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AAI FOCUS: Modernising, expanding and upgrading airport infrastructure JULY 2006

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EDITOR’S NOTE

Why did it unravel?

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n the past three months, talking to Jet employees was a revelation. Almost unanimously, they wanted answers to just one question: What was wrong with their Chairman Naresh Goyal and why had he entered into this most disagreeable deal with Air Sahara?

It was a bit of a surprise that the normally hero worshipping Jet top brass was baffled, mystified and angry with their chairman for having pushed the company into a deal they simply didn’t like. They saw him as a market savvy, street-smart businessman, who knows which way the wind is blowing. So why did he commit this mistake, they wondered.

As one of them said, "We are India’s best airline, we have national presence, and we are Number One in market share. So what do we need Sahara for?" The Naresh Goyal argument to this has been simple: expand market share, put a large distance between the competition and Jet, consolidate and increase the valuation of the company and leverage it to drive the huge expansion plans on the drawing board. Perfectly legitimate and sensible. So why then did they oppose the deal? And why did it fall through?

Simple. The Jet team didn’t want any part of the Sahara pie. And the reasons for their opposition were clear: Professionalism: If Jet prided itself on its professionalism, it was appalled at the nonprofessionalism in the Sahara ranks. They had no complaints with Subroto Roy; in fact they quite liked Saharashree, but didn’t want to have anything to do with the Air Sahara team.

Cultural divide: The Jet culture is completely modern, Western and bottom-line oriented. Sahara is the exact opposite. It was a parivar with a very strong feudal oligarchy.

Poor leadership: Jet had a clear-cut leadership role for people at the top. It was right the opposite at Sahara. During the U.K. Bose era, the poor man spent half his time warding off attacks from his immediate Number Two, Alok Sharma, who had his own backers in Lucknow. When Rono Dutta joined, he, too, was plagued by the Alok shadow.

CRUISING HEIGHTS July 2006

But none of these questions have ever been raised publicly. What Jet sources say in off-the-record briefings is that the rot was worse than they had anticipated. And in addition to the reservation of their own team, the actual due diligence of the Air Sahara books has revealed that the rot was deep.

Frankly, this is laughable. That Air Sahara was poorly run, the top management was in disarray, there was too much politics in the organisation, there was no clear short-term or long-term business plan and too much interference from extra constitutional elements in Lucknow was well known for long. And a man like Naresh Goyal, with his ear to the ground, couldn’t have been ignorant of the real state of affairs at Air Sahara.

One argument that does make some sense is Naresh’s real fear that Vijay Mallya could run away with Air Sahara and make life uncomfortable for him. When the Air Sahara sales first hit headlines, it was Mallya who evinced interest in buying it. The combined Kingfisher-Air Sahara entity could have given Jet a real run for its money. For starters, Mallya could have gone abroad with Sahara.

Moreover, he could straightaway increase market share and visibility. Perhaps, Naresh’s better judgement was clouded in his bid to stop the Kingfisher baron in his tracks.

There is also the argument that Naresh did not realise the depth of the hostility in the industry to his takeover and consequent transfer of invaluable assets by the DGCA to the merged company. Finally, Naresh perhaps completely missed reading the Congress mood as far as Subroto Roy and Air Sahara are concerned.

It’s remarkable that a man best known for his management of the ‘climate’ and his ability to read the weather was completely taken by surprise by the hailstorm. It only goes to show that managing the weather is a round-the-clock affair. And having friends in the right places may not necessarily be a guarantee for a deal done. It will depend equally on what people close to you and not so close to you think of it.

In this case, both of them seemed to think it was ‘stupid’.

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Off the cuff

Striking gold

contents COVER STORY

SRIDHAR’S LAST Last month, one had written about the amazing Emirates-FIFA World Cup offer that had ensured a record load factor for the Dubai-based carrier. Well, it now turns out that it was a month-long bonanza for the airline.

Making its debut as a sponsor of the planet’s greatest sporting occasion, Emirates—one of the world’s fastest growing airlines— used its position as official partner to increase its profile alongside many other global brands. And with an estimated TV audience of more than two billion alone watching the final between Italy and France, Emirates’ worldwide recognition is expected to have grown to a significant level.

In addition to the pitch-side branding, which was beamed to billions, Emirates’ association with the FIFA World Cup saw sponsorship of the Matchcast element of the tournament’s official website, www.fifaworldcup.com, hosted by Yahoo!, the activation of 16 FIFA World Cup viewing stations at airports around the world, commercial displays at each stadium in Germany, the broadcast of all matches across the Emirates fleet, a partnership with Marriott International and a host of promotions allowing football fans across the world the chance to be at the 64-match tournament.

With the cricket World Cup just months away, it makes eminent sense for IA or AI or Jet or any of the others to have a tie-up for what could be a great spinoff.

HURRAH Sridhar Nagar moves to ICAO after five successful years at Pawan Hans

IATA DIGEST p24

NEWS DIGEST p14

The annual jamboree at Paris saw Praful Patel reveling in the spotlight.

A special report.

Airbus undergoes seismic convulsions plus Jazeera arrives in India.

AIRPORT DIGEST p27 Snippets from Indian airports.

CRUISING HEIGHTS July 2006

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

CRUISING HEIGHTS K. SRINIVASAN

OFF THE RECORD p6

Editor

Globetrotter Praful Patel has close competition from V. Thulasidas, who is traversing the globe for the Maharaja

R. KRISHNAN Consulting Editor

ANAMIKA VERMA

YEH HAI DUNIYA p12 Sleeping alongwith the boys

Editorial Coordinator

DUSHYANT PARASHAR Creative Director

BHART BHARDWAJ Art Director

RAJESH KUMAR BHOLA Designer

RAJIV SINGH Gen. Manager (Admn.)

GLOBETROTTING p34 Fraport an ecological hub

RENU MITTAL Executive Director

AAI Focus Airport Authority of India is setting a scorching pace as it goes about the business of modernising and upgrading facilities at Kolkata and Chennai airports and modernising 35 non-metro airports. Exclusive interview with Chairman K. Ramalingam and in-depth stories on project Gagan, AAI’s cargo operations, its plans for airports across the country and the magical transformation it has wrought in many of these airports.

Editorial & Marketing office: Newsline Publications Pvt. Ltd. D-11, Nizamuddin (East) New Delhi-110 014 Tel.: 41825250/51, Fax: 41825496 All information in CRUISING HEIGHTS is derived from sources we consider reliable.

It is passed on to our readers without any responsibility on our part. Opinions/views expressed by third parties in abstract or in interviews are not necessarily shared by us.

Material appearing in the magazine cannot be reproduced in whole or in part(s) without prior permission. The publisher assumes no responsibility for material lost or damaged in transit. The publisher reserves the right to refuse, withdraw or otherwise deal with all advertisements without explanation. All advertisements must comply with the Indian Advertisements Code. The publisher will not be liable for any loss caused by any delay in publication, error or failure of advertisement to appear.

Published and edited by K. Srinivasan 4C Pocket-IV, Mayur Vihar Phase 1, Delhi 110091 and printed by K. Srinivasan at Nutech Photolithographers, C-74, Okhla Industrial Area, phase-I, New Delhi 110 020

Cover photograph by: Dheeraj Paul

CRUISING HEIGHTS July 2006

Vol 1 No 3

3

“ PERISCOPE

Phew!

“We have basically unturned every stone in our bid to increase efficiency of the airline.”

WARWICK BRADY Chief Operating Officer, Air Deccan

No time pass “We plan to have one type of fare which would always be low. The airline would certainly offer beverages to the passengers although there would be no hot meals and in-flight entertainment on board the aircraft.”

LETTERS TO EDITOR

The cover story this time dealt with a very serious issue—passenger rights.

The writer has tackled the issue in a very candid and lucid manner. The contrast with Singapore’s Changi airport is stark. I wish the new EU law soon becomes a reality in India, and the courts enforce it for a quick and just remedy.

Ashok Kumar, New Delhi

BRUCE ASHBY President and Chief Executive Officer, IndiGo

Fair enough “If we can accept the FAA or European regulator’s certification, they can also accept our certification.

Such an agreement will help the nascent aviation industry in the country.”

KANU GOHAIN, Director General, DGCA

Wow! “Liberalising

just 320 of the world’s 2,000 restrictive air routes would generate economic value comparable to the Brazilian economy, generating 24.1 million full-time jobs and a US $490 billion contribution to global wealth.”

Your editorial (June 2006) hit the nail on the head. The issue had raised many questions in my mind, and, as I had expected, I received lucid answers from you. Thank you very much. Capt Gopinath is certainly a lucky man to have “walked past the finishing line, bruised but most certainly not battered”.

Raj Verma, New Delhi The exclusive interview of Kanu Gohain was a real eye opener, as it provided a good peek as to what is going on at the DGCA. The candid comments speak a lot about the person at the helm of affairs. Good going, Gohain.

Nimai Sanyal, Kolkata

The Special Report on AAI’s refusal to use aerobridges built by the Chinese company is really an odd case. The Courts, too, evaded the issue by noting “the government in the name of security should not create monopoly”.

There appears to be no logic in not buying the aerobridges from Chinese companies and the writer has rightly noted that the move is xenophobic.

Mohan Singh Walia, Chandigarh

PETER DE JONG, President and CEO, PATA

Sorry!

“I

don’t blame Jet Airways... but we cannot suffer with them.”

ALOK SHARMA, President, Air Sahara On the Jet deal that fell through

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

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No problems!

“The government is doing a hell of a lot... things are moving in the right direction.”

SAROJ DATTA, Executive Director, Jet Airways On the Air Sahara deal that fell through

CRUISING HEIGHTS July 2006

Legacy carriers’ share grows

In 2005, the arrival of

international tourists grew by 16 per cent.

In Q1, 2006 foreign tourist arrival in the country was a good 11 per cent.

In 2006, the total inbound tourists were 12.8 lakh, while the same was 11.4 lakh in 2005. The resulting foreign exchange earnings were as high as 12 per cent of an amount of $1,780 million.

COLD STATS

The three legacy carriers—Indian, Jet Airways and Air Sahara—have reported a slight growth to 66.7 per cent.

The group of four start-up airlines—Air Deccan, Kingfisher, SpiceJet and GoAir—have witnessed a drop in their combined market share to 33.3 per cent.

Jet Airways continued to rule the skies with a 34.6 per cent share of the market, followed by Indian at 23.6 per cent, and Air Sahara’s market share rose to 8.5 per cent.

Air Deccan had 16.7 per cent; Kingfisher’s share stood at 7.6 per cent, followed by SpiceJet at 7 per cent and GoAir at 2 per cent.

Indian tourism scenario

LOOKING GLASS

Wind Deviceows has dete Start ws Airbus A3 cted new h ardwar ith aut 80 e o-conf i g u r a tion?

Star t Can

cel Courtesy: www.pilotfriend.com

Sum total “We want to combine the two large airlines of India into a large Asian airline group, and we should be able to then compete on a more equitable ground.”

V. THULASIDAS, Chairman, Air India On the Indian-Air India merger

CRUISING HEIGHTS July 2006

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OFF THE RECORD

Perfect Timing

IT WAS just the perfect conference of Gujaratis in New Jersey.

Mantriji simply said, “Wah, kya timing hai.” The conference in the US was placed deliciously between the World Cup semi-final and final, and gave Praful the opportunity to fly to Germany to watch the Munich versus France match before moving across the Atlantic to address his fellow Gujaratis. Deed done, he flew back to Berlin for the final. As the vice-president of the All India Football Federation (AIFF) and head of the Western India Football Association, Mantriji has access to the gilt-edged FIFA box at all World Cup venues. Both he and I & B Minister, Priyaranjan Dasmunsi, who heads the AIFF, had the opportunity of attending several matches

Sorry, mate 6

W

during the month-long tournament at Germany. And like Praful he, too, was doing a back-and-forth routine to attend to work at home and the football series in Germany. Accompanying Mantriji on this weeklong trip was his son, who shares his passion for aviation and soccer. We know Priya da had a tough time obliging people who wanted to get on the first plane to Germany. Well, finally he did oblige some and said sorry to the rest. But there were some people whom Priya da obliged. For example, he gave tickets to Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee and HRD Minister Arjun Singh’s family. Now what about Mantriji? Was there a mad scramble for tickets at his doorstep? We really don’t know; we must ask him the next time we meet him. In any case, that’s what we call good politics; between the two of them—PP’s boss, Sharad Pawar, and himself—they have the best seats in the two most popular games—football and rajniti. Now, if this isn’t first, what is?

ELL, AFTER the initial war of words between Praful Patel and the Jet top brass, Jet Chairman Naresh Goyal did call up Mantriji. The feisty Goyal was apologetic and said his office in Mumbai had drafted the Jet Airways’ statement regarding withdrawing from the Sahara deal and that it should have been better drafted. And for good measure he added that having been drafted by a lawyer, the subtle touches had gone unattended to. And what did Mantriji say in return?

Well, Jet made a statement and the government responded. And if Jet doesn’t have anything else to say, that’s fine by the government. It has made its position clear. For those looking for a saucy Naresh versus Praful subplot, it was the end of the story.

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OFF THE RECORD

No Atithi Devo Bhava

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ITH ATITHI DEVO BHAVA off her scanner (for the record, the programme was started by Renuka Choudhary), what are Ambika Soni’s plans for Incredible India? Well, just recently the government put out an ad to empan-

el agencies for a series of spectacular showstoppers, including campaigns on the Andamans, the monsoons, J & K and a whole series of other print and AVs that will cover the entire country. A huge amount has been earmarked for a global blitz once again.

The idea is to make sure that Incredible India continues to resonate in all corners of the globe. Good show, Madam, but do something about the infrastructure. Meanwhile, it’s learnt that the ministry of external affairs has decided to put together a huge number of promo films that will showcase India and Indian tourism to go along with its other films. The idea is to provide a more holistic image of India that will not only bring FDI but also more tourists, who can be the best ambassadors for the country.

There is also some talk in the foreign office that there should be a greater effort to work in tandem with the tourism ministry for ensuring that the momentum does not slack.

Cruise control

N

OW WHAT is common between Vancouver, Montreal, Paris and London? Simple. They all figure in the criss-cross odyssey that brought Praful Patel from his Alaskan cruise to the IATA annual meet at Paris. Well, to cut a long story short, Patel left with family for a seven-day cruise along the iceberg route and flew into Vancouver for the transfer to the cruise. At that point, he had said ‘no’ to the IATA conference, after having initially said ‘yes’, but was persuaded by his officers that no minister had ever been invited to address this august gathering of industry captains, and it would be in India’s interest that he made a big splash there. So Mantriji agreed reluctantly and just about made it in time to take the flight from Vancouver to Montreal. Here, again, it was a case of touch and go, as PP transferred for his transatlantic voyage and arrived in the French capital just in time for him to go to his hotel, change into a

8

fresh suit and arrive at the IATA conference. In keeping with his style, the speech was extempore, without notes, and he rambled through every facet of Indian aviation.

The only time that PP looked a trifle embarrassed was on questions relating to service tax. How is it possible to bolster the aviation industry if there is going to be such a slap on the wrist, wondered several heavyweights. Well, Praful said he was speaking to finance minister P. Chidambaram on the issue. Well, what else could he say?

Chiddu hardly listens to anyone and gives the impression of being God’s gift to mankind. Amongst others present at Paris were Indian CMD Vishwapati Trivedi, Air India CMD V. Thulasidas (who is also on the IATA Board) and AI’s Commercial Director V.K. Verma. So enthused was he at the reception that he later took his team to lunch to celebrate. And, no, he didn’t go to Monte Carlo. He flew to London and took a straight flight to Mumbai.

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OFF THE RECORD

Chennai

Here and there

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AGPUR WILL most certainly become a national cargo hub, but the AAI subsidiary at Gondia, for a fullfledged flying academy, is yet to take off. As the saying goes, there is many a slip between the cup and the lip.

Apparently the project has been held up because of technicalities and can’t see the light of day until cabinet approval is forthcoming on a number of issues. Meanwhile, the private sector is gearing up in a big way to set up training schools all over the country. Air Deccan has already announced plans.

Jet Airways has said it is keen, and several other private players are also looking at the options. More than one international training academy for airhostesses is also likely to come up very soon. What it all means is that cutting edge, a buzzword in the industry, will now arrive for the cabin crew as well. Good for everyone and best for the paying public.

WILL CHENNAI’S Meenambakkam airport be modernised or will there be a new Greenfield airport for the city? Former chief minister Jayalalitha had acquired a huge tract of additional land to help move ahead with the process of expanding and putting the airport on par with Delhi’s and Mumbai’s (see News Digest), but a few of the villages have gone to court and so the whole thing has gone into a bit of a tailspin. However, that has not discouraged IT minister, Dayanidhi Maran, from pushing ahead with the modernisation at the present site. But shipping minister, T.R. Balu, a long-time Karunanidhi favourite, believes it makes no sense to go ahead at the present site if the issue is in the courts and it is going to take a long time for resolving. He believes it will be in the longterm interests of the state to simply find a new location for the airport. In fact, he has told associates he will talk to the CM to convince him of his ideas. But Maran says no.

Those in the know say that

both Kalanidhi and Dayanidhi are looking at expanding their Sun TV empire and airports look to them as one bright option. There have been some reports of collaboration with Changi airport, and if it is indeed true, then the keenness to continue at the present site is no surprise. The fracas has resulted in a further deepening of the cold war between messers Maran and Balu, and caught in the crossfire is the

BUZZZZZZZZ......

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New moneyman

Who’ll make it?

Indigo Update

WILL RAGHU MENON take over as the new Additional Secretary and Financial Advisor at Rajiv Gandhi Bhawan? The present AS & FA, Prasanta Kumar Mishra, is likely to move as a full secretary anytime and that would mean a vacancy. Praful Patel has had a good working relationship with Menon and could well welcome him back.

Menon was at one time considered a shooin for the top job at IA, but somehow never made it to the PESB shortlist. That has been a bit of a controversy for long.

THERE ARE two names doing the rounds for the post of Joint Secretary (Tourism). Will Ambika Soni choose one of them or will she decide to continue for the moment with Amitabh Kant? The present JS (T) has done a tremendous job and many believe he must get some more time to tie up all the loose ends for the Incredible India campaign. Now it’s for Soni to take a call.

If the grapevine is to be believed, the shortlist has two names from Kerala and Karnataka.

THAT INDIGO may take off sooner than earlier reported.

The DGCA has, reportedly, held a second more fruitful meeting with the airline’s top bosses and there are a few minor ends to be tied up before the launch date is settled. According to DGCA, they were doing their best to “accommodate” Indigo. Apparently MCA (Ministry of Civil Aviation) is keen that Indigo get the green signal to take to the skies “soon, very soon.” Here is wishing it all the best.

CRUISING HEIGHTS July 2006

soap opera

tion ministry and the Airport Authority of India. Not wanting to take sides, they have simply said they are keen for the modernisation process to move ahead and will be happy to work in close ‘cooperation’ with the state government. Now it’s for Muthuvel Karunanidhi to take a call on where he wants the airport. But before that he has the problem of getting his two representatives in Delhi to be out of the cool zone and be friends. But

given Maran’s imperious ways, it looks easier said than done.

Meanwhile, the Leftists, who have forced the government to renege on its desire to privatise Neyveli Lignite Corporation, have made it plain that they will strongly oppose any move to have a public-private partnership for Kolkata and Chennai.

They believe it is a backdoor effort to get both these airports in the private domain. Mantriji better be careful on this issue.

Delhi and Mumbai airports were privatised before the elections in West Bengal and Kerala. Chennai and Kolkata come after the polls. It’s a different CPM now.

Filling the slots

Changing sides

THAT AIR India will have a depleted board from Julyend, considering there is no wholetime CD, and the Director (Engineering), V.K. Mehra, will superannuate this month. But no new appointments are being made at the moment because of the ‘merger’. Meanwhile, Mehra isn’t going to a pasture. He will soon be joining Reliance Industries as it begins its great retail adventure.From one Maharaja to another!

WELL, RAJIV TALWAR has done it. He has decided that 28 years of sarkari naukri was enough and has moved on as the president of the DLF’s foray into the hospitality business. No surprise, considering he has been a longtime friend of the family’s and is closer to Rajiv Singh, the shy scion of the DLF empire. Also the fact that he has been in tourism and hospitality for long.Here is wishing him all the best.

VVIP Flights

T

HERE SEEMS to be some problems about the VVIP flights that Air India runs for the president and the prime minister. And the problem comes from civil aviation minister Praful Patel, who does not want some of his senior-most pilots now doubling in other executive positions to fly these aircraft unless essential. Captain Hathi and Captain Beri, for example, have been asked not to take these flights.

While Hathi—at the moment executive director (operations— special projects)— usually commands the 747, Captain Beri flies as an AI repre-

ates that Principal Secretary to the PM, T K A Nair. The director (northern region), D.S. Kohli, operates out of the airport. He doesn’t deal with the VVIP flights. Infact, he has got nothing much to do. Those in the know say the minister has made his displeasure known on several occasions, but is now considering a written directive to the Maharaja. This is believed to have been prompted by complaints from the highest quarters about some issues during the last couple of VVIP flights. Infact many of these issues have hot the headlines in

D.S. Kohli sentative, coordinating things on behalf of the Maharaja (although he too is a full fledged 747 commander) As a director in Delhi, he is the one who coordinates with the prime minister’s office and Rashtrapati Bhawan and has access in the corridors of power. Infact, Beri is believed to have told associ-

CRUISING HEIGHTS July 2006

Captain Beri

M.K. Hathi

newspapers over the past fortnight.

Praful isn’t talking, but it is clear he isn’t amused. AI sources said Chairman Thulasidas, who is extremely concerned about the Maharaja’s image, would not hesitate to take action. He has grounded the VVIP crew, will he now shift out some of them?

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YEH HAI DUNIYA ‘Coffee shop auction’

A CPS conference is to discuss airport crime, and its director in west London, Nazir Afzal, said: “Criminal activity at the UK’s airports is on the increase.

“We are now seeing ‘slave auctions’ being held in public places at airports where brothel keepers are bidding for women destined for prostitution.”

One auction had taken place outside a coffee shop in the arrivals hall at Gatwick Airport, the CPS said. Others were believed to have been staged at Heathrow, Stansted and other UK airports, it added.

Ministers earlier this year set out proposals to boost action against sex trafficking gangs.

Regional trafficking

Slave auction

A

IRPORTS ARE being used by people smugglers to hold “slave auctions” of women being sold into prostitution, said the Crown Prosecution Service. The CPS said traffickers were trading sex workers as soon as they arrived in the UK from countries, including states in eastern Europe.

“Brothel keepers are bidding for women destined for prostitution,” it said.

Meanwhile the Sunday Telegraph reported hundreds of children as young as six are brought to the UK yearly as slaves.

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In a separate report, the Sunday Telegraph said children from China, Vietnam and Malaysia had been found working in sweatshops, restaurants, and cannabis factories in Britain.

African children, it said, were often put to work in domestic service, putting in long hours for minimal reward, if any.

And children from eastern Europe were said to be used to beg and steal.

A consultation paper has been prepared for the Home Office by a coalition of nine charities including Unicef, Save the Children and the NSPCC. The coalition, called End Child Prostitution, Pornography and Trafficking (ECPAT) has called on the government to do more to tackle child trafficking.

ECPAT research says child trafficking has moved from London to Liverpool, Manchester and Newcastle.

Pete heats easy

Sleeping along with the boys

EASYJET STAFF became suspicious when Pete Doherty spent too long in the aircraft’s loo. Upon search, a syringe, covered in blood, was discovered hidden away in a bin.

When questioned, he turned aggressive, and the cabin crew informed the captain, who radioed the police in Barcelona to meet the flight on arrival.

When the police came on board and wanted to check every piece of hand luggage, Pete and party began throwing their bags around and would not identify which bags were which. They were later released with no further action, but the airline has banned Doherty and his fellow band members from flying easyJet. Doherty is the singer and songwriter for the band Babyshambles, and he first shot to fame last year for his relationship with supermodel Kate Moss, as well as his drug habit.

FOURTEEN-YEAR-OLD Lucas Rios was surprised when he learned he had missed his flight to South Bend, in Colorado Springs, because he had fallen asleep at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport. But the airline was in for a bigger surprise when it learnt that a ‘Lucas Rios’ was aboard the flight to South Bend. The United Express flight from Chicago to South Bend was already about halfway into its 54-minute trip when the mix-up was discovered and the plane returned to Chicago. The ‘Lucas Rios’ that alighted from the flight was actually another ten-year-old boy who was supposed to be flying to Taipei, Taiwan, via Tokyo. Lucas is a veteran air traveller who flies between his father’s house in Colorado and his mother’s in Goshen, and his parents pay about $60 to $75 for the accompaniment guarantee before each trip because they want to ensure their son will be safe as he transfers planes.

Dog chases jet TERRY AND SUSAN SMITH, both 58, settled comfortably in their seats with plans to begin a new life in Lanzarote. All of a sudden, they spotted Poppy— their spaniel—running alongside the jet, pursued by airport security staff. They shouted for the pilot to halt the Boeing 767 and dashed out to help catch their pet at Manchester Airport. Their Poppy and collie, Pelayo, were supposed to be travelling in an animal cage on the cargo deck, for which they had paid £800. But Poppy is believed to have chewed her way out of her crate as the plane was about to taxi to the runway. Well, the plane left 15 minutes late, without the Smiths, who paid £400 for later flights after Poppy was quarantined overnight.

CRUISING HEIGHTS July 2006

Cockpit blues MONTY COLES, 62, was taking a leisurely flight over the West Virginia countryside, in the US, in his singleengine plane and was preparing to land in Ohio when he saw a snake peeking out at him from the plane’s instrument panel. It was four-and-a-half-feet long. He, or rather they were 3,000 feet in the air. He attempted to swat the snake but it fell on his feet, and then darted to the other side of the cockpit. Maintaining control of the aircraft with one hand, he grabbed the uninvited guest behind its head with his other. It coiled all around his arm, and its tail grabbed hold of a lever on the floor and started pulling. Coles radioed for emergency landing clearance. Hearing his predicament, they cleared him in immediately. Coles landed smoothly, posed for pictures with the snake, and then let it loose.

Manicure grounds flight A UNITED AIRLINES’ flight was on its way from Chicago to San Diego when its crew smelled a foul odour in the aircraft. The pilot looked at his cargo manifest and noticed that the plane was carrying five five-litre containers of acetone—a hazardous substance. So he diverted the aircraft to Denver and made an emergency landing. On the ground in Denver, the passengers were evacuated from the plane, put on a bus and taken to the terminal. Some got on another plane to San Diego that left after midnight, but others spent the night in Denver. A hazardous-materials team searched the plane and found no evidence the acetone was leaking or that any cargo was causing an odour. It later determined the cause was a passenger doing her nails when a female passenger came forward and owned up to it. Her nail polish or nail polish remover, which normally contain acetone, had triggered off the incident.

Granny’s day out FOR YEARS, Joy Folkard wanted to freefall from the sky. Her wish came true when she saw a poster advertising parachute leaps. Perhaps, this wish would be her eightieth birthday gift. The partially blind great-grandma met with an instructor to confirm she was fit enough to carry out the jump safely and made arrangements to take to the skies over Maidstone Aerodrome, the UK, in a light aircraft, watched by her family. Aided by her instructor, she made the 12,000-foot-high jump, aided by a parachute, and landed safely. Now she is thinking about a skywalk—taking steps along the wing of an aircraft.

Lady’s mysterious flight

SEVENTY-FIVE-YEAR-OLD Carmeta Robinson, from Cambridge, Ontario, was scheduled to get on a plane to LaGuardia, New York. But she was wheeled around Toronto’s Pearson International Airport by three different security guards, and put on a flight to Boston. When a search for her at Toronto proved futile, she was flashed on air and finally located in Logan. In this new and improved age of airport security, how did a feeble, elderly woman, who suffers dementia, manage this ‘feat’ is a mystery so far.

Air hostess’ nightmare T W E N T YYEAR-OLD Luk Siu-lun’s fetish and sexual interest in women’s clothing grew to such an extent that he began stealing them. When the police arrested him and raided his home, they found airline uniforms and other clothing, including underwear and stockings, in his bedroom. Luk admitted that he travelled on airline staff buses and stole luggage belonging to five flight attendants from Cathay Pacific Airways and Dragonair. The man from Hong Kong has been jailed for five years for his acts.

A different fever

CRUISING HEIGHTS July 2006

Illustrations by Zahid Ali

AS IF the World Cup fever is not enough to excite the Germans, a German father-son duo have chosen to amuse themselves in a different way-fly around the world in a single-engine turboprop aircraft. Their trip takes them across 27 cities across the world and they landed on June 7 at their fourth stop—New Delhi—before touching down at Istanbul, Tehran and Dubai.

Father Ulf Muhlbacher and his son Matthias have flown 5,500 km since they left Bremen on May 31 on their six-seater Piper PA46 Malibu. The duo, which calls itself ‘Earthrounders’, plans to cover 36,000 km, touching Japan, Russia, the US and Iceland, before it reaches Bremen on August 5. Ulf is a passionate flyer, a Rotarian and a real estate developer and 20-year-old Matthias, who is a trained pilot but has no licence, plays soccer with friends.

The propeller-driven aircraft, fitted with a capacity to carry an additional 250 litres of petrol, can now hold 800 litres, which takes their flying range to 2,700 km at a stretch.

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NEWS DIGEST

Maharaja’s plans

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IR INDIA (AI) is examining leasing about six wide-bodied aircraft to add to its capacity and also as replacement for some planes, the lease of which is expected to expire in the next few months. The company is looking at both dry and wet lease in case aircraft are not available through the dry-lease route. AI will be floating tenders shortly and wet lease aircraft will be taken only from airlines, and not from any leasing company, with cockpit and or cabin crew. The carrier is planning to launch flights to Mauritius with leased aircraft just like Air Mauritius has launched new flights to India with leased A340. In a bid to meet pilot shortage, Air India is proposing to recruit freshly graduating science and engineering students to be trained as pilots. According to Air India CMD, V. Thulasidas, the airline would be hiring batches of 100 to 200 graduates after a flying aptitude test. They will be trained for at least six months at flying insti-

tutes abroad, and in this context, Air India is looking for a suitable training institute. It is expected that such pilots will work with Air India for at least seven years. Air India is also waiting keenly to be associated with Boeing’s proposed pilot training and MRO facility. Air India Express, the low-cost arm of AI, is planning to start flights to Dubai from Mangalore and Amritsar. This follows the bilateral agreement signed between India and Dubai, which allows the designated carriers of the two countries to offer an additional 8,000 seats per week. Earlier, the airlines of two countries were entitled to offer 10,400 seats per week in each direction. Recently Air India Express started six times a week flights to Singapore.

AI is awaiting permission from the Malaysian government to allow AI Express to operate flights between Kuala Lumpur and Chennai. Pending that Air India Express aircraft have been taken on wet lease by Air India to operate the services.

Airports issues

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IVIL AVIATION MINISTER Praful Patel has gone on record stating that the central government would consult West Bengal and Tamil Nadu governments on the “way forward” to modernise Kolkata and Chennai airports on a priority basis in the next three months. Days after his making the comments, there was speculation in the media that the ministry of civil aviation was already going forward on the issue. According to a draft proposal, which could annoy the much annoyed Left, the government is proposing to consider the JV route for both Kolkata and Chennai airports, where AAI would be a minority shareholder and the private consortium being the lead partner.

Rumours suggest that AAI may get 10 per cent of gross revenue share from Kolkata and Chennai, as against 45.99 per cent in Delhi Dayanidhi Maran and 38.7 per cent in Mumbai. This was because the expectation was the equity infusion by AAI for Chennai and Kolkata JV companies will be just about 50 per cent of the equity investment in Delhi and Mumbai. Earlier, the Prime Minister’s Committee on

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Infrastructure had mandated that Kolkata and Chennai airports be developed through public-private partnership route, on the model followed for Delhi and Mumbai airports.

According to current ballpark estimates, the modernisation of Kolkata and Chennai airports would require about Rs 5,700 crore investment between 2008 and 2009 and 2013 and 2014, half of what is expected for Delhi and Mumbai.

Another issue is land for expansion of airport. While there may be no problem in Kolkata, as CPM government is fully equipped to manage it, there could be a problem in Chennai.

When Jayalalitha was the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, she had taken all steps to acquire an additional 1,500 acres to 2,000 acres of land across the runway, where there were some dwelling units. While DMK kept quiet over the move, the villagers and some interest groups took legal recourse.

Now it is to be seen how fast the present DMK government is able to resolve it. Incidentally, it was the IT and Communication Minister, Dayanidhi Maran, who initially forced the Prime Minister, when UPA innings began, to order the modernisation of Chennai airport, on the lines of Delhi and Mumbai airport modernisation.

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OTWITHSTANDING THE BSE Sensex hovering around 10,500, the post -IPO quote of Jet Airways and Air Deccan is virtually in the dumps.

This is perhaps why Dr Vijay Mallya decided that it is better to depend on the better part of valour—discretion—to keep away from the market to raise money for his Kingfisher Airlines’ grandiose plans. Dr Mallya said Kingfisher would not come out with IPO till it discovers ‘optimum value’ for the shares. In any case, as his airline is extremely well funded it is not dependent on an IPO. He said it was neither a necessity nor an imperative, considering the fact that Kingfisher Airlines has probably the highest paid-up equity capital of any airline in India—Rs 372 crore, to be precise. Dr Malaya said Kingfisher is a 100 per cent subsidiary company of UB Holdings and will stay that way till full value is realised for the benefit of shareholders of UB Holdings. Therefore, it is not the performance of the market that will determine the future of the airline. As for the delay in the delivery of A380 and A350 that Mallya proposes to acquire, he said his airline remains unaffected, as these are due for delivery only by 2010.

Meanwhile, the man who is always on the move to do something new said he would start a dedicated cargo service. Additionally, Dr Mallya also wants to be the first to introduce live TV on Kingfisher flights by the end of 2006, if things work out smoothly. He has signed up with a French company, Thales Avionics, for the system that will be installed on all the A320 aircraft in the Kingfisher fleet. Currently, the airline offers a choice of five video and ten audio channels. Mallya’s decision to go in for live TV stems from the move of Jet and Indian to introduce in-flight entertainment, but not on a real-time basis, which Mallya wants.

Live TV: yes; stocks: no

Offloading IS IT some kind of resource crunch? According to news reports, GoAir is desiring to offload 15 per cent equity in favour of strategic investors. JM Morgan Stanley has reportedly been drafted as an advisor to work out its valuation and the divestment of 15 per cent will help GoAir expand its fleet. There are wild rumours that Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) is in talks with GoAir to pick up part of the stake. It may be recalled that RIL has already spoken of launching a dedicated cargo service to meet the needs of its Rs 3,600 crore plan to launch a countrywide retail trade network. GoAir, on the other hand, is also contemplating starting a cargo service.

But what the news reports have not cared to disclose is the perpetual dislike RIL has for Nusli Wadia from the days when its founder, late Dhirubhai Ambani, started RIL. Secondly and more importantly, sources close to RIL disclosed that Ambanis (Mukesh here) never believed in allowing majority ownership to its partners in any joint

venture. In short, RIL will not pick up any stake in GoAir. However, what is even more interesting are the reported remarks of Jeh Wadia, GoAir’s Managing Director, that he was open to the acquisition of Air Sahara (after its deal with Jet crashed) provided the price was right. Jeh, however, hastened to add days after the June 21 deal collapsed that Air Sahara had not approached GoAir for a possible takeover talk.

Should one read both the proposals— one for divesting its own holdings in GoAir and another to pick up Air Sahara—the contradictions come out sharply. GoAir currently has three A320 and hopes to add eight more by October 2006. It ultimately expects to have a fleet of 33 A320 aircraft before the end of 2008. Considering the battering Airbus Industrie received recently, with some leading airlines cancelling orders for A380 and also withdrawing from its proposed A350 plans, the European aircraft manufacturer, largely driven by France, may not be that liberal with discounts.

CRUISING HEIGHTS July 2006

Are we catching up?

IS INDIA really catching up with China? Perhaps so, if we are to believe the French. Early June, the Chinese government announced it had approved a plan of European aircraft maker Airbus Industrie to build an assembly plan for its A320 planes in the northern Chinese coastal city of Tianji. In December 2005, China ordered purchase of 150 A320 planes. As per the current indications the Chinese assembly plant will produce four A320 aircraft per month beginning the end of next year. This would be the third assembly plant of Airbus and the first outside Europe. The other two are in Toulouse, in France, and Hamburg, in Germany. Now we hear there is a possibility of a second assembly plant outside Europe and this will most probably be in India. According to French ambassador in India, Dominique Girard, India and France foresee greater cooperation, especially in the aeronautical sector. It may be recalled as part of the counter-trade following Indian placing orders for 43 Airbus aircraft—A319, 320 and 321— Airbus Industrie is planning to assist the setting up of an MRO and pilot training facilities in India.

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NEWS DIGEST

Long haul and premium offerings

I

N OCTOBER 2006, USbased Continental Airlines started New Delhi-Newark (in New York) direct flights and has been consistently getting an 85 per cent load factor. Continental is pleasantly surprised by this, as it was beyond expectations. Once Boeing delivers its Dreamliner 787, Continental hopes to start Mumbai-New York direct flights from 2009. American Airlines is also enjoying high load factors on its Delhi-Chicago direct flights. Delta, flying from Chennai via Paris to Atlanta, is planning to change its services. Delta will now offer non-stop flights between Mumbai and New York from November 3. Interestingly, Air France, which had a code-share agreement with Delta for its Paris and US bound flights from Chennai, is going to start its own services, with Delta getting the code-share benefits.

Beginning October 31, Air France will induct its own aircraft to launch thrice-weekly flights from Chennai to Paris and New York. It will operate these services with a 291-seater A340 aircraft. In addition, Air France will operate a daily service between Bangalore and Paris, instead of the present five days a week. Besides, Air France would deploy the Boeing 777-200 aircraft on the daily Mumbai-Paris sector, thereby offering an additional 40 seats per flight. In all Air France’s capacity to India will increase by 27 per cent. Together, Air France and KLM will offer 42 weekly frequencies to Bangalore, Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad and Mumbai.

British Airways (BA) will reduce the maximum amount of free luggage some passengers can check in, but relax other charges and restrictions following a change in its baggage rules.

BA, supposedly, Europe’s third largest airline, has stated that the maximum weight for free checked-in bags on European and domestic flights would be cut by 9 kg, to 23 kg, beginning October. But weight restrictions will be removed on hand luggage, while the size limits would remain. Passengers will be allowed to carry one standard size bag and a briefcase or laptop comput-

er on all flights. Meanwhile British Airways World Cargo (BAWC) has launched two premium products at its London Heathrow hub after investing US $28 million for establishing its ‘Premia’, a premium facility. ‘Prioritise’ is a new express product offered by BAWC. Customers will be able to send freight of any weight across the carrier’s global network, with every consignment carrying a performance guarantee. According to BAWC, if the freight fails to travel as booked, the customer will be entitled to 50 per cent refund of the freight charges.

Eurocopter whirrs hard EUROCOPTER, THE world’s largest civil and military helicopter manufacturer, will invest US $1 billion in India over the next two years. A wholly owned subsidiary of EADS, Eurocopter has put in bids for over 500 helicopter manufacturing contracts for the Indian defence sector.

Besides, the company is also planning to set up an Indian subsidiary, a helicopter training school, and an MRO centre for helicopters. Eurocopter is already bidding along with HAL for light and 10-tonne helicopters for the Indian Army, Navy and Air Force. As for the Army, Eurocopter is bidding for 260 single-engine high-altitude light-reconnaissance helicopters.

Eurocopter will deliver the first 60 directly and the remaining will be manufactured by HAL.

EXECUTIVE DIGEST

India, Iceland to sign pact The two countries are

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all set to sign a bilateral air services agreement to establish better air links between them. The agreement has received Indian Cabinet’s approval and once it comes into force, both countries will have the right to designate as many airlines as they wish to fly to each other’s destinations. The agreement will also empower any one of them to revoke, suspend or limit the operating authorisation or the technical permission of an airline designated by the other.

Singapore, EU sign pact

In an almost similar move, Singapore signed an aviation agreement with the European Union to negotiate freer access to countries in

the grouping. All European airlines will be allowed to fly between any state within the grouping and Singapore under the agreement, which is the first between the Union and an Asian country. Singapore has liberal agreements with Austria, Luxembourg, Finland and Lithuania, and has negotiated for similar accords with the UK, Germany, Spain, Belgium, Denmark and Malta.

Air India to join Star Alliance The Indian flag

carrier is all set to join the Star Alliance. The airline’s entry has to be approved by all of Star’s 18 member airlines. It is expected that Air India’s entry is likely to be championed by Star Alliance founder-member Lufthansa, which already has a close relationship with the Indian

CRUISING HEIGHTS July 2006

Emissions Tax

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OLLOWING UP on the issues of commercial aviation and global warming, the European Parliament has decided to tax jet fuel used on cross-border, intra-European flights. It has also allowed member states to impose VAT (sales tax) on jet fuel. (Currently, international flights, including those within the EU, pay no tax on their jet fuel.) Further, it is to apply a cap-and-trade system to carbon dioxide emissions from aviation.

Airlines, predictably, condemned the manoeuvre, calling on the UN’s International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) to issue a proposal that would apply globally.

ICAO favours a trading system that would allow airlines to buy carbon credits from other industries, something the European Parliament proposal would not allow. Analysts in the UK report that ticket prices could go up a mere $3 if airlines could buy credits from other industries, but up to $35 if buying from other airlines.

Although new, lighter aircraft promise 20 per cent increase in fuel efficiency, there is little that airlines can do to dramatically cut carbon emissions. Under the arcane rules of Brussels, the parliament’s vote is merely advisory; the European Commission and member states ultimately would draft and enact any legislation. According to the World Resources Institute, the EU accounts for 20.3 per cent of global carbon emissions from aviation, compared with 39.6 per cent from North America. Overall, aviation accounts for two per cent of global emissions, but is growing faster than any other sector.

Growing numbers WORLD AIRLINE passenger traffic is expected to show robust growth over the next three years, following a strong rebound in 2004 and continued resilience in 2005, according to UN Tourism Agency report. Preliminary results for the first four months of 2006 showed that 10 million more international tourist arrivals worldwide than in the same period of last year, for a total 236 million, or 4.5 per cent growth rate.

airline through code-sharing. Air India’s inclusion in the grouping underlines the growing potential of the Indian aviation market. Star Alliance, the world’s largest airline grouping, currently runs 16,930 daily flights to 842 airports in 152 countries around the world.

Yeti seeks to fly from Kolkata Yeti Airlines, Nepal’s

largest domestic carrier, has submitted a proposal to the West Bengal government seeking to start air services from Kolkata to Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka in the international sector and Cooch Behar, Malda and Purulia in the domestic short-flight sector. For this purpose, the airline would have to obtain clearance from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation before it could start air services from the city.

France imposes new tax

PASSENGERS BOARDING planes in France are now paying a new tax on their tickets—a surcharge of between one and 40 euros depending on the destination and class travelled—to help the world’s poor. The money raised, expected to be 200 million euros a year, will go to an international fund to buy treatments for AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria for the poor, mainly Africa.

The tax was championed by President Jacques Chirac and backed by UN Secretary General Kofi Annan. Passengers who make a stopover in France of less than 12 hours or who stay longer because of delays are exempt.

With an anticipated good performance by the world economy, airline traffic is projected to increase by 6.1 per cent in 2006, 5.8 per cent in 2007 and 5.6 per cent in 2008, based on figures projected by ICAO. As for traffic, during the 2006-08 period, Middle East will show the highest average annual growth rate of 10.7 per cent, based on 12 per cent in 2006, 10.5 per cent in 2007 and 9.5 per cent in 2008. The AsiaPacific region is forecast to experience a fairly strong traffic well above the world average.

Small airports favoured The Planning Commission

is considering relaxation of environmental clearance norms to quicken implementation of airport projects, particularly those involving small investments. The relaxations may include a complete exemption from environment clearance for development of small Greenfield airport construction and expansion projects. For large-sized projects, the approval procedures may be simplified. At present, getting environment clearance for infrastructure projects is one of the main constraints delaying implementation of several projects.

What’s the outlook

According to the Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation (CAPA), the aviation industry has reached a

CRUISING HEIGHTS July 2006

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NEWS DIGEST

New kid on the block

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EXECUTIVE DIGEST

AZEERA AIRWAYS, Kuwait’s new national airline, launched direct flights to Mumbai and Delhi with its brand new A320 aircraft. Jazeera, the first private airline in Middle East, will be competing with state-owned Kuwait Airways and Air India and Indian, and has been allotted initially 1,300 seats each week. Jazeera Chairman and CEO, Marwan Boodai, said tickets will be offered depending on the number of seats available on the aircraft and this will bring down India-Gulf ticket prices.

West Asia is one of the biggest outbound air travel markets from India, accounting for 34 per cent of total international travel from

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here. The airline will be operating three and six flights each week to Delhi and Mumbai, respectively. It is also awaiting government of India’s permission to start services to Hyderabad. The airline is expecting to get 5,200 seats a week after the bilateral talks likely to conclude by the end of this month. The airline has a new low-cost model with two classes—Jazeera (economy) and Jazeera Plus (premium economy). Jazeera is the seventh carrier from the Middle East to touch India. The others are Emirates, Etihad, Air Arabia, Gulf Air, Oman and Qatar Airways. India needs Middle East oil and Indians to occupy their aircraft and give them business.

critical turning point in its cycle following the peak fleet orders of 2005.

While growth remains robust and the environment relatively benign this year, the clouds could be gathering, warns CAPA. The prospects for the year ahead will be a central theme of the region’s high level aviation strategy summit—Outlook 2007—which will return to Singapore, on 9/10 November 2006.

CAPA said that the summit will review the threats posed by sustained high fuel prices, higher interest rates and the potential for overcapacity in key markets, which could drag fares and yields lower. He added that high calibre speakers will also address the challenges of restructuring in the new cycle, as well as consolidation and alliances

trends and the outlook for liberalisation in this region, and promised that it would be a typically very exciting and topical CAPA programme.

High level speakers at past summits include Geoff Dixon (CEO, Qantas), Chew Choon Seng (CEO, Singapore Airlines), V. Thulasidas (Chairman and Managing Director, Air India), Wolfgang Prock-Schauer (CEO, Jet Airways), Tony Fernandes, (CEO, AirAsia), Dr Vijay Mallya (Chairman, Kingfisher Airlines) and Tony Davis (CEO, Tiger Airways).

CAPA is also holding an LCC conference later this year in India. In fact this will be the second event in the subcontinent, following up on the one in early summer in Mumbai.

CRUISING HEIGHTS July 2006

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NEWS DIGEST

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turbulence

ADS, THE French giant, is in trouble folshould wait for some more time before the market lowing some serious delays in the delivery revives with delayed deliveries of A380. schedule of Airbus A380, as well as indefiAfter the delay reports, the BAE stocks were nite delay over the A350 project. Already quoting at half the value it thought it would get Noel Forgeard, the controversial French CEO of before the new break. Meanwhile, most major cusEADS, who, reportedly, traded in company shares tomers of A380 have preferred a wait and watch and before the bad news hit the ceiling, has been fired. have not yet cancelled their orders, though biggies, Along with him, Airbus Chief, Gustav Humbert, has like SIA, which was waiting for forward movement also quit, citing delays to the super jumbo. for the smaller A350, have switched to Boeing’s 777 The Airbus Shareholder Committee has confamily by placing orders worth US $4 billion. Qanfirmed Christian Streiff as Airbus President and tas Chief Executive, Geoff Dixon, described the Chief Executive Officer. Prior to his appointment delay as disappointing, given that his airline had met at Airbus, Christian Streiff was Deputy CEO of all of Airbus’ deadlines for Qantas specifications.

Saint-Gobain Group, a position he held until 2005.

Qantas is seeking compensation from Airbus for the The Airbus Shareholder Committee comprises delay. The airline-wise breakdown of A380 orders is Noel Forgeard representatives of the Airbus shareholders, EADS as follows: Emirates—43, Lufthansa—15, Qantas— and BAE Systems.

12, Air France—10, Singapore Airlines—10, Soon after the initial news of A380 delivery Fedex—10, International Lease Finance—10, delays became public, EADS lost nearly five billion Malaysian Airlines—6, Thai Airways—6, Virgin euros in market cap in major bourses. Airbus said Atlantic—6, Korean Airlines—5, Etihad Airways— that ‘bottlenecks’ in the production of its new A380 4 and Qatar Airways—2. super jumbo would force it to postpone customer Meanwhile, Airbus has announced a sharp fall in deliveries of the double-decker by up to seven its orders, a setback for the company in its battle months. Airbus was counting on the sale of A380 to with Chicago-based Boeing and a sign that the US beat Boeing. group is in ascendancy. Airbus said it had booked The company said in a statement while it was still 117 firm orders for passenger jets in the first half of expected to deliver the first of US $300 million 2006, fewer than half the number in the same period planes by the end of 2006 to its launch customer, of 2005 and far behind Boeing. In the first six Singapore Airlines, it could now expect to deliver months of 2005, Airbus had booked 276 orders and only nine of the 25 aircraft it had originally promover the full year beat Boeing for orders for the fifth ised customers in 2007. The A380, according to year running. The figures, published on the compaWestern press, has been dogged with problems, ny’s website, show the European group far behind ranging from customer demands for quieter engines Boeing, which reported 480 orders at the end of July, Gustav Humbert to weight and fuel economy. Airbus delayed delivfour times more over roughly the same period. ery last year by six months, upsetting the plans of Reversing this trend will be a key challenge for the some of the 16 airlines that had placed orders for new chief executive of Airbus, Christian Streiff.

159 of the 555-seat jets.

Boeing is also winning the race in the long-haul The news of A380 delivery delay became public market with its 787 model, which is being marketafter Emirates was told it should not expect delivery ed to airlines as a fuel efficient, medium-sized jet. of its first A380 before April or May 2007. Emirates By contrast, Airbus has had to redesign its A350 has ordered for 45 of these planes. French President aircraft, which, it hoped, would rival the 787 in Jacques Chirac has publicly acknowledged the this segment of the market. The A350, which was ‘management problems’ at Airbus parent company, poorly received by potential customers, is being EADS. EADS, a Franco-German group, is owned overhauled and might re-emerge as the A370, and 15 per cent by French government. Its management might be unveiled by Airbus at the Farnborough structure has two chief executives and two chairAir Show in Britain, which is being held from the men, each from France and Germany. EADS (Euro17th to 25th this month. The 787, which has a pean Aeronautic, Defence & Space), in a separate capacity of 250-300 passengers, has attracted 350 Christian Streiff statement, noted that late deliveries would reduce orders since its commercial launch in 2004, comoperating profit by US $627 million a year from pared with about 100 for the A350.

2007 to 2010. Wiring problems forced the firm to cut delivery tarFigures for small, single-aisle aircraft also show Airbus behind gets to nine, from the original target of 20-27 in 2007.

Boeing. The European group revealed 96 orders from January to It hoped to deliver 20-25 aircraft in 2008 and 45 a year later in June, while Boeing had 374 from January to July. Now comes 2009. The A380 has cost Airbus US $14 billion to develop and news that Airbus plans to relaunch its A320 passenger jets, with will be the world’s largest airliner, seating more than 800 passen- the new versions becoming deliverable from 2009. Airbus is gers across twin decks. Airbus Industrie is 80 per cent owned by believed to be stating that the operating costs of the new jets, with EADS and the remaining 20 per cent is owned by UK’s BAE Sys- the working title A320 Enhanced, would be five per cent below tems, which had exercised its option to sell stakes much before the those of the current A320’s. This would be achieved through lownews of delay hit the stands. BAE was negotiating a certain price, er air resistance, reduced weight and more efficient engines. The based on market movements. But the wiping off of a solid five bil- main growth in demand, reflecting the growth of low-cost airlion euros in market cap has left BAE wondering whether it lines, has been for short-haul jets.

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CRUISING HEIGHTS July 2006

IATA DIARY

Liquid gold dominates

IATA MEET

Sudipt Arora was in Paris to attend the World Air Transport Summit (WATS), held on June 5 and 6, along with the 62nd annual general meeting of the International Air Transport Association (IATA).

His exclusive report.

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USTAINED HIGH prices of aviation jet fuel continue to haunt the global airline industry like the fifth horseman of apocalypse—eroding profits despite record traffic levels.

According to the International Air Transport Association (IATA), nearly 2.2 billion people are likely to travel by air this year; and the industry will see fuel bill topping 112 billion dollars, up 21 billion dollars than in 2005.

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Airlines are removing magazines and extra ice-cubes from aircraft, introducing electronic ticketing and doing everything else possible to reduce costs and improve efficiency.

Since 2001, labour productivity has improved 33 per cent, sales and distribution cost dropped 10 per cent and overall nonfuel reduced by 13 per cent. The industry also moved the break-even fuel price from 14 dollars per barrel to 50 dollars per barrel.

CRUISING HEIGHTS July 2006

The Numbers Strong demand growth from customers for air transport

Global airlines carried over two billion passengers in 2005, of which over 700 million travelled on international routes. The additional 134 million passengers carried in 2005 was higher than the total number of passengers carried in 1963 (Sir, Please check?). Freight traffic kilometres grew by a below-average 2.5 per cent in 2005, though strengthened towards the end of the year. Airfreight was a 50-billion-dollar industry in 2005, transporting high-value and time-sensitive goods with a total value of 3.25 trillion dollars.

Strong revenues have helped as well. For each of the past three years, revenues rose 10 per cent, which is double the historical average. Significantly, labour costs are coming down, even in Europe and the US. But aviation fuel costs are going up, with crude oil prices hovering around over 70 dollars a barrel.

US airlines spent 16 billion dollars in buying aviation fuel during 2000, the year that was the busiest in terms of air passenger traffic. In 2005, the fuel bill totalled 30 billion dollars with record losses.

Fuel surcharges typically absorb only 30 per cent of the price hike impact. “Airlines should consider some form of disaster insurance,” said Morgan Stanley’s Executive Director, Steve Jones. The demand for aviation fuel has not come down despite rising prices of crude. And nearly 74 per cent of airlines globally are hedging fuel to beat volatility.”

Oil companies say the supply has been tight and disrupted in recent years, with succession of political crises and disasters (natural and industrial) across the globe.

“Most forecasts see crude prices remaining relatively high,” said Xavier Le Mintier, Shell Aviation’s vice-president.

“But new crude distillation capacity has been announced. There is a possibility of global product oversupply by 2010 as a result of the largest refining industry investment programme since the 1970s.”

Aviation has little scope for special fuels, he added, due to massive capital costs involved in new designs for aircraft and aircraft engines. The oil refining geographic spread is Middle East, 36 per cent; India,

Prudent capacity management

Passenger load factors increased by 1.6 percentage points, to 74.8 per cent, as airlines focused more on improving profitability than market share. For example, passenger load factors were 81.7 per cent on North Atlantic routes and 77.3 per cent on Europe to Far East routes, up from 78.6 per cent and 76.4 per cent, respectively, in 2004.

Efficiency and productivity improvements

Significantly, labour costs are coming down, even in Europe and the US. But aviation fuel costs are going up.

CRUISING HEIGHTS July 2006

Airlines have responded to sharply higher fuel prices by improving their cost efficiency and productivity levels. Fuel efficiency improved by 1.8 per cent in 2005 and by a substantial 6.4 per cent among North American airlines. Significant strides were also made towards the 100 per cent e-ticketing target by the end of 2007. Productivity (in terms of tonne km performed) per employee increased by 7.2 per cent.

Impressive growth from Chinese and Middle Eastern airlines

Chinese and Middle Eastern airlines took advantage of the strong demand growth to increase their rankings among global airlines. For example, Emirates is now the 10th largest airline by international passengers carried (up from 13th in 2004) and China Eastern is now the 15th largest airline in terms of total passengers carried (up from 26th in 2004).

IATA DIARY

The Maharaja’s nimble moves V

ASUDEVAN THULASIDAS, the chairman and managing director of Air India (AI), says the country’s flagship carrier is reshaping itself fast to face growing competition from domestic and international airlines Basically, there are two key elements in a plan to turn around. First is the fleet.

When the market was growing, it did not add aircraft to its fleet for a long time.

Other airlines entered the market and AI’s market share decreased.

“So it is essential for us to add modern aircraft to survive. We have placed orders for 68 planes and signed contracts worth 7.5 billion dollars,” he said, in an interview on the sidelines of World Air Transport Summit (WATS).

“The second part is the need for cultural change within the government19 per cent; China, 18 per cent; Americas, 21 per cent; and EU plus Africas, six per cent.

Airline experts are now emphasising the urgent need for better aircraft fleet management and high operational efficiencies.

Lufthansa’s chairman and CEO, Wolfgang Mayrhuber, and president of Mexicana, Emilo Romano, say the industry has become efficient, but logistics costs still remain high.

Cathay Pacific’s managing director for international operations, Owen Dell, adds, “We need efficiencies in air traffic control (ATC) procedures, as routings have a direct impact on fuel consumption.” Cathay buys aviation fuel worth five million dollars everyday. “Most airlines have extensive internal programmes to control fuel burn.

But no one has control over ATC procedures. We pay for the service. We are their customers.”

Despite draconian measures to cut costs and improve efficiencies further, many airlines around the world could face bankruptcy in the second half of 2006. Or find themselves merging to consolidate and survive.

An LCC Industry Aviation worldwide is en route to becoming a low-cost industry. “We have not landed as yet, but the approach is near,” said

26

owned company.

“This is more difficult than just buying aircraft. There is need for people in AI to believe that the airline industry is an intensely competitive business. A passenger has a lot of choice in India internationally. Unless employees wake up to this reality, there will be no airline, no jobs.”

The CMD said, AI is introducing a change management programme and rebranding exercise to formalise this. “The message has been given very clearly— either you perform and change your attitude, or you may not be here tomorrow.

Luckily, the message appears to have been accepted very positively.”

The service AI gives on the ground and on board a flight needs to be improved tremendously, he commented. “But we

must ensure that the airline remains rooted in Indian culture in contemporary fashion.

Contemporary India is vibrant, its enterprise is great, and it is IT-savvy. The motto is: A Tradition of Warmth and Hospitality. Indians believe guests are godlike and they should be treated as such. That is what we want to build on.”

At present, AI has a fleet of 37 aircraft—19 A310-300, of which 11 are leased and eight owned, 12 B747-400, of which six are owned and an equal number leased, two B747-300 combis (owned) and four B777-200ER (leased).

The airline is now buying eight B777200LR, 15 B777-300ER and 27 B787 Dreamliner medium-capacity, long-range aircraft. It expects the planes to be delivered over a period of six years, starting October this year, during which it plans to increase seat capacity by 12 per cent annually.

It will be operating freighters again next year after converting two of its A310 from passenger configuration by EADS EFW, in Germany.

Meanwhile, AI and its governmentowned sister Indian [Airlines] have set up a joint high-level committee to oversee preparations for their proposed merger.

Despite draconian measures to cut costs and improve efficiencies further, many airlines around the world could face bankruptcy in the second half of 2006. Or find themselves merging to consolidate and survive.

Giovanni Bisignani, director general and CEO of IATA. Globally, airlines are likely to pick up a fuel bill of 112 billion dollars this year, he said, while opening the World Air Transport Summit (WATS). This is up 21 billion dollars more than in 2005. “Oil is the wild card. Prices are racing ahead of efficiency gains and robbing our profitability,” said Bisignani.

Losses for 2006 will be slightly lower than last year’s, at three billion dollars, he added.

IATA is an apex body of 265 airlines, comprising 94 per cent of scheduled air traffic.

There are bright spots in airlines business, though. “But a weaker global economy could change this dramatically,” said Bisignani, “Change is more important than ever.”

The biggest challenge is e-ticketing, which could save three billion dollars every year. Nearly one out of two tickets globally is an e-ticket. But to achieve the 70 per cent target for 2006, IATA wants airlines to speed up the process. Air India (AI) incidentally has not started issuing e-tickets as yet.

E-freight is a bigger challenge and government inaction is holding back enormous progress in trade efficiency. “Not a single government has all the legislation in place to support e-freight,” said the CEO of IATA. “In today’s Internet world, this is an

CRUISING HEIGHTS July 2006

The AI chief admitted that the toughest challenge in coming months would be how to manage or get rid of excess staff through golden handshake.

Thulasidas says top executives at the two carriers are in favour of the merger.

“There has to be one brand, one balance sheet and one board of directors.”

The government says it wants to push through by the end of current 2006-07 financial year. After the merger, the combined entity will hit capital market with initial public offering (IPO) of stock sale.

The AI chief admitted that the toughest challenge in coming months would be how to manage or get rid of excess staff through golden handshake. embarrassment. Governments all over the world must not block a responsible industry driving efficiency.”

Yes, Minister!

Indian civil aviation minister Praful Patel was the first minister to address the about 900 delegates who had gathered for WATS. He called for more international participation for improving aviation-related infrastructure in India.

“This is one area that has been ignored in the past. But now, we would like to see more participation in aircraft engineering, maintenance and ground handling,” he said.

Patel said, “Our policies are on a firm footing. We want to integrate India with rest of the world with best international practices.” India is a vast country and rightfully deserves to have its airports used as hubs for the region, he added. The minister said the real potential is in the interiors. All Indian carriers, not just the governmentowned ones, must reach out to service new destinations. “With infrastructure development taking place now, we will certainly evolve. With new airlines and sheer increase of aircraft, we will soon see smaller cities connected. And let us remember that small cities in India can have a population of three to four million.”

oneworld Alliance says India offers a huge market for air passengers, and it will be interested in taking one of the airlines on board CRUISING HEIGHTS July 2006

Another area that has been completely ignored is cargo. India does not have many dedicated cargo aircraft. “And that cannot be a sustainable solution because we are so strong in manufacturing services.”

Reeling out numbers, Patel said, presently, only 10 million Indians fly per year. If that number increases to a 100 million, then estimating that 2,000 planes will be operating by 2020 is not out of the question.

Amazingly, he said, the number of people who travel by train in a day is the same as the number of people who fly in a year. “We simply cannot continue to travel two days on a train from one end of India to another.”

To say that the IATA big guns were effusive in his praise would be an understatement.

Oneworld dreams oneworld Alliance says India offers a huge market for air passengers, and it will be interested in taking one of the airlines on board. “India is a market of great interest to us,” said its managing partner, John McCulloch, “It is a huge market that is expanding very rapidly.”

McCulloch said oneworld is talking to all major airlines in India for a possible alliance. “But it will take some time for the country’s aviation to consolidate and

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IATA DIARY stabilise,” he added. oneworld has eight partner carriers—American Airlines, British Airways, Qantas, Cathay Pacific, Iberia, LAN, Finnair and Aer Lingus. Some 7.5 million passengers transferred between its member airlines’ flights in 2005.

In early 2007, Japan Airlines will also become part of oneworld Alliance. It is one of the biggest carriers in Asia Pacific in terms of revenue and passengers carried.

Revenues from oneworld Alliance fares and sales activities last year rose by 20 per cent year-on-year, to almost 650 million dollars, growing nearly three times faster than its member airlines’ overall passenger revenues.

Interlining between oneworld airlines— one carrier selling connecting flights on another partner—generated total revenues of more than 1.8 billion dollars for the eight airlines, including benefits from alliance fares and sales products. That represents one dollar in every 30 earned by the eight carriers from their passenger services overall.

IOSA Blues

Chew Choon Seng CEO of Singapore Airlines is the Chairman of the IATA Board for 2006-07.

Eagle Awards IATA has awarded its prestigious 2006 Eagle Awards to Manchester Airport plc and the Air Navigation Services Division of LFV of Sweden. Special recognition was given to the Performance Review Commission of EUROCONTROL. Eagle Awards honour outstanding achievements by airports and air navigation service providers using the criteria of value for money, a spirit of continuous improvement and dedication to customer service.

“We are in a race to become a low-cost industry and all our industry partners must be on board. Our driving force this year has been benchmarking of the performance and cost effectiveness of airports and air navigation service providers,” said IATA’s director general and CEO, Bisignani.

Manchester Airport plc was given the award for its high level of performance agreed to in service level agreements with its customers. Over the last four years, Manchester Airport reduced the average cost per passenger by 38 per cent and has significantly bettered the maximum price caps set by the UK’s independent regulator.

The Air Navigation Services Division of LFV (Sweden) achieved efficiencies that enabled it to reduce its unit rate by 17 per cent in 2006. It has achieved average annual reductions of 6.6 per cent in each of the last four years.

The Performance Review Commission (PRC) provides a strong, transparent and independent performance review and target-setting system for the 36 EUROCONTROL states. This has resulted in much better understanding of customer concerns and requirements, as well as the cost drivers within the business.

IATA commended the Arab Civil Aviation Commission (ACAC) for urging its memberstates to reqire IOSA registration for any carrier based in its territories or using its airports.

CRUISING HEIGHTS July 2006

The IATA has honoured Chile and Egypt for their leadership in promoting safety by incorporating the IATA Operational Safety Audit (IOSA) into their safety oversight programmes. Moreover, the association commended the Arab Civil Aviation Commission (ACAC) for the resolution, passed at its recent general assembly, urging its 16 member states to require IOSA registration for any carrier based in its territories or using its airports.

The IATA annual general meeting also formally approved a resolution requiring that all IATA members be IOSA registered. All new members of the association will be required to pass IOSA before they join. And all existing members must contract for an IOSA audit by the end of 2006 and complete the audit by the end of 2007 to retain membership.

IOSA was launched in 2003 as the industry’s first global standard for airline safety management. A total of 189 member airlines and 57 non-members are now in the IOSA process, representing over 80 per cent of scheduled international traffic. IOSA registration lasts for two years, at which time a recurrent audit is required to ensure ongoing compliance with IATA standards.

IOSA standards are based on International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) standards and industry best practices and are freely available to any commercial airline as part of IATA’s commitment to safety. For airlines with limited resources, IATA’s Partnership for Safety programme is helping to bridge the gap. The scope of Partnership for Safety expanded from Africa to include Latin America. In both regions, the number of accidents is disproportionately large when compared with traffic volumes.

Last year was the air transport industry’s best year ever, with an accident rate of 0.76 per million sectors—one accident for every 1.3 million flights. IATA members did considerably better at 0.35 per million sectors.

Chew takes charge Chief executive officer of Singapore Airlines (SIA), Chew Choon Seng, has started oneyear term as chairman of IATA’s board of governors for 2006-07 with the close of the 62nd annual general meeting. He succeeds Air Canada’s chairman, Robert Milton.

“Air transport continues to face many challenges,” said Chew, “I look forward to the coming year as an opportunity to work with the IATA team to push for the much needed change across the industry.” The next WATS will be held in Vancouver from June 3 to 5, 2007.

The writer is special correspondent with the United News of India (UNI) agency.

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AIRPORT NEWS

Is The Terminal a reality?

T

RAVEL HORRORS highlighted by the plight of Tom Hanks in the Hollywood movie, The Terminal, are an everyday reality for passengers, according to Inderjit Singh, Executive Director of the Airports Authority of India, warned at the Airport Build & Supply Exhibition in Dubai that an architect’s dream can be a nightmare for passengers, and that millions are mistreated.

In The Terminal, Hanks plays a visitor to New York City from Eastern Europe, whose homeland erupts in a fiery coup while he is in the air en route to America.

Stranded at JFK International Airport with a passport from nowhere, he is unauthorised to enter the US and must spend days and nights in the terminal’s international transit lounge until the war at home is over. While the character, and his experiences, are fictional, Inderjit Singh says the reality is that airport designers and operators are guilty of treating passengers with disdain, even contempt.

“An air traveller, the customer, is often referred to as ‘pax’—a horrible word—in airline and airport parlance,” he told an audience of airport trade visitors during the exhibition’s seminar programme. “Actually the passenger is the sole reason for our existence.

“The air traveller is not a unit to be regarded as being of a basic standard, usually miniscule in size, somewhat lacking in both intelligence and general ability to find his way about. Not an individual to be treated with disdain, and even with contempt at times, with his special desires all too often ignored, or at best treated with reluctance.”

He added: “All of us who are either airline or airport employees, benefiting perhaps from special treatment, should put ourselves in the position of a mere ‘pax’ at a foreign airport late at night, tired, bewildered and even perhaps ill. This will give us a flavour of what millions of air travellers have to put up with.

“As soon as everybody, high and low, in world air transport recognises this fact, the sooner the system will improve. This is the age of the customer, who should be priority No 1. The passenger is our livelihood, our income, our future, not an interruption of our daily lives.”

Pondy airport functional

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Inderjit continued, “Billions of dollars have been spent worldwide on the development of air terminals over the past 20 years or so and the outcome is often a potpourri of designs, styles and shapes resulting in monsters of steel, plate glass and concrete.

Over two hundred billion dollars more is likely to be spent in the next two decades on the design, development and construction of new terminals and reconstruction and up-gradation of the existing ones, the majority of them in the Middle East, Africa, Indian Subcontinent, CIS and the Asia Pacific region.

“The need of the day is not a grandiose statement of architectural styles vying with one another for awards, but safe and secure terminal buildings that are functional and flexible, convenient and comfortable, spacious and aesthetically pleasant.”

“Terminal buildings should offer easy access, provide an intelligent level of information, have a minimum of imposed controls, but offer a wide range of customer services and consumer related concessionaires. They should guarantee a quick response to passenger demands, be committed to reducing the traveller irritation factor. Security checks should be as unobtrusive yet effective. The movement of passengers should be smooth and unobstructed.”

Organised by Streamline Marketing Group and concluding today, the Airport Build & Supply Exhibition has attracted a record number of almost 400 exhibitors to Airport Expo Dubai this week, a 25 per cent increase on last year.

Courtesy: www.asiatraveltips.com PONDICHERRY AIRPORT recently revived its operations after a gap of about 15 years when the Delhi-based Jagson Airlines first operated its 18-seater Dornier aircraft. The first fight had no passenger on board barring four toppers in SSLC and Plus-Two examinations from government schools, tour operators, members of the CII, U.K. Bose, president and CEO of Jagson airlines, and vice-president Koustav Dhar. Jagson would be operating daily services to Chennai, Tirupati and Bangalore except Sundays. As per an MoU signed with the government, the latter will have to fill 50 per cent of seats—nine seats—everyday. Further, Jagson was looking forward to expanding services with bigger aircraft, with the Government of Pondicherry showing interest in the expansion of the airport.

CRUISING HEIGHTS July 2006

Srinagar gets prepaid taxi service

Kovai airport gets IVRS

THE DEPUTY CHIEF MINISTER of Jammu & Kashmir, Muzaffar Hussain Baig, recently inaugurated the first prepaid taxi service at Srinagar airport. With the launch of this service, a long pending demand of the tourists has been met. The centre of the service is based within the airport complex, with representatives from tourist police, tourism department and tourism industry available for assistance of the incoming tourists.

Tales from Chennai

THE AIRPORTS AUTHORITY OF INDIA has recently introduced an Interactive Voice Response System (IVRS) at Coimbatore airport. The Rs 2.4 lakh system, claimed to be the first such facility at airports in the country, can be accessed to get all flight information. Coimbatore is one of the fastest growing airports in India, registering a growth of 90 per cent, with 18 flights being operated presently.

The IVRS can be accessed on phone numbers 2573100 and 2574100.

Bangalore goes for automated verification counters

FOR STARTERS, an abandoned 12-volt battery opposite the passenger exit hall leading to the car park caused a minor flutter at Chennai airport’s domestic terminal. As if this was not enough, the authorities, a few days later, in a major seizure, laid hands on 540 endangered star tortoises worth Rs 5.5 lakh from an air passenger at the international airport. The poor creatures had been packed in a stroller zipper bag and were to be smuggled out to Kuala Lumpur.

But anyways who wants to looks at tortoises here in India? In another incident, the Air Intelligence Unit of the Customs department recovered 850 DVDs, including 150 DVDs of the controversial film The Da Vinci Code from ‘unclaimed baggage’ at the international airport. The baggage had been tagged in the name of one Joseph, and was lying near the trolley area of the airport. Joseph was of course not around. The suspecting officials had the baggage scanned and then opened. To round off, in another incident, an anonymous phone informing that a bomb had been placed in an incoming flight was enough to send jitters. Luckily, it turned out to be hoax, but not before the usual nail biting. Tension prevailed for a few hours at the airport’s international terminal after the city police control room received a call that a bomb had been placed aboard the Emirates airlines flight from Dubai.

IMMIGRATION AUTHORITIES at Bangalore Airport have suggested automated verification counters at the airport to curb the number of international fake passport cases. So far, 12 cases of fake passports have been registered by the airport police till May 2006 against 42 in 2005. According to authorities, forgery is done through photostat manipulation of the originals and superimposition of photos on stolen passports. The automated counter will verify the security features and find out whether the passport or travel documents are fake or genuine.

Such automated counters are used at the Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi.

CRUISING HEIGHTS July 2006

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The 1st IPC Congress - The International Congress for Personnel Certification will bring together organizations and professionals from personnel, product and system certification, standardization and accreditation markets. You will have the opportunity to meet professionals from different countries, exchange views, present findings and plan for the future.

Congress Sessions (in brief) 22 August 2006 Morning Session

: Personnel Certification and Accreditation

Afternoon Session

: Definition of competence and examination methods

23 August, 2006 Morning session

: Personnel certification and standardisation

Afternoon Session

: Personnel certification as a statutory requirement

24 August 2006 Morning session

: Testing and examination

Afternoon session

: Training as an integral part of personnel certification

For more information regarding the Congress, you may visit the Congress website at www.ipc2006.gr or contact the International Personnel Certification Association (IPC) Secretariat at:

346A, Vouliagmenis Avenue, Ag, Dimitrios, GR 17342, Greece Tel: +30 210 9952577/9952276 Fax: +30 210 9937225 Email: secretary@ipcaweb.org.

Supported by National Registration Board for Personnel & Training C/o Quality Council of India Institution of Engineers Building, 2nd Floor, Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg, New Delhi 110002, Tel /Fax: +91 11 23370567/2337 9260 Email nrbpt@qcin.org

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GLOBETROTTING

AT A GLANCE Lounge No 1 KOREAN AIR’S Lounge at Incheon International Airport has been named Priority Pass Lounge of the Year 2006 for Asia Pacific for the second consecutive year by Priority Pass, a UK-based company that provides worldwide airport lounge access. Korean Air ranked No 1 among 109 lounges in the Asia Pacific region by members of Priority Pass, which has over one million members worldwide. Priority Pass provides its one million members with access to airport lounges worldwide regardless of which airline and class they travel with.

EU-US deal “illegal”

T

HE EUROPEAN Court of Justice has ruled that the agreement under which European air carriers have been obliged to give US authorities 34 pieces of information about each passenger flying to the US is illegal. Data collected under the deal include information such as credit card numbers, travel itineraries, addresses, telephone numbers and meal requests.

Washington argued the information is vital to fight terrorism following the September 2001 terrorist attacks and had warned that airlines will face fines and lose landing rights if they do not comply. The European Commission, the EU’s executive body, and EU governments signed the deal with the US in May 2004. The move triggered an outcry by data protection experts. The European Parliament took the issue to the European Court of Justice, arguing that the deal endangers the European citizen’s fundamental rights and freedoms.

Air hostess-cops THIS SEPTEMBER will see China’s first batch of female stewards who are not only charming air hostesses but also ‘air policewomen’ good at fighting. After passing a strict test, these air security guards will receive a two-and-a-half-month isolation training in Chengdu command institute under the Chinese People’s Armed Police Force, where they can train physical abilities and learn skills of capturing and unarmed combat and how to handle emergency. They will formally show up on the flights of Air China Southwest Branch Co.

Fraport an ecological hub

F

RAPORT AG has issued its latest Environmental Statement 2006, which shows that the share of passengers using public transportation—buses or trains to arrive at or depart from FRA—has reached 36 per cent. In addition, more than 26,000 of FRA’s 68,000 employees use public transit services. Compared to private vehicle utilisation, this represents savings of 22,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions per year. Last year, Fraport replaced 97 vehicles used for aircraft handling on the apron with the latest, low-emission models. Another 96 vehicles of this type are expected to be replaced this year. Many airport buildings use industrial water, instead of drinking water, for flush toilets, fire sprinkler systems and for watering greenery.

34

CRUISING HEIGHTS July 2006

Westin is smoke-free

BA tops

WESTIN HOTELS & RESORTS have become one of the first hotel chains in Australia and Fiji to introduce a smoke-free policy. Beginning this 31st, The Westin Sydney, The Westin Melbourne and The Westin Denarau Island Resort & Spa Fiji will be totally smoke-free and join Westin’s 77 North America hotels that introduced a smoke-free policy this January. This new policy also reinforces Westin’s new brand positioning around personal renewal and offering guests the services, products and amenities that allow them to relax, rejuvenate and restore during their stay. The smoke-free policy is a result of customer data and a clear demand from guests for a healthy, totally smoke free hotel experience.

Westin consumer data revealed 95 per cent of its guests in this region request a non-smoking room when travelling and don’t smoke in any area of the hotel, including public areas.

BRITISH AIRWAYS has won the Airline of the Year 2006 award at the Skytrax World Airline Awards. The airline finished fourth last year. The results found that the number of premium passengers to nominate BA was higher than any other airlines in the top ten. British Airways has interesting futuristic plans for wooing its passengers, few of which are the introduction of new Club World cabin, improvements to in-flight entertainment for all its passengers and continuing enhancements to ba.com.

Royal aviation tales

W

hen Prime Minister Tony Blair travels on affairs of state, he typically takes a BAe146 from a regiment called the Queen’s Flight. It cost the exchequer about $20,000 for his recent trip to Italy, and that caused something of an uproar. So when time came to return from Italy, the Blairs and their eight-member party took a Ryanair flight back to London. Of course, they didn’t have to scramble for seats like the rest of the passengers—a section in the front of the plane was specially reserved for them. The cost per ticket was $91.73.

But when Blair recently arrived in Brussels in a chartered aircraft bearing Austrian livery, because it was the only aircraft available, some decision was decided to be taken. The Prime Minister and the Queen are now to get two dedicated aircraft, as the aircraft of the Royal Air Force are ageing as well as are not always available. To be obtained on permanent lease and expected to be pressed into service not before late 2007 or early 2008, one is likely to be a Boeing 737, which can seat between 85 and 215 passengers, and the other will be a smaller aircraft, seating around 15 to 20 people. The extra cost of about £1.5 million will be spread across several government departments, including the Cabinet Office and the Ministry of Defence. The present cost

of air travel is £9.5 million and the extra £1.5 million will be paid by the Royal Family. The aircraft will have anti-missile defence, communications and a bedroom. While Tony Blair will use the aircraft more than 60 times a year, the queen requires the fleet only about eight times annually. Buckingham Palace will be charged the cost of chartering the plane and also for fuel and staffing costs.

Pak’s Gandhara

Illustrations by Zahid Ali

PAKISTAN IS likely to name its new airport in Islamabad as the Gandhara International Airport. This is keeping in line with history and the glory of an ancient civilisation in the Indian subcontinent, as well as to acquire a soft image of Pakistan abroad. The Gandhara civilisation flourished centuries before when the region was a seat of learning and culture and witnessed the confluence of various religions. The Gandhara School of art is famous across the world even today.

The Civil Aviation Authority has acquired about 1,300 acres of land for the new airport near Fateh Jang.

CRUISING HEIGHTS July 2006

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COVER STORY

THOSE ORANGE

CHOPPERS In aviation terms, Pawan Hans Limited (PHL) could be described as ‘a blip’ on the radar, but this low-profile PSU has done remarkably well in good times as well as in bad times. K Srinivasan and R Krishnan report.

I

t’s simply unforgettable.

Swooping down the Arabian Sea into Mumbai High and landing with precision on a helipad perched right above the swirling waters is a moment of pure magic.

For Pawan Hans, though, it’s simply another day at the office. For years and years now, it has been at the forefront of the Bombay High operations, providing a cutting edge to ONGC’s oil exploration drive.

Sometimes, there are tragedies, as it happened last year, when it lost one of the machines in the torrential downpour that lashed India’s Western metropolis. “But it hasn’t stopped us from undertaking these assignments.

They only underscore our ability to perform in the most difficult of circumstances. There are days when we have done over 200 sorties to the platform. It’s tough, very tough, believe me,” said Nagar V. Sridhar, the corporation’s CMD, just a few days before his planned exit from Pawan Hans to an international assignment in Africa.

What a far cry from those early days when the infamous Westland helicopters from the UK were the sole fleet of the corporation. After having rejected them as unfit, the late Rajiv Gandhi had acquiesced to buying a whole fleet from the UK, and Pawan Hans was saddled with an inventory it did not want. When it was incorporated in October 1985, its

GREAT TEAM: One of the strengths of India’s number one chopper company is the quality of its team. They have a superb set of engineers and technicians. Seen in this picture with former CMD Sridhar.

Pix by Dheeraj Paul

COVER STORY

THOSE ORANGE

CHOPPERS In aviation terms, Pawan Hans Limited (PHL) could be described as ‘a blip’ on the radar, but this low-profile PSU has done remarkably well in good times as well as in bad times. K Srinivasan and R Krishnan report.

I

t’s simply unforgettable.

Swooping down the Arabian Sea into Mumbai High and landing with precision on a helipad perched right above the swirling waters is a moment of pure magic.

For Pawan Hans, though, it’s simply another day at the office. For years and years now, it has been at the forefront of the Bombay High operations, providing a cutting edge to ONGC’s oil exploration drive.

Sometimes, there are tragedies, as it happened last year, when it lost one of the machines in the torrential downpour that lashed India’s Western metropolis. “But it hasn’t stopped us from undertaking these assignments.

They only underscore our ability to perform in the most difficult of circumstances. There are days when we have done over 200 sorties to the platform. It’s tough, very tough, believe me,” said Nagar V. Sridhar, the corporation’s CMD, just a few days before his planned exit from Pawan Hans to an international assignment in Africa.

What a far cry from those early days when the infamous Westland helicopters from the UK were the sole fleet of the corporation. After having rejected them as unfit, the late Rajiv Gandhi had acquiesced to buying a whole fleet from the UK, and Pawan Hans was saddled with an inventory it did not want. When it was incorporated in October 1985, its

GREAT TEAM: One of the strengths of India’s number one chopper company is the quality of its team. They have a superb set of engineers and technicians. Seen in this picture with former CMD Sridhar.

Pix by Dheeraj Paul

COVER STORY

“We are

primary objective was to provide helicopter services to the petroleum sector, linking inaccessible areas of the country and operating tourist charters.

Since then PHL has grown into one of Asia’s largest helicopters companies that maintains and operates 35 state-of-the-art helicopters. It enjoys over 80 per cent share of India’s helicopter operations. However, 60 per cent of its overall presence in ONGC for western region operations may get reduced with increased competition. It is, therefore, looking for new businesses.

The public sector company has a mix fleet of helicopters of various sizes and types, catering to different customer requirements. These include the threeseater R-44, five-six seater Bell 206 L4 and Bell 407, 11-seater Dauphin and 26-seater Mi-172 helicopters. And the Westland fleet was grounded long back.

So why is it that this company is still a relatively mid-sized fleet, and not a 200machine fleet with a pan-India presence?

Why hasn’t it taken advantage of the aviation boom? “I am sorry, but the helicopter illiteracy in this country is incomparable,” said one senior official at PHL, who didn’t want to be quoted (Incidentally, none of the officials wanted to be quoted because the story was written during the twilight period between Sridhar’s exit and the arrival of R.K. Singh.).

This officer mentioned the general perception that choppers were unsafe, ran

38

DRENCHED: It was perhaps the worst disaster in the history of Pawan Hans. They lost as chopper in Bombay High and their entire complex at the old airport in Juhu was flooded in last year’s rains. Slowly but surely, they are now back to normal.

The public sector company has a mix fleet of helicopters of various sizes and types, catering to different customer requirements.

CRUISING HEIGHTS July 2006

Q: Things were really bad last monsoon. How are they now?

A: Things have slowly improved. We had ten helicopters grounded because of the floods last year. We have been able to get all of them back into operations. This financial year, we well be back on the rails.

Q: In essence you have managed to recover your entire fleet?

A: we have recovered our entire fleet, barring one Mi 172 on Bombay High at the same time during the incident on the platform.

Q: Pawan Hans has for years been viewed as a sick child. But you are really one of the best performers, giving dividend year after year. It has really been the secret of your turnaround?

A: (smiles) Hard work, if I may be permitted to say. Moreover, we are not really in the public domain. You know we do services for governments and for Public sector giants like ONGC.We are not really in the spotlight, our services are directly affecting or servicing the people at large. Therefore, maybe we aren’t well known or popular. But our profitability has been very very good and for the last 14 years we have been making money.

Only last year, our performance was affected, marginally because of the floods.

Q: But you have still made money in 2005-06?

A: I will be profits of course. Even the last financial year (2005-06) inspite of the loss caused by grounding of a portion of our fleet, we have made some profits.

About Rs seven crores.

Q: Why hasn’t the chopper culture taken off in India in the midst of all this aviation boom?

A: Esentially, choppers were used for off shore locales and never looked at a vehicle for other operations. But when you start thinking of other avenues of operations, the procedures that are to be followed for these sorts of operations needs to be redefined by the DGCA.This is particularly in the case where both fixed wing aircrafts and choppers are operating simultaneously. At the moment there is one procedure for both types and that is the issue. If one has to make helicopter usage popular, we need trop interact with DGCA to adopt procedures where helicopters are at different levels and fixed wing at another level.

Q: Is that the only impediment.

not in the public eye” A: That’s is one of the main impediments.

Moreover, in a city like Delhi there are enormous security restrictions and one cannot zig zag around easily. The third impediment, honestly, is the cost of helicopter operations.

It’s four to five times that of the fixed wing so it’s easier said than done for a person to pay that amount. We can’t have a scheduled service because if a helicopter has got four seats and you have two passengers than it isn’t profitable. So it has to be a complete lease or charter and there are few takers for that.

Q: Any assessment of the anticipated boom in the chopper business?

A: Any assessment of the anticipated boom in the chopper business?

Q: What are doing about it?

A: It is a serious issue and we are having discussions with the DGCA and the Rahtriya Udan Academy on the need to start something. We are also in discussions with the Ministry and DGCA on the possibility of taking retiring Air Force pilots for Pawan Hans. DGCA recently had a dialogue with the armed forces and I am told some arrangement is being worked out.

Q: What about a helicopter-training institute. Why doesn’t Pawan Hans look at it?

A: Infact with HAL we recently had a dialogue that we would assure intake of five pilots each year and we would also ask the banks to finance them. Somehow, there are no takers.

Q: Have you managed to make any breakthrough on the issue of different parameters for choppers and fixed wing?

A: We are in dialogue with the DGCA, particularly with reference to Bombay High.

We are flying from the old airport at Juhu and they have now evolved a new set of procedures by which our flying won’t be affected vis a vis the fixed wing. As far as general flying is concerned there has been no exception. I would personally suggest that both at Delhi and Mumbai airport, they should have helipads on either side of the runway so that the operations could be independent of the fixed wing. And that would probably ease the situation without changing the procedures. We have spoken to the Ministry and they have spoken to the Airport Authority to do something about it. Now that it is in private hands, I suppose both GMR and GVK should do something about it.

Q: Gazing at the crystal ball, what do you see in store for Pawan Hans?

A: Pawan has done very well barring last year because of reasons beyond our control.

FOUR SUCCESSFUL YEARS: Sridhar felt he had done all he could at Pawan Hans: the company was in profits, they had recovered from the trauma pof the floods, new aircrafts were being acquired and the future looked exciting. A good time to look for new adventures.

But in the coming years we can look forward to a brand new centrally air conditioned maintenance center at Juhu that is in the final stages of planning and will cost us Rs 25 crore. We are the Europcopter’s authorized maintenance center not just for India between other countries in the region. We want to exploit this area of activity further.

We have also done quite a bit for integrated software for management of all our data in real time. That should be implemented in a couple of months. I n addition to operations, I wish that Pawan Hans concentrate on maintanence. That could be a core strength.

Q: Your fleet strength three years down the line.

A: I have thirty helicopters at the moment, two more have been delivered recently. I have signed for five more choppers including two dauphen. By the end of next year it should be 35 choppers. There is a need to expand… but keeping in view the trained skilled manpower availibiity,I just can’t keep expanding without the requisite manpower. Our staff strength is around 700 of which a 100 are pilots and 200 engineers.

The rest are the administrative and support

staff. This is not a bad average. Most of our technicians and engineers are employed in the workshop. Instead of sending parts abroad, we maintain it ourself.If you chop of that part, it is a very reasonable staff ratio.

Q: Will you ever be a 100 chopper fleet.

A: Most certainly. We started with 45 helicopters, they have come down now because of the grounding of Westland. If that had not happened we would have been 60 plus right now. I do see the day, in a matter of three, as a big company, not having less than 75 helicopters. But we have to be innovative in marketing ourselves so that areas like tourism, emergency medical services, and powerline cleaning. These are areas we are looking seriously the future beckons us.

Q: last question: Why isn’t the private sector not as enthusiastic about the chopper business as they are about scheduled airlines A: That isn’t true any more. One more player-Global Vectra-has come into the picture.

They have bagged a contract from ONBGC that is as good as our’s. Slowly they are catching on.

COVER STORY on a single engine and had a high crash record. “Actually it is to the contrary,” he said, and added, “It is a versatile machine that has dozens of uses. It is extremely sturdy, with an unmatched safety record and just the perfect answer for a country like India.”

This perception may take some time to change and may also be one reason why Pawan Hans is still largely a company that deals with institutions and government agencies and few individuals. “In a way, this has also been good for us. We are free of the complexities of service that come into play when you deal with ordinary citizens. It helps us to be low profile, focus on our core competence and deliver value for money, consistently over a long period of time,” said another official, who has been with the company for a long time.

Here again the competition is heating up.

Slowly, but surely, private sector players are gearing up for the opportunities in this sector and it seems inevitable Pawan Hans will have to compete for its share of the market. As Sridhar explained, one company, Global Vectra, has already got a contract from ONGC and we have to be prepared to “face increasing competition in the future.”

As a first step in that direction, the company has decided to set up what it claims will be the region’s largest integrated stateof-the-art MRO at Mumbai. Besides catering to its own fleet of 35 and those of state government owned helicopters, the US $5.4 million MRO at Juhu aerodrome will exclusively provide total servicing for Eurocopters’ Southeast Asian fleet. Eurocopter will shell out over Rs 2 crore per machine for complete maintenance. PHL is expected to add seven more Eurocopter-made 10seater Dauphin SA 365 N helicopters to its existing fleet of 35 by the year 2008. This is expected to cost Rs 28 billion.

Unfortunately, Dauphin does not dominate the skies over the region. Therefore, at the end of the day, the machines to be serviced will be really those of PHL and the few others that are with the state governments.

“We are hopeful that over a period of time, this maintenance centre will become a hub and attract a greater number of people to opt for this machine,” said an official in engineering. Another mentioned that they had been in discussions with Bell helicopters, too, for a similar arrangement. However, their fleet strength was too small to make the proposal “commercially viable.”

That the present fleet isn’t huge enough to warrant a pan-India presence is also evident from the manner in which the company has deployed its staff. It has a strong presence in Mumbai, considering the fact that the offshore business is its bread and better. For the entire region spanning the

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R K SINGH: This low profile career civil servant is holding fort at Pawan Hans after the exit of Sridhar.Pawan Hans staffers are delighted with the stopgap replacement. As one of them said: “R K Singh is easy going, quick and to the point. It’s a delight working with him.”

One reason for pilot shortage is the huge demand in the fixed-wing sector, where the pay is better and the training period, shorter.

The same goes for engineers who are moving to the private sector in big numbers.

CRUISING HEIGHTS July 2006

The Pawan Hans Fleet

A VARIED PORTFOLIO: The corporation has a wide and varied portfolio from airlifting yatris at Amarnath to sorties at Mumbai High to cleaning power lines to complicated flying in the North East. So far they have done it with panache and much success.

BESIDES BUYING new helicopters, Pawan Hans is looking at upgrading its existing fleet. Already, a Dauphin helicopter, made by Eurocopter, has been sent to France and the company will be retrofitting 17 more Dauphins in the country to increase their life by another 10 to 15 years. Following the damage caused by the heavy monsoon of 2005 to its 12 helicopters parked at Juhu aerodrome, Mumbai, the company has built a three-foot-high ramp, on which five to six helicopters can be parked.

After last year’s Mumbai floods, PHL has managed to make its Dauphin fleet serviceable, and as on date, 10 Dauphin helicopters have been made flight worthy.

Further, to meet the requirement of ONGC, newly introduced aviation standards-AS4-PHL has signed agreement with the manufacturer’s authorised agency for retrofitting equipments on 17 Dauphin N and 4 Dauphin N3 helicopters, as mentioned earlier. This will not only enhance safety standards, but also lead to improved

maintenance, apart from enhanced life of the helicopters.

Recently, US-based Bell Helicopter delivered a seven-seat 407 helicopter to Pawan Hans. This is the fourth Bell 407 in its fleet. This craft can be used for highaltitude flights and has been used to ferry people on pilgrimage to Kedarnath and Amarnath. As on date, PHL has seven Bell helicopters in its fleet and few more are expected to join.

Besides, PHL is the biggest fleet owner of Eurocopter helicopters. Incidentally, the company was launched with a Eurocopter.

Called Dauphin, Pawan Hans has a fleet of 23 such helicopters, and recently it created history by setting a record 30,000 hours of flying. Five years ago, PHL had been granted ISO-9002 by United Registrar of Systems Limited, the UK, in recognition of the company’s quality system, which complies with ISO-9002 standards for helicopter services for passenger transportation, servicing, repair, and overhauling of CRUISING HEIGHTS July 2006

PHL and its customers helicopters and components.

As of April 2006, the total fleet of PHL had logged in 3,49,863 hours of flying. Of this, the Dauphin fleet did 2,97,723 hours, split between 2,92,904.42 hours by Dauphin N and 6,961.49 hours by Dauphin N3 helicopters. The total landings by Dauphins were 14,03,056, with Dauphin N doing 13,69,085 and Dauphin N3 doing 33,971, respectively. During the same period, PHL’s MI-172 helicopters had flown for 11,436 hours, Bell L4 flew 14,700 hours, Bell 407 logged 6,414 hours, Robinson-type helicopters accumulated 4,360 hours and Westland clocked 25,380 hours. But the Westlands are now not in service. The servicing of the oil sector-ONGC-is totally taken care off by the Dauphins, and the religious circuit is dominated by Bell; but this does not mean that the types of helicopters are not deployed elsewhere. They are deployed in the Northeast as well.

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COVER STORY

The Numbers THE FINANCIAL performance of PHL was consistent upwards except for inbetween dips. The average number of helicopters deployed for various purposes from its fleet was 21.6 in 2000-01, 21.5 in 2001-02, 21.2 in 2002-03, 23.7 in 2003-04 and 24.5 in 2004-05, but fell to 20.7 in 2005-06, and is expected to again rise to a new high of 25.2 in 2006-07. The revenue flying hours also showed a similar trend. In these very seven years, the revenue flying hours were 19,206, 18,506, 20,173, 23,020 and 24,780 before dipping to 19,640 (because of Mumbai rains), but again projected to rise to 24,800 in the current fiscal 2006-07.

Total operating revenue of PHL for these seven years was Rs 133.05 crore, Rs 137.08 crore, Rs 158.14 crore, Rs 192.55 crore, Rs 213.30 crore, but dropped to Rs 165.66 crore (because of last year’s Mumbai rains), and is now projected to rise to Rs 213 crore. The total operating expenditure of PHL during the same period was Rs 136.97 crore, Rs 125.91 crore, Rs 145.54 crore, Rs 158.78 crore, Rs 173.90 crore and again dipped to Rs 158.02 crore because of last year’s rain in Mumbai, and is now projected to increase to Rs 194.85 crore. The increase in both revenue and expenditure in 2006-07, as budgeted, is due to not only the increase in fleet size but also rise in fuel cost. Besides, the staff cost and insurance for 2006-07 is also likely to be highest for any single year recorded so far.

The net profit for these seven years was Rs 38 crore, Rs 59.31 crore, Rs 15.39 crore, Rs 52.69 crore, Rs 49.58 crore, Rs 37 crore (again Mumbai rains) and is now projected to be even lower at Rs 30 crore in 2006-07 budget estimates. Interestingly, the operating revenue fell from Rs 213 crore in 2004-05 to Rs 165.66 crore in the monsoon year of 2005-06-a drop of Rs 48 crore. During the same period, the operating expenses fell from Rs 173.90 crore to Rs 158.02 crore-a drop of Rs 16 crore.

Revenues fell more than operating expenses and considering that for PHL western region being the most important source of business, the net profit figure of Rs 37 crore in 2005-06 is certainly a commendable performance. Of course, much of the profits came in from non-operating sources, mainly interest income at Rs 30 crore, which was as high as Rs 56.72 crore in 2000-01, Rs 58.04 crore in 2001-02, Rs 46.88 crore in 2002-03, Rs 31.45 crore in 2003-04 and Rs 28.55 crore in 2004-05. This source of non-operating income, after touching Rs 30 crore in the monsoon year of 2005-06, is now expected to fall sharply to Rs 4.5 crore in 2006-07. But, despite a steep fall in income from other sources, mainly interest income, PHL hopes to make a net profit of Rs 30.5 crore in the current fiscal year 2006-07. This is reflective of the new businesses the company has mobilised notwithstanding the rise in fuel prices and rising staff cost.

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East and Northeast and the North, Delhi is the key operational base. Engineers go on rotation to various stations in the region and for major engineering requirements; men and material are air lifted from Delhi.

“With better connectivity, this really isn’t a problem. But once our operations grow in the region we will have to think of a base, maybe at Guwahati,” said a senior official in the engineering section.

None of these plans will ever be stymied for shortage of funds. A cash surplus PSU that routinely gives the government a 20 per cent dividend, Pawan Hans’ biggest worry, though, is the nearly Rs 300 crore dispute that it has with the government over the so-called outstanding dating back to the Westland era. “The matter is with the Civil Aviation Ministry and it has to resolve this issue with the Finance Ministry,” said a senior officer from the finance department. If the issue isn’t resolved in favour of PHL, it could virtually wipe out the entire cash accumulated by the company and force it to borrow money for its acquisition. “But we are not very worried about it at the moment, the Ministry is aware of the complexities of the issue.”

What should actually give PHL employees much solace is the fact that their leader for the moment is R.K. Singh. This seasoned civil servant has the ability of getting to the heart of the issue and looking for long-term measures. “Now that he is wearing both the hats, we are sure we will soon have a solution,” said one employee.

So are there any worries on the horizon?

Yes, indeed. More than buying the machines, plying them remains a worry.

About 35 pilots of PHL resigned during 2002-05. Although the company has been able to recruit the same number of new pilots, the experience of a pilot is very important, especially in offshore flights.

One reason for pilot shortage is the huge demand in the fixed-wing sector, where the pay is better and the training period, shorter. The same goes for engineers who are moving to the private sector in big numbers. Relaxation in the age of pilots is one move that should help the company. “We have looked at these issues with the DGCA and there is likely to be a solution in the near future,” said Sridhar.

Nonetheless, it is a problem area that has no immediate solution. “There is a certain romance and magic about flying in a helicopter. We hope more young men and women feel the same way,” said one Pawan Hans pilot.

He is right. Maybe they should take some of them on a trip to Mumbai High.

They could well have plenty of converts who want to whirr above the ocean or high

over the mountains.

CRUISING HEIGHTS S P E C I A L

S U P P L E M E N T

O N

A I R P O R T S

A U T H O R I T Y

O F

I N D I A

Airport Magic Looking ahead:

Exclusive interview with AAI Chairman K. Ramalingam P46

A ‘GAGAN’ over India: AAI prepares for navigation from the sky

P54

Top class:

A profile of AAI and its hardworking employees P60

Beefing up cargo:

The increasing volume of cargo traffic is tribute to AAI’s preparedness P64

AAI FOCUS

K. Ramalingam* Chairman

Whole time Board Members

A.K. Mishra

P. Seth

H.S. Bains

S.C. Chhatwal

Part time Board Members

P.K. Mishra

Sanjay Narayen

Kanu Gohain

Vishwapati Trivedi

S.R. Mehra

Airports Authority of India (AAI) has been consistently getting “excellent� performance MoU award from the Department of Public Enterprises. AAI was also awarded the merit certificate award for excellence in achievement of MoU targets for the year 2003-04 from the Vice President of India. This is a reflection of this premier public sector enterprise to rise above the ordinary and consistently perform under a variety of conditions and provide efficient services to the people of India.

*THE BOARD: Apart from K. Ramalingam, who is the Chairman of AAI, the whole-time members of AAI are: A.K. Mishra (member, planning), P. Seth (member, operations), H.S. Bains (member, personnel & administration), S.C. Chhatwal (member, finance). The part-time members of the board include: Kanu Gohain, Director General, Directorate General of Civil Aviation, P.K. Mishra, Additional Secretary and Financial Advisor, Ministry of Civil Aviation, Sanjay Narayen, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Civil Aviation, S.R. Mehra, Commissioner of Security (Civil Aviation), Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BSAS), and Vishwapati Trivedi, Chairman and Managing Director, Indian Airlines.

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CRUISING HEIGHTS July 2006

AAI has ‘key’ role in India’s development The Airports Authority of India is a remarkable public sector institution that has played a key role in opening up India to the world. From the heights of Ladakh, in the North, to the windsswept Andamans, in the East, to Mangalore, in the South, Pune, in the West, and Nagpur, in Central India, AAI has shown that it has the resilience, the capacity and the ingenuity to work in difficult and different conditions, and help provide the platform for transporting the people of India and guests from abroad.

As we now move into the next phase of our programe—to modernise airports across the country—the AAI has a key role to play in driving this process, across 35 non-metro airports and 60 odd other airports, all over India. Once complete, they will provide a remarkable example of the quality and capacity of work that AAI can undertake.

Without doubt, all this will be possible because of the leadership provided by the AAI management and the commitment and professionalism of people down the line. The aviation boom in India owes much of its success to AAI. In that sense it is a key driver for India’s economic growth and prosperity.

CRUISING HEIGHTS July 2006

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AAI FOCUS

“OUR PERFORMANCE IS GOOD”

K. Ramalingam, Chairman, Airports Authority of India (AAI), is a man with a mission.

He has put the privatisation of the two major airports—Delhi and Mumbai—behind him, and is going ahead with a mission to upgrade Kolkata, Chennai and 35 non-metro airports in the next few years. Excerpts from an exclusive interview.

How do you rate the performance of AAI today, as compared with five years ago when there were only three domestic carriers and few chosen international airlines coming to India?

Well, it is pretty good. Traffic revenue has increased from Rs 1,222 crore, in 200001, to Rs 2,080 crore, in 2004-05. That is a growth of 70 per cent. Similarly, nontraffic revenue—revenue from cargo operations, trading concessions, rent and services—too, has gone up, from Rs 651 crore, in 2000-01, to Rs 920 crore, in 2004-05. That is an increase of 41 per cent. To boost aviation in the country, we have offered a variety of concessions and reductions in airport charges.

And what are those?

With effect from February 2004, we are giving a discount of 15 per cent in landing charges to those domestic flights that pay airport charges within credit period.

No landing charges will be payable by aircraft with a maximum certified capacity of less than 80 seats being operated by domestic scheduled operators; helicopters of all types are also exempt.

Concessions are being given in RNFC (route navigation flight charges) in respect of aircraft with a maximum all-up weight of up to 10,000 kg and 20,000 kg.

Twenty-five per cent reduction in TNLC at five international airports and airports in the Northeast, Jammu and Kashmir, Andaman & Nicobar Islands and Lakshadweep.

Two-and-a-half per cent of PSF per embarking passenger as collection charges is payable to the scheduled operators from April 2004 if payment to AAI is made within the credit period.

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CRUISING HEIGHTS July 2006

The airport charges, which are revised every two years and were due for revision in April 2001, have not been revised.

Fifty per cent concession in night parking (between 10 pm and 6 am) charges is being given to all operators at all airports, excepting Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Bangalore and Hyderabad from January this year.

It is not just the financial but also the physical parameters that have come under severe pressure. How does one ease them?

At majority of the airports, capacity exceeds demand. However, a few of the airports and terminals have got saturated and there is need to add capacity. For example, at Delhi airport, international departure, domestic arrival and domestic terminal IB have got saturated. But, now that the privatisation process has been completed, both DIAL and MIAL are expected to look at the issue. Similarly, at Mumbai and Bangalore airport, both international and domestic terminals are saturated. At Hyderabad, the domestic terminal is saturated. Some of the other airports where capacity constraints are being felt are Goa, Kozhikode, Varanasi, Pune, Vadodara, Indore, Udaipur and Visakhapatnam. To keep pace with growing aviation activities, AAI is constructing new passenger terminal buildings, matching world-class ones, in a number of metro and non-metro airports. In fact, airport infrastructures are being continuously upgraded to meet the growing demands.

Look at the new airports built in Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur, Seoul, etc.; all of them are costing nothing less than two billion dollars. How can we build a big airport for much lesser money or investment?

The airports mentioned above are all Greenfield airports, where the projects are to be taken up from grass-root level. This includes acquisition of extensive land, construction of runways, taxiways, aprons, parking bays, terminal buildings and all necessary infrastructures. Also, these airports are located far from the city and the necessary transport infrastructure for connecting the airport with the city is also to be made. So, cost is bound to be high.

Whereas, Delhi and Mumbai airports are operational airports. So, the development planned for Delhi and Mumbai consists only of expansion and modifica-

Q. What is going to happen to Kolkata and Chennai

airports? Will they also be taken up for modernisation along the same lines as Delhi’s and Mumbai’s?

A. Infrastructure at Kolkata airport is already being modernised. The construction of the international departure terminal building is going to commence this year. The design is in final stages. The integrated cargo building is under construction and the secondary runway is to be extended. In this connection, the state government authorities have been approached to remove any obstruction coming in the way of expansion.

At Chennai airport, to cater for a parallel runway, a new international terminal building with car parking facilities, apron, hangars, ATC tower, fire station and other related infrastructure is required. Tamil Nadu government is in the process of acquiring 1,440 acres and would hand over the same to AAI free of cost and free from all encumbrances for undertaking the above development works. It is Govt’s prerogative to choose the route with regard to modernisation of Kolkata and Chennai airports.

K. Ramalingam is one of the senior-most civil aviation experts globally. In a singular recognition of his achievements and track record in the industry, he was unanimously elected as the Vice Chairman of the Airport Council of India (Asia Pacific region). He is also member of the world governing council of the ACI, as well as an executive committee member of the Civil Aviation Navigational Services Organisation (CANSO). At the last annual meet of this world body, he was able to get the over-200 delegates to vote for holding the next conference in Kochi, in May. There were two countries vying for the honour-India and Canada.

That Mr. Ramalingam swung it India's way shows his standing in the world body.

CRUISING HEIGHTS July 2006

tion of the existing infrastructure, besides adding additional new infrastructure. These are the reasons that make the Delhi and Mumbai airports less capital intensive compared with the other airports mentioned.

Air France wants to bring super jumbo A380 to Mumbai. Length of the runway is one thing, but shoulder along the runway is another. Are Delhi and Mumbai ready for it? What about the two-stage aerobridges (lower and upper) to clear the passengers from an A380?

Action is already being taken to upgrade some infrastructure, like apron, taxiway, etc., at Mumbai and Delhi airports for accommodating an A380. Aerobridges have already been provided for the incontact stands. With privatisation, the further upgrading of these facilities now vests with DIAL and MIAL. We understand that for Chennai airport, the Tamil Nadu government has already acquired a huge tract of land adjacent to the existing airport that may see the land mass of Chennai airport go up to nearly 3,500 acres from the present 1,500 acres. You can correct us if we are wrong on the size.

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Q. What is the status of modernisation of the non-metro airports? Can you tell us the investment envisaged and how many airports will be covered under this plan?

There are eleven international airports in India. Once the non-metros are also modernised, will there be a big addition to the number of international airports?

How is the non-metro airport enhancement moving along?

A. Airports Authority of India has drawn up a plan for phase wise development of 35 tentatively-selected non-metro airports, which includes development of passenger terminal building and land-use plans. Initially ten nonmetro airports had been identified for development under Phase I, keeping in view the potential for traffic, tourism, business, etc.

These 10 airports were Ahmedabad, Amritsar, Guwahati, Jaipur, Udaipur, Thiruvananthapuram, Lucknow, Goa, Madurai and Mangalore airports. Fifteen non-metro airports were later identified, in addition to

the above ten on similar grounds, and are proposed to be taken up for development in Phase II. These 15 airports are Agatti, Aurangabad, Khajuraho, Rajkot, Vadodara, Bhopal, Indore, Nagpur, Visakhapatnam, Thiruchirappalli, Bhubaneswar, Coimbatore, Patna, Port Blair and Varanasi. Besides the above, studies on another ten airports are currently under way.

The Global Technical Advisor (GTA)/Indian Financial Consultant (IFC) has submitted technoeconomic feasibility reports for Phase-I for 10 nonmetro airports. The estimated cost of development is to the order of Rs 1,874 crore.

Based on preliminary estimates, it is expected that an amount of around Rs 5,500 crore would be required for development of all the 35 non-metro airports, excluding the landside development.

The non-metro airports are proposed to be modernised during the period of five years through phased development. The IFC/GTA has considered various options, including publicprivate partnership for development of cityside at these airports.

One of the key components of an assertive and result oriented management is the regional meetings held in each region.the chairman and all top officials attend these review meetings where on the spot decisions are taken

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CRUISING HEIGHTS July 2006

Mangalore airport

The present area of Chennai airport is 1,600 acres, and 1,440 acres are being added to it, making a total of 3,040 acres.

It’s a good size.

Considering the number of airlines wishing to come to Chennai, can Chennai offer a fiery, tough competition to the new airports proposed at Bangalore and Hyderabad?

Chennai airport is third busiest airport of India and handles 12.4 per cent of India’s international passenger traffic, as against 3.5 per cent handled by Bangalore and 3.9 per cent handled by Hyderabad. Chennai handled 24 lakh international passengers during 2004-05, as against 6.8 lakh and 7.5 lakh handled by Bangalore and Hyderabad airports, respectively. It may be inferred that Chennai airport is much busier compared with Bangalore and Hyderabad airports.

However, Bangalore airport handles slightly higher domestic passenger traffic than handled by Chennai airport.

We don’t require foreign technology or expertise to keep our terminals spic and span. Is there anyway we can at least scale up the cleanliness level in our airports?

True, to keep airport terminals spic and span, foreign technology or expertise is not required. Significant improvement in cleanliness level can be seen at major

international airports after implementation of mechanised environment support service (upkeep) of terminals, outsourced to ISO 9000 certified private agencies. The process of outsourcing for the upkeep of other domestic airports is under way in the same manner. Notwithstanding the above, AAI has established an exclusive wing for terminal operation and management by deploying trained and dedicated personnel to ensure effective and smooth management of terminals.

Where will AAI be in the next five years? If profit-making airports in Delhi and Mumbai are being privatised, what will the financial impact on AAI be as a whole? What will happen if Chennai and Kolkata, too, follow the Delhi and Mumbai model?

Mumbai and Delhi airports’ privatisation will make a big dent on AAI’s profitability. However, AAI will continue to earn revenue on account of the following: 1. RNFC (which constitutes nearly 50 per cent of the traffic revenue) 2. Concession fees, as a percentage of gross revenue.

3. Dividend (to be received from private entities (JVCs)) on AAI’s equity in the JVCs for Delhi and Mumbai 4. Expected increase in non-traffic revenue on account of development of other airports and efficient air traffic management Thus, it is expected that AAI will con-

CRUISING HEIGHTS July 2006

tinue to make some profit even after Mumbai and Delhi airports are handed over to the operating consortia on longterm lease. Further, it is anticipated that if the present growth in traffic continues, and, likely, increase in aeronautical charges, likely, growth in non-traffic revenue, AAI will still be making profits.

You have had several major incidents due to flooding in Mumbai, Visakhapatnam and Chennai. What is the blueprint to avoid such issues in the future?

Yearly pre-monsoon checks, which includes cleaning the drains to prevent their flooding/choking, are carried out before the onset of monsoon. Last year,In Mumbai, there was unprecedented rainfall for days, due to which the municipal drains in the locality got choked, thereby flooding the nearby areas. This was taken up with the municipal authorities of Mumbai to ensure the drains outside airport areas are monitored. Further, water from the river adjacent to the locality also spilled due to increase in runoff, thereby causing flooding. In Chennai airport, the drains in the airport areas were properly cleaned. However, due to unprecedented rainfall and heavy overflow from the nearby river caused flooding. At Visakhapatnam, again, due to very heavy rain the water level around the airport increased considerably, resulting in flooding. But there has been increased all round monitoring this year.

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Non-metro

airports It's a silent revolution that is still to catch public attention. The remarkable transformation of the country's non-metro airports and the AAI's ambitious plans to completely overhaul 35 of them.

A special report.

T

HE AIRPORTS Authority of India (AAI) is planning to hit the debt market for raising over Rs 5,000 crore for modernisation and upgrade of 35 non-metro airports. Crisil will be the credit rating agency, while UTI Bank, AK Capital Services, ICICI Securities and Allianz Securities have been appointed as arrangers for marketing and placement of bonds. Airports with international status are Ahmedabad, Goa, Guwahati, Amritsar and Nagpur, Calicut, Srinagar and Jodhpur.

The government has planned development of non-metro airports for providing modern infrastructure and enhancing nonaeronautical revenue. The new concept for these terminal buildings include features such as modular design, structured steel with toughened glass glazing, vertical air-conditioning system, aerobridges

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5

1

4 PARADIGM SHIFT: The AAI has made some remarkable changes at many of the non-metros.

Some of them are as good as the big ones and are a tribute to the capacity of the AAI to deliver world-class infrastructure projects on time.

Picture shows: 1. Interior of Mangalore airport, 2.

Check-in counters at Amritsar, 3, 4 and 5: The faรงades of Ahmedabad, Mangalore and Amritsar airports, respectively.

CRUISING HEIGHTS July 2006

3

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SILENT REVOLUTION: Insiders promise world-class airport facilities in virtually every non-metro in the next five years. Here are a few of the exciting facades under implementation: 1. Kozhikode, 2. Thiruchirappalli, 3. Gaya, 4. Srinagar, 5. Khajuraho, 6. Ahmedabad, 7. Surat, 8. Udaipur and 9. Ranchi. with glass walls, walkways, in-line baggage screening for check-in, escalators, improved signage, integrated building management system, common use terminal equipment (CUTE) and improved traffic management on city side.

In Phase I, the 10 non-metro airports that have been identified for development are Ahmedabad, Amritsar, Guwahati, Jaipur, Udaipur, Thiruvananthapuram, Lucknow, Goa, Madurai and Mangalore.

Global Technical Advisor and an Indian financial consultant (one set each for five non-metro airports covering the 10 non-metro airports were appointed. They were asked to carry out a detailed technoeconomic feasibility study and submit a report with various options.

The global technical advisor indicated phase-wise development work .The entire work for the modernisation of these air-

52

ports is envisaged at Rs 61,000 crores.Of this the Airport Authority of India expected to contribute Rs 4500 crore with Rs 1500 coming in from the private sector.The Phase I work, comprising of terminal building with associated infrastructure and car park, including air-side works at an estimated cost of Rs 1,437 crore, will be undertaken by the AAI from its internal resources.

In case of Ahmedabad and Thiruvananthapuram airports. AAI sought the approval of the Govt., since the projects are costing over Rs. 50 crore each.Notice Inviting Tender (NIT) action has been initiated for Jaipur's and Udaipur's new terminal buildings. For modular expansion of international terminal building at Amritsar, approval of AAI board has already been obtained. As regards new terminal buildings at Lucknow, Mangalore and Madurai airports, expressions of CRUISING HEIGHTS July 2006

interest for architectural design have been received and evaluated. Architectural design entries with model and drawings have been invited from short-listed bidders for these four airports.

Design for the new terminal building will be asessed by a committee headed by Secretary, Civil Aviation.

For Goa airport, the terminal building work will be taken up after completion of all formalities. The centre has given a noobjection certificate to the state government for signing an agreement with technical cooperation bureau of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) to conduct a feasibility study, which is under process. This is for a Greenfield project.

No major terminal building developments work is proposed for Guwahati in Phase One. For air-side development works at these 10 non-metro airports,

Progress report AIRPORTS

PARTICULARS

STATUS

Ahmedabad

New departure terminal building

Work completed and terminal building operational

Construction of new domestic arrival terminal building

Work awarded

Construction of new international terminal building

Government approval awaited

Jaipur

Construction of new international building

Work order likely to be issued shortly

Udaipur

New terminal building

Work awarded

Thiruvananthapuram

New international terminal building

Government approval awaited

New integrated terminal buildings

Architectural designs under finalisation

New integrated terminal buildings

Work awarded

Lucknow Bhubaneshwar Mangalore Madurai Trichy Goa

New international terminal building

Khajuraho, Aurangabad New terminal buildings

Projects under various stages of implementation.

Projects under various stages of implementation.

Agatti

New terminal building

Projects under various stages of implementation.

Rajkot

New terminal building

Projects under various stages of implementation.

OUTPOST FOR THE NE: Guwahati (seen in the picture) is a key hub for the AAI. It controls virtually the entire northeastern operations from the former Assam capital.

Varanasi

action has been initiated.

A global technical advisor and a financial consultant have identified land-use plans for each of these 10 non-metro airports. The consultants have examined various models, including public-private par-

ticipation for cityside development.

In view of the AAI's limited expertise on development of diverse land use facilities and to limit capital investment, public -private partnership model is not proposed for land use.

Instead, the option of land lease and revenue sharing is proposed by engaging a strategic advisor for bid process management. The land use plans will be restricted to provisions under the AAI Act, opinion expressed by the attorney general of India, state govCRUISING HEIGHTS July 2006

ernment and local body by laws.

The process for appointment of a global technical advisor is nearing completion and award letter will be issued shortly. As regards appointment of financial consultant, a proposal is being placed before the AAI board for approval on opening of cost bids of short listed three bidders. The state government by laws on land use will be kept in view while recommending the commercial usage.

Similar techno-economic feasibility studies for 10 additional non-metro airports will be undertaken based on experience gained and works finalised for the 10 and 15 non-metro airports being devel„ oped in Phases One and Two.

53

AAI FOCUS

GAGAN master control centre

Uplink station - West

Uplink station with antenna

54

CRUISING HEIGHTS July 2006

The magic of

GAGAN GPS Aided Geo Augmentation Navigation (GAGAN) will completely transform the way AAI manages traffic across the subcontinent. A special report.

D INSIDE STORY: These unsung heroes work long hours in tough conditions to keep our airports flowing with traffic.

Without them, there can be no landing or take-off.

ARN… WHERE am I? Many of us have shrieked in exasperation on not knowing one’s own location, the direction one is headed, the distance and the time to reach the destination.

Just cast your mind back a few centuries.

The sun, the moon and the stars were all that were required to cross endless seas and land.

Phoenicians plied their ships, seafaring Arab merchants, in their dhows, dominated coasts of East Africa and the Indian subcontinent and adventurous Chola kings in their catamarans sailed and setup kingdoms in many

Southeast Asian regions with only nature’s elements to guide them. In later centuries sextants brought in scientific temper in ascertaining the directions.

And today all you need is a hand-held receiver to get the signals from Global Positioning System (GPS) satellites that offers information lacked earlier. Of course, this is only a small spin-off since its application is meant for more serious one.

Scientific advancement and speedier transportation needed more reliable and accurate information assessed faster for use.

Today we have aircrafts that fly faster and higher even to take note of known landmarks and ocean going vessels that sail without touching ports days on end. These

Pix by Dheeraj Paul

CRUISING HEIGHTS July 2006

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AAI FOCUS

INTERVIEW OF S.K. SARASWATI, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR (CNS PLANNING)

WITH SO many geo-stationary satellites and Global Positioning System satellites is there a need for GAGAN? Firstly the functions of geo-stationary satellites and global positioning system satellites are entirely different.

The latter is meant for providing positional information as well as time reference, which will be same throughout the globe.

There is a need for us to have a augmentation of the information provided by GPS and GAGAN provides that comfort. This covers Indian airspace and spills over to cover part of African continent, Southeast Asian region and trans-Himalayan region. Now, the information needed by aircrafts for the final phase of approach while landing is extremely stringent. The level of accuracy, level of integrity and the level of availability are more in GAGAN than what is provided by present GPS. That is why we need certain augmentation system and GAGAN is one such type.

Is Gagan India-specific project?

One of the requirements for these systems is it should have inter-operability. In other words aircrafts carrying receivers, be Indian or foreign registered, should be able to take advantage of the system anywhere in the globe.

GAGAN will have the same compatibility. So any aircraft using Indian airspace will have the advantage of GAGAN’S signal.

In early eighties the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) came to the conclusion that the conventional navigational systems will not meet the projected growth of 21st century. A future air naviga-

56

tion systems (FANS) committee was formed. Based on the FANS committee report ICAO has recommended space based navigation system to achieve seamless uniform navigation performance throughout the globe. Our effort to launch GAGAN is to meet this requirement.

How do you ensure inter-operability with so many planning own navigational satellites?

Currently, of course, there is only US’ GPS constellation of 24 satellites covering the entire globe. Russia’s GLONASS covers Russian airspace and a part of Eastern Europe with their 12 satellites. Other nations are joining to augment navigational system. Japan with MSAS, European Union with EGNOS and Galileo and India with GAGAN and all will be operational within three to four years.

When we say inter-operability, we mean signals emitted by these systems should be compatible and the performance should be seamless. Let say an aircraft flying from any airport in the US to Indian airports will be flying over many territories and many time zones. And also through space covered by many of these systems once they are operational. While doing so receivers in the aircrafts ought not have any problems in finding longitude, latitude and altitude and time anywhere over its flight trajectory.

How far has GAGAN progressed?

The progress is extremely good.

The technology demonstration system covered three years and the parameters were far superior to the existing ones. Our space based augmentation system should be operational by 2007.

CRUISING HEIGHTS July 2006

categories often were at a predicament to know their own position, either flying or sailing, and many a times lateral drifts would set them off the intended course.

It was indeed cause for concern. A few geo-stationary satellites existing then offered succour but they were not intended for navigational purpose especially in aviation field.

The first in this genre of navigation satellites, called TRANSIT system, was launched by the United States of America and primarily for the use of US Navy. Thus it was also called NAVSAT for the exclusive use by the US Navy to obtain accurate location information by ballistic missile submarines. It was successfully tested in 1960.

A set of five satellites placed in low polar orbits, at an altitude of 1,100 km, with an orbital period of about 106 minutes. Another set of five satellites, as spares, augmented during its operational period. It was pathbreaking concept in early 60s but had several limitations including the size of the computer, to monitor the information, which could not be taken through the hatch of the submarine. Since then the scientific innovations have miniaturised many equipments.

The subsequent GPS satellites made the TRANSIT system obsolete. The term GPS

HEADQUARTERS: A view of the ATS building near IG Airport’s international terminal.

SYSTEMS IN THE SKY Global Positioning System: Known popularly as GPS is the only fully functional satellite navigation system with 24 satellites in the orbit. United States Department of Defence developed the system for military use initially and only in 1994 a part of its functions were offered for civilian use.

European Geo-stationary Navigation Overlay System (EGNOS): A satellite system under development to supplement GPS and GLONASS. It will consist of three geo-stationary satellites and a network of ground stations. It is likely to be operational by end2006. It is planned as a precursor to the Galileo positioning system.

is of generic in nature as many countries developing the system have given their own names. The US Defence Department, which developed this system, has named it NAVSTAR (an acronym for Navigation Signal Timing And Ranging) GPS. Currently it is the only fully functional satellite navigation system consisting of 24 satellites in orbit at an altitude of 20,200 km. The orbits are so aligned that at least four satellites are always within the line of sight from almost any place on earth. This enhances accuracy enormously.

NAVSTAR was and is meant for US military use but for a catastrophic incidence that occurred in 1983. A Soviet Union’s interceptor aircraft shot down the civilian airliner KAL 007 for flying over restricted Soviet airspace killing all 269 passengers and crew members. This incident shook conscience of the world leaders and the then US President, Ronald Reagan, announced that GPS system would be made available for civilian uses once it was completed. Well, it took almost a decade to achieve initial operational capability in December 1993 and a complete constellation of 24 satellites was in orbit in 1994.

Five monitoring stations – Hawaii, Kwajalein, Ascension Island, Diego Gar-

cia and Colorado Springs – Schriever Air Force Base, in Colorado Springs being the master control station, process the data.

The Shriever AFB processes the combined observations and sends updates to the satellites through the other four monitoring stations mentioned.

Though there was a sense of relief amongst the various users but it was not without attended US restrictions, at a later stage, due to political interference through a process known as selective availability. Visualising that frightful scenario many nations were thinking alike to develop their own systems to replicate the American GPS. GLONASS (Global Orbiting Navigation Satellite System) is Russian answer to the American GPS. Its current peak efficiency is far lower than the more accurate signals available to Russian military use.

GLONASS constellation of 12 satellites (down from 14 satellites after two failures recently) orbits at an altitude of 19,110 km having an orbital time of 11 hr and 15 min.

The utility of GLONASS is limited firstly due its limited satellites constellation and secondly the optimum four satellites required in the line of sight are not possible. Moreover the area of coverage is confined to the space CRUISING HEIGHTS July 2006

Galileo Positioning System: The acronym of GPS is not used here. A project conceived by European Union and European Space Agency and meant for purely for civilian use only. The system will consist of 30 satellites at an orbital altitude of 23,222 km. It is likely to be operational by 2010.

Global Navigation Satellite System (GLONASS): Russia’s answer to GPS. Presently its constellation consists of only 12 satellites at an orbital altitude of 19,110 km. It has planned a more technologically advanced GLONASS-M and GLONASS-K satellites and by 2010 hopes to have 24 satellites in orbit.

Multi-functional Satellite Augmentation System (MSAS): This is being developed by Japan more in line with Wide Area Augmentation System used in the US. It is more for Japanese airspace.

Beidou Navigation System: A project developed by the People’s Republic of China as an independent navigation system.

Beidou uses satellites in geostationary orbit and thus does not require a large constellation of satellites.

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AAI FOCUS THE BLOBS: See the blobs on the map.

They are the defence areas. It’s tough for the ATC to manoeuvre aircraft through this maze without overflying them.

GAGAN, indeed, is a feather in the caps of AAI and ISRO. The mood is upbeat especially after three years of technology demonstration system. over Russian mainland. An improved GLONASS-K satellite with an increased operational lifetime of 10-12 years is due to enter service in 2008. During the summit in December 2005 between the Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and the Russian President Vladimir Putin it was agreed that Indian would share the development cost of the GLONASS-K series and launch them from India. It will have 24 satellites operational in 2010.

The Galileo Positioning System is to be developed, a satellite navigation system,

by European Union as an alternative to the US GPS. It is primarily for the civilian use. The US government opposed the project and especially after the September 11, 2001 attacks arguing that it would end the ability of the US to shut down GPS in times of crises. It seemed that obituary had already been written even before the project took off.

It was the collective pride of European member nations to go ahead with the project and thereby sending a strong political statement of European independence from the US and GPS. The system will consist of 30 satellites and operational for use by 2010 at an estimated cost of 3 billion Euros. Several nations, Israel, Republic of China, Morocco, Saudi Arabia and South Korea have joined the programme. On September 7, 2005 India signed an agreement to take part in the project.

GAGAN a joint project of Airport Authority of India (AAI) and Indian Space

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THE HUB: The imposing control tower at Delhi that oversees all traffic.

TAXING IN: A 747 taxis after landing Research Organisation (ISRO), will be operational by 2007. Despite agreements signed with other world agencies GAGAN is entirely indigenous and the satellite will be launched from India. Thus far technology demonstration of the system has given exceedingly good results both in accuracy and integrity.

The seven reference stations would collect measurement data and pass it on to the master control centre. It will monitor the integrity, estimate ion-tropo delay, work out wide area corrections and orbit determination.

This will be sent to navigation land-earth uplink station, which in turn will format the messages to Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) and transmit to geo-stationary satellite that has GPS L1 compatible payload for further transmission to the aircrafts.

GAGAN, indeed, is a feather in the caps CRUISING HEIGHTS July 2006

of AAI and ISRO. The mood is upbeat especially after three years of technology demonstration system. This is to be followed by one year of initial experimental phase and subsequent final operational phase.

Call it by any name – GPS, GAGAN, Galileo – the functions are identical and that is to receive navigation signal from the satellites. It allows the signal receivers accurately determine their location in terms of longitude, latitude and altitude in any weather, day or night, anywhere on earth. It enables other functions too such as map-making, land survey, car rental companies in the US to track down their cars or pinpoint a location while driving through a crowded city.

Alas, if only Christopher Columbus had this facility he would not have landed at a

place other than where sailed to reach!

AAI makes big strides in the Northeast Dibrugarh Airport

In the Tenth Plan, which ends in 2007, the AAI will end up spending close to Rs 125.50 crore in the enhancement and development of airport facilities in the Seven Sister States of the Northeast.

There are 12 operational airports (Dibrugarh, Guwahati, North Lakhimpur, Imphal Dimapur, Agartala, Jorhat, Silchar and Tezpur and Lengpui and Itanagar) in the region.

Some of the work undertaken by AAI is as follows:

AGARTALA: New control tower-cum-technical block, expan-

sion of apron and additional link taxiway.

DIBRUGARH: New terminal building to accommodate five

hundred passengers at a time, expansion of apron and strengthening and extension of runway.

Between 2006 and 2011, AAI will spend close to Rs 454 crore for the development of the airports in the Northeast, including Rs 215 crore on a major upgradation of Guwahati airport.

SILCHAR: Strengthening and extension of runway, construc-

tion of isolation bay, link taxiway and new fire station.

Some of the work likely to be undertaken in the current financial year includes the following: LILABARI: Installation of ILS. DIMAPUR: Removal of obstacles for commissioning of ILS.

There are also plans to develop three Greenfield airports in the state, which are as follows: 1. Paykong Airport (Sikkim) for ATR aircraft. The estimated cost is Rs 350 crore.

2. Chiethi Airport (Nagaland) for ATR aircraft. The estimated cost is Rs 150 crore.

3. Itanagar for ATR aircraft. The estimated cost is Rs 120 crore.

CRUISING HEIGHTS July 2006

59

AAI FOCUS

A high profile Amritsar

Vishakhapatnam

Barapani Kolkata

Sound transportation network acts as catalyst to economic development. Airports, as part of transportation system, play critical role in promoting trade, tourism and economic development in a country.

AAI has a pivotal role to play in this transformation.

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T

O BRING about integrated development, expansion and modernisation of Indian airports, Airports Authority of India (AAI) was constituted in 1995 by an act of Parliament. This was done by amalgamation of two entities—International Airports Authority of India (IAAI) and National Airports Authority (NAA). AAI is headed by a chairman who is appointed by the Government of India. He is assisted in the day-to-day functioning of the organisation by four whole-time board members, looking after operations, planning, finance and personnel & administration. The board, which is the highest policy and decisionmaking body of the organisation, additionally has five other part-time members.

Members appointed by the Government of India are drawn from various organisations connected with civil aviation.

In all, there are about 450 airports/ airstrips in the country. Of these, AAI

AAI is the backbone of civil aviation operations in the country. The fact is well elaborated when we look at the array of services rendered and infrastructure created by AAI. owns and manages 126—15 international airports, 85 domestic airports and 26 civil enclaves at Defence airfields. This vast infrastructure has been developed over a long period of time, and AAI is one of the largest landowning organisations in the CRUISING HEIGHTS July 2006

country, besides rich assets in the form of terminal buildings and operational facilities at the airports. The organisation has a vast reservoir of human resources in terms of trained workforce, numbering approximately 20,000.

Today, AAI is the backbone of civil aviation operations in the country. The fact is well elaborated when we look at the array of services rendered and infrastructure created by AAI. To control and manage Indian airspace (excluding the special-user airspace)

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AAI FOCUS

SMOOTH OPERATIONS: AAI has ensured that all operations are carried out smoothly at all major hubs.

airports. Provisioning of passenger facilitation and information system.

Expansion and strengthening of operational areas, viz., runways, apron, taxiways, etc.

Development and management of international and domestic cargo terminals.

In order to provide worldclass air traffic services, AAI has planned and developed air traffic management over the entire airspace entrusted to the Government of India.

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extending beyond the territorial limits of the country, as accepted by International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO).

Providing air navigation services, provisioning of communication, navigation and surveillance aids, such as Very High Frequency (VHF), High Frequency (HF) transreceivers, Instrument Landing System (ILS), Doppler Very High Frequency Omni Directional Radio Ranges (DVOR), Distance Measuring Equipment (DME), radar, etc. Also provision of visual aids, such as beacons, runway lights, approach lights, Precision Approach Path Indicator lights.

To design, construct, operate and maintain international airports, domestic airports and civil enclaves at Defence CRUISING HEIGHTS July 2006

In order to provide world-class air traffic services, AAI has planned and developed air traffic management over the entire airspace entrusted to the Government of India. The Indian airspace comprises an area of 2.8 million square nautical miles, of which 1.05 million square nautical miles is over land and the rest is over the seas. To manage this vast area, AAI has trained and developed a highly skilled workforce in the areas of air traffic control, communication, navigation and surveillance. The workforce also comprises of engineers (electronics, communications, civil, electrical, etc.), architects, HR specialists, financial experts, fire & rescue personnel, to mention a few.

Skilled personnel are hired at regular intervals to match capacity with demand.

Search for excellence has been the goal of AAI. In pursuit of its goal, the organisation has set up four training institutes to train, develop and keep the technical workforce abreast with the latest technology in the fast changing aviation industry.

The institutes are: National Institute of Aviation Management & Research (NIAMAR), New Delhi, Civil Aviation Training College (CATC), Allahabad, Fire Training Centre (FTC), New Delhi, and Fire Service Training College (FSTC), Kolkata.

These institutes are equipped with latest state-of-the-art tools, such as simulator, radar, etc., to meet the development and training requirements of the organisation in vital areas, such as air traffic control and CNS system, fire fighting and safety services, terminal management, air cargo handling and other commercial activities.

CATC and NIAMAR are recognised by ICAO, and the syllabus of FSTC and FTC are on the approved list of ICAO training schedule.

AAI has its own flight calibration unit

THANK YOU: AAI is a profitable organisation that has paid handsome dividend to the government each year. for calibration of ground aids, as per ICAO stipulations. Besides meeting its own requirements, this unit, over the years, has undertaken flight calibration jobs at Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, Laos, the Maldives, Nepal, Sri Lanka, etc.

Having successfully completed the mission at home, AAI has forayed into international market, and has set up a consultancy division. The consultancy division undertakes consultancy assignments, like feasibility studies, airport designs project implementation and project supervision, manpower training, airport management & operation on turnkey basis, providing manpower for airport operation, including air traffic services, ground navigation/ surveillance facilities, etc. It has undertaken consultancy projects in Libya, Algeria, Yemen, the Maldives, Nauru and Afghanistan.

The growth trend for AAI has, as usual, been very encouraging. During the year 2005-06, 8.38 lakh aircraft movements were handled at all airports, as against 7.17 lakh handled during 2004-05, registering an increase of 16.8 per cent.

AAI meets all its obligations and finance projects from the resources within. The main source of revenue for AAI is air traffic.

International aircraft movements have shown an increase of 16.9 per cent during 2005-06 over 2004-05, whereas domestic aircraft movements registered a growth of 16.8 per cent during 2005-06, as compared with 2004-05.

Total passenger traffic at all Indian airports taken together touched 73 million during 2005-06, as against 59 million during 2004-05, registering a record increase of 23.7 per cent.

International passenger traffic regisCRUISING HEIGHTS July 2006

tered a growth of 15.1 per cent (with all airports taken together) during 2005-06 over 2004-05 and domestic passenger traffic registered a growth of 27.9 per cent during 2005-06 over 2004-05.

Total freight handled during 2005-06 was 14.04 lakh tonnes, as against 12.80 lakh tonnes handled during 2004-05, registering a growth of 9.7 per cent.

International freight witnessed a growth of 11.7 per cent during 2005-06 over 2004-05, and domestic freight handled at all Indian airports registered a growth of 5.9 per cent during the year 2005-06 over 2004-05.

The steep growth trend is, obviously, putting pressure on infrastructure, particularly on ATC and terminal building facilities in major metros.

AAI meets all its obligations and finance projects from the resources within. The main source of revenue for AAI is air traffic. Ever since the authority came into being, it generated surplus continuously and is paying dividend since inception. In the fiscal 2004-05, the organisation netted the highest ever revenue— „ Rs 3000 crore (estimated).

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AAI FOCUS

MOVING our CARGO AAI has performed a remarkable role in moving goods across the nation and overseas.

C

ONSIDER THIS: fresh ‘Indian’ okra at the vegetable shops of Southall; fresh ‘Indian’ grapes on the streets of Paris; plump, red tomatoes in Carrefour Mall, in Dubai; ravishing ‘Indian’ roses in Amsterdam; and specialty sambhar onions in Singapore.

Now people in the USA and Japan will taste Alfonso, the undisputable king of mangoes. Of course, the list does not end here.

And now pause for a moment and think.

These fruits and vegetables are not deepfrozen and then delivered as per demand, but are plucked fresh and dispatched. Yes, modern aviation has made it possible. The distance between continents and cities seems to shrink constantly as the competition between airlines heats up, assuring non-stop, long-haul flights between important cities. Many airlines not to be left behind in the race have started separate cargo divisions. After all, who wouldn’t like to grab the golden egg!

This is only one part of the story. The other part is on terra firma—that of infrastructure available at the airports to handle large volumes of cargo. In India, that mandate belongs to the Airports Authority of India (AAI) to create infrastructure, handle

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Pix by Dheeraj Paul

cargo, be a custodian while the cargo is at the airport terminal, coordinate with the customs and finally load export cargo and unload import cargo.

The current global cargo business is estimated at around $200 billion and is growing at a healthy clip of six per cent a year.

Annual global cargo traffic is 76 million tonnes, and, as against this, India’s share is a mere 1.6 per cent. Even here, the bulk of cargo business, almost 60 per cent, is handled by country’s four international airports—Chennai, Delhi, Kolkata and Mumbai—and the rest is contributed by CRUISING HEIGHTS July 2006

several airports in the country.

Memphis, USA, stands first, with 3.55 million tonnes; followed by Hong Kong handling 3.13 million tonnes; Tokyo, 2.37 million tonnes; Anchorage, 2.37 million tonnes; and Seoul handles 2.13 million tonnes. In comparison, India handled 1.28 million tonnes in the fiscal 2004-05 (the data for which is available).

Statistically, the figures may not be quite flattering for a country that has set its sight on eight per cent GDP growth and the booming economy. The officials at AAI are quick to point out that India still relies

PANORAMIC VIEW: A bird’s eye view of the cargo complex and the container compound. Also, ICAO representatives checking out AAI’s global standards.

India still relies heavily on sea-bound traffic... still air cargo is growing at an average of eight per cent and is likely to go higher in the coming years. This is borne out by the statistical figures for the past five years, clocking an average of seven to eight per cent growth. heavily on sea-bound traffic and petroleum crude, forming the largest chunk, is but naturally based on ocean liners. Still air cargo is growing at an average of eight per cent and they insist it is likely to go higher in the coming years.

And there is a reason to believe it.

Exports of gems and jewellery, pharmaceuticals, horticulture and floriculture products, perishables and a few sensitive items are growing fast, which hitherto were sent by sea. Ready-to-wear garments are another category that is fast catching up to cater to the fashion-conscious capitals of the world.

The reason is simple. Since fashion is as fickle as weather, any delay in shipments may mean cancelling of entire shipments and the sure way of reaching the destination is through air cargo.

The obvious question that comes to the mind is why India was slow at the take-off block, especially when liberalisation was started way back in 1991? Although several reasons are offered, but what stands out clearly are lack of clarity and coordination between the various agencies in the administration that worked almost at crosspurposes. Add to this inadequacy in modern CRUISING HEIGHTS July 2006

infrastructure to handle volumes. Things seem to have changed for the better since 1997, though the pace may not have been as desired. This is borne out by the statistical figures for the past five years clocking an average of seven to eight per cent growth.

The four major metro airports have modern cargo terminals, though they are yet to have state-of-the-art equipments. Presently, Delhi, by far, has the largest capacity of handling 6.6 lakh metric tonnes, while it handles only 2.38 lakh metric tonnes. In comparison, Mumbai handles a slightly higher tonnage at 2.73 lakh metric tonnes, while Chennai and

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AAI FOCUS

Kolkata handle 1.46 lakh metric tonnes and 0.31 lakh metric tonnes, respectively.

In addition, AAI has established cargo terminals to handle international cargo at Coimbatore, Guwahati, Lucknow and Nagpur. It has to be admitted that none of these airports would attract as much tonnages as the other four metro airports, though there are signs that Coimbatore is growing faster, thanks to knitwear and made-ups exports from nearby mills at Tirupur, which has left an indelible mark in the world of fashion.

The major concern today is inordinate delays at the cargo terminal on account of customs check and dwell time. Let us take the latter first. Dwell time is the period that cargo remains at the terminal. In the past, dwell time for import cargo was 21 days and for export cargo it was five days. It has now come down to seven days for import cargo and two days for export cargo, but the reduction in dwell time is certainly nothing to gloat about. Compare this with some international terminals: at Frankfurt, it is 6-16 hours; Singapore, 612 hours; and at Sharjah it is 4-7 hours.

This disparity arises out of two factors: physical checks and assessment by the customs and then lack of information with the exporters and importers. As regards the former, it is law of the land and one has to adhere to the law, aver AAI officials. How is it done in other international airports outside our country? The consignments are checked electronically and through verification of documents, though physical checks are carried out at random. Discrepancies are dealt with swiftly and the guilty are penalised severely. The deterrence is enough to curb mala fide intentions.

Lack of information is a major factor for dwell time. For the exporters just-in-time, or JIT, in popular parlance, delivery at the terminal would save them cost of storage enormously. It is, however, typically an over-insurance syndrome, even if aware of cargo flight schedules, to be first in the queue. The fault lies with the handling agencies, too, in not advising clients correctly.

There is no difference on the import front except that dwell time is almost thrice that of export’s scenario. Apart from the information on arrival of consignment it is about lack of information about the customs duty to be paid. Delay in payments of duties and disputes, if any, complicate the matter further. Dwell time increases.

It is past; it is history now, avers general manager (cargo). AAI has introduced Web-based electronic data interchange (EDI) in all international cargo terminals. Although AAI cargo department commenced computerisation way back in 1986 at Chennai, its fructification has taken a rather long period. It was introduced in a phased manner with a view to eliminate duplication of effort, introduction of paperless work and finally obviate human error (read malpractices).

In Phase I it was connectivity between AAI, as

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INTERVIEW / K.S. KUNWAR, GENERAL MANAGER (CARGO), DELHI What is the scope of air cargo growth in India?

Positive and bright, as we are clocking a steady eight per cent growth year on year and the only blip was in 2001-02 after the Twin-Tower blast in the US. In the financial year 2004-05 our exports zoomed to 13.2 per cent, while imports touched 17.8 per cent. This year it should see a 25 per cent growth.

There is a feeling that we lack modern air cargo facilities...

That is past. Period. All international airports within the country have modern and latest machines and gadgets comparable to the West’s. Of course, I admit, there is still scope for improvement. It is an ongoing process. We introduced electronic data interchange (EDI) two years ago. It is a great success since major exporters and importers need not wait endlessly at the cargo terminal counters. At the click of a mouse they get all the needed information on their computers, including payment of dues and facility, also to make payments electronically. Can there be any way faster than this?

If this system helps the end-users it helps us, too, in curtailing manpower. Manual documentation will reach zero point after we implement barcode system. We have introduced it in Delhi on trial basis and have found it successful.

Once this is introduced, by the year-end, in our four international airports, the time taken for processing will be even faster. We are constantly striving to reduce dwell time.

I even held a workshop for our trade partner (airlines, exporters, importers, handling agencies and banks) in using EDI, its importance and benefits. This has changed their views entirely on the functioning of AAI. It is only the initial hesitation, which is but natural, and now they all understand its benefits and they will go whole hog.

There is concern about pilferages and thefts. How secure are our cargo terminals?

In the last fiscal, we just had ten discrepancies as against 150 million packages handled. You may calculate the percentage. Firstly, we have two-tier security cordon and an elaborate CCTV network.

(He moves a lever and shows activities taking place in different workstation by zooming and panning CCTV cameras.)

International Civil Aviation Organisation conducted security audit last year and, as you know, it is a WTO requirement. Needless to say, it went back quite impressed.

This year so far we have had no discrepancy.

FULLY AUTOMATIC: Cargo pieces I would like to mention being processed. here that any pilferage means revenue loss for AAI, since we are the custodians of cargo consignment. Therefore we have to compensate the loss.

So, it is in our interest that we avoid such discrepancies.

CRUISING HEIGHTS July 2006

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INTL’ CGO HANDLED AT 4 METRO AIRPORTS

600

500

400

300

200

100 1999-90

2000-01

2001-02

2002-03

2003-04

2004-05

Export (‘000MT) Import (‘000MT) Total (‘000MT)

STATE OF THE ART: AAI has invested in the state-of-the-art equipment at its cargo complex. custodian, and customs for both outbound and inbound cargo. This was an important step as it took care to avoid disparities and disputes at a later stage. In short, both customs and AAI were in sync.

Introduction of Phase II took almost two years. This has a larger scope for information and connects AAI with its trade partners, like airlines, exporters, importers, handling agencies and banks. It is described best thus: Accuracy in data by avoiding multiple feeding of same information by multiple agencies.

Expeditious transaction of information among all trade partners.

Transparency in cargo processing information.

Proper accounting and electronic payment of charges.

Reduction in transaction cost of the trade partners and users.

Easy tracking of cargo and expeditious answering of queries of the trade through help desk available on the AAI website.

Reduction in number of queries at public transaction counters.

Moving towards paperless transaction.

Armed with user ID and password, users will be able to access information

1400

TOTAL AIR CGO AT INDIAN AIRPORTS

1200

1000

800

600

400

200

1999-90 2000-01 2001-02 2002-03 2003-04 International (‘000MT) Domestic (‘000MT) Total (‘000MT)

sitting in the comforts of their offices without visiting the cargo terminals. Another important aspect is neither exporter nor importer need carry wads of currency for the payment of user charges or customs duty and the same can be transmitted through Internet banking.

Phase III of EDI is likely to be introduced this year. It is barcode system—a WTO requirement. Barcode system is CRUISING HEIGHTS July 2006

2004-05

prevalent in most other international airports. It reveals everything from type of cargo to origin and destination of ports, weight and the like. Being an automatic data capturing method, it eliminates manual entries at multiple locations within the same cargo terminal, as happens today.

On completion of all the electronic systems, AAI can proudly claim to operate modern cargo terminals comparable to the

best in the world.

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SNIPPETS

India Tourism Scenario Sindhu Darshan is a big hit THE SINDHU RIVER DARSHAN, held last month, attracted a number of people from all over the country. The festival began with a cultural programme at Sindhu Ghat, in which artistes from Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Ladakh performed. The names that attended the function included the former Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Ravi Shanker, Rajasthan Education Minister Vasudeo Dewnani and MP from Punjab Avinash Khanna. The Executive Councilors of Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council (LAHDC), Leh, and different religious leaders of Ladakh, including Tokdan Rinpcohey, the head lama of Phayang monastery, were also present at the function.

Indian musicians for Morocco’s First Islamic Congress of Music FOREIGN MINISTER of Morocco, Mohd.

Benaissa, during his meeting with Ambika Soni has desired that some eminent Indian musicians and scholars participate in the First Congress of the World of Music in Islam, which it plans to organise very shortly. Benaissa, who himself is a culture enthusiast, said that India has a rich tradition of Sufi music and dance, and great possibilities of cooperation and exchange of artistes and creative persons exist between the two countries. He further suggested that the two

The Foreign Minister of Morocco, Mohamed Benaissa calls on the Union Minister for Tourism and Culture, Ambika Soni

Attractive Package from Tourism Malaysia

TOURISM MALAYSIA, the nodal agency to promote Malaysia as a preferred tourist destination, has announced the launch of a special ‘One Perfect Price’ land-and-cruise package for INR 17,777 per person. The seven-day-sixnight package includes two nights in Kula Lumpur, two nights on Star Cruise and two nights in Singapore. The package, applicable only on Star Cruise’s SuperStar Virgo, would include accommodation on twin-sharing basis with breakfast, half-day city tour in both Kuala Lumpur and Singapore, and airport transfers on SIC basis. The package is valid till September 2006.

The package, based on the theory of promoting ‘twin destinations’ pioneered in the Indian market three years back by the agency, is available on an all India basis from the Star Cruise PSAs and would provide the much needed push to tourism in the Southeast Asia region.

UPS offers next-day delivery to Europe and the US

UPS HAS made it faster for its customers in Mumbai to

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countries may organise short festivals of each other’s films in their respective capitals and other cities. Similarly, there could be exchange of photographers. Soni said that India would very much like to have a fruitful cultural exchange with Morocco and can cooperate in many of the proposals in the cultural agreements.

Minister to review tourism & culture promotion programmes in Northeast

AMBIKA SONI is visiting Guwahati, where she has invited The Union Minister for the tourism & culture ministers Tourism and Culture, of all the Northeastern States, Ambika Soni, at a earlier this month for a review Conference of Tourism meeting of various projects and and Culture Ministers of plans relating to tourism and North-East States, in culture in these states. The Guwahati Review Meeting will discuss the status of projects sanctioned by the Union Ministries of Tourism & Culture for the Northeastern states, issues concerning project formulation and implementation, encouragement to private sector/ local entrepreneurs for development of tourism infrastructure and the status and working of different Hotel Management and Food Craft Institutes in Northeast.

Apart from the above-mentioned general issues, some specific issues are also on the agenda for discussion. These include programme for 2550th Anniversary of Mahaparinivana of Lord Buddha; Issues relating to Restricted Area Permit/Protected Area Permit/Inner Line Permit regions in Northeast states; Review of the working of Northeast Shilpagram at Dimapur; Progress of the multipurpose cultural complex scheme of the Ministry of

ship to Europe and the US by introducing next-day, direct delivery service to these destinations. This service enhancement will halve the current transit time from 48 hours to 24 hours. The new service will utilise UPS’s MD11 aircraft to operate nonstop flights from Mumbai to UPS’s Europe hub, in Cologne, en route to its international air hub, Worldport, in Louisville, Kentucky, USA. Customers from other Indian cities with shipments going to the US and Europe will also benefit with faster time-in-transit and 48-hour guaranteed delivery.

Air France increases services to India AIR FRANCE has augmented its frequency to India by adding three new weekly flights from Chennai to Paris to its existing network. The flights, which were earlier being operated by Delta Airlines on a code-share basis, would now be operated directly by Air

CRUISING HEIGHTS July 2006

Culture; Status of the cultural festival of the Northeast and initiative in the Library sector, particularly infrastructure development; and library strengthening programme of the Raja Rammohan Roy Library Foundation.

Tourism & Culture Ministers of all the Northeastern states—Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim and Tripura—will participate in the meeting.

between the Ministries of External Affairs, Home Affairs, Civil Aviation so as to smoothen various procedures relating to grant of visa and clearances, etc., to foreign tourists desiring to visit India. Highlighting the need for reviewing the functioning of overseas marketing offices of the Indian tourism, she said we may have to open some more offices or relocate some others keeping in view the emerging tourism industry. She called upon the Overseas Tourist Offices to recognise that the modern day tourist very often does not come to the tourist office for information IN THE Overseas Marketing Meet on Indi- and booking, etc., rather he prefers to do an Tourism, held last month, the Minister this from the Internet. etc. As such we of Tourism & Culture, Ambika Soni, have to be more imaginative and proactive underlined the need for better coordination besides being focused on the needs, aspirations and requirements of the prospective tourists. The minister also released a report on the Incredible India Campaign— 2005-06 on the occasion. A number of promotional films produced

by BBC and CNN on different aspects of Indian culture & tourism, like Heritage India, Contemporary India, India as a Golfing Destination, India as an Ayurvedic Destination, India as a Medical Tourism Destination, etc., were also released by the Minister in the Inaugural session.

Apart from heads of overseas offices of India Tourism, various stakeholders in travel industry The Union Minister for Tourism and Culture, also participated in the two-day Ambika Soni with the Overseas Marketing meet, which had been organised Officers at the inauguration of Overseas Marketing Meet by the Ministry of Tourism.

Air Sahara Relaunches its Sixer-in-the-Air

Overseas Marketing Meet on Indian Tourism

THE AIRLINE has relaunched its ‘Sixer in the Air’ offer for a price of Rs 26,000, inclusive of all taxes. The Sixer includes six economy class coupons and the effective price of each coupon is Rs 3,808 plus taxes. Passengers can utilise one coupon per segment for travel on all the direct flights on the carrier’s domestic network. However, on the Delhi-Kochi-Delhi and Delhi-Dibrugarh-Delhi sector, two coupons are required for travel on each segment. The offer is open up to July 15 and the passengers must complete their travel by September 30. Effective July 16, the fare is being revised to Rs 31,500, inclusive of all taxes and surcharge.

France using its own aircraft. The airline will deploy A340 aircraft with a seating capacity of 291 passengers. In addition to this, the carrier will also increase capacity on other flights between Europe and India. It would now operate seven weekly flights from Paris to Bangalore, instead of five. The Paris-Mumbai flight would be operated using 777-300, with a seating capacity of 310, instead of the previous 777-200, which had 270 seats.

Korea Tourism Organisation participation at ‘LOCATIONS 2006’

KOREA TOURISM ORGANISATION, KTO, recently participated in ‘Locations 2006’ aiming to lure, especially the Indian film industry, and position Korea as a filming destination amongst the film fraternity. It is the first film tourism event that brings together under one roof the two most glamorous industries with the purpose of business networking in India. Keeping in view the success of the Bollywood blockbuster, Gangster a Love Story, KTO is passionately focused on supporting Indian filmmakers. This was an opportunity for the country to use the marketing

power of Indian films to reach a huge viewer audience, comprising the Indian middle class tourist, thereby giving high visibility to Korea as a tourist destination. KTO would provide assistance to the film fraternity in terms of custom clearances, ground arrangements, location services and local coordination with local authorities while shooting in Korea.

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SNIPPETS

News Reports full load factors

INDIA’S NO 1 LCC has flown over forty lakh passengers since its inception in 2003; this May alone saw the carrier fly 5,33,376 passengers. Recently, most of the North and Northeastern cities saw 100 per cent load factors, and even the new destinations launched in 2006, such as Port Blair, Nagpur, Rajkot, Tiruchirappalli, Tuticorin, Rajamundry, Thiruvananthapuram, etc., have recorded over 90 per cent load factors This record growth comes in the month of May, like most years, when most travellers within the country are the summer vacationers or the VFRs (visiting friends and relatives). According to the World Travel and Tourism Council, India promises to be one of the foremost tourist growth centres in the coming decade. The council forecast the local travel market is projected to grow by more than eight per cent until 2015, by when the Indian tourism market could generate over $121 billion of economic activity.

Additional flight to Tirumala

BEGINNING THE seventh of this month, the airline has augmented its service to

Tirupati by an additional flight from Hyderabad. This morning flight is in addition to the existing afternoon flight. The tickets can be purchased from any of the following outlets: Air Deccan airport counters, Bangalore and Chennai ticketing offices, travel agents across India, Reliance Web stores, Club HP petrol pumps in six states in India, and www.airdeccan.indiatimes.com.

Ties up with SBI

IN A move to make flying more userfriendly, the airline has tied up with the country’s largest commercial bank, the State Bank of India, for online ticket booking facility. The facility will be available to all Internet registered users of SBI, and over a million customers stand to benefit from the joint initiative. SBI has 3,500 Internet banking branches across the country. SBI customers can log on to www.airdeccan.net and complete the travel transaction with confirmations. The payment options are through a direct debit to the SBI account. The transactions are safe and digitally SSL encrypted for additional safety and are Verisign secure.

British Airway’s new baggage policies BRITISH AIRWAYS plans to introduce changes, beginning this fifth, to its baggage policies to make them easier for air travellers, reduce queues at airports and bring them in line with UK Department for Transport recommendations and requirements of the UK’s main airport operator, BAA. Henceforth, all passengers will be able to carry one standard-sized bag (56 cm x 45 cm x 25 cm) and one briefcase, laptop computer bag or equivalent on all flights. Weight restrictions have been removed, but flyers must be able to lift their bag unaided into the overhead lockers of the aircraft. The briefcase, laptop computer bag or equivalent must fit under the seat in front of the passenger. The changes to the airline’s free checked-in baggage allowances will consolidate two existing policies, which are based on the number of bags or total weight and depend upon route and class of travel.

Further, a single allowance system for checked-in baggage will be introduced from October 11, based upon a set number of bags.

Jet News Partners with Thai and Austrian THE AIRLINE has joined hands with Thai Airways International and Austrian Airlines for reciprocal Frequent Flyer Programmes. This arrangement will offer Jet Privilege members the benefits of the Frequent Flyer Programmes on the networks of both Austrian Airlines and Thai.

The agreement allows Jet Privilege members to accrue and redeem JP Miles while travelling on all flights marketed and operated by the two international airlines.

The relationship with Thai is reciprocal, where Thai’s Royal Orchid Plus members will be able to earn and redeem their miles on Jet Airways and Jet Privilege members will be able to earn and burn their JP Miles on Thai’s network. With Austrian Airlines also, it is a reciprocal relationship. This includes flights operated by Austrian Airlines, Austrian Arrows and Lauda Air. With daily flights from Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai, Kolkata and Bangalore to Bangkok, Thai connects 73 destinations in 35 countries with 800 weekly flights. Flying daily from Delhi and five times a week from Mumbai to

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Vienna, Austrian Airways has a global network covering 130 destinations in 66 countries. This is in addition to Jet Airways’ network of over 320 flights to 48 destinations in India and overseas.

Inducts A330 aircraft

THE CARRIER has inducted A330-200 aircraft into its fleet, the first of its kind to be operated in India, thereby taking the airline’s fleet size to 55. Powered by two Rolls Royce Trent 772B engines, the aircraft can carry 226 passengers with a maximum take-off weight of 233 tons. It CRUISING HEIGHTS July 2006

is also equipped with the Less Paper Cockpit (LPC), making the carrier, once again, the first operator in India to have approval to use the LPC concept. Configured with 30 Premiere Class seats and 196 Economy Class seats, the interior of the aircraft is designed to give passengers a feel of spaciousness. The In-Flight-Entertainment (IFE) of the A330-200 is akin to that of the A340300E aircraft’s and is equipped with the highly advanced Panasonic 3000i IFE, which allows passengers to have ‘on-demand’ digital audio and video.

Presently, the aircraft operates three times per week—Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays—from Delhi to London Heathrow. On the other four days of the week, this route will be served by the A340-300E aircraft.

Deployment of this new aircraft on the Delhi/London route enables the airline to operate a daily second frequency between Mumbai and London Heathrow.

News PNB tie-up

PNB CUSTOMERS can now buy tickets of Indian for their choice of destination and fare slab and make payments online through their Internet bank account. To avail this service, which is not chargeable, the customers will have to open an Internet banking account at any of the bank’s Rs 2,100-crore banking solution branches, located across more than 550 cities.

Connecting Bhopal

THE STATE-OWNED carrier last month launched a daily Airbus A320 flight between Delhi and Mumbai, via Bhopal and Indore, offering over 1,000 seats per week in each direction. With a total fleet strength of 73 aircraft—48 Airbus A320, five Airbus A319, three Airbus A300, 11 B737, four ATR and two Dorniers—the airline connects as many as 52 domestic and 18 international destinations, mainly in the Gulf and Southeast Asia.

Launches cargo automation THE CARRIER has gone hi tech. The public sector carrier recently launched a state-of-the-art system for automation of cargo operations within its network. Chairman and Managing Director Vishwapati Trivedi inaugurated the system and a modern office for centralised control of cargo operations. The end-to-end integrated automation process, to begin with, offers a range of user-friendly measures to shippers and agents. All the shippers/agents have to do is to access the airline’s website (www.indianairlines.in or www.ia-cargo.com), key in a specific user name and password

allotted to them by the airline, make a booking online and create an airway bill. They can also track the movement of the cargo consignment or even check the delivery status. For the airline, automation will simplify procedures at the airport, thereby enabling speedy customer service. The service is available round the clock and will initially cover Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai. By January 2007, all the stations on the carrier’s network are expected to be covered under the process. Seen in the picture are Dr Trivedi with Indian’s Director (cargo) Anita Khurana.

News Cusine wins THE AIRLINE has received the 2006 Skytrax Award for ‘best onboard catering excellence’ for the third consecutive year. The introduction of onboard chefs by the airline couple of years ago set a new benchmark for onboard catering standards. Skytrax Awards provide the most prestigious recognition of outstanding quality excellence for product and customer service delivery across today’s world airline industry. The airline received the award as a result of 20,46,117 eligible survey interviews, during a nine-month project period. In addition to this award, the carrier also stood second in the Best Business Class Catering category and fifth in Best Economy Class Catering. The airline was also voted the Best Regional Airline in the Middle East region category.

to use Gulf Air’s award winning products and services when they travel First, Business or Economy classes. BTI, the leading travel management organisation operating in more than 100 countries, has the largest corporate accounts portfolio in the Middle East. The agreement will enable BTI customers to experience world-class facilities as preferred Gulf Air passengers.

Signs deal with BTI

Manager voted best

THE AIRLINE and Business Travel International (BTI) have signed a Regional Relationship Agreement, which enables its corporate and other clients worldwide

THE AIRLINE’S Worldwide Contact Centre (WWCC) Manager Ruth Birkin has been named ‘Call Centre Manager of the Year— Middle East.’ The award was presented at CRUISING HEIGHTS July 2006

the Middle East Contact Centre World Forum 2006 (CCW 2006) in Dubai, soon after the carrier won the coveted Skytrax awards. The airline’s Worldwide Contact Centre in Muscat was opened in September 2003 to meet the significantly increasing demands of its customers. Located in the Knowledge Oasis, Muscat (KOM), it is the first international call centre ever opened in Oman, with over 190 staff, catering to customers 24 hours a day, seven days a week, using some of the most sophisticated telephony in the market. The centre handles calls from Bahrain, Oman, the UAE, KSA, the

UK, Ireland, South Africa, Singapore and Australia, helping customers with all elements of their travel plans.

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BACK PAGE

RELIV ING HISTORY AMANDA WRIGHT LANE, grandniece of aviation pioneer, Wilbur Wright, kisses French pilot Jean-Francois Jacquelin after his successful flight on a replica of Wright's Flyer 3 at Le Mans airport. Volunteers worked for more than 10,000 hours over four years to build the plane that Wilbur Wright had used on August 8, 1908, to beat the first flight distance record during his stay in Western France.

OPEN SESAME THE SAUDIS are not interested, but the Kuwaitis are coming in; India now has a virtual inbound swarm from the Middle East.

Topping the list is, of course, Emirates. Others include Gulf Air, Etihad and Qatar. In just about two short years, Praful Patel has doubled, or should one say tripled, the seats for the Gulf carriers.

But when it comes to domestic carriers, it's still open season for only IA and AI. While it's good for the government sector, it most certainly isn't a level

playing field. Mantriji is unfazed, though. Picture shows him shaking hands with the Kuwaiti Minister for Communication, Ismael al-Shatty.

Unique Honour VASUDEVAN THULASIDAS is on the PATA board of governors. It is a unique honour for the Air India CMD, who has an extraordinary relationship with IATA DG, Giovanni Bisignani. Hopefully, this special relationship will leverage in Air India’s benefit. Picture shows Thulasidas chatting with Leo M. van Wijk of KLM at the IATA meet in Paris.

YOU ARE WRONG, SIR NO, THIS isn't rush hour at Mumbai or Delhi airport. This is Congonhas airport-domestic airport in Sao Paulo, Brazil. And the scramble at the counters is to find out what's happening about the schedule. It's been weeks of chaos after the Brazilian national carrier, Varig, a nearly bankrupt company, announced it was suspending flights to ten destinations in Europe and America. And to cap it all, twenty-plus flights are cancelled each day. And you say we are chaotic!

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