a drag on the
CRUISING HEIGHTS August 2009
carriers, the kind gesture of Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee in abolishing the Fringe Benefit Tax (FBT) made not just the corporates in India happy, but even more, the airlines that were being forced to pay FBT for the hotel stay, meal expenses, transportation of its crew, cabin crew, etc. in
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NEWS DIGEST Jet Airways Rs 1,266 crore, Kingfisher Airlines Rs 1,030 crore, Paramount Rs 36.56 crore and SpiceJet Rs 13.30 crore. A relief package had been announced in October 2008 that allowed the airlines to pay off their oil debt to OMCs in six monthly installments till March 31, 2009. At the same time, OMCs also informed that they would make a fortnightly adjustment to ATF prices, depending on the international movement of crude prices.
The unpaid jet fuel bills of the domestic airlines are seriously denting the profits of oil PSUs.
30 per cent now by many states. According to Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas Murli Deora, Kingfisher Airlines, Jet Airways, NACIL, Paramount and SpiceJet together owed three PSU oil marketing companies — HPCL, BPCL and IOC — Rs 2,225.25 crore till end-May 2009. Kingfisher topped with an outstanding of Rs 950.46 crore, Jet Airways had balance of Rs 760 crore and NACIL Rs 472.93 crore. As for Paramount and SpiceJet, the outstandings were Rs 25.82 crore and Rs 16.24 crore respectively. When the 2009 calendar year began, the total outstanding of all airlines to OMCs was Rs 3,658 crore. At that time, the outstanding of NACIL was Rs 1,311 crore,
Notwithstanding all this, ATF prices continue to be the highest in India even after the fall in global crude prices on a comparative basis. At the beginning of April 2009, the OMCs entered into individual commercial agreements with the various airlines, insisting on cash and carry when the limits were exceeded. Even as this arrangement was being worked out with the assistance of the Ministry of Civil Aviation, on behalf of the airlines, and the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, on behalf of the OMCs, the joint request of these two ministries to the Finance Ministry for getting ATF defined as “declared goods” continued to fall on deaf ears.
on electricity bills. That’s the new terminal building at Jaipur airport, designed to handle three million passengers annually. Initially, operations will begin with private airlines handling 23 flights a day to 16 destinations. Every airline has been given three check-in counters to expedite the clearance of passengers during peak hours. The VIPs can sit and relax without causing any inconvenience to other passengers in one of the most comfortable and spacious VIP lounges. Modern conveyor belts that allow passengers to lift their baggage without bending would ensure much comfort, especially for the elderly. Meanwhile, the old building will continue to function as the international terminal. Indian and Air India will also operate from the same building. The duty-free shops would also remain in the old building. It is projected that this terminal will become congested by 2012-2015. Thereafter, the Airports Authority of India will begin a new project to integrate both domestic and international terminals to meet the increasing passenger traffic till 2022. The ministry has already commissioned Rs 200 crore for phase-II. The integrated terminal will handle the passenger traffic of 1,700 during the peak hours.
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It is not that the Ministry of Finance is at fault. It is just that since this a federal issue and not just a central issue, the states will also have to agree to a Constitutional change which will permit ATF to be described as a “declared good”, so that all states impose only 4 per cent sales tax instead of as high as 30 per cent. According to estimates, the states used to collect nearly Rs 5,000 crore from such sales tax on ATF. Though it is not known immediately as to how much they are collecting on reduced ATF prices against the high ATF prices that existed in June to August 2008, the fact that it can be a cash cow, albeit stunted, has ensured that the states continue to impose higher rates. Therefore, it was a mere token affection when the Finance Minister, in his budget for 2009-10, announced the abolition of FBT, which the airlines have been complaining was nothing but an additional unnecessary cost. While the airlines were grappling to cut costs, the FBT, by its very nature, rose with rise in expenditure, to which it was linked. It had become such a strange spectacle that, despite making losses, the airlines were forced to pay FBT even on their reduced operations. Even foreign airlines were made to pay FBT on their limited India operations. This was besides the idiotic service tax that continues to be levied on Business and First Class travel. At a time when many Indian carriers, and even foreign ones, are hardly getting passengers in these classes, the government is doing great disservice by continuing with such a service tax. It must be mentioned here that in the days
GO-AHEAD FOR BELLARY AIRPORT
Standing firm in the face of strong opposition from farmers, the Karnataka state government is going ahead with its proposal of constructing a new Greenfield airport in Bellary on the outskirts of the city. The state government has entrusted the task of acquiring the land required for construction of the airport to the Karnataka Industrial Areas Development Board (KIADB), which issued a notification on June 28 on the land to be acquired. The KIADB has also asked those whose lands are being acquired for the project to file their objections, if any, within 30 days from the date of notification. It proposes to acquire land in Siriwar, Standing firm against protests. Tegginabudihal and Chaganur villages in Bellary taluk. When G Janardhan Reddy, Minister for Tourism and Infrastructure Development, announced that a new airport would be constructed near Sangankal, and that
CRUISING HEIGHTS August 2009
Photo Courtesy: www.hindu.com
performance of airline duties. While it was an idea approved by the predecessor Finance Minister P Chidambaram, its abolition by the new incumbent, Mukherjee, has been welcomed by the airlines. However, this step, in their view, was a small consolation for non-action in getting the government to declare Aviation Turbine Fuel (ATF) or jet fuel as a “declared good” so that it attracts only 4 per cent sales tax as against nearly
副祡氠摥獥牴楮慬 周畲獤慹Ⱐ䩵汹″〬′〰㤠㘺㔱㨲㤠偍
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NEWS DIGEST when the government used to impose Inland Air Travel Tax and Foreign Travel Tax, which were abolished a few years ago, there were not as many domestic carriers as we have today. At that time, Indian Airlines was the leading domestic player and its employees were exempt from paying IATT as the company used to pick the tab when it issued free passages or near free passages to its employees, while all non-employee full revenue passengers also paid the travel tax. Over time, after its abolition, came the FBT, which was imposed on everyone. Thankfully, the passengers were not really affected though it hiked the cost of airlines. After abolition of FBT, the Finance Minister, in his new budget, has reintroduced the infamous Perquisite Tax where the taxmen can now value the perquisites as per their own whims and fancies. But the question is, will they value the free tickets, or should we say free passage of airline employees of both categories — those subject to load and those who are given passage on firm basis — as Perquisite Tax? Also, will the taxmen evaluate the passages on the basis of full fare ticket (which allows passengers to choose their date of travel, unlike the current ones where the date is fixed and any change attracts penalty in the form of additional fare), like the national carrier had been doing to its Frequent Flyer Programme members? Only recently, Air India allowed a 25 per cent discount in this calculation to FFP members, should they want to travel destinations of Air India’s choice and not of their own choice, and that too for a timeline of the airline’s choice.
MoU with IATA
T
he International Air Transport (ITDI) training centres worldwide. Association (IATA) and the Officials attending these programmes will Ministry of Civil Aviation also benefit from the networking (MOCA) have signed a opportunities with their counterparts from Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) around the world. to enhance the skills and knowledge of The training needs of the Directorate Indian civil aviation personnel to support the development of Indian aviation. The term of the MoU is for one year, and can be extended further, based on mutual agreement. The MoU was signed in Geneva on July 28 by IATA’s Director General and CEO Giovanni Bisignani and Civil Aviation Secretary IATA’s Director General & CEO Giovanni Bisignani and Civil Aviation Secretary Madhavan Nambiar at the MoU signing ceremony in Geneva. Madhavan Nambiar. “India is an important player in the General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) will aviation industry. It is a growth market also be addressed though customised for international aviation, and has a onsite programmes. The topics include leadership role to play in global aviation safety management, regulatory issues. Talent development will be compliance, airport operations, air critical for India to address the ever navigation systems management, changing priorities of Indian aviation and dangerous goods regulation, and security on international issues,” said Bisignani. management. The MoU is the first step towards a IATA will also cooperate with India’s closer partnership on training between National Institute of Aviation IATA and India. Under the MoU, civil Management and Research (NIAMAR) aviation officials will be provided with to explore new programmes which could the latest in aviation information at the be jointly organised at the NIAMAR IATA Training Development Institute campus in Delhi.
around 1,250 acres of land would be acquired, it had led to a controversy. Farmers of Siriwar and Chaganur opposed the move on the grounds that the land identified for acquisition was fertile with irrigation facilities. Moreover, several families, along with agricultural labourers, would be rendered jobless if the proposal went through, they said.
BIAL HIKES CHARGES
Beginning July 1, Bangalore International Airport Ltd (BIAL) is charging 10 per cent more as parking and landing charges from domestic as well as international airlines. Under the new fee structure for Bangalore, which is also applicable to the Hyderabad airport and has been approved by the Ministry of Civil Aviation, parking fee for aircraft weighing less than 100 tonnes is Rs 4.10 an hour/tonne and for aircraft weighing above 100 tonnes, it is Rs 410 and an additional Rs 5.40 a tonne/hour in excess of 100 tonnes. For aircraft weighing up to 100 tonnes, landing fee for international flights is Rs 250.50/tonne and for flights other than international flights, it is Rs 187.90/tonne. For aircraft weighing over 100 tonnes, the landing fee for international flights is Rs 25,050 plus Rs 336.60 a tonne in excess of 100 tonnes and, for
24
Paying more for parking.
others, it is Rs 18,790 plus Rs 252.50/tonne in excess of 100 tonnes. However, the domestic leg of international routes of Indian operators will be treated as domestic flights as far as landing charges are concerned. Also, from July 1, the user development fee of Rs 970.09 a passenger for international departures and Rs 235.72 a passenger for domestic departures is being collected from the airlines.
CRUISING HEIGHTS August 2009
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NEWS DIGEST
M
umbai International Airport Pvt Ltd (MIAL) has made travelling with children a breeze, with the launch of a new entertainment centre called the “TIMEZONE”. Once immigration and security formalities are over, if passengers wonder how to spend time before boarding is announced for their flights, this zone is a good option to look at. Located on the mezzanine level of the international terminal, next to the Food Court, the centre — with an area of 600 sq ft — has a whole range of facilities that not only meet the needs of adults, but also keep the young ones entertained. The zone would be operational 24/7, with trained staff manning the area. Formed in association with gaming giant “TIMEZONE” of Australia, the centre has been set up as a one-stop point for all, and combines a number of gaming options with the aesthetic features of a cozy area. With close to 15 games of international calibre, some of the options that kids and their
MIAL introduces Timezone
parents could choose from include Doll Catcher, Candy and Disney Toy Vending Machines, and Kiddie rides such as Toy Train and School Bus rides. Additionally, to further enhance the travel experience for families and make their experience at Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport (CSIA) a unique and enjoyable one, Timezone has also tied up with Walt Disney Co. to procure original Disney toys.
26
First quarter ’09: profits for SpiceJet, losses for Jet
T
he slow but steady shift by passengers and businesses towards no-frills, low-cost travel has helped no-frills airline SpiceJet to post a net profit of Rs 26.34 crore during the quarter ended June 30, 2009. The airline had a net loss of Rs 129.22 crore in the same quarter of 2008. Its total income stood at Rs 534.41 crore during the latest quarter, as against Rs 483.40 crore in the corresponding period last fiscal. The company’s market share improved to 12.4 per cent during Q1 from 10.4 per cent in April-June, 2008. The company said although Q1 remained weak for domestic aviation — with a decline of five per cent in passenger traffic over Q1 2008 — there were signs of recovery in June, which saw a traffic increase of 5.5 per cent over the same month previous year. This happened after a decline for 12 consecutive months. “We had a great quarter, given the challenges the industry continues to face. We saw an increased acceptance of our service by the consumers. This helped in absorbing the additional 10 per cent capacity that we deployed last year,” SpiceJet Chief Executive Officer Sanjay Aggarwal told a wire agency. So what do the SpiceJet results sanctify? That the LCC model is the future and it is here to stay. In the next six months, virtually two thirds of the seats in the Indian market will be LCC, and in that scenario, SpiceJet is bound to be impacted. How it withstands the increasing competition would be the airline’s real test. Meanwhile, Jet Airways, India’s largest airline firm by market value, announced a Rs 225.31 crore loss for the June quarter, compared with a net profit of Rs 143.38 crore a year ago. Kingfisher Airlines is yet to announce its results for the quarter. Intense competition, low yields and overcapacity in the market have taken a toll on the airline The company reported a net loss of Rs 225 crore during the first quarter ended June 30, 2009, compared with a profit of Rs 143 crore in the corresponding period last year. However, its low-cost subsidiary JetLite has, for the first time, broken even with a net profit of Rs 2 crore, against a net loss of Rs 135 crore in the same period last year. The company’s Board approved a proposal to raise up to $400 million. When asked about the instrument that could be used to raise CRUISING HEIGHTS August 2009
funds, Jet Airways CEO Wolfgang ProckSchauer told journalists: “We have not yet decided on the instrument, but all options are open.” Jet’s net sales declined 26 per cent to Rs 2,085 crore during the quarter from Rs 2,830 crore for the same quarter last fiscal. The company saw its fuel expenses dip 58
PROFITS
LOSSES
per cent to Rs 637 crore. Jet Airways said the low fare offering due to over-capacity led to a decline in average yields, and domestic operations also contributed to the loss. The airline reported a pre-tax loss of Rs 148 crore in domestic operations, while its international operations showed a pre-tax loss of Rs 77 crore. Corporate and business class traffic witnessed a slowdown. For the quarter as a whole, traffic fell 5 per cent. Fuel prices increased 8.2 per cent as compared to the January-March quarter, leading to an additional cost impact of Rs 43.5 crore. To further shore up its botomline, the airline has decided to replace expat pilots with Indian pilots by the end of the current fiscal. The company has a total of 1,100 pilots, of which 250 are expats. The contracts will expire in turns by October, December and the last lot by March next year. Foreign pilots charge a huge salary premium over Indian pilots. The DGCA had earlier said all domestic airlines should have only Indian pilots by July 2010. Jet has already reduced capacity by 20 per cent on domestic routes, and by half on international routes, in the last two quarters. Capacity is a measure determined by the number of operational aircraft and seats occupied in an airline.
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IVRCL, a Rs 3,000 crore group, is a name to reckon with in infrastructure, construction and real estate sectors in the country. IVR Prime Urban Developers Limited is a 100 per cent subsidiary of IVRCL and has successfully completed the prestigious Hill Ridge Township at Gatchi Bowli, Hyderabad. Many other projects are in various stages of implementation at Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad and Pune.
IVRCL Infrastructures & Projects Limited is making a foray into Noida in a big way with grand plans, both in residential as well as SEZ sectors:
Beautiful modern townships at 118, 119 and 121 Sectors of Noida
Residential blocks with world class modern amenities, including Gymnasiums, Club House and sports facilities
2, 3 & 4 Bedrooms Appartments with highend specifications
Development of IT SEZ at Sector 144
IVRCL INFRASTRUCTURES & PROJECTS LIMITED
Corporate Office : 8-2-596, 4th Floor, IVRCL Towers, Road No. 10, Banjara Hills, Hyderabad - 500 034 Ph.: +91-40-2335 2961 / 2962 / 2963 Fax: +91-40-2335 4482 e-mail: info@ivrinfra.com Delhi Regional Office : P2, Ist Floor, Green Park Ext., New Delhi-110016 , Ph.: 011-41001049
Coming
Soon
A lifestyle/travel magazine devoted to the world from Newsline Publications. Each month, TRAVEL X will provide features on the great deals available for the urbane Indian. While on one hand, it will reach readers who know about India and need to know more, it will also connect with people who simply love travelling. These will be the young, urban, brand-name oriented, eager consumers looking for the latest news and trends to inspire their lifestyle. Superbly crafted, TRAVEL X’s articles will present the trends of tomorrow, today. Covering everything from international destinations to spa and hotel guides, TRAVEL X will feature the latest trends in travel, gourmet, exclusive interviews and news you can use. As upscale as a monthly, as topical as a weekly, TRAVEL X will report on the latest trends in travel and shopping. Creating an environment of elegance and visual opulence with stylish layouts of outstanding artistic caliber and brilliant photos, TRAVEL X will bring the world of ubercool travel in your hands. It will be both entertaining and informative. With a growing subscriber base, travel companies, airlines and associations can use the magazine as a powerful marketing tool.
The magazine that will deliver TRUE INTEGRATION with scale.
Newsline Publications Pvt Ltd C-15, Sector-6, Noida-201301 Ph: 0120 - 4145555, 9810030533
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SPECIAL REPORT
Tossing the AI ball around K M Chandrasekhar
M Nambiar
Arvind Jadhav
Bharat Bhushan
Ashok Chawla
T K A Nair
Ajay Prasad
R K Singh
The situation within Air India continues to be worrying, with the various players having a stake in the airline busy treating it like a ball, to be tossed around, reports R Krishnan.
T
he Committee of Secretaries (CoS) meeting, chaired by Cabinet Secretary K M Chandrasekhar on July 25, 2009 to assess the fate of Air India, decided to take rest and reflect on the presentation made by Air India management. The presentation mainly painted three scenarios.
CRUISING HEIGHTS August 2009
Raghu Menon
Option one: Air India did not ask for any change in the aircraft order already placed, and whose deliveries were on course. It, however, said the company could return the earlier leased five Boeing 777s, some A320s and sell four of its six Boeing 747-400s, while leaving the remaining two jumbos with the government for VVIP duties. There was no recommendation for any change in the current delivery schedule of the
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SPECIAL REPORT 111 aircraft order Air India (68 Boeing aircraft) and Indian (43 Airbus aircraft) had placed in 2005-06 respectively. It was pointed out the airline could do without the leased aircraft and the Dreamliner Boeing 787 would come in due course. The state-owned airline has reportedly 40 aircraft on lease, comprising both Boeing and Airbus. Option Two: The airline suggested the possibility, among other things, of deferral of eight Airbus type aircraft and six Boeing 777-300 ERs. But there was not going to be any cancellation, and whatever was being suggested by the airline was in line with its efforts to cut cost by reducing the capital expenditure. Option Three: Cancellation of 10 A320 type aircraft and six Boeing 777-300 ERs. None of the three scenarios presented had anything on deferral of even a single plane for the current calendar year. Of the 111 new aircraft orders placed by the merged carrier, 51 aircraft have already arrived. A few more shall arrive before the end of 2009. However, the background music being played during the course of the presentation to the members of the CoS, that included Finance Secretary Ashok Chawla and Civil Aviation Secretary M M Nambiar, was that Air India would do its best to reduce the Productivity Linked Incentive (PLI), introduce an aggressive VRS, cut staff numbers, rationalise routes, etc, which would ultimately reduce the flab that wraps the airline many times over. In other words, the fall guys are the Air Indians themselves. And this is what has angered the employees of both Air India and Indian Airlines. As one of them put it succinctly: “We are being told to perform or perish. This is unforgivable and unacceptable. What makes it worse is the fact that the present CMD Arvind Jadhav’s predecessor Raghu Menon was on the Board of Air India for close to four years as a financial advisor. Was he sleeping? How does it matter? He has been continuously promoted and is now a Secretary. But we have to perform or perish. At least, Jadhav is straining every nerve to recast the image and the delivery,” said one senior AI staffer. Many of them are also not tired of
30
The fall guys are the Air Indians themselves. And this is what has angered the employees of both Air India and Indian Airlines
stressing that civil servants (Rajiv Gandhi Bhawan) and politicians (read Praful Patel), who are now lecturing them, should not forget that as far as Air India goes, they never gave the employees the freedom to make choices. “Be it routes, seat selection, inflight entertainment, uniforms for the in-flight crew or bilaterals, we are told what to choose and what not to. So, why are we asked to perish when it is they in Delhi who have performed, and performed miserably, all this while?” asked a staffer. At the end of the first round of discussions to revitalise Air India, the CoS indicated that the quantum of funds that the Government would provide as loan
PRAFULSPEAK
I am very sure it will start making profits soon and we will silence all the critics. The government also will not interfere in its problems beyond a point. The management has to address the problems. I am hopeful the carrier will be able to come out of its problems. An equity infusion and soft loan by the government as a measure of softening the adverse financial situation (of Air India) is contemplated. The government, in the past, has never assisted Air India, unlike governments in other countries that have assisted their airlines in similar difficulty. It has also taken measures to re-schedule aircraft deliveries and is returning leased planes at the earliest.
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and fresh equity infusion could become clear by the time it meets again next on August 29, 2009. At the first meeting, the Finance Ministry was requested (Does the Cabinet Secretary instruct Finance or does he request them?) to critically examine the extent of assistance that could be given to the merged legal entity NACIL, flying under Brand Air India. Even as this was being stated to the Air Indians present at the meeting, it was also pointed by the Cabinet Secretary that the airline will, on its part, also pursue a much better revenue management. Most important of all was the decision to appoint a cost auditor to monitor, review and ensure that cost reduction and operational efficiencies were implemented without any delay. Besides, the Petroleum Ministry, to start with, was asked to provide three months’ credit on the fuel uptake of Air India. That any final decision of the CoS will have to ultimately go to the Union Cabinet for clearance is known,
Page 5
Like in other matters, Air India employees had no choice in the selection of their new uniform (right) when the babus in Delhi decided to go in for a change.
CRUISING HEIGHTS August 2009
but in what shape and form is not, as there are still too many pulls within and from outside the Government. The two airlines together had placed orders for 111 new aircraft worth nearly Rs 50,000 crore. In this context, let’s do a background check as to what was the status of the two carriers, and where are they today financially? The then Indian made a meager profit during the years 1997 to 2000, which were followed by loss-making years between 2000 and 2003. Then again, Indian Airlines, as it was then called, entered the PAT (profit after tax) phase and made, in all, Rs 160 crore upto the year ending March 2006. However, in the next year, when the impact of new entrants like Kingfisher, SpiceJet, IndiGo, etc. became too much, Indian Airlines made a loss of Rs 240 crore. Air India, on the other hand, made a loss of Rs 600 crore between 1996-97 and 2000-01. Then, from 2001 to 200506, the Maharaja made a PAT of Rs 360 crore. So, in a way, both the carriers — AI and IA — were in serious loss mode by the time they were moving towards merger. It is of interest to note that the Ministry of Civil Aviation wrote to the Air India Board in April 2006 to consider merger with IA. The legal merger
31
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SPECIAL REPORT became effective in April 2007, by when the combined losses of the airline was Rs 772 crore. On its very first birth anniversary (or should we say first birthday) in April 2008, Air India (as NACIL is known) made a loss of Rs 2,226 crore. By its second birth anniversary in April 2009, Air India’s losses had zoomed to Rs 5,000 crore. The accumulated losses of Air India or NACIL, as on March 31, 2009, had reached Rs 7,200 crore. Superimpose on this its working capital need, which it borrowed from commercial banks rather than meeting it largely from its own business of flying. According to Air Indians, its working capital requirement exceeded the annual turnover — rising from Rs 2,369 crore, as on March 31, 2006, to Rs 16,300 crore in March 2009. Quite evidently, its financial condition was bad. However, how bad was not known clearly until the news about the inevitable delay in payment of salaries to its staff hit the headlines in May-June 2009. The delay in paying salaries and allowances continues as the airline continues to go under (one wag suggested that it may well be Air India underwater — akin to India’s new submarine fleet). Jokes apart, we would like to recall here some of the gem-like statements made by Air India’s previous CEO Raghu Menon, who
lasted for 13 months before having to quit in April 2009. In an interview to a respected UK-based airline journal (Airline Business), Raghu Menon (who had done two stints in the Ministry of Civil Aviation earlier, first as Joint Secretary and later as Special Secretary and then CMD of Air India) said the merger had increased the competitive strength of the airline in the Southeast Asian region. The irony is that the interview was published in December 2008 and Raghu Menon was looking for a new job four months later in April 2009. In his candid remarks, he painted a rosy picture even while admitting to some serious problems within Air India. He said the merger was one of the best things to have happened to Air India, making it far more competitive in the region of South and Southeast Asia. “The main gains that we anticipated have turned out to be quite realistic, particularly the network synergies and the synergies in operation, and despite all doomsday predictions, the human resource merger has also been greatly beneficial.” Menon maintained that even though mergers were generally complex processes, it had been fairly smooth in the case of Air India, and many of the apprehensions of the employees have been allayed, and within the next SPECIAL MOMENTS: (from top) When Air India embraced Boeing; Arrival six months, 80 per cent of of the first Airbus A319; and Praful Patel with staff members of Air India. HR merger would be complete. Raghu Menon said this was a very sigPRAFULSPEAK nificant achievement as he was talking of 15,000 employees with each airline. What There has to be change in the ethos and the Raghu Menon said next took the cake. He work culture of the airline. The government said, “I don’t say there have been no problems, but problems have really been at will be happy to help them, but we expect individual levels. At company level, it has equal amount of enthusiasm from Air India. You will been very encouraging and I am quite consee major changes in the next 30 days. There will be fident that over the next one and a half to two years, the merger will be complete in major changes in the Air India top management. We all ways. The carrier would be in a position to grow again from the second half of will bring in people with proven track record in 2009.” business. Some heads will roll. Now, where was the need for such glib talk and over-confidence when the
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CRUISING HEIGHTS August 2009
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Boeing, Boeing! But where is the money? India Express intended to continue with the current practice of using the plane for both, domestic and international legs. Deferral of deliveries could also include IFE-fitted A321s. As it is, the domestic arm of Air India has seen a sharp reduction in its market share to just
over 17 per cent, even as it claims its share in international market ex-India rose over the last few years to 23 per cent from 20 per cent. However, the fact remains that neither in the domestic market nor on the global routes, Air India is making money.
Cancellation of 777s — not yet
A
s on date, Air India (the international wing) has received all the eight Boeing 777-200 LRs it had ordered, besides seven of the 15 Boeing 777-300 ERs, with two more to arrive before the close of 2009. Air India had placed firm orders for Boeing 777-300 ERs, which means any deferral will relate to the remaining six Boeing 777300 ERs. It has already received 15 of its Boeing 737-800s for Air India Express, and three more will join the fleet shortly. However, the seven leased Boeing 737-800s with Air India Express could be returned. But then, what would happen to Air India Express’ plan to aggressively participate in the domestic skies as a domestic LCC arm of Air India, slated to begin in September 2009? Sources indicated there may not be a wholesale return of leased Boeing 737-800s, as Air condition within the airline — whether at HR level or commercial operations level — was at level zero? What Menon said in his conclusion was even stranger. He said Air India was only seeking a loan on soft terms, such as low interest with moratorium of two to three years before it could start repayment. In effect, what he said was ‘we need no bailout, as we are not in the kind of trouble where we need the government to intervene.’ Within months of this sermon being published, Raghu Menon was asked to quit and replaced by the Karnataka Cadre IAS officer Arvind Jadhav, who, incidentally, had applied for the same AI CMD job for which Raghu Menon was chosen in the first place. Perhaps, Jadhav should thank his stars that he did not get the job first, and that he has been appointed at a time when he has to first do a complete post-mortem of what went wrong and then prepare for a surgery.
R
eacting to news that Air India had cancelled the remaining 777s and asked for compensation for the delay in the Dreamliner, Air India’s Executive Director (Corporate Communication) Jitendra Bhargava said: “That’s not correct. We have a longstanding and warm relationship with Boeing and keeping in view the current global crisis I am sure we will find a way out with Boeing that will be to the mutual satisfaction of both and hence we are in a dialogue with them. Even this morning (July 31), Mr. Jadhav had a fruitful and friendly meeting with Boeing (India) President Dinesh Keskar.” Bhargava acknowledged that Air India was trying to work with Boeing on cancelling the remaining 777s, but admitted that because of the high costs of the cancellation they were attempting to find a via media. He did admit that they were still not there, but the entire process
Air India’s woes are now firmly in the Government’s radar and its babus are examining every little nuance and putting the finances and the performance of the airline under a scanner CRUISING HEIGHTS August 2009
was a work in progress. It was the same case with the 787s (Dreamliners). But reports are that AI’s engineering department has indeed moved a note asking for the cancellation and it is now being vetted by the legal department. What this means is that there has been no formal communication to Boeing nixing the balance 777s. As Bhargava said the idea is to find “a mutually agreeable solution”. Highly-placed sources said that it would be virtually impossible for Air India to wriggle out of the balance aircrafts on order. The contract is so watertight that the Maharaja would virtually forfeit a huge amount of money it had paid to book the planes. “That would run into crores and crores and could become a monumental controversy in itself. At this point in time neither the Civil Aviation Ministry nor Air India would like any more negative publicity. Unlike what Raghu Menon believed, Air India’s woes are now firmly in the Government’s radar and its babus are examining every little nuance and putting the finances and the performance of the airline under a scanner. But the best comment was from one seasoned old-timer in Air India, who has represented them in cricket. He said: Air India is like a ball that is in the Government’s court, and its babus are examining the ball like a fast bowler would examine the cherry before bowling it to the opening batsman, who in this case are the competitors who have already hit Air India for a six, apart from its own players indulging in misfielding, deliberate over-throws, etc. The third umpire in Rajiv Gandhi Bhawan, instead of keeping watch over the game, himself became a player when he began batting for the other team, before rain, in the form of the global economic slowdown, spoiled the game for everyone.
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COVER STORY
India on Mideast carriers’
sights The Middle East is emerging as an important hub for cargo movement, with fast-paced development of cargo facilities, as well as expansion of capacities and flights to and from India by airlines like Emirates, Etihad and Qatar Airways, which are increasingly looking at India as one of the world's fastest-growing cargo centres, reports Tirthankar Ghosh.
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G
eometrical theories are being rewritten. One always assumed that the shortest route from A to B was a straight line. No longer. That “straight line”, cargo shippers in India are learning, has to go through the Middle East. What is so special about the Middle East? Carriers from the Gulf — especially the top three, Emirates, Etihad and Qatar Airways — are increasing capacity/flights to and from India when most others are crying for loads. Ram Menen, Emirates’ Divisional Senior Vice President - Cargo, is certain that the main reason is the Gulf’s geographical position. In fact, at a panel discussion in Munich some time ago, Menen pointed out that Dubai was the centre of the world and its hub was future-ready, despite protests from Lilian Chan, General Manager (Marketing and Customer Service), at Hong Kong Air Cargo Terminals Ltd (Hactl), who said that Hong Kong was the logistics hub of the future. Menen obviously had his reasons. He told CRUISING HEIGHTS, “The Middle East, especially the Gulf, benefits from its geocentric advantage of being very central and having economies which have been affected, but to a lesser degree, by the current economic crisis.” Dubai, according to Menen, has easy access to a huge market of
“Dubai has easy access to a huge market of more than two billion people residing in the Indian subcontinent.” — Ram Menen Emirates’ Divisional Senior Vice President - Cargo
CRUISING HEIGHTS August 2009
more than two billion people residing in the Indian subcontinent. Chan, on the other hand, said that Hong Kong had a larger market than that: she was referring to the Greater China region and other markets within easy reach of Hong Kong. The battle for supremacy apart, there is no doubt that in these times of global recession, India continues to woo suppliers, and by ripple effect the cargo carriers from the Middle East. Qatar Airways’ Vice President Cargo Sales, Vikram Singh also holds the view that his base, Doha, is “strategically placed to provide good connections from India to most parts of the world, especially to the Middle East, Europe and the United States.” The Middle East’s central position is being leveraged by the carriers in the region to take business to and from Europe, Asia and Africa. According to aviation watchers, the lack of direct flights between Indian cities and European ones has come as an opportunity to the carriers from the Middle East. Witness the growth of the aviation hubs in the region. Each of the three carriers operates from its own hub and looks forward to its exponential growth. Said Ram Menen: “The hub is always a very important part of our growth. Good infrastructure is needed to be able to have an unconstrained growth capability. Dubai has led the way by starting to build the new
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COVER STORY
Creating the jewel of the Middle East
T
he move to create the hub of the future that Emirates’ Ram Menen talked about can be witnessed at Dubai. Come June 2010, the new airport in Dubai, Al-Maktoum International Airport, currently under construction, will start operations. Sheikh Ahmad Bin Said AlMaktoum, the chairman of Dubai aviation authority, recently indicated in a statement that the new mega air facility would serve the major objective of transforming Dubai into an international centre for aviation services and transportation.
Al-Maktoum International Airport.
The new airport, based in the heart of Dubai, will be a centre for businesses and commercial activities and will secure many investment opportunities related to trade and housing. The airport would also meet Dubai’s strategic needs in the domain of aviation,
Al Maktoum International airport in Jebel Ali, which will be one of the largest, if not the largest, airports in the world, of which about 25 square kilometers is going to be dedicated to logistics activities.” Des Vertannes, Etihad Airways’ Executive Vice President Cargo echoed similar sentiments about Abu Dhabi, his carrier’s main hub. Said he: “Our hub in Abu Dhabi provides an excellent base for our operations to and from India, connecting the country to destinations in Europe, Africa, Middle East and America. The hub at Abu Dhabi airport recently expanded to accommodate a further 1,50,000 tonnes. This incorporates new facilities, including cool rooms which are supports for the drive to provide an ultra-efficient, safe, reliable and fast transit airport.” A major portion of the cargo — from fruits and vegetables to computer peripherals, pharma products, apparel and automotive components — carried by these airlines is on an east-west direction. Simply put, that means that shipments from India, China and the South-east Asian nations move through
36
tourism, commerce and logistic services till the year 2050. It will be the main part of Dubai World Central, a planned residential, commercial logistic complex scheme. World Central is the world's first truly integrated logistics platform, with all transport modes, logistics and valueadded services, including manufacturing and assembly, in a single bonded and free-zone environment. Described as the world’s largest passenger and cargo hub, and ten times larger than Dubai International Airport and Dubai Cargo Village combined, the new airport will have an annual cargo capacity of 12 million tonnes, more than three times that of Memphis International Airport, today’s largest cargo hub, and a passenger capacity between 120 million and 150 million per year, almost 65 per cent more than Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (90 million in 2008), currently the world’s busiest passenger airport. Blueprinted for the future, Al Maktoum International Airport is designed to handle all next-generation aircraft, including the Airbus A380 super-jumbo. Up to four aircraft will be able to land simultaneously, 24 hours a day, minimising in-air queuing.
In these times of global recession, India continues to woo suppliers, and by ripple effect, the cargo carriers from the Middle East CRUISING HEIGHTS August 2009
the Middle East hubs to Europe and the US. Fulfilling the demands of consumers, the airlines reach out to what Ram Menen refers to as the “about 5.8 billion people in about eight hours flying distance, with twothirds of that number being in the fastestgrowing economies east of Dubai. And two thirds of those live in fast-growing economies.” In fact, the economies of the Gulf region are part of Qatar Airways’ focus. Vikram Singh was candid when he pointed out that his carrier serviced “Doha and other Middle East countries that have a large Indian workforce. This workforce, which totals 13 million in the GCC countries alone, is involved in all aspects of the business — from construction workers to senior managers. So, in addition to the demand from India, there is also the demand from this very dynamic workforce travelling home on a regular basis.” Vertannes’ sights, however, are set on India. “As the world’s second fastest growing economy in the world, India offers tremendous opportunities to Etihad Crystal Cargo, with demand for all types of air freight into and out of the country. This includes general commodities, pharmaceuticals, perishables and electronics.” Today, Etihad flies to 54 destinations across the globe, and of these six are Indian: Delhi, Mumbai, Kochi, Thiruvananthapuram, Chennai and Kozhikode. “The rate of our expansion is indicative of our belief that India is a key destination in our network,” emphasised Vertannes, “and important in our expansion plans for the future.” “India is witnessing tremendous growth in its TierII markets and we hope to be able to capitalise on these in the future,” he added. Bubbling over with optimism, the Etihad Cargo head said that the carrier had set its sights on operations to four new cities — Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Ahmedabad and Amritsar — subject to approval from Indian civil aviation authorities.” Witness the growth. According to Neerja Bhatia, General Manager - India and Sri Lanka, Etihad Airways, the cargo tonnage ferried by Etihad during the last six months (to India as well as abroad) has surpassed expectations. In the month of May ‘09, for example, EYCC (Etihad Airways Crystal Cargo) moved 25,136 shipments (+23 per cent against previous best so far in 2009). The May tonnage was the best in EYCC’s history at 18,625 tonnes (+24 per cent against previous best so far in 2009). Till June ‘09, the total number of shipments for the year was 1,29,341, while the total tonnage was 99,559 tonnes. It is not only Etihad that has done well. Despite the downturn, Emirates’ Menen continues to be optimistic. He pointed out,
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“Our optimism also comes from the fact that, although this crisis is of mega proportions and possibly worse than the 1930s crash, the recovery process is going to be a lot faster in the 21st century. Within eight months of the beginning of the crisis, the financial market (which was the one that created the crisis) seems to be going through a period of stability. The best minds in the world are working together on the recovery project/process in globally muchintertwined economies. At the end of the day, we are all in it for the long haul and have to manage the challenges and the economic cycles on this journey.” Even so, Emirates SkyCargo, which was expecting a decline of 20 per cent in the current fiscal year — it ferried around 1.3 million tonnes in 2007/08 fiscal year — expected a recovery in cargo volumes in the final quarter of 2009 (around 65 per cent of Emirates cargo is transported in the belly of passenger planes and the rest in freighters). To top it all, a brand new Boeing 777F joined SkyCargo recently, close on the heels of the first one which was delivered some time ago. These were in addition to the 17 new passenger aircraft Emirates took delivery of in the last few months. So strong is the India focus that Emirates has chalked out ambitious expansion plans for the next one year. Menen ascribes the planned growth first to the bilaterals between India and the UAE and second to the economy of the country. “Bilaterals are very crucial to the growth of any aviation related entity. We are, of course, great proponents of free market and open skies. Dubai’s story is a classic example of what open skies regime can do to the growth of a city/country. All governments want to have a healthy export-based economy. To this extent, restrictions can seriously compromise the capacity that is badly needed to grow the economy.” India, he emphasised, will continue to be one of the fastest growing economies in the world. Menen believed that apart from the growth in services, “we will see major growth in manufacturing activities in the country.” That sense of optimism has prompted Emirates to add 22 weekly flights by 2010 in India. The existing service of 163 flights per week to 10 Indian gateways will be strengthened to 185 over the summer and winter periods. The carrier has launched its ‘Journey through India’ campaign. Justifying the reasons for the expansion, Majid Al Mualla, Emirates’ Vice President, Commercial Operations West Asia and Indian Ocean mentioned that “the global slowdown is not over yet, but the outlook for the future is showing signs of improvement. When traditional European markets
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“Qatar Airways Cargo sees India as an important part of its business activity now and for many years to come… India will continue to be a dominant force in world trade volumes.” — Vikram Singh Qatar Airways’ Vice President Cargo Sales CRUISING HEIGHTS August 2009
dried up, India was quick to refocus its trade and marketing efforts in targeting regions not severely affected by the economic downturn, such as the Middle East, Eastern Europe, Africa and parts of Southeast Asia.” Emirates, with its robust global network, he pointed out, was well-placed to connect India to the world. Menen mentioned that Emirates has “a fairly large amount of belly capacity deployed to all the points that we operate in India. We operate to about 10 points in India and have about 3,000 tonnes of weekly capacity available in each direction, which includes our once-weekly scheduled eastbound freighter service to Chennai. On top of this, we bring in services on demand on ad hoc basis.” In a move that could floor all competition in the future, Emirates is specifically focusing on cities that serve cargo and passengers. The service to Ahmedabad, for example, will be enhanced with a double-daily operation, adding six weekly flights to its existing eight-flights-a-week service. Pharmaceutical exports will receive a major impetus as the cargo capacity on the route will increase to 236 tonnes per week per direction. From Chennai, Emirates will operate a triple-daily with the addition of two flights between October and December this year. Cargo exports from the city take the form of textiles, garments, electrical and electronic goods, machinery and spares, leather products, pharmaceuticals, perishables, valuables and mobile phones. The enhanced cargo capacity of 343 tonnes per week per direction will increase the city’s export potential to Europe, America, Africa and the
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COVER STORY Middle East. The eastern gateway of Kolkata will witness an enhancement in flights: five additional flights will be added from December, bringing the total frequency to 12 per week. The city’s export of fresh fruits, vegetables, jute, leather, silk and tea will benefit from an improved cargo capacity of 190 tonnes per week per direction. Lastly, the southern cities of Kozhikode and Thiruvananthapuram will also witness an increase in the number of flights. Post expansion, the carrier will operate 11 flights offering 157 tonnes of belly-cargo capacity per week per direction from Kozhikode. If Menen is to be believed, then growth will definitely continue. Yes, the carrier is looking towards other regions but India will continue to dominate at the top of the list. He said, “India’s growth is not going to slow down in the foreseeable future… so it is not going to be ‘after India’! Africa is a new frontier and we are already seeing progress and growth processes taking place in various parts of the continent. We are also putting more production to Africa. In fact, we are starting two new destinations later this year — Luanda (Angola) and Durban (South Africa).” The expansion plans of the carriers prove one point: the Middle East happens to be the most widely-used transshipment point to and from India. And if the growing volumes moving out of Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Doha are any indication, shippers will continue to popularise carriers operating out of these hubs. Not only are the Middle Eastern hubs proving cheaper to transship goods but they also provide greater frequency than point-to-point operators. To keep the traffic flowing and woo new busisness, Qatar Airways has charted out growth plans amounting to $1 billion for improvements at Doha International Airport for the present even as its New Doha International Airport is being completed. For Vikram Singh, the Doha hub is a big step for the India thrust. The Doha hub, he told CRUISING HEIGHTS, has grown rapidly since 2006 with considerable infrastructure modifications. “The cargo handling capacity has increased by 40 per cent. A new chiller facility has been developed, boasting 21-pallet storage capacity with six different temperature zones.” Qatar Airways Cargo is very proud of its Doha hub, Singh emphasised. “It has made considerable investment in staff and facilities to ensure the hub provides an efficient seamless service for all its customers.” Qatar’s cargo division has dedicated operations staff, on duty 24 hours, seven days a week, and their primary roles are to monitor the transshipments through Doha to ensure
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CARGO HUB: The Middle East is emerging as an important cargo hub for India, with carriers from the Gulf increasing capacity/flights to and from India.
The expansion plans of the carriers prove one point: the Middle East happens to be the most widely-used transshipment point to and from India CRUISING HEIGHTS August 2009
the customers’ cargo always connects with the booked flight.” Today, he says, the Qatar Airways Cargo customer enjoys a hub service that is recognised as above industry standards. “The customer,” said Singh, “can be confident that this will continue with the existing facilities, and be enhanced with the shift into the new (upcoming) facility.” Enthusiastic about the hub, Singh said that the transshipment performance goal of the Doha hub is 98 per cent and “the actual performance runs close to this each week.” In preparation for the future, the New Doha International Airport will open with a state-of-the-art Cargo Terminal in 2011. It will have 30,000 sq m warehouse with a capacity of 7,50,000 tones a year, but capable of handling 15,00,000 tonnes a year. 8 dedicated freighter parking bays. Automated handling systems. Special facilities for handling all product types, including dangerous goods and valuable storage. An animal handling facility to cope with all sizes of birds, fish and reptiles within an air-conditioned area. A new seaport alongside featuring a free zone. Simultaneously, the carrier will increase its fleet strength. By 2013, it will have 110 aircraft (today it has 68). To top it all, the India-centric focus will continue. A bullish
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A paperless claims system
I
n its bid to better its services and bring about transparency in its dealings with customers, Emirates SkyCargo has launched a new SkyChain Customer Relations module, through which customers can submit any post-sale feedback on the carrier’s products and services, and they can submit intent of claims or claim online. The paper-free system enables customers to access information on the status of their queries and claims at any time, and communicate with Emirates SkyCargo for follow-up on related issues. The new system has three main functions: The first function of the new system is its customer feedback, which allows customers to submit feedback or comments to Emirates SkyCargo directly on the products and services they have experienced. Customers can also submit an Intent
Vikram Singh told CRUISING HEIGHTS, “Qatar Airways Cargo sees India as an important part of its business activity now and for many years to come… India will continue to be a dominant force in world trade volumes.” The airline forecasts that export volumes out of India will continue to rise. “As exports continue to grow from India to many of the cargo destinations we fly to, so too has the need for more cargo uplift. We have deployed narrow-body and wide-body passenger aircraft with significant cargo volumes to and from the eight Indian gateways we serve,” Singh said. According to Singh, the export volumes will grow each year over the next five years. “Passenger demand will also continue to grow, creating new opportunities for cargo with additional destinations and increased frequency and capacity to existing destinations,” he said, and went on to point out that “the strong volumes will also create demand for additional freighter services. Qatar Airways Cargo takes delivery of the first of its B777F in 2010, which will bring a new dimension to its freighter services and the destinations it can serve.” Qatar Airways Cargo operates regular freighter services into Chennai and Delhi. It carries belly-hold cargo with the airline’s passenger services. “We also operate services to Delhi, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Mum-
“As the world’s second fastest growing economy in the world, India offers tremendous opportunities to Etihad Crystal Cargo, with demand for all types of air freight into and out of the country” — Des Vertannes Etihad Airways’ Executive Vice President Cargo CRUISING HEIGHTS August 2009
of Claim, whereby they notify Emirates SkyCargo of their intention to claim for an irregularity in their shipment within a stipulated time period. Customers may also proceed directly into Submitting a Claim. Claims may be made by the airwaybill issuing agent, consignee, shipper or subrogated recovery agents on behalf of shipper or consignee. They simply need to log the details of their claim online and upload the supporting documents. If everything is in order, the claim resolution would be quickly processed. According to Pradeep Kumar, Emirates’ Senior Vice President - Cargo Revenue Optimisation, “The advantages of the SkyChain Customer Relations module are numerous — users have total online transparency, they will save a lot of time by not having to submit physical documents as it is entirely paperless.”
bai, Kochi, Thiruvananthapuran and Kozhikode. Amritsar and Goa will join the Qatar Airways’ Indian network in October this year,” said Singh. While the uplift consists mainly of pharmaceuticals, perishables, garments, textiles and electronics destined for Europe, Middle East and the USA, the inbound loads are personal items, hi tech and capital goods. The three carriers — Emirates, Etihad and Qatar Airways — along with other Middle East-based carriers like Kuwait Airways and the all-cargo Abu Dhabi-based Midex Airlines, will continue to reap the benefits of liberalisation. According to a report from the Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation, the carriers have been able to develop such sophisticated networks for themselves that they are able to exploit opportunities that come their way. “As a result, they now enjoy an extensive permutation of new city pairs each time a gateway is added. Many of the European routes they feed have previously been heavily protected by restrictive bilateral agreements that did not allow access by sixth freedom carriers like the Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) airlines,” according to the report. To top it all, CAPA notes that most of the carriers have taken delivery of new ultra-long haul aircraft, enabling them to leverage not only their geographic situation but also the ability “to access almost any point in the world non-stop with their next generation aircraft.”
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SPOTLIGHT
Voila!
DPD is here France’s top express parcel outfit has moved out of Europe to set up a joint venture with the Delhi-based Vohra family-owned Continental Carriers. The venture, DPD Continental, would initially handle packages for European and other destinations and later move into the domestic market. A report from Tirthankar Ghosh.
W
ith the new government in power — and the fact that this time around Dr Manmohan Singh heads a Cabinet that cannot be swayed by the pulls and pressures of alliance partners — India is slowly and surely becoming the toast of Western nations. This is due to the growing belief that India and China, with their “stronger” economies, would be able to bail out struggling Western nations. So, when GeoPost, the express parcel arm of French Groupe La Poste, and Continental Air Express Pvt Ltd, an associate company of the Vohra familyowned Continental Carriers Group, announced the setting up of a joint venture company — perhaps, the first international joint venture after the elections —the news created quite an interest in the logistics domain. The new company, DPD Continental Pvt. Ltd., would offer inbound and outbound express parcel services under the well-known European
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CRUISING HEIGHTS August 2009
DPD brand to customers in India. The venture with the French government-owned postal services company, La Poste, took quite a long time to take off. The GeoPost Group, the express parcel arm of La Poste, was cleared by the government to invest in Continental Air Express after it assured that it would not trespass into the zealously guarded territory held by the Indian government-controlled India Post. The clearance came
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with a restriction: GeoPost would only deal in Business-to-Business express parcel deliveries, with each parcel weighing between two and 31.5 kilograms. GeoPost’s willingness to take a stake in the Indian company had been rejected a number of times by India and the permission came, according to senior government officials, only after the then Finance Minister P Chidambaram (now the Home Minister) took a look at the GeoPost case. The objections to the investment had come from the Foreign Investment Promotion Board. The Board was acting upon a missive from the Indian Department of Posts, which stated that the French postal firm would go against international postal conventions if it came into the country. The rules, in fact, are clear: any postal agency which wants to operate in any country outside its own must have an agreement with the postal operator of that country. GeoPost’s stand, however, was equally clear. It said that its operations would not pose a challenge to India Post since it focused on the premium express parcel segment and did not deliver letters and postal parcels. Express parcels weigh more than two kilos. GeoPost also pointed out that there were no objections to DHL, that was owned by Germany’s Deutsche Post. According to industry-watchers, the permission to GeoPost could trigger a change in the India Post Office Act, which is undergoing amendments. Apparently, one of the amendments seeks to limit foreign investment in express and courier companies to 49 per cent from the present 100 per cent. Now that the joint venture has taken off — with an investment of €4.66 million (GeoPost holds 60 per cent shares while the balance 40 per cent is held by the Vohra family) — it remains to be seen whether DPD Continental would be able to counter the competition posed by Blue DartDHL, among others in the sector. “We received the FIPB approval for investment of €2.8 million in the business, which will be invested by GeoPost, while the rest will be invested by Continental,” DPD Continental CEO Gautam Nath told CRUISING HEIGHTS. To begin with, DPD Continental will offer its services in New Delhi and Mumbai. By the end of 2009, operations will be rolled out across several major cities in the country, including Bengaluru, Chennai and Kolkata. The new outfit hopes to get business from exporters of textile, handicrafts and brass, among other articles.
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GEOPOST FLIES INTO INDIA: Wolfgang Lehmacher, President and CEO, GeoPost Intercontinental SAS (at the driver’s seat in the van) with Vipin Vohra (second from left), Chairman of Continental Carriers Group. Also seen in the picture are (L to R) Vaibhav Vohra, Director, Continental Carriers, Gautam Nath, CEO, DPD Continental (second from right) and Emanuil Stoimenos, CEO Middle East and South Asia, GeoPost Intercontinental, Dubai.
“We are looking at packages from India comprising textile, handicrafts, electronics, etc. In fact, anything weighing upto 31.5 kgs that can be handled in an automated environment.” — Gautam Nath CEO, DPD Continental CRUISING HEIGHTS August 2009
Nath said that DPD Continental would be “offering international express. That means we are looking at packages from India comprising textile, handicrafts, electronics, etc. In fact, anything weighing upto 31.5 kgs that can be handled in an automated environment.” As for setting up warehouses or a fullscale trucking fleet, the CEO said that in the express parcel business, “we do not want to keep anything with us. Any parcels that come to us have to be dispatched at the earliest. So, the need of maintaining a warehouse does not arise.” Over a period of time, however, the company would be setting up a domestic footprint. “We will be covering Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Pune, Ahmedabad and Tirupur by the middle of next year. Once we are established in these cities we go into our second phase, which is domestic coverage,” said Nath, and emphasised that “I need a minimum footprint in the country to start domestic operations.” Talking to CRUISING HEIGHTS, Wolfgang Lehmacher, President and CEO of GeoPost Intercontinental SAS, said that the setting up of DPD Continental Pvt. Ltd. was a significant step in the realisation of “our global strategy to strengthen our position as the world’s domestic express parcel specialist. The joint venture is the result of a successful cooperation with our partner Continental Air Express.
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SPOTLIGHT
‘It is time to build on the Continental name’ Vaibhav Vohra is just 23 years old, but the young man has broad enough shoulders to take on the responsibilities of a director of a ‘multinational’, DPD Continental, in the making. Armed with a degree in Entrepreurship and Finance from the US, Vaibhav joined the family business — Continental Carriers Group — set up by his grandfather. He outlined his vision for the company when he spoke to CRUISING HEIGHTS. You have stepped into big shoes. What is your plan for the future? We have now decided that it is time for us to build on the Continental name. We are putting ourselves in the market, and we are getting into niche logistics. Very recently, we have joined the Aviation Logistics Network. It is an exclusive network of partners who specialise in aviation logistics. We are new to the game, and though we cannot call ourselves specialists yet, our aim, in the next few months, is to drive this business forward. The (Aviation Logistics Network) partners specialise in handling aviation spare parts; this involves specific items like all dangerous goods… their handling, clearance, etc. Aviation spare parts are moved — almost always — in an emergency situation. This is a 24-hour job and we are on call 24x7. This is special cargo, often needing special cranes and special trucks. We have the infrastructure to provide such services and we are trying to leverage that to the maximum potential. The tie-up with DPD… It is a tie-up with Continental Air Express, a sister concern of Continental Carriers. We are primarily wholesalers. If you remember, we were the first to place on-board couriers on flights, and all the big companies used to courier with us. The on-board courier services stopped in 2005. We zeroed in on DPD, which has a reputation and so has Continental. DPD is No. 1 in France and No. 2 in Europe. In 2008, GeoPost had a turnover of Euros 3.292 bn, a 7.1 per cent growth in turnover in comparison to 2007. The company transports 550 mn parcels per year worldwide from its 800 hubs and depots to 3,00,000 customers in 230 countries around the world. We (Vipin Vohra and Vaibhav Vohra) have partnered with GeoPost and we are bringing in the brand name DPD. Our work area will initially be India and eventually some parts of Asia — possibly the SAARC nations. We are targeting international packages to start with. Once our infrastructure develops and is in place then we will look at how to expand. Who will your competitors be? Well, almost everyone is a competitor. We will have to build our loads. It won’t happen in a day… The plan is to connect the interiors to the hubs through our road network. We have a team now which is setting up sales offices in the metro cities. Has the recession affected your business? We are lucky enough to state that we are quite stable, although there is a definite downtrend in our customers. But we have not been affected as others have. Loads at Continental have been stable and not gone down. We are not going to come up and tell you that we have lost 20, 30 or 40 per cent. Our customer base remains strong. We have not lost business in double digit percentages.
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CRUISING HEIGHTS August 2009
It provides European customers with deep reach into India, and Indian customers with deep reach into Europe and into other important regions in the world.” The investment, according to Lehmacher, would be used to set up offices around the country, as well as the IT network which will streamline operations. “Our strategy globally has been to partner with airlines and fleet for delivery of packages and not investing heavily on assets. This is what we intend to follow in India,” Lehmacher said. GeoPost, the No. 2 on the European Express Parcel market, has built a flexible global network by combining owned infrastructure in selected locations and partnerships with premium players in express parcel distribution. DPD Continental Pvt. Ltd. will offer value for money, reliable and efficient solutions for worldwide and domestic distribution to help customers optimise their supply chain. DPD Continental Pvt. Ltd. will offer an efficient collaborative solution with the intellectual, financial and organisational backing of both the joint venture partners. Vipin Vohra, Chairman and Managing Director of Continental Carriers Group, pointed out that the “partnership with GeoPost in our associate company Continental Air Express Pvt. Ltd” was a major step for Indian express companies. “After successfully establishing a footprint in the areas of air/ocean freight, consolidation, project handling, logistics and customs clearance, we look forward to offering world-class express parcel services to the Indian customers through DPD Continental Pvt. Ltd. and set a benchmark for quality standards in the Indian express parcel market.” Gautam Nath has his work cut out. He knows that the market has to be built up and it has to be done slowly. He put it aptly: “The domestic market,” he said, “is divided into four or five segments. The first is the typical courier letter which we are not handling at all. Then we come to domestic parcels and heavier parcels. That may require warehouses, fleet of trucks, etc. Whether we invest totally in this segment or we go into partnerships with others, that is a commercial decision. Personally, I would prefer going into partnerships. There are local experts in each city or region who already have the infrastructure, so why should I go and compete with them. It is better to partner since then I will use their infrastructure while they utilise my expertise… for me, there is the partner and the customer. It is a win-winwin situation. All this, however, will be mapped out next year.”
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SPECIAL FOCUS
OPaL: A jewel in the crown October 2012 will witness the beginning of the country's biggest petrochemical project taking off at Dahej in Gujarat. An upbeat CEO, OPal, P K Johri, gave out some details of the project. iterally speaking, OPaL is like a jewel in the
L
next year,” Mr Johri said and added, “we are looking for a strategic
crown of ONGC.This subsidiary company of
partner who can either bring in technology or has a strong marketing
the country’s premier oil exploration navrat-
network. By the year end (December
na, Oil and Natural Gas Commission, will drive the
2009) we may be able to finalise the
petrochemical revolution at Dahej in Gujarat. The
strategic partner.”
country’s biggest petrochemical project with an
Here are a few details of the project:
estimated cost of Rs 12,440 crore is being driven by OPaL and has
The proposed complex will consist of
already awarded Rs 8,000 crore worth work for the project that is
dual feed cracker of around 1100 kpta of
expected to be commissioned in October 2012.
hydrocarbon components (C2, C3, C4)
OPaL is promoted by ONGC and co-promoted by GSPC
and naphtha feedstock
(Gujarat State Petroleum Corp): ONGC has a 26 per cent equity
The feed stock of Naphtha and C2-C3
stake in OPaL, and GSPC has 5 per cent. The other shareholder is
for the petrochemical shall be sourced
the public sector Gas Authority of India Ltd that has picked up a 19
from ONGC plants at Hazira, Uran and Dahej The annual capacity of the plant is 1.1 MMTPA Ethylene, 340,000
per cent stake in the company. The project is coming up with a plant spread over 500 hectares of land near Ambheta village in the Dahej Industrial Area in Vagra taluka
tons of propylene, 135,000 tons of benzene and 95,000 tons of butadiene
of Bharuch district. The petrochemical complex, which would be built
These products are used as source materials in the plastics industry
by December 2011, is being funded in 2.55:1 debt-equity ratio. SBI
The Dahej petro-chemical plant, being built at a total estimated cost
Caps is the lead arranger for the debt that is around Rs 9.000 crores.
of Rs.12, 440 crore, will be the largest Petrochemical Cracker Unit
The special purpose vehicle formed for setting up the petrochem-
in India.
ical complex at the Dahej Special Economic Zone (SEZ) is also
The plant is to be completed by 2012.
attracting the interest of foreign firms, including giants like Mitsubishi
The downstream unit will be producing HDPE, LLDPE,
Chemicals, Mitsui Chemicals and Itochu among others who are keen
Polypropylene, Butene-1, Benzene, Py-gasoline, Butadiene and
to pick up stake as strategic partners. While 50 per cent of the equity
the associated products.
has been tied up, 25 per cent will be offered to a strategic partner and
“Besides the international demand, petrochemical has got a lot of
the balance 25 per cent will be raised through initial public offering
potential in India. Compared to other countries, the consumption is very
(IPO). “The offering may happen at the end of December 2011 or first
low in India. At present, the consumption is 5 kg per capita, which the
quarter of 2012 and that will come on premium when the project takes
government wants to increase up to 12 kg by 2010,” said Mr Johri.
shape and is visible on ground,” said Mr P K Johri, Chief Executive Officer (CEO), OPaL.
The company is looking at markets in China, the Indian sub- continent (Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh), Vietnam, Philippines,
For strategic partnership, OPaL is talking to four/five international companies. “We expect to finalise details by end of this year or early
Malaysia, some African countries and Israel to sell their products used as source materials in the plastics industry.
CRUISING HEIGHTS August 2009
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CARGO JOTTINGS DHL takes lead to push auto sector
DHL has taken the initiative to power the automotive industry. The logistics major has identified three core areas — manufacturing, aftermarket and international supply chain — that would go a long way towards taking the auto industry in the country to success in the near and long term. The new initiative was launched during the Automotive India Conference 2009 in Pune, that was hosted by DHL recently. According to experts, more than 50 per cent of growth in the automotive sector would take place in emerging markets through 2015, and India was at the forefront of this trend, playing an increasingly prominent role in the global industry. The country's auto sector was expected to contribute 10 per cent to its GDP by 2016. Kalpesh Pathak, Assistant Vice President, Corporate Supply Chain Management, Fiat India said, “with the changing automotive landscape in the country, there is a need for closer collaboration for the OEMs (Original Equipment Manufacturers) and logistics service providers”.
Dubai hosts first e-freight summit MERCATOR, the Dubai-based business technology provider, recently held its first ever cargo event to showcase its latest cargo industry product innovation SkyChain. Incidentally, Dubai is currently the only e-freight compliant cargo hub in the Middle East. Attending the summit were over 90 delegates, representing more than thirty airlines from across all continents. The highlights of the conference were a tour of Emirates Sky Cargo’s Mega Terminal and SkyChain product demonstrations. At the heart of the conference were discussions on the benefits of implementing IATA’s e-freight initiative. Duncan Alexander, Vice President, Mercator said that the response clearDuncan Alexander addressing the ly showed that there was a Mercator Cargo Forum. great deal of interest in Mercator and its cargo offering, and that the industry was eager to know more about IATA’s e-freight initiative. “We were able to demonstrate how replacing paper processes within outdated systems in the cargo supply chain with SkyChain’s integrated software makes cargo processes more efficient and therefore help reduce cost — a critical factor in these challenging economic times.” Mercator’s SkyChain product is currently live at Emirates SkyCargo and Swiss Cargo facilities and is being implemented at Virgin, Sri Lankan and TACA. This new platform removes paper from all areas of cargo operations, while enabling true visibility of cargo profits from shipments.
Sri Lankan Cargo goes live with SkyChain CLOSER home, Sri Lankan national carrier, Sri Lankan Airlines recently went live with SkyChain, the end-to-end cargo solution. Sri Lankan chose the solution after a rigorous evaluation process. SkyChain now provides the carrier an integrated airline and ground handling solution. SkyChain, wholly developed by Mercator in Dubai, has been designed to automate every aspect of an airline’s cargo business in
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a single integrated system in order to maximise performance, raise service quality and optimise resources. SkyChain is also compliant with the latest industry developments, such as IATA’s e-freight initiative, which is fully supported. Sri Lankan’s Head of Worldwide Sales, Mohamed Fazeel said that SkyChain allowed customers the facility “to monitor the progress of their consignments around the world from wherever there is internet accessibility. It also provides online booking services for registered customers of Sri Lankan Cargo. This will lead to faster processing times at our cargo acceptance and delivery counters.”
Innovative options on Calogi’s air cargo portal THE Calogi team from Dubai has recently launched an innovative new service for the members of its industry-respected cargo web portal. When first launched in May 2008, the Calogi portal heralded a new era for the air cargo industry. From that launch, with just 53 companies (42 forwarders and 11 airline customers), the membership has grown significantly: today there are nearly 1,000 users from almost 400 companies. They total 50 per cent of all export and import transactions with Dnata’s FreightGates (which represents over 80 airlines), demonstrating the high level of interest in Dnata’s e-freight drive from Dubai’s airfreight community. Constantly reviewing its service and looking for innovative ways of enhancing its provision to members, the Calogi team has recently successfully implemented a new online credit engine called c-Trade. Eagerly awaited by its members, the new facility brings a number of unique benefits. Airline and GSA members can now efficiently manage their credit accounting activities with their forwarding business partners on a real-time basis. The online credit engine is characterised by greater flexibility — Calogi members can now set up tailormade credit account criteria for each specific forwarder of their choice, linking ‘own-sales’ airway bill stock to these accounts. Elaborating on the c-Trade features, Patrick Murray, Head of Calogi, said that there were many additional features in the pipeline and work was in progress on the development of a loyalty programme, an advertising engine, the ability to print an airway bill directly at the terminal and offering the option to all members to implement IATA ePatrick Murray freight using Calogi.
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Martinair Cargo touches Chennai DUTCH freighter specialist Martinair Cargo recently started its services to Chennai with a Boeing 747-400 ERF on the Hong Kong-Chennai-Sharjah-Amsterdam route. The new twice weekly service to Chennai began on July 2, 2009. According to Senior Vice President Cargo Sales and Marketing Meta Ullings, the current market trends offered sufficient potential. By expanding capacity, Martinair Cargo hoped to satisfy market demands; the growing demand for airfreight from China to India and the Middle East, increasing traffic within Asia and limited capacity from America and Europe to the Middle East. The Boeing 747-400 ERF with an air freight capacity of 120 tonnes will take off from Hong Kong and fly via Chennai to Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates and then to Amsterdam. Martinair recently became a member of the KLM Group. This relationship has made it easy for Martinair Cargo to operate two of KLM’s 747-400 ERFs in its network. Initially, KLM had decided to park two of its newer B747-400 ERFs, while continuing flying two of Martinair 400B CFs. Afterwards it was decided to allowed Martinair to operate the more economical and higher payload KLM freighters. While the aircraft will retain their own KLM livery, they will also display an “operated by Martinair” slogan. Martinair Holland is today a wholly-owned subsidiary of the
(Clockwise from left) Celebrations: A group photo taken during the launch party with Harm Winkeler, Vice-President Asia Pacific (in the middle). On his left is Keku Gazder, Director, Cargo Sales, Middle East & South Asia; A Martinair freighter ready to be loaded; and, a nose loading process.
KLM Group. The carrier started operations in the passenger and cargo transport industry in 1958. While the passenger services touch long-haul destinations in the Caribbean, the cargo services specialise in transportation of perishable goods, hazardous goods and animals. At the party held to celebrate the commencement of the service, Harm Winkeler, Martinair Cargo’s Vice President, Asia Pacific, emphasised the potential for air freight from China to India and the Middle East. Winkeler also said that the country’s air freight market had good potential and Chennai was projected as one of the fastest growing cities of the country. Martinair has appointed Pelican Air Private Limited (PAPL) as its General Cargo Sales and Services Agent for India. PAPL was established in 1981 and its core business is representation for airlines and regions. PAPL will directly report to Martinair’s regional office for Middle East and South Asia based in Sharjah. At Chennai, the carrier will be represented by Anand Prakash, Sales Manager India, who will report to Keku Gazder, Director Cargo Sales responsible for the Middle East and South Asia based in Sharjah.
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CRUISING HEIGHTS August 2009
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must say sorry to the Indian (now Air India) for criticising it sometime back in my column for showing feature films on flights that could not be completed as the flight duration was shorter than that of the film. The same thing happened the other day when I was returning from Hyderabad to Delhi on a flight with duration of one hour and fifty minutes. This time around, the airline involved was the famous Kingfisher, which never tires of praising its product (yes, it is praiseworthy), and the film was Jab We Met. To make sure that I did not commit any mistake, I walked along the aisle and saw that all monitors had the same scene. After being assured that there was nothing wrong with my control, I settled to watch the movie which ended abruptly despite the 15 minutes’ extra flying we did over Delhi due to air congestion.
Full Service Carriers in India are fast losing passengers to Low Cost Carriers, as fares are now determining the load factors of airlines.
Driven by fare, not product Praful Patel said that the current collapse of the airline business was not going to be permanent; it was a cycle which will soon be over 46
The similarity between Indian and Kingfisher ended there, as the two products, as a whole, were totally different and Kingfisher was surely far superior. This was the state of Jet Airways sometime ago, before it began to be battered by heavy losses and the excess baggage of JetLite (formerly Air Sahara that it bought some years back). Now, Jet Airways does not trumpet so much about its product, except perhaps on its international flights, as without that differentiator it will never be able to compete with the likes of Emirates, Singapore Airlines, etc. What about Air India (the former Indian Airlines and Air India)? What is the Maharaja doing to remain airborne? Simple. Just reconfiguring the seating arrangement within its Boeing 737-800s or the A320s, with more of Economy seats, and going the LCC way as the two emerging big boys of Indian aviation — IndiGo and SpiceJet — did. At a recent FICCI function to announce the launch of India Aviation 2010, Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel said that the current collapse of the airline business was not going to be permanent; it was a cycle which will soon be over and aviation would be back on the same firm footing as it was a year ago. He remarked that Indian aviation will grow once the economic parameters within India and outside grow. In 2003, India had 122 aircraft to service its commercial aviation needs. There were only six airlines, namely Air India, Indian, Alliance Air, Jet CRUISING HEIGHTS August 2009
Airways, Air Sahara and Blue Dart. Three years later, in 2006, there were 13 airlines either flying or getting ready to fly. While some did not grow, others grew at a rapid pace and are now contracting for obvious reasons. By the beginning of January 2009, there were 330 aircraft under operation as per Boeing’s commercial market outlook for India, with another 350 aircraft on order. Even as the outlook was being prepared, the big boys of Indian aviation were still chopping and rescheduling their fleet induction plans to prevent losses by trying to match their capacities to the passenger demand. But more than all this was the decisive movement to increase sharply the share of Low Cost Carriers, or what these big boys would like to call Low Fare Airlines, in the Indian domestic market. As Aviation Minister Praful Patel said, “There is a strong case in India as it is being redefined globally to move towards a lower cost regime. This has proved to be quite a success and has serious lessons for India. We need to have a transition from FSC to LCC, and this gradual transition began two years ago. This is a reality and has to be addressed.” Dr Dinesh Keskar, President Boeing India, while releasing Boeing’s current market outlook for India for the period 2009-2028, said India will require 1,000 planes worth $100 billion in these two decades. Nearly 77 per cent of the aircraft will be narrow bodied aircraft — either Boeing 737-
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800 or A320. Now try to superimpose the current efforts of Indian FSCs to defer delivery of their new narrow bodied aircraft with latest in-flight entertainment, sky telephony for talk as you fly, exquisite seating etc, and reconfiguring the seating in their existing fleet to all-Economy with seat pitch which will constrain passenger comfort! This is actually the complete opposite of what they intended to do for passenger comfort three years ago. This is yet another attempt to move towards the low-fare airline model, if not LCC, as the FSCs (full service carriers) are yet to cut their costs, outsource activities which LCCs have done as part of their model, and reduce their high distribution costs. While it is true that the big boys Jet, Kingfisher and Air India, have much bigger fleet and are therefore finding it even more difficult to fill all the seats offered, their very act of equalising all passengers neutralises all product differentials which marked their separate presence, or should we say excellence, as they move towards increasing their Economy seat offering to get closer to the LCC model. Of course, this has helped them increase their loads. In the case of Jet Airways, its subsidiary JetLite and sub-brand Jet Konnect together will soon offer more than 50 per cent of all their seats in Economy, of which at least 50 per cent will be low-fare based. This is in addition to the Economy seats, which Jet Airways itself offers on its domestic network and at times at a price even lower than JetLite’s. So if you look at it in totality, Jet may offer as much as 67 per cent of its own Economy seats at near LCC fares, and at times even below it. As for Kingfisher Airlines, after it devoured Air Deccan, the inescapable impact of LCCs made the extinct Air Deccan, first rechristened as Simplifly Deccan and later as Kingfisher Red, in turn devour the mother Kingfisher Airlines itself. Media reports suggest that Kingfisher has nearly 70 per cent of its seat offerings (both Kingfisher and Kingfisher Red together), as a whole, on LCC fare basis. More recently, Air India, which aped Kingfisher when it placed orders for the 43 Airbus family aircraft — 19 of A319, 20 of A321 and 4 of A320 with IFE (In-Flight Entertainment) etc, did
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not know that all of them were going to be hit by a tsunami in the sky. Because if passengers don’t come and fly, who will they entertain? On a recent Jet flight, I saw the IFE simply silent even as we were flying. So where does this take the Boeing’s market outlook, which says 1,000 airplanes may join the Indian carriers in the next 20 years, and more crucially 77 per cent of them will be single aisle and therefore narrow bodied? Obviously, if the current price or fare sensitive Indian flyer increases in population, as is bound to happen with the rising GDP, then more of the train travellers, over time, will shift to airlines and most probably go the LCC way. At least I can fairly seriously vouch for the future of the IndiGos and the SpiceJets as against that of the Jets and the Kingfishers of Indian aviation. Air India, notwithstanding its plan to extend the services of its low cost international carrier Air India Express to the domestic skies, could only end up creating even bigger problems for Jet and Kingfisher and its own FSC model with new A321s and A319s. Even as the product may begin to attract fewer and fewer passengers, if it does not make then disappear altogether, fares will determine an airline’s load factors and the crucial yield to determine its bottomline. But how healthy that bottomline will be would depend on the cost an airline incurs. If it is going to be product-driven, as in the case of FSCs Jet Airways and Kingfisher and also a white elephant like Air India, then they better rethink their business model. At present, nearly 35 per cent of the LCC market is from corporates who are garnering an increasing share of flyers that earlier largely belonged to the VFR category. If the Indian corporates have tasted blood, I don’t think they will be liberal in permitting their executives to fly full service unless the fare is attractive and helps them cut their costs. This kind of contradiction will actually rule the Indian skies for some more time before the Good Times return. Good Times not of the Vijay Mallya kind, but the good times of enough pas sengers seeking different options. (Veteran journalist and long time aviation watcher R Krishnan is Consulting Editor at CH. He can be reached at rkrishnanji@yahoo.com.) CRUISING HEIGHTS August 2009
Even as the product may begin to attract fewer and fewer passengers, fares will determine an airline’s load factors and the crucial yield to determine its bottomline 47
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Dubai showcase for Indian agents THE TRAVEL AGENTS ASSOCIATION OF INDIA’S (TAAI) NEXT CONVENTION AT DUBAI WILL NOT ONLY AIM TO WOO THE MIDDLE EAST TO INDIA, BUT ALSO DISCUSS WAYS AND MEANS TO COUNTER THE TWIN CHALLENGES FACED BY THE COUNTRY’S TRAVEL AGENTS: ZERO COMMISSION AND GLOBAL RECESSION.
‘We need to promote India’ Rajinder Rai, President, TAAI, on why Dubai was chosen as the convention venue.
DTCM-TAAI officials group photo after signing of MoU.
he forthcoming Travel Agents Association of India’s (TAAI) 58th Convention and Exhibition, to be held in Dubai from September 29 to October 2, 2009, is being staged at a crucial time.While, on the one hand, travel agents in the country are learning to live through the zero commission regime, on the other, there is the global recession to contend with. Undeterred by the circumstances, according to Sunil Kumar, the Convention Chairman, TAAI’s convention theme is, “Let’s play to win”. Keeping in mind the present
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travel scenario, “The theme, ‘Let’s play to win’,” said Sunil Kumar, “reflects excitement and liveliness in all that we get associated with. It demands that our investments must be rewarded. It blends happiness with loving what we do, and discovering better ways to be successful as we move forward in the most trying times ever.” One of the major points of discussion will certainly be a recent decision taken by both TAAI and the other top travel agents’ body, Travel Agents Federation of India, to move away from “selling” the international
Meet to exchange knowledge Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) heralding the Travel Agents Association of India’s Annual Conference was recently signed by DTCM Director General Khalid A bin Sulayem, and TAAI President Rajinder Rai at the DTCM Head Office in the presence of TAAI delegation members. The MoU confirmed the support extended by DTCM to TAAI for the annual Congress comprising the conglomeration of travel agents, inbound and outbound tour operators, excursion agents, CRS companies, hoteliers, airlines, general sales agents, visa handling agents, transport companies, travel marketing agencies, international and domestic Government
A
Tourism Boards and overseas members and country representatives. After the signing ceremony, Khalid bin Sulayem, DTCM Director General said that “the Indian market is one of the biggest in the world in terms of tourist potential.There is competition among destinations to tap its potential. Dubai is wellplaced to tap the huge growth opportunities in this market.” He assured the TAAI delegation of co-operation by DTCM and other organisations in the emirate for the conference. The TAAI Annual Conference in Dubai will allow the tourism industry players from both India and Dubai to exchange knowledge, information and experiences.
CRUISING HEIGHTS August 2009
Q: Wh y a con ve n t i on i n D u ba i ? We need to promote India among domestic and inbound tourists. TAAI has been working closely with the Ministry of Tourism by undertaking var i ous i ni t i at i ves li ke or gan i sin g r oad shows, addr essing var ious issues like need f or i nf r ast r uct ur e development , development of budget hotels on highways to strengthen Road To u r i sm , e t c . TA A I a l so i n t e n ds t o i n i t i at e w or k w i t h National Tourist Offices (NTOs) in India to promote inbound tourism from their respective countries. We ar e expect i ng ar ound 1, 600 delegat es for the convention and the exhibi t i on . Du bai w i l l be sh ow ca se d t o par ticipants attending the convention, w hi ch i n t ur n w i ll r esu lt i n aggr essi ve pr omot i on of t he dest i nat i on. Q: What are the issues that you w o u l d l i k e TA A I t o di scu ss a t D u ba i ? On the whole, it will be a grim 2009 for all in the trade. What we need is to discuss how we can easily access gl o ba l ca pi t a l . We mu st f i n d o u t w a ys to consolidate resources and find effective solutions to enable our industry to regain some of the lost gr ound and make i t mor e pr of i t able. Q: Th e D u ba i me e t w i l l be a pr e cu r so r t o t h e bi g sh ow i n Mu mbai n e xt ye ar ? For the first time in India, TAAI has been planning to organise an inter national trade fair on the lines of World Tourism Meet, held in London e ve r y No ve mbe r , a n d t h e Ch i n a I n t e r national Tourism Meet. It will indeed be a historical moment for all of us when TAAI, the nodal travel and tourism association, in partnership with UBM, the leading global busi ness media company, holds ITTE 2010.
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‘Dubai has so much to offer’ R Sunil Kumar, Chairman, Convention Committee, is upbeat about the convention venue.
What are the special facilities that Dubai is providing for the conven tion? Du bai h as so mu ch t o o f f e r t o I n di an delegates. It is exceedingly well con nect ed and possi bly t he only dest i na tion that has so many flights from India, every week. It is a major hub a n d of f e r s a bu n da n t oppor t u n i t i e s. DTCM, which has been instrumental in getting us to decide in favour of Dubai , has of f er ed sever al benef i t s t o our members: be it hosting the events, supporting our convention and exhibition, their persuasive dia logue with hotels, and a number of ot her incent ives which we believe will immensely benefit our delegates. On ce t h e de l e gat e s ar e i n Du bai , t h e y will discover the welcome and r espect t hey w i ll be gi ven. What i s t he r esponse f r om TA A I mem be r s t h a t yo u h a ve go t t o st a gi n g t h e m e e t i n Du b a i ? We debated about Dubai first, and thereafter have been talking about D u ba i i n se ve r a l Re gi on s/C h a pt e r s w e have been t o. The r esponse seems t o be t er r i f i c. The hot els ar e super lat i ve, and we have been getting calls from our members to close the bookings. I n a f e w da ys, t h e e - br och u r e a n d r e g i st r at i on s w i l l commen ce. With the recession looming, do you f eel t hat t he meet will encour age t r av el to Dubai? Dubai has quality and luxury hotels that are being offered at impressive pr i ces. In most par t s of Indi a w i t h con vention facilities capable of hosting TA A I , t h e pr i ce s a r e mu ch h i gh e r f o r a similar quality hotel. And with the attractions Dubai offers, it is quite obvious t hat we will have an excellent response.
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Selling Dubai to Indian tourists and travel agents.
airlines and promote Indian carriers. The decision, hailed as a “patriotic move” by many, comes as a sequel to the stir against Singapore Airlines (SIA) and would impact international carriers. In fact,TAAI’s ban on SIA saw a 72.5 per cent fall in its ticket sales in 2009, compared to the first two quarters of 2008. Talking about the zero commission regime, Rajji Rai, TAAI President, pointed out that it was unacceptable that some for-
CRUISING HEIGHTS August 2009
eign carriers had gone to zero commission “with an intention to cut their vital arm of distribution and not to remunerate agents their rightful commissions.” He went on to mention that the carriers had entered the country “with the sole purpose of generating maximum profits, which they repatriate back to their own countries.” TAAI was not willing to tolerate this unjust approach, and instead had directed all to do business with Indian carriers.
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TAAI members were requested to promote the national carriers and extend maximum support to them for their revival, as during “zero crises, these very carriers stood by us for our survival,” he said. “It is also our duty to extend all support and give maximum possible assistance to Air India in order to improve its profits and bottomline,” Rai said. In its bid to get a fair deal from the airlines, the Association also appealed to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), which sent out a note to 14 foreign airlines, asking for explanations why they had stopped paying commissions or remunerations to travel agents. Instead of paying the agents directly, the airlines asked them to charge a transaction fee of Rs 1,500-2,000 on domestic sectors and Rs 3,500-7,000 on international routes from customers. While some airlines responded directly to the DGCA, others chose to keep quiet. The issue is an important one since it concerns the “livelihood” of a majority of TAAI’s members.The Association impressed upon the DGCA that agents in the smaller towns, who make up to 80-85 per cent of the travel agents’ community, had no knowledge of how to take transaction fee from customers, as was advised by the airlines that reduced the commission to zero. Charging the customer a transaction fee was not a custom in practice ever since the agents-airline set-up was established, and was also against the consumer rights, according to TAAI. “The travel agent is servicing the customer on behalf of the airline — hence it is only fair that the airline pay the commission to us, we will not charge the customer a transaction fee as we have been appointed to offer service to the customer on behalf of the airline,” according to TAAI President Rai. Perhaps, one of the other issues of con-
more than 120 Indian travel agents had either taken themselves out of the IATA accreditation or had terminated their relationship with IATA. The termination or voluntary withdrawal by the 120-odd travel agents should raise questions, primarily because the number of travel agents around the world has been increasing: IATA figures suggest that while in the Asia-Pacific region, the number of accredited agents increased from 9,600 in 2006 to 11,800 in 2008, in India they rose from 2,400 to 2,900 over the same period. Though the number of travel agents from the country withdrawing accreditation was the highest in the last five years, according to IATA, the number of travel agents in the country who got accreditation had increased: in 2008, 200-odd agents managed to secure accreditation. Meanwhile, TAAI has also gone ahead to play an active role in the travel sector in the future.The Association wants to make travelling convenient for all the visitors to Delhi during the Commonwealth Games in 2010. It has chalked up plans to introduce a ‘Travel Card’ that will enable visitors to use any mode of transport in the city. TAAI proposes to market the card all over Delhi through its members and state tourism departments. The other issues that will figure prominently at the Indian Travel Congress would be on ways to face the future. With the boom in aviation industry over the last decade, travel agents in India are enhancing their skills to be a value-add for the consumers, and also to extend assistance to foreign tourists who are travelling to India. On its part,TAAI has been holding regular training sessions for its members on the latest trends in the ticketing process. It has launched a series of IATA-BSP (Billing and Settlement Plan) training sessions across all its chapters. These training programmes were initiated post a decision of the TAAI management committee. These sessions, meant for employees of travel agencies to enable them to serve their customers better, would ensure that they offer the best in the market to their customers. The Dubai conclave should throw up answers, or at best provide solutions to travel agents on how to counter the challenges that have come up. Those answers would help the Khalid bin Sulayem, DTCM Director General, and TAAI country’s travel agents to sell President Rajinder Rai at the MoU signing ceremony. “India” to the world. cern for the TAAI leadership as well as the Coming as it does on the heels of the members of the Association is the drop in Ministry of Tourism’s recent initiative to the number of International Air Transport market India — ‘Visit India Year 2009’ — in Association (IATA) accredited agents in the the USA and Canada, the TAAI conclave country. According to news reports, in 2008, would woo the Middle East to India.
CRUISING HEIGHTS August 2009
F E A T U R E
‘Keen to participate’ Iqbal Mulla, Chairman, Marts & Special Events, TAAI, on the Dubai show.
Wh a t u n i q u e f e a t u r e s o f D u ba i do yo u pr o po se t o sh o w TA A I me mbe r s? The Indian Travel Congress conven t i on and exhi bi t i on di scuss i ssues con fronting the entire travel fraternity and is attended by people from all over t he w or ld. It i s, t her ef or e, an oppor t u nity for travel agents, tour operators, air lines, f or ex agencies, hot elier s, et c. t o sh ow ca se t h e i r pr odu ct s. Will there be events to popularise TA A I ’ s t r a v e l sh o w ? Th e TA A I t r a ve l ma r t i s be comi n g pop u l a r e ve r y ye a r be ca u se t h e e xh i bi t or s get value for money, in terms of developing their business by identify ing the right sellers and buyers. Re ce n t l y, w e h a ve st a r t e d sh o w ca si n g t h e i mpor t an ce of ou r mar t by w ay of press conferences, communicating w i t h I TOs, r o a d sh o w s, e t c. Are you planning to invite Dubai and Gulf airlines to participate in your show? Since t his is t he f ir st convent ion wit h a travel mart, the entire Middle East is enthusiastic to participate in this event. DTCM is the first exhibitor to block space, followed by Karnataka St a t e To u r i sm, e t c. Th i s i s t h e f i r st I n di a n t r a ve l e xh i bi t i on t h a t i s t a ki n g pla ce i n t h e Mi ddl e Ea st . Dubai has grown, and in terms of tourism, it has a multi-cultural flavour and is well connected to the world. We definitely would like to showcase Dubai as a pot ent i al i nbound t our des tination to our Indian tour operators. Similarly, we would like to promote Dubai as a potential destination for tourism, MICE and incentives to the I n di a n t r a ve l f r a t e r n i t y. Dubai is also well connected from all over India by air . It will be a gr eat des t i nat i on t o at t r act t r avel and t our i sm.
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It has been a pleasure to work in close partnership with the Managing Committee of TAAI in order to bring the 58th Indian Travel Congress to ‘Definitely Dubai’. The cooperation and total support of the convention committee has been crucial. We do realise that there will be many a serious issue raised and discussed concerning the global economic slump, the move towards a fee-based system, etc. However, we are working closely with the Managing Committee to have a session on promoting bilateral regional tourism for the GCC and India in specific. CARL VAZ Director - India Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing Government of Dubai
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The TAAI Convention provides a unique platform for all industry players to collectively come together and act as a catalyst for change. It’s a unified strength of all industry stakeholders’ that helps in activating innovative strategies to tackle challenges and identify the drivers essential to the growth of the industry today. Keeping in perspective the present dynamics of tourism industry, TAAI has unilaterally presented mutual resolution for all its members and will play a pivotal role in the future.
As a pivotal and dedicated organisation, TAAI continues to play its multi-dimensional role in addressing and adapting to the ever changing dynamics of travel and tourism industry. As a unified think-tank, TAAI has collectively worked as a catalyst to bring about change. TAAI’s futuristic vision should ideally centre on business enhancement through ‘Specialisation’ and ‘Innovation’, thus focusing to explore beyond traditional avenues. Focus on revenue generation for its members, which could be through different ventures, strategic alliances and propositions, should be part of this year’s TAAI convention.
MANOHARAN Director Tourism Malaysia
KAVI GHEI Director TRAC Representations India
CRUISING HEIGHTS August 2009
F E A T U R E
TAAI is doing a really good job by exposing the industry to newer destinations each year. Considering the intense competition in this industry, and sometimes to the point of being unprofitable, I think an interesting topic TAAI could take up could be “market share or fair share”. Should we go after market share to the point of being unprofitable, or should the price be a fair one based on services, products offered and time spent, thus ensuring that it is win-win for the seller and buyer? VASUDHA SONDHI Managing Director Outbound Marketing Pvt. Ltd.
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Pawan Hans gets
future ready
The country’s premier helicopter organisation, Pawan Hans, has chalked out massive plans for fleet enhancement, even as it sets up a state-of-the-art aircraft maintenance training institute at Mumbai and reaches out to link the furthest corners of the country.
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o meet the growing demand for skilled manpower, Pawan Hans is setting up a state-of-the-art basic aircraft maintenance training institute at Mumbai as part of the existing training school. Pawan Hans runs a DGCA-approved training school to keep the skills of its personnel updated. Till now, only helicopter type rating courses and refresher courses on helicopter types were being conducted. Currently, there are 68 DGCA-approved institutes in India imparting basic aircraft maintenance engineering training, and a number of these institutes approach Pawan Hans for on-job training of their students since they do not have the requisite facilities. Pawan Hans has the added advantage of providing on-job training within its own maintenance set-up and workshop facilities that are available at Mumbai. The institute, named the Pawan Hans Helicopters Training Institute (PHTI), will provide the DGCA-approved Basic Aircraft Maintenance Engineering Licence preparatory course for acquiring AME Licence as per Aircraft Rule 61 and CAR guidelines. PHTI has already obtained no-objection certificate from DGCA to start the institute. The first batch of 30 students in the Mechanical stream will be inducted in the current academic year. The course will cover airframe and engines of aircraft. From the second year onwards, PHTI is planning to increase the number of students to 60 with the inclusion of 30 students in the Avionic stream. The Avionic stream course will include electrical, radio and instrument systems of aircraft. The course duration will be of three years, including six months on-job train-
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ing within Pawan Hans’s world class state-of-the-art facilities. India’s aviation sector has been witnessing tremendous growth for the past few years, with the helicopter sector growing at the rate of 10-12 per cent per annum. In the last two years, 26 new helicopters have entered operations across the country. Today, there are more than 250 civil registered helicopters in India and the number is expected to grow with the induction of around 300 new helicopters by 2012. Pawan Hans could well be among the leading helicopter players then. The helicopter industry faces operational bottlenecks due to the lack of skilled manpower. Pawan Hans is expanding its fleet by acquiring new helicopters and actively pursuing the diversification in the MRO business in the coming years. In order to support its fleet expansion and MRO activities, Pawan Hans needs to augment its skilled manpower; hence the enhancement of facilities at the training institute. Puja ceremony being performed at the launch of the Pawan Hans helicopter service to the Amarnath shrine.
MoU with Indian Navy Pawan Hans Helicopters Limited (PHHL) has signed a MoU with the Indian Navy for inducting naval pilots in PHHL. The MoU was signed at a simple ceremony held at Naval Headquarters on June 26. Pursuant to the MoU, the Indian Navy will provide suitably qualified pilots, who can be spared to partly meet the vacancies created in Pawan Hans due to fleet expansion. Speaking on this occasion, PHHL Chairman and Managing Director R K Tyagi said there were ample opportunities of mutual interest that would help both the institutions. The possibility of PHHL maintaining the Chetak and Cheetah helicopters of the Indian Navy was also discussed. The Navy appreciated the offer of maintenance and senior officials even pointed out that once
PHHL took over the maintenance, it would reduce the tedious task of sending the Navy choppers from Mumbai and Pune to Barrackpore.
Chopper service to Amarnath On July 22, Pawan Hans Helicopters launched a helicopter service from Pahalgam to Panchtarni, barely 6 km from the Holy Sri Amarnath Cave. Jammu and Kashmir Tourism Minister Nawang Rigzin Jora inaugurated the service and flew from Panchtarni on the inaugural flight, accompanied by Minister of State Nasir Aslam Wani and the Chief Executive Officer of the Sri Amarnath Shrine Board, B B Vyas.
The Pawan Hans Dauphin helicopter service has become a crucial element in the transport and communication system in Lakshadweep since 1987, connecting the headquarters at Agatti Island with other islands and helping in medical emergencies.
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GLOBETROTTING
AT A GLANCE
Now that’s called style! A JAPANESE airport has taken delivery of several futuristic people movers, allowing airline staff and security guards to patrol the ticket halls and baggage areas in some style. A quartet of threewheeled “i-Reals” have been put into service at Chubu Airport in Tokoname City, Japan. The three-wheeled vehicles, manufactured by Toyota, have a top speed of
Hey, that’s illegal! 15kph and a range of 30km. A combination of right- and left-hand levers control movement: pushing the sticks accelerate the iReal — pulling them back slows it down. According to tech site The Register, one of the iReals has been fitted with a medical kit, including a defibrillator, and a PC that passengers can use to check-in for their flights.
Revenge,
That was close
sweet revenge
I
t was revenge packed in songs. Instead of blowing his top when United Airlines workers at O’Hare International Airport smashed his guitar and the carrier refused to pick up the $1,200 cost to repair it, Canadian musician Dave Carroll avenged himself with some songs. He turned his experience into a witty ditty, “United Breaks Guitars,” and scored an instant hit on YouTube, his first in a 16-year career. The video had been viewed nearly 1,50,000 times in just two days of being posted and is available on chicagotribune.com/guitars. “This struck a chord with us,” said Robin Urbanski, spokesperson for Chicago-based United. “We are in conversation with one another to make what
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WONDER whether he knew it was illegal. But the fact is that a United Airlines flight attendant is facing misdemeanor battery charge for touching a passenger on flight. Jaime Daria Samia, 57, of Long Beach, California was arrested at O’Hare International Airport and released on $100 bond after he allegedly rubbed the hand and arm of a 16-year-old passenger, and made inappropriate comments to the boy during a flight from Los Angeles to Chicago. The boy’s father told the police that
happened right.” Carroll said he and other members of Sons of Maxwell, his Halifax-based band, were changing planes at O’Hare on March 31, 2008, when another passenger exclaimed, “My God, they’re throwing guitars out there.” They glanced out the window to see a ground worker toss a bass guitar, which survived intact. But Carroll discovered when he arrived later in Omaha that his $3,500 Taylor guitar had been damaged. Over the next nine months, Carroll spent hours reasoning with United agents in Chicago, New York and India. But to no avail: He hadn’t filed a claim within 24 hours, as United requires. When United rejected his final offer, Carroll decided to write three songs about his saga. CRUISING HEIGHTS August 2009
IT was a close shave, indeed, for US President Barack Obama and his campaign last summer. According to a former federal safety official, it was only skillful piloting that prevented a possible disaster. A report released by the National Transportation Safety Board indicates an inflated slide may have pressed against critical control cables, forcing the emergency landing of Obama’s campaign plane on July 7, 2008. The slide inflated inside the tail cone of the campaign’s McDonnell Douglas MD-81, shortly after takeoff from Chicago’s Midway International Airport, the report said. The plane’s flight crew struggled to level the aircraft’s nose, which continued to point upward after take-off, but regained control by manipulating the control column and adjusting the trim on the plane’s tail, the report said. Normal control returned after the plane began its descent for an emergency landing at Lambert-St. Louis International Airport, said the report, which lays out evidence uncovered by investigators but doesn’t reach a conclusion on the cause of the incident. There were no injuries to the two pilots, four flight attendants, two airline representatives, and 43 passengers, including Obama.
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Kate Thornton to host airport show
When turtles crawled on runway IT was a crazy reason for flight delay. At least 78 turtles, emerging from a nearby bay, crawled onto a runway at John F Kennedy International Airport recently. The airport had to be shut down briefly. Ground crews eventually rounded up the turtles and deposited them back in the brackish water farther from airport property, but not before the incident disrupted JFK’s flight schedule and contributed to delays that reached nearly 60 to 90 minutes. “Apparently, this is something the tower has experienced before,” said Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Jim Peters. “I guess it’s the season for spawning.” The FAA halted flights for about 12 minutes shortly before 9 a.m. while some of the turtles were cleared away, then quit using the runway entirely after getting new reports of “massive numbers” of turtles on the tarmac, Peters said. Port Authority of New York and New Jersey spokesman John Kelly said airport crews gathered up the turtles in about 35 minutes. Jets hit turtles a few times each year at JFK, usually in the final days of June or earliest days in July, according to the FAA’s wildlife strike database. However, there have been no recent reports of the strikes causing any damage to an airplane.
From frills to no-frills US SECRETARY of State Hillary Rodham Clinton flew into Kuwait recently on Air Force 2, a top-of-the-line jet featuring leather seats, TV monitors and dinner served on china with silverware and cloth napkins. For her hour-long hop to Baghdad, however, the frills were gone. Clinton, her State Department staff and a dozen journalists boarded an Air Force C-17 cargo jet, a hulking windowless gray workhorse, whose interior resembled a giant garage. Several rows of seats were plopped down in the middle of the cargo area. Passengers stuffed in ear plugs because of the roar of the engines. Once on board, staff and reporters grabbed sweaty body
KATE THORNTON has signed up to host a new six-part show set in Heathrow Airport. The former ‘X Factor’ presenter will front the show called ‘Hello Goodbye’. Sky’s commissioning editor for entertainment Steve Jones said: “Airports aren’t just about exhausting queues, enraging delays and the perils of lost luggage.”
“Hello Goodbye is heartwarming entertainment, exploring the stories of people at the arrival and departure lounges.”
Illustrations by Rajeev Kumar
Samia continued the hand rubbing and inappropriate comments throughout the four-hour flight, the Chicago Sun-Times reported. The boy had asked Samia to stop and even pulled his hand away, but Samia continued his actions. “Our priority is the safety and security of all of our customers, and we are fully cooperating with law enforcement officials on the investigation,” United said in a statement.
armour from a mound in the back of the aircraft, and practised strapping on helmets. But the Baghdad landing turned out to be quiet. Clinton got red-carpet treatment as she descended from the plane, with greetings from US Ambassador Christopher Hill, Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari and Adm. Mike Mullen, head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. And her motorcade zipped into the city on roads cleared of their normally chock-a-block traffic.
Pets, welcome aboard! THAT was the message when Tony Hoard, a 57-year-old manufacturing worker in Indiana, boarded a flight on Midwest Airlines to Las Vegas, Nevada, with his Australian Shepherd. The flight attendant smiled at the two and said, “Welcome aboard.” Hoard has flown with Rory, his furry 40-pound companion, in coach more than 15 times on Midwest, the Wisconsin-based airline that boasts “The Best Care in the Air.” Each time they fly, Rory wears a harness and sits strapped into a seat. However, fortunately for him and others like him, more members of the airline industry are now welcoming dogs and cats on board. Midwest Airlines may be an extreme example, letting select dogs sit in the same seats as humans, but other airlines are relaxing their pet policies by letting smaller cats and dogs come into the cabin area. The pet travel frenzy has spurred the creation of an airline catering exclusively to pets. This month, Pet Airways, the nation’s first pet-only airline, will begin flying in five major cities, including New York and Los Angeles, California. Southwest Airlines was the latest airline to join the pet-loving bandwagon in May, when it permitted small dogs and cats to travel in the cabin area. The pets must sit in an approved kennel that fits under the seat. The cost of flying your furry friend ranges from $75 to nearly $300 each leg. It’s a hefty price tag, but profit-bleeding airlines are happy to offer the option. Pets can even rack up frequent flier miles. After three flights with Midwest, the pet can earn a fourth flight free. Continental and JetBlue Airways’ programmes credit the pet’s trip on the owner’s frequent flier account.
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DOMESTIC AIRLINES Jet’s special fare for premiere guests JET Airways recently introduced attractive promotional première fares (exclusive of taxes and surcharges) of Rs 5,551 /Rs 6,001 /Rs 6,661 for guests on several domestic routes. To avail of these fares, guests had to purchase their tickets for relevant sectors between June 11 and June 30, 2009, and travel with effect from June 11, 2009.
Jet woos premiere guests with special fares.
The special première fare of Rs 6,661 was valid on sectors such as Mumbai to Ahmedabad/Goa, from Bengaluru to Goa/ Kolkata/ Mumbai, from Delhi to Mumbai/Hyderabad, from Guwahati to Kolkata, from Mumbai to Jaipur/Jodhpur, and Mumbai to Udaipur/ Thiruvananthapuram/Vadodara, and several other routes across India. However, on the Bagdogra-Guwahati sector, guests could avail of a première fare of Rs 5,551. On sectors such as Bhopal-Indore, Mumbai-Aurangabad and Delhi-Chandigarh, Jet Airways offered a première fare of Rs 6,001. Jet, Jet Konnect introduce discounted fares: During the same period, Jet Airways and its new all-economy service Jet Airways Konnect introduced special, all-inclusive fares on several key routes across India. Travel validity on these special fares, which include the base fare, as well as applicable taxes, surcharges and airport fee, is between July 1, 2009 and September 30, 2009. Jet Airways offers an all-inclusive fare of Rs 1,650 on routes including the Chennai-Bengaluru, and Mumbai-Vadodara/ Ahmedabad/Hyderabad/Goa sectors, among others. On routes including the Delhi-Ahmedabad, Mumbai-Bengaluru and DelhiPatna sectors, among others, the airline offers an all-inclusive fare of Rs 2,150. It further offers an all-inclusive fare of Rs 2,700 on routes such as Mumbai to Delhi/Chennai/Lucknow/Kochi, as also from Delhi to Bengaluru/Chennai sectors, among others.
Jet Airways Konnect service offers an all-inclusive fare of Rs 1,300 on routes including the Kolkata-Agartala, BengaluruHyderabad, and Chennai-Hyderabad sectors. On routes including the Mumbai-Bengaluru/Jaipur sectors, Jet Airways Konnect offers an all-inclusive fare of Rs 1,600, among others. An all-inclusive fare of Rs 1,900 on routes including the Mumbai-Chennai/Kochi sectors, among others, was available from Jet Airways Konnect. JetLite introduces special fares: Another of Jet Airways’ alleconomy subsidiary, JetLite, also meanwhile introduced special, all-inclusive fares on several key routes across India. For sale effective June 11 to June 13, travel validity on these special fares, which include the base fare as well as applicable taxes, surcharges and airport fees, is between July 1, 2009 and September 30, 2009. JetLite offers an all-inclusive fare of Rs 1,300 on routes including the Imphal/Kolkata-Guwahati, and Mumbai-Nagpur/ Hyderabad sectors, among others. On the Delhi-Ahmedabad and Kochi-Hyderabad sectors, the airline offers an all-inclusive fare of Rs 1,600. JetLite also offers an all-inclusive fare of Rs 1,900 on routes including the Mumbai-Delhi/Chennai/Kolkata and DelhiPune/Hyderabad/Imphal/Kochi sectors, among others. Jet Konnect to launch new domestic services: Encouraged by the success of its initial operations, and driven by strong customer demand, Jet Airways Konnect will further enhance its network with the launch of several new domestic services, in a planned manner. While it plans to expand services on existing domestic sectors, it will also launch services on new domestic sectors. This is in addition to the network expansion by 30 new flights of the Jet Airways Konnect panIndia network, announced earlier, and effective June 13, 2009. Jet Airways Konnect currently links several destinations across India, including Kochi, Pune, Hyderabad, Coimbatore, Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Bhopal, Amritsar, Jorhat, Agartala and Guwahati with five major metros — Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru, Kolkata and Chennai. According to Wolfgang Prock-Schauer, CEO, Jet Airways, “With the Jet Airways Konnect service having proved extremely popular with guests, we will continue to expand the Jet Airways Konnect network in line with demand, so as to offer guests a quality product and enhanced domestic connectivity at value-formoney fares.” With the introduction of these new flights, the Jet Airways Konnect service will operate with a fleet of ten ATR 72-500s and seven Boeing 737-800 aircraft on key domestic routes across India, taking the total offerings to more than 100 flights per day.
AI Express to start domestic operations
Jet passengers make the most of the discounted fares.
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AIR India Express (AIE), Air India’s low-cost arm that operates on Gulf and other South Asian routes, will fly on domestic routes by the end of 2009. “While this has been under consideration for some time, specifics are being worked out now as the Indian market is also fast moving towards low-cost model,” said Tara Naidu, Chief Commercial Officer, Air India Express, on the sidelines of ‘Aviation Outlook India 2009’. AIE will also be expanding its team for starting the new
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Air India Express is all set to exploit the opportunities in the domestic skies.
domestic service, for which the carrier will deploy the existing Boeing 737-800 fleet of Air India. Meanwhile, AIE is on an expansion mode on Gulf and South Asia routes as well. It will be adding few new routes and more flights in the next month-and-a-half. These include more flights to Abu Dhabi and Muscat from Thiruvananthapuram, Mangalore and New Delhi. New routes include Mumbai to Salalah and Delhi to Kuala Lumpur. “We are also looking at going to Kathmandu and look at it as feeder for our flights from India as well,” said Naidu. The carrier is taking delivery of three aircraft this year, with the first one coming in end July, second in October and third in December.
AI introduces monsoon special fares
AIR India recently introduced monsoon special fares for travel by September 15, 2009. Under these special fares, a passenger is able to travel between Mumbai and Delhi/Chennai/Bengaluru/Hyderabad for Rs 2,479, inclusive of all taxes except for UDF, wherever applicable. The fare from Mumbai to Kolkata is Rs 2,729 under the monsoon special fare scheme. Likewise, fare from Delhi to Mumbai/ Kolkata is Rs 2,479 and between Delhi Chennai /Kochi/Guwahati/Goa it is Rs This monsoon has turned out to be a good time to travel Air India. 2,729 under this scheme. Fares on short sectors stood at Rs 1,979 only.
Monsoon bonanza from Paramount CHENNAI-based Paramount Airways announced special fares for the monsoon season on select destinations. Under the scheme, passengers could travel an all-inclusive fare of Rs 2,229 for a flight from Chennai to Coimbatore and a maximum of Rs 4,029 for Chennai-Delhi flight. Bookings were open from June 29 to July 4, 2009 for travel dates between July 15 and September 15, 2009. M Thiagarajan, Paramount Airways Managing Director said, “The monsoon deals offered by Paramount Airways have been developed to encourage leisure travel. The economical fare and our great service would be hard to resist.” Paramount Airways currently flies to 16 destinations across India. It recorded the highest seat factor of 89.4 per cent for May 2009 and also enjoys a high on-time performance. Signs a $1.50 bn deal with Airbus: Paramount Airways has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to buy 10 A321 aircraft with an option for additional ten. The agreement was concluded at the 48th Le Bourget air show outside Paris. The deal
will be funded by the European central bank. M Thiagarajan, Paramount Airways Managing Director said, “(This) marks an important and strategic landmark in our expansion plans and, in particular, our goal to become a leading international carrier. The A321 will help us realise these ambitious and attainable goals, and we are delighted with our aircraft choice.” With the new aircraft, Paramount Airways will launch international services operating from key hubs. “We are delighted to welcome Paramount Airways as a new customer. Their decision to go with A321 is a testament to the aircraft’s leading position in this sector and also to the partnership between our two companies which we hope will develop long into the future,” said John Leahy, Airbus Chief Operating Officer, Customers.
SpiceJet offers unbeatable low fares
SPICEJET has announced the launch of unbeatable low fares to encourage travel between July 15 and September 15, 2009. Travellers can now purchase tickets at amazingly low fares through SpiceJet reservations or their website and from SpiceJet airport counters. This limited seat offer covers all 18 destinations on SpiceJet network on all direct flights. Passenger Service Fee and relevant airport charges apply on ticket prices. Samyukth Sridharan, Chief Commercial Officer, SpiceJet Limited said, “We have always believed in launching exciting promotions to stimulate the market. These unbeatable low fares will encourage more people to fly with us. The ticket prices start from Rs 1,500. Passenger Service Fee and applicable airport charges are in addition to the prices.” Comes closer to break-even: SpiceJet has come closer to achieving break even. The Company reported a net loss of Rs 7.8 crore in Q4 of FY ‘09, compared to a net loss of Rs 123.6 crore in the same quarter last year. For the quarter ending March 31, 2009, SpiceJet posted 4.4 per cent growth in Operating Revenue from Rs 399 crore to Rs 417 crore. It also reported 10.3 per cent growth in passenger traffic from Rs 12.38 lakh to 13.67 lakh, besides 5.2 per cent growth in the number of flights from 9,667 to 10,170. While announcing the quarterly results, Sanjay Aggarwal, Chief Executive Officer said, “Our financial performance continues to get healthier. Key drivers remain better cost management and higher aircraft utilisation...Our top priority remains our customers and we continue to introduce new services and promotions to keep them coming back to SpiceJet.” Lifts Bowled Out T20 Corporate Cricket Cup: SpiceJet emerged as winner of ‘Bowled Out T20 Corporate Cricket Championship’ after defeating Xchanging in the finals. This is the second consecutive win for SpiceJet this year; earlier in February, SpiceJet won T20 Corporate Challenge 2009 defeating the two time champions Citi Financial. The finals were held on May 30 at St Stephens Ground. Opting to bat first after winning the toss, SpiceJet put up a massive score of 194 runs for the loss of seven wickets in the 20-over match. Xchanging’s streaky start continued till the end, and the team eventually managed just 105 runs in 20 overs. SpiceJet’s Kapil Mehta was adjudged Man of the Match.
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INTERNATIONAL AIRLINES SilkAir commences operations to Hyderabad SILKAIR, the regional wing of Singapore Airlines, began its operations to Hyderabad recently. The inaugural flight was welcomed with a water cannon salute as it taxied to the arrival gate at the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport here. The inaugural flight, MI 478, took off from Singapore’s Changi Airport and landed at RGIA. Initially, the airlines will operate five flights a week between Hyderabad and Singapore and the frequency will be increased to daily services from October 20, 2009. SilkAir’s Chief Executive Chin Yau Seng, who arrived by the flight, said the connectivity between Hyderabad and Singapore would facilitate the growth and development of business and tourism between the two countries.
and streamline administrative processes, the company’s statement claimed. MAS is scheduled to implement the system in four phases over the next two years.
AirAsia abolishes admin fee IN an effort to further stimulate travel and tourism in Malaysia and the region, AirAsia has abolished the administration fee from its fare structure. This presents further real savings to AirAsia guests, as they now only have to fork out the seat fare and airport tax. ‘No Admin Fee’ came into effect for bookings made for all
IBS Software in pact with Malaysia Air IBS Software Services and Malaysia Airlines (MAS) have entered into a long-term contract under which MAS will use AvientCrew, the crew management system developed by IBS. According to a press statement issued by IBS, which develops IT solutions for the travel, transportation and logistics sectors, its AvientCrew system will replace two different crew management systems, currently being used by MAS to manage its technical and cabin crew rosters. IBS’ crew management system will automate the airline’s entire crew management and tracking process, facilitating crew pairing, scheduling, tracking and manpower planning, the statement added. Six airlines, including Cathay Pacific, Emirates and Jet Airways, currently use AvientCrew. The system will help the airline optimise crew utilisation, improve crew productivity, reduce disruption costs
(From L) Azran Osman Rani, CEO of AirAsia X, Dato Aziz Bakar, Chairman of AirAsia Berhad, Dato’ Sri Tony Fernades, CEO of AirAsia and Kathleen Tan, Regional Head of Commercial, flanked by cabin crew.
AirAsia and AirAsia X flights from June 24, 2009. From this date, AirAsia.com is displaying All-In Fares (fare + airport tax) throughout the booking process. This ensures transparency from the advertised price to selecting the flight and paying for it on AirAsia.com. In conjunction with the ‘No Admin Fee’ announcement,
EC commends Emirates’ websites THE European Commission’s Director General for ‘Health and Consumers’ (DG SANCO) has confirmed that Emirates airline’s websites are fully compliant with all the requirements laid down in EU consumer legislation. It has further commended the airline for its commitment to consumer transparency. In a statement, Commissioner Meglena Kuneva said, “I am delighted to confirm that contrary to some earlier reported indications, Emirates airline is fully in compliance with all the requirements laid down in EU consumer legislation that were monitored in the recent ‘health check’ in relation to air ticket selling websites, and therefore belongs to those companies that can serve as an example to be followed by others.” DG SANCO’s ‘health check’ investigation and Fully compliant to EU consumer legislation. report on airline websites published in May listed Emirates as being non-compliant. Subsequent discussions guided by fair business practices and transparency for our between the airline and DG SANCO confirmed that this was customers. All Emirates’ fares include taxes and surcharges inaccurate. and no service fees apply when bookings are made and paid Richard Vaughan, Emirates’ Divisional Senior Vice for online. We also provide a breakdown of the fare President, Commercial Operations Worldwide, said: “As a components, both online and with Global Distribution responsible global airline, our commercial operations are Systems (GDS).”
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AirAsia also launched a regional promo-fare campaign. Dato’ Sri Tony Fernandes, AirAsia Group CEO said, “At AirAsia, we are continuously ramping up our efforts to give the best to our guests. This will distinguish us from our competitors as we are going the extra mile to live up to our brand promise to have the lowest fares in the market.” Kathleen Tan, Regional Head of Commercial, AirAsia Berhad commented: “The airline which brought you original low fares is taking yet another bold step to excite the demand to travel….The aviation industry is highly competitive and to remain as a leader in this industry, we have to be constantly creative, bold and dare to take risks.”
Ukrainian Airlines operates on new jet
THE first commercial flight of a regional jet AN148-100B was made on June 2, 2009. Aero-Svit Ukrainian Airlines operates this aircraft on a regular Khiv-Kharkiv route jointly with Antonov Design Complex. The start of a regular operation of a new modern jet, compliant with ICAO and Eurocontrol Regulations, is a significant milestone in the AN148 programme. The aircraft can operate in regions with intensive air traffic without any limitations. It can operate in various climatic and weather conditions. Initially, the aircraft will operate on Aero-Svit Ukrainian’s domestic routes, with plans to subsequently extend the same to international routes.
Bahrain Air introduces Mumbai-Bahrain flights BAHRAIN Air celebrated its inaugural flight to Mumbai on July 6, 2009. The flight marked the launch of Bahrain Air’s third Indian route destination. Flight 2B517 operated to Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport (BOM), and was welcomed by the airport authorities and the local media. The arriving delegation comprised senior management of Bahrain Air, led by Bart Schellens, Director of Commercial Operations, A Aziz Al Shaer, Manager, Security and Corporate Affairs, and other officials. Commenting on the airline’s strategic expansion plan, Schellens said, “Starting non-stop services from Mumbai, the largest financial hub of India to Bahrain, is a part of our strategic
(L to R) J P Singh, Vice President, Passenger Sales & Services, International, InterGlobe Air Transport; A Aziz AlShaer, Manager, Security and Corporate Affairs; Bart Schellens, Director Commercial Operations, Bahrain Air; V R Santosh, Country Head, India, Bahrain Air.
Air Arabia’s Charity Cloud project initiative comes to India.
Air Arabia, Sharjah Charity start school in Kerala AIR Arabia, the first and largest low-cost carrier (LCC) in the Middle East and North Africa, in collaboration with Sharjah Charity International, has announced the inauguration of its latest Charity Cloud School in the Trissur district of Kerala. The school, built as part of Air Arabia’s Charity Cloud project initiative that is driven by on-board passenger donations, is the company’s first community school project in India and is in line with Air Arabia’s corporate social responsibility (CSR) programme for 2009. The school will offer quality education to children from the underprivileged sections of society. Air Arabia became one of the first companies from the region to introduce a sustainable CSR programme when it launched the ‘Charity Cloud’ project in collaboration with Sharjah Charity International in 2005. The programme is aimed at raising funds for community development initiatives through on-board passenger donations. The fund collections are reviewed annually and invested in health and education projects in impoverished nations through a planned CSR programme.
outlook for the Indian market and we are very bullish about the growth prospects here.” Al Shaer said, “The relationship between Bahrain and India has been a long-standing one and we are happy to announce that Bahrain Air has launched a successful service to Mumbai with daily flights for the benefit and convenience of our passengers.” Commenting on the occasion, Ashok Fenn, President & CEO, InterGlobe Air Transport said, “As partners, we have successfully launched two destinations in India last year and we look forward to strengthening our relationship with this third launch in Mumbai.”
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TRAVEL & TOURISM The Leela Kempinski opens in Gurgaon THE LEELA Palaces, Hotels and Resorts has announced the launch of its first property in North India — The Leela Kempinski Hotel and Residences — in the gateway business district of Gurgaon. Located within 15 minutes drive from the Indira Gandhi International Airport and on the Delhi-Gurgaon border, it offers 322 luxuriously appointed guestrooms and suites, and 90 residences in configuration of one, two and three bedroom options. Capt C P Krishnan Nair, Chairman, The Leela Palaces, Hotels and Resorts said, “It is a momentous occasion for us to have opened the first managed business hotel in North India. Our management alliance with Ambience Group, headed by Mr Raj Singh Gehlot, is an important milestone in the group’s pan India expansion plan.” Raj Singh Gehlot, Chairman, Ambience Group said, “It is our first foray into hospitality and we are delighted to join hands with a premium group such as The Leela.” The hotel offers the largest banqueting facilities in the region with over 27,000 sq ft of function space, including pillar-less ballrooms, board rooms and meeting rooms etc, along with a host of other amenities for the business and leisure traveller.
(Above) The Leela Kempinski group comes to North India with its Gurgaon hotel and (left) Capt. C P Krishnan Nair (centre) at the press conference to announce the launch of the hotel.
Travel showcase at IITM, Bengaluru The Indian International Travel Mart (IITM), in association with Karnataka Tourism, recently organised a travel and tourism exhibition at Bengaluru. The three-day event showcased a variety of destinations from different spheres, such as pilgrimages, adventures, culture, heritage, beaches, hills and many more. Inaugurated by G Janardhana Reddy, Karnataka Minister for Tourism and Infrastructure Development, the 41st edition of the IITM event witnessed over 250 participants from 15 countries, including travel agents and tour operators, hotels and resorts, national tourism organisations, cruises, airlines, online travel portals and others. Among the international participants were Jordan Tourism, Tourism Authority of Thailand, Dubai Tourism, Switzerland Tourism, Via World, Star Cruises, Trafalgar Tours, Ace Travels (Greece), Diamond Tourism (Czech Republic), Tourism Malaysia and others. While Jordan and Thailand were ‘partner countries’, Dubai was the ‘feature country’ for IITM. Among the state tourism departments which took part as ‘partner states’ were Andhra
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IITM, Bengaluru was a big draw for the travel and tourism industry.
Pradesh, Gujarat and Uttrakhand, while West Bengal, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chattisgarh and Kerala were ‘feature destinations’.
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The Metropolitan joins India campaign
JOINING the ‘Visit India Year 2009’ campaign, launched jointly by the Government of India and the Ministry of Tourism, The Metropolitan has come up with two attractive promotional packages.The Incredible Delhi Tour (Delhi-Agra-Jaipur), valid from June 8 to September 30, 2009, provides seven nights and eight days of accommodation at The Metropolitan properties, with extensive sightseeing and other facilities, for $1,333 for two people.The Incredible Monument Tour (Delhi-Agra-Jaipur), valid for the same period and duration at the same cost, focuses on the monuments at these historic cities.
i.e. from August 14 to August 16, 2009. This package for a couple includes luxury accommodation ranges from Rs 13,999 to 16,999 These packages include drink and food basket on arrival, tea/coffee maker in room and buffet breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Oberoi hotels top in survey TWO Oberoi hotels have been ranked amongst the ten best in the world. The Oberoi Vanyavilas, Ranthambhore has been ranked second, and the Oberoi Udaivilas, Udaipur is eighth in the prestigious Travel + Leisure’s 2009 World’s Best Awards readers’ survey.
Ramada Gurgaon woos corporates THE Ramada Gurgaon BMK is wooing corporates in a big way. Situated barely 20 minutes from the international airport in Delhi, this newly opened business hotel has tied up with Wyndham Hotels and Resorts (nearly 7,000 hotels in 67 countries worldwide) to cater to the needs of the corporate traveller visiting the IT hub of Gurgaon. It has also become a night halt for visitors coming from Jaipur to Delhi. Over the last three months, the hotel has been able to garner 50-55 per cent occupancy for its 89-odd rooms. Specially designed to serve the special needs of frequent business travellers, the hotel is contemporary and has elegantly designed rooms. The hotel has facilities for small conventions ranging from 40 to 120 delegates. Chosen as one of the best among the 7,000 Ramada hotels, it offers a wide variety of rooms, according to General Manager Shehzad Uddin. Though small in comparison to many other hotels in Gurgaon, the Ramada has been able to woo corporate visitors to its single restaurant, Café Soho and bar, Bourbon Street. The hotel has also chalked out weekend packages for visitors from Delhi, which are becoming quite popular.
Perfect holiday packages from Country Inn COUNTRY Inn is inviting tourists to savour the ultimate in entertainment, luxury and adventure. With its wide variety of hotels and resorts, Country Inn is offering special season packages for Bhimtal, Corbett, Sattal, Mussorie and Kosi. Those who want to revel in the magic of monsoon vacation can avail the enticing package that offers 2 nights/3 days per couple. This package varies in price according to places and accommodation: from Rs 3,999 to Rs 11,999. Suite and Cottage are available only at Bhimtal and Corbett while Luxury is available at all places. This package is valid till September 27, 2009, except August 15, 2009. Country Inn is also offering winter packages for 2 nights/3 days per couple from September 28, 2009 to March 31, 2010, except Christmas Day and New Year. Accommodation includes stay from Rs 4,999 to Rs 13,999. The accommodation is inclusive of additional cost for extra persons, along with supplement cost for long weekend and festival. You can celebrate freedom on this Independence Day with an enticing Independence Day Package, which is only valid for 3 days,
Ranked among the best.
This is the fifth year in succession that an Oberoi hotel has been ranked amongst the top three hotels in the world in Travel + Leisure’s annual World’s Best Awards. These rankings are the result of a readers’ survey conducted by the world’s leading travel magazine — Travel + Leisure, USA. Travel + Leisure World’s Best Awards are considered amongst the most prestigious in the international travel industry, as it is the readers who define excellence in travel. In the same readers’ survey, four Oberoi hotels have been ranked amongst the 10 best resorts in Asia. The Oberoi Vanyavilas, Ranthambhore; The Oberoi Udaivilas, Udaipur; The Oberoi Amarvilas, Agra and The Oberoi Rajvilas, Jaipur have been rated first, third, fifth and tenth best resorts in Asia respectively.
Indonesia remains undeterred by terror bombings INDONESIA’S Minister of Culture and Tourism of the Republic Jero Wacik has sent out an update regarding the current tourism status in Indonesia following the recent tragic bombings of the Ritz Carlton and JW Marriot Hotel in Jakarta. Wacik has stressed that the overall security situation in Jakarta and throughout Indonesia is stable and safe. He noted that this was the high season in popular destinations in Indonesia, such as Bali, Java, and Batam, and that Indonesia was enjoying its best ever year in terms of tourism arrivals. The attack saw an immediate tragedy in the loss of life and human suffering for the victims of the hotel bombings. It was also likely to have an impact on the image of Indonesia as a safe destination, and consequently many Indonesians working in tourism destinations a thousand kilometres from Jakarta could lose their jobs if tourists became concerned. The Minister reassured the international community and said that Indonesia had gained a strong reputation among law enforcement agencies and political leaders worldwide as a country that could effectively combat terrorism within its borders. He also urged countries considering an advisory to citizens about visiting Indonesia to examine the conditions on the ground carefully; to let their embassies and the world media inform them of the real situation throughout the country, and not to let a few people severely damage the lives of the many thousands of Indonesians who work in the tourism sector and welcome visitors to a happy and safe tourism experience every year.
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SNIPPETS Haryana lures mango lovers THE 18th Mango Mela at Pinjore attracted mango lovers from different parts of Haryana and outside recently. Haryana Governor Dr A R Kidwai; state Agriculture Minister Harmohinder Singh Chatha; Financial Commissioner and Principal Secretary Tourism, Haryana, Keshni Anand Arora; Managing Director, Haryana Tourism, Satwanti Ahlawat, Director Horticulture, Haryana, Satyavir Singh; Deputy Commisisoner, Panchkula Pankaj Yadav, along with senior officers of District Administration, Panchkula were present at the closing ceremony. Jointly organised by Haryana Tourism, Department of Culture, Haryana and Horticulture Department Haryana at the
Haryana Governor Dr A R Kidwai savours the king of fruits at the Pinjore Mango Mela.
historical Yadavindra Gardens at Pinjore, the Mela had a host of activities to entertain the visitors. Among these were Rangoli Competition, Face Painting Competition, Tambola, various street dances and cultural events etc. The closing ceremony also witnessed Qawwali by Haji Aslam Sabri, who enthralled the packed audience with his Nizami style . Speaking on the occasion, the Governor urged farmers to popularise the commercial importance of mango to prospective farmers so that India gets a place of pride in mango production and exports in the world.
Ashok, Bengaluru. Speaking on the convention theme, Vijay Thakur, President, IATO said “it is an exciting and challenging time due to global economic meltdown and, very aptly, the convention theme has been chosen as ‘Tourism — Managing the Downturn’.” Elaborating about the convention, Arun Anand, who is this year’s convention Chairman said, “There is positive vibe in the market with IATO convention being held in Bangaluru.” “In addition, like every year, we will be organising the ‘India Travel Mart’ at the convention venue, where our members will be able to showcase their products. This year, the last day of the mart will be kept open for general public so that local people can also take advantage of IATO’s presence in Bangaluru,” informed Lally Mathews, co-Chairman of the convention. Meanwhile, IATO has complimented the Union Finance Minister for the Budget, which it says looks after growth and stability. “(Though) once again, tourism is not mentioned anywhere, one thing is good for the trade that no new tax has been added to the tourism sector. In fact, we feel some relief with the withdrawal of the Fringe Benefit Tax. Adventure tourism will of course get a boost with customs duty on flatable rafts, snow skies, water skis, surf boats and other water sports equipments getting fully exempted. Abolition of surcharge on personal income tax will also make lot of difference. Thus, in general, we are quite happy with the budget,” said Vijay Thakur, President, IATO.
Indian travel agents get IRISS THE country’s first GDS, IRISS was launched recently at Delhi. IRISS (Integrated Reservation Invoicing Settlement System) is a low-cost multi-dimensional GDS and a new concept in travel distribution. A comprehensive real-time interface between travel service providers such as airlines, hotels, car rental companies, tour operators, insurance companies, cruise operators, travel agents, online travel companies, etc., the solution is facilitated by a robust and state-of-the art technological infrastructure.
Leap International Developmental Film Fest THE 2009 Leap International Developmental Film Festival, Southeast Asia’s first developmental film festival, is scheduled from August 14 to September 30, 2009 in Manila, Philippines. Organised by VSO Bahaginan and AD Group Promotions Philippines, in cooperation with Robinsons Movieworld, the month-long festival will feature local and international films and documentaries with developmental themes. Children’s Rights, Women’s Development, Human Rights, Eco-Preservation, Tribal Development, Preservation of the Culture and the Arts, Literacy for All and Volunteerism are some of the themes that will rule the festival. Special citations and awards for various category themes would honour the deserving films. The festival aims to introduce to the audience films that will create awareness about these social causes. The festival will begin with a grand opening night on August 14 in Robinsons Movieworld Galleria, Manila. The month-long theatrical screenings are scheduled from August 19 to September 30 at Metro Manila, Major Provincial Venues, Robinsons Movieworld and Greenbelt 3 Ayala.
IATO prepares for Bengaluru convention THE Indian Association of Tour Operators (IATO) has announced the venue and the theme for its 25th Annual Convention. The convention will be held from September 3 to 6 at Hotel The Lalit
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C V Prasad, chairman and managing director, IRISS (third from left), along with his team during the launch in New Delhi.
IRISS will have a global reach in the near future and will enable agents anywhere in the world to find, book and sell travel, hospitality and tourism services in any part of the world. In the initial phase, IRISS will be available in India only, with its core focus on domestic carriers. For the first time in the history of global aviation, IRISS has the unique feature of facilitating LCC airlines with the benefit of a GDS and BSP platform, giving them a higher share of the travel agency business and access to the corporate travel market. Speaking at the launch, C V Prasad said, “IRISS was not a portal, not a GDS or an OTA. Instead, it was all three rolled into one that would bring about a huge change in the way travel agents do business. With its prime focus on the travel agent, IRISS would bring higher returns for those using the system.”
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House of crafts WHO could have thought of a handicrafts outlet showcasing the best of India in a hotel? But Craft House at Delhi’s Metropolitan Hotel is just that. The outlet does not concentrate on one state or region; instead, it gathers high class craftsmanship together from around the country and promotes it in the best possible way. “We are passionate about Indian handicraft forms and are promoting it in the best way possible,” says Monisha Gupta, President, Craft House India, with pride. The variety is endless: from Pashmina sourced from Jammu and Kashmir to silk from the south of India, lac bangles and crafts from Rajasthan to Tiklu, a form of Madhubani art, the store has just about everything to please everyone who The Craft House at Delhi’s Metropolitan Hotel is a collector’s dream place, housing the best of Indian arts walks in. “We are doing our best to make unique and handicrafts. Indian art forms available to the customers easily available, but it is because of the true vibrancy of jewellery. Every product is handpicked and chosen the Indian art and culture that so many people are from a variety made by artisans,” she points out. getting so attracted towards it,” says Gupta. The best-selling products are the 30 varieties of Started in 2000 as a small shop selling mostly Indian tea, Pashmina shawls, Tiklu art form on jewellery, Craft House India has gone way beyond shirts and as paintings, wooden Rajasthani being just a shop. It is now an established art house elephants, Ganesha in different materials, of handicrafts of the country. The forms are unique aromatherapy products and traditional Indian and are designed specially for the traveller. jewellery. Each product is packed in attractive “My attempt is to promote India for retail Indian colours like reds and oranges. tourism,” adds Gupta. “It is not just the products In addition to the store at the Metropolitan that are special but we have tried to make the Hotel, Craft House India has opened a centre in Monisha Gupta whole experience of shopping relaxing and Gurgaon and is looking at opening another store in memorable. It is a whole combination of products from tea, Noida. Interested customers can also order products online at aromatherapy products, Pashmina, lac bangles and a variety of crafthouseindia.com.
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SNIPPETS Abacus reports increase in GDS bookings
DATA released by Abacus International recently has indicated a 111 per cent increase, year on year Q1 2008 vs Q1 2009, for the top 30 hotels booked through the Abacus GDS system. The majority (66 per cent) of these hotels were located in China, illustrating the extent to which this market continues to fuel growth in the travel industry across Asia Pacific, despite the current economic climate. Importantly, this trend also represents a sea change in the agent’s recognition of the increasing value of less traditional agency services, such as hotel rooms, car hire and rail tickets. Brett Henry, Vice President-Marketing for Abacus International said, “It is both interesting and heartening to see such strong increases in bookings on the Abacus GDS system for so many hotels, especially those in China.” “The increased sales of non-traditional travel products represented in the data we have released supports a recent trend of travel agents increasingly moving to become onestop shops, building on their flight booking capability by embracing other areas of potential revenue. This is an extremely positive development for the supplier, the agent and the traveller, not to mention the industry as a whole,” Henry said.
take walkers to quite such lofty heights but offers unmitigated pleasure. The Green Ribbon runs right along the former Iron Curtain, where a unique landscape of shrubs, forest, marshes and heathland, developed during the 40 years of Germany’s division, offers walkers one of the most beautiful views in the region. The Hainich treetop walk takes you deep, or rather high, into ancient woodland.
Special package at Malaysia’s Genting Highlands MALAYSIA’S famous Genting Highlands is a popular entertainment destination that keeps kids and adults busy with many events, shows and activities. Offering a unique and quiet getaway from the frantic pace of larger cities, Genting Highland vacations can be the perfect way to spend quality time with the family. This season, Maxims clubs, Suites and Residences has come up with one more option for travellers to have a memorable experience with unsurpassed living in any of their special suites — Maxims Suites, Executive Suite Signature Suite, Ambassador Suite, Presidential Suite or the Royal Suite. The packages are designed for one, two or three nights for stay in any of the suites, inclusive of other amenities that include breakfast, dinner etc.
Walking through united Germany NOT only did German reunification allow many cultural assets in eastern Germany to be restored to their former glory, many former military exclusion zones have been transformed into areas of unique natural beauty — “green history books” — that give a very special insight into Germany’s recent past. The Hexenstieg (witches’ trail) in the Harz mountains, which runs between Osterode in Lower Saxony to the romantic Bode valley in Saxony-Anhalt, is an idyllic “cross-border” walking trail. It takes several days to cover the entire route. Its highlight is the ascent of Mount Brocken, the highest peak in the Harz, which was a restricted area during the time of the GDR. In December 2007, the Harz Witches’ Trail was certified as a Wanderbares Deutschland premium trail by the German Ramblers’ Association (www.hexenstieg.de). The Karst Trail in the southern Harz doesn’t
Maxims adds to the charm of Malaysia’s Genting Highlands.
Chiang Mai to host TAFI, MoU signed at IITM
(L -R): Sonalee Vaz, Mumbai Representative Office - TAT; Chitra Bhatia, MD, Aashman Air Travels Pvt. Ltd.; Aditi Bhende, Proprietor, Aarohan Tours & Travels, at the Tiger Zoo during their reccee visit in Chiang Mai.
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THE Travel Agents Federation of India recently visited Chiang Mai, in order to finalise hotels and arrangements for the annual convention, which is scheduled to take place during October 2225, 2009. Present at the meet were Pradip Lulla, President TAFI; Ajay Prakash, Hon Secretary-General; Bharat Shah, co Chairman Convention Committee; Chitra Bhatia, Committee Member from Delhi; Talha Rahman, Committee Member from Chennai; Promod Kohli, Convention Chairman and Sonalee Vaz, Mumbai Representative Office, Tourism Authority of Thailand. The TAFI Committee members made a brief presentation on the convention and announced that they had chosen Chiang Mai as their venue. Present were members of the TAT Chiang Mai Office and also members of Chiang Mai Tourism Business Association. The convention meet was successfully concluded with the TAFI members meeting with Khun Santichai Eauchongprasit, Deputy Governor, Marketing, TAT; Khun Nuntinee Chuachoowongse, Director of Marketing; Khun Tanyaporn; Khun Pichaya Saisaengchan, Chief, ASEAN, South Asia and South Pacific Marketing Development Promotion Section. The recent IITM at Bengaluru witnessed the signing of MoU between TAFI and Tourism Authority of Thailand.
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APPOINTMENTS Seema Chandra is SpiceJet CFO SPICEJET Limited has announced the appointment of Seema Chandra as Chief Financial Officer with effect from July 1, 2009. Announcing this appointment, Sanjay Aggarwal, Chief Executive Officer, SpiceJet Limited said, “I am delighted to welcome Seema to SpiceJet. Her experience, along with her strong set of skills around strategic and business focused finance, is a combination that SpiceJet needs at this point in time.” Seema brings with her over 25 years of extensive work Seema Chandra experience, having worked with large corporates including HT Media, Nestle India Limited and Ranbaxy Limited. Her last assignment was as the Chief Financial Officer of Mascon Global Limited. There’s something for everyone in Spain.
Enjoy the best of Spain
FROM wonderful historical places to the irresistible food, from interesting festivals and carnivals to the beautiful Moroccan landscapes and architecture, all aspects of colourful Spain are geared to woo travellers and visitors from around the world. Flamenco is the music of the night and the passion of Spanish people’s soul. Flamenco has always attracted India and these relations were boosted by guitarist Michael Czachowski, who launched Indialucía, a project dedicated to bring together the two distant cultures. Also, from the Carnival in Cadiz, which has become the liveliest and most dazzling carnival in mainland Spain, to the Satirical and crazy Las Fallas Festival, the festivals in Spain offer immense pleasure to tourists, who are also attracted by the splendid architecture of the country. For those who are fond of nightlife, too, Spain has much to offer, while art lovers can have the pleasure of enjoying some of the world’s best masterpieces.
American Airlines has new India country manager AMERICAN Airlines has announced the appointment of Philip Lewin as the Country Manager for India. In this position, Philip will be heading American Airlines’ operations in India, including Sales/Marketing, airport operations and the accounting functions. Philip brings with him a rich and varied experience that spans several reputed airlines around the globe, and has worked extensively in the area of alliances and Philip Lewin partnerships. Prior to his current assignment, Philip was working with American Airlines in Zurich as the Regional Business Development Manager for Germany, Switzerland, Italy and Russia/CIS. Before joining American, Philip represented Oneworld Alliance in Germany, Italy and Switzerland, having spent six years working for SWISS and Swissair in a variety of management positions.
Sarovar appoints GM at Ludhiana SAIBAL SENGUPTA has been appointed General Manager for the soon-to-be-launched Sarovar Portico in Ludhiana. Saibal is a hotel management graduate and a seasoned hospitality professional. His career span includes stints across Citi Residency Durgapur; Fortune Hotels Darjeeling and The Royal Plaza Gangtok. Saibal’s last assignment was with Prismic Hotels & Resorts. At Sarovar Poritco Ludhiana, Saibal will be responsible for the hotel launch and day-to-day operations.
TAFI managing committee along with Sonalee Vaz, at the pre TAFI Convention meet in Chiang Mai.
Saibal Sengupta
(L -R): Sonalee Vaz, Capt. Pramod Kohli, Director, Lancer Travels Pvt. Ltd. and Diane Curtis, Director Sales and Marketing, Mandarin Oriental, Dhara Dhevi, Chiang Mai.
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And they floated into matrimony…
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hey flew like Superman and floated upside down to say their wedding vows, as Zero Gravity Corporation hosted the world’s firstever weightless wedding. Noah Fulmor and Erin Finnegan were married on June 20 among family and friends on board a specially modified Boeing 727-200 aircraft, GForce One, operated by Zero Gravity Corp, or ZERO-G, a company offering weightless flight experiences. In keeping with the uniqueness of the occasion, the bride wore white, and earrings resembling tiny planets, the groom a tuxedo and cuff links shaped like spacecraft, and the wedding party attended in blue jump suits. Finnegan and Fulmor, who live in New York City, are self-professed space DEFYING GRAVITY: This specially modified Boeing 727-200 aircraft created history when it hosted the world’s firstever weightless wedding. (Above): Snippets from the wedding.
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fanatics — as children, both wanted to be astronauts. Finnegan attended space camp, while Fulmor volunteered at a local planetarium. Today Finnegan works in animation production and Fulmor is a legal secretary. “It was weirder than I expected. ... I’ve been to a lot of boring weddings, so I wanted to do something different,” said Finnegan, with wires keeping her hairdo from unravelling. “I’ve waited my whole life for this ... what I remember most was the feeling of weightlessness, both physically and emotionally,” Fulmor said. Officiating at the ceremony was Richard Garriott, a second-generation US space traveller and ZERO-G co-founder, who is also a registered notary. He told reporters, “I know first-hand the added thrill microgravity will play in their
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already joyous event.” Planning a zero-gravity wedding comes with its share of technicalities. The couple had to make sure that the marriage would be legal, for instance, fortunately the airspace over Cape Canaveral is covered by Florida law. The wedding is uninsurable, though, and figuring out the best zero-gravity hairstyle was a chal lenge, Finnegan said.
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