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TIGHTENING THE NOOSE
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CRUISING HEIGHTS TAKES A CLOSE LOOK AT THE INDIAN AVIATION INDUSTRY THAT IS PITTED AGAINST SOME FORMIDABLE CHALLENGES — MOST OF THEM CAN BE OVERCOME BY POLICY MANOEUVRES FROM THE GOVERNMENT. EVEN SO, IT WILL BE A LONG AND DIFFICULT YEAR AND ONE WRONG MOVE COULD HAVE RIPPLE EFFECTS THROUGHOUT THE INDUSTRY. PLUS: AVIATION STAKEHOLDERS GAUGE THE OUTLOOK FOR 2012 AND PREDICT HOW 2012 WILL PLAY OUT.
HC TIWARI
With the fog season on in full swing, airlines scheduled for take-offs and landings from North Indian airports have been facing a tough time. Most carriers look for alternative airports for parking overnight. While this has not yet caused airspace problems, but a day will come when Delhi could be in the same predicament as New York. In fact, a number of the flight delays along US’s east coast, according to experts, are a direct result of the planes going to and from New York’s three main airports being squeezed into a few narrow flight corridors. Airspace — or rather the lack of it — is a critical issue in other places too. Closer home, according to a story in The National, an Abu Dhabi English daily, had a story about airspace problems in the United Arab Emirates. The problems will increase now that the Gulf ’s airports are being transformed into international air transport hubs. The daily’s story points out that the authorities in the region were moving ahead to free more airspace by promoting international co-operation and signing new air-navigation agreements. In 2011, the UAE General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) signed 29-odd agreements and 21 air-navigation agreements with other countries. Tony Tyler, the Director General and Chief Executive, IATA, was quoted as saying, “Airspace is a problem. Only 40 per cent of the airspace in the Gulf region is available for civilian operations. There’s a lot that’s closed off for military and other purposes. IATA’s working with the authorities to see what we can do to make the space that we can use more efficient to use and of course also to free up more space.”
HEMANT RAWAT
Off the cuff
Flying space
NEWS DIGEST
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The international aviation sector has forced major carriers to withdraw services as direct flights to and from India and the US have been affected while Delhi airport ushers in the unveiling of the new ATC tower. CRUISING HEIGHTS February 2012
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The Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport will be ready with its spanking new terminal this year in June. Once completed, the new terminal will usher Kolkata airport into the league of one of the best airports in the country.
“ PERISCOPE
Firm commitment “On the part of airlines, lot of cost restructuring is required. They have to realise theirs is a service industry. On our part, we will ensure that fuel price is made competitive and there is availability of working capital to all airlines.”
CIVIL AVIATION MINISTER AJIT SINGH on the domestic airlines' rough patch.
LETTERS TO EDITOR
The cover story Waiting for 2012 (January, 2012) was written in the right perspecAGENDA FOR A tive. Indian aviation is poised NEW START IN for 2012. There is a strong case for allowing foreign airlines to pick up a stake in domestic airlines. According to a recent ASSOCHAM report, the Indian civil aviation industry can fly again on a growth curve in 2012 if the government lowers taxes on jet fuel, upgrade airport infrastructure and allow the three major airlines — Jet Airways, Kingfisher Airlines and SpiceJet — to offload 49 per cent of promoters’ stake to foreign airlines to raise `2,550 crore. Reema Bhargav, Rewa
CRUISING HEIGHTS
Chaos and confusion “The incorporation of airlines in the EU Emissions Trading Scheme means that European operators are now facing additional costs which will make flying within and via Europe more expensive for passengers.”
PRIME MINISTER’S THRUST AREAS FOR REVIVAL OF CIVIL AVIATION
www.cruisingheights.in January 2012
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STAKEHOLDERS LIST OUT THEIR IMMEDIATE PRIORITIES TO BOOST THE DIPPING AVIATION SECTOR AND THEIR FORTUNES.
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2012
Down: The KF story
Time to move Airports for with caution… smarter fliers
Vijay Mallya has to get his act together if he wants his airline to survive
But infrastructure enhancement initiatives will help revive air cargo in 2012
The initiative to usher in hi-tech to make the whole experience of flying an enjoyable one is on
AJIT SINGH TAKES CHARGE OF CIVIL AVIATION MINISTRY
Tread with caution in 2012 (January, 2012) unveiled the air cargo trends for the year 2012. The writer has rightly presented facts and figures justifying the way the sector will go. IATA has painted a grim picture of margins being squeezed even tighter for air cargo carriers and 2012 would indeed be worrisome for the sector. This doesn’t augur well for the industry. Aircargo stakeholders should come out with reasonable solutions to get the industry out from this sorry state while aviation body IATA can take this cause further as the sector has seen a tumultuous year. Only time will tell how the industry fares in 2012. Kalyani De, Kolkata
The interview of Dan O’ Connell, “The airport experience should be a lasting one” (January, 2012) was exciting to read. The technology, which IBM has brought might change the face of the Indian aviation industry. Airports in India should leverage this technology and the Ministry of Civil aviation can take a step forward. While crores of rupees have been spent on the airports’ modernisation, some money should also be spent on embracing new technologies. Technology has changed the world in many ways and it will continue to do so for many years to come. Ram Manohar, Buxar
LUFTHANSA EXECUTIVE BOARD MEMBER CARSTEN SPOHR, on the European airlines' adopting EU Emissions Trading Scheme.
Code of morals “We are careful that financial stringency should not impinge on safety. So on that basis, we had done this (internal report) and there are several steps which have to be taken by the airlines.” E K BHARAT BHUSHAN, DIRECTOR GENERAL, DGCA on the need to beef up safety measures by the domestic airlines.
“Airport charges have been amended only twice in the last decade, despite a significant increase in capital expenditure and operating costs.” KPMG'S AVIATION DIRECTOR AMBER DUBEY on the rationalisation of airport charges.
Conflict of will “Airport charges are only 2-2.5 per cent of airlines' total costs and therefore, a seven-fold increase in these tariffs is not going to either burden the airlines or the passengers in any substantial manner.” SIDHARATH KAPUR, GMR INFRASTRUCTURE'S CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER (AIRPORTS) on the airport charges imposed by the airports.
Zealous devotion
All correspondence may be addressed to Editor, Cruising Heights, D-11 Basement, Nizamuddin (East), New Delhi -13, OR mail to cruisingheights@newsline.in.
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Need for more
CRUISING HEIGHTS February 2012
“It has been a fantastic year for Dubai Duty Free. The entire team has worked hard to maintain its position as the single-largest airport retailer in the world.” H H SHEIKH AHMED BIN SAEED AL MAKTOUM, PRESIDENT, DUBAI CIVIL AVIATION AUTHORITY, on the Dubai Duty Free's stupendous performance.
Facebook’s list of world’s most social airports
The top 10 most social airports in the world were: ¾ ¾ ¾ ¾ ¾ ¾ ¾ ¾ ¾ ¾
Los Angeles International Airport, US Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, US Chicago O'Hare International Airport, US San Francisco International Airport, US Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport, US Denver International Airport, US Sydney (Kingsford Smith) Airport, Australia Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, US McCarran International Airport, US Suvarnabhumi International Airport, Bangkok
COLD STATS
Los Angeles International Airport took the top spot with 875,597 "were here" mentions and 39,316 "likes". The busiest airport in the world, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, came in at number two followed by Chicago O'Hare International Airport. The list was compiled based on the number of times people shared their airport location on Facebook, or through services associated with the website, from August 2010 to November 2011. Sydney international airport was at number seven on the list compiled by Facebook. Sydney airport's Facebook page shows that while 455,314 people said they "were here", only 11,849 people "liked" it. While many of the mentions on the social media website were simply about arriving or leaving the airport, not all were positive.
LOOKING GLASS
The Maharaja's shattered dream
Pitiable condition “Kingfisher is a NPA (Non-Performing Asset) for us. They are in default.” SBI CHAIRMAN PRATIP CHAUDHURI on the poor performance registered by the Kingfisher Airlines.
Burden of proof “Kingfisher Airlines is going through difficult times. But we are not shutting down.” KINGFISHER AIRLINES CHIEF VIJAY MALLYA on the Kingfisher Airlines' revival chances.
CRUISING HEIGHTS February 2012
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will be gateway to APAC
COME JUNE THIS YEAR, THE NETAJI SUBHASH CHANDRA BOSE INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT WILL BE READY WITH ITS SPANKING NEW TERMINAL. PART OF A TWO-PHASE MASSIVE MODERNISATION-CUM-EXPANSION PROJECT BY THE AIRPORTS AUTHORITY OF INDIA, KOLKATA AIRPORT WILL BE AT PAR WITH THE BEST AROUND THE WORLD. R KRISHNAN RECENTLY WENT TO CHECK OUT THE PROGRESS OF WORK AND CAME BACK IMPRESSED.
CRUISING HEIGHTS February 2012
AAI
Kolkata
GET CRACKING: (Top) Work in progress at the new terminal of the Netaji Subhash Chandra International Airport; (bottom) artist impression of the terminal.
olkata airport, widely known as Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport, is located in Dum Dum area, approximately five kilometres from the newly-developing IT hub and 17 kilometres from Kolkata city centre. The fifth-busiest airport after Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru and Chennai, Kolkata handles over nine million passengers yearly against its designed total capacity of five million split between international and domestic terminals. Since the present terminal is more than saturated, the government decided in 2008 to undertake massive modernisation-cum-expansion of Kolkata airport. The job of executing the expansion projection was given to the state-owned Airports Authority of India (AAI), which is literally racing against time to complete it. Once the work is completed by June 2012, the brand new steel and glass terminal will literally be the pride of East. It will be able
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