CH august 2016

INDIA BEATS RUSSIA, CHINA, USA IN AIR PAX GROWTH

CRUISING HEIGHTS www.cruisingheights.in

AUGUST 2016 I `90

HEADWINDS @FARNBOROUGH 2016

The top airshow in the world began on a wrong note – torrential rain and the Brexit aftertaste – but there was much to celebrate about: a hundredth birthday, fair share of aircraft and engine orders and some incredible innovations

MTU Moves for an efficient engine DR STEFAN BUSAM

MANAGING THE FLEET New maintenance trend for large fleets

PROJECT ZERO FA peek at how choppers will fly DR JAMES WANG

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF'S NOTE

THE LAUGH IS ON DONALD TRUMP K Srinivasan

I

Airbus is fretting and fuming having signed the agreement in April, but there is little they can do.

It was a huge breather for them considering the Iranians were getting ready to induct the A330 classic as well as the A380 into their fleet — two aircraft where Airbus has a production issue.

Ditto for Boeing where the 777s and the 737NG were part of the order book.

The blockade looks even sillier when one looks at the easing of restrictions by the European Union on Iran Air flights. Since 2010, the state carrier wasn’t allowed into the EU barring a few exceptions. Now they have a free run of that airspace except for their oldest aircraft.

In a more recent development, the US has allowed foreign airlines to fly USmade aircraft to Iran that would virtually mean anyone navigating into Tehran. The US Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control issued a license allowing what is euphemistically called as “temporary sojourn” for plans to get into Iran.

Translation: Global airlines can now have services without worrying about American retaliation.

One strange question critics (read Republicans like Donald Trump) are asking is: Why does Iran Air need so many aircraft?

They wonder how they manage the cabin and cockpit crew for such huge fleets. And, finally, they wonder where they will find the money.

It is really weird that when the Republicans are yelling from the rooftops of all the jobs being shipped overseas, here is one industry that is bringing plenty of jobs home.

And guess what, they don’t want the deal. And they tell you that they are masters in the art of the deal.

No wonder the world is laughing at Trump and Co! WIKIPEDIA

f there is a gold medal for plain cussedness, it can be awarded to the US Congress without a moment’s hesitation. Just before that House went on recess earlier this month for the rest of the summer (roughly seven weeks) it approved several bills whose sole aim was to

block the sale or lease by Boeing commercial aircraft to Iran (a deal worth around $25 billion).

How holding up this Boeing deal (80 sold and 29 leased) makes any sense when the Americans are keen to put the past behind and improve relations with Tehran only the Congressmen in Washington can explain. Moreover, how does the blocking serve American interests? The blockage also hits the $27 billion Airbus deal for 128 jets that also requires an export licence from the US Government since many of the parts are made in the US and are covered by the present embargo.

CRUISING HEIGHTS August 2016

srini@newsline.in

3

Off the cuff

Aviation as economy booster

Air Transport Action Group (ATAG) recently launched its 2016 ‘Aviation: Benefits Beyond Borders’ report, at the United Nations High Level Political Forum’s Sustainable Development Goal Business Day in New York stating the economic contribution of the aviation industry. According to the report, the industry supports 62.7 million jobs and generates $2.7 trillion GDP worldwide.

As per the report, 54 per cent of all international tourists travel by air and 35 per cent of international trade by value also travels by air. Over the next two decades aviation supported jobs are set to increase to 99 billion and $5.9 trillion GDP. Highest growth has been forecast for Africa, the Middle East and Asia-Pacific as they have fast-developing aviation sectors. This forecast is dependent on a number of factors such as airspace modernisation, infrastructure development and capacity improvements and the continued liberalisation of the sector, that is, reduction in air fares and greater access to air transport.

Sustainable development is one of the important themes of the industry as it is set to support the global climate action plan. ATAG Executive Director, Michael Gill said, “We found that air transport in some way supports 14 of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals, from decent work and economic growth to quality education and reduced inequalities. By continuing to grow in a sustainable manner, aviation can strive to be a force for good for many years to come.”

He added, "We need support from governments around the world to agree on a key part of that plan at the upcoming International Civil Aviation Organization Assembly, where we hope an agreement can be reached on a global offsetting scheme for air transport. It is a vital part of our industry’s future role in helping to support development worldwide.”

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contents

…BUT IT WAS BUSINESS AS USUAL

p28

Coming as it did under the shadow of the Brexit referendum and pouring rain on the first day, the Farnborough Air Show opened its doors to showcase the best in the aviation industry. In fact, despite the headwinds, the show surpassed industry expectations with almost a hundred different kinds of aircraft on show and recorded orders and options to the value of $123.9 billion.

GLOBAL DIGEST

p10

While Jet Airways gets ready to raise $180 million, MAS is all set for the biggest turnaround in aviation history. But it was AirAsia that attracted all the attention with its 100 airplane order. Also, a report on how Etihad Group will support 108,000 jobs across the US in 2016.

CRUISING HEIGHTS August 2016

CH SPECIAL

p36

Airbus has entered the era of backto-back maintenance for large fleets with the A350. It expects over 70 per cent of the fleet to be completely managed by itself and in some cases, with Rolls Royce. It looks like this will be the way forward for the industry. A special report.

contents ARTICLES NEWS VIEWS EDITS INTERVIEWS CLIPPINGS PROFILES NEWS DIGEST

CHOPPERS

NET EXPRESS

p48

p54

CRUISING HEIGHTS VOLUME XI n NO 3

The hyper-active environment in the helicopters section at Farnborough proved the growing realisation that choppers extended the reach and expanded the capabilities of businesses, governments and security agencies. Plus, Flightglobal’s Ascend consultancy’s forecast about Asia-Pacific’s share of commercial helicopter deliveries to rise to 37 per cent in 2025.

Editor-in-Chief

K SRINIVASAN Managing Editor

TIRTHANKAR GHOSH

Group Consulting Editor

To combat bad weather, the Indian Meteorological department had been working on a proposal to install Doppler weather radars exclusively for airports. Also, 91 per cent of airlines globally plan to invest in cyber security programmes and Travelport was awarded the ‘Best GDS’ title.

SNIPPETS

p62

R KRISHNAN

Consulting Editor

M MURLIDHARAN Senior Proof Reader

RAJESH VAID

Assistant Editor

NIDHI SHARMA Correspondent

NAYANTARA SRINIVASAN, SUBHASH YADAV Designer

NAGENDER DUBEY Picture Editor

PRADEEP CHANDRA

Photo Editor

H C TIWARI

BIZJET

p52

Staff Photographer

HEMANT RAWAT

The slow market was the new normal for business jets at Farnborough. Even so, the G500 made its European debut and the BBJ Max attracted attention.

Director (Admin & Corporate Affairs)

RAJIV SINGH

Director (Marketing)

CAROLYN RUSSO

Vistara has introduced the Corporate Upgrade offer for corporate customers; Air India has introduced prepaid baggage allowance; flydubai is all set to launch a double daily service to Bangkok and IndiGo has started flying to Dubai from Chandigarh while Cathay Pacific goes the gourmet way.

BACK PAGE

p66

Helsinki Airport staged a new exhibition, Art of the Airport Tower by Carolyn Russo. It brought a few of the world’s most interesting control towers to the centre of Helsinki Airport.

INDIA BEATS RUSSIA, CHINA, USA IN AIR PAX GROWTH

CRUISING HEIGHTS www.cruisingheights.in

AUGUST 2016 I `90

HEADWINDS @FARNBOROUGH 2016

The top airshow in the world began on a wrong note – torrential rain and the Brexit aftertaste – but there was much to celebrate about: a hundredth birthday, fair share of aircraft and engine orders and some incredible innovations

MTU Moves for an efficient engine DR STEFAN BUSAM

MANAGING THE FLEET New maintenance trend for large fleets

PROJECT ZERO FA peek at how choppers will fly DR JAMES WANG

COVER DESIGN NAGENDER DUBEY

The total number of pages in this issue: 68

CRUISING HEIGHTS August 2016

RAKESH GERA

Legal Advisor

VASU SHARMA Subscription

ALKA SHARMA Distribution

PANKAJ KUMAR, BHUSAN KUMAR

Executive Director

RENU MITTAL

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+91-9810030533, 9810159332 Editorial & Marketing office: Newsline Publications Pvt. Ltd., D-11(Basement) Nizamuddin East, New Delhi –110 013, Tel: +91-11-41033381-82 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.

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5

PERISCOPE IF WISHES WERE HORSES “Airlines are like a horse. We can take them to the water but can’t force them to drink.”

ASHOK P GAJAPATHI RAJU, Civil Aviation Minister, replying in the Lok Sabha on the reluctance of carriers to fly to small towns.

WANTED: GHOSTBUSTERS “Ghost airports are ghosts for a reason -- not enough business potential currently…Yet hundreds of A320s on order. Where will they all fly, am really curious!”

SANJIV KAPOOR, Chief Strategy and Commercial Officer, Vistara on the urgent need for enhancement of infrastructure to accommodate the country’s aviation growth

LETTERS TO EDITOR

AWAITING DOOMSDAY

The Cover Story, The Game Changer – really! (July 2016) informed us about the new civil aviation policy which CIVIL AVIATION POLICY was released recently by Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapati Raju. The IATA: policy has made some changes that will MC 21: be fruitful for the country like 0/20 rule but no changes have been made in the regulatory framework, which will drag the aviation industry. Also, the country is lagging in infrastructure. Despite having 450 airports and airstrips, the country has only 75 that see scheduled operations.

We can only wait and watch how this policy helps the country’s aviation industry or will it be another stone thrown in the dark.

Rihan Qadeer, New Delhi ITQ ON PARADIGM SHIFT IN THE WAY TRAVEL IS BOUGHT AND SOLD

CRUISING HEIGHTS www.cruisingheights.in

JULY 2016 I `90

DOES THE NEW

FIT THE BILL?

Tony Tyler

WHAT’S NEW FROM DUBLIN?

FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE! CAN IT BREAK THE DUOPOLY?

Alexandre de Juniac

Brexit: Implications for aviation Richard Branson

Hassan Rouhani

Iran: Selling aircraft to the enemy?

Make in India: First step for Boeing-TATA tie-up S Ramadorai

The CH Special story — Bonhomie, a new chief and bitter truths (July 2016) — about the 72nd annual general meeting of the IATA at Dublin put the current status of the aviation industry in the right perspective. While it was good to know that airlines have started paying off their debts, it is a matter of concern that the whole process will take quite some time, as enunciated by Tony Tyler, IATA’s CEO and Director General. On the other side, however, Tyler was blunt when he said that the times were hard for the aviation industry to prosper — now that the world was emerging from the economic downturn. Your first-hand report from Dublin was clear and concise about the way the aviation industry will perform over the next few years.

Shailza Sharma, Pathankot The story, Worldwide bizav rebound coming (July 2016) was optimistic to say the least. According to a study by airframer Bombardier, half the aircraft deliveries (3,930 units) would go to the North American operators, while another 1,530 would be for Europe. Bombardier also forecast 8,300 business jet deliveries worldwide from 2016 to 2025, valued at $250 billion. The airframer also said that significant growth was expected in the long-term and more than 50 per cent of that value would be from large cabin craft. Let us hope that the business aviation industry thrives.

Sanjay Pundhir, Mumbai

“Indian carriers are once again getting trapped in a pricing hole...The second quarter of the current financial year is heading towards a major financial disaster and with massive capacity induction cycle beginning by the third quarter, we are back to a profitless growth environment unless (there is) discipline.”

KAPIL KAUL, CEO South Asia, CAPA, on the effects of a price war among airlines.

WHAT PERFORMANCE? “I had Independent charge of two ministries and that was an extra charge. After that, 19 more ministers had to be accommodated.

Tourism is the Prime Minister's favourite ministry.”

DR MAHESH SHARMA, Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Tourism and Culture, on why he was relieved of his charge of Civil Aviation and not because of his ‘non performance’ in the ministry.

THE SECOND COMING “I am not going to storm in like a bull in China shop like Vijay Mallya did, and get caught. Now we have a (civil aviation) policy and the policy is very clear on what we have to do. So talk to us in a few years time.”

TONY FERNANDES, CEO, AirAsia (Berhad) Group, on the growth plans for Air Asia India.

All correspondence may be addressed to Editor, Cruising Heights, D-11 Basement, Nizamuddin East, New Delhi -110013, OR mail to cruisingheights@newsline.in

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CRUISING HEIGHTS August 2016

PROFITS FIRST AND LAST “We have seen over the last couple of years that you can be consistently profitable if your cost position is good. And if your cost position is good, you can expand. Profitability is the main thing; sustainable, profitable growth.”

WOLFGANG PROCK-SCHAUER, CEO, Go Air, on the business model followed by his airline.

Boosting the passenger experience Emirates: From recent investments in technology like the launch of its upgraded IFE system in late-2015 and the rollout of inductive charging trays in some premium lounges has been led by Adel Ahmad Al Redha, EVP and Chief Operations Officer.

Qatar Airways: The first carrier in the Middle East to achieve IATA’s Fast Travel Platinum status in recognition of its self-service efforts. The customer experience on offer today is led by Rossen Dimitrov, Senior Vice President Customer Experience.

Etihad Airways: ‘The Residence’ is the clearest example of the carrier’s willingness to invest in creating unique, high-end experiences and this has brought Calum Laming, Vice President Guest Experience position No 4.

Delta Air Lines: The carrier has made a number of significant passengerfocused statements in recent months that have been led by Gil West, Executive Vice President & COO.

COLD STATS

The FTE (Future Travel Experience) Airline Passenger Experience Power List is an independent initiative that identifies the 25 airline employees who are most empowered to enhance the end-to-end passenger experience, both at their own airline and on a global scale by raising customer experience benchmarks, according to the FTE website (futuretravelexperience.com). It goes on to mention that the Power List is not simply a ranking of today’s top 25 airline customer experiences, but a list of the top 25 individuals who have led significant customer-focused improvements over the last 12 months and have the ability, experience and tools at their disposal to further enhance the end-to-end customer experience in the months ahead. We list the top five.

American Airlines: The leader in the list has been investing to improving its customer experience both on the ground and in-flight. All this has given American Airlines’ Robert Isom, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, the top spot on the 2016 FTE Airline Passenger Experience Power List.

LOOKING GLASS

FUTURE OF ELECTION CAMPAIGNS? Rajni shows the way… get your own face on an airplane

BOEING’S GOT A PROBLEM “(Boeing) clearly has a problem with the A321neo. Globally, our market share is 59 per cent Neo versus MAX, but if we take the A321neo versus the -9, we have an 80 per cent market share…Everything is better, and the customers have noticed that.”

FABRICE BREGIER, CEO, Airbus, on the products he offers.

WHAT PROBLEM? THERE’S NO PROBLEM! “Since we launched the MAX, it has been about a 50/50 market share with the Neo. Our competitor has enjoyed some success at higher seat counts, between the MAX 9 and the A321neo…I don’t think we need to have a sense of urgency that forces us to do something quickly or defensively.”

DENNIS MUILENBURG, President and CEO, Boeing, dismissing the need for urgency to respond to the A321neo.

CRUISING HEIGHTS August 2016

7

NEWS DIGEST/ALLIANCES

Star’s new check-in concept at Narita S

tar Alliance recently completed the rollout of a new checkin concept in the south wing at Tokyo – Narita Terminal 1, offering customers a wider choice of check-in options and giving them more control over this part of the travel process, thereby saving time. To achieve this, the layout of the check-in area was changed. Fliers will now find the check-in desks allocated by the airline rather than class of travel, as was previously the case in Narita.

The revised layout goes hand in hand with the installation of new self-service check-in machines which, in addition to issuing boarding passes, also print baggage tags. This makes Star Alliance the first airline alliance to offer international travellers from Japan the option of self-printing and self-tagging. “Our initiative in Narita is part of our global strategy of reducing operational complexities and striving for standardisation with the aim of providing customers with a better travel experience”, said Mark Schwab, CEO, Star Alliance. “Initial statistics show that the majority of travellers are already making use of the new self-service option,” Schwab pointed out.

The 116 new common use kiosks form the backbone of the new concept at Narita. These allow customers to check-in for

any of the 17 Star Alliance member carriers flying from Terminal 1. Passengers with hand luggage only can proceed directly to the gate, while those with checked luggage can obtain the corresponding tag from the kiosk, apply it, and then proceed to special baggage drop-off counters. Full service check-in desks

oneworld’s online training covers full range of fare products

CODESHARE

oneworld has expanded its online training resources for travel agents to cover its full suite of fare products. A release from the global airline alliance points out that it offers a wider range of fares than any of the other alliances, for trips around the world or through several or just one continent, all at attractive prices. They offer the flexibility of flights on any of oneworld’s 14 member airlines and their 30 affiliated carriers, serving more than a thousand destinations in more than 150 countries.

The oneworld Training Academy’s original module, launched two years ago, focusses on the alliance’s market-leading, flagship, continentbased round-the-world fare, oneworld Explorer. Thousands of travel agents worldwide have already used it to brush

up on their round-the-world selling skills.

Now another three modules have been added, covering: • Global Explorer, oneworld’s miles-based round-the-world fare that includes flights by some strategic partner airlines that are not part of the alliance, extending the range of its network still further.

• Circle Fares, which enable travellers to fly to the other side of the world and then back, without going all the way round the world.

• Visit Passes, offering travel within one continent or region, with options covering every continent (apart from Antarctica).

These additional modules are avail-

able in a choice of seven languages at travelagent.oneworld.com. The e-learning lessons, each of which can be completed in around 30 minutes, are designed to equip travel agents to sell these fares confidently and correctly. They lead participants through a series of product lessons, with engaging interactive exercises and sample itineraries, covering all the command entries needed to book these fares through all the key GDSs enabling travel agents to book them quickly and easily. Once successfully completing a module, the “oneworld Fares Specialist” diploma can be downloaded and printed.

Participants successfully completing all modules will receive a “master” certificate.

KLM in Air France-China Eastern JV

Qatar Airways partners with Malindo Air

KLM Royal Dutch Airlines had said it had acceded to a joint venture agreement currently in place between sister carrier Air France and China Eastern Airlines. As part of the enhanced cooperation between the carriers, both KLM and China Eastern will codeshare on each other's Amsterdam-Shanghai Pudong services in addition to three new destinations. “With this new joint venture, Air FranceKLM and the Chinese airline have agreed to consolidate their alliance and optimize routes to Shanghai,” a joint communique said.

Malindo Air has teamed up with Qatar Airways to offer passengers seamless travel and greater connectivity when travelling between ASEAN and more than 100 destinations in Qatar Airways’ network.

Due to a new bilateral interline agreement that took effect on July 8, 2016, the enhanced connectivity is coupled with the facility of a single reservation across both airlines’ networks. Qatar Airways, as a result of the partnership, can now tap into Malindo Air’s short-haul regional network that currently serves 36 cities in 13 countries.

8

CRUISING HEIGHTS August 2016

for First, Business and Star Alliance Gold customers as well as for Economy Class passengers requiring additional support complete the offer. In terms of capacity, with both the number of Star Alliance carriers serving Narita and the passenger volume increasing, additional check-in space would have been needed.

In addition to Narita, Star Alliance has made changes to the check-in concept at São Paulo – Guarulhos and Los Angeles Tom Bradley International Terminal based on the experience the Alliance made during the Terminal 2 project at London – Heathrow Airport, where a completely new check-in concept was put into place. There, all Star Alliance member airlines use the same check-in kiosks, make use of common bag-drop counters and even share Economy Class check-in desks. Using the success of the Terminal 2 project as a base, the Alliance has been enhancing the customer experience at other airports.

Qatar to explore raising stake in IAG

Q

atar Airways wants to increase its stake in British Airways owner IAG. The move comes after the company lost a third of its market value as a result of the Brexit referendum.

According to media reports, Qatar Airways, IAG’s largest shareholder, was keen to boost its holding to about 20 per cent from 15 per cent.

Meanwhile, LATAM Airlines Group and Qatar Airways have entered into a subscription agreement providing for Qatar Airways to acquire up to 10 per cent of LATAM’s total shares, which will be acquired in connection with a capital increase.

The tie-up was inked at the Farnborough Air Show by the CEOs of both the airlines, Akbar Al Baker, Group Chief Executive of Qatar Airways and Enrique Cueto, CEO of LATAM. …And also takes 49 per cent of Meridiana: Qatar has signed a contribution and shareholders agreement with Alisarda, the parent company of Meridiana, to acquire a significant interest in the Italian airline. The agreement provides for QA to purchase 49 per cent of Meridiana fly’s shares, subject to certain conditions, before the closing planned for early October.

Is Alitalia leaving SkyTeam?

A

litalia could be ending its membership with SkyTeam.

This at a time when the Italian flag-carrier has taken steps to widen its network with more flights to North America.

According to reports, Alitalia CEO Cramer Ball mentioned during an Italian government hearing about the airline, that though “SkyTeam (is a) long and good partnership”, and “(it) has had significant benefits”, the airline was changing. “Alitalia,” said Ball, “is changing and wants to be master of its own destiny...we have to grow in the markets that interest us.” He emphasised that “the North Atlantic is a very important sector for us”.

Alitalia Chairman Luca Cordero di Montezemolo also mentioned that the carrier could not “increase flights to North America, which is the richest market. We are not free to do this if you do not have the authorisation from our partners”, he said.

CEO Ball wants the Italian national carrier to become the best airline in Europe. “Our goal is not just to be good.

Our goal is to be the best at what we do, the best airline in Europe,” he had said.

Meanwhile, SkyTeam has enhanced its Global Meetings product, a dedicated travel solution for the Meetings Industry. Now, it will make arranging travel to international meetings and events easier than earlier. Among the new features are an upgraded schedule page and benefits at a glance.

While the upgraded schedule page is an easy-to-read table summarizing SkyTeam airlines operating services to the chosen destination on the required date of travel with a range of prices so attendees can easily choose an option that best suits their needs, the benefits at-a-glance shows an updated welcome page for attendees including more detailed information about the benefits of booking travel via Global Meetings. According to Edward Hollo, SkyTeam’s Manager Commercial Development, “The take-up of our Global Meetings product has increased 18 per cent year-over-year with a number of high-profile organisations choosing SkyTeam as their preferred alliance partner for their international events. Our innovative approach means we have developed a product tailored to every aspect of the meetings industry in terms of size, network scope and value.”

Air New Zealand, Singapore codeshare

American, Korean tie-up

Air New Zealand and Singapore Airlines new alliance will see the two operating codeshare on each other’s flights between New Zealand and Singapore. Codeshare services will also be available to more than 75 other destinations throughout New Zealand, Southeast Asia, the UK, Europe and South Africa. This comprehensive network delivers greater connectivity and frequency while Air New Zealand’s newly refurbished Boeing 777-200ER and Singapore Airline’s A380 operating between New Zealand and Singapore ensure a premium experience.

American Airlines and Korean Air have signed an agreement to begin codesharing. Pending regulatory approval, Korean Air will place its code on American Airlines flights between Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) and Incheon International Airport (ICN) in Seoul, South Korea. The new agreement will allow Korean Air SKYPASS members to earn miles when travelling on American-operated flights between DFW and ICN.

CRUISING HEIGHTS August 2016

9

GLOBAL DIGEST/AIRLINE

Oman wants more

Jet Airways in talks to raise $180 million Jet Airways is in talks with lenders to raise upto $180 million through a loan, according to media reports. The loan will meet the working capital requirements and also fund expansion plans. The airline, partly-owned by Abu Dhabi’s Etihad Airways, was planning to raise $150 million, but that amount could rise to $180 million based on demand, the sources said. The airline reported its first annual profit since 2007, saying it made a net profit of `12.12 billion ($180 million) in the year ended March 31. Thomson Reuters data stated that the company was last in the market in December 2014 when it borrowed $150 million from banks over a five-year period for general corporate purposes.

MAS all set for ‘biggest turnaround’ Peter Bellew, Malaysia Airlines’ new boss, has said that the carrier was on track for the ‘biggest turnaround’ in aviation history. In an interview to the Irish Independent, the chief executive said that it was high time that the airline put the double tragedies of 2014 behind it. “I don’t think you can ever forget,” he said, “but I don’t think we can dwell on it forever and we need to go forward from there.”

Bellew informed that he would continue the $1.5bn turnaround plan hatched by him and former CEO Christoph Mueller, and said that there was still lots that needed to be done. “It’s probably the toughest job you could have in aviation at the moment. I don’t think any other carrier will have ever come from where Malaysia Airlines has been. In three or four years, people will look back, and think ‘wow’. It’s nice to be part of that,” he PETER BELLEW said.

10

Oman Air, which flies to 11 Indian cities, and competing with the big three Gulf airlines is seeking an over 36 per cent increase in bilateral flying rights from India.

Paul Gregorowitsch, CEO of the Muscat-based Oman Air said the airline will knock on the doors of the Indian government to request bilateral rights to fly at least 29,000 seats a week from the current 21,147.

He also told mediapersons that Oman Air operated 126 flights a week between Muscat and India. Indian operations were partly profitable barring a few destinations like Goa, which was launched last year. Gregorowitsch admitted that the airline received a subsidy from the Oman government.

The airline had recently pointed out that it wanted PAUL GREGOROWITSCH an extra 8,000 weekly seats on flights to India within two years, increasing its current share by around 40 per cent to 29,820. That would give it more than Qatar’s 24,800 weekly seats but less than Dubai’s 65,000 seats and Abu Dhabi’s 49,670 seats, according to Indian newswire PTI.

Etihad sponsors WorldSkills

Etihad Airways is the official airline sponsor of WorldSkills Abu Dhabi 2017 — the biggest vocational education and skills excellence event in the world. The event will bring more than 3,000 competitors and industry experts from up to 75 countries to the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre (ADNEC) between October 14 to 17, 2017.

The 44th edition of the competition will represent the first time that the event has been held in the Middle East and will be the largest and most complex event to be hosted at the ADNEC in the lead up to Expo 2020 Dubai.

WorldSkills Abu Dhabi 2017, which will be hosted by the Abu Dhabi Center for Technical and Vocational Education and Training (ACTVET), aims to increase the prestige of vocational careers by challenging young people to become the best in the skill of their choice. The competition is a major coup for Abu Dhabi as the emirate continues to transition into a diversified knowledgebased economy in line with the Abu Dhabi Economic Vision 2030.

Peter Baumgartner, Etihad Airways’ Chief Executive Officer, said: “It is a great honour to be named as an official partner of such a prestigious competition. The event will provide the perfect opportunity for those attending to experience the very best of Arabian hospitality whilst enjoying state of the art facilities and modern infrastructure in a thriving and cosmopolitan city.”

CRUISING HEIGHTS August 2016

Boeing’s Iran hurdle The US House led by Republicans recently approved two amendments to a financial services spending bill. The motive for this bill is to block Boeing’s planned sale of over 100 aircraft to Iran’s national airline Iran Air. “I am extremely concerned that by relaxing the rules, the Obama administration has allowed US companies to be complicit in weaponizing the Iranian regime,” Representative Bill Huizenga, Chairman of the Monetary Policy and Trade Subcommittee, said in a statement. One of the amendments that has been approved bars the Office of Foreign Assets Control from using funds to authorise a license necessary to allow planes to be sold to Iran, while the other one seeks to ensure that Iran does not receive loans from American financial institutions to buy military-fungible planes.

The move came a month after a historic $25 billion deal in June between Boeing and Iran Air. The tie-up came under increasing scrutiny by lawmakers and Washington aired

concerns that it may violate sanctions still in place and said that the new planes may be used

by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, which remains under sanctions.

“Boeing is signing a deal with an Iranian aviation company and an industry complicit in the regime’s weapons proliferation and destabilizing adventurism,” Mark Dubowitz, Executive Director of the Washingtonbased think tank Foundation for Defense of Democracies, said in a testimony submitted to the Financial Services Committee. “Boeing and those banking this deal face a due diligence nightmare. They cannot prevent their planes from being used by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, for example, for deadly airlifts to Syria’s Bashar al-Assad and Lebanese Hezbollah.”

Iran, however, says the deal to purchase 80 planes and lease another 29 is needed to replace the country’s ageing fleet of passenger jets.

AirAsia scores a century AirAsia has signed a firm order with Airbus for the purchase of 100 A321neo aircraft. The contract, announced at the Farnborough Airshow by AirAsia Group Chief Executive Officer Tony Fernandes and Airbus President and CEO Fabrice Brégier, marks the first order placed by AirAsia for the largest model in the best-selling A320 family. Seating up to 236 passengers in a single class layout, the A321neo will enable the airline to increase capacity while benefitting from the lowest operating costs in the single aisle category.

The development witnesses the total number of A320 family ordered by AirAsia rise to 575, reaffirming the carrier’s position as the largest airline customer for the Airbus single aisle product line. To date, over 170 A320s have already been delivered to the airline and are flying with its units in Malaysia, Thailand,

India, Indonesia and the Philippines.

Tony Fernandes, AirAsia Group Chief Executive Officer said, “AirAsia Group currently operates close to 1,000 flights per day to more than 120 destinations in 24 countries…

CRUISING HEIGHTS August 2016

CHO HYUN-MIN

All in the family at Jin Air

Cho Hyun-min, youngest daughter of Hanjin Group chairman Cho Yang-ho was promoted to Executive Vice President at Jin Air, the group’s flagship Korean Air’s budget airline.

Cho will remain as Jin Air’s marketing chief even after the promotion, the Korean media informed.

A reshuffle was announced recently by Jin Air, elevating the status of its maintenance team to a division with aims to put more focus on aviation safety. In April, the Cho Yangho’s son Cho Won-tae was named as new President of Jin Air. The Chairman’s eldest daughter, Cho Hyun-ah, former Vice President of Korean Air, stepped down from all executive positions after public criticism over the socalled “nut rage” incident in late 2014.

The A321neo will help us to meet ongoing strong demand as well as further reduce our cost per Available Seat Kilometre across the group, which will translate to lower air fares for our guests. We would like to congratulate Airbus for producing the state-of-the-art A321neo aircraft that meets our requirements for efficient operations.”

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GLOBAL DIGEST/AIRLINE

Hefty fine for LATAM LATAM Airlines Group has agreed to pay more than $22 million in civil and criminal fines relating to a decade-old Argentine bribery case. Chile-based carrier LATAM will pay $12.75 million to the US Justice Department and $9.4 million including interest to the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which stem from an investigation into payments made in 2006-2007 by LAN airlines,

which merged with Brazil’s TAM in 2012 to create LATAM. It was related to “improper payments authorised by LAN during a dispute between the airline and its union employees in Argentina”, the company said in a separate statement. LAN had used an Argentine consultant to negotiate with unions on the company’s behalf and paid the consultant via a sham contract that channeled funds to

corrupt union officials, the SEC said.

The Justice Department said in a statement that LAN had entered into a “fictitious $1.15 million consulting agreement with an adviser to the Secretary of Argentina’s Ministry of Transportation.” However, no consulting services were ever provided, and instead the money was funneled to union officials “in exchange for the union

agreeing to accept lower wages and to not enforce what would have been a costly labor rule.”

LAN was said to have profited by over $6.7 million thanks to the bribes.

In a separate statement, LATAM acknowledged LAN violated accounting rules of the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and said it had agreed to retain an independent compliance monitor for 27 months.

Etihad big supporter of US jobs, economy Etihad Aviation Group (EAG) and its equity partner airlines will support 108,000 jobs across the USA in 2016 and make a $10.7 billion contribution to the national economy this year, demonstrating a significant impact in one of the world’s largest economies, according to a leading global consultancy.

The diversified and commercially driven Abu Dhabi-based global aviation and travel group has key interests in the United States operating to six gateway cities across the country. Its economic contribution includes capital spending with US-based suppliers that supports tens of thousands of domestic jobs. In 2016, EAG’s core economic contribution to the US economy will be $3.8 billion in Gross Domestic Product (GDP), supporting 30,300 jobs. This consists of the US impact from EAG’s global operations and its capital spending with US-based suppliers, largely due to Etihad Airways’ capital investment in new aircraft, cabin interiors and IT infrastructure. This employment translates to domestic spending, delivering $2.9 billion to the country’s GDP. In addition, spending by the 280,000 international visitors carried into the US on Etihad Airways’ flights during 2016 will also leave a considerable economic footprint.

This is estimated to contribute $1.9 billion in GDP, supporting around 22,400 American jobs.

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ALL SMILES: James Hogan President and CEO, Etihad Aviation Group cuts the ribbon to inaugurate the lounge at LAX

The US economy is further boosted by the impact of the operations and services of EAG’s equity partner airlines. Together, they will deliver $1.6 billion to the GDP, with a further $3.4 billion tourism contribution. In turn, they will support 13,700 jobs through their core operation, with a further 41,100 jobs supported through the tourism industry.

Meanwhile, in a boost to its US operations, Etihad Airways has officially opened its new First and Business Class Lounge within the Tom Bradley International Ter-

CRUISING HEIGHTS August 2016

minal at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX). The lounge reflects a commitment to delivering exceptional hospitality experiences for First and Business Class guests departing on Etihad Airways’ daily EY170 Boeing 777 services from the US West Coast’s commercial and entertainment hub.

The new facility moves away from the normal conventions of airport lounge design, and features the same ‘Modern Arabian’ decorative elements which characterize Etihad Airways’ new international lounges.

Fo

Brexit gives easyJet £40 million punch

Brexit has caused a £40 million million in costs. ($52.5 million) currency hit for Passenger numbers were easyJet. This was due to the deup 5.8 per cent at 20.2 million, valuation of the pound since the which absorbed 5.5 per cent UK voted to leave the European capacity growth and pushed Union on June 23. its load factor up As it enters its fi0.3 of a point to nal quarter, the 92 per cent. While UK budget carrier passenger numwarned the ecobers were up, total nomic and operatrevenue fell 2.6 per ing environment cent to £1.2 billion was ‘difficult and and revenue per uncertain’. seat fell 8.3 per A media report cent at constant CAROLYN MCCALL stated Carolyn Mccurrency, or 7.7 Call, CEO, easyJet per cent on a reportas saying, “The most tangible ed basis, to £54.54 per seat. effect (of Brexit) has been the Looking ahead to the fourth devaluation of the pound both quarter, easyJet said revenue against the dollar and euro. The per seat had fallen around 7.5 swing from June 23 against us per cent at constant currency. on our unhedged (currency) is How this will develop remains £40 million. That’s just since uncertain. “Capacity is expected June…so that’s quite signifito grow in the fourth quarter cant.” by 6 per cent,” it said. “Cost More, easyJet’s figures per seat excluding fuel at conhave been dampened by air stant currency is expected to traffic control strikes, runway decrease by 1 per cent for the closures at London Gatwick Airfull year.” easyJet was expecting port, severe weather and general that its fuel bill will fall by £75decline in consumer confidence £85 million compared with the caused by the terror attacks in six months to Sept. 30, 2015, various parts of Europe. Over taking it to £160-£170 million the three-month period, these in savings across the full year. events caused 1,221 cancellaHowever, exchange rates were tions, compared with 726 in the likely to have a £45 million ad2015 3Q. EasyJet described this verse impact, increasing to £80 as “exceptionally high levels of million for the whole 12-month disruption,” which added £20 period.

Lufthansa reduces 2016 profit forecast In the wake of repeated terrorist attacks in Europe and growing political and economic uncertainty, Germany’s biggest airline witnessed a significant decline in advanced long-haul bookings to Europe, causing it to lower its full-year profit forecast. Lufthansa’s executive board recently lowered its forecast for adjusted Earnings Before Interest and Taxes (EBIT) 2016 from “slightly above previous year” to “below previous year,” despite an earnings performance of “above previous year” in the 2016 1H. Helmut Tolksdorf, spokesperson, Lufthansa, recently told a media publication: “An adjusted EBIT of €1.8 billion ($1.95 billion) is our core target. In March, we expected to reach that target, to be slightly above 2015. But we also realized that long-term bookings (had dropped). Inbound passengers, such as from the Far East, were booking (either) short-time or even less (because of) the current situation in Europe.”

Lufthansa Group reported a 2015 net profit of

HEIGHTS 2016 For more information call 1800 102 CRUISING 3000 or visitAugust vsflyinghub.com

€1.7 billion ($1.9 billion), up significantly from a net profit of €55 million in 2014. For the 2016 3Q, the executive board expects significantly weaker unit revenues for

the Passenger Airline Group business segment, and expects unit revenues to fall 8-9 per cent in the 2H. Planned capacity growth for passenger airlines has been cut from 6 per cent to 5.4 per cent for the full year.

Lufthansa generated revenues of €15 billion in 1H 2016, slightly down from €15.4 billion year-over-year.

Adjusted EBIT increased to €529 million from €468 million, and the Passenger Airline Group business segment achieved an adjusted EBIT of €441 million, up from €249 million compared to the 1H.

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GLOBAL DIGEST/AIRCRAFT

Holding pattern for super-jumbo

Boeing’s 737 Max 8 firmly on schedule After Boeing flew close to 300 test flights with four flight test airplanes, the company has said that its 737 Max 8 programme is firmly on schedule. Boeing’s engineers have been working to close testing on the first airplane by the end of September.

FABRICE BREGIER

Airbus has said that it will more than halve production of the A380s. The company informed recently that it will reduce monthly production in 2018 from the current 2.5 per month to one. Fabrice Bregier, CEO, Airbus, said in a statement about his company’s production cut decision that “the A380 is here to stay … we are maintaining, innovating and investing in the A380.”

Airbus said it had reached break-even point in 2015, when it delivered 27 of the A380s. It stressed that accelerating production of its other commercial jets, including the fast-selling 150-seat A320 and its recent long-range wide-body, the A350, would likely offset any A380 job losses. The A380 aircraft — which lists for more than $400 million — was introduced in 2007 with great fanfare and was marketed to airlines as a new industry flagship that would help relieve congestion at the world’s busiest aviation hubs while restoring cruise-ship style glamour to intercontinental air travel.

However, it has not been an easy aircraft to sell, with four engines and a 560-tonne frame. Despite the grandeur, only twelve airlines have displayed interest in the aircraft, as carriers become conscious of fuel economy. While no US carrier has ordered the A380, Emirates is the only airline to have placed a major order of 142, of which 75 are already in service. Singapore Airlines and Qantas Airways, have bought 20 aircraft or more.

DGs meet

The 53rd Conference of the Directors General of Civil Aviation of the Asia and Pacific Region was held in Colombo, Sri Lanka

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The aircraft is scheduled for certification and entry into service with Southwest Airlines during the third quarter of 2017. Boeing executives have claimed that as well as living up to its “Right at First Flight” mantra, the programme has also executed a virtually flawless flight test campaign. Speaking to mediapersons at Boeing’s Seattle Flight Test Center, 737 Max Chief Project Engineer Michael Teal explained that Boeing had performed most of the programme’s stability and control work, including handling characteristics and flutter testing with the first flight test.

Windows for the B737: GKN Aerospace has signed a multi-million dollar long term agreement (LTA) with Spirit Aerosystems to supply windows for the advanced passenger cabin of the Boeing NextGeneration 737 and 737 MAX until the end of 2025. GKN Aerospace, at its transparencies facility in Garden Grove, California, has been the single source supplier of Next-Generation 737 passenger cabin windows (PCW) to Spirit for a decade.

The GKN Aerospace PCW for the Boeing 737 family is protected by the company’s industryleading CrystalVue II abrasion resistant coating. This provides the best optical clarity and longest operational life of any cabin window on the market today. CrystalVue II-coated cabin windows are the standard fit on all Boeing aircraft and over two million of these windows are in-service today on the aircraft of many manufacturers around the world.

CS300 gets certification Bombardier’s CS300 aircraft has been awarded Type Certification by Transport Canada.

Delivery of the first CS300 airliner to airBaltic of Latvia is scheduled for the fourth quarter of 2016 and the aircraft is currently in production at the C Series production facility in Mirabel, Québec.

The approval followed the CS100 aircraft Type Certification awarded by Transport Canada and validations for that aircraft model by the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). The CS100 aircraft entered revenue service with Swiss International Air Lines (SWISS) on July 15,

2016. “The CS300 aircraft certification process was very straightforward because of the

between August 1 and 5, 2016.

The Conference had three components, the Regional Aviation Safety Group Meeting (RASG) and Regional Aviation Secu-

rity Coordination Forum (RASCF) which were held in parallel on the first two days and the main DGCA Conference which took place on the last three days.

over 99 per cent commonality with the CS100 model,” said Robert Dewar, Vice President, C Series Aircraft Programme, Bombardier Commercial Aircraft. The C Series flight test programme covered more than 5,000 hours and most of the data obtained covered both models.

CRUISING HEIGHTS August 2016

Embraer’s 26/26/16

During the second quarter of 2016, Embraer delivered 26 jets to the commercial aviation market and the same number to the business aviation market, of which 23 were light jets and 3 were large jets. On June 30, Embraer’s firm order backlog totalled $21.9 billion.

The 2Q16 main highlight was the first flight of the E190-E2, the first model of the second generation of the E-Jets family of commercial jets. The flight occurred on May 23, just three months after the E190-E2 made its public debut at a rollout ceremony at the factory in late February, and before the date originally scheduled.

Other highlights included the debut of the E190 jet in Japan with J-AIR, a subsidiary of leading carrier Japan Airlines, bringing the number of E-Jets operating across Japan to 28, and the EJets debut in Portugal, with TAP, under the TAP Express brand. In business aviation, the main highlight was the deal with Across, Mexico’s premium business aviation services provider, which signed a firm order for 23 business jets.

Expand or perish

Britain’s business community has voiced To add to the delay, last December the concern over the delay caused to the expanDepartment for Transport announced that sion plans of airports in the country as a further investigation into noise, pollution and result of the Brexit referendum. The EU exit compensation would have to be carried out referendum had forced former Prime Minister before a decision was made. Now the busiDavid Cameron to take a decision on expandness community feels that the new delay ing airport capacity in southeast England in would mean a longer wait for connectivity to the near future. global markets for exporters, and less “I had hoped that we would work for suppliers who are keen for be able to announce a decibusiness. sion on airport capacThe UK’s freight comity this summer,” Transmunity has been very vocal port Secretary Patrick about the expansion. It has McLoughlin told the unanimously backed the House of Commons. findings of the Airports “Clearly any announceCommission, which came ment on airport capacity out in favour of a new runwould have to be made way at Heathrow. The exwhen the House is in sespansion at Heathrow would sion and being realistic, given allow the airport to double its THERESA MAY recent events, I cannot now forefreight capacity to 3m tonnes. see an announcement until at least Joing forces with the business comOctober.” munity, the British Infrastructure Group (BIG), The government-appointed Davies Coma group of more than 40 cross-party MPs mission had, in 2015, recommended that led by former Conservative Party chairman Britain should build a third runway at London Grant Shapps, has issued a report urging the Heathrow airport to ease congestion. The government to decide on whether Heathrow runway would cost £17.6 billion, but would or Gatwick should be allowed to expand. The generate up to £147 billion over 60 years and group’s Gate Now Closing report said there create more than 70,000 jobs by 2050. The needed to be an ‘urgent and immediate decireport had also added that a rival bid for a sion on hub airport expansion’. second runway at Gatwick airport was also It remains to be seen when the new Brit‘plausible.’ ish PM Theresa May will take a decision.

MH370: The mystery deepens

Following an investigation leak, a senior Australian opposition MP has urged the government to reveal what it knows about the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370. A report obtained by the US media said the flight’s captain might have deliberately brought down the plane.

More, Australia’s shadow Transport Minister Anthony Albanese recently questioned the legitimacy of the current search zone currently being combed by the government, and wanted all documents relating to the missing flight to be made public by the government.

Albanese said the government owed it to the families of the 239 passengers and crew missing with the Boeing 777 jet to be transparent and honest about any possible evidence of what happened more than two years ago.

An article in a recent New York magazine mentioned a secret FBI report about the investigation of MH370. The report said the flight's captain, Zaharie Ahmad Shah, had used a flight simulator programme to fly an eerily similar flight path to that which MH370 ultimately took, less than a month before the Boeing 777 disappeared on March 8, 2014.

“Based on the Forensics Analysis conducted on the five hard drives obtained from the Flight Simulator from MH370 pilot’s house, we found a flight path, that leads to the Southern Indian Ocean, among the numerous other flight paths charted on the Flight Simulator,” the New York magazine quoted from the FBI report.

Dreamliners for the Maharaja

Air India may be on the path of revival with improved financial performance but the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) has asked the airline to improve its performance on all fronts. It wants on-time performance improved to at least 85 per cent, revenues increased by 10 per cent and industry standards met on load factor, or capacity utilisation and has also asked the airline to carry out a proper survey before inducting new aircraft.

Even as it moves ahead in the turnaround process, the national carrier will take delivery of two Dreamliners this year and four more next year to complete the airline’s order of 27 of these aircraft. The carrier, however, continues to face issues in its fleet of 787-800 planes which had forced it to ground these planes multiple times, causing long flight delays and significant loss of revenue. Mean-

while, Air India is seeking a ‘bridge loan’ of over `1,500 crore ($225 million) to partially fund the induction of two Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft. The carrier has invited offers from banks/financial institutions to arrange the bridge financing for a period of up to 15 months. A bridge-loan is typically used to meet payment commitments until longterm financing is arranged. It may be mentioned here that Air India was one of the launch customers of the Boeing 787-800s, which had been described as a ‘game-changer,’ and had started inducting them in its fleet about four years ago. Air India currently has 21 Boeing 787-800s in the fleet. It had not taken delivery of its remaining Dreamliners since May 2015.

CRUISING HEIGHTS August 2016

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GLOBAL DIGEST/AIRCRAFT

Pilatus at Oshkosh features ‘Power up to Pilatus Class’ Pilatus Aircraft Ltd expanded its presence at Experimental Aircraft Association's (EAA) AirVenture Oshkosh to highlight its 77 years of business, commercial, training and utility aircraft expertise. 2016 marks the 20th consecutive year Pilatus has exhibited at EAA’s AirVenture. This year, in addition to the latest version of the top-selling PC-12 NG business turboprop, the company featured a Pilatus Porter PC-6 and a PC-9 high performance military trainer in its static aircraft display.

Tom Aniello, Vice President of Marketing, Pilatus, said, “Of the more than 30 shows and events that Pilatus participates in around the world each year, Oshkosh is perennially at the top of our list both in terms of promoting Pilatus amongst aviation enthusiasts, and in sheer fun for our team. This year we are proud to be able to expand our exhibit and display a range of aircraft which showcases the breadth of aircraft Pilatus builds and the heritage of our company.”

Due to the aggressive flight test schedule of the two flying prototypes, the PC-24 Super Versatile Jet was not able to make an appearance at AirVenture this year. The progress of

the PC-24’s development and certification programme can be monitored online at Pilatus’ website www.pilatus-aircraft.com.

So far, both aircraft combined have completed more than 400 flights and accumulated more than 700 flight hours of experience. A third aircraft will join the flight test effort end of 2016. The PC-24 programme is on schedule to certify and begin deliveries in the fall of 2017.Thomas Bosshard, President and CEO

Falcon 8X receives FAA approval

Cochin gets first terminal for bizjets

Dassault Aviation’s new Falcon 8X has received approval from the US Federal Aviation Administration.

FAA certification, just after receipt of the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) type certificate, bringing the certification and flight test campaign to a successful conclusion. The Falcon 8X is now preparing for entry-into-service, that is scheduled for the early fourth quarter.

The 6,450 nm / 11,945 km Falcon 8X will provide the greatest range and longest cabin of any Falcon and the same exceptional short-field performance, operating economy and quietness as the Falcon 7X from which it is derived. It will also offer the largest selection of standard cabin configurations on any large business jet.

Meanwhile, Dassault released its financial results for the first half of 2016, which showed a year-overyear decrease in the number of Falcon orders and backlog. The manufacturer posted an order intake of $854 million for 22 Falcons, three less than the same period last year, as compared to $670 million in the first half of 2015. Hindrance to this year’s total was caused by the cancellation of 11 Falcon 5X orders and Dassault said this was caused by developmental delays on the Safran Silvercrest engine, which caused it to postpone initial customer deliveries of the aircraft from late 2017 to early 2020. The company delivered 15 aircraft in the first half of the year, three fewer than the same period in 2015. It continued its policy of not specifying totals of individual models.

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of Pilatus Business Aircraft Ltd added, “Oshkosh is the place to be for Pilatus to build brand awareness amongst aviation enthusiasts ranging from the young person dreaming about flying, pilots of all experience, CEOs, flight department managers, and all levels of government officials. Our objective is to welcome all of them into the Pilatus family, and to highlight Pilatus’ unique aircraft and their capabilities.”

With the increase in the movement of business aircraft at the Cochin International Airport Limited (CIAL), Kerala’s first dedicated terminal for business jets is expected to become operational at the airport by September this year. Media reports state that this development will take place when the existing domestic terminal is converted into an executive terminal. This will happen when the newly-constructed Terminal-3 (T3) is fully operational for international operations. Meanwhile, the existing international terminal (T2) will be converted into a domestic terminal.

CRUISING HEIGHTS August 2016

Of late, there has been a increase in the movement of business aircraft at the CIAL, with private players like Kalyan Group and Joyalukkas Group opting for private jets for overseas trips. According to V J Kurien, Managing Director, CIAL, on average half-a-dozen business jets operate from CIAL every day. “CIAL can tap the potential of business jet operation by dedicating a terminal for business aircraft,” he said, adding that there would be more clarity on operating the ‘dedicated terminal for business jets’ once the the new international terminal was opened.

QuEST retains E2S status with Airbus QuEST Global has been conferred with the biennial Engineering Strategic Suppliers (E2S) Status – 2016 by Airbus Group. QuEST was presented this prestigious award, during the 2016 Airbus Supplier Summit in Toulouse, France, for delivering design engineering solutions with maximum innovative productivity improvements approved by Airbus.

Robert Harvey, Senior Vice President and Head - Global Sales, QuEST Global said, “Airbus has placed their trust in our capabilities since 2008. As their long-standing engineering solutions partner, we continue to create value and deliver solutions that help make a strategic difference to their business. We are truly honored and look forward to many more years of our progressive partnership.”

China’s got the world’s largest amphibious aircraft The production of world’s largest amphibious aircraft by China is now complete, according to information from the state media. The state-owned Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC) unveiled the first of the new planes, dubbed the AG600, in the southern port city of Zhuhai, Xinhua news agency reported.

The aircraft, which has a maximum range of 4,500km, is intended for fighting forest fires and performing marine rescues, it said. At around the size of a Boeing 737, it is far larger than any other plane built for marine take-off and landing, Xinhua quoted AVIC’s Deputy General Manager Geng Ruguang as saying.

The Chinese plane, which is targeted at the domestic market, will be “very useful in developing and exploiting marine resources,” the article said, adding that it could be used for “environmental monitoring, resource detection and transportation”.

Airbus plans new 19-seater hybrid After meeting with potential development partners among a small group of traditional US small aircraft manufacturers, Airbus has plans of designing a plane for general aviation with up to 19 seats with hybrid-electric power, according to a media report.

The new studies replace plans to develop a smaller, four-seat, hybrid-electric general aviation aircraft after demonstrating the propulsion technology in a future two-seat trainer

and current two-seat prototype. Airbus flew the prototype, battery-powered E-Fan 1.0 across the English Channel last year. A new E-Fan 1.2 with a hybrid-electric motor, including an avgas-powered ‘range extender’, appeared at the Experimental Aircraft Association’s annual fly-in in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. Airbus is also developing a two-seat E-Fan 2.0 trainer for subsidiary VoltAir to operate commercially after 2017.

First biofuel flights in Africa Johannesburg-based South African Airways (SAA) and SAA subsidiary low-cost carrier Mango made history when the two carriers made the first sustainable biofuel flights to have taken place on the African continent. The flights used homegrown feedstock from the Marble Hall area in the Limpopo region of South Africa as part of Project Solaris, a biofuels project named after the tobacco plant used. The nicotinefree, hybridised tobacco plant lends itself to the production of biofuel. The Solaris plant produces small leaves and prodigious flowers and seeds that are crushed to extract a vegetable crude oil. The Solaris plant is ideally suited for this purpose as the remaining seedcake is used as a high protein animal feed supplement that also contributes to food security.

“The project has brought economic and rural development to the Limpopo province in keeping with SAA’s mandate to support the South African National Developmental Plan. It establishes a new regional bio jet fuel supply chain of which we can rightfully be proud. SAA as a leading African and global airline is a trailblazer when it comes to environmental and social sustainability in Africa,” says Musa Zwane, SAA’s Acting CEO.

CRUISING HEIGHTS August 2016

CLINT EASTWOOD AND TOM HANKS

'Miracle on Hudson' , this time with Eastwood Capt. Chesley Sullenberger, the pilot whose emergency landing of a US Airways Airbus on the icy waters of Hudson River in 2009 saved 155 people, is now being made into a movie by master director Clint Eastwood. The movie will premiere in early September, with actor Tom Hanks as the Texas-born Sully and Aaron Eckhart playing Jeff Skiles.

The master director Eastwood’s creation will also look closely at some of the issues that surrounded both the investigation and the years since, like Sully’s choice not to turn back to LaGuardia, believing the “bus” would run out of altitude long before reaching LGA. Sully said in a statement forwarded by Warner Bros that he was totally on board.

“The story being told came from my experiences, and reflects the many challenges that I faced and successfully overcame both during and after the flight,” the statement said.

“I was involved in the development and am thrilled it’s being brought to the screen by master filmmaker Clint Eastwood, starring Tom Hanks.”

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GLOBAL DIGEST/PEOPLE

IATA 2020 carbon neutral growth In what could be considered a step forward in the moves to reduce carbon emissions, IATA airlines adopted a resolution on a marketbased measure for aviation carbon emissions at the recent Dublin AGM. The resolution, according to Michael Gill, Director - Aviation Environment Resolution, International Air Transport Association (IATA), is “a firm commitment that reaffirms the previous commitment of the airline industry to the adoption of a global market bases measure of aviation by ICAO and specifically a mandatory carbon offsetting scheme that would be implemented from 2020”. That is going to enable the aviation industry to meet its 2020 target of carbon neutral growth.

Speaking about the need of carbon offsetting to achieve carbon-neutral growth, Gill said that the aviation industry had adopted “a fourpillar strategy to address its climate impact and it’s through the use of operational measures, better use of infrastructure and new technology that we are already achieving significant reductions in CO2 emissions”. The need for the carbon offsetting scheme is the fourth pillar of strategy, “it’s an economic measure to allow us to achieve this carbon-neutral growth target

“Aircraft emissions standard will be strong as ICAO’s” The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has finalised its determination that aircraft greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions “contribute to the pollution that causes climate change and endangers Americans’ health and the environment”.

Janet McCabe, EPA’s Acting Assistant Administrator for Air and Radiation pointed out that “Aircraft are the third largest contributor to GHG emissions in the US transportation sector, and these emissions are expected to increase in the future”, she said. She also emphasized that EPA had already set effective GHG standards for cars and trucks and any future aircraft engine standards would also provide important climate and public health benefits. Though the agency was not issuing emissions standards for aircraft engines in this action, the final endangerment and contribution findings for aircraft engine GHG emissions were an important step that EPA would have to take prior to adopting domestic GHG engine standards. EPA anticipated that ICAO will formally adopt its environmental committee’s February 2016 agreement on international aircraft CO2 standards in March 2017.

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of 2020, where the other three pillars have not quite got us to that target”, he said.

Gill went on to point out that the whole process was political. “In any political process there is no guarantee of the final outcome until the agreement is signed but we do see real engagement from the government in this process.

We see genuine attempts to find consensus on some very sensitive political issues and there is a precedent for this in the recent past…governments have shown willingness to come to

agreement in the climate space area”. He said that in December 2015, there was the Paris agreement on UNFCCC and in February this year at ICAO, governments agreed on a CO2 certification standard, for new aircraft. “So the governments have shown willingness to come together in the recent past on this issue and so we are confident that come the ICAO assembly in September, governments again will show that willingness and to achieve consensus and to achieve the agreement”, Gill said.

31,000 new pilots needed through 2035: Boeing Boeing projected the need for 2.11 million new commercial airline pilots, maintenance technicians and cabin crew to operate the world’s commercial airline fleet by 2035. According to Boeing’s 2016 Pilot and Technician Outlook, the manufacturer estimated the global airline industry will need to hire “about 31,000 new pilots, 35,000 new technicians and 40,000 cabin crew annually” through 2035, or 106,000 new personnel every year.

Boeing projected the need for 617,000 new commercial airline pilots globally over the next 20 years, up 10.6 per cent from its forecast last year. Boeing’s 20-year forecast for commercial airline maintenance technicians grew to 679,000, up 11.5 per cent from last year.

CRUISING HEIGHTS August 2016

New to the outlook in 2016 is a projection for cabin crew. Boeing projected 814,000 new cabin crew personnel will be required over the next 20 years.

Comparing pilots and technician projections, Boeing’s outlook increased 11.1 per cent year-over year, from 1.2 million in 2015 to 1.3 million in 2016. The new pilot demand is primarily driven by new aircraft deliveries and fleet mix, Boeing said. The demand for new technicians is a response to fleet growth.

The Asia-Pacific region again tops as far as requirement of the largest number of

More US personnel at foreign airports In the wake of the recent terror attacks at airports, USA’s Department of Homeland Security is making a strong bid to increase the number of American law enforcement personnel stationed at airports abroad to screen passengers before they board planes to the United States, according to officials.

To minimise the risk of potential terrorists entering the country, the effort would be designed to extend the United States’ border security to foreign airports. Under the Preclearance programme, which is a smaller programme, being already run by the United States Customs and Border Protection, officers are based at foreign airports where they collect fingerprints and photos and check travel documents before allowing passengers to board a plane traveling to the US. The foreign airport is responsible for many of the programme’s costs, including the construction and maintenance of the space dedicated to the effort inside the airport. Passengers departing those airports are treated the same as domestic travelers, and do not have to go through customs when they arrive in the US. According to the most recent data, airports with those preclearance programmes accounted for about 16 million travelers in 2014, or 15 per cent of all foreign visitors to the US. The department said it would like to increase that to 33 per cent of foreign passengers annually by 2024.

Where are the Indian pilots?

India’s Airlines’ cost could rise over a shortage of pilots two years down the line — estimated at around 2,000. Although India at present has over 5,000 commercial pilots, data from KPMG-FICCI reveal the sector could need close to 9,000 pilots in another two years. More, the carriers will be looking to induct more aircraft in their fleet after they have been powered by the new aviation policy to fly international if they have a fleet size of 20.

Civil aviation regulator DGCA typically issues about 800-1,000 commercial pilot licences (CPL) every year, which would mean the country would have around 7,000 pilots by 2018.

The growth in the number of pilots, however, has not been in proportion to the growth in the fleet size. The current fleet size — commercial as well as chartered — is 850 and going by the orders placed, this would go up to around 1,000 by 2018. This simply means that against a requirement of 9,000 pilots for 1,000 planes, the supply will be closer to 7,000. Carriers are ideally required to have 10 pilots for each aircraft they operate.

According to sector experts, the shortage will be higher because even after a pilot graduates from a flying school and gets a licence, he cannot fly immediately because further training is needed. Currently, the DGCA recognises 30 flying schools across the country. new commercial pilots, technicians and cabin crew for 2016-2035, according to the outlook. Asia-Pacific airlines will need 248,000 new pilots, 268,000 new technicians and 298,000 new cabin crew over the next two decades, Boeing said, citing growth in the single-aisle market as driven by low-cost carriers in the region.

North American carriers will be affected by new markets opening in Cuba and Mexico, Boeing said, projecting a need for 112,000 new pilots, 127,000 new technicians and 151,000 new cabin crew in the region.

A strong intra-European Union market is behind Boeing’s European airlines’ requirements for the next 20 years; Boeing projected a need for 104,000 new pilots, 118,000 new technicians and 169,000 new cabin crew in the region.

CRUISING HEIGHTS August 2016

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FOCUS FEATURE

Putin and Xi collaborate on

new aircraft!

On June 25, 2016 during the President of Russia Vladimir Putin official visit to China, the two countries signed a new long haul widebody aircraft programme!

A

mong the signed documents is an intergovernmental agreement on cooperation in the joint development, manufacturing, commercialization and after-sales support and a contract on a joint venture establishment to implement the program.The contract was signed by the United Aircraft Corporation (UAC) President Yuri Slyusar and the Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (COMAC) Chairman Jin Zhuanglong. The joint venture will be registered in the People's Republic of China on principles of parity.

The joint venture scope of activity includes the wide-body long-haul passenger aircraft program envisages, inter alia, development, sales, after-sales support and consulting; investment and financing through the project.

The project of the wide-body long-haul aircraft being implemented by Russia and China can be developed as a family of the aircraft.

“The signature of these documents highlights further development and strengthening of relations between Russian and Chinese aircraft manufacturers. This event opens up new opportunities for creation of the wide-body aircraft — competitive and commercially successful in the global market,” said Yuri Slyusar.

According to the long-term prospects, UAC is planning to deliver to Russian airlines not less than 300 passenger aircraft with the capacity from 75 to 210 seats. United Aircraft Corporation sees Sukhoi Superjet 100, MC-21 and now Russian-China Wide-Body Long-Haul Aircraft as its strategic projects in civil aircraft manufacturing.

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CRUISING HEIGHTS August 2016

FOCUS FEATURE

An European Debut for SSJ100

It was a proud moment for the Sukhoi Superjet 100 as it began service with Irish carrier CityJet airline. It was the start of a new chapter for the aircraft!

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n May 24, 2016 Sukhoi Civil Aircraft Company and SuperJet International celebrated the first SSJ100 delivery to the CityJet airline to make the Irish carrier the SSJ100 maiden European customer. The SSJ100 delivery to CityJet was executed with the participation of the Russian Government through the hightech export support system to become a proof of successful cooperation between the SSJ100 programme major shareholders, namely United Aircraft Corporation of Russia and Italian aerospace and defense conglomerate Leonardo-Finmeccanica.

CityJet contracted 15 SSJ100 with delivery until 2019 with an option for additional 16 aircraft. The deal is worth over one billion USD, including options

and services. CityJet network includes European key airports with London City among the others. The first three aircraft are to be delivered in 2016.

The program will be provided with a tailor-made after-sales support plan.

CityJet has chosen its SSJ100 fleet in a 98-seat configuration. The Pininfarina exclusive interior design features five abreast seating in a generous 32� seat pitch combined with a wider seat and cabin height of over 2m.

Sukhoi Superjet 100 is a new generation aircraft employing state-ofthe-art technologies. Enhanced takeoff and landing performance, high cruising speed, operations through extreme environmental conditions enable the CRUISING HEIGHTS August 2016

airlines to plan flexible route networks with increased number of destinations.

The aircraft entered commercial service in 2011. Since that time 75 SSJ100 aircraft became operational to count over 190,000 flight hours.

Sukhoi Civil Aircraft Company has developed SSJ100 business version with VIP-interiors. Development and certification of auxiliary fuel tanks, integral airstairs and other business aviation features are under way to open the door for Sukhoi Business Jet longrange version production.

At present SSJ100 version with increased passenger capacity, up to 120 passengers, is under development.

The project is at the design definition stage and its certification is planned for 2019.

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NEWS DIGEST

Dip in load factors mars June figures T he Director General for Civil Aviation (DGCA) has released the latest numbers for June for domestic air traffic. Domestic airlines carried 475.79 lakh passengers from January to June 2016, up 22.52 per cent from 388.33 lakh from the corresponding period of the previous year. The passenger load factor in June had dipped slightly compared to May. This was primarily due to the end of the tourist season. SpiceJet recorded the highest load factor of 93 per cent despite a marginal decline of 0.5 per cent from the previous month. The only airlines which witnessed a hike in passenger load were Air Asia 90.2 per cent (86.8 per cent in May), Air Pegasus 82 per cent (80 per cent in May) and Truejet 81 per cent (80.7 per cent in May).

Except for the above mentioned three airlines all the others witnessed a drop in passenger load factor. However the biggest loser was Indigo. It had a passenger load factor of 87.2 per cent in May and

per cent, respectively. fell to 77.9 per cent in June.

The rest of the airlines saw The overall cancellation rate a slight rise in their market of scheduled domestic airshare. Air Pegasus, Air lines for June was 0.96 per Costa and SpiceJet saw cent. Truejet topped the a rise of 0.1 per cent to chart at 21.73 per cent.

SpiceJet 0.3, 0.8 and 12.7 per Air Pegasus was a recorded the highest cent, respectively. close second at 19.33 load factor of 93 per Jet Airways and Go per cent. Indigo and cent despite a marginal Air saw a rise of 0.2 Spicejet had the least per cent to 16.3 and cancellations at 0.2 decline of 0.5 per 8.3 per cent respecper cent. The primary cent from the tively. Vistara had a reason for cancelprevious month 0.3 per cent increase lations was technical to 2.8 per cent and Air issues at 44.2 per cent.

Asia maintained its share In terms of total market from the previous month at 2.2 share, Indigo retained the top per cent. As for On Time Performance spot with 37.9 per cent despite a 0.6 (OTP) which has been computed for four per cent drop. Jet Airways and Air India metro airports – Bangalore, Delhi, Hyderwere second and third with 16.1 per cent abad and Mumbai – Vistara led the way and 15.4 per cent, respectively. Air India, with an OTP of 86.5 per cent. Indigo was Jet Lite, Truejet and Indigo experienced a second at 83.3 per cent. Air India continfall in market share. The first three had a ued at the bottom at 73.8 per cent. drop of 0.1 per cent to 15.5, 2.8 and 0.4

MORE PAX BUT LESS LOAD Passenger load factor of various scheduled domestic airlines in June 2016 100% 90% 80% 70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 00%

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Jet Air India Airways

JetLite

Spicejet

Go Air

IndiGo

Air Costa Air Asia

CRUISING HEIGHTS August 2016

Vistara

Air Pegasus

Trujet

We are No 1

I

ndia was at the top of the International Air Transport Association’s (IATA) recent industry performance statistics for 2015. With an annual growth of 18.8 per cent in a market of 80 million domestic passengers, the country’s air passenger market recorded the fastest growth rate in the world in 2015. In fact, India’s performance surpassed that of Russia (11.9 per cent growth, in a market of 47 million domestic passengers), China (9.7 per cent growth, in a market of 394 million domestic passengers) and the United States (5.4 per cent growth, in a market of 708 million domestic passengers).

This information was included in the 60th edition of the World Air Transport Statistics (WATS), the yearbook of the airline industry’s performance. “Last year airlines safely carried 3.6 billion passengers — the equivalent of 48 per cent of the earth’s population — and transported 52.2 million tonnes of cargo worth around $6 trillion. In doing so, we supported some $2.7 trillion in economic activity and 63 million jobs,” said Tony Tyler, IATA’s Director General and CEO. The high figure notwithstanding, the number of domestic fliers in India stood at

80 million, compared to Russia’s 47 millargest airline alliance in 2015, with 23 per lion, China’s 394 million and 708 million cent of total scheduled traffic, followed of US.

by SkyTeam (20.4 per cent) and oneworld The top five airlines ranked by total (17.8 per cent). scheduled passengers carried (domestic IATA is an umbrella organisation and international) were Ameriof over 160 airlines worldwide can Airlines (146.5 million), and its report, according to Southwest Airlines (144.6 the aviation regulator, has million), Delta Air suggested that domesIndia’s Lines (138.8 million), tic air passenger trafair passenger market China Southern Airfic in India reached recorded the fastest lines (109.3 million) a five-year high last growth rate in the world and Ryanair (101.4 year. This growth has million). been majorly driven in 2015. Its performance The top five by low ticket prices, surpassed that of Russia, which were a result international/regional China and the United passenger airport-pairs of a significant dip within the Asia-Pacific in aviation fuel prices States region were Hong Kongthat make up around 40 Taipei (5.1 million, up 2.1 per cent of the total operaper cent from 2014), Jakarta-Sintional costs of an airline. Industry gapore (3.4 million, down 2.6 per cent), experts as well as high ranking aviation Bangkok Suvarnabhumi-Hong Kong (3 officials claim that the aviation sector had million, increase of 29.2 per cent), Kuala witnessed double-digit growth for the first Lumpur–Singapore (2.7 million, up 13 per time in five years. In fact, the numbers cent) and Hong Kong-Singapore (2.7 milhave kept on rising as India continued its lion, down 3.2 per cent). dominant position in the domestic travel Star Alliance, of which Air India is a demand for the 14th consecutive month in member, maintained its position as the May 2016.

CRUISING HEIGHTS August 2016

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NEWS DIGEST

ABOVE GROUND LEVEL  MOHAPATRA TAKES OVER AS AAI CHAIRMAN Dr Guruprasad Mohapatra, an IAS officer of the Gujarat Cadre (1986 Batch) in the rank of Additional Secretary to the Government of

India, took over as Chairman, Airports Authority of India (AAI) on July 19, 2016. He has worked extensively in the power sector, urban development and industry, where he was involved in comprehensive reforms in the power sector and restructuring of the erstwhile Gujarat Electricity Board into several commercial entities.

ICRA UPGRADES BIAL RATING TO A+ Rating agency ICRA has upgraded rating for bank facilities of Bangalore International Airport Limited to [ICRA] A+. The revision in rating favourably factors in the recent policy directive from Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) which recommended Hybrid Till (as per the recent civil aviation policy) for future tariff determination at all airports.

GOA ACCEPTS RFPS FOR MOPA AIRPORT The Goa government has accepted Requests for Proposal (RFPs) from companies which have bid for the proposed Greenfield airport at Mopa in North Goa. “I have cleared the file. The RFPs from companies which have been shortlisted for Mopa airport project would be published…We have shortlisted four companies,” Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar told the Legislative Assembly. The Airports Authority of India (AAI), GVK, GMR Infra and Essel Infra, have submitted the RFPs. The CM informed that “the company which quotes the highest revenue-sharing with the State Government will be selected as the final bidder”.

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Boeing forecast: 1850 new planes for India

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ndia continues to have a strong comhealthy economic and passenger traffic mercial aerospace market and the growth in India. More, the company was highest domestic traffic growth in the hopeful that the National Civil Aviation world. It is with this backdrop Policy (NCAP) will have an impact that Boeing’s Dinesh Keskar on the original equipment informed that India would manufacturers (OEMs). see 1,850 new airplanes.

“The NCAP is adding “We also In fact, in its 20-year regional connectivity, continue to be the Current Market Outit is allowing airlines look (CMO) for to fly internationally. preferred choice for India, Boeing has All that will have widebody airplanes in projected a strong an impact on OEMs India, with more than 85 market worth $265 like Boeing,” Keskar per cent of the market billion single-aisle said. He was, howairplanes. ever, quick to caution share”.

Boeing has forecast about the pace of infraDinesh Keskar a demand for 1,850 new structure development airplanes in India, valued which was required to meet at $265 billion, over the next the exponential rise in passenger 20 years, according to the company’s traffic and growth in the industry. annual Current Market Outlook (CMO) In March this year, the US plane for India. India has about 400 aircraft at manufacturer expected a total demand present. With the new demand of 1,850 aircraft, the number will rise to 2,200 aircraft -- a six-fold increase.

“India continues to have a strong commercial aerospace market and the highest domestic traffic growth in the world,” said Dinesh Keskar, Senior Vice President, he new Civil Aviation Policy, accordAsia Pacific and India Sales, Boeing Coming to which the government has mercial Airplanes. “With the new aviation decided to bring all airports under the policy in place, we see even greater opporHybrid Till model, could make air travel tunities and remain confident in the marexpensive. This is due to a likely rise in ket and the airlines in India.” the User Development Fee (UDF), which Keskar elaborated that the rise in will result in pushing up air fares. expected demand was based on a numUnder the Hybrid Till model, the ber of factors such as lower fuel prices, enhanced profitability of the sector and

Perils of the Hybrid Till model T

CRUISING HEIGHTS August 2016

of 1,740 new aircraft for the country.

The forecast included an increase of 110 planes, mostly narrow-body jets. Boeing expected the demand for narrow-body jets to account for roughly 1,560 of all orders, representing nearly 90 per cent of the total demand. Similarly, wide-body aircraft would account for 280 new planes, with the remaining being regional jets. However, Keskar explained that now, after the new policy on regional connectivity by the government, it was expected that by next year, the estimates for regional jets will take a new high.Currently, Boeing led the Indian market with wide-body aircraft (85 per cent market share), but still lags behind Airbus in single-aisle jets — as those jets are highly preferred by low-cost carriers (LCCs). According to Boeing’s CMO, single-aisle airplanes such as the Next-Generation 737 and 737 MAX will continue to account for the largest share of new deliveries, with airlines in India needing approximately 1,560 airplanes. These new airplanes will continue to support the growth of low-cost carriers and replace older, less-efficient airplanes.

“Boeing’s strong orders and deliveries for the Next-Generation 737 and 737 MAX underscore how we are meeting our customers’ demands and expectations, offering them the most fuel efficient, reliable and capable airplanes,” said Keskar.

“We also continue to be the preferred choice for widebody airplanes in India, with more than 85 per cent of the market share.”

• Traffic growth in India remains the highest in the world at 8.6 per cent • Domestic passenger traffic increased 21 per cent from 2015 • Low cost carriers account for more than 60 per cent of all flights • Boeing projects a worldwide demand for 39,620 new airplanes over next 20 years with India carriers needing more than 4.6 per cent of the total global demand. airport operator adds a part of the nonaeronautical (duty-free shops, hotel, restaurant, among others) revenue and the total revenue from the aeronautical side (landing, parking and ground handling charges) to compile total earnings. The aeronautical rates are decided on the basis of total earnings. In the case of the airports in Delhi and Mumbai, 30 per cent of the non-aeronautical revenue is added in the total revenue.

The government-run airports are at present under the Single Till model where

WAI gets a memberfriendly website

W

omen in Aviation International recently launched its new, fully-featured website: WAI.org. The website has extensive content including information on scholarships, history, events, mentorships, chapter information, and aviation careers. Designed with the members in mind, the site makes navigation and information access as simple as possible to WAI’s 12,000 members worldwide.

“Our website is an on-going project,” said Dr Peggy Chabrian, President, WAI, in a press release. “It was clearly time for a revamp to bring our site up to speed with current technological capabilities and design philosophy.”

Key features of the new site include a clean, attractive design that provides a member-engaging experience with intuitive search and navigation. The responsive design optimises the experience for use by members accessing the site via a wide variety of mobile devices.

“Our mission for our new site is to help our members connect, and our new site makes that easier than ever,” added Dr. Chabrian. “Whatever members need – from researching women in aviation history to joining a chapter or buying tickets for a WAI event – we want them to find it easily at www.WAI.org.”

both aeronautical and non-aeronautical charges are taken into account to fix landing and parking charges. This results in a reduced UDF. According to a media report, D Sudhakara Reddy, Founder and National President, Air Passengers Association of India, the Hybrid Till model “is a ‘negative thing’ and will increase UDF, and in turn increase air fares. For instance, in Chennai, UDF is `120, which will increase to `150 in the new system. UDF is included as part of the airfare”, he said.

CRUISING HEIGHTS August 2016

ABOVE GROUND LEVEL  MANGALURU RUNWAY NEEDS EXTENSION The need for extending Mangaluru airport’s runway length from the existing 8,300 ft to 10,000 ft. has been stressed by the Airport Advisory Committee of the international airport. At the meeting convened

by JT Radha Krishna, Airport Director, the need for acquiring land for

the extension of runway was highlighted and it was stressed that the issue had been pending with the Karnataka government since 2012.

COIMBATORE AIRPORT GETS ULTIMATUM FOR RUNWAY SPACE The aviation regulator has issued an ultimatum to the authorities of Coimbatore International Airport to provide 150 metres of unobstructed space on both sides of the runway. At a time when the airport is gearing up for renewal of its operations licence in April 2017, the ultimatum has left the authorities in a difficult situation. For the airport to have 150 m space on either side of the runaway, the authorites will need to acquire 70 acres of land.

AIR INDIA TRAINING WING AT THIRUVANANTHAPURAM The training wing of Air India Engineering Services Limited (AIESL), Maintenance Training Organization (MTO), has been launched in Thiruvananthapuram. This is the fifth MTO in the country, which will impart 'type' aircraft and engine training. AIESL has roped in Paul Russel, who has an experience of above 25 years with Air India, as the Training Manager and Chief Knowledge Examiner of the MTO. The ‘type training’ in both Boeing aircraft and A320 Airbus family are the unique features of this institute.

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NEWS DIGEST

ABOVE GROUND LEVEL  NEW TERMINAL TO BE BUILT AT LEH AIRPORT To increase the passenger handling capacity of Leh Airport, a new terminal would be constructed with an investment of around `200 crore, Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju said. After construction of new terminal, the peak hour passenger capacity was expected to go up to 800 from current level of 250.

“As per Indian Air Force (IAF), they will hand over 11.8 acres of land to Airport Authority of India for construction of Terminal Building (at Leh airport) only after getting No Objection Certificate for the state governments land of 28 acres,” the government said.

IndiGo: Seven times a winner

Three domestic airlines – IndiGo, Jet Airways and SpiceJet – won the 51st, 71st and 100th position, respectively at the World’s Best Airline Awards by Skytrax, a global benchmark of airline excellence.

KOLKATA INTRODUCES AIRPORT APP

AMONG THE BEST: Aditya Ghosh, President, IndiGo, receiving the award during the Skytrax ceremony

T

To provide better facilities to fliers, the Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International airport has started Kolkata AirPort App. This app can be downloaded and would be able to provide details related to actual flight information, transport facilities in airport, lost and found item details, duty free and retail shopping information, according to the statement released by Airports Authority of India. The information would also be regarding cargo, immigration, customs and airport security.

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he World’s Best Airline Awards by / Central Asia region and IndiGo manageSkytrax are considered a global ment and staff should be proud of this sevbenchmark of airline excellence and enth successive victory in an increasingly are based on the largest airline passenger competitive awards category.” satisfaction survey in the industry. This An elated Aditya Ghosh, President year’s Skytrax awards were based on a total IndiGo said that the award for the seventh of 19.2 million completed surveys coverconsecutive year was even more special ing 280 airlines, by customers hailing from because it came “at a time when we are more than 104 countries. completing our ten years of operations Three airlines from India, IndiGo, Jet in India”. He went on to point out that Airways and SpiceJet, won the 51st, 71st “this achievement has only been possible and 100th position, respecbecause of the unflinch2016's top 10 tively. IndiGo was named ing support of our 14,000 the Best Low Cost Airline 1. Emirates members of the IndiGo in Central Asia / India for 2. Qatar Airways family, who every single the seventh consecutive 3. Singapore Airlines day come to work with one year. Commenting on the 4. Cathay Pacific commitment — to provide award at the 2016 World 5. ANA All Nippon Air- our flyers with a hassleways Airline Awards ceremony free experience, ensuring at the Farnborough Air- 6. Etihad Airways that they reach their destishow, Edward Plaisted, 7. Turkish Airlines nation on time…These are CEO of Skytrax said: 8. EVA Air truly exciting times for the “IndiGo continues to be the 9. Qantas Airways Indian aviation industry passenger’s favourite low 10. Lufthansa and we are looking forward cost airline across the India to continue to provide an CRUISING HEIGHTS August 2016

ABOVE GROUND LEVEL  CHENNAI AIRPORT TO HAVE NEW TERMINAL Airport Authority of India has planned to build a new terminal at Chennai Airport for seamless operation with an investment of ` 2,100 crore. “AAI needs to focus on maintaining the facility properly.

Based on our experience, we have suggested ways for better maintenance of the facility,” said D Sudhakara Reddy president of Air Passengers Association of India.

TOP WINNER: Emirates was at the top in the ratings and emerged winner

unmatched quality travel experience to our customers”, Ghosh added.

While for Jet Airways, the Skytrax rankings was an improvement from the 76th position it held last year, Spicejet slipped six positions in comparison to 2015.

It was the airlines from the Middle East that did particularly well. Emirates took the top honours when it was named the best

ance also received the Best Airline Alliance Lounge Award for its prestigious Los Angeles Lounge for the second year in row. Receiving the award, Mark Schwab, CEO Star Alliance said: “I am accepting this award on behalf of more than 430,000 employees who deliver our customer promise to more than 640 million passengers each year. Regaining this accolade shows that investing into technology which facili-

COMING: 90 SMALL AIRPORTS To provide air connection to smaller cities under a plan, the government is focusing to ensure that 90 new airports are up and running over the next 12 months, according to officials. Prime Minister Narendra Modi wanted to accelerate growth in the world's fastest expanding aviation market while encouraging airlines like IndiGo, SpiceJet and Jet Airways to fly more people to and from smaller, often poorer cities.

MORE SOLAR POWER AT MUMBAI AIRPORT Mumbai International airport has successfully commissioned additional solar power of 410 kWp. The solar panels, spread across five different locations at the T2 and cargo terminals, have been strategically positioned on the roof tops of the building for optimum utilisation of space at the airport.

Until now, the airport was gen-

BEST ALLIANCE: Star Alliance was the best Alliance winner at Skytrax

airline in the world for 2016. This was the fourth time Emirates has taken the honour in the last 15 years, and its first win since 2013.

Doha-based Qatar Airways, meanwhile, was ranked second best airline in the world aside from winning the award for the world’s best business class, the world’s best business class lounge and best airline staff in the Middle East.

Star Alliance claimed the Best Airline Alliance title at the awards. The Alli-

tates the delivery of our Alliance customer benefits is paying off and that travellers are noticing a difference. Following the recent decision of our Chief Executive Board, we will invest further in modern systems and so continuously improve the Alliance travel experience.”

Star Alliance was the first airline alliance to receive the Best Alliance Award from Skytrax when the category was first introduced in 2005 and has since held the award seven times.

CRUISING HEIGHTS August 2016

erating 650 kWp of solar power.

Through additional solar installations the capacity will increase by 410 kWp, taking the total output up to 1060 kWp. The next phase of the solar project will include plant installations of 1700 kWp. The capacity is anticipated to further enhance to 6400 kWp by 2017.

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COVER STORY

AND THE SHOW WENT ON‌ When the aviation industry gathered at the small town of Farnborough, some 40 miles southwest of London, for one of the biggest airshows in the world, it was business as usual despite the Brexit aftertaste. With almost a hundred different kinds of aircraft on display, the event managed to surpass industry expectations and recorded orders and options to the value of $123.9 billion. A report.

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CRUISING HEIGHTS August 2016

COVER STORY

AND THE SHOW WENT ON‌ When the aviation industry gathered at the small town of Farnborough, some 40 miles southwest of London, for one of the biggest airshows in the world, it was business as usual despite the Brexit aftertaste. With almost a hundred different kinds of aircraft on display, the event managed to surpass industry expectations and recorded orders and options to the value of $123.9 billion. A report.

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CRUISING HEIGHTS August 2016

T

he Brexit storm cloud failed to cast its dark shadow over the 2016 Farnborough Airshow.

For a few days this summer, Farnborough became the world’s aviation capital. Although Brexit had stolen most of the thunder from the five-day show, at the close of the trade exhibition the organisers returned home happy. Reason: the show had thrown up orders and options to the value of $123.9 bn – defying all industry expectations.

Farnborough International’s internal order tracker recorded a total of 856 aircraft valued at $93.98 bn, 1407 engines valued at $22.7 bn and a variety of other business deals totalling £7.2 billion ($9.5 bn). While the two aircraft manufacturing giants, Airbus and Boeing were in the limelight, Canada’s Bombardier was in the spotlight too, when it showcased a new jet – the CS 100 – designed to challenge the duopoly of Boeing and Airbus.

A lot more was witnessed at the biennial gathering of all the major aviation players. While the show saw the airlines’ appetites for larger variants of new aircraft being fuelled by the top aircraft makers, there were OEMs too securing long-term

support service agreements.

Topping the order list was Airbus. On the second day of the show, the Toulousebased airframer landed a $12.6 bn deal from AirAsia (read details on page 11).

The carrier signed a firm agreement to buy 100 A321neos, 170 of which are already in the fleet. That was followed up by a further order of 72 A320neos to India’s GoAir (see box). In fact, sales and commitment for the A320 Family of aircraft accounted for 269 aircraft worth $31.3 bn.

The larger A321neo got Airbus the largest share of the single-aisle orders – with firm selections from three airlines for 140 aircraft. Among the widebodies, there were firm orders for 10 aircraft worth $3.4 bn comprising two A330-300s and eight A350-1000s.

At the end of the show, Airbus emerged the winner with 380 net firm orders for the year. This for Airbus means having to sell a lot of planes before reaching its 650-order year-end goal. John Leahy said that the target was still attainable, though it would not be easy. Airbus also made headlines for its decision to cut production of its long-troubled A380 double-decker.

Competitor US-based Boeing manCRUISING HEIGHTS August 2016

Plain Numbers

Amanda Stainer, Commercial Director at Farnborough International, said the show had 22 national pavilions, four more than in the previous edition. She informed that over 70 per cent of the participants were from overseas while 30 per cent were first-timers. While visitors witnessed 99 different aircraft types, the exposition recorded just over 73,000 trade visitors over the week with approximately 25 per cent of the visitor base being either CEOs or Director-level. Of course, there was a significant increase in the attendance of those directly responsible for procurement. aged orders for 182 commercial airplanes, valued at $26.8 bn at list prices. The aircraft-maker has booked 321 net orders in 2016 and had set about 740 orders as its 2016 target. Randy Tinseth, Commercial Marketing Vice President, said the company was “on track” to meet that target although its chief salesman, John Wojick,

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COVER STORY

Airbus’ designs for the future of air travel

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ne of the usual features at Farnborough is the display of the most innovative ideas from the aerospace industry. This year too, there were a number of them and one such was Airbus’ new cabin concept “Airspace by Airbus”.

Visitors saw a preview of the Airspace by Airbus experience, which connects the well-being of passengers and the operational performance for airline customers with the perfect blend of features and services. Based on four dimensions – comfort, ambience, service and design – Airspace brought together the best of Airbus’ innovation.

The Airbus’ A330neo was the launch vehicle for Airspace. The aircraft – along with the A350 XWB – would begin a new family of cabins that inspire airlines to build new-generation flying experiences for passengers, while optimising economic performance of their aircraft. The Airspace cabin was inspired by the A350 XWB and shaped by the passenger feedback received from people flying on Airbus’ new-generation widebody aircraft. On the A350 XWB, Airspace cabins would increase the already-significant passenger and operator appeal of the jetliner – which was shaping the future of medium- to long-haul airline operations around the globe.

The signature design elements recognisable throughout all Airspace cabins include wider seats; larger overhead storage bins; spacious, contemporary lavatories with antibacterial surfaces; along with unobstructed under-seat foot space. Other features were a unique and customisable welcome area at the main passenger boarding door, the latest in LED technology for ambient lighting, as well as clean shapes and surfaces throughout the interior.

Airspace was launched earlier this year and Airbus’ commercial activity at Farnborough showed the concept taking off with passengers and operators. Announcements during the week that involved aircraft to be equipped with the Airspace cabin included Virgin Atlantic Airways’ A350 XWB order and the four A330900neo (new engine option) aircraft that ARKIA Israeli Airlines would receive.

INNOVATION: (Left) John Leahy, CEO, Customers, Airbus; A preview of the Airspace by Airbus experience

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CRUISING HEIGHTS August 2016

said it had “a lot of work to do through the end of the year”.

However, among the 182 orders, only 20 were new firm orders, according to The Wall Street Journal. After the show, industry watchers commented that one of Boeing’s “agreement” – with VolgaDnepr Group for 20 747-8 freighters – was not new. The deal had actually been announced at the 2015 Paris Air Show and had been accounted in Boeing's $50.2 billion in orders and commitments there.

What had been a “commitment” became an “agreement” at Farnborough.

Boeing major support came from China, announcing new or confirmed orders from five customers. Its largest order announcement was a $4.1 bn deal with China’s Donghai Airlines for 25 737 Max 8 single-aisle planes and five 787-9 Dreamliners. Ruili Airlines confirmed a $1.6 bn order for six Dreamliners. Other Boeing orders from China were a $3.4 bn one from Xiamen Airlines, $3.3 bn from an unnamed Chinese carrier and $902 mn from Kunming Airlines. Perhaps, what should be worrying for Boeing was the fact that it was unable to sell any 777s. According to media reports, getting at least 40 orders for the 777 should be the US planemaker’s priority because that would keep the production line busy till the next-generation 777X enters service in 2020.

Although Boeing has been ahead of Airbus for the rest of the year, the order announcements at Farnborough tipped the scales in favour of Airbus. Boeing, however, appeared confident that it would end the year with more orders and said that it would secure about 740 orders in 2016, compared with a full-year target of 650 orders at Airbus. Both Airbus and Boeing

Boeing showcases the past and the future

B

THE WHO'S WHO: Some of the prominent visitors at the airshow, comprising David Cameroon, Former UK Prime Minister and Richard Branson, Founder of Virgin Group

said they were focusing on delivering aircraft to customers and both companies left the show with lots of work to do to achieve the targets.

Both Airbus and Boeing spoke freely about the possibility of stretches that are being dubbed the A350-2000, 737 MAX stretch, and the 777-10X. Additionally, Boeing also hailed what it has termed the “middle of the market” sector. Simply put, it could develop new aircraft depending on how considerably sized that ‘middle’ is.

Meanwhile, the Airbus-Boeing relationship saw a new development at Farnborough. Although the two maintain that there was no competition when it came to safety, details reveal otherwise. The bone of contention is the need for the joint US-European technical standards to enhance pilot awareness about the dangers of touching down too fast or too far down a runway. Since 2009, Airbus has marketed a proprietary system, now installed on about 430 airliners, that automatically assesses speed, altitude, flight-control settings, runway topography, winds and parameters eight times per second. The goal is to warn pilots beforehand that they would not be able to safely stop on a runway, and automatically exert maximum braking force on the ground when necessary. Boeing, however, has not developed its own offering, but is working with partners. The Wall Street Journal reported that at Farnborough, Honeywell and Airbus agreed to develop an integrated system to keep jetliners from careening off the ends of runways during landings. The media re-

oeing celebrated its first 100 years since its founding on July 15, 1816, at Farnborough marking a legacy of connecting and protecting people and nations, exploring Earth and space, and inspiring dreamers and doers alike through its products and services.

Remembering the founder, Dennis Muilenburg, Chairman, President and CEO, Boeing, said that “the innovative spirit of our founder Bill Boeing — who 100 years ago dedicated this company to building something better — is alive in the generations of our people who continue to deliver products and services that matter and positively change lives around the world…”

He also pointed out that “as the birthplace of British aviation, there are few better backdrops to celebrate the accomplishments and wonders of the aerospace industry and mark our centennial than the Farnborough Airshow”.

Throughout the show, Boeing demonstrated and discussed innovative and cost effective products and services and the tremendous value they provide commercial and defense customers.

At the Boeing Centennial Experience Pavilion, visitors witnessed the immersive showcase of innovation leadership past, present and future. The exhibit welcomed nearly 4,000 visitors over the first four days of the show. The free Boeing Innovations app, an interactive experience of Boeing aircraft, spacecraft and was made available to download on iTunes and Google Play while the #Boeing100 hashtag was trending on social media.

The show transitioned to include students interested in engineering and aerospace. A group of about 100 young people from Ukraine, for example, were hosted by Boeing through the Centennial Experience and onto the 737 MAX demo aircraft. The show also had a Futures Day, in which Boeing hosted students for a raft of aerospace activities, including a meeting with Richard Pillans, a Boeing test pilot and former British Army helicopter flight commander, who gave a talk about his experiences.

Boeing flying display highlights included the ANA 787-9 Dreamliner and 737 MAX, P-8A and F/A-18F Super Hornet. Visitors also got the opportunity to witness historic Boeing aircrafts such as the last 727 to be built (which is now an oil spill response tanker), a P-51D Mustang, B-17 Flying Fortress as well as a DC-3 on static display.

CENTURY OF INNOVATION: The Boeing chalet at Farnborough Airshow, where visitors experienced part of the celebrations for 100 years of the US aircraftmaker

CRUISING HEIGHTS August 2016

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COVER STORY

GoAir goes ahead

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oAir chose Airbus for its further expansion plans when it signed a MoU for 72 A320neo aircraft. The Wadia Group company announced its latest order following a similar agreement for 72 A320neo placed in 2011 bringing the total order book to 144 aircraft. The first two aircraft from the order were delivered in June.

With the NEOs’ induction, GoAir will expand its network and offer fliers better connectivity and continue its growth. Said Wolfgang Prock-Schauer, CEO, GoAir: “The new A320neo will provide us the competitive edge to achieve our growth targets and help us strengthen our presence in the wider region. It also reaffirms GoAir’s commitment to deliver the most modern, comfortable and excellent air travel experience to all customers as well as to strengthen the sustained positive growth and business expansion of the company. The new aircraft will help us in unlocking new domestic routes while providing a springboard for continued international network expansion in the years to come.”

John Leahy, Chief Operating Officer, Customers for Airbus pointed out that the “further commitment by Go Air is a testament to the reliability, passenger popularity and unbeatable operating economics of the A320 Family. Go Air is among the three first A320neo operators, and with an order for 144 is one of the leading operators of the type.” Industry experts claimed that the growth was positive, but the next level posed a bigger challenge: finding landing space for the country’s growing fleet of airliners.

ON TRACK FOR GROWTH: John Leahy, Airbus Chief Operating Officer – Customers, and Go Air CEO Wolfgang Prock-Schauer announcing the MoU for 72 more A320neo jetliners at Farnborough

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WOW MOMENT: Red Arrows appeared at Farnborough Airshow in a flypast with the F35 super jet when former British Prime Minister David Cameron opened up the trade show

port further said: “Such an offering would meet impending European safety rules to combat what are called runway excursions, these people said, while effectively circumventing opposition by Boeing Co. and the US Federal Aviation Administration to any joint US-European standards or mandatory regulations in this arena.”

Farnborough, however, was not just about these two giants. The airshow also saw smaller rivals competing in the market with smaller aircraft used by regional airlines. Japan’s Mitsubishi announced an order for 10 of its MRJ90 planes while Brazil’s Embraer announced orders for four of its E190 aircraft.

The Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (COMAC), Friedmann Pacific Asset Management Limited (FPAM) and China Aircraft Leasing Limited (CALC),

NEW VARIETY: Farnborough saw various aircraft manufacturers showcasing a new range of planes and choppers

were also there entering into a tripartite cooperative framework agreement in relation to acquisition of ARJ21 aircraft (subject to further negotiation for a formal binding agreement). CALC would acquire 60 ARJ21-700 series aircraft (including a confirmed order of 30 ARJ21-700 aircraft and an option to purchase 30 ARJ21 series aircraft) from COMAC at a list price of approximately $2.3 bn. This was the largest sale of ARJ21-700 aircraft for COMAC since it started commercial operations.

CALC would act as an aircraft lessor to provide value-added leasing solutions to an Indonesian-based airline, which FPAM intends to invest in, in building a pureARJ21 fleet.

The first batch of aircraft of this bulk purchase would be delivered in the next one to two years, and the remaining aircraft of the confirmed order would be delivered in succession in the next five years.

FPAM’s Indonesian airline is expected to become the first foreign airline to oper-

ate a fleet of ARJ21-700 aircraft, leading China’s first home-grown passenger jet to enter into the Southeast Asian market. In addition, COMAC will establish an allrounded services network in Indonesia, providing technical support, on-going maintenance and customer services for the ARJ21 aircraft.

Beside aircraft, identifying the gamechanging digital tools that would deliver massive improvements and cost savings in aviation was also in focus at the show this year. As per statistics, even one per cent improvement can deliver massive cost savings and better services can secure valuable customer loyalty. Full connectivity, predictive maintenance and virtual control towers were the three technologies that stood out as potential game changers.

Swedish defence company Saab showed off a system that could allow CRUISING HEIGHTS August 2016

air traffic controllers to direct the flow of airplanes at an airport — even from hundreds of miles away. More, it would allow traffic controllers to decide more efficiently which planes should land first, meaning less delays. “In terms of efficiency, we see this will help to support air traffic controllers...and get a much smoother throughput for aircraft,” Anders Carp, Head of Saab’s Traffic Management Unit, told reporters during a briefing.

Another feature of the show that attracted a lot of attention was the virtual reality experience that placed visitors at the command of a simulated A350 airliner, an A400M military transport or let them experience a virtual walk on the surface of Mars. Further, organisers of the Farnborough show signed an agreement with representatives from Chengdu to launch a new airshow in China in late 2019: The Sichuan International Airshow.

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‘Goal is to move to a more efficient engine’ As an innovative company with a rich history, MTU Aero Engines has set itself the goal of creating long-term value for its stakeholders. The development of aircraft engines that reduce fuel consumption, emissions such as CO2 , and noise impact are top of the company’s agenda. Dr Stefan Busam, Senior Manager, MTU Aero Engines was at the recent Singapore Air Show where he spoke to K SRINIVASAN. Excerpts: 34

CRUISING HEIGHTS August 2016

But General Electric, GE has said. They said this was not new. I mean this is well known, historical.

Yeah, in the past, but the way we do it is new. Whatever GE may say, but this is new. We had gears in the past too for propeller engines. That is not new. A gear for an engine that is not new, but in this concept, it is new. You know the improvements we get out of that is 15 per cent...

READY FOR THE FUTURE: The GEnx turbine centre frame being assembled at MTU in Munich

Give us an overview of the work you do?

The geared turbofan, this is our latest concept. We work on it together with our big partner, Pratt & Whitney. We also think about performance-improved variance (fresher models) for the next 10-15 years.

That’s actually the big market at the moment...but we also work on what we call conventional engines, which is (for) the A380, the GP7000 that we are part of and that the big one is still the V2500. So these are the two big programmes we are in.

What sort of work do you do in collaborating with them?

MTU is focusing on the low-pressure turbine in the very rear of the engine and we do 50 per cent of the high-pressure compressor, the first four stages. If we talk about this three GTF programmes right here (the Singapore Air Show) from eightstage high-pressure compressor and the first four is from MTU. ...And how does this collaboration work – have you joined teams?

Oh yeah, it works out excellently. We do have a team even in the US in Rocky Hill, in Connecticut, and these guys make sure that the connection works great. (They) are integrated into the several teams at Pratt & Whitney. So, we are a part of that team at Pratt & Whitney and these guys talk to us there and in Munich, give us the work and we integrate our hardware into the overall engine. This works pretty well.

We have a lot of experience on that since many years and there is some history already on that.

Recently, there have been complaints against the GTF patent by Pratt saying that this was not new technology and could not be patented.

This is new technology. We are the only …

Apart from the work that you do with people like Pratt & Whitney, independent of them, what is the R&D that you people do on your own at MTU? No, we don’t do stuff on our own.

You work in collaborations...

We are engine module manufacturer and developer. So we need a partner because we don’t do full engines. We also work with GE. We do the turbine centre frame for several engines for GE. Do you have test beds in Germany for your engines?

Oh yeah, sure. We have even test beds in Munich where you run full engines and we have Pratt & Whitney engineers coming or GE engineers coming to Munich.

We do it in the US and Munich.

How long has this GTF programme been going on?

When did we start? It was about 2007 may be or 2008, it started and we just brought the first engine into serial production for the A320 in January.

There was a minor blip...

Yeah, (for a) few weeks but if you think about the five-six years of the programme and you have a few weeks…(delay) .The next one will be the Bombardier (it has since been delivered and launch customer Swiss have put it on their schedule and the first one flew from Zurich to Charles de Gaulle, Paris on July 15).

At the moment, you work with GE and Pratt!

Yeah, we have also some work with Rolls Royce.

Overall, what is the future of …I mean bigger and bigger engines... Now you have the GEnx, the 777X, really massive engines.

Where are we moving?

It’s a good question. We are moving, first of all, to a more efficient engine. So reducing weight, increasing further the efficiency of the engine…that is always still the goal. Whether we will have a new concept CRUISING HEIGHTS August 2016

like the GTF, in the future, it is hard to say.

There is the open rotor concept. I am sure you have heard that. That might be something for the future, but the problem is the noise. SFC (specific fuel consumption) is great. You could have another step in reduction of SFC but noise is not (so great).

As far as I know, people cannot handle it. But in any case, you would still need a high-speed low-pressure turbine, which is our capability. So, if the world should decide to go for an open rotor, MTU would have the knowledge.

But the noise is, as you are rightly saying, far too much for it to be used commercially at the moment.

Exactly, that is at least my understanding.

I have never heard that companies can lift with a noise. So they found a way to reduce the noise.

Do you see it possible that additive technology will come to a level where tomorrow, you will be literally able to put together a new engine in six months? Forget about the testing – just putting in together!

You know, it is hard. No, I don’t see that. You need to manufacture parts that can take a year. It just depends on what you really mean by putting together.

When I say putting together, I mean like what they did at Dassault Dassault Systèmes in 3D – where you can literally crawl under the hood in 3D. I don’t see that. Not at all! You can’t use printer technology, no, I don’t see that. We have started...we have some parts that we actually use already in the current engines but not really turning out parts that are in the high-temperatures high-pressure range. I don’t see that in the near future.

Not in the next 10-year frame?

Not in the next 10 years. It is just that the atmosphere is getting more and more difficult for hardware, for parts in the engine.

Higher temperature, more pressure and the expectation for (longer) shelf life for parts. So this does not fit to this 3D. 3D is not very robust in your opinion?

No, it doesn’t have the life. It may improve, but I personally don’t see that happening let’s say in the next five to 10 years, I don’t see that. For some parts, the external parts, may be.

But not the complex interiors.

Exactly.

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CH SPECIAL

OEMs FOCUS ON FLEET MANAGEMENT With the A350, Airbus has entered the era of back-to-back maintenance for large fleets. It expects over 70 per cent of the fleet to be completely managed by itself and, in some case, with Rolls-Royce. It looks like this will be the way forward for the industry. A special report

hen Lufthansa Technik (LHT) won a 12year contract to provide component support for Finnair’s fleet of A350s, it was a bit of a shock for Airbus. Here was their launch customer in Europe going elsewhere to maintain its fleet. While Finnair’s MRO teams chose to provide line-maintenance on the aircraft, under the new ‘total component support’ contract LHT will provide repair services on components and access to spares. The deal is the first component maintenance contract that LHT has secured for the A350. That was in May last year.

However, in July last year, Vietnam Airlines selected Airbus to provide Flight Hour Services (FHS) for its new fleet of 14 A350-

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CRUISING HEIGHTS August 2016

900s on order. With this contract, Vietnam Airlines became the first A350 XWB operator to select Airbus FHS. The agreement, a 12-year deal, provides A350 line replaceable units (LRUs), guaranteed spare parts availability through a pool access service at Vietnam Airlines’ main base and selected outstations.

Similarly, Cathay Pacific, in April this year, selected Airbus to provide Flight Hour Services (FHS) components support for its new fleet of 48 A350 XWBs on order (22 A350-900s plus 26 A350-1000s). The longterm agreement covers guaranteed spare parts availability, maintenance and logistics services at Cathay Pacific’s main base and

nance, flight operations, Air Traffic Management, and material management services.

Together these enhance aircraft competitiveness by continuously adapting to customers’ evolving needs.

Interestingly, Airbus and Rolls-Royce created a new integrated parts availability service for Cathay’s A350 fleet, which encompasses both airframe and engine LineReplaceable-Unit (LRU) components. The service integrates the Airbus “Flight Hour Services” (FHS) and the Rolls-Royce TotalCare Availability service through a seamless operational interface. Through this partnership between Airbus and Rolls-Royce, Cathay Pacific will be able to access both

TOTAL SUPPORT: A Lufthansa Technik engineer at work for the maintainance of the Finnair fleet. The MRO company had in May 2015 won a 12-year contract to provide component support for the airline's fleet of A350s.

A whopping 142% growth

MATTHIAS LIEBICH/ LUFTHANSA TECHNIK

A

selected outstations as well as flight simulator support. The agreement also covered Integrated Material Services (IMS) – whereby the purchasing and planning of the airline’s A350 XWB expendables inventories are outsourced to Airbus’ dedicated materials management subsidiary, Satair Group. Interestingly, with the Cathay agreement, Airbus FHS contracts have now been selected to cover more than 240 aircraft, ranging from the A320, A330, A380 to the A350 XWB. Since entry, they have added more aircraft to their inventory.

Two years earlier, in 2014, Vistara, just about launching operations out of New Delhi, signed a long-term Flight Hour Services

Tailored Support Package (FHS-TSP) contract with Airbus for its 20 A320 leased fleet.

The Vistara FHS-TSP contract provided an integrated and guaranteed service ranging from components supply and repair to full airframe maintenance and engineering service. An on-site Airbus team manages daily maintenance activities (e.g. spares, warehousing, line, engineering, checks).

Airbus, through “Services by Airbus”, offers end-to-end fleet lifecycle solutions for all its customers. The portfolio ranges from standalone services, to the most complete integrated solutions, including Flight Hour & Tailored Support packages, upgrades, training, e-solutions, engineering & mainteCRUISING HEIGHTS August 2016

irbus updated its global market forecast at the Farnborough Air Show. It predicts that the market will grow by 142 per cent over the next 20 years — 5.3 per cent more than spelt out in 2015. Airlines and lessors will order 32,425 aircraft in the period, or 650 more than predicted in the last version of the forecast. Of these, 71 per cent will be narrowbody aircraft.

In spite of the current order drought for the A380, Airbus is sticking to its positive outlook for that segment of the market. It believes there will be 1,500 orders for very large aircraft: Airbus currently has orders for 319 A380s, 193 of which had been delivered by the end of June 2016. engine and aircraft parts through the same process to improve speed of response.

The airframe and engine parts will be hosted in the same warehouse in Hong Kong so that they can be made available locally when needed to secure the airline’s A350 operations. Airbus and Rolls-Royce believe that this approach will suit the needs of other customers and will seek further opportunities to develop seamless integrated services for the A350. It is expected that the Cathay model where the airframer and the power plant OEMs have collaborated will likely be the model that will become ‘standard’ in the coming years.

Not surprisingly, the OEMs gobbling up the MRO business have been viewed with some trepidation in other quarters. IATA in March filed a formal complaint with the European Commission’s competition directorate on behalf of its members alleging abuses

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CH SPECIAL

A350 ETOPS extended

T

he Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) has okayed Airbus A350 for extended diversion-time operations beyond the standard 180 minutes. What it means is that the newest widebody member of the Airbus family can now fly the aircraft for up to 300 minutes with one engine inoperative.

A similar approval had been received in 2014 from the European Aviation Safety Agency just before the first A350 was delivered to launch customer Qatar Airways. However, that ETOPS (Extended-range Twinengine Operational Performance Standards) was for 370 minutes.

Airbus indicated that it expected the FAA to further expand the exemption to 370 minutes. What this means is the amount of time that the aircraft can fly from the nearest designated diversion airport. In flying terms this will translate into an aircraft now flying the distance between India and Singapore with the 370 minutes (six hours) exception (roughly 2,500 nautical miles).

In a statement Airbus said: The ETOPS 300min option will, in particular, facilitate more efficient transoceanic routes across the North and MidPacific – such as from South-East Asia to US, and Australasia to the US. The granting by the FAA of this ETOPS capability prior to the A350’s delivery to US-based operators is a testimony to the FAA’s confidence in the aircraft maturity and in US operators who will soon operate the A350XWB. ETOPS first came into vogue when the standards were introduced in 1985 when the first twin-engine ETOPS performance standards were introduced in 1985; with the advent of the two-engine long-haul aircraft in the form of Airbus A300-600R and the Boeing 767 arrived on the scene.

From a conservative timeline, the ETOPS was extended to 180 minutes in 1988 where it has stayed till power plant makers and aircraft manufacturers decided to push the boundaries. Not everyone is comfortable though with the consistent expansion of ETOPS. Imagine flying from Delhi to Singapore on a widebody with one engine!

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of dominant positions by OEMs. Their ire in particular was directed at some aircraft having just one sole engine supplier like Rolls-Royce for the A350.They believe that both during the first sale and for aftersales maintenance, airlines are disadvantaged during negotiations since they have no fallback option.

“This is an area of deep concern for our members. There are relatively few equipment vendors and our members are frustrated that there is little flexibility in negotiations for aftermarket services. Airlines do not have the leverage to resolve these concerns individually. So IATA is fulfilling its role as their global trade association and representing their interests as a complainant,” said Tony Tyler, IATA’s Director General and CEO who will retire from his position in a few weeks.

As the complainant, IATA was making no claims for monetary damages or any other forms of compensation for past conduct.

“Our focus is on the future. Our members want to be able to negotiate contract terms more effectively and with more options than the OEM community will entertain today.

Our aim is to help re-balance the relationship so that airlines and OEMs can work together as true business partners in a normal commercial relationship,” said Tyler.

Not surprisingly, Ryanair Chief Executive Michael O’Leary was not just sceptical but outright hostile at the European Union probe into competitive conditions in the engine and component MRO markets. In a media briefing, O’Leary said: “I think there’s enough OEMs out there.” Picking International Airlines Group (IAG) CEO Willie Walsh – who had complained about maintenance costs being driven by a limited number of suppliers – for some special treatment, O’Leary was quoted by Flight Global as having said: “It’s very interesting: Every time Willie is unhappy about something, it becomes a big cause celebre in Brussels. BA

CATHAY: Goes for FHS contract with Airbus, guaranteed spares and maintenance.

CRUISING HEIGHTS August 2016

Flying the A350 XWB •

AerCap/ILFC: Ordered 20; Delivered 4* • CIT Group: Ordered 14; Delivered 2 • Finnair: Ordered 19; Delivered 6 • LATAM Group: Ordered 27; Delivered 3 • Qatar Airways: Ordered 80; Delivered 8 • Singapore Airlines: Ordered 67; Delivered 4 Total Delivered: 27 (As of June 30, 2016) *The planes are flying with Cathay Pacific and Vietnam Airlines

was the original great monopolist: they were never unhappy when they had a monopoly over high fares to and from Heathrow, they were never unhappy when they had a monopoly here in the London system… when (airports operator) BAA was still the great British monopoly screwing everybody.

We’re a bigger fleet of engines, for example, than BA…We’ve no difficulty in securing maintenance.”

Anyway, neither the IATA intervention, nor the EU bureaucracy or Willie Walsh has been able to stop the onward march of OEMs getting deeper and deeper into this line of business. Spares pools are now standard across the industry as most airlines look to minimising costs on spending expensive dollars on inventory. This is most in use for the next generation aircraft like the A350 and the B787 and should apply to the Neo and the Max as well. Just the sheer technological sophistication and improved reliability translates into lesser replacement, longer time on air and less need for spares on ground. Also, the spares are expensive and you have to know where to stock it in your network. This is particularly true if an item is

Aftermarket services to reach $3 trillion ith the continuing exponential growth in the commercial aviation aftermarket, Airbus has published its first Global Services Forecast (GSF).

This forecast predicts that over the next 20 years the total industry aftermarket services spend will reach US$3 trillion.

Of this total, the cumulative value of Maintenance, Repair & Overhaul (MRO) activity will exceed $1.8 trillion by the year 2035. On an annual basis, Airbus predicts that the MRO spend will grow from $53 billion to over $132 billion per year, representing an average year-onyear growth of 4.6 per cent.

Aftermarket services activity is inherently linked to the growth of the passenger fleet in general – which will more than double from 19,500 commercial aircraft over 100 seats at the end of 2015 to almost 40,000 by the year 2035.

Asia-Pacific will represent the largest portion of the market for both MRO activity and the need for new qualified pilots and technicians, while Europe and North America combined will account for approximately one-third of the total MRO market spend.

“Today our customers already operate the best aircraft in terms of modernity, economic performance, range and comfort for the passengers,” said Laurent Martinez, Senior Vice President of Airbus’ Services business unit. “Moreover, with the ever increasing growth of the commercial aircraft industry, with Airbus’ OEM expertise, Services By Airbus will deliver value-adding and quality services for its customers worldwide – on a par with the quality of the aircraft which we deliver.”

Services By Airbus is Airbus’ business unit tasked with addressing Airbus customers’ aftermarket needs, which is clustered around four principle domains: Maintenance; Upgrades; Training and Flight Operations. For supporting our customers’ maintenance and operational needs, Airbus’ dedicated global material services subsidiary Satair Group ensures reactivity for airlines and MROs world-wide for spare parts. In addition, Flight Hour and Total Support Package (FHS & TSP) services provide flexible and tailor-made solutions for availability and maintenance ‘by the hour’.

VISTARA: No maintenance headaches. Complete package with Airbus.

AIRBUS

AIRBUS

VIETNAM AIRLINES: First to go for the FHS route because it is practical.

AIRBUS

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CRUISING HEIGHTS August 2016

what is described as ‘go-no-go’ item. What that means is that if that particular part goes bad, it has to be replaced for the aircraft to fly. In case the operators don’t have it, the aircraft will be grounded. And some of these parts are hugely expensive – closer to half a million dollars. In most cases the lifecycle of these expensive parts are far beyond the lifecycle of the aircraft, so does an airline take the risk of not storing it or bite the bullet when a ‘go-no-go’ moment arrives?

No surprise, therefore, that airlines are increasingly turning to aftermarket specialists like Finnair did with Lufthansa Technic or directly to OEMs like Rolls-Royce or manufacturer subsidiaries like Satair. According to Airbus, any airline would need a fleet of at least close to a 90-100 aircraft fleet of A350s before it can economically justify its own spares pool. Managing a spares pool to support 10-12 A350 aircraft can cost close to $25-30 million (`200 crores). Airbus’s FHS and FHS Tailored Support Package (TSP) have been created to handle this requirement. In the FHS Package, operators pay per flight hour for access to spares pools, including critical line-replaceable units and in the FHS TSP there are options such as engineering services, airplane-health monitoring and management of airframe work.

It isn’t that it is just Airbus that is in the frame. Boeing too, has over 2000 aircraft under a variety of material management contract. Aviation Week quoted Joe Dunne, Director of Material Management Services for Boeing Commercial Aviation Services and he said that the “depth of inventory” manufacturers brought to the table was unmatched. “If I don’t have it in my pool, I probably have it in my production supply chain or in my spare parts supply chain,” he told delegates at Aviation Week’s MRO Americas Conference sometime back.

According to Airbus, fewer and fewer airlines are now putting money in what is termed as “initial provisioning (IP)” — a package of spares for new fleets that can be anywhere from $15-20 million for older aircraft like B777 or A330 and almost twice that amount for the A350/B787 type. No wonder the FHS option looks far more interesting. The ballpark figure for a pool of over 500 items for an A350 fleet would cost close to $15-20 million per flight per aircraft.

Interestingly, Singapore Airlines that recently signed an A380 FHS deal has seen a huge hit. That’s because not only are the spares highly expensive but it makes no sense for operators to store individual spares when they fly so few of them. As of March 31, 156 A380s were in service with 13 operators, but only Emirates and SIA had at least 20.

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ENGINES

Showstopper engines at If there was one competition that was closely watched at the Farnborough Airshow it was the one among the aircraft engine makers…

C

FM ultimately won the day. Battling it out for the engines of the Airbus A320neo family were CFM’s LEAP-1A and Pratt’s PW1100G geared turbofan (GTF). At the end of it all, CFM announced a larger quantity of orders at the airshow.

GE Aviation and CFM International, the GE/Snecma joint venture, a 50/50 joint company between GE and Snecma (Safran), were the top winners with more than $25 billion in orders and commitments.

These included more than 800 GE and CFM engines as well as the TrueChoice

suite of engine maintenance offerings. Pratt & Whitney and Rolls-Royce also secured significant engine orders during the event.

CFM unveiled its LEAP-1A engine orders at Farnborough to power 164 A320neo family aircraft: Seoul-based Asiana Airlines selected LEAP-1As to power 25 A321neos; TAP Portugal ordered 83 LEAP-1As to power 15 A320neos and 24 A321neos; and Malaysia’s AirAsia ordered 200 LEAP-1As to power 100 A321neos.

There was more. TAP Portugal and CFM International announced the airline’s order of 83 LEAP-1A engines to power its

new fleet of Airbus A320neo/A321neo aircraft. With these new engines, Portugal’s leading airline will improve its overall operating cost, as well as its operational reliability. “The success of our relationship with CFM International is demonstrated by the length of our partnership,” said Fernando Pinto, Chief Executive Officer of TAP Portugal.

“TAP has been a great customer for a very long time and we couldn’t be more proud of their decision to trust us with their future single-aisle fleet,” said Jean-Paul Ebanga, president and CEO of CFM Inter-

The LEAP-1A engine is on track for entry into service in mid-2016 and will provide operators with a 15 per cent improvement in fuel efficiency, reduction in CO2 emissions; a 50 per cent margin to new emissions regulations and a dramatically lower noise signature 40

CRUISING HEIGHTS August 2016

Farnborough BOC Aviation orders 18 IAE V2500 shipsets

national.

The value of Asiana Airlines order was $950 million at list price, including spare engines and a long-term support agreement. The aircraft order was announced in 2015. To support the fleet, the airline signed a long-term Rate Per Flight Hour (RPFH) agreement under the terms of which CFM would provide maintenance support for the all of the LEAP-1A engines in Asiana’s fleet on a dollar per engine flight hour basis.

Speaking about the engines, Soo Cheon Kim, President, Asiana Airlines said, “I believe that LEAP engine will deliver significant benefits to Asiana’s A321neo fleet with its efficient and reliable operation.

Also, our selection of the LEAP engine will be another great milestone to strengthen our important relationship with CFM International.”

An elated Ebanga said that the engine selection and management teams had done an outstanding job. “It is a real privilege to see, first hand, the success Asiana Airlines continues to achieve,” said the CFM CEO. AirAsia’s order of 200 additional CFM LEAP-1A engines to power 100 new Airbus A321neo expanded its LEAP engine fleet to nearly 730 engines. Valued at $2.7 billion at list price, the agreement was signed by Tassapon Bijleveld, CEO of Thai AirAsia, representing Group CEO of AirAsia Tony Fernandes, and Jean-Paul Ebanga. “This order for the larger A321neo is an important element in our long-term growth and expansion strategy,” said Tony Fernandes.

“Choosing the right engine to power them is critical to the success of that strategy.

For us, the LEAP-1A was the obvious

FIRM ORDERS: Rick Deurloo, Senior Vice President, Commercial Engines, Sales, Marketing and Customer Service, Pratt & Whitney (L), with Robert Martin, Managing Director & CEO, BOC Aviation Limited (R), at the signing ceremony of the engine order at the Farnborough Air Show 2016.

B

OC Aviation has made firm orders for 18 shipsets of V2500 engines to power the new Airbus A320ceo family aircraft already in the company’s order book. The aircraft have all been placed on lease with customers.

The V2500 engine is offered through IAE International Aero Engines AG, a multinational aero engine consortium whose shareholders comprise Pratt & Whitney, a division of United Technologies Corporation; Pratt & Whitney Aero Engines International GmbH; Japanese Aero Engines Corporation and MTU Aero Engines GmbH. “This repeat order reflects our continued confidence in the V2500 engine as a fuel-efficient solution for a significant portion of our A320 family fleet on order,” said Robert Martin, Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer of BOC Aviation. choice. This engine has demonstrated the promised 15 per cent fuel efficiency and we are quite familiar with the reliability inherent in CFM products and the impact that this has on our operations.”

Pratt was close behind and won a major order from Budapest-based Wizz Air. The engine maker announced PW1100G engine CRUISING HEIGHTS August 2016

orders to power at least 145 A320neo family aircraft. Lessor AerCap also selected selected Pratt & Whitney’s PurePower Geared Turbofans (GTF) to power 10 A320neos, while Berlin-based Germania ordered engines to power 40 A320neos.

Aengus Kelly, Chief Executive Officer, AerCap, said, “AerCap is the largest owner of Airbus A320neo family aircraft, with over 200 aircraft on order. We are committed to providing our customers with operational efficiency and profitability. With the success we have had placing Pratt & Whitney powered A320neos in the marketplace, we look forward to further enhancing our fleet with additional Pratt & Whitney PurePower engines.”

“AerCap has reaffirmed their confidence in Pratt & Whitney by increasing their portfolio to 200 PurePower engines.

We are proud to have AerCap as a customer as they remain at the forefront of the lessor community,” said Rick Deurloo, Senior Vice President, Commercial Engines, Sales, Marketing & Customer Service, Pratt & Whitney. “The award-winning PurePower engine will provide AerCap with revolutionary technology that delivers significant total cost reductions,” he said.

While finalising the deal at Farnborough, Karsten Balke, Chief Executive Officer, Germania said that “selecting the Pratt & Whitney Pure Power engine was a clear choice for Germania. The Geared Turbofan engine technology delivers game-changing reductions in fuel burn, environmental emissions, engine noise and operating costs”.

On his part, Rick Deurloo pointed out that Pratt & Whitney would provide Germania with the most technologically advanced engine available – the Pratt & Whitney PurePower Geared Turbofan engine.

Wizz Air too selected the PurePower engines to power its order of 110 firm Airbus A320neo family aircraft with purchase rights for up to 90 more. “Following a detailed review process we concluded that the Geared Turbofan engine delivers the best value proposition as well as maximum fuel and operational efficiency. These metrics will translate directly into reduced operating costs for our business. While we Continued from page 42

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ENGINES Continued from page 41

already have a very low cost base, our focus is to be ever more efficient to offer the lowest fares for our customers while driving strong returns for shareholders,” said József Váradi, Chief Executive Officer of Wizz Air. To that Rick Deurloo mentioned that “we’re providing more than just an engine; we're delivering a revolution in sustainable aviation technology.”

Pratt & Whitney also signed a deal for PW1100G-JM and V2500 engines to power up to 32 A320 family aircraft with an undisclosed leasing company. “The lessor community is very important to us and we take pride in offering engines that have a history of dependability and provide the right solution to the industry,” said Rick Deurloo.

Rolls got two major engine orders valued at $900 million each: Gulf Air chose the Trent 1000 to power 10 Boeing 787-9s while UK-based Virgin Atlantic’s 12 A3501000s will be powered by Trent XWB-97 engines (the XWB is the exclusive engine on the A350). Bahrain’s national carrier, Gulf Air, awarded Rolls-Royce contract for Trent 1000 engines to power 10 Boeing 7879 Dreamliners. The contract also included long-term TotalCare service support. In addition, the carrier also has the option to purchase the same engine to power six further Boeing 787-9s. Maher Salman Al Musallam, Gulf Air, Chief Executive Officer, said: “Gulf Air’s current widebody fleet is also powered by Trent 700 engines and, with this latest development, we look forward to continuing our longstanding relationship with Rolls-Royce as we take an important step forward in developing our future fleet. We have experience of the Trent engine and its durability and resilience in a variety of operating conditions and we are confident the Trent 1000 will deliver the same outstanding performance.”

Eric Schulz, President , Civil Aerospace, Rolls-Royce said: “We are proud to be selected by a valued customer such as Gulf Air and this marks a significant success for the Trent 1000. It has developed a real momentum in the marketplace, winning more than 60 per cent of engine competitions in the last six years.”

Rolls-Royce also scored with a Virgin Atlantic order for engines for 12 A350-1000 aircraft, including for four leased aircraft.

Craig Kreeger, CEO, Virgin Atlantic, said: “The size of this order demonstrates our absolute focus on investing in the future for our customers and our people, and confirms the strength of our business. The A350-1000 plays a pivotal role in our fleet programme, and with the Rolls-Royce Trent XWB engine, it is helping to create one of the youngest, cleanest, greenest fleets in the sky.”

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Airbus, R-R partner for Cathay Pacific’s A350 fleet A

irbus and Rolls-Royce have created a new integrated parts availability service for the Cathay Pacific Airways A350 fleet, which encompasses both airframe and engine Line-Replaceable-Unit (LRU) components. The service integrates the Airbus’ Fleets Hours Service (FHS) and the Rolls-RoyceTotalCare Availability service through a seamless operational interface. Through this partnership between Airbus and Rolls-Royce, Cathay Pacific will be able to access both

engine and aircraft parts through the same process to improve speed of response.

Supported by both manufacturers, this innovative approach to managing airframe and engine parts provides a cost-effective and lean operational solution for the airline.

The airframe and engine parts will be hosted in the same warehouse in Hong Kong so that they can be made available locally when needed to secure the airline’s A350 operations.

Micrsoft to help improve engine efficiency R olls-Royce has tied up with Microsoft to deal with the huge amount of data streaming from aircraft engines. The move will see a collaboration between aerospace engineering and cloud computing and will include advanced analytics and the Internet of Things (IoT).

The data will be used to boost operational usage and bring about changes in the maintenance process.

Aimed for the R o l l s - R o y c e ’s TotalCare platform, the tie-up involves Singapore Airlines (SIA) as the lead airline development partner. Microsoft’s help will bring a reduction in costs, improve on-time performance and give better value to the engine-maker’s customer. SIA’s role, according to Tom Palmer, Rolls-Royce SVP-Services and Civil Aerospace will be “to ensure that CRUISING HEIGHTS August 2016

that everything we do is applicable to our making a real difference”.

Built on Microsoft’s Azure cloud platform, the programme will utilise Azure IoT Suite to collect and aggregate data from multiple and geographically separate sources.

In addition, the programme will also use the Cortana Intelligence Suite to look at data. According to reports, the new system has been so designed that it will manage and integrate quantities of airline operational data than is being done now. Palmer pointed out that the programme will be able to handle the terabytes of data that are produced by modern engines and use that to “significantly improve maintenance schedules, flight planning, fuel efficiency and on-time performance…”, he said.

Trent 1000 TEN receives EASA certification

DEAL: Gareth Jones, Chief Engineer, Trent 1000 and Trevor Wood, Certification Director, EASA

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he Rolls-Royce Trent 1000 TEN engine, which will power the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, has received official certification from the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA). The certificate was officially presented by Trevor Wood, Certification Director, EASA, to Gareth Jones, Trent 1000 Chief Engineer, Civil Aerospace, Rolls-Royce at Farnborough Airshow. The presentation was attended by Nicole Piasecki, Vice President Propulsion Division, Boeing. Certification confirms the engine has fulfilled EASA’s airworthiness requirements and is the major engine milestone prior to the engine powering the 787 Dreamliner into service next year.

The Trent 1000 TEN (Thrust, Efficiency and New Technology) will power all variants of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner family. The engine draws on technologies

from the Rolls-Royce Trent XWB engine and Advance engine programme, delivering thrust and efficiency improvements.

Said Gareth Jones: “This is another step in our journey to bring outstanding performance and economics to our customers on the 787 Dreamliner. We have worked closely with Boeing and EASA to reach certification and I want to thank both organisations for their dedication to helping us reach this goal.”

The Trent 1000 TEN has already powered tests on the Rolls-Royce Flying Test Bed aircraft, a Boeing 747, at Tucson, Arizona, US, which began in March this year, and is scheduled to start powering a Boeing 787 on test flights later this year. The Trent 1000 powered the first 787-8 entry into service in 2011 and the first 787-9 into service in 2014.

R-R engines on track L

ast November, after reaching the “first engine to test” stage with two of four planned Rolls-Royce Trent 7000 (T7000) development units having run, the new exclusive powerplant for the re-engined Airbus A330neo represented “a pretty active programme,” according to Customer Marketing Head Peter Johnston.

Relative to its parent Trent 700 design, the 68,000 to 72,000-pounds-thrust T7000 has double the bypass ratio and 10-per cent better specific fuel consumption, while creating 10dB less noise. It does this partly by drawing on Trent 1000-TEN architecture as well as technology from the Trent XWB. Rolls-Royce has also incorporated a new electronic engine control unit, accessorydrive train/gearbox, air-start capability and related external changes, and is adapting the design to work with the new engine bleed-air system (EBAS). It will also have a new Aircelle nacelle.

Testing has already been completed on the first Trent 7000, dubbed L71/1 in its first iteration (but identified as engine serial number, ESN 7001 when fully mounted in test beds). With engines not completed in numerical order, second development unit L73/1 also has completed its first runs and is being used for functional as well as operability tests.

Meanwhile, Rolls-Royce has welcomed Ethiopian Airlines as the prospective latest operator for the Trent 1000

CFM in fast forward mode to deliver LEAPs A

few days before Farnborough, Jean-Paul Ebanga, CFM International President and CEO, told AIN that “Farnborough 2016 is a major landmark in CFM’s history, beJEAN-PAUL EBANGA cause it marks the end of one of the most demanding and fascinating periods of our history.” What Ebanga was implying was that from now on, the Franco-American joint venture between Safran and GE, would fast forward its production rate that will ensure the delivery of a backlog of just over 10,500 of its new Leap engines to power the new A320neo and 737 Max nar-

rowbody airliners. And, if China’s Comac is ready, CFM will have to get the engines ready for the C919.

During May, CFM got both FAA andEASA certification for the Leap 1A turbofan meant for the A320neo and the Leap 1B for the 737 Max. In June, the company was getting ready for the A320neo to get into service. As Ebanga put it to AIN: “We’ve been working for four years on the three pillars of this programme: right product, right supply chain and having the right product support. Selling an engine takes a year, at most; it takes 30 years to support it and ensure that the customer gets the lifetime costs that were promised.” He also said that working at peak rates of production, CFM will “be making 1,700 engines per year; that’s 36,000 fan blades”.

CRUISING HEIGHTS August 2016

engine, along with two other new customers in the past 12 months — France’s Air Austral and El Al of Israel — and a repeat order from Norwegian Airlines. Air China and Air Europa have introduced Trent 1000 (T1000) – powered 787 services this year, while Ethiopian was expected to introduce its first 787 from August.

A media report stated that the manufacturer was looking forward to flight-testing the latest Trent 1000-TEN (for Thrust, Efficiency and New-technology) aboard the Boeing 787 and formal certification of that sub-variant, as the T1000 fleet passed 2 million engine flight-hours (EFH) and around 450,000 engine cycles.

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INNOVATION

PROJECT ZERO The shape of choppers to come

Is it a helicopter or a plane! Anyone can ask that question of Project Zero. The aircraft caught the attention of the world when it was first demonstrated at the 2013 Paris Air Show. What is special is that the take-off is like a chopper and then the rotors can effortlessly change direction, go perpendicular and fly like a plane!

The aircraft has no hydraulics, no transmission, is electronically powered and is a revlutionary nextgen concept. The power is generated by a reversed electric motor and, believe it or not, the rotors can recharge the batteries without plugging in. One reason why Agusta has gone for the tilt rotors is the flexibility of the technology and the huge options it offers: it is viewed as the future of high-speed rotorcraft simply because of the speed and range that it presents.

A helicopter that lifts off like one and then becomes an airplane – that is what Finmeccanica’s ‘concept helicopter’ is all about. And, to top it all, it not only uses electric power but has the ability to recharge its batteries on the ground without plugging in to a power source

While the tilt rotor technology per se is not something new to Agusta Westland considering they have the AW609 that closely resembles the Boeing V-22 Osprey but it is much smaller and has a pressurized cabin. However, Project Zero — unlike the Osprey or AW609 — integrates the rotors within the wingspan of the aircraft. In the clasical tilt rotors, the engines and propellers are mounted at the end of a wing but in Project Zero, the rotors can be rotated more than 90 degrees. The wing tips are detachable for missions when the aircraft’s primary use will be as a helicopter.

While it is some five years since the first flight was made in Italy in 2011, Agusta is now looking at using some of the experiences of the project to its other products as well as moving forth to the next level with Project Zero.

Speaking to K SRINIVASAN was Dr James Wang, Senior Vice President Helicopters and Services Marketing, one of the leaders of the project. Excerpts from the interview:

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CRUISING HEIGHTS August 2016

Tell me about Project Zero?

We started Project Zero in 2010. What is (its) objective? It is not a product. It is never designed to be a product. Just like we go to the car show, they have the concept cars.

We want to build something as a technology demonstrator. It shows what we can possibly do in the future.

So we have started to put in many – many different — innovative technologies not just one, so that we can make what we call ‘Technology Incubator’. So, what we have is fully electric power. This is the world’s first vertical take off electric vehicle and we size it so big, 13 meters from wing tip to wing tip at the front — so that it has the ability to either carry 200 kg of payload or one pilot and 100 kg of payload.

We sized it so big because the intention is that we want a configuration that can vertically take off and then we can tilt the rotor forward for it to become like an aircraft.

Why? Because Agusta (now we are called Finmeccanica Helicopter division) has three business pillars in our business plan: One, we want to be a world-recognised leader in helicopters; Two, we want

to be recognized as the world leader in civil tiltrotor; Three, we want to be very strong in Rotary Unmanned Air Vehicle (RUAV). Project Zero is a perfect match for all three. In one platform we are able to develop and learn that the tilt rotor technology, the controls we can implement, have new tests on it and the uses. Right now, we have only tested the unmanned version so it helps us learn develop control loss and to control our unmanned autonomous ride — because we offer two products already.

(Actually) we just started. One is the 1.8ton unmanned and optionally manned helicopter called a Solo. The other is the 160 kg max takeoff RUAV called the Hero. So this synergizes with that.

can get to 10 kW/kg of motor. That is very high efficiency. What is limiting is the battery. We use lithium rechargeable battery.

Today’s lithium rechargeable battery only has an energy density of about 170 Wh/kg.

It is very good but still, for flight, it is not enough. So, today, we are getting less than 10 minute flights. But if we take a look at the electric car industry, 10 years ago, the Tesla cars could only go 50 km. Today, the Tesla can go 500 km range as a one order of magnitude (one is about ten times larger than the other). And in 10 years if they

In terms of the helicopter, how does Project Zero synergize with that?

Well, we in future...10 years from now, I mean electric propulsion could definitely become viable. Currently, today, no. Why? – Because it is not limited by the motor.

The motors are pretty good already. They can develop 5 kW/kg of force or power already. It is very good. And in future, you

CRUISING HEIGHTS August 2016

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INNOVATION

can improve the rechargeable battery — doesn’t have to be lithium, whatever technology and one order of magnitude, then 10 minutes becomes a 100 minutes. It is not the core business..core competency of Agusta to develop battery technology. Our core business is flight technology while the automobile industry is spending billions on new battery innovation.

The problem margin it is very low... let them develop it. We focus on the flying portion, innovation, and technology. When they are ready, my suspicion in 10 years, and then electric flights can become viable. So what we do is at least we pave the road to have all this testing done. We took the first step, we demonstrated, we can get off the ground, no problem. No, it is simply a matter of endurance and also the weight.

This flight demonstrator, this technology demonstrator that you have, have you used parts of it in another aircraft?

Yes, what we have done basically is we want to test many different things. For example, this thing is fully carbon composite skin and we have used moulds. Basically, we want to apply the same belief and thinking eventually in the future to mould helicopter fuselage as large pieces as this.

Right now, the helicopter you see is many, many aluminium panel pieces riveted together. Why not make even large moulds for the nose, the back as one piece, that gives you better repeatability, consistency, mass producibility and lowers the cost, that’s the kind of thinking (that has gone into this) we are using large moulding already. What else? (For) This one, we use electric propulsion, there are no transmissions, they are directly driving the rotor.

So, that is something we (are) exploring, eventually using this technology on the helicopter. For example, what we have done — now in some of the helicopters — we use as starter generator. We use electric

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So underneath, there is a three-blade rotor, two of them underneath each one of them, three blades. There is one EMA under each blade. So as the rotor spins at high RPM, this actuator spins together at the same RPM as the rotor and then it moves to control each individual blade individually.

Now you have the freedom. You can do anything you want, no limitation now and you can move at any frequency and you can use that to improve the aerodynamic efficiency too, adjust alleviation, anything. motors to start the engine and now for this when it is running, you can use as a generator too. In Project Zero when the helicopter flies it uses electric power. When it is parked here, you could easily pump up the landing gear because it is external you raise it, and then you can tilt the tilt rotor vertically. Now it can become a windmill.

You can run the motor in reverse and generate power to recharge the battery. So these are many things in view.

And also Project Zero is fully EMA (Electrical-Mechanical Actuator Control).

There is no hydraulic at all. So, we want to go in for more electric in the future. We already have done many experiments to replace the hydraulic actuator by the EMA. Few years ago, we did that on a 101 helicopter. Can we replace hydraulic? We already did a lot of work. On the current AW169, the landing gear is no longer hydraulic operated. It is electric EMA operated. So electric is the way. Another thing is helicopters use swash plate traditionally. (A swashplate is a device that translates input via the helicopter flight controls into motion of the main rotor blades. Because the main rotor blades are spinning, the swashplate is used to transmit three of the pilot's commands from the non-rotating fuselage to the rotating rotor hub and mainblades).

This one uses no swashplate. What we use is called IBC (Individual Blade Control).

CRUISING HEIGHTS August 2016

You have a patent of this?

Yes, we have a patent on this. This IBC actually is not new. It was invented by Professor Norman Ham back in 1970. So this already was invented in 1970. Nobody was able to test that. We were able to be the first one in the world, actually flight test of this whole thing and made it work.

Final question: How long has this Project Zero been? When did you start and when will it come to culmination? And what would be the ballpark cost figure in terms of R&D? Okay, so we started this around 2011. It was very quick. We wanted to form a sort of Skunk team (the famed R&D unit at Lockheed Martin) something like where we put young people together in one room and we lock them up and we give them challenging tests. So we are able to design, built, and also test it and all in a six-month period. We also had 12 partners from around the world — from America, Europe, England, UK, Italy, and also from Japan. So there is a global partnership…we certainly have few million but it is completely a 100 per cent company-funded programme. We did not ask money from anywhere else and also the partners were very nice. All the partners, they also basically self-contributed. They contribute their R&D on their own expenses.

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FOCUS ON ‘COPTERS P50

P51

EYE ON CHOPPERS

JUHU: NO CNS STAFFERS

Aviation regulator keeps an eye on pilgrimage choppers after findings of a surprise audit

Communication, Navigation and Surveillance staffers at Mumbai’s Juhu airport transferred

AIRBUS

show at Farnborough

THE NEWSMAKERS: L-R: Xavier Hay, President, Airbus Helicopters Division in India; S P Shukla, Group President, Aerospace & Defence, Mahindra & Mahindra; Fabrice Cagnat, Director, Make in India, Airbus Helicopters; Arvind Mehra, Executive Director and CEO, Mahindra Aerospace; Ben Bridge, Executive Vice President, Global Business, Airbus Helicopters; Stephen Roebuck, Director Business Development, Mahindra Aerospace at the official signing ceremony for partnership

T

he global commercial helicopter sector is expected to experience a growth of 3.08 per cent growth during from 2013-2023. In the meantime, the traditional civil helicopter markets — North America and Europe — have been subject to a noticeable decline for several years now. Emerging markets of Asia Pacific and Middle East are expected

48

to be the growth centers for commercial helicopters during the forecast period owing to the huge potential in countries such as China, India, Australia, Japan, UAE, Qatar, etc.

The arena of civilian helicopters at Farnborough was in no way dull, if not brimming with vibrancy, despite the afterBrexit flavour. More, the India opportunity CRUISING HEIGHTS August 2016

was explored by stakeholders in the right fashion at the event.

At the UK based mega aviation event, Bell Helicopter and Tata Advanced Systems (TASL) entered an agreement to explore opportunities to work together in India’s rotorcraft market. “Under this agreement TASL and Bell Helicopter will join forces to develop both commercial and government

(including military) rotary wing markets in India in the Light Utility and Reconnaissance segments,” said Bell in a statement.

“The scope of this agreement is intended to include potential production and assembly capabilities, certain training and maintenance, repair and overhaul requirements, as well as research and development programmes and technology sharing that will grow industrial capabilities and result in innovative “Make in India” solutions.”

TASL’s work packages include the fuselage of the Sikorsky S-92 helicopter, the empennage of the Lockheed Martin C130J, the aft fuselage and tail cone for the Boeing CH-47 Chinook, the wing assembly and other major work on the Pilatus PC-12, and major work on Ruag’s Dornier 228NG, for which it produces 3,000 detailed parts, as well as the fuselage, empennage, and wings. It also has component work on several other programmes, including structural work on the Cobham refuelling pods found on the Airbus Defence & Space A400M and Embraer KC-390.

The airshow also saw another major development from the Indian perspective when Mahindra Aerostructures won the opportunity to produce airframe parts in Bengaluru for the Airbus Helicopters A565 Panther. The parts would then be sent directly to Airbus Helicopters’ production line in Marignane, France, Airbus Helicopters informed.

“The contract positions Mahindra Aerostructures as the first Indian company to receive a direct manufacturing contract from Airbus Helicopters as a Tier 1 supplier,” the European manufacturer said.

Coming near you:

Choppers for emergencies

W

orld chopper market surveys show a positive growth in India and revealed that the Indian helicopter market was growing at the rate of 20 per cent.

Eurocopter estimated requirement of approximately 50 helicopters for medical emergency services in the country during the next few years.

Projecting that the number of civil helicopters in India will increase by nearly three-fold to 800 in next 10-20 years, the Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation (CAPA) has said that the government’s ambitious ‘Make in India’ project coupled with strategic initiatives could make this growth happen. According to the Indian arm of the Sydney-based think-tank, almost half of this projected requirement would be needed to provide regional connectivity, which is one of the focus areas of the new civil aviation policy. At present, there are 276 helicopters registered with the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) and it is expected that this fleet size would go up to 800 in the next 10-20 years period.

“Mahindra Aerostructures will gradually emerge as the global single source supplier to Airbus Helicopters for these parts.

This work package is the first amongst a series of work packages which would embed Mahindra Group firmly in the Airbus Helicopters’ global supply chain and bind the two companies in a long-term ‘Make in In-

CRUISING HEIGHTS August 2016

dia’ partnership.” Airbus Helicopters, however, did not provide details of the specific parts, or when production will commence.

Further, Airbus Helicopters delivered the first VIP variant of its super-mediumclass H175. The owner was not made public but Flight Fleets Analyzer listed the registration as G-DLBR and the operator as Klaret Sky Leasing, a company registered in Malta. Airbus Helicopters said the customer of the H175 will “operate it in Europe as a complement to a yacht”.

Leonardo’s helicopter division admitted that the certification timeline for its AW609 civil tiltrotor had been slightly delayed due to last October’s fatal crash involving the second flight-test prototype.

The company intends to return the aircraft to flight ‘in a matter of weeks’ and will operate it both airplane and helicopter modes.

Divisional Chief Daniele Romiti informed mediapersons at Farnborough that “the programme is moving on”. US Federal Aviation Administration approval was now likely to take place in early 2018, rather than 2017 as previously indicated. “It is floating on the date due to the situation we had to recover,” he informed.

Romiti said that PT1, the oldest surviving example, would fly first “in a matter of weeks” while PT3 “is likely to be later” because some pre-flight testing still needed to be performed, albeit that a proportion of ground tests had already been carried out.

The pair will later swap locations, with PT1 due to head to Italy “around September or October”, while its sister ship will travel the other way to prepare for winter icing tests.

They will be augmented by fourth AW609 which will arrive in “mid-2017”.

Leonardo was waiting for the findings of an accident investigation by Italy’s ANSV agency to be released prior to resuming flight. The situation was further complicated by the early May impounding of PT3 by a magistrate probing the accident.

Leonardo Helicopters also demonstrated its AgustaWestland AW189 helicopter at the show. The AW189 features Abaco’s DAQMAG2A high performance rugged display computer, which has been integrated by Leonardo into the AW189 helicopter to provide video capture, processing, and transmission.

Russia’s main helicopter-making holding presented its brand-new medium multirole Mi-171A2 helicopter, transport and passenger helicopter Mi-38, and light utility Ansat chopper at the show. Russian Helicopters company showcased advanced helicopter models and offer maintenance service packages and attracted attention to provide them stimulus for new contracts.

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FOCUS ON ‘COPTERS A-PAC chopper numbers to rise 37 per cent

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lightglobal’s Ascend consultancy has forecast that the Asia-Pacific’s share of commercial helicopter deliveries will rise to 37 per cent in 2025 from 26 per cent in 2015. In regard to specific roles, helicopters earmarked for business/private use will dominate, with 33 per cent of deliveries, followed by utility/multi-role helicopters with 22 per cent, and offshore support with 13 per cent.

The assessment was shared by Chris Seymour, Head of Market Analysis at Ascend, during a webinar hosted by the consultancy in association with Rotorcraft Asia, a civilian helicopter trade show that will take place in Singapore in April 2017.

Seymour pointed to some clouds on the horizon. Deliveries are set to be flat in 2016 and could indeed fall, although new types in the light single, medium, and super medium segments are stimulating the market.

He also noted a strong replacement market in the sector.

More specifically, a key challenge was the offshore oil and gas support market, which has been hurt by the falling oil price in recent years. He noted two ominous developments in particular, including the grounding of the Airbus Helicopters H225 and AS332L2 fleets owing to the fatal 29 April crash of an H225 in Norway, and the bankruptcy of CHC helicopters.

Medical evacuation becomes easier M

edical evacuation at remote places and highways has become easy with the newly announced civil aviation policy that has done away with the need to take permission from local authorities like collector or police for landing anywhere during emergencies. For airlifting in such cases, aviation officials and charter operator have been authorized to take a call on landing the aircraft in areas where medical assistance is needed. The aviation regulator is now in the process of formulating rules to implement the policy.

According to Uday Gelli, President of Rotary Wing Society of India (RWSI), Western Region, medical evacuation required ferrying the injured to the nearest hospital. “This is called hospital emergency medical services (HEMS). This team is equipped with doctors and medical assistants to treat the patient at the spot where he/she was picked up,” Gelli explained to a daily.

Aviation experts point out that mostly twin-engine aircraft are used for such emergencies since single engine planes can fly only during the day and need better visual conditions.

So, if a medical evacuation at night has to be done, it is mandatory to use a twin-engine helicopter.

According to DGCA rules, a helicopter can fly only when the flight path is submitted and approved by the authorities. However, there were no provisions for emergencies. That will not be the case sine in the recently announced civil aviation policy, the government has given helicopter evacuation a green signal.

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Ascend consultant Dennis Lau discussed market conditions specific to the Asia-Pacific. He noted that the region’s commercial helicopter fleet had grown 64 per cent since 2005, with over 6,000 rotorcraft in service or stored by civilian or government operators.

In the Asia-Pacific the dominant role was utility, with 26 per cent share, followed by business/private use with 25 per cent. Areas such as law enforcement, emergency medical services, and VIP transport account for single digit shares.

By country, Australia dominated the region’s civilian helicopter fleet, with nearly 2,000 helicopters. It was followed by China and New Zealand, which have fleets just over 800, and Japan, with just under 800.

DGCA keeps an eye on pilgrimage choppers F

ollowing the findings of a surprise audit, aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has brought helicopters ferrying pilgrims to Kedarnath and Amarnath under its lens.

Mandatory checks had been introduced to ensure that pilots were in peak physical and mental condition before entering the cockpit. However, during inspection at Uttarakhand’s Sahastradhara helipad that many pilots did not appear for breath checks before operating flights. A senior DGCA offi-

cial informed a daily that at least five pilots had been grounded due to this.

Former DGCA Chief M Sathiyavathy confirmed that the helipads near these popular shrines were under scrutiny. “The Amarnath yatra started on July 2. Our teams conducted inspections till a day before to ensure safe operations,” she told the daily. Neelgrath, Seshnag, Panchtharni, Pehalgam and the Holy Caves were some of the helipads under watch, she added. Basic safety precautions were not followed at many of these helipads. In fact, at Sahastradhara, there were complaints that jet fuel barrels were rolled close to a chopper. Last year 3.52 lakh tourists took part in the annual pilgrimage to Amarnath, according to data from the Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) tourism department.

Inaugural Rotorcraft Asia meet ready for lift-off

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otorcraft Asia is geared up for its debut as key industry leaders confirmed their participation at the inaugural edition of the dedicated commercial and para-public helicopter event. To be held from April 18 to 20, 2017 at Singapore, the attendees will experience the full spectrum of rotorcraft innovations and solutions in one venue.

The event will present a showcase of the entire spectrum of supply chain - rotorcraft systems, products, parts, accessories, services and technologies on display. Headlining the event will be global leaders in the rotorcraft industry like Airbus Helicopters, Bell Helicopter, Sikorsky, Honeywell Aerospace, Russian Helicopters, Safran Helicopter Engines,

No CNS staffers at Juhu Airport

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etc. One of the highlights will be the strategic conference focusing on, “Innovation in Rotorcraft”. Comprising plenary sessions and technical presentations, the conference aimed to bring together industry players to share ideas and best practices, as well as gain insights into technological advancements and solutions. “As a dedicated helicopter event for the industry, we will be bringing together top executives, regulators, industry experts, procurement heavyweights, as well as corporations and individuals with a keen interest in the business and solutions of rotorcraft. We look forward to establishing Rotorcraft Asia into an integral part of the eco-system that enhances Singapore’s status as an aviation hub,” said Leck Chet Lam, MD of Experia Events.

hree Communication, Navigation and Surveillance (CNS) staffers mandated with development and repair of equipment at Mumbai’s Juhu airport have been transferred. However, no replacements have been provided for them so far, giving the authorities at India’s oldest civil aviation airport a cause of concern. Incidentally, the sanctioned strength of the CNS wing of the airport is seven. Juhu airport handles

Media reports state that Airport Authority of India (AAI) officials are of the view that CNS staffers from nearby Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport (CSIA) can be summoned to Juhu airport in case of any malfunctioning. CSIA and Juhu airport are about three km from each other by road.

However, CSIA says that it is short-staffed by about 40 per cent and managing their affairs comes with its own set of challenges.

around 100 aircraft movement on average in a single day.

According to aviation experts, the business of government-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Ltd (ONGC) might be affected by this move: ONGC uses the airport for its helicopter operations of ferrying staffers and others to its oil exploration activities in Bombay High. According to industry estimate, ONGC's assets in the region currently produce 16 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) of crude oil, which is nearly 40 per cent of India's total crude oil production.

In this scenario, managing the additional responsibilities of the Juhu airport is not a feasible idea. As per a DNA report, the sanctioned strength of CSIA’s CNS unit is about 275 staffers. However, the airport has been functioning with a skeletal CNS staff of about 140. The situation turned worse between the end of May and June, when about 45 senior staffers were transferred and only around 15 came in as their replacement. Though another 25 new recruits have joined, they will need at least six months to get used to their work and become seasoned hands.

CALFLIER001\FLICKR

China has the region’s fastest growing civilian/para public helicopter fleet, followed

by India and Kazakhstan.

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BUSINESS AVIATION

Slow market is the new bizav normal

Business Aviation has been an integral part of Farnborough Airshow after a Business Aircraft Park – more popularly known as the BAP was introduced in 2004. This year, however, despite some major developments, business jet makers were anticipating tough times, that could stretch into the next decade, and weak sales at one of the biggest airshows

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large number of business jets, with fancy liveries, have been a regular and important feature of the Farnborough Airshow. In fact, business aviation has been an integral part of the airshow after a Business Aircraft Park – more popularly known as the BAP — was introduced in 2004. This time around, there was hardly any cheer from the park. Reason: Business jet makers had geared up for weak sales at Farnborough. Worse still, there was talk of the tough times that could stretch into the next decade. Experts claimed that the fallout could fundamentally alter airframers’ traditional balance between working on programmes for jetliners versus corporate aircraft.

Not withstanding the gloom, Farnborough witnessed some important events in business aviation. There was Gulfstream Aerospace Corp’s all-new G500 that made its European debut at the airshow, traveling across the Atlantic. The G500 flew nonstop from Savannah/Hilton Head International Airport to Farnborough Airport in six hours and 55 minutes, accomplishing the 3,732-nautical-mile/6,912-kilometer flight at an average speed of Mach 0.90 and altitude of 45,000 feet/13,716 meters. Gulfstream pilots Scott Evans, Brian Dickerson and Sean Sheldon were on the flight deck with Flight Test engineers Darren Klaus and Ray Beach on board.

“Since the first flight of the G500 in May 2015, we have been steadily expanding the test fleet and progressing toward the aircraft’s certification in 2017,” said Mark Burns, President, Gulfstream. “I’m pleased that we were able to bring the G500 to Farnborough to show the aircraft’s industry-leading safety, performance and comfort to our customers.”

The G500 which participated at Farnborough was the fourth test aircraft and serves as the test bed for avionics, water ingestion and select systems (water/waste, lighting, fire protection). The fifth test aircraft, P1, was at the Savannah Completions centre, where it was receiving a full interior that will be used to test the form, fit and function of various cabin elements. The G500 is slated to receive type certification in 2017

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and deliveries will start in 2018. The G600 is projected to enter service in 2019.

Gulfstream received a shot in the arm when Qatar Airways announced that its Executive division would now double its Gulfstream G650ER fleet, following an order at the show for three more of the ultra

CRUISING HEIGHTS August 2016

long-range business jets. Deliveries have been scheduled for 2017, 2018 and 2019.

Speaking during an event to mark the deal, Akbar Al Baker, Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive, said: “When all the aircraft are in service, we will be the largest G650 operator in the world.” He also confirmed that Qatar

Executive will phase out its Bombardier business jet fleet of four Global 5000s and a single XRS. “Our three Challenger 605s will be configured for air ambulance operations,” he said.

The plane that caught visitors’ eyeballs was the BBJ Max7. Marking the twentieth anniversary of its inauguration, Boeing Business Jets formally launched the BBJ Max 7, which will compete in the lucrative ultra-long-range niche. The VIP airliner is a longer-range version of the 737 Max 7 introduced by Boeing in 2012 and earmarked for service entry with launch customer Southwest Airlines in 2017.

“We saw what Gulfstream has done with the G650 and the ER variant, and we knew that we could offer a BBJ with a similar range to compete in that segment,” said David Longridge, President, Boeing Business Jets, in reference to the ultra-long-range business jets’ market-leading 7,000 nm (12,960 km) and 7,500 nm ranges. “This aircraft has been a huge success.”

Embraer too made its presence felt. Less than 45 days after its inaugural flight, the first E190-E2 prototype was also present at Farnborough for its international debut. The ferry flight from Sao Jose dos Campos to Farnborough took 12 hours and 40 minutes, with only two hours on the ground for refueling in Recife, northeast of Brazil, and then in Sal Island, in the Cape Verde archipelago, off the coast of Africa. “The flight was very smooth and went according to plan. Crossing the Atlantic at this stage of the flight test campaign is another great demonstration of the E190-E2 maturity, and it shows we are

on the right path to a very successful procrease its visibility. We have had a positive gramme,” said Luís Carlos Affonso, COO of reception to the aircraft. It’s a real highlight Embraer Commercial Aviation. of the static display.”

The first E190-E2 prototype has now Roads said its three European dealers – racked up a total of 59 hours from the 23 UK-based Marshalls, Rheinland Air Service flights performed since the first flight on of Germany and TAG Aviation of SwitzerMay 23 of this year. In addition to the flight land – had attracted significant success on test campaign, the programme has also accuthe continent. “There are a number of Euromulated 18,000 hours of tests on rigs and in pean orders with the first aircraft scheduled the iron bird, as well as many hours of simufor delivery in the first quarter of 2017,” he lation on the virtual aircraft. After the show, said. Much of the demand had come from the aircraft returned to Brazil to continue the owner-pilots and businesses in the Czech certification campaign. Another programme Republic, Italy, Switzerland and the UK. milestone was accomplished with “Some of these customers will the successful maiden flight turn left when they climb in of the second E190-E2 prothe aircraft. Other will turn This time around, totype which also took right,” Roads informed. there was hardly any place recently. The air“Through the current craft flew for 2 hours dealer network, we cheer from the park. and 55 minutes and have 83 per cent of Reason: Business jet makwill now join the flight light jet market covers had geared up for weak test and certificaered,” said Roads, sales at Farnborough. tion programme. The pointing to the global E190-E2 is scheduled location of the in-serWorse still, there was talk to enter into service durvice fleet. “While the of the tough times ing the first half of 2018. regions that make up the ahead.

Meanwhile, Honda remaining 17 per cent (LatAircraft’s HondaJet was at in America, Asia, Australasia] the show, seeking to raise awareare not necessarily important marness of the light business jet in the Eurokets for the HondaJet (now), they are vital to pean market. The model is owned by Honda the company’s future growth,” Roads said, Aircraft’s northern European distributor, referring to the airframer’s plan to build a Marshall Aerospace, which took delivery family of jets – with a larger model having of the six-seat aircraft at the European Busimore appeal in these markets. ness Aviation Convention and Exhibition in The Russians were not far behind. A May. “Sales have been really strong so far,” new aircraft concept for its SuperJet 100 said Simon Roads, Head of Global Sales for was launched by Sukhoi Civil Aircraft at Honda Aircraft. “Being at the show will inthe show. Its target clearly was the vast and lucrative sports team transport market. The SportJet is the third aircraft in Sukhoi’s lineup, which currently features a commercial airliner and business jet variant of the SJ100.

Certification and service entry of this latest model are earmarked for 2018, coinciding with the FIFA World Cup tournament – to be hosted by Russia – and two years ahead of the Olympic Games in Toyko, Japan.

There were others too like US air taxi company JetSuite which showcased a refurbished Embraer ERJ-135LR at Farnborough to illustrate the benefits of giving the out-ofservice regional jet a second lease of life.

The US company acquired 10 ex-American Eagle ERJ-135LRs from Embraer last year.

Three upgraded units have already entered service. “These aircraft were phenomenal value,” said Alex Wilcox, Chief Executive, JetSuite.

“Aged between 12 and 15 years their engines have only performed around 20,000 cycles and have a lot of life still left in them.

We decided to acquire a number of units, revamp them and re-introduce them into scheduled service,” Wilcox added.

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Net Express D I G I TA L T R E N D S F O R T R AV E L L E R E X P E R I E N C E

Game-changing tech for Airports

The last months saw hundreds of flights being diverted, delayed countrywide as a result of bad weather. Even the Prime Minister’s flight was diverted on one occasion due to the same reasons. The weather woes, backed by ever increasing traffic rise, have resulted in the need to expand and modernise airports to increase their capacity with the help of technologies such as Doppler Weather Radars and Instrument Landing System

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p-gradation of airports is a key factor that promotes the introduction and growth of the new technologies and their market. Raise in air traffic, especially in a top aviation market like India, has resulted in the need to expand and modernise airports to increase the airports capacity.

The Indian Meteorological Department had been working on a proposal to install Doppler weather radars exclusively for airports after the airlines and Airports Authority of India (AAI) made requests stating that inefficient forecast has often caught airlines off-guard at major airports in the country.

Now, the Delhi airport is procuring Terminal Doppler Radar (TDR) to aid landings in inclement weather. This development comes after the months of May and June saw 85 flights being diverted and hundreds being delayed as a result of bad weather and thunderstorms. Even Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s flight was diverted to Jaipur on one

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occasion after it could not land in the national capital due to bad weather.

Exclusive radars are needed for airports as wind patterns there are determined by its surrounding geography. The Terminal Doppler Weather Radar (TDWR) used exclusively for aviation can monitor low-level rapidly changing wind current and other weather patterns so that the current weather report issued to airlines can be comprehensive.

Studying wind patterns at airports using exclusive radars is important for air safety as a weather phenomenon called ‘microbursts’ can produce strong wind shear, posing danger to aircraft during take off and landing. Lack of information on wind pattern may force the pilot to make speed corrections during landing resulting in sudden loss of airspeed and altitude. Reports state that Airlines have suggested that the radar should be installed at Chennai, ThiruvaCRUISING HEIGHTS August 2016

INSIDE

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BEST GDS Travelport was awarded the ‘Best GDS’ title at the recently-held India Travel Awards

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SOCIAL MEDIA FIRE Social media charged after Singapore Airlines jet wing burst into flames

56 WI FI MUST Airlines risk losing passengers due to poor wi fi: Honeywell

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nanthapuram, Bengaluru and Mangalore.

Delhi is not just India’s, but one of Asia’s most important and busiest airports.

Therefore, it becomes indispensible that adoption of technology to increase efficiency and productivity is taken to.

One of the record figures was when in May 2008, 83 flights were diverted due to thunderstorm. Presently, advanced technologies have helped in a considerable fall in the number of flight diversions, delays due to bad weather.

Statistics reveal that Delhi experiences around 60 thunderstorms every year, the lowest number being 22 in 2002 and the highest 105 in 2010. Around 16 thunderstorms with winds and dust storms powerful enough to cause disruption in flights.

2014 saw a minimum of two storms and 1997 a maximum of 27. These are seasonal storms with almost 80 per cent occurring during pre-monsoon and early monsoon period from May to August. Mumbai airport, just like Delhi, suffered major disruption in air traffic as a result of bad weather, especially rains.

Meanwhile, in yet another bid to ensure that the growth of aviation is not hindered by unfavourable weather conditions, Kangra Airport in Himachal Pradesh is set to become one of the first places in the hills to have an instrument landing system. Airports Authority of India has approved the installation of devices, Doppler Very High Frequency Omni Range (DVOR), which will reduce minimum visible runway length for any plane landing at the airport from 5,000 to 2,400 metres.

DGCA has fixed the minimum visible runway length for any plane landing at Kangra airport at 5,000 metres, due to which many flights could not land during monsoon, as the weather remains misty in this season. The equipment is also expected to reduce the cancellation of flights to the tourist destination considerably. The process to install the device has started.

The length of the runway is 1,372 metres, and the width is 30 metres. This airport falls in category II (c). Two types of aircraft — ATR-72 and Q-400 — at present are connecting this airport with the national capital. Earlier, the flights were allowed to land only if the runway was visible to them from at least 5,000 metres.

Earlier, a 5 per cent entry tax had been placed by the state government on the equipment being brought here for reducing landing visibility criteria, but later it decided to waive the entry tax on the equipment.

In the absence of the said system, navigation authorities had made some modifications at the manual end to cope with bad weather.

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Net Express

Awards and a tie-up for Travelport T

ravelport and its digital Travelport’s contribution in services companies Lothe industry by bringing-in comote and MTT were rectechnologically advanced ognised with four innovation products. Our focus remains awards at the 2016 Asia-Pato serve and delight our cuscific Stevie Awards, held in tomers through innovation Sydney recently. Established and technological growth.” in 2002, the Stevie Awards Earlier, Travelport was are the world’s premier busiawarded the ‘Best GDS’ Sandeep Dwivedi ness awards honouring the title at the recently-held Inachievements and positive contributions dia Travel Awards – East region, in Kolof organisations and professionals worldkata. The announcement has once again wide. established the presence of Travelport as The Travelport Group picked up three a leading travel commerce platform in the golds and one silver award for a number eastern region of Indian market. Furtherof its innovative technologies and proding its commitment to travel technology, ucts including its pioneering merchanTravelport recently tied up with OYO, Indising solution for airlines, its corporate dia’s largest network of hotels. travel platform for business travellers, The agreement with OYO is the latest and its leading travel apps developed by example of Travelport responding to the its mobile technology arm, MTT. Comneeds of its agents to add the hotel content menting on behalf of Travelport and its they need in their local regions. Sandeep sister companies Locomote and MTT, Dwivedi, Chief Commercial Officer, InStephen Shurrock, CCO, Travelport, said: terGlobe Technology Quotient, added, “It “The team has done an exceptional job in is a pleasure to partner with OYO, espethe development of new solutions for the cially for the wide range of hospitality optravel industry as we continue to redefine tions it has in store for our travel agents. travel commerce for our customers.”

Today's customer wants more, and with Anil Parashar, President and CEO, OYO onboard, we will have a wide range InterGlobe Technology Quotient, further of options handy for the travelers ensuring added, “These successes reinstate the better service delivery in the future.”

Computers to replace human screeners at US airports

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utomated security screening lanes will be introduced at four major US airports this fall. This move has been initiated by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) to decrease the time travellers spend at security screening by 30 per cent.

According to a joint press release by the TSA and American Airlines Group recently, hubs in Chicago (O’Hare), Dallas/Fort Worth, Los Angeles and Miami will speed up their security by automating the bin movements for their passengers’ hand-luggage. “Our foremost priority is the security of the travelling public,” said TSA Administrator Peter V. Neffenger in the statement. “To ensure that we remain up-to-date in an evolving threat environment, TSA continues to test and deploy state-of-the-art technologies. This collaboration with American Airlines is an important step in enhancing the traveler experience while maintaining effective security.”

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THREE REASONS AIRLINES RISK LOSING PASSENGERS DUE TO POOR WI-FI SERVICE

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Social media lit by Singapore Airlines jet fire

A survey of air passengers by Honeywell reveals that only 22 percent found their in-flight Wi-Fi to be extremely reliable over the past year, down from 27 percent in 2014.

Our survey reveals passengers are miserable with in-flight Wi-Fi.

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1. PASSENGERS WILL ABANDON THEIR PREFERRED AIRLINE IF IT MEANS BETTER WI-FI

68%

21%

OF TRAVELERS HAVE ALREADY ABANDONED THEIR PREFERRED AIRLINE FOR AN OPTION WITH BETTER IN-FLIGHT WI-FI.

45%

OF TRAVELERS WOULD NOT REMAIN LOYAL TO THEIR PREFERRED AIRLINES IF THEY KNEW IT DIDN’T PROVIDE THE BEST WI-FI.

OF TRAVELERS BOOK THEIR FLIGHTS BASED ON WI-FI AVAILABILITY.

2. CONSUMERS EXPECT RELIABLE CONNECTIVITY ON THE GROUND AND IN THE AIR

1 IN 5

TRAVELERS SAY THEY WOULD BE DISAPPOINTED OR FRUSTRATED ON A PLANE THAT DID NOT HAVE IN-FLIGHT WI-FI.

84%

SAY IT’S IMPORTANT TO HAVE AN EXPERIENCE IDENTICAL TO WHAT THEY HAVE AT HOME OR IN THE OFFICE.

90%

SAY IT’S ESSENTIAL TO EXPERIENCE A RELIABLE, FAST CONNECTION THROUGHOUT THEIR FLIGHT ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD.

3. AIRLINES MUST ATTRACT ONE OF AMERICA’S LARGEST GENERATIONS – MILLENNIALS (BORN BETWEEN ’82 –’98) TO EARN THE LOYALTY OF ONE OF THE LARGEST CONSUMER SEGMENTS, AIRLINES MUST OFFER THE BEST GLOBAL IN-FLIGHT WI-FI SERVICE.

73%

OF MILLENNIALS VERSUS 63% OF OLDER GENERATIONS SAY AVAILABILITY OF WI-FI IMPACTS THE FLIGHTS THEY BOOK.

Survey was conducted between April 11th and April 20th, 2016 among 1,008 Americans ages 18 and over who have used in-flight Wi-Fi in the last 12 months.

89%

OF MILLENNIALS FIND IT IMPORTANT TO HAVE FAST WI-FI TO STREAM CONTENT, VERSUS 77% OF OLDER GENERATIONS.

Learn about Honeywell’s connectivity solutions: aerospace.honeywell.com/wifithatflies

Poor WiFi may cost pax: Honeywell A survey of airline passengers by Honeywell has revealed that more fliers felt frustrated with current in-flight WiFi offerings compared with the company’s 2014 study.

Nearly 3 of 4 passengers were ready to switch airlines today to have access to a faster and more reliable WiFi connection. In addition, out of more than 1,000 American travellers polled, annoyance was growing, with just 22 per cent reporting their in-flight WiFi to be extremely reliable over the past year, a dip from 27 per cent in 2014.

Travellers have made it clear they expected consistent, faster in-flight connections, and this survey revealed three key reasons why airlines had to act quickly to deliver this service or risk losing business.

When traveling, passengers expected a reliable connection to stay in touch with their friends and family, get work done, or be entertained. If that meant selecting another airline over their preferred choice, they were willing to do it. More than 1 in 5 (21 per cent) had abandoned their preferred airline for an option with better in-flight WiFi (up from 17 per cent in 2014). In-flight service was clearly top of mind for passengers and impacted the way more than two-thirds (68 per cent) of travelers booked their flights.

With the rise in personal electronic devices, consumers expected reliable connectivity anywhere, including while in flight. Six in 10 (60 per cent) travellers surveyed said they would feel disappointed or frustrated if they got on a plane that did not have in-flight WiFi.

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Even more, 84 per cent of travelers, said it was important to have an experience identical to what they had at home or in the office. Most travellers found it essential to experience a reliable connection throughout their entire flight anywhere in the world (90 per cent), and one that was fast enough to stream audio or video from sites such as YouTube and Netflix (83 per cent).

US millennials — those born between 1982 and 1998 — represented the most connected generation that took part in the survey and were the first full generation to grow up in the digital age with news, entertainment, commerce and social networks at their fingertips.

If airlines wanted to earn the business and loyalty of one of the largest consumer segments, they had to offer the best global in-flight WiFi service. More millennials than older generations (73 per cent versus 63 per cent) said WiFi availability impacted the flights they booked.

Because they valued a connected experience more than older generations, more millennials found it important to have fast speed to stream content (89 per cent versus 77 per cent), and more than 1 in 4 had switched from their preferred airline to an airline with better in-flight WiFi options (27 per cent versus 15 per cent).

“Passengers are serious about getting the best in-flight WiFi experience possible. To avoid losing passengers and revenue, airlines need a connectivity service that is reliable all the time, no matter where they fly,” said Carl Esposito, Vice President, Marketing and Product Management, Honeywell Aerospace.

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n June end, a Singapore Airlines plane burst into flames after an emergency landing at Changi Airport. The flight had just performed a successful emergency landing, after pilots saw an engine oil warning message and crew smelt fuel in the cabin. This fuelled a fire which lit up the social media by the passengers, once again demonstrating the power of social media in a crisis situation. While none of the 222 passengers or 19 crew members on board were injured, many of them posted about the stress during the little time that they watched the ordeal of the burning plane as fire crews extinguished the flames.

“I just escaped death!” wrote passenger Lee Bee Yee, according to the Washington Post.

“I thank God I am alive! I going home to hug my kids.” Lee Bee Yee had posted a video of the fiery plane and photos from inside the cabin.

Incidents like these go to show that social media was eliminating airline crisis communication.

Plans for automated kiosks at Chennai

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irports Authority of India has planned to have automated kiosks at Chennai airport. These will enable passengers punch in the booking number, select a seat, get boarding cards printed, drop the bags nearby and move to board the plane, without the hassle of standing in a long queue. The domestic terminal at Chennai airport has two self check-in kiosks which allow self check-in of passengers with only cabin bags and there is a demand from airlines to install 10 such machines which are popular among passengers.

The new kiosks will take care of checkin bags which will be tagged by the machine.

The passenger has to drop the baggage in a nearby slot from where it will be automatically moved to the cargo hold. There will be a system at the drop box to make a payment if the weight of bags exceeded the maximum

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Delhi gets first portable common use check in system at T3 D elhi International Airport Pvt Ltd (DIAL), a subsidiary of GMR Group, which operates the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport has launched India’s first portable common use check in system at the airport. Based on Rockwell Collins’ latest ARINC vMUSE platform, this portable mobile gadget helps in reducing queues and easing out the check in process for the domestic and international fliers at the airport.

The hand-held mobile gadget acts as a portable check in counter away from traditional check-in kiosks at the airport. The mobile gadget can be moved to any location within the terminal, wherever an increased number of passengers need to be checked in.

I Prabhakara Rao, CEO, DIAL, said: “We are happy to introduce this commuter friendly technology at our Delhi Airport. This would make passenger check-in a very smooth affair at the country’s busiest airport. This is a step forward towards our commitment of achieving Hon’ble Prime Minister’s ‘Digital India’ vision and we are proud to be the only airport in India to introduce this facility. This digital initiative would ensure better queue management at the airport especially during peak hours and also winter and monsoon seasons, when weather may cause irregular operations due to flight delays and disruptions.”

DIAL has successfully conducted extended trial of this value added service over the last few months at Terminal 3 of IGI

Airport. During the trial period, an average of 8 to 10 per cent of commuters experience smooth check in through this WiFi enabled gadget, which has a Bluetooth based printer attached to it to print the boarding pass. Jet Airways and Vistara airlines have been using this portable device since the beginning of trial period. The software based mobile gadget enables all airlines operating from Delhi Airport’s both the terminals to check-in their respective passengers away from the traditional kiosks.

The vMUSE mobile portable check in facility offers Delhi Airport a cost effective way to accommodate rapid passenger growth without adding additional infrastructure. The specialized check-in tool also enables airlines to offer an added level of service to their passengers.

DIAL has been actively promoting various self-service digital initiatives at IGIA with an intention to leverage technology for passenger experience and operational efficiency. These include — Self check in kiosks at the airport, mobile app-flyDEL, flap gates among several others.

91% airlines invest in cyber security

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Airbus, French DGA select Esterline

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allowed as free.

The airports operator plans to install the kiosks in a fashion where all airlines will be able to use them. Chennai airport director Deepak Shastri said that installation of more self check-in kiosks for passengers with only cabin bags was being put on hold because of the proposal to introduce the upgraded machines. “Initially, trained staff will be deployed to assist passengers to go through the process because travellers in Chennai do not seem to be comfortable using kiosks,” he said.

irbus Helicopters and French DGA have selected Esterline CMC Electronics’ Flight Management Systems and GPS Landing Systems for the Sécurité Civile EC145 Retrofit Programme. It will improve the operational mission performance of the 35 EC145 helicopters in all weather conditions and enable compliance with the newest civil airspace regulations for performance based navigation (PBN), ADS-B and SBAS-enabled LPV approaches.

Jim Palmer, VP, Products, Navigation Solutions, said: “We are very proud that the French DGA and Airbus Helicopters have selected the CMA-9000 and CMA-5024 to augment the capabilities of these advanced multi-role helicopters. The upgraded EC145s will be able to leverage the CMA-9000’s unique combination of civil certification, advanced tactical functions and radio management capability to operate both on specialised missions and in civil airspace”. The CMA-9000 is a field-proven, highly integrated and flexible solution that is optimised for helicopter operations.

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s the connected world of travel becomes a reality, 91 per cent of airlines plan to invest in cyber security programmes over the next three years, according to the recently published SITA Airline IT Trends 2016 Survey. The level of commitment to cyber security reflects the consensus that a lot is being done in this area but there is still a lot more to do.

SITA, the travel technology provider to the air transport industry, carried out its survey among the world’s top 200 airlines and discovered that cyber security at airlines was a “work in progress”.

Three years ago less than half of airlines (47 per cent) said they were making advanced preparations to manage cyber risks but today the number has doubled to 91 per cent.The focus on cyber security also reflects the move to the ‘Internet of Things’ (IoT) in which a vast number of physical objects will become connected to the internet. This enables tracking, data collection, analysis and control, which necessitates more security. An overwhelming majority of airlines (68 per cent) are investing in IoT programmes in the next three years, up from 57 per cent this time last year.

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AIR CARGO

Airfreight mayhem continued in May

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he International Air Transport Association (IATA) released global air freight data showing that demand measured in freight tonne kilometers (FTKs) slowed in May with growth falling to 0.9 per cent year-on-year.

Yields remained pressured as freight capacity measured in available freight tonne kilometers (AFTKs) increased by 4.9 per cent year-on-year (YoY).

Freight demand decreased or flat lined in May across all regions with the exception of Europe and the Middle East.

These regions recorded growth in air cargo volumes of 4.5 per cent and 3.2 per cent, respectively, in May, compared to the same period last year.

Broad weakness in world trade volumes, which have largely tracked sideways since the end of 2014, accounts for about 80 per cent of air freight’s sluggish performance.

“Global trade has basically moved sideways since the end of 2014 taking air cargo with it. Hopes for a stronger 2016 are fading as economic and political uncertainty increases. Air cargo is vital to the global economy. But the business environment is extremely difficult and there are few signs of any immediate relief,” said Tony Tyler, IATA’s Director General and CEO. WorldACD too pointed out that May was yet another disappointing month. Emphasising that air cargo could hardly be expected to grow when world trade was in a slump, the figures indicated that in May, YoY volume growth was limited to 0.5 per cent. While North America fell back by 4 per cent, Middle East & South Asia (MESA) grew by the same percentage. Yield in USD dropped by 1.9 per cent compared to April.

In the year-to-date, Europe gained in kilograms what North America lost, said WorldACD. In spite of a general USD-yield decline of 16 per cent worldwide compared to the first five months of 2015, some of the larger traffic flows did very well in terms of yields. On Bogota-Miami and Quito-Miami yields have improved in 2016 so far.

WorldACD also analysed the world's Top-100 air cargo forwarders, measured by chargeable weight produced in 2015 grouped by their origins, together covering

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“Hopes for a stronger 2016 are fading as economic and political uncertainty increases…the business environment is extremely difficult and there are few signs of any immediate relief.”

Tony Tyler IATA’s Director General and CEO

CRUISING HEIGHTS August 2016

58 per cent of the worldwide air cargo market. The group consisted of 37 forwarders from Asia Pacific, 27 from Europe, 17 from the USA, 11 from the MESA and 4 each from Africa and Latin America.

The Top-20 were made up of 12 European, 4 Japanese, 3 USA and 1 MESA forwarder, with a joint market share of 43 per cent. The Top-10 showed a joint market share of 35 per cent, with individual shares ranging from 8.5 per cent to 1.5 per cent, realised - in descending order - by DHL, K&N, Schenker, Expeditors, Panalpina, UPS, Nippon Express, DSV/UTi, Kintetsu and CEVA. Looking at the 20 largest markets in the WorldACD database, it was noted that the combined market share of the world's Top-20 differed greatly from one market to another. Strongly concentrated markets were Germany, Japan, USA Midwest, France and Singapore, with shares of the worldwide Top-20 ranging between 60 and 67 per cent.

On the other side of the spectrum figured “the highly dispersed markets of India, South East China and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), where the world’s Top-20 had a combined share of less than 30 per cent. These three markets were dominated by local or regional forwarders from outside the World's Top-100, who together had shares of 60, 64 and 58 per cent respectively. The top forwarder in India had a market share of barely 5 per cent”.

In Germany, the six biggest forwarders were all European. In Japan, nine of the ten largest were Japanese. In India, five forwarders in the local top-10 have their origins in MESA, whilst in the Pacific USA four of the five biggest were CRUISING HEIGHTS August 2016

‘home-grown’. In most of the other main markets, WorldACD found a strong presence of the larger forwarders from Europe and the USA, who farmed out across the world. From the 37 Asia Pacific forwarders, only the large ones from Japan had successfully internationalised so far.

Echoing the mid-year reports from several other aviation groups, Airports Council International (ACI) said air cargo tonnage was flat for the first five months of 2016, rising just 0.6 per cent in May, YoY, and 0.2 per cent, YoY, over the period of January to May 2015. Passenger traffic, however, was a different story, increasing by 4.6 percent, YoY in May. While the airfreight industry in general was highly exposed to economic trends, like China’s new-normal growth, air cargo was also competing with other modes of transport as freight load factors exhibited weakness, ACI said.

Domestic freight took less of a battering, suggesting that e-commerce and the express business were still propping up the business. In North America, where overall airfreight was down, domestic freight in May was up 1.8 per cent, YoY, and 3.1 per cent for the first five months of the year, compared to 2015. At the airport level, eight of the 20 largest airfreight hubs saw YoY cargo volumes decline in May, including Hong Kong (-1.1 per cent), Frankfurt (-1.7 per cent) and Beijing (-5.1 per cent).

In general, May’s numbers were an improvement over the previous four months, suggesting at least short-term movement. Only Africa and Latin America posted worse y-o-y numbers in May than for the year, so far.

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AIR CARGO

IATA, FIATA tie up for new air cargo programme T he International Air Transport Association (IATA) and the International Federation of Freight Forwarders Associations (FIATA) recently entered into an agreement that will replace the existing IATA Cargo Agency Programme with the IATA-FIATA Air Cargo Programme (IFACP). The agreement was signed by IATA’s Director General and CEO Tony Tyler and President of FIATA Huxiang Zhao.

IATA and FIATA joined forces in 2012 to review, refine and re-engineer the existing agency programme. The new programme moves decision-making on the rules governing the airline-forwarder relationship away from an airlineled conference to a governance body — the IATAFIATA Governance Board (IFGB) — jointly managed by forwarders and airlines, which reflected today’s TONY TYLER market conditions.

“IATA and FIATA have reached an important agreement on a new jointly-managed air cargo programme. This is the result of four years of hard work to modernise the relationship between freight forwarders and airlines. The IFACP also provides a framework to ensure that industry standards are relevant, pragmatic and fit for purpose. These standards cover the endorsement of freight forwarders and more broadly the safe, secure and efficient transportation of air cargo shipments,” said Aleks Popovich, IATA, Senior Vice President, Financial and Distribution Services.

Rudi Sagel, Chairman of FIATA’s Airfreight Institute (AFI) pointed out that the Cargo Agency Programme long needed updating. “IFACP will eliminate unnecessary administrative procedures and costs as well as free up valuable resources to tackle the complex challenges that today’s global trade presents. These include regulatory compliance, safety and security and the introduction of new technologies. This agreement paves the way for a more successful future for the fastest and most fascinating mode of

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international transport,” said Sagel.

The phased rollout of IFACP would begin in early 2017 with Canada as the pilot country. It was anticipated that full global rollout would be completed by the end of 2018. The public signature with the common endorsement of the agreement would take place at the October FIATA World Congress which would be held in Dublin, Ireland.

The structure of the new IATA-FIATA Air Cargo Programme reflects the new business models and the buyer-seller relationship that exists today between forwarders and airlines. With the establishment of a global IATA-FIATA Governance Board (IFGB), the industry would be better equipped to achieve key goals including: e-cargo priorities of greater efficiency and shared values, clarification of supply chain liability, improved HUXIANG ZHAO compliance with safety and security standards through a more coordinated and concerted industry approach. The IFGB governance structure would reduce the administrative burden in managing the program as it includes the involvement of forwarders as equal partners in the decision making process which now correctly reflects the Principal-to-Principal relationship existing today between Freight Forwarders and Airlines.

However, there will be no immediate impact of this new cargo programme on the current IATA Cargo Agents as the current participants of the IATA Cargo Agency or Intermediary Programme would be provided with a new IATA-FIATA Air Cargo Programme Agreement when the programme implementation process begins in their country. Upon execution and receipt of the completed agreement, the endorsed freight forwarder would join the new programme. No further assessment would be required. New entrants will be granted access to the IFACP in accordance with the programme's rules, which are designed to be more reflective of how the air cargo business functions in today’s market.

CRUISING HEIGHTS August 2016

Kale’s Galaxy system at Bahrain airport

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ale Logistics Solutions — a leading global IT provider to the airports, logistics and transportation segments, announced that Bahrain Airport Services (BAS) had successfully implemented e-advance manifest filing using Kale’s Galaxy system. The advance manifest filing was in conformance with IATA’s CARIMP messaging standards.

This system helped the Bahrain Customs by giving the status of all the import shipments arriving on a given flight from airlines. Kale’s Galaxy system in use at BAS accepts the messages such as FFM, FWB, FHL from airlines ahead of flight arrival, verifies the syntax and version requirements before transmitting the same to Bahrain Customs. In case such information for a given flight is not received from the airline or is not as per the agreed version, Kale’s Galaxy system is also able to generate relevant messages and transmit the same to Bahrain Customs System post flight finalisation. All incoming messages at BAS are also forwarded to customs system while factoring certain required validations.

The system would aid Customs in better planning of activities for different type of commodities like hazardous cargo, precious cargo and perishable cargo and would enable preventing mis declaration of expected cargo and save considerable time and efforts for trade.

The system has been operational at BAS since end of 2015 and has transmitted 100,000+ Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) messages with more than 95 per cent success rate.

FedEx retains top spot

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edEx was once again able to maintain the top spot in the list of the world’s top 25 busiest air cargo carriers, followed by Emirates and UPS, with the bulk of the top 15 made up from Asian and Middle Eastern carriers.

According to the annual International Air Transport Association (IATA) World Air Transport Statistics (WATS) report,

DHL gives Transsion a hand DHL Global Forwarding announced that it had been selected as the airfreight solutions provider for Transsion Holdings, one of the world’s major mobile phone manufacturers.

With the contract, DHL provides airfreight services from Transsion’s manufacturing base in South China to 28 countries

sion’s existing sales, supply chain, and manufacturing network. Offering an endto-end solution, DHL’s airfreight services transport Transsion mobile devices and spare parts from Hong Kong into both India and Africa, with additional value added services such as Customs clearance and truck delivery to Transsion warehouses,

Etihad Cargo launches luxury car service

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around the world. In addition, DHL Global Forwarding provides sea freight for Transsion products into India, where it also offers warehousing services to support the company’s new foray into the India market. “We are happy that our top handset brands including Tecno, itel and Infinix are well received by customers all over the world, especially in emerging markets like Africa and India,” said Jason Liu, CMO of Transsion Holdings. “Our partnership with a global brand like DHL will ensure our products reach our customers and our markets in a timely manner, so they can always get their hands on the latest products.”

Under DHL’s fast growing enterprise initiative, Transsion Holdings is a strategic customer. This initiative offers a comprehensive suite of tailored logistics solutions across the divisions of the group.

Under the partnership, DHL’s airfreight service complements and supports Trans-

saving time and resources compared to its previous operations. The solution is further supported by ocean freight coverage from Shenzhen, China to Dubai, Saudi Arabia, India and across Africa — including Guinea, Ghana and Tanzania — to ensure additional scalability.

“Our business is about helping customers grow internationally, and to reach new markets with the support of our global network and extensive trade lanes,” said Steve Huang, CEO, DHL Global Forwarding China. “With Transsion Holdings, we are able to offer a tailored solution which combines market leading airfreight, ocean freight and value added services that enable Transsion to save time and resources.

Our bespoke solution allows Transsion to focus on developing quality products for their customers as they seek to further reinforce and expand their presence around the world.”

FedEx managed to maintain its place as the world’s busiest cargo airline despite a 1.4 per cent decrease in demand to 15.8bn scheduled freight tonne km (FTK).

Collectively the top 25 airlines experienced a 4.3 per cent increase in demand year-over-year. This growth was ahead of the overall cargo market, which IATA estimated to have grown by 2.3 per cent on 2014 levels.

Consistency in demand certainly

helped both FedEx and UPS retain their respective global rankings with variances of less than two per cent compared with results from the prior year.

In terms of the largest growth in percentage terms year-over-year some of the biggest successes included Emirates (+ 8.2 per cent), Qatar Airways (+27.7 per cent), Air China (+ 16.5 per cent), Polar Air Cargo (+32.8 per cent) and American Airlines (+15.0 per cent).

CRUISING HEIGHTS August 2016

tihad Airway’s freight division -Etihad Cargo has launched a unique, new travel offer for guests who want to travel with their luxury car over the summer period.

When a driver books in First or Business Class, they can enjoy up to 20 per cent off on air cargo rates and their seat. The cargo division is also offering additional services this year, arranging hotel accommodation and having the car delivered straight to the driver’s doorstep.

The offer is available from Abu Dhabi to European destinations including Amsterdam, Berlin, Dusseldorf, Frankfurt, Geneva, London, Manchester, Milan, Munich, Paris and Zurich. David Kerr, Senior Vice President of Etihad Cargo, said: “Through our use of a mixed fleet of aircraft, we have a range of options that enable us to transport cars in the hold including some of the new additions to our fleet such as the Airbus 380s.”

The number of cars transported has been steadily rising over the last few years and Etihad Cargo carried hundreds of automobiles during 2015. With additional aircraft and supporting services being added to the fleet this year, the cargo team is aiming to increase those numbers during 2016.

The category of cars being transported has included Formula 1 (F1) cars, Super Sport cars as well as luxury car brands such as Ferrari, Porsche and Lamborghini. The airline’s links to Formula 1 are extensive and are underscored by the company’s sponsorship of the Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

To book a flight, drivers can call Etihad to book their car and flight package together. A customer agent would collect the car and flight details as well as offer an array of services; from door to door delivery to export, custom clearance and hotel accommodation. The special offer runs till September 30, 2016.

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AVIATION UPDATE

Vistara introduces Corporate Upgrade offer

LAUNCH CEREMONY: (From Left to Right): Sanjiv Kapoor, Chief Strategy and Commercial Officer, Vistara; Dr Mukund Rajan, Director on Board, Vistara; Shikha Sharma, Managing Director and CEO, Axis Bank; Rajiv Anand, Executive Director, Axis Bank and Niyant Maru, Chief Financial Officer, Axis Bank launching the Axis Bank Vistara Credit Card

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istara has introduced the Corporate Upgrade offer for corporate customers. As per the scheme, corporate customers booked till October 2, 2016 under a flexi fare in Economy Class or Premium Economy, can enjoy complimentary confirmed upgrade to Premium Economy or Business Class, respectively across Vistara’s network.

Upgrades are subject to availability of seats in the higher cabin class and can be confirmed by calling the Vistara Call Centre after booking, starting as early as seven days and up to six hours before departure.

The new Corporate Upgrade offer come as an additional bonus for Vistara’s corporate customers, who can enjoy sought after benefits such as priority check-in and boarding, more personal space, exclusivity, and legroom, sumptuous hot meals, free lounge access (for Business Class and Club Vistara Gold card members), priority baggage handling, and personalised, intuitively thoughtful service from cabin crew trained by Singapore Airlines.

“We asked our corporate customers what they value most when they fly, and they uniformly replied that they want more space to work or relax onboard, priority handling, an exclusive and peaceful ambience, discreet but personalised service, and an attractive choice of hot meals along with a variety of beverages. In other words, they seek the experience offered by Vistara’s Business Class and Premium Economy cabins. This Corporate Upgrade offer is our response to what we heard. We hope it gives even more corporates the chance to experience Vistara’s premium classes,” said Sanjiv Kapoor, Chief Strategy and Commercial Officer, Vistara.

FlyEarly move saves fliers’ time: Building on the commitment of valuing a flier’s time by being the most ontime airline in the country, Vistara has launched a convenient service, #VistaraFlyEarly, for its customers. With this feature, the carrier provides its customers the flexibility of taking a flight up to four hours prior to their original scheduled departure, by paying a FlyEarly fee of `1500 per passenger, with no change fee or fare difference. The fee is payable only if the customer is accommodated on an ear-

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lier flight, which will be confirmed an hour before the flight’s scheduled departure. This customer-centric initiative is applicable for all eligible flights across Vistara’s route network and is available for customers travelling in all three cabin classes. Further, the FlyEarly fee is completely waived for customers who buy Vistara’s Flex Fares, who can take an earlier flight if available within four hours without paying any fees.

Vistara has expanded its network across the length and breadth of the country in 18 months. The carrier now serves 18 destinations with 487 weekly frequencies and further connects India with multiple via and connecting flight options. By the end of this year, Vistara’s fleet will grow to 13 aircraft and upto 20 destinations.

Cobranded credit card launched: Axis Bank and Vistara have launched Axis Bank Vistara Credit Card to cater to the needs of both corporate and leisure travellers. The benefits of the credit card would be tiered depending on the travel preferences of customers and their travel frequency.

The card comes in three variants: Infinite, Signature and Basic with embedded benefits of the carrier’s Club Vistara frequent flyer programme. The Axis Bank Vistara Infinite Card is the first card to offer complimentary Business Class tickets to its top tier cardholders and an opportunity to earn upto six Club Vistara (CV) points per Rs 200. The Signature and basic card variants offer exclusive benefits by way of complimentary Premium Economy and Economy Class tickets as well.

New CIO appointed: Ravinder Pal Singh has been appointed as Chief Information Officer (CIO). He would lead Vistara’s IT and innovation functions in his new role consolidating, identifying, acquiring, evaluating and incubating the right technology to support the airline’s IT and digital platforms.

Singh will also co-create projects to realise ideas as true business differentiators.

CRUISING HEIGHTS August 2016

MIAL receives Gold GVK’s Mumbai International Airport Pvt Ltd (MIAL) was awarded Gold certification at the GreenCo Summit 2016. The award was received by Narendra Hosabettu, Senior Vice President Environment, MIAL. The company was awarded the certification for attaining an industry benchmark for exemplary work in the areas of environmental management (water conservation, waste management, and greenhouse gases emission), energy management (efficiency and renewable energy), green supply chain, material conservation, recycling, and other green initiatives undertaken by the company.

AI introduces prepaid baggage allowance scheme

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ir India has introduced prepaid baggage allowance scheme for domestic travellers. Now fliers can purchase excess baggage through Air India’s call centre or at any of the Air India booking offices (CTO) and save 10 per cent compared to airport rates. The scheme would be valid across all domestic flights, including

SpiceJet check-in at your fingertips

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piceJet passengers flying out of Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport, Domestic Terminal at Mumbai will no longer have to stand in long queues for check-in as the airline has started offering self-service check-in to its passengers. SpiceJet has implemented self-service check in and bag tag printing from SITA CUSS kiosks across the Mumbai airport.

SpiceJet is the only domestic airline to provide this facility in the country. Enabling customers to avail convenience through technological advancements, the SpiceJet CUSS application has been designed to allow passengers to quickly and easily print bag tags leave the baggage at the drop-in counter and proceed for security check. The service will be available in addition to the existing counters.

Glory Nelson Sr. Vice President – IT SpiceJet Ltd said, “SpiceJet-CUSS application is an excellent service that will not only improve customer convenience but will also ensure ease of operation by knocking off the long queues and decongesting the check-in counters. The service will come in very handy to the frequent flyers as the application is designed to complete the check in with lesser number of clicks.”

Discount offer for students: SpiceJet has decided to provide a flat 10 per cent discount on base fare to students above

domestic legs of international flights. The scheme would have four slabs and each slab would have a uniform discount rate of 10 per cent.

A passenger can call the call centre or go to the Air India booking office and purchase the baggage allowance.

Passengers would not get any refund for any unutilised excess baggage.

the age of 12 years along with an additional 10 Kg of baggage allowance. The booking and travel period for the offer will be open till September 30, 2016 and will be applicable for students from a bonafide school or university. The students’ discount is applicable only on the base fare and can be availed for all domestic flights on both one-way and round-trip bookings.

Tickets under this offer will be changeable, cancellable and refundable (after deducting applicable cancellation fee), though non-transferable as name changes will not permitted. Web check-in, however, will not be allowed for student discount bookings.

Spicing it up: SpiceJet has recently introduced an all-new inflight menu. The airline has added a number of new alternatives to its buy-on-board options, which has brought a whole new variety to meal options. The hot meals section has been entirely revamped and special meal categories such as Glutenfree meals, catering to the choices of a wider audience, have been inducted. Also a special pre-booking menu has been activated to avail Thai, Continental and Indian platters.

Resumes BhopalPune flights: Air India has also decided to resume Bhopal-Pune flight en route Raipur from August 3. The flights were started on May 23 from Bhopal but had to be discontinued after four days. The defence authorities have granted permission to restart the service.

Bengaluru-Hubballi

flights started: Air India has also started thrice a week flights between Bengaluru and Hubballi from July 20. Operated with an ATR 72-600 aircraft, the new route is a part of Air India’s Connect India programme that focuses on introducing and increasing frequency to lesser known towns using suitable aircraft.

Jet increases MangaluruBengaluru flights

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et Airways is going to add a frequency between Mangaluru and Bengaluru, effective August 1. With this, Jet Airways will operate six daily flights between Mangaluru and Bengaluru. Also, Jet Airways has rescheduled flights operating between Mumbai and Mangaluru effective from August 7. `900 for extra cabin bags: Jet Airways has started to charge Rs 900 for excess check-in baggage.

Flyers would be allowed to take one hand bag weighing upto seven or 10 kg, depending on whether they are flying economy or business or are Jet’s privilege platinum and gold members, a laptop bag, and a purse for women without any extra charge. Any other cabin bag would attract a levy of Rs 900.

Jet said the move was not meant to generate revenue but was supposed to act as a deterrent against carrying too many bags on aircraft. “Some guests carry hand baggage over and above limit, resulting in lack of storage in the overhead compartments in the aircraft.

This leads to boarding delays, causes inconvenience to other guests and affects the airline’s on-time performance. Jet Airways will therefore ensure adherence to the carriage of cabin baggage policy for the convenience of all guests,” a Jet spokesman said.

IndiGo touches Dubai from C'garh

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ffective September 26, IndiGo will bring Chandigarh closer to Dubai with a direct flight. Additionally, Chandigarh will also start its second daily non-stop flight to Delhi from the same day. These flights will give more choice to business and leisure travellers who are constantly on the lookout for new and affordable flying options. Aditya Ghosh, President, IndiGo said, “We are very excited about the introduction of new launch from Chandigarh to Dubai. Chandigarh has been promising for us at IndiGo. We are excited to provide an international connection from Chandigarh which has been a long standing request from the people of city. The new service connecting Chandigarh with Dubai will reinforce our commitment to the State of Punjab & Haryana. This will also provide increased convenience for customers travelling from Himachal Pradesh and other adjoining cities of Punjab and Haryana.”

Ghosh added, “IndiGo is committed to create an air transportation network across the country and addition of these new flights is a reflection of the same. It is our constant endeavor to provide more flexibility of choice to our customers as IndiGo continues to offer them on time, hassle free and always affordable flying experience” These new services will further consolidate IndiGo’s position as the fastest growing airline in India flying daily 812 flights connecting 40 destinations.

Daily from Vizag to Ahmedabad, Coimbatore: Indigo has started one stop daily return

flight to Ahmedabad and Coimbatore from Vishakhapatnam International Airport, effective from July 14.

CRUISING HEIGHTS August 2016

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AVIATION UPDATE

AirAsia expands services to Guwahati B

udget carrier AirAsia India started its services to Guwahati from New-Delhi, effective July 17. With this, AirAsia India would now operate 40 daily flights connecting 10 destinations across India. AirAsia India CEO Amar Abrol said, “This third frequency connecting Delhi and Guwahati, is an extension of our existing strategy that will cater to the market demand for the coming season.” The increase in frequency of flights is designed to cater to business and leisure travellers who are constantly on the lookout for convenient and comfortable flying options, he added.

AirAsia Kabali now in service: AirAsia, the official airline partner of the Rajanikanth movie Kabali, chose GMR Aero Technic Ltd. for livery painting of its A320 aircraft depicting superstar Rajanikanth.

A team of highly skilled professionals at GMR Aero Technic (GAT), Hyderabad — the 100 per cent subsidiary of GMR Hyderabad International Airport — worked in double shift for seven days for the livery painting. Based on the engineering drawings shared by AirAsia, the livery painting of Kabali was done on the central fuselage section on

both sides of the aircraft. Apart from the livery painting for the promotion of the movie the GMR Aero Technic also performed heavy maintenance work for the aircraft. Incidentally, GAT also did the customized livery painting for AirAsia last year when an A320 aircraft was dedicated to the iconic industrialist and aviator JRD Tata.

GoAir goes Fab

The Indian travel market continues to evolve rapidly, with new segments such as branded budget hotels seeing heightened interest. To cash in on this trend, FabHotels, India's leading chain of best budget hotels has launched an exclusive partnership with GoAir. The partnership will bring the exclusive inventory of 80+ FabHotels at prime locations in top 15 Indian cities to GoAir's flights-plus-hotels platform, with special discounts and deals only for GoAir customers.

According to Google India Travel Trends 2016 report, searches for flights plus hotels were up twice between 2013-2014 and again between 2014-2015, and are expected to grow even faster in 2016. Through this partnership, both FabHotels and GoAir aim to provide a seamless travel experience to customers. To promote this collaboration further, the two have also partnered for the GoAir Surprises campaign where 10 lucky GoAir fliers will be chosen through a lucky draw for a complimentary stay in Goa at a FabHotels of their choice. These 10 lucky guests can choose from 4 premium locations on Ashwem Beach, Anjuna Beachfront, Vagator Beach and Candolim Beach, including two premium beachfront resorts at Ashwem Beach and Anjuna Beach.

flydubai to launch double daily flights to Bangkok

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ubai-based flydubai is all set to launch a double daily service to Thailand’s capital city Bangkok, effective November 29, 2016. flydubai would operate its services between Dubai International’s Terminal 2 (DXB) and Bangkok International Airport (BKK).

Sudhir Sreedharan, Senior Vice President, Commercial (GCC, Subcontinent and Africa) for flydubai, said: “Since its launch, flydubai has developed a network of more than 85 destinations. With the launch of our double daily Bangkok route, we will be further expanding travel opportunities for

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passengers looking to use Dubai as a hub for connecting routes from the GCC to Russia and Europe.”

The new route would allow for alternative travel options into neighbouring cities that all lie within easy reach of Bangkok as well as connecting routes for those looking to use Dubai as a hub into Russia and Europe.

Passengers travelling in Economy Class on the new Bangkok route would have access to interactive audio and video seat back entertainment systems with more than 2,000 hours of films, television and music.

CRUISING HEIGHTS August 2016

SpiceJet’s Hajj flights from Indore and Gaya

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piceJet is all set to take more than 8000 pilgrims on special flights for the annual Islamic pilgrimage Hajj in Mecca from Gaya and Indore. The airline has planned to deploy two Airbus 320s to ferry pilgrims from Gaya and Indore, respectively. The flights would be operated from the two Indian cities to Jeddah and Madina between August 4 and September 3, 2016. The return journey for the pilgrims back to Gaya is scheduled from September 17 and to Indore from September 30. The whole activity is expected to be executed by October 16, 2016.

G P Gupta, Chief Administrative Officer and Accountable Manager, SpiceJet said, “It is a great privilege for us to be a part this grand holy ritual and eagerly look forward to serve our nation on this occasion. Hajj is a lifetime experience and SpiceJet will make every effort to ensure a hassle-free and delightful travel experience to all its customers. We extend our appreciation to the Ministry of Civil Aviation and Hajj committee for choosing us and wish all our pilgrim customers a wonderful stay at Mecca this year.”

Chef Green boosts Cathay fare C

athay Pacific Airways and celebrity chef Daniel Green have come together to provide a series of exclusive light and clean dishes to its First and Business class passengers. Designed by Daniel, the food will be available to passengers flying from Hong Kong to destinations in North America from August 2016 onwards.

Daniel is an award-winning author of eleven cookery books and a specialist in high-quality, low-carbohydrate cuisine. Daniel has replaced ingredients such as cream and butter, which are typically high in fat with other fresh ingredients such as coconut milk.

His menu features three salads and five main courses and includes ingredients

such as "Fettuccine, shitake mushrooms, white wine, garlic, chargrilled fennel and white truffle oil". Daniel has also tailor made two power drinks namely “Berries and spinach with maple syrup energizer” and “Vitamin C booster”. While the former is a natural ener-

Ethiopian starts flights to Newark Ethiopian Airlines has started thrice weekly flights from Addis Ababa to New York-Newark, via Lome, Togo from July 3, 2016. For this route, Ethiopian has deployed a B787 Dreamliner. Group CEO of Ethiopian Airlines Tewolde Gebremariam said, “We are thrilled to resume our service to New York, our fifth gateway in the Americas. New York is one of the world’s most economically powerful cities and including it in our ever expanding network will play a critical role in the expansion of

trade, tourism and investment between the fast growing continent of Africa and the United States.

I would like to thank all who strived hard to make the route possible.” Newark is Ethiopian’s 93rd international gateway and fourth gateway in North America. Ethiopian currently operates daily nonstop flights from Washington DC to Addis Ababa, as well as three weekly nonstop flights from Toronto to Addis Ababa and three weekly flights from Los Angeles to Addis Ababa via Dublin.

Cathay Pacific Head of Catering Aaron Claxton (second from left) and celebrity chief Daniel Green (second from right) pictured at Cathay Pacific new inflight menu collaboration announcement event

giser and helps rejuvenate passengers upon waking, the latter helps elevate the body's resistance to coughs and colds.

SIA to allow passengers to bid for seat upgrades

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ingapore Airlines (SIA) has introduced a new system that would allow a few selected passengers to bid for upgrades to the seats they have booked.

Invitations to bid on the new system, mySQupgrade, are made at Singapore Airlines’ sole discretion based on certain criteria and combination of factors, which are dynamic and invited customers would receive an email seven days before departure, the carrier said on its website. The system would initially allow invited customers booked to travel in Economy Class to bid for seats in the Premium Economy Class, but the company said it has planned to gradually introduce this function across the network.

Jet expands capacity on Mumbai-Singapore sector

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et Airways will deploy the Boeing 777-300 ER, the largest aircraft in its fleet, on the MumbaiSingapore route resulting in a 50 per cent capacity increase on this key sector from August 6, 2016.

The carrier’s capacity increase between Mumbai and Singapore is in response to growing demand on this sector, particularly from business and corporate travellers. Gaurang Shetty, Wholetime Director, Jet Airways said, “It is our constant endeavour to create a consistent, unmatched

travel experience for our guests. Deploying the 777-300ER aircraft will give our guests on the Mumbai-Singapore route the opportunity to sample our signature First Class hospitality for the first time, while delivering a superior in-flight experience in all classes. Moreover, it will allow us to enhance our capacity significantly, addressing the demand for more seats on the route, at a time when trade and investment between India and Singapore is witnessing a healthy growth.”

CRUISING HEIGHTS August 2016

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PORTRAIT OF AN AIRPORT THRU ITS TOWER

T

here’s art in everything at airports – and the ATC towers are no exception. That is exactly what Helsinki Airport went out to prove when it staged the Art of the Airport Tower -- a new exhibition by photographer Carolyn Russo. It brought a few of the world’s most interesting control towers to the centre of Helsinki Airport. Russo’s photographs have been widely exhibited in both solo and group exhibitions in the United States, Finland, and China.

An American photographer at the Smithsonian, Russo has worked at the National Air and Space Museum since 1988 as a staff photographer and museum specialist in the Aeronautics Division with the National Air and Space Museum art collection. The idea of taking photos of air traffic control towers came to her in 2006 when she photographed aircraft as abstractions for her book In Plane View: Abstractions of Flight. “Often the first impression travellers have when they reach a new destination is the tower, and each tower tells a unique and important story about its airport, community, and culture,” says Russo.

“Collectively these towers represent many countries and cultures. They play a pivotal role in the vast network of air traffic control technology that brings people of the world closer together,” she believes.

Russo travelled to over 20 countries and photographed 85 historic and contemporary air traffic control towers to explore their varied forms and functions. This impressive undertaking culminated in the book Art of the Airport Tower, making these ordinary structures extraordinary. The book provided the inspiration for the exhibition of the same name that was shown at Helsinki Airport.

Russo’s striking photographs reveal the architectural, cultural, and technological significance of each of the featured tower. The exhibition consists of eight photographs of air traffic control towers, with Helsinki and Oulu Airports representing Finland.

Incidentally, Helsinki Airport has been at the forefront in showcasing aviation art. Over the years, the idea of an aviation photo exhibition at Helsinki Airport -- created as a result of cooperation between Finavia, Aviation Writers of Finland and Merja Ailama-Mäkitalo -- has illustrated the many aspects of aviation and flying as seen through the lenses of Finnish and internationally renowned photographers. In fact, art activities at the airport are part of Finavia’s ArtPort concept, designed to offer passengers surprising new services in an airport environment. Changing twice a year, the photo exhibition is a popular attraction for the many friends of aviation, according to Ville Haapasaari, Director of Helsinki Airport at Finavia.

PHOTO COURTESY: CAROLYN RUSSO

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CRUISING HEIGHTS August 2016

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