Ch september 2008 by Newsline

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September 2008

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EDITOR-IN-CHIEF’S NOTE

Please do something

ear Mr Gohain, In early August, the US Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) declined to reduce the $10.2 million fine it proposed to impose on Southwest Airlines in March for maintenance violations. The only step for Southwest is to go to court. They didn’t file a suit, but they declined to pay and started negotiations with FAA to lower the fines. This was after a formal petition to lower the fees had failed. In a complete show of transparency, the FAA told the airline of its final decision — a communication that both parties choose to make public. Southwest operated 46 Boeing 737s on over 50000 flights in 2006 and 2007 without full inspections for possible fuselage cracks, the FAA said in its landmark decision. Later cracks were found on six of the planes. Well, Southwest isn’t the only one hit. In another tough call, the FAA slapped a $7.1 million fine on American Airlines for continuing to fly despite safety issues and for drug-testing violations. Contrast this with what happens in India. There are innumerable reports of nearmisses, pilots flunking alcohol tests, smoking in the cockpit and landing on the wrong runway. There are stories galore of issues at major airports. The three most classic examples are: A Neelgai (Blue bull) that rammed into an Air India aircraft at Kanpur. The cowling just dropping off from an Air India 747 over Sahar airport some years back. There were also persistent problems with the landing gear of another AI Jumbo. An Air Sahara aircraft landing and getting struck in the main runway for a full 72 hours. No one knows what action the DGCA has taken since then to address these issues. Undoubtedly action was taken, but what are

CRUISING HEIGHTS September 2008

the institutional remedies that the DGCA has put in place to ensure that such mishaps do not happen again? More recently, airline companies have, in a blatant move, decided against refunding passengers the dues after cancellation. The DGCA is still to react on the issue. In fact, the original Civil Aviation Requirement (CAR) had directed airlines to give refunds within a week and not bind passengers with conditions of future travel instead of a refund. The CAR was categorical: Airlines refund the entire taxes and surcharge component collected from passengers and just use the basic fare to deduct the cancellation charge. Earlier, in another clear directive, airlines had been asked to publish the full price of the ticket, but that has never ever been implemented and tickets still continue to be advertised on basic fares. The DGCA’s argument that they can only act if a passenger complains is laughable. Why do they need a passenger to tell them what’s wrong? All right, if that’s what you want, here is our complaint: Dear Mr Gohain, airlines aren’t printing the full fare as they ought to in their publicity material; they aren’t refunding fares as they ought to. Could you please investigate and act? They have also failed to appoint an ombudsman who could look into these complaints. Since they seem unwilling, would you please do something about it? I shall be regularly looking at your website to see what punitive action you have taken. Agreed, airlines are making losses, but the paying public isn’t a milch cow for them to feed on. At the moment that’s what’s happening and you aren’t doing anything about it.

Off the cuff

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Lanes for faster check-ins Security is becoming tough at American airports. Take the example of the Delta terminal at La Guardia in New York. According to a report in the New York Times, there are specially dedicated lanes that channel people into various categories up to the checkpoints. While there is a lane reserved for members of the privatelyoperated Clear Registered Traveller Programme, there is another reserved for those who are flying first class and business class. There is a third one for airline and airport employees. But wait, there are three other lanes: one designated for families and travellers with “special needs”, one for “casual travellers” and a third for “expert travellers.” The report goes on to point out that the lanes are part of an innovation, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), started last year and has introduced in more than 30 airports. Modelled on the way ski resorts mark dedicated trails for use by expert, intermediate and inexperienced skiers, the new programme is based on the Black Diamond concept. It assumes that travellers can choose their lanes depending on their expertise in navigating security or, in the case of families, the time taken by passengers to cross the checkpoint with small children. The concept is based on the TSA’s belief that a disorderly and confused checkpoint is itself a security problem. The lanes work — and by most accounts they do ensure better traffic flow at various airports — because travellers tend to correctly selfselect the appropriate lane, according to the administrator of the TSA. Would such a laning system work in India?

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contents

IS THERE REASON TO CELEBRATE? p22 At the first anniversary of the merger of Air India and Indian Airlines, we take a look at how things have changed, and what still ails the public sector airline.

OFF THE RECORD

Guess who’s back into business. Why, its our very own Gopi! He's back into aviation industry, this time with Deccan Cargo. Meanwhile, a new name, Sunil Suri is making news with a new aircargo company, Menlo Airways.

CRUISING HEIGHTS September 2008

NEWS DIGEST

p11

Not many airports in Asia can claim to have three operating runways, so the opening of the brand new runway at the IGIA in Delhi was a feat of sorts.

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

CRUISING HEIGHTS Editor-in-Chief

K SRINIVASAN Managing Editor

TIRTHANKAR GHOSH Consulting Editor

R KRISHNAN

AIR SHOW

Copy Editor

p20

And now, get ready for India’s first international aviation exhibition of its kind — the Indian Aviation 2008, scheduled to be held at Hyderabad next month.

SEMINAR

p28

With 2008 being declared as the year of the helicopter, a national seminar on Helicopter Emergency Medical Services (HEMS) was held to popularise the usage of choppers.

AALOK SRIVASTAV Copy Desk

BIRENDRA KUMAR Layout Artists

RUCHI SINHA PRADEEP JHA RAVINDER GUSAIN Art Director

BHART BHARDWAJ Co-ordinating Photo Editor

H C TIWARI Subscription

SNIPPETS

p36

Abhinav Bindra, the Olympic gold medallist from India gets free lifetime flying from Spicejet, Singapore Airlines is promoting the Incredible India campaign on board its flights, and the Park hotel, Navi Mumbai is listed amongst the world’s top hotels.

GLOBETROTTING

INTERVIEW p30

JAYA SINGH

Stephen Phipson of Smiths Detection, the leaders in detection technology, talks about his group's activities and developments in the field of detection technology.

Gen Manager

Sr Manager (Marketing)

NEETI SRIVASTAVA

p34

There’s news from a forgetful parent couple from Israel who forgot their own three-year-old daughter in a hurry to get on the plane. Talking about kids, some people just can’t stand them and if they get a particularly nasty one seated next to them on a plane, they can get pretty miserable.

BACK PAGE

p44

As Finnair turns 85, it celebrates the occasion by going back the memory lane and reliving the past. Read how.

CRUISING HEIGHTS September 2008

RAJIV SINGH Executive Director

RENU MITTAL Editorial & Marketing office: Newsline Publications Pvt. Ltd. C-15, Sector 6, Noida 201 301 Tele: +91-120-4145555 All information in CRUISING HEIGHTS is derived from sources we consider reliable. It is passed on to our readers without any responsibility on our part. Opinions/views expressed by third parties in abstract or in interviews are not necessarily shared by us. Material appearing in the magazine cannot be reproduced in whole or in part(s) without prior permission. The publisher assumes no responsibility for material lost or damaged in transit. The publisher reserves the right to refuse, withdraw or otherwise deal with all advertisements without explanation. All advertisements must comply with the Indian Advertisements Code. The publisher will not be liable for any loss caused by any delay in publication, error or failure of advertisement to appear. Owned and published by K Srinivasan 4C Pocket-IV, Mayur Vihar Phase-I, Delhi-91 and printed by him at Nutech Photolithographers, B-240, Okhla Industrial Area, Phase-I, New Delhi 110020 Vol III No 5

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PERISCOPE

I am fine, alone!

“

I believe if you cannot grow yourself or if you need to merge with another airline, your business model is wrong. EK has resisted overtures for years to join oneworld or Star Alliance.

Emirates President TIM CLARK on his airline’s long-held philosophy of going it alone and avoiding alliances, mergers or acquisitions

Slip of tongue Surely you have a word for handjobs in German? Ryanair CEO MICHAEL O’LEARY while commenting on his airline’s new trans Atlantic service at a press conference in Germany

LETTERS TO EDITOR

The cover story, Not as bad as expected (August ’08), provided an optimistic outlook. After a long time, the aviation sector in the country had seen a remarkable turnaround and things were looking up before the crippling fuel hike came in. But as CRUISING HEIGHTS rightly pointed out, the situation is not that bad. The orders that both Boeing and Airbus managed to secure point out that though bad times have fallen on the aviation sector, of late, the sector remains upbeat about the future. The credit should go partly to ‘Farnborough Air Show’ for putting up such a fantastic show. I hope in the future also, we get to see and read about more such “turnarounds” in the sector. Vishnu Prasad, Bhopal August 2008

Illustrations: Rajeev Kumar

The special report, Battling for commissions (August ’08) was indeed an eye-opener. The aviation sector is seeing its worst period and that is precisely the reason why it is trying to cut down costs? But getting rid of the commissions of the travel agents, I think, is not such a good idea. This is not cutting the losses but rather consolidating the losses. The travel agents have long been the “bastion” of the Indian aviation industry. Travel agents do most of the bookings of the tickets. So, debarring them from their “hardearned” commission would not do any “world of good” to the aviation sector. Girish Singh, Karnal

Not much hope

Rs 60

Air cargo gains ground (August ’08) unearthed some interesting facts about the air cargo industry in India. Despite the recent downturn of the aviation industry, air cargo business is forging ahead. This is a good sign for air cargo, especially in the context of India. As a matter of fact, the air cargo business is not only consolidating its losses, but also trying to branch out. This optimism is worth mentioning. In fact, the air cargo has infused a “new lease of life” to the ailing aviation sector in India. Kudos to air cargo operators! Rehman Ali, Ghaziabad All correspondence may be addressed to Editor, Cruising Heights, C-15, Sector 6, Noida 201 301 OR mail to cruisingheights@newsline.in

Even though there is scope for general (charter) business in India, there isn’t sufficient infrastructure in place to give it full flight.

ANKUR BHATIA, Managing Director, Amadeus on the future of charters

Point/ counterpoint Qantas will be very large and efficient global airlines with a portfolio of interests and brands that would emerge in a new world aviation order.

Qantas CEO GEOFF DIXON on what the future holds

Before we get to a new world order, we’re going to have a period of new world disorder. Airline-restructuring expert and former Airbus Executive, HENRI COURPON on the same subject

Olympic blues The Olympics have been bad for airlines. Visas have been very hard to obtain, so travel to and from China has been difficult. China played a major role (in the drop in traffic). Finnair Chief Financial Officer LASSE HEINONEN on the airlines’ second-quarter load factors and the decrease of eight percentage points in traffic

How much is more Airlines are going to have to test the elasticity or the inelasticity of demand. Premium fares are getting to the point where you have to wonder whether people are going to continue to pay that. Cathay Pacific CEO, TONY TYLER on business class fares

CRUISING HEIGHTS September 2008

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Coming: Drop in global airline capacity

most widespread crisis to hit the aviation industry in recent memory. With the US, both Europe and Asia will see operations declining in the last quarter of 2008. Asia is currently showing a 13 per cent decrease in capacity (equivalent to a three-year setback in growth). It is not only passengers who are facing reduced service and choice. Many airports will be severely affected by the announced cuts by airline operations, with 275 airports around the world losing scheduled air service altogether based on current filed schedules. Of these, 32 are in the US while 116 are in the Asia Pacific region.

COLD STATS

The world's airlines will offer 59.7 million fewer seats in the last quarter of 2008 than they did a year ago, according to OAG (Official Airline Guide) in its 10 year view of the global aviation industry. The latest figures from OAG's consolidated database reveal a seven per cent drop both in the number of flights and in seat capacity for October, November and December 2008 compared with the same time last year. The US domestic market — traditionally, the largest theatre of airline activity in the world — will account for just under 20 million of that figure, or 33 per cent of the global decline in capacity, in what could potentially be the

LOOKING GLASS

“Heave ho, friends! Let's tighten our belt or else we will lose our very existence and not just a few passengers…” Why me? Even after valid boarding card, I was not allowed to travel under the misnomer of mistake, which, in reality, was done to accommodate another passenger. Angry journalist KULDIP NAYAR’s plea in court after being bumped off a Jet Air flight from Amritsar

Country cousin BIAL is a poor cousin to other airports of international standards, including the New Delhi and Hyderabad airports. Karnataka State Minister, KATTA SUBRAMANYA NAIDU, on the new airport

CRUISING HEIGHTS September 2008

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OFF THE RECORD

AJEEB DASTAN HAI YE !

Kanu Gohain

CRUISING HEIGHTS September 2008

o what happens now to the top job at the DGCA? For the moment, both the Ministry of Civil Aviation and the Directorate have got a breather with the present incumbent Kanu Gohain getting another three months as the DGCA. Now, Gohain has many firsts to his credit, but it is now time for the Guinness record keepers to give the green signal for a world record that good old Kanu has achieved. Never ever has a government servant in free India managed four extensions from the sarkar. In this case, the last one after the mai baap (read ACC — Appointments Committee of the Cabinet) had clearly stated that the new incumbent must take charge by August 31. This stipulation came with extension number three, when the ACC said, “bus aur nahin bus aur nahin.” But they weren’t to reckon with the redoubtable A K Chopra, the Joint Director General at the Directorate. Now Chopra was overlooked when the Ministry of Civil Aviation shortlisted candidates for the mandatory interview by the UPSC (Union Public Service Commission), the nodal agency for the appointment. As it happened, the original 12 years of experience had been whittled down to five years in order to find the right candidate and finally it was thought that it was a toss up between Vijay Madan (who had 11 years of experience—having been a JS in the Ministry, India’s representative at International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) and the head of civil aviation in the Delhi Government) and Naseem Zaidi who had taken the same route as Madan — JSICAO and now back to business in Delhi. Naseem, a likable bloke from the Uttar Pradesh cadre, had the backing of the Civil Aviation Minister. No surprise. The man from Gondia isn’t afraid of wearing his emotions occasionally on his sleeves, particularly if he finds that the guy opposite him has been loyal and has delivered as well. Before he left for Montreal to take over from Sanat Kaul, Naseem as the JS (handling the Airports portfolio in the Ministry) had virtually burnt the midnight oil to get the OMDA (operation, management and development agreement) signed with GMR and GVK for the Delhi and Mumbai airports. And to use an unforgettable phrase from Mr India, “Mogambo khush hua!” So, when Zaidi wanted to come back at the end of his three years at Montreal, when his tenure as India’s representative at the ICAO was coming to an end, (he officially completes his term end-October),

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Gohain’s imminent retirement was viewed line is probably as sensitive as that of a as the perfect opportunity to reward Zaidi regulator, although it goes without saying once more. And, therefore, the advertise- that it is a far more serious business. But it ment (tailored more than once to be the isn’t that the Ministry couldn’t have found perfect achkan for Dr Naseem Zaidi to a way out. Quite simply it is a case of wear!) and finally the interviews by the show me the man and I’ll show you the UPSC. To be fair, though, to the phlegmat- rule syndrome. ic Zaidi, he was first rated in the interview, Anyway, to cut a long story short, according to a once-retired there has been plenty of civil servant who had served action since then: Chopra has years in a wide variety of jobs called on Praful Patel. It is at the Ministry and was in the his way of trying and UPSC panel that interviewed telling the Minister that he the three candidates. too can be his man. To get back to Chopra. Mantriji as always was He felt that when the Governpolite and courteous, but ment diluted the original what does that translate terms of experience, they into? For those in the should have diluted the terms know, nothing much. for him as well. He went to A K Chopra The Ministry the Central Administrative has, meanwhile, sought Tribunal (CAT) that gave a legal opinion and received stinging judgment in his what is being viewed as a favour and asked the governvery favourable opinion. ment to consider his candidaThe opinion, reportedly ture. Once the pitch was from the Attorney General, queered, Zaidi’s appointment is categorical that the Minwas held up and Gohain’s latistry had committed no est extension happened. wrong in diluting the origiWas Chopra right or nal qualification guidelines wrong? Ask DGCA insiders for the job. It had sought and they are categorical that R P Sahi and received a one-time Chopra has been wronged. In fact, some of them go to the extent of say- exemption from both the UPSC and the ing that the DG should have been more Department of Personnel. This exemption assertive in his advice to the Ministry on was for a group of people and not for an the issue. After all, isn’t Chopra a col- individual. In the case of A K Chopra, he was league and a dyed-in-the-wool insider? Would it be fair to slight him. No one is the sole candidate from the DGCA and questioning the government’s unequivocal instead of the mandatory two years, had right to appoint a man of their choice to completed one year and 10 months in his their top job, but everyone is riled at what present job. The Ministry could not seek they view as a blatant and in-your-face exemption for a solitary person and unforattitude of people at Rajiv Gandhi tunately Chopra did not fall in the group Bhawan. As one of them said: “Surely the for which the exemption was sought. So, what happens now is that the courtesy of an interview could easily have been extended to Chopra. After all, he case will most likely go to the Delhi High wasn’t saying you select me, he was only Court and if the government wins, then Naseem Zaidi takes over as the DG. saying that you consider me.” In the event of a verdict against Not just that, these insiders go to the extent of saying that there have been the government, what is the option? It’s umpteen occasions in the past when the most likely that the government will order goalposts have been rearranged because fresh interviews to which Chopra and the the government wanted to fill the job. other Joint DG, R P Sahi (who would be They cite the example of Indian Airlines eligible by then) would be called for the where Vipin Sharma had a meteoric rise interviews. The odds are that Sahi will get from a junior position to being General the nod? Why? Manager and Director all in the space of Simple. You can’t cross swords and one year. In fact, there were suggestions to keep the position vacant for a while to still hope to be on top. Sahi is low profile, allow someone with sufficient seniority to and gets along with the job. The sort of be groomed for the job, but the Ministry bloke any mantralaya will love. Yehi hai shot it down. An engineer’s job in an air- right choice baby!

MONTREAL

UPDATE

Naseem Zaidi

trictly speaking, the conundrum at DGCA makes no difference to appointing a new India representative at ICAO. In plain terms, Naseem Zaidi completes his term and Naseem Zaidi exits. If he can’t find a readymade job in Delhi, he goes back home to Uttar Pradesh and gets down to the service of Behenji. As far as his successor goes, the government is in the process of short-listing and finalising who India’s next representative at Montreal will be. Plenty has been written about the Ministry’s choice for the job: Joint Secretary R K Singh. He has all the requisite qualifications and credentials: experience of civil aviation, seasoned in bilateral and multilateral negotiations, right at the cutting edge as far as civil aviation policy initiatives go. There shouldn’t have been much argument about his candidature. But the Department of Personnel have their own mysterious ways when it comes to dealing with issues and suddenly they have woken up to the fact that the ICAO position is one in which the Ministry of Civil Aviation cannot just recommend anyone it deems appropriate. There must be a proper procedure, it must be thrown open to all eligible civil servants and then the choice made. As a first step in that direction, the recruitment rules for the “post of representative of India on the Council of ICAO” has

CRUISING HEIGHTS September 2008

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OFF THE RECORD

been de-notified. The original rules had been framed way back in 1978. This gazette was issued on August 18. Now what that means is the following: The ball now rests in the court of the department of personnel who will frame the eligibility criteria for the job. Once that is done, applications will be invited from interested candidates (read civil servants). A short list will be prepared and put up before the civil services selection board chaired by the Cabinet Secretary. They will then prune the list down to a choice of two or three. This shortlist will then be formally submitted to the Ministry of Civil Aviation for the Minister to make his choice for the Montreal job. It then goes to the ACC for approval. There is no real comprehension of why the DoPT (Department of Personnel and Training) has now decided to denotify the job. Only that they have now decided and it is for the process to go through. Those in the know state that a similar procedure is followed for many other high-profile jobs, including India’s Executive Director at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank. The only question now is: how quickly can they be expected to fill up the slot? Will it be in time or will the seat be vacant for a while? It is likely that it will be finalised in the next 30 days. In case they don’t, there is no sweat. It’s a Government of India position and it’s for them to fill the job as quickly as possible. It’s in their interest. While that may be true, the fact of the matter is that for the last quarter century, the job has gone to the person chosen by the Ministry of Civil Aviation. In most cases, barring one, it has been a Joint Secretary who has got the nod. That made sense. After all, they weren’t to be educated on the complexities of civil aviation, they knew the subject and they could get into the responsibilities straightaway. If there is anyone else who could be considered, it could be the senior officers at DGCA (who at one time were notified for the job). But they lost out somewhere when the feedback was that they were not sufficiently exposed to negotiations and dealings with multilateral agencies and forums and were disadvantaged. No surprise. When they can’t find someone to head the DGCA from within, how can they head the India chair at Montreal? Samajh gaye na?

GOPI GETS GOING AGAIN

Capt G R Gopinath, Founder & Chairman, Deccan Express and Kiran Kumar Grandhi, Chairman Airports, GMR.

ell, the old geezer isn’t giving up so easily. Captain G R Gopinath is busy these days getting his dream logistics company together. He has signed up with GMR for a cargo complex at Hyderabad and Delhi and has signed up for the Nagpur hub as well. Not just that. Each time Kingfisher decides to return an aircraft, he is waiting ready to grab it. The good man has already picked up six Air Deccan ATRs that were being returned. The old operations and engineering department at Air Deccan has virtually folded up and many of the core guys from the old team are slowly leaving for Deccan Cargo. And some are leaving for better opportunities elsewhere (example: Chief Air Hostess Vijaya

CRUISING HEIGHTS September 2008

Lukose has moved to Star Aviation Pvt Ltd, an airline start-up unit of the Dubai-based ETA Star group — the Al Gureer backed regional airline based in Chennai). The others don’t want to be named and we are letting it be, but there is a large exodus from the company — no issues about that. While the ATRs will be flying to the smaller town, Gopi’s five A310s are getting ready. He will first bring in three and the others will come later. All five have been returned from Air India to the Dubai-based leasing company that owned them. In fact, three are believed to have gone back and the others are in the process of returning to its owners. They are being completely refurbished for cargo operations and Gopi should have them before the year ends.

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OFF THE RECORD

FLYING WOES OF FLYINGTON

NOT QUITE CRICKET: Deccan Chargers’ Venkatram Reddy (extreme right) with Virender Sehwag during the IPL tourney and (inset) former Flyington Freighters’ CEO Robert Strodel.

here is news about Flyington Freighters, the cargo company launched by Deccan Holdings’ T Venkatram Reddy (also the owner of the IPL team Deccan Chargers). Flyington has

been going through a torrid patch of late: it recently lost its CEO, the Austria-born Robert Strodel who has joined Moscowbased Air Bridge Cargo Airlines (ABC) with immediate effect. There, he will be taking up a top management position,

SURI KAUN?

HELP FROM ABOVE FOR MR SURI: A Northwest Airlines’ Boeing 757.

CRUISING HEIGHTS September 2008

according to sources. People close to the matter however, reveal that the contract details regarding his future competencies and influences within ABC are still being negotiated between Robert and Volga-Dnepr Group, the parent company of ABC. Meanwhile, the 57-year old air freight expert, who learned the cargo basics at Lufthansa, is expected to collaborate closely with ABC’s General Director Gennady Pivovarov by actively supporting him in strategic and network issues. Since the departure of Managing Director Stan Wraight in 2007, the Russian scheduled air freight carrier has gone through some rough times. Local managers came and left, long announced intercontinental flights were scrapped, the trans-polar route from Siberian Krasnoyarsk to destinations in the US were never started. Since Flyington Freighters’ owner’s support to get the company on its feet has increasingly slowed down due to high fuel prices and uncertain profits, aviation experts doubt that the south Indian carrier will ever take off. Interestingly, Reddy who is also the owner of Deccan Chronicle, recently’s asked the GMR Group for an exclusive space to set up a cargo facility at the Shamshabad airport. The request was apparently politely declined. They were clearly told that everything was in place and if they wanted any services, GMR was there to provide them.

ho is Sunil Suri? Suri is the founding principal of Menlo Capital Group, developers, owners and managers of real estate in Northern California. The value of his real estate investments was in excess of $ 500 million. Well, Suri has now set up office at Mercantile House in the heart of Connaught Place and wants to start a huge cargo company: Menlo Airways. He has plans to lease a Boeing 757 from Northwest and the idea is to fly cargo and become a FedEx over time. Pipedream or possible? Well, the reactions are mixed. Suri acts like he owns FedEx. As for everything else, we can only say: Que sera sera!

final

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NEWS DIGEST

he bill to set up the proposed Airport Economic Regulatory Authority (AERA) has been amended and the revised bill incorporating these amendments will be introduced in the forthcoming session of Parliament slated to be convened in October 2008. The essence of the legislation is to create a level playing field and foster competition among all major airports, encourage investment in airport facility, regulate tariffs of aeronautical services to protect the passenger interest. The bill was first introduced in the Lok Sabha in September 2007 and then referred to the relevant departmental standing committee for further discussion. The Union Cabinet cleared the amend-

Politburo member of the Communist Party of India (Marxist)â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Sitaram Yechuri.

AERA. WILL IT

HAPPEN ?

ments to the AERA bill giving more teeth and wider operational space to the airport regulator. It gives the regulator power to determine charges for all airport related activities across the country and to slap penalties for non-compliance. The five amendments considered significant by the Ministry of Civil Aviation include the enhancement of the regulatorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s power to decide whether or not airport operators can use other charges to cross-subsidise aeronautical charges. For instance, core services like parking, landing, communication, navigation and ATC charges are the monopoly of the airport operator. Non-core services like office space, car parking, food, etc. formed the non-aeronautical charges. Besides cargo and ground handling have also been included within the ambit of the regulator. The Ministry noted these two services have been brought within the purview of the AERA as these two services tend to be monopolistic. The fuel supply infrastructure at airports has also been brought under AERA which will now cover all airports across

the country irrespective of the size and ownership. Earlier, the regulator was supposed to deal with only such airports that had capacity of more than 1.5 million passengers which meant just 11 major airports in the country. For any non-compliance the regulator can impose a fine of Rs one lakh. AERA may now seem like TRAI (Telecom Regulation Authority of India) and it is also expected to monitor pre-set performance standards at all airports. It will also have the powers to determine the tariff structure for aeronautical services, including capital expenditure and timely investment in improving airport facilities. All these amendments and the changes in the AERA bill may augur well for the aviation sector. Given the intense politics inside and outside the UPA and non-cooperation by opposition, particularly by the Left, suggests that even the amended AERA bill may turn out to be lame duck. Should that happen, then many retired bureaucrats, both those who retired last year and those in 2008 will have to look at alternate employment.

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ow Cost Carrier SpiceJet has declared a loss of Rs 102 crore for the first quarter (April-June) of 2008-09 which was nearly 77 per cent of the entire loss of Rs 133 crore, the private LCC sustained during the previous fiscal year 2007-08. In fact, SpiceJet registered a loss of Rs 110 crore in the last quarter of 2007-08, which trend it has continued in the current fiscal as well. As with other airlines, the mounting losses have almost been due to skyrocketing fuel prices. Will the recent 16 per cent fall in ATF prices bring down fares. No, says SpiceJet Director Ajay Singh as the fuel price rise in the past had been so steep that the fall that has just been announced will not be enough to justify any fare reduction. A similar opinion has also been voiced by other carriers. Strangely on a quarter to quarter basis, SpiceJet recorded a 72 per cent increase in revenues from Rs 265 crore to Rs 457 crore and average fare realisation rose from Rs 2,389 to Rs 3,278. Spice has already cut its routes and stopped capacity enhancement. It has on date, 18 aircraft and may get the 19th in Feburary 2009 but has no deliveries scheduled before 2010 end, 2011 and 2012. It may be recalled that Spice had earlier, before the fuel price hike hit airline industry, announced the purchase of 33 Boeing 737-800s and 737-990s. Cargo currently accounts for three per cent of its revenues which it hopes to

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Ajay Singh

Non-metro airports facing crisis

lar problem. Trans-Aero Airlines, which had three weekly flights to Moscow from Amritsar, has suspended its operations temporarily. Slovakia Airlines has also cancelled its direct flight to Bratislava from here this season. The only non-metro airport not to have seen any flight reduction is the one at Bhopal in Madhya Pradesh. But that is because it operates very few flights.

Jet Airways’ dues to AAI

Nagpur Airport

Recession in the aviation industry has taken its toll on non-metro airports. Both national and international carriers have pruned flights despite major facelifts. For example: Dr Ambedkar International Airport, at Nagpur now receives only 22 flights daily. The airport received 29 flights till June-end. Major scheduled and low-cost carriers have withdrawn seven flights in the past month to this city, Air India has cancelled its Nagpur-Bangkok international flight from Nagpur. The non-metro international airport at Rajasansi in Amritsar, Punjab, also faces a simi-

Jet Airways has said its position with respect to payments were well within the normal credit limits prescribed by the AAI. “Jet Airways and JetLites’ outstanding with the AAI as on March 31, 2008, stood at a very small fraction and well within the normal credit limit,” Jet Airways Chief Executive Officer, Wolfgang Prock-Schauer said in a statement. The dues were subsequently fully cleared in April, he said. Jet Airways also has security deposits with Wolfgang Prock Schauer the AAI in the form of

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SPICE TALES

Wilbur Ross

increase. Notwithstanding the bad times, even SpiceJet hopes to see the good times! According to Ajay Singh, the LCC may post a profit next year as fares rise and jet fuel prices fall. “Increase in ticket prices and lower costs will also help SpiceJet narrow losses in 2008-09. In the past six months, Spice hiked fares by 45 per cent to offset higher fuel costs. To meet its expenditure plan, SpiceJet concluded a deal with US Billionaire WS Ross and Goldman Sachs & Co for USD 100 million. This is over and above the USD 20 million it had raised earlier through FCCB. Incidentally, the investment by Ross gave rise to speculation that LN Mittal may be interested in buying SpiceJet lock, stock and barrel. However, it was

bank guarantees at any point of time, Prock-Schauer noted. Reports had said that the AAI was worried about accumulated dues, now said to be in the region of Rs 1,000 crore, and that it had given extra time to defaulting airlines to clear them. These reports suggested that Jet Airways alone owed Rs 395 crore.

Foreign co-pilots extended by two years Foreign co-pilots may continue in employment with Indian carriers for another two years according to a directive of aviation regulator, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). The fresh DGCA directive was issued following an appeal by Indian carriers that foreign co-pilots be allowed to continue working in India as they had the requisite training, said a top DGCA official. Earlier this year, the DGCA had asked all domestic carriers to take Indian co-pilots on board from June 1, as thousands of young jobless pilots of Indian origin petitioned the government to act. They pointed out that there were no avenues open for them inspite of the fact that they had undergone costly training abroad. According to DGCA data, last year, a total of 1490 foreign pilots were provided licence to work in the Indian civil aviation sector. Currently, India has 944 foreign pilots — 810 commanders and 134 co-pilots.

1000 more acres for airport The Greater Mohali Area Development Authority (GMADA) is all set to acquire an additional 1000 acres for providing road

later clarified that Mittal was not interested in buying any airline and that Ross was on the board of Arcelor Mittal of which Mittal is the CEO. The infusion of USD 100 million will look after Spice’s capital requirement over the next two years. The financial position of SpiceJet had become so acute that AAI warned Spice that either it paid up its pending dues or be ready to be charged landing and navigation charges on a cash and carry basis. Earlier, Ross had stated that crude prices could drop to USD 100 per barrel. May be it was a signal from him that Spice has begun to hedge fuel for the first time in August 2008 and now it covers almost its entire monthly fuel needs through contracts in Mumbai-based MCX exchange.

connectivity to the upcoming international airport, besides commercial exploitation of the proposed mixed land use zone along the proposed roads. The commercial exploitation will enable the GMADA to bear the acquisition costs, construction costs and for creating other requisite infrastructure in and around the airport complex. The additional land will be acquired for providing connectivity to the airport from Sector 20 of Panchkula through Zirakpur and also from Mohali as per the alignments approved recently by the GMADA Executive Committee. Besides a sixlane road from Chandigarh to the airport, the alignment of which has been done in consultation with the UT Administration, another approach road has been planned from the Chhat village on the Patiala-Zirakpur highway.

Vying for St Petersburg airport Nine firms, including major European airport operators, will bid for a $1.5 billion deal to operate Russian city St Petersburg’s Pulkovo airport. The city, which owns Russia’s fourth largest airport by passenger turnover, opened the tendering for a 30-year concession in April and plans to raise 35 billion roubles ($1.49 billion) to build a new terminal by 2025 with an annual capacity of 22 million passengers. A winner will be picked by March 12, 2009 and the concession agreement will be signed by the end of July that year. Bidders include Austria’s Vienna Airport, Germany’s

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here was plenty of colour and fizz when Kingfisher first international route (Bengaluru-London) commenced operations on September 3. Yes, Captain Gopinath was there (no, he isn't talking about the function and he wasn't on the inaugural flight to London), but Chief Minister Yediyurappa was missing. Dr Mallya’s son was on the flight with Dad — most of the time in the cockpit — and made an emotional ten minute address on the PA system to his guests (among them were 40-odd travel agents from around the country and a dozen local journalists). Friend and Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel specially flew in the city to flag off the first departure. With that, Kingfisher became the first

A KINGFISHER TO LONDON Fraport AG together with Russia’s second largest bank VTB, Germany’s Hochtief AG (HOTG.DE: Quote, Profile, Research) with Russia’s Renova, the investment vehicle owned by billionaire Victor Vekselberg. Turkey’s TAV Airports, India’s GMR Infrastructure, Russia’s Basic Element, the industrial holding of Russia’s richest man Oleg Deripaska and three local small firms are also included. St Petersburg, home town to both Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, has enjoyed record investment and a construction boom in the last few years. Apart from Petersburg, GMR Infrastructure Ltd is also looking at Prague in the Czech Republic. GMR proposes to sell shares in a company that will own the overseas assets within five years. Bidding for airports in emerging markets is part of GMR’s plan to spend $10 billion on overseas acquisitions in industries including power and infrastructure. Bangalore-based GMR in June bought 50 per cent of Dutch utility InterGen NV for $1.1 billion and last year won a 1.93 billion euro bid to manage an airport in Istanbul.

Amritsar ILS to be upgraded Amritsar’s Rajasansi international airport will soon have a category II Instrument Landing System (ILS) installed that will help reduce cancellation and delays of flights in adverse weather conditions. The category II system will facilitate landings in low-visibility conditions. The Airports Authority of India (AAI) has already placed orders for the ILS-II equipment with a Ger-

many-based flight safety equipment firm. The equipment, airport authorities said is expected to arrive sometime over the next couple of months. The conversion to ILS-II system is part of the up-gradation process of 35 non-metro airports in the country. According to AAI officials, the new ILS-II system is expected to improve the frequency of flights. They Amritsar’s Rajasansi international airport said that even if the fog is thick the pilot will receive guidance till 50 ft and will be able to land with the help of signals sent from the ILS-II.

No bidders for airports Airports Authority of India failed to attract any bidders for the five airport duty free contracts it offered in an open tender which closed on August 11. As a result, it has extended the deadline until September 25. The tender covered five Indian regional airports: Thiruvananthapuram, Jaipur, Lucknow, Srinagar and Coimbatore. The contracts were due to run for three years, but could have been even shorter if the airports are leased out under the government’s Public-Private Partnership Act

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R Praful Patel, Vijay Mallya and Capt Gopinath among the dignitaries at the launch of Kingfisher’s flight to London and (left) Vijay Mallya is all smiles at the bar in the A330 and (right) the flight taking off from Bengaluru

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airline to operate between India and UK with its industry-leading in-flight entertainment at every seat as well as some 357 hours of programming on 36 channels. Along with impeccable cuisine by London’s famed Chutney Mary’s restaurant, Kingfisher offers its passengers innovative product offerings including mood lighting, web chat and email, USB connectors and in-seat plug/chargers throughout the aircraft. In Kingfisher First, guests also enjoy in-seat massagers, a bar and bartender, a jacket pressing service, and even spectacles cleaning. The flight from Bengaluru departs at 8.40 am and arrives at London Heathrow’s Terminal 4 at 2.50 pm, local time. The return flight from Heathrow takes off at 10.05 pm and arrives in

before the concessions have run their course. The spaces on offer were small, ranging from just nine sq m at Coimbatore to 123 sq m at Srinagar, with around 42-43 sq m on offer at Jaipur and Thiruvananthapuram and 34 sq m at Lucknow. Apart from Coimbatore, all of these spaces were further split into Arrivals and Departures.

Govt land for Madurai Airport The Tamil Nadu Government has passed an order for providing 610 acres of land free of cost to the Madurai Airport. The Airports Authority of India had earlier requested the State Govern-

Bengaluru the next day at 12.35 pm, local time. The flights use the brand new Airbus A330-200. Announcing the launch, Dr Vijay Mallya, Chairman and CEO, Kingfisher Airlines Limited said that the international service between Bengaluru and London’s Heathrow airport would set new standards in international travel. “Our customers are our guests, not passengers, and this is reflected in the unique levels of comfort and entertainment, including live television, and fine dining options on board together with the warmest Indian hospitality offered by a hand-picked and extensively trained crew,” he said. He went on to say that “at a time when many airlines are rolling back on their network, I feel that the carefully selected routes that Kingfisher Airlines will serve have great growth potential. International traffic demand in and out of India remains robust and the unique ties between Britain and India generate attractive additional opportunities. I believe that the Bengaluru-London route is under served and the launch of Kingfisher’s daily non-stop service will exploit the latent potential that exists”, added Dr Mallya. The Airbus A330-200 that Kingfisher Airlines has deployed on the new route has two classes of service with 30 seats in Kingfisher First and 187 seats in Kingfisher Class.

ment for the land to carry out expansion. In the Rs 500 crore expansion plan, fire station, runway expansion and quality improvement works have been completed at a cost of Rs 75 crore till now. The new terminal building was coming up at a cost of Rs 130 crore. During the inauguration of the work related to the new terminal building, it was announced that 50 per cent of the land for airport expansion would be available for free. However, now it has been informed that the entire land would be available for free. A new cargo bay costing several crores would also come up. The entire cargo bay would have an area of 7200 square feet and it would be fully air-conditioned. Also, the entire operations would be automated in the bay. Airport sources said that 15 tonne shipments would be handled in each flight every day. The work was expected to be completed by the end of 2009 or the beginning of 2010. A separate protective area was also being established to park the flight in cases of emergency.

Chamarajanagar to get airstrip

Madurai airport

Chamarajanagar, which is classified in the Dr DM Nanjundappa Committee report on redressal of regional “imbalance” as the most backward district in the State, will have an airstrip in days to come. The land needed for developing the airstrip has been identified and a technical team will soon visit Chamarajanagar to finalise the loca-

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FALLING FUEL PRICES BUT RISING FARES

TF prices have fallen by 16 per cent with effect from September 1, 2008 but no domestic airline wants to reduce fares. On an average, jet fuel prices have been cut by Rs 11,784 per kilolitre for domestic airlines and for international airlines which are not subject to local taxes like sales tax etc, the cut would be equal to USD 205 per kilolitre or say nearly Rs 8,600 per kilolitre (keeping one US dollar equal to approximately Rs 43). So, after the cut in ATF prices, the cost of jet fuel in Delhi has come down to Rs 59,244.26 per kilolitre and in Mumbai at Rs 61,834.81 per kilolitre. SpiceJet has already said it will not cut fares as fuel cost still remain high and have been increased successively. Therefore one drop should not mean cut in fares. A similar view has been held by Jet Airways whose CEO Wolfgang ProSchauer who said Jet will not change its pricing strategy as even with this fall in ATF prices, the fuel prices still remain significantly above last years level. Kingfisher Air-

lines has also decided to wait and watch and not drive down fares. Air India has also decided to retain the domestic airfares at existing level and not cut them following the 16 per cent cut in ATF prices by public sector oil companies. All airlines have virtually said in unison

that cut in ATF prices will only help them cut back their losses. However, within a day of this refusal to cut back domestic fares, there was market frenzy to cut international fares not just among the domestic carriers with rights to fly abroad but also foreign carriers skimming the cream out of India. This

tion. The “proposed” airstrip is the result of the decision taken by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led Government to develop airstrips in 10 small, but important towns in the State to provide air connectivity to boost economic activity and tourism. Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa announced the intention of the Government to develop Davanagere, Raichur, Chikmagalur, Udupi, Chamarajanagar, Bidar, Chitradurga, Mandya, Uttara Kannada and Kodagu districts in the budget presented last month and earmarked funds for the same.

Airport in Jajjhar? The parliamentary consultative committee on civil aviation has said that Delhi required more than one airport and suggested setting up of an international airport at Jhajjar in Haryana. The panel also asked for sorting out the legal issues involved in building a second airport in the national capital region (NCR). Najma Heptullah According to a government official, the suggestion was backed by Lok Sabha member Deepender Singh Hooda and former Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairperson Najma Heptullah. In case the government goes ahead with a second airport for the Capital, Delhi International Airport Ltd (DIAL) has the right of first refusal (RoFR). This means the GMR group-backed DIAL will get to match the highest bid for developing the new airport if its bid is not more than 10 per cent lower than the highest bid.

happened just a day before Kingfisher Airlines launched its maiden international flight from Bengaluru to London Heathrow. First BA dropped base fares by more than Rs 13,000. Soon, it was followed by Jet Airways and Virgin Atlantic. Air India which dropped fares to Dubai from Delhi and Mumbai, following Jet launching its Delhi-Dubai and MumbaiDubai flights in August, is not in a position to react to the fare drop over flights to London. The situation is akin to the famous saying that if you cannot have bread then eat cake. So, what the aviation industry is saying in India is that if you cannot travel domestic, fly international! Yes, they will spin the usual story of high ATF prices, sales tax etc. But who will tell us who is paying for the expensive products these domestic carriers are forcing on not-sorich domestic passengers. It is even more surprising that the Minister of Civil Aviation, Praful Patel, feels like batting only for the airlines and never for affordable air travel. His Ministry, for no rhyme or reason, stalled the launch of competing airlines in the domestic skies, even though he says regional carriers will do exactly that. But then he wants to compare apples to oranges. A threat of new players stepping in will have serious impact on players who want their offerings to be like Harrods, etc.

Flight check-ins at Metro stations The airport is soon coming to the heart of the city with two Metro stations on the Airport Express Line being developed as City Airport Terminals (CATs). Now, fliers will not have to wait to get to IGI for airline and baggage check-ins. The stations — New Delhi Railway Station and Shivaji Stadium — are both spread across sprawling 7000 sq metres and will be equipped with all the facilities offered at airport terminals. So, you can buy your air ticket, check in your baggage and collect the boarding pass and shop at the CAT before you board a fast train to reach the actual airport terminal. Since the final security checks will be carried out at the airport just before the commuter boards the flight, the Metro stations will only conduct frisking of passengers and hand-baggage. The terminal will also be equipped with machines like specialised x-ray scanners to check baggage, which will be delivered at the destination city. The idea, according to Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC), is to offer all the facilities available at the actual terminal — comfortable waiting areas with plush seats, television screens and music playing in the background, space for retail activity on the lines of airport duty free shops, cafes and restaurants serving varied cuisines. Both the terminal buildings will be equipped with over 50 check-in counters each, which will be used by different airlines on a rotation basis. The counters will have connectivity to the airport for details of seat allocation and will allow baggage check-in at the Metro station itself.

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DIAL’S TOP RUNWAY

s the inaugural flight of an Air India Boeing 777 touched down at the Indira Gandhi International Airport’s (IGIA) brand new runway 11-29 on August 21, in the light drizzle, history was created. The runway has given the IGIA the unique distinction of becoming one of the very few civilian airports in Asia to have three operating runways. Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel, Civil Aviation Secretary Ashok Chawla, GMR Group Chairman G M Rao, GMR Business Chairman (Airports) K K Grandhi, AAI Chairman K Ramalingam and Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) Kanu Gohain were present at the function. Speaking at the occasion, Praful Patel said, “Commercial operations on the runway would start by next month and flight handling capacity of the airport would be enhanced to about 60 flights per hour,” adding that runway would take couple of months to ensure smooth operations and once it got into the rhythm, it could even handle 70 flights per hour. G M Rao, Group Chairman, GMR

Runway stats

Among the longest in Asia. Can accommodate super-sized aircraft such as Airbus A380. CAT-IIIB landing system at both ends allows aircraft to land even when the visibility is as low as 50 metres. Over 2.3 million cubic metres of earth work and embankment filling used, enough to fill a 210metre-long freight train. Imported glass grid used between layers to prevent cracks. Total length of the new taxiway is more than 15 km.

Group pointed out that it was a great day for Indian aviation. “Runways,” he said, “are roads that lead to the sky, and it is GMR Group’s dedication to build infrastructure that paves the way for India’s economy to reach phenomenal heights.” Kiran Kumar Grandhi, Business Chairman, Airports, GMR Group, who was instrumental in putting up the operations of the runway said,

“The completion of the runway ahead of schedule marks another project, which GMR Group has delivered before the deadline and we are on track to complete the Integrated Passenger Terminal (Terminal 3) on schedule as well. Together, the runway and Terminal 3 will form India’s new gateway to the world, when it welcomes participants and guests for the Commonwealth Games 2010.” The 75m wide runway is among the longest in Asia at 4430m. Built to Code F standards, the runway is capable of handling new generation large aircraft such as the Airbus A380. 11-29 will significantly expand IGIA’s capacity to handle aircraft movements. In addition, the runway is also equipped with CAT IIIB Instrument Landing System at both ends allowing compatible aircraft to land even when the visibility is as low as 50m. This will complement the existing CAT IIIB equipment on runway 10-28 making IGI Airport the only one in India to have twin runways with this advanced Instrument Landing System. In addition, an advanced Surface Movement Guidance System, featuring induction loop sensors has been deployed to track the movement of the aircraft along the runway.

Raghu Menon, Ashok Chawla, Praful Patel and officials from GMR/DIAL during the inauguration of the third runway.

Photo: H.C. Tiwari

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AIRSHOW

All flight paths lead to Hyderabad The country will stage India Aviation-2008 at Hyderabad in a month from now. The first international exhibition of its kind in the country on the civil aviation sector, the biennial air show promises to provide a perfect platform for the booming aviation sector to showcase its opportunities.

OME OCTOBER 2008, Hyderabad’s old airport will host the first international exhibition on civil aviation. The show, India Aviation 2008, will be conducted on the lines of the onceevery-two-years Defence Air Show — AeroIndia — held in Bengaluru. The last one took place in 2007. The Hyderabad show will also be a biennial one and will feature exhibits, chalets, flying displays, customer demonstration flights, static displays and media conferences and will be professionally managed by Farnborough International, organisers of the prestigious UK show, one of the top rated aviation shows in the world. The four-day event at the old Begumpet airport at Hyderabad will start on October 15, 2008 and would not only provide a perfect business platform for aviation companies to showcase their products but also bring together leading domestic and international airlines that have a stake in the India aviation story. The event is being organised jointly by the Ministry of Civil Aviation with the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) and is strongly supported by the Airports Authority of India (AAI), Air India, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) and Pawan Hans Helicopters Ltd. The overseas partner for the event is Farnborough International Limited of UK. The India Aviation 2008 show comes at a time when the aviation sector is going through a downturn. Even so, the forecasts for the future indicate that there would be a market for 500 general

WELCOME VISITOR: The Airbus A380 at the Farnborough Airshow. The plane could make an appearance at India Aviation 2008.

CRUISING HEIGHTS September 2008

aviation aircraft by 2020. Domestic air traffic is expected to grow to 180 million passengers and international traffic to 50 million passengers by 2020. Perhaps, what is more important is the fact that the show would be a strategic platform where local and international stakeholders including airlines, regulators, airport authorities, project developers, investors and aviation service providers will convene to discuss regulatory policies and collaboration strategies necessary to build and support a growing aviation industry that will

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achieve long term sustainability and excellent financial growth. According to the organisers, the event promises to be a wonderful opportunity for all international civil aviation and airport infrastructure companies who wish to take advantage of the tremendous opportunities to do business in the booming Indian aviation market. In addition, there will also be a flying display and an opportunity for customer demonstration flights along with a static park arena where aviation majors can display products. There will also be a conference on the civil aviation market in the country. At the time of filing this report, news has filtered in that business jet majors such as Bombardier Aerospace, Cessna Aircraft and Hawker Beechcraft could be present at the show. Bombardier Aerospace spokesman Leo Knaapen has been quoted in the American media as saying that the company was planning to exhibit at the new show as India was emerging as a very promising market. Hawker Beechcraft spokeswoman Jackie Berger said that her company would be present for the airshow as well. She pointed out that Beechcraft has been doing business in India for over 50 years. Cessna Aircraft representative Doug Oliver hedged a bit saying that they were yet to arrive at a decision as their air show schedule for 2008 was

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Newcomer: Boeingâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 777 airliner in flight. Air India will showcase its new 777 at Hyderabad during the airshow.

The event promises to be a wonderful opportunity for all international civil aviation and airport infrastructure companies who wish to take advantage of the tremendous opportunities to do business in the booming Indian aviation market CRUISING HEIGHTS September 2008

already set before information about the new show came in. Of course, there will be the big-ticket holders Boeing and Airbus. In fact, Hyderabad can very well look forward to a visit by the worldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s largest commercial jetliner, the 550-seater A380, though it has not been confirmed yet. Even if the A380 does not come, Air India will display its new Boeing-777 aircraft and also welcome a brand new Airbus A319, which will fly directly from Hamburg to Hyderabad. Apart from static display of commercial aircraft, the Indian Air Force has planned to stage a 20-minute fly past on the first and last days of the event. Among the planes that the IAF pilots will fly will be the Sukhoi jets as well as the indigenous helicopter. According to the organisers, the show would capitalise on the booming aviation sector: passenger traffic in the country has grown by 27.2 per cent and cargo traffic by 11.2 per cent during 2006-07. Aircraft movement has increased by 27.5 per cent. Add to that the fact that the country would purchase 500 civilian aircraft by 2020, going up to 1000 when the current fleet is replaced.

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COVER STORY

THE CONTINUING W 22

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A YEAR OF THE MERGER: (Clockwise from top, left): A file picture of Minister of Civil Aviation Praful Patel and former Chairman and Managing Director, Indian Airlines, Vishwapati Trivedi showing Prime Minister Manmohan Singh the first of the new Air India aircraft; at the party to celebrate the launch of the Mumbai-New York direct flights by Air India, shows former Chairman Air India, V Thulasidas (centre) with Civil Aviation Minister Patel; the cockpit of one of the new planes; AI planes at the IGIA parking bay; and, service aboard AI's direct New York flight.

WOES AT AI

HAVE THINGS IMPROVED AFTER THE MERGER OF INDIAâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S OLDEST AIRLINES AIR INDIA AND INDIAN AIRLINES? ON THE FIRST ANNIVERSARY OF THEIR MERGER, THE MERGED ENTITY IS STILL GRAPPLING WITH SURVIVAL.

N AUGUST 27, 2008 the legal merger of Air India and Indian Airlines to form the National Aviation Company of India Limited (NACIL) completed one year. In the first 365 days, major decisions were taken to integrate the Mumbai culture of Air India with the Delhi culture of Indian Airlines on the lines recommended by the government appointed consultant Accenture. On the completion of the first year, the merged entity united under brand Air India has encountered more problems than was bargained for. An Air India official said there has been no integration except for the bank accounts and finances of the two airlines besides the flight numbers. Jostling CRUISING HEIGHTS September 2008

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COVER STORY for positions, capturing of important territorial assignments continue to drive the ambitions of many middle and senior level officials from both the airlines, with the result, nobody cares about what is happening to Air India. And with the government opening up the skies on a daily basis for more and more competition, both from within and outside India, the Maharaja has really become the fabled “Emperor in his new clothes”. Just before the legal merger happened in August 2007, the two airlines — Air India and Indian Airlines made a combined loss of around Rs 750 crore, of which, Air India accounted for Rs 410 crore and Indian for Rs 340 crore. However, in the first year of merged entity coinciding with at least eight months of the financial year April 2007-March 2008, NACIL made a loss of Rs 2,144 crore. This, some believe, was actually an understatement which was sought to be glossed over by hints that Air India may more than double its losses in the current fiscal 2008-09. While it is not known clearly as to who is batting for whom in Air India and who is

HIGH STANDARDS OF SERVICE: Classy cuisines served on board has helped Air India to gain popularity.

Air India may largely blame the rising fuel prices for its losses, but what many will not talk about is the product offered by the airline. Sit on the A321 of Air India… All they have is the video screen in front of you showing you same movie or programme at the rate of two channels per programme CRUISING HEIGHTS September 2008

scoring the proverbial self-goal, either from the parent Ministry of Civil Aviation or elsewhere, the fact remains that Air India has never been in a crisis mode like it is today. We remember the days of 1991 when Yogi Deveshwar, drafted from ITC to manage Air India, proudly claimed that Air India was making a profit of Rs One Crore a day. Seventeen years later, Air India (though merged now) is making a loss of Rs Six Crore a day. Should one argue that had there been no merger, Air India would have certainly done well is something which is contested on the same lines by those from erstwhile Indian Airlines. To this, Air Indians say that they were always in the competition mode from international carriers as compared to Indian. However, in that sense, in 1991-92, Dr Manmohan Singh initiated economic reforms marked a watershed in Indian aviation history. A year later, government allowed private airlines into civil aviation business and today, one could hardly believe that the Indian state owned carriers dominated the Indian skies. There was a time when about 16 routes delivered overall profits to Air India during its un-merged days. Gulf was a cash cow as was India-UK and India-US. Even Singapore route made money for the Maharaja. One may ask, if the likes of Singapore Airlines, Cathay Pacific, Qantas, etc. can make profits why not Air India? Obviously, Air India may largely blame the rising fuel prices, but what many will not talk about is the product offered by the airline. Take for example, Airbus A321 of Kingfisher Airlines. The seats in Kingfisher’s A321 are far more comfortable and the ones in its business class have the back support through special inflation, comfortable and adjustable foot rest, different reclining positions, etc,

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FROM THE CELLAR: Wines and liquor of choice are available on board for passengers on the long-haul flights.

making the entire flight experience a joy. Sit on the A321 of Indian … no, no, Air India, forget about the special back support in the business class, the executive class seats don’t even have the footrest. All they have is the video screen in front of you and showing you same movie or programme at the rate of two channels per programme. That is, if there are 10 channels, then it will show five programmes at the rate of one per two channels. We had a personal experience of it. What actually took the cake was a late night flight of Indian, sorry, Air India — the executive class passengers were treated to current affair programme in the IFE. This showed a famous Vir Sanghvi interviewing Anil Ambani who discounted any possibility of a split in the Ambani family. This happened as recently as the last week of August 2008 and the Ambanis split more than four years ago. If the airline cannot upgrade its product then it can at least upgrade the TV programmes. Yes, you heard it right — Who is bothered? Coming back to NACIL finances, after registering a loss of Rs 2,144 crore in 200708, it was projected that Air India would double its losses in the current fiscal 200809. Reacting four months after the year began on April 1, 2008, Air India has put in place serious cost cutting measures to save Rs 1,500 crore through a combination of measures, including withdrawal from international stations. At a recent presentation to the Ministry of Civil Aviation by Air India CMD Raghu Menon, officials were informed that NACIL was making heavy losses daily and almost half its flights did not meet costs. Of the 207 pairs (414 flights), the carrier operates 200 which do not meet costs and of these, 10 were actually making losses. The domestic loads had fallen below 60 per

cent or roughly the same levels as that of LCCs. The NACIL chief sought a bail-out package for Rs 2,500 crore which included support for both equity infusion and capital expenditure. It is not that something unusual was happening in Air India, which was not being faced by other full service carriers in India. If one can use the expression, all the airlines in India are in the same boat except that Air India is in ICU with life support. The moment government decides to look the other side, Air India will be gone. May be, it will be necessary to remind the Government of India of how it saved the Steel Authority of India Limited in 1997-98, by sanctioning huge infusion of capital, writing off of loans, allowing freedom to SAIL to choose the product mix it wanted. Ten years later, SAIL has been able to withstand competition from both within and outside and has even chartered plans to undertake Rs 40,000 crore expansion plan. With the Prime Minister saying that India could become the second largest steel producer in the world, the public sector SAIL is all set

Nobody cares about what is happening to Air India... With the government opening up the skies on a daily basis for more and more competition, both from within and outside India, the Maharaja has really become the fabled “Emperor in his new clothes” CRUISING HEIGHTS September 2008

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COVER STORY

STANDING TALL: The Air India headquarters at Nariman Point, Mumbai

to go forward. Therefore, why cannot the government do the same with Air India and help it revive. After all, did the French government not spend nearly five billion Euros in the mid-90s to revive Air France? Yes, it all depends on the agendas of the politicians and those ruling or should we say managing the show. In March 2005, the then Air India CMD V Thulasidas in the wake of private Indian carriers being allowed to start international flights, in a letter to all the employees of unmerged Air India, said Air Indians will have to brace up and there was nothing like patriotism in the airline business, which could make travelling Indian public to choose Air India. Maharaja’s USP in terms of ethnic food and Indian culture would all come under the pressure of private Indian carriers (without mentioning Jet Airways, Air Sahara). Yes, Air India came under pressure and in less than three years from that date, Air India is sinking. The ethnic option is not saving it. Of late, if one looked at traffic patterns, it is clearly emerging that growing

An Air India official said there has been no integration except for the bank accounts and finances of the two airlines besides the flight numbers CRUISING HEIGHTS September 2008

threat from foreign going domestic carriers is posing even greater challenge to Air India, on not only long haul routes, but also short hauls like Dubai and Singapore. So, when a reluctant Raghu Menon took over the reins of Air India on April 1, 2008, his first message to airline employees was: (1) Focus on customer needs and satisfaction in all decisions; (2) Excellence in performance; (3) Generating revenues and cutting costs; (4) Carry forward merger process, the need to change the mindset of all employees; (5) Necessity of working as a team; (6) Being totally professional in approach; (7) Pride in Air India; and (8) Integrity in all actions. Even as he said all this, the accounts of Air India were being compiled. On the day the finances of Air India were revealed, only point number (3) came in for focus — how to generate revenues and how to cut costs. Thank God, Raghu Menon never used the word “product” in his Eight Commandments: communication. Today, everything is being done to cut costs and in the process, the product is getting sacrificed. Established airlines have standardised products on board every flight. But, in the case of Air India, there is a different product available on the non-stop India-US flights and a different product on India-UK-US flights. Even if these are withdrawn and rerouted via say, Frankfurt or Paris, there is no change in the product. Various cost cutting measures like withdrawal from some foreign stations, rationalisation and restructuring of international operations — to and from — Kuwait, Singapore, Bangkok, Hong Kong, Tokyo, Oman, Bangladesh, UK and Saudi Arabia have been introduced. The capacity which has been freed up has been used to create standby facility at base stations in aircraft rotation plans to improve on-time performance. A310 Hub and Spoke flights have been replaced by A320 flights. AI flights to Seoul, LA, Nairobi, Dar-e-Salam and may be Paris have or are being withdrawn. Inclusive of other cost cutting measures, Air India hopes to save Rs 1,500 crore in the next seven months. At the same time, it is making herculian efforts to boost its revenues which have of late, come under pressure, not just because of rising competition but also falling loads due to fuel driven rising fares. Though, one may argue that fuel prices have dented domestic aviation business more than international, it is also a fact that competition has begun to kill more in the international markets than domestic markets. Footnote: Watch out for our October 2008 Outlook issue to get a full and detailed update on Air India.

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Choppers to the fore T

6 (Clockwise from bottom left) 1. Seminar participants take a coffee break; 2. Dr Kewalramani, CMO, ONGC; 3. R P Sahi, DGCA; 4. (Left to right) Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Civil Aviation, Arun Mishra, Civil Aviation Secretary Ashok Chawla, Pawan Hans Chairman and Managing Director R K Tyagi, DGCA Chief, Kanu Gohain and B S Singh and others at the inauguration; 5. R K Tyagi lights the inaugural lamp; 6. (Extreme right) Hemant Rao and beside him is A K Chopra, Joint DG, DGCA; 7. Dr S C Sharma, Consultant, MICU, Gangaram Hospital; and, 8. Dr Navneet Singh, Director, EMSOS. Photos: H C Tiwari

o boost the helicopter industry in the country, the Ministry of Civil Aviation has declared 2008 as the year of the Helicopter. A number of activities have been planned to popularise the usage of helicopters in the year. One such was the staging of a national seminar on Helicopter Emergency Medical Services (HEMS) and Heliport Development. Organised under the aegis of Ministry of Civil Aviation by the Rotary Wing(Helicopter) Society of India, the aim of the Seminar was to bring to the fore the concept of Helicopter Emergency Services (HEMS) and how these services can be institutionalised for the benefit of the public in the country. Inaugurating the seminar, Civil Aviation Secretary, Ashok Chawla said that the Civil Aviation Ministry had planned to set up a “helicopter mission.” The plan, he said, “is to set up a helicopter mission, a coordinating mechanism in the ministry under a joint secretary, where all the stakeholders will come together and address issues to find a dynamic solution to take forward civilian helicopter operations in the country”. The Civil Aviation Ministry was well aware of the importance to have a coordinated approach to improve the present civilian helicopter services and increase the number of helicopters in service from the present 118 to 500 helicopters by 2015. The secretary also made it clear that the government would set up a heliport in Delhi for which land had been identified in Rohini, apart from exploring the option of having another heliport along the DND Flyover that connects the national capital and Noida. The seminar deliberated on two important impediments in the growth of civilian helicopter services: safety and human resources.

CRUISING HEIGHTS September 2008

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INTERVIEW

Smiths Detection, a division of Smiths Group plc, is the global leader in transportation security, providing a wide range of technologies for the detection of explosives and chemical and biological threats, whether concealed in cargo, in passenger baggage or under a passenger’s clothing. Stephen Phipson, Group Managing Director, was recently in Delhi and spoke exclusively to K Srinivasan. Some excerpts...

“

Technology and product development are core elements in the growth of Smiths Detection

“

:How big is your business really? : Technology and product developments which enhance global security are core elements in the growth of Smiths Detection. It’s the largest business in the world (of its kind) doing a billion dollars in size and sales. And our business is really about government-regulated security: these

are products that look for threats that the government normally classifies… we are looking for bombs in bags, chemical weapons, biological weapons, radiation sources, contraband for the customs. Typically, these are substances that the government does not want in the public domain. We don’t do CCTV cameras, smoke alarms and things like that. We do bombs in bags and things like that. And to do that, we have a very large range of engineering solutions and technologies. We have everything from x-ray systems through to explosive trace detectors through to vapour analysers to

CRUISING HEIGHTS September 2008

HVAC systems to cargo screening systems. You can really think of our business in three different streams: we have security inspection which addresses the aviation industry, military emergency response system for the defence side and a new business that comes out of pandemics like avian flu, which is also relevant to the aviation industry. What is the spread? About 45 per cent of our business is with the US government. Infact, our single biggest customer is the pentagon, mainly chemical weapons detection system. If you look at

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SNIFFING

’EM OUT!

Give us an idea of some of these innovations? Airports are about improving

efficiencies for airport operators. So, a lot of our R&D is going into new products that can improve the throughput at check points or improve the efficiencies of explosives detection systems that are there in the check baggage areas or to secure the perimeter of the airport or to provide other types of capabilities such as emergency response teams and what kind of systems they need. So, we have a very comprehensive range of different products. A good example of that is the passenger check point. At the moment we supply a large number of passenger x-ray systems at world airports. But

CRUISING HEIGHTS September 2008

“

Our R&D is going into products that can improve the throughput at check points

“

How do you evolve your business? Our business is very close to the government. So we work with government working groups and different security agencies to try and help them with their threat assessments and what kind of counter terrorism systems they need, particularly in the highly-regulated aviation industry. This industry is one where security is of course one of the highest priorities and we have a lot of new technologies that are being constantly unveiled.

Photo: H.C. Tiwari

the split of our different market segments, transportation and aviation security is about 35 per cent of our business— the single biggest segment of our business really. We have a global structure, businesses all around the world. Our systems are bought by over a 100 different governments. In airports, we are in over 4000 different airports around the world… a majority of the commercial airports. And to facilitate these structures we have a system of self-support and service centres around the world and manufacturing and engineering plants in America and Europe.

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INTERVIEW

“

The new generation of systems automatically looks for explosives without the operator having any intervention at all

these are viewing tools for operators; they have to look inside the bag and to decide whether there are things inside or not. The new generation of systems automatically looks for explosives without the operator having any intervention at all. We have deployed this system in the UK, we are changing all the check points in the highest category airports in the United States and the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and the Department for Transport (DfT) are regulating these systems. And what that means is that the passenger can keep his laptop back in the bag again — in America and Europe you have to take your laptop out because you are looking for explosives on the devices — and these systems can automatically find them. There was an event a couple of years ago when terrorists… the standard x-ray stem colour codes the images depending on whether they are organic or nonorganic or metallic. Organic is orange and metallic is blue. So, when you look at an x-ray screen, you see these differences. Explosives are organic in nature, so they were hiding them

“

SEE-ALL: A Smiths Detection machine at an airport

in fruits. But the machine can automatically tell you by measuring the atomic density and lots of other clever parameters inside the machine which are the ones that are the explosives. That can lead to issues like the one with honey at Delhi airport (one passenger was forced to drink the honey to prove it wasn’t an explosive since it was showing up as one on the machines)? The problem is that some substances — and I won’t tell you which because they are secret— are very close to the same density as the explosives. That’s a problem you have in checked baggage, so don’t put honey or chocolate in your bag! Now these new machines are installed in Heathrow Terminal V, Washington Dulles airport. These are comprehensive tools that provide explosive detection. So, what it means is that they don’t have to unpack bags and it is upgradable. We are working at the moment on liquids. So, the machine will automatically, thanks to the software on it, interrogate the liquids and determine whether they are threats or not. So, the passenger will be able to keep liquids back in the bag and not just the laptop. That would dramatically improve throughput through American and European airports, and that’s very important in today’s climate. The reason that’s important is, with passenger traffic doubling every ten years, most of the existing infrastructure is at capacity. Not everyone has the luxury of building new terminals and there is no more space to put your checkpoints and you now have the A380. What this means is that if two or three of these aircraft leave at the same time, you have to clear several hundred passengers per aircraft and the checkpoints have to be much more efficient while maintaining the same level of security. There is a very big need for this kind of technology. What else? Another generation of equipment we are working on is automatic passenger screening, using imaging where a passenger walks past a flat panel and it will image

CRUISING HEIGHTS September 2008

underneath your clothes to check if you are carrying any suicide belts or anything like that. These systems are under trial till now and you can expect to see them deployed over the next 18 months at most international airports. These are much more effective than using a metal detector. Most problems emerge through ceramic weapons or nonmetallic type explosive trigger devices, so you need another way of detecting them and the governments have been investing with us because we have the ways of doing that. The same happens underneath the airports in terms of check baggage. We have high speed systems that will integrate into the conveyor systems to check baggage. We also provide the network and the integrations of all of this into the airport control system so that there can be remote monitoring of the performance. In some countries we have provided national networks so that the authorities can determine the performance of the systems on a more national basis. Any other developments? The US government legislated last year that all cargo — air cargo and sea-going cargo — should be screened a 100 per cent by 2012. At the moment, less than 10 per cent of the world’s sea cargo is inspected. Air cargo varies dramatically from country to country. There is a lot of work going on in air cargo to find new technologies than can address specific issues. At the moment, to do air cargo security you have to break them up into their constituent parts. You can’t do it inside a standard air-going container. There is a lot of investments to try and improve that situation. One of the spinoff of this development has been diagnostics: Avian flu, foot and mouth disease, etc. If there is an avian flu breakout at the airport, it will typically take two days to get a positive result from a lab. And the systems that we have can do that in a straight 30 minutes. Almost real time You can hold a plane back to do that test, let’s put it that way.

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GLOBETROTTING

AT A GLANCE

Jack in the box is not amusing

They made him sit in the loo

SWEDISH AIRPORT staff were not amused when a team from a TV comedy show tried to check in a suitcase with a dwarf inside. Employees at Bromma airport called the police when the dwarf hopped out of the suitcase at the check-in counter. Police soon found that it was a stunt being filmed by a hidden camera for a programme on private TV network Kanal 5. The

WHEN GOKHAN MUTLU arrived to check in for a jetBlue flight from San Diego to New York, he was told the flight was full. But Mutlu was allowed to board after a jetBlue flight attendant agreed to give up her seat and travel in an airline employee “jump seat.” However 90 minutes into the flight, the pilot told Mutlu the flight attendant was uncomfortable and he would have to give up

airport staff decided against filing charges even though they were “shocked and humiliated” by the stunt. Kanal 5 spokesman Dan Panas told Swedish news agency TT that the show was meant to be “provocative and entertaining.” He said the stunt was not meant to make fun of little people, but to make entertainment out of “extreme situations.”

This is about all the Denis the menaces A NEW airfarewatchdog.com poll reveals the frustration that most passengers feel when seated next to an active child or crying baby while flying. When asked “Should airlines have a section of the plane reserved for parents with babies and smaller children?” 10170 or 58 per cent of respondents answered, “Yes, they should have done this long ago,” while 27 per cent answered, “Yes, but they never will and it’ll never work.” Only 15 per cent answered, “No, this is a bad idea.”

Honey, aren’t we

forgetting something?

n Israeli couple going on a European vacation remembered to take their duty-free purchases and their 18 suitcases, but forgot their three-year-old daughter at the airport. The couple and their five children were late for a charter flight to Paris and made a mad dash to the gate. In the confusion, their daughter got lost. The incident happened on what Israeli media said was one of the busiest days of the year at the Israeli airport, with thousands of people leaving for summer vacations abroad. Israeli media said the parents of the forgotten girl were an ultra-Orthodox Jewish couple but did not give their names. The parents were unaware they had boarded the aircraft with only four children instead of five until they were informed by cabin staff after 40 minutes in the air.

The child, accompanied by an airline staffer, took the next flight to Paris, where she was safely reunited with her parents. Running the story on its front page, the Yediot Ahronot daily quoted an unnamed police officer as saying, “A very cute little girl grabbed my leg and asked 'where are my parents, where are my brothers?'” A female police officer checked records for the girl’s family. “I saw her parents and brothers were on a plane that was set to take off in three minutes,” she told the paper. The officer picked up the girl and rushed to the gate for the flight to Paris. “I ran quickly because I knew that every minute mattered. At the same time, the police tried to contact the flight attendants to get them to stop the plane. When I reached the gate, the plane was no longer there.” CRUISING HEIGHTS September 2008

Pay for my loss of faith A LAWSUIT has been filed in the courts at Houston Texas, accusing Victoria Osteen of assaulting Continental Airlines flight attendant Sharon Brown before the start of a 2005 flight from Houston to Vail, Colorado. Victoria Osteen pushed and elbowed attendant Sharon Brown in an attempt to get to the plane’s cockpit after two other attendants had not cleaned a liquid on her armrest. Victoria Osteen is co-pastor at Lakewood Church, where her husband, Joel Osteen, preaches and where about 42000 people flock each week. The Federal Aviation Administration fined Victoria Osteen $3,000 for interfering with a crew member.

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Smugglers tricks revealed SOME OF THE techniques used by drug smugglers trying to get through Manchester Airport have gone on display for the first time. They include ‘mules’ hiding drugs in everything from teddy bears to the Koran in their bid to fool customs, the Manchester Evening News reports. The UK Border Agency exhibition

aims to show how Customs officers and sniffer dogs stay one step ahead of the criminals. Linda Paul, assistant director of the agency, told the newspaper: ‘Smugglers can be very sophisticated, or not at all. Drugs can be sewn into suitcases, strapped to people’s bodies or concealed internally, hidden in shoes, bag handles, in hollowed-out religious books, or in book spines and covers.’

Ewan and mate go biking

These bags are X-ray friendly

EWAN MCGREGOR, best known for his roles as a young Obi Wan-Kenobi in the Star Wars prequels and as a cheeky monologist/ narrator in Trainspotting, has biked from Scotland to South Africa with his best pal Charley Boorman. After documenting the 15000 mile trip which spanned 20 different countries and took 85 days last year, the pair are releasing it in a 10episode format on the Fox Reality Channel with new episodes. A 15000 mile bike trip through Africa is possibly one of the most significantly brutal trips a traveller could take. The series should be an interesting watch for biking and Ewan McGregor enthusiasts alike.

TO HELP STREAMLINE the security process and better protect laptops, USA’s Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has recently encouraged manufacturers to design bags that will produce a clear and unobstructed image of the laptop when undergoing X-ray screening. A design that meets this objective will enable TSA to allow laptops to remain in bags for screening. Industry enthusiastically met the call and more than 60 manufacturers responded, 40 of them submitting prototypes for testing. TSA opened three airports for manufacturers to perform live testing of these prototypes with Transportation Security Officers (TSO), so the manufacturers can gain feedback on what works and what doesn’t with various bag designs. TSA screens laptops to see if the electronics have been tampered with. TSOs know what the inside of a computer should look like, and can recognise irregularities. This is why they need an unobstructed view as the item moves through the X-ray machine.

Who put drugs in my bag? AN UNSUSPECTING traveller who walked away from a Tokyo airport with one million yen’s ($9,904) worth of cannabis due to a customs blunder has returned the drugs, an official said. The passenger, identified only as a foreign person, was “extremely cooperative” and handed the drugs back to authorities after being informed of the mistake, a customs spokeswoman said. An officer at Narita International Airport on Sunday stuffed 142 grams (five ounces) of the drug into the side pocket of a randomly selected black suitcase coming off an overseas flight for a sniffer dog to find. The animal failed the test and the 38-year-old customs officer forgot which bag it was put in. “We tried to call passengers one by one and finally we found the person,” the spokeswoman said.

Illustrations by Rajeev Kumar

his seat and “hang out” in the bathroom for the remainder of the flight, according to a lawsuit that Mutlu has filed, suing the airline for $2 million, saying he suffered “extreme humiliation.” At one point, the airplane experienced turbulence and Mutlu sat on the toilet seat without a seat belt, causing him “tremendous fear,” the lawsuit said.

Tilton troubles THE PILOTS AT United Airlines have unveiled their new anti-CEO web site at Glenn Tilton.com. They want the CEO, Glenn Tilton out, claiming he’s everything that’s wrong with the airline. Once a significant industry player, United has been rebuffed twice this year when it attempted to begin merger talks with Continental and US Airways. It’s easy for anyone to choose a juicy topic from the menu like Tilton’s “Operational Failures,” strategic blunders, financial or even employee and customer service screw ups like, “Only 38 per cent of United employees are proud to work for the airline.” Ouch. Something Tilton is just going to love is the convenient message form tied to Tilton’s e-mail so anyone can send him a comment.

CRUISING HEIGHTS September 2008

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DOMESTIC AIRLINES SpiceJet offers ‘Flying for Life’ for Abhinav Bindra SPICEJET LIMITED announced Flying for Life recognition for Abhinav Bindra who created history by being the first Indian individual Gold medalist ever in Olympics by winning Gold at Beijing Olympics for the Men’s 10m Air Rifle final after shooting a total of 700.5. Abhinav Bindra can now travel free on SpiceJet’s domestic network all his life. Announcing this, Samyukth Sridharan, Chief Commercial Officer, SpiceJet Limited, said, “Abhinav Bindra has brought great pride and joy to Indians all over the world. We at SpiceJet are happy to recognise his feat by including him in our family of SpiceJetters by offering him unlimited free personal travel for life. This is our special thank you for a remarkable Indian on the eve of our 61 Independence Day.” Abhinav Bindra showing his Olympic gold medal.

Jet introduces apex fares on domestic sectors JET AIRWAYS has announced the introduction of Apex-21, special advance purchase fares for passengers travelling in economy class on several of the airline’s domestic routes. These fares are available for purchase worldwide, since August 1, 2008, and reservations can be made through Jet Airways’ offices and travel agents. Bookings for these fares must be made at least 21 days prior to departure date of the first segment. In case of cancellations, the basic fare is non refundable. However, the applicable tax component is refundable. Jet Airways’ JetPrivilege members will get an opportunity to earn 20 per cent of applicable base JPMiles for travel on any of the domestic sectors covered by this scheme. City-check-in facility at Hyderabad: The airline’s frequent travellers and Corporates would be especially benefitted by this facility when they check-in and collect their boarding passes at Jet Airways’ city office. With Hyderabad’s new Rajiv Gandhi International Airport being operational at Shamsabad, 36 kilometers from the city centre, this is one of Jet Airways’ value-added offer for its customers. Daily direct flights to Dubai: Jet Airways commenced its daily flights from Mumbai and Delhi to Dubai, the airlines’ twentieth international destination from August 23, 2008. Jet

Airways deployed its dual-class Airbus 330-200 aircraft on these routes, featuring its acclaimed herringbone-configured première, and its spacious new economy class. Bengaluru, New York to be connected: Jet Airways will connect Bengaluru with New York (Newark and JFK) and Toronto, via its European hub Brussels, commencing October 31. The airline will operate daily direct flights. This will allow arriving passengers from Bengaluru to conveniently connect to Jet Airways’ transatlantic services to North America and Europe in a seamless manner, on board its stateof-the-art Airbus 330200 aircraft offering international premiere and economy class experience. Jet Airways’ passengers can currently connect to six additional destinations in the United States and five destinations across Europe A FEELING OF SPACE: A Jet Airways’ crew member shows the new and through its code share spacious economy class seats. partnerships with American Airlines and Brussels Airlines respectively. This enhanced connectivity on Jet Airways includes Washington Reagan, Dallas, Boston, Cleveland, Baltimore and RaleighDurham in the United States, via New York (JFK) and to Birmingham, Madrid, Barcelona, Berlin Tempelhof and Lyon in Europe, via Brussels.

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leased lines. This arrangement helps to take away the burden of managing the data centre operation, and allows AI SATS to focus on its core competencies — in providing ground handling services to its airline and freight forwarder customers. Kale’s infrastructure management solution is based on hub and spoke methodology, whereby the customer does not need to replicate the IT infrastructure at every new location that they operate from. The solution also provides world-class services in a cost efficient manner using the “best of breed” approach. It will be expensive for our customers to create secured IT infrastructure and replicate the same across the different locations. Kale utilises economies of scale from several partners, which translates into best-fit solutions for our customers.

DIAL launches ‘Outlook Lounge’ Jetlite introduces attractive apex fares JET AIRWAYS’ JETLITE has announced the introduction of attractive 14-Day Apex fares on several of its domestic routes, which will be in effect till September 30, 2008. Passengers availing of these special fares will enjoy substantial savings over regular published fares on the applicable routes. The bookings for these fares must be made at least 14 days prior to departure date, and reservations can be made through JetLite and Jet Airways offices across India. As per the cancellation policy, the basic fare is non refundable, whereas the applicable tax component is refundable. In addition to the 14-Day Apex fares, JetLite has also revised its popular 21-Day Apex fares, as also fares for the airline’s flights on the Mumbai-Delhi sector. Frequencies enhanced on Delhi-Udaipur Leisure sector: Effective September 1, 2008, Jet has re-introduced its third service on the Delhi-Udaipur sector with a new, state-of-the-art ATR 72-500 aircraft. The region accounts for a significant percentage of the country’s leisure traffic segment, and the enhancement of services between the two cities is in response to strong passenger demand.

GMR OPERATED Delhi International Airport (P) Limited and Outlook Group have entered into an agreement to launch a premium monthly magazine ‘Outlook Lounge’ catering to the air travellers. It will be made available to the passengers at all terminals of Delhi Airport. Outlook Lounge aims to provide an entertaining and involving mix on travel, lifestyle and leisure content for the air traveller. Coming from the Outlook and DIAL, the magazine promises quality content with a well balanced mix of exotic destinations, latest gizmos, latest trends, lifestyle, entertainment, financial planning, aviation updates and health advice, along with a good blend of intelligent reviews on movies, music, books and much more. The magazine, a monthly, has already been launched and is being distributed free at the Delhi Airport across all terminals.

Support for Bihar flood-affected IN A BID TO support relief efforts in the flood-hit state of Bihar, JetLite recently flew a team of 16 medical professionals from Mumbai to Patna, facilitating them with free passage, on the Mumbai-Patna-Mumbai sector. JetLite also supported the group, in the carriage of medicines and other medical supplies weighing over 500 kgs. Commenting on the airline's initiative, Daniel Barranger, Chief Commercial Officer, JetLite said, “The floods have caused the people of Bihar great suffering and as a responsible corporate entity, JetLite expresses its solidarity towards the affected people and the rehabilitation and relief efforts being carried out in that state.” The aid effort was jointly coordinated by JetLite, Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) and Mumbai International Airport Limited (MIAL).

AI SATS hooks up with Kale AIR INDIA SATS Airport Services (AI SATS), a joint venture between AI and Singapore Airport Terminal Services (SATS) has chosen Kale Consultants Limited to supply, install and manage the server hardware and software to host the applications that support its operations at the new Bangalore and Hyderabad International Airports. Kale will help to procure, set up and manage all the server hardware and software, network components and

DIAL’S OWN MAGAZINE: B S Shantharaju, CEO DIAL, and Maheshwer Peri, Publisher, Outlook Group, unveils the IGI Airport Magazine Outlook Lounge for passengers.

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INTERNATIONAL Airbus pays tribute to first Wright flights

A thousand flights with SA SINGAPORE AIRLINES has completed its 1000th commercial service with the A380, the world’s largest civil aircraft. Since the first aircraft entered service with Singapore Airlines on October 25, 2007, the carrier’s A380 fleet has grown to five aircraft. Together, the aircraft have already accumulated 8500 flight hours in service and almost 400000 Singapore Airlines customers have already flown on the A380, with overwhelmingly positive feedback. The high level of passenger interest and demand has seen the carrier record load factors in excess of 90 per cent on flights operated with the type. Singapore Airlines now operates the A380 on daily services from Singapore to London, Sydney and Tokyo. In addition, the carrier operated a schedule of special daily services to Beijing in order to meet demand during Olympic Games. To date, 140 pilots from the airline are already flying the aircraft, with training now being increased in preparation for future deliveries. Singapore Airlines has placed total firm orders for 19 A380s, plus six options.

ON AUGUST 8 at around five pm an Airbus A380 performed a low pass fly-by over Hunaudières horse-racing track at Le Mans. This was to pay tribute to the 100th anniversary of the first European flights by Wilbur Wright on August 8, 1908 at Le Mans. A commemorative celebration was held on the site with a series of flight demonstrations including a flight by a replica of Wright’s original aircraft, Flyer III. This aircraft along with the A380, demonstrated the evolution of innovation through a century of achievements in the aeronautical industry where the A380 sets the standards for the 21st century. Being greener, cleaner, quieter and smarter, the A380 is already setting new standards for air transport and the environment. In addition to offering unequalled levels of passenger comfort, space and quietness in the cabin, the A380 has unmatched levels of operating costs and fuel efficiency, consuming less than three litres per passenger per 100 kilometres.

SriLankan supports tourism drive

New Appointments: Singapore Airlines, the world’s premier airline has announced the appointment of Rajiv Varma as the National Marketing Manager for its operations in India and Sandeep Patil as the Head, Passenger Sales for Northern India region. Varma, has been a part of the Singapore Airlines for the last six years. His current Rajiv Varma responsibilities include looking after marketing communications, loyalty programmes and various promotional tie-ups/ campaigns at pan India level. He was earlier in-charge of the Passenger Sales department for North India.

Boeing appoints Charlie Miller THE BOEING COMPANY named Charlie Miller Vice President of International Corporate Communications. Miller, 52, will be based in London and lead Boeing’s team of communications directors and outside agencies working in more than 30 key markets around the globe. He will oversee all communications activities for the company outside the United States, including media relations. For the past five years, Miller has spearheaded Boeing’s communications efforts across Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Prior to that, he was communications director for the United Kingdom. Before joining Boeing in 2001, he was Head of News at BAE Systems following a 20year career in journalism. He earned a bachelor’s degree in French from University College London.

SRILANKAN AIRLINES is closely supporting the Government’s drive to promote Sri Lanka as a destination of choice in China, which is viewed as one of the fastest growing global tourism markets. The national carrier actively participated in several travel fairs in China this year, including the Beijing International Tourism Expo (BITE), the International Travel Expo (ITE) in Hong Kong, and the Guangzhou International Travel Fair (GITF). SriLankan also co-organised a workshop for travel agents in the Chinese capital. In April, SriLankan took part in Guangzhou International Travel Fair (GITF), to promote Sri Lanka in the Guangzhou region in the south, one of the fast growing regions in China. More then 100000 visitors attended the three-day fair. SriLankan prepared special flyers customised for the fair, printed in Chinese.

BA signs three-way agreement AMERICAN AIRLINES, British Airways, and Iberia have signed a joint business agreement on flights between North America and Europe and plan to expand their global cooperation. This relationship will benefit consumers by providing easy, seamless and convenient travel to more global destinations with better connections, improved flight schedules, and enhanced frequent flyer benefits. It will improve customer choice by enabling the oneworld global alliance, of which American, British Airways, and Iberia are key members, to compete more effectively around the world with other global alliances. Under the joint business agreement, the three airlines will cooperate commercially on flights between the United States, Mexico, and Canada, and the European Union, Switzerland, and Norway while continuing to operate as separate legal entities. They will expand their codeshare arrangements on flights within and beyond the EU and US, significantly increasing the number of destination choices that the airlines can offer customers. Customers will also benefit from expanded opportunities to earn and redeem frequent flyer miles and elite tier benefits on flights worldwide and continued reciprocal airport lounge access.

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Lufthansa is Europe’s best

LUFTHANSA HAS BEEN voted the best airline in Europe in the 2008 World Airline Awards, beating nine other carriers. More than 15 million passengers took part in the survey, conducted by the Kbased aviation research agency Skytrax over an 11-month period from August 2007 to June 2008. In the Best in Region category, passengers were asked to rate their level of satisfaction with a total of 59 European airlines. Respondents evaluated more than 35 different aspects in the categories Ground Service, Onboard Product and Onboard Staff Service. Lufthansa impressed passengers with its fast and innovative check-in options, the speed and convenience of its baggage handling and the friendly service provided by staff. The airline also scored top marks for its excellent inflight service, notably its comfortable seats, inflight entertainment programme and the choice and quality of the menus and drinks served on board. Overall, Skytrax evaluated 168 carriers for this year’s World Airline Awards. ENTERTAINMENT IN THE AIR: Emirates’ award-winning ice system provides more than 600 channels on-demand, with a wide selection.

Emirates’ ice bags Skytrax again EMIRATES HAS AGAIN received plaudits for its innovative inflight technology after scooping the much-coveted Skytrax 2008 ‘Best Airline Inflight Entertainment Award’ for the fourth consecutive year. The airline’s ice (information, communication and entertainment) and ice Digital Widescreen systems received top honours based on a passenger survey carried out by Skytrax. From August 2007 to June 2008, more than 15 million travellers of 93 nationalities took part in ‘Skytrax’s World Airline Survey’, which covered several areas of the airline industry. The criteria for the award included the quality of inflight entertainment, best movie selection, TV and documentary programmes, and best audio choices. Quality of headsets and sound, audio programming, games selection and screen size were also considered. In 2003, Emirates launched ice and quickly developed it into the airline industry’s leading entertainment system. Passengers have hundreds of films, TV and audio options available at their fingertips, with more than 600 channels of entertainment on offer. The content available covers several languages, including English, Arabic, Hindi, Urdu, Chinese and Japanese.

Air Arabia’s budget hotel at Sharjah AIR ARABIA, an LCC in the Middle East and North Africa, has announced that it has begun construction of the 300-room budget hotel at Sharjah Airport. This project follows a management agreement signed last year between Air Arabia and Rotana Hotels, to manage this property under their innovative Centro by Rotana brand, offering affordable, superior-class accommodation and hospitality. The property, which will include both standard rooms and suites, will offer comfort and convenience for travellers passing through one of the region’s fastestgrowing airports as well as for visitors to the emirate. Unique features of the Air Arabia Centro Hotel will include a full casual-style dining area, in-room wireless Internet connectivity and entertainment, and a An artist’s impression of Air Arabia’s range of personal ameni- Centro Hotel. ties. This is combined with such comforts as gymnasiums and swimming pools, together with on-site business facilities such as private meeting rooms and business centres.

SriLankan Airlines appoints its first lady captain

ing countries such as India, women have been airline captains SRILANKAN RECENTLY marked a significant milestone in for many years now,” she said. “It doesn’t make a difference the country’s aviation history when Captain Anusha Siriratne whether you are a man or a woman when flying. The circumwas appointed as the carrier’s first Lady Captain. stances don’t change, the weather is the same, and the aircraft Manoj Gunawardena, the airline’s CEO, said it was a signifdoesn’t know the difference!” she said. icant event for the National Carrier. “Sri Lanka had been in the “It’s been my dream to be a Captain one day. I’ve been forefront of women’s empowerment very fortunate to have come up to this and it is certainly high time that a Sri point, and my husband and parents have Lankan woman took command of an been wonderfully supportive of my airliner,” he said. career. All the instructors, pilots, and Interestingly, Capt. Anusha and staff of the Flight Operations division her husband Capt Hemantha Siriratne have also been very helpful,” she said. also made history as the first husbandShe joined SriLankan as a Cadet Pilot in wife pilot duo in the country. Capt June 1998 and rose to become a First Hemantha received his Captain’s Officer on the A320s, A330s and A340s, appointment earlier this year. flying to cities throughout SriLankan’s Captain Anusha is modest about network of destinations in Europe, the her appointment and brushed off her Middle East, and Asia. achievement, which had been her Incidentally, SriLankan has several childhood ambition. “Women have lady managers in senior positions in most lagged behind in the field of aviation of its nine divisions. It also has women in in Sri Lanka, in comparison to the areas that have traditionally been domirest of the world. Even in neighbournated by men such as aircraft engineering. Captain Anusha in command.

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TRAVEL & TOURISM The Park amongst the top WALLPAPER AND FORTUNE magazines have named The Park, Navi Mumbai as one of the top 50 best business hotels in the world. It is one of the only two hotels selected from India to appear on the list. The selection of The Park as one of the world’s best business hotels is an acknowledgement of Navi Mumbai as the emerging business district in Mumbai. The Park’s strategic location on the Mumbai-Pune knowledge corridor and proximity to Jawaharlal Nehru Port and the proposed Navi Mumbai international airport has ensured that it is endorsed by the international corporate traveller patronage, which forms the bulk of the clientele at the hotel, since it opened in February 2007. Designed by London-based Project Orange, the 80-room hotel provides a contemporary and elegant setting for both business and pleasure. The Park is an extensively popular destination for corporate meetings and conferences due to well-equipped facilities of international standards.

Mahindra Homestays MAHINDRA HOLIDAYS and Resorts India Ltd (MHRIL) has launched a new holidaying concept called ‘Mahindra Homestays’. The concept is about providing accommodation in a private home, run by the homeowner. Mahindra Holidays would partner with the homeowner across various locations and market them under an umbrella brand owned by MHRIL. To kick off its operation, MHRIL launched this programme in Great Britain recently; a country known to have the largest share (20 per cent) of inbound travellers in India and having the highest per capita (average spend of GBP 2,500) spenders as travellers worldwide. All homes would be inspected and classified before its inclusion into the MHRIL’s network. These homes would guarantee of basic standard of amenities, service, hygiene and safety; they will be supported by regular audits that would ensure maintenance of quality standard. Mahindra Holidays gets ‘Superbrand’ 2008 award: Mahindra Holidays & Resorts India Limited (MHRIL), was awarded the”Business Superbrand 2008” by the Brand Council of India. Commenting on the award, Ramesh Ramanathan, MD, Mahindra Holidays & Resorts said,”It is a momentous day for us at Mahindra Holidays. This important milestone is in recognition of the effort put in by the team; building the brand at every touch point with customer-centricity being the primary focus backed by superb marketing communication.” The ‘Superbrand’ is a concept that evolved in the UK in 1993. Superbrand India was launched in December

Inside view of the lounge bar at The Park, Navi Mumbai.

2002. The first edition of Business Superbrand India was out in September 1995. The Superbrand status is awarded by an independent panel of judging experts called The Brand Council.

Beautiful Busan is conventions hub BUSAN IS CONSIDERED to be one of the most fascinating destinations of Korea, now catching the eye of millions of visitors from all over the world. Popularly known as the Busan Metropolitan City, it is primarily a port city in the Korean Peninsula. This bustling city is Busan at night. blessed with some of the most spectacular beaches in Korea, which is truly a paradise. Busan is becoming quite reputable as one of the most attractive convention destinations in Korea. With the successful hosting of the 2006 UNESCAP, 2005 APEC Economic Leader’s meeting and 2002 Asian Games, the city continuous to improve as a MICE destination. On the basis of these achievements, Busan was ranked as the eighth popular city in Asia, according to the UIA statistics for international meetings in 2006.

Goan chefs at Table Bay

AND THE FIRST PRIZE GOES TO ... : Aniruddh Haldar, Head-Marketing, MHRIL, receiving the Superbrand 2008 award from L K Advani.

SUN INTERNATIONAL’S Table Bay Hotel has announced an Indian Food Festival from September 10 to 16, 2008. Guests can enjoy authentic Indian cuisine created by two of Goa’s most prominent chefs, Bhuvnesh Kumar Verma and Vasco Alvares. All the food, music and entertainment will be customised to create a simulated Indian experience. The festival has a dual purpose for Executive Chef Dallas Orr and his team, as it provides an excellent opportunity for them to exchange ideas and to learn new authentic Indian dishes. For seven nights, guests can sample dishes straight from heaven. There is nothing ordinary about Indian food. You haven’t lived if you haven’t tasted Prawns Balchao, Goan fish curry rice, Lamb Xacuti and Maka pao steak.

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Karnataka agriculturalists visit Philippines

PHILIPPINES RECENTLY welcomed a 48-person delegation (the ‘Thomas Cook Agricultural Group’) from the state of Karnataka in India to Philippines. Heading the delegation was the State Minister for Agriculture, Lakshmikant Reddy and the State Director of Finance, Nagarajaiah. The group comprised members’s of a cooperative called ‘Krishi Samaj’, which works for the betterment of farmers in India. The delegation stayed in Manila for four days and three nights. The group met Professor Alejandrino Mojica, the Director of National Coffee Research. They also visited a coffee-milling barn and a herb and coffee farm in Cavite and Tagaytay where they interacted with local farmers and got information on coffee planting. The group visited the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), which is the oldest and largest international agricultural research institute in Asia. They were shown a 20-minute video presentation, followed by a tour of the Rice Museum and a short talk at the Rice Field by an IRRI researcher. The Philippine Rice Research Institute, located at Maligaya. Muñoz, Nueva Ecija, is the central station for agricultural experimentation. It was created to develop and implement a natural rice research and development programme. All in all, this trip was just the right mix of business and pleasure, the serious business of learning something new and the pleasure of exploring a new destination.

Alston is tourism ambassador THE WELL-KNOWN musician Alston Koch has been appointed as an Ambassador for Tourism by Tourism Minister Milinda Moragoda, in Colombo. With three gold records and 18 international releases, including musical videos and the now famous Murali Song, Alston Koch migrated to Australia in 1969, having had a vibrant musical career in Sri Lanka for over a decade before that. He is also a recipient of three ARIA (Australian Record Industry Award) awards. The only Sri Lankan born musician to have an international hit overseas Alston was in Sri Lanka to perform at the immensely successful “Hikkaduwa Fest ‘08” and at the “SAARC Head of States Summit Media Event” hosted by Sri Lanka Tourism. He enthralled South Asian Media and Sri Lankan audiences with the Murali Song with a backdrop of cricket and his other hit songs Disco Lady, Try Again and Twenty Miles. A keen environmentalist, Alston has ventured to compose and present a special song for Sri FROM SRI LANKA WITH LOVE: Alston Koch Lanka Tourism’s receiving his appointment as Tourism Earth Lung Project, Ambassador from Minister Moragoda. Also in the picture are K A D George Michael, establishing her Secretary, Ministry of Tourism, Renton de efforts at mitigating Alwis, Chairman, Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion climate change. The Bureau and Dileep Mudadeniya, Managing Director, Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau. song titled A Land Like No Other was first launched at the SAARC media dinner show, held at the Trans Asia hotel, Colombo.

Beach Fest at Hikkaduwa SRI LANKA TOURISM promotions bureau led initiative to revive tourism and through it the economy of Hikkaduwa paid off with over 10000 people converging in the one time popular coastal resort town. The overwhelming response to the five-day Hikkaduwa Beach Fest that featured a jam-packed itinerary of

day and night events provided Hikkaduwa with the much-needed financial infusion that has been scarce in recent years. Both the Hikkaduwa hoteliers association and the Hikkaduwa tourist service providers association commented that the Beach Fest had definitely renewed interest in Hikkaduwa and provided some much needed financial relief to local businesses.

Malaysia is 51 The venue: Merdeka Square; the place: Malaysia; the date: August 31. The date marked a commemoration of M a l a y s i a ’s 51st year of Independence, celebrated in a joyA grand display of fireworks. ous mood by all Malaysians. For two weeks in August, the skies over Putrajaya in Malaysia was lit up with a sequence of firework performances to celebrate 31st August 2008 as Merdeka Day, Malaysia’s 51st year of Nationhood. The Merdeka Day celebrations started with the Malaysia International Fireworks Competition, or MIFC — a festival of light, music, colour and culture, providing magical experiences for all who attend. To be held in Putrajaya, the Malaysia International Fireworks Competition sees participation from renowned world-class fireworks teams from around the world like Spain, Canada, China and Malaysia, all vying to create a grand theatre of pyrotechnics. The highlight of the event was a reverberating, theme based grand finale on the eve of Merdeka Day, when the winner of the fireworks competition was chosen.

Frappe for The Park, Chennai THE PARK CHENNAI (part of Apeejay Surrendra Park Hotels, a collection of contemporary boutique hotels) emerged on top at The first Annual Frappe Lifetsyle Awards organised in Chennai. the hotel won recognition in three categories with its Asian specialty restaurant — Lotus (Best Star Restaurant), coffee shop — 601 (Best Coffee shop) and its lounge bar — The Leather Bar (Best Lounge Bar). The Annual Frappe Lifetsyle Awards were organised to celebrate the first anniversary of Frappe magazine, Chennai’s first coffee table magazine that was launched last year by Editor, Hema Sethuraman. The glittering ceremony was attended by crème da la crème of Chennai. South Indian super stars — Trisha, Ramya and Lekha were among the top draw, apart from British High Commissioner, Mike Connor and his wife Lynn. The other winners at the ceremony were: Best Restaurant (stand aloneIndian): Copper Chimney; Best Restaurant (stand alone — Asian): TOP HONOURS: A group photograph of Mainland China; Best staffers from The Park, Chennai with their Star Restaurant — India: trophies. Kebab Factory — Radisson, and; Best Beach Resort — Taj Fisherman’s Cove.

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TAAI members on South Korea visit THE TAAI MANAGING Committee was invited by the Korean Tourism Organisation (KTO) as official guests to visit Seoul, to get a first-hand experience of the country, its tourism potential as well as MICE facilities. The KTO had in view TAAI’s 2009 or 2010 annual convention. The TAAI team comprised TAAI Executive Committee Members from across India. During the visit, the team was taken to tourist intensive areas including the 63-storied building, an icon among skyscrapers in South Korea. The group was also taken on a cruise of the Han river and to the world-renowned Lotte World Theme Park, ranked as the world’s largest indoor theme amusement park. The next day, the team visited KINTAAI Managing Committee members at the High 1 Resort. TEX, which is around 30 km from Seoul. KINTEX is a venue for conventions and lion won for building the High 1 with 18 ski slopes near the the TAAI members were provided a comhotel. prehensive overview of all the facilities. Finally, TAAI team visited the COEX centre in the KINTEX today attracts world-class exhiheart of Seoul, which could be chosen as one of the most bitions and conventions through vigorous probable and acceptable venue for a future TAAI convenmarketing activities, promoting it as the tion. One of South Korea’s largest convention and exhibimarketplace for show casing top-ranked tion centres with state-of-the-art facilities, the site has a TAAI Vice-President Rajinder Rai domestic and international organisations. shopping mall, two luxury hotels, a multiplex cinema, the greets his Korean host. The TAAI members were then taken COEX aquarium and the Seven Luck Casino, all well conto the exotic High 1(Ski/ Golf/Casino) Resort located in Gangwon nected with the Intercontinental Hotel. province, which is known for its abundant winter snowfall. KangThe hosts were Tae Shik Kim, Director, New Delhi Office, KTO won Land, already famous for its casino hotel, has invested 400 bil- and the President and CEO of KTO, Jee-Chul Oh in Korea.

Himalayan Vacations with Oberoi Hotels

Khazanchand Mansion added to WelcomHeritage A NEW ADDITION to the WelcomHeritage hotels is the historic Khazanchand Mansion located at Almora in Uttaranchal, a hill station that is known for a large number of historical personalities that made it their home in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Besides its historical past, visitors to Almora can look forward to a varied landscape of nurtured gardens, meadows, deep blue skies and splendid sunsets. Set in these surroundings is the double-storied Khazanchand Mansion, bound by lawns on three sides and prominent view of the Himalayan range, including the famous Nandaghunti, Trishul, Nanda Devi, Maiktoli and Mrigthuni peaks. Built as far back as 1919, this heritage mansion Khazanchand mansion was owned by Dr Khazanchand and visited by legendary personalities that included India’s first Prime Minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, famous dancer Uday Shankar, writer cum poet Sumitra Nandan Pant and others. Khazanchand Mansion has been recently renovated and refurbished. The style of décor is in keeping with local styles but includes all necessary modern fittings.

OBEROI HOTELS and Resorts has come out with holidays offers in the hills. Guests can stay at The Oberoi Cecil in Shimla. Termed as the ‘Himalayan Vacation’, the offer includes packages priced at Rs 16,500 and Rs 28,500 for a two-night and four-night stay, respectively, and includes accommodation for two persons, complimentary transfers from Shimla railway station and back and breakfast daily. The Cecil is a heritage hotel centrally located at the quiet end of the Mall. A heaven of luxury The Oberoi Cecil Shimla. and comfort, the elegantly appointed guestrooms of the hotel offer all modern amenities. The rates are valid from October 1, 2008 until March 31, 2009. The offer is, however, not available between December 23, 2008 to January 03, 2009. The other offer is for the Wildflower Hall, also in Shimla. The special ‘Himalayan Vacation’ package is ideal for those planning a short getaway. Priced at Rs 27,000 and Rs 49,000 for a two-night and four-night stay respectively, the package includes accommodation for two persons and breakfast daily. The rates are valid from October 1, 2008 until March 31, 2009. Room supplement of Rs 6,000 per night will be applicable between December 20, 2008 to January 4, 2009.

Dubai’s Terminal 3 coming soon DUBAI AIRPORT has announced that a phased transition of operations to Dubai International's new Terminal 3 will begin from October 14, 2008. The Emirates Airline-dedicated terminal is currently undergoing operational readiness trials to ensure that customers have a comfortable experience, whether arriving, departing or in transit. The ‘soft’ opening will be implemented in four phases to ensure that systems and processes are working to the highest standards of efficiency, enabling customers to make their way through the facility as easily and speedily as possible. Terminal 3 will have multi-level underground structure measuring 300mX350m, built-up area of approximately 515,000 m², 220 check-in counters, 14 baggage belts, restaurants, first and business class lounges and 2600 underground parking spaces.

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‘Incredible India’ video premiered on SA SINGAPORE Airlines has announced the commencement of Ministry of Tourism’s award winning ‘Incredible India’ campaign videos on its flights from India — the first international airline to showcase it onboard. With this initiative, Singapore Airlines will give further impetus towards promoting India as a destination via TV commercials and films on its 58 weekly services to eight destinations in India. The ‘Incredible India’ is a major initiative by the Ministry of Tourism to promote India as a tourist destination. The campaign uses captivating visuals of India, showcasing its exciting diversity in terms of geography, heritage, culture and cuisine. Elaborating on this, Leena Nandan, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Tourism said, “India has seen a phenomenal increase in the number of tourists to India in the past few years. We attribute part of this increase to the ‘Incredible India’ campaign and to the enhanced air connectivity to India. In addition, by associating with one of the leading airline in the world, we hope to take this

PROMOTING INDIA: Leena Nandan, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Tourism and C W Foo, GMIndia, Singapore Airlines, announcing the introduction of ‘Incredible India’ videos on SA flights.

campaign to greater heights.” “India is a very important market for Singapore Airlines. We hope that this joint initiative will help in increasing awareness about the country’s myriad tourist destinations and culture at a global level,” said C W Foo, Gener-

al Manager India, Singapore Airlines. The Airline has been actively involved in promoting India across its network. In the past, it had organised trips for media and travel agents from Australia, Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Philippines, Australia, etc.

Chennai and Kozhikode receive Etihad ETIHAD RECENTLY enhanced its flights to and from India with the launch of daily flights from Abu Dhabi to Chennai and Kozhikode. The two separate launches on August 1, 2008 of the new services have increased the number of Indian destinations served by Etihad to six. Two celebrations were held to mark the launch of the flights (see photos). That also brings the total number of global destinations now served by the Abu Dhabi-based airline to 47, a number which will rise to 50 by the end of 2008 with the launch of new services to Minsk in Belarus, Moscow in Russia and Almaty in Kazakhstan. According to James Hogan, Etihad Airways’ Chief Executive: “India is an enormously important market for Etihad and one we are very keen to expand further. The appetite for air travel between Abu Dhabi and India shows no sign of relenting and we hope to grow our Indian flying programme even further in the future.”

CHENNAI PRESS CONFERENCE: (L-R on the head table) Neerja Bhatia, Country Manager — India & Sri Lanka, Etihad Airways; James Hogan, CEO, Etihad Airways; Geert Boven, EVP — Sales & Service, Etihad Airways.

AT KOZHIKODE: (L-R) Neerja Bhatia, Country Manager - India & Sri Lanka, Adrian Parkes, VP, Sales, Etihad Airways, Kerala Minister of Industries Elamaram Kareem and Haitham Subaihi, also from Etihad Airways.

CRUISING HEIGHTS September 2008

The coastal city of Kozhikode became Etihad’s third destination in Kerala, adding to its highly successful flights from Abu Dhabi to Kochi and state capital, Thiruvananthapuram. The airline has already secured flying rights to two more cities: Kolkata and Jaipur, following successful bilateral talks between the governments of the UAE and India, aimed at further liberalising flying links between the two countries. The airline is finalising the launch dates for these additional destinations, with the new services set to start in early 2009.

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A sprightly

young 85! F

innair is turning 85 this year and the airline (the fastest, by the way — from Delhi into Europe, Helsinki, in seven and a half hours flat) is celebrating with a mixture of nostalgia and the modern. First of all, it’s painting one of the fleet (an Airbus A319) in the original livery from 85 years ago and naming it “Silver Bird” — the livery of a Convair aircraft, which Finnair flew under its original name Aero in the 1950s. The name “Silver Bird” will be painted underneath the cockpit window. Finnair held a competition asking the public to name the aircraft and received thousands of suggestions. Other popular suggestions included names from the Finnish epic Kalevala, names of Finnish Presidents and cities as well as birds and flowers

beginning with blue. The “Silver Bird” will fly from its home HelsinkiVantaa airport to several cities all over Europe, but some of those flights (between July 30 and December 31, 2008) are ‘Retro flights’ — with the crew wearing retro dresses as well. The airline has also crafted a special dedicated retro website for a month and packed it with video commercials from earlier days, along with classic retro style guides to the planned destinations: Amsterdam, Barcelona, Berlin, Frankfurt, Copenhagen, London, Manchester, Milan, Oulu, Paris, Rome, Stockholm. And finally, Finnair will be the first European oneworld member to feature a special oneworld livery on the latest Airbus A340 addition to the long haul fleet as well as on a shorthaul Airbus A319 — to celebrate the 10-year membership in oneworld.

(Top to bottom) The Finnair plane with the oneworld livery; two grabs from the Finnair website and the Finnair plane with original “Sliver Bird” livery.

CRUISING HEIGHTS September 2008

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