Civil Aviation Development & Discussion

Akshut · Post by **Akshut** » 06 Dec 2011 20:03

^ New terminal u/c in Kolkata. both domestic and Int'l.

Rederings:
http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=612550

U/C pics:
http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthrea ... 0&page=141

One unique thing about the airport is that Rabindranath Tagore's writings in Bengali will be etched on the underside of the roof as can be seen here:
http://t1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9 ... wj287Y2eLA
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7162/6404 ... 5943_o.jpg

chackojoseph · Post by **chackojoseph** » 07 Dec 2011 18:32

Rolls-Royce - HAL JV new production facility for Trent aero engines in India

chackojoseph · Post by **chackojoseph** » 07 Dec 2011 20:08

Coimbatore Airport’s Modified Terminal Building now operational

girish.r · Post by **girish.r** » 08 Dec 2011 02:55

From Bloomberg

Global Airlines’ 2012 Profit Forecast Reduced by IATA on Euro Debt Crisis

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-12-0 ... risis.html

“In the past, whenever we’ve seen a small decline in travel markets caused by an economic deterioration, it’s very difficult for other markets to uncouple,” IATA Chief Economist Brian Pearce said at the news conference. “Problems in Europe are likely to affect the rest of the world.”

Over capacity likely? Hmmmm......

krishnan · Post by **krishnan** » 08 Dec 2011 13:11

12:47 AI's Rs 100-cr shame: Bank accounts frozen for tax default:

Just in: The Central tax authorities have frozen the bank accounts of national carrier Air India for non-payment of service tax. AI says some payments will be made today.

The service tax department has also frozen the bank accounts of Kingfisher Airlines. While the AI owes the department approximately Rs 100 crore, Vijay Mallya's airline owes approximately Rs 70 crore. This effectively means that while both the companies collected the service tax on the air tickets they sold from their customers, they did not deposit it with the department

chackojoseph · Post by **chackojoseph** » 09 Dec 2011 18:49

India will be the 3rd largest aviation market in the world in next 10 -12 years

chetak · Post by **chetak** » 11 Dec 2011 21:39

One really wonders what financial calisthenics would have preceded this ministerial decision

Aviation Min agrees for 26 pc FDI in private airlines

nelson · Post by **nelson** » 12 Dec 2011 21:25

Lo and behold, the panacea for all things ailing aviation in India. Chaudhary Ajit Singh is the new cabinet minister for civil aviation.

http://business-standard.com/india/news ... /152763/on

nachiket · Post by **nachiket** » 13 Dec 2011 00:05

chetak wrote:One really wonders what financial calisthenics would have preceded this ministerial decision

Aviation Min agrees for 26 pc FDI in private airlines

Why stop at 26? Why does it matter to the government who controls private airlines? They were thinking about 51% in retail which is a far more sensitive sector.

Klaus · Post by **Klaus** » 16 Dec 2011 03:38

Brazil's TAM and Chile's LAN airlines to merge.

First, the airline would sacrifice one of the two alliances that Brazil's TAM and Chile's LAN currently hold. LAN is part of the Oneworld alliance, and TAM is a member of the Star Alliance.

Second, the combined airline would have to give up some rights to takeoff and landing authorizations on the Santiago-Sao Paulo route, balancing competition on the routes between the two cities. These arrangements mirror those set by the Brazilian council's counterpart in Chile.

Vriksh · Post by **Vriksh** » 16 Dec 2011 09:12

nachiket wrote:
chetak wrote:One really wonders what financial calisthenics would have preceded this ministerial decision

Aviation Min agrees for 26 pc FDI in private airlines
Why stop at 26? Why does it matter to the government who controls private airlines? They were thinking about 51% in retail which is a far more sensitive sector.

AFAIK 26% guarantees a seat in the board of directors of a Pvt Ltd company as per law.

nandakumar · Post by **nandakumar** » 16 Dec 2011 15:15

Vriksh wrote:
AFAIK 26% guarantees a seat in the board of directors of a Pvt Ltd company as per law.

There are no legal requirements stipulating a mandatory seat on the Board. The company law stipulates that directors have to be appointed by the shareholders. It additionally provides that one third of the total that the company has decided as its Board strength need not offer themselves for reappointment. That means that they can stay for life or until they choose to retire on their own.
That provides a leeway for promoter groups to internally agree on the directors who can stay outside the scope of reelection. For instance if the Articles of Association (an internal compact among shareholders that make up a company) of the company says that the company shall be managed by Board of 12 directors. Then 4 persons can have permanent seats on the board. It is possible then for promoter groups to have a proportion mutually agreed upon by themselves to divide this 4 leaving the remaining 8 to be chosen by majority vote. Now, if there is a significant stakeholder in the company the other stakeholders don't want him out lest he disrupt the smooth functioning of the company. it is a case of you-would -rather-have-him-inside-the-tent-and-peeing-outside than the other way about.
But what 26 per cent actually confers is a capacity to block key strategic decisions which under law would require a special majority of 75 per cent. A guy with 26 per cent can thus block key decisions.
The government is basically trying to balance between two conflicting objectives. it doesn't want foreigners to come in on board the Indian aviation industry. That negates in some indirect way the principle of balanced trade in international aviation. for every one seat you concede to airlines of one country you acquire the right to take one passenger into that country. Why this should be so is another matter. it certainly doesn't happen in say, hotel industry. If taj or the Oberois want to put up more rooms in US than say Hilton wants in India there is nothing to stop them. Aviation has always been historically different.
So the Government doesn't want foreign airlines to come in for fear that it engates the parity principle. At the same time if you don't concede ownership stake the likes of lufthansa and SIA won't be interested in bailing out Kingfisher or GoAir or the like. So 26 per cent gives them a comfort level while not completely underming the parity principle.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 19 Dec 2011 14:17

yahoo news:
Kingfisher grounds 15 planes; banks working with airline
ReutersReuters – 1 hour 42 minutes ago

By Aniruddha Basu and Swati Pandey

MUMBAI (Reuters) - Beleaguered Kingfisher Airlines(:KING.NSKING.NS) has grounded 15 planes in its fleet as it battles a prolonged cash crunch, a company executive told Reuters, as banks continue efforts to prop up the airline, which until recently was India's second-largest.

A Kingfisher executive, who declined to be identified, told Reuters the airline had grounded 15 of its planes but did not say how long they had been grounded or why.

The executive was speaking after the Economic Times reported that Kingfisher had grounded some of its Airbus planes after it was unable to meet maintenance and overhaul expenses.

Kingfisher, controlled by flamboyant liquor tycoon Vijay Mallya, has been seeking additional working capital from its lenders.

The chairman of State Bank of India, which heads the consortium of Kingfisher's lenders, on Monday said banks are trying to help.

"We are trying to help Kingfisher," State Bank of India Chairman Pratip Choudhuri told Reuters on Monday morning.

Asked if banks were open to lending more funds to the cash-starved airline, he said, "everything is on the table".

Indian conglomerate Sahara, meanwhile, plans to lend Kingfisher more than 2.5 billion rupees, the Times of India reported on Saturday, citing sources.

A Sahara source who declined to be identified told Reuters on Monday that the group was planning to lend to the carrier at least that amount but did not give further details.

A Sahara spokesman declined to comment.

Kingfisher shares rose more than 2 percent and into positive territory after the SBI chairman's comments. They were up 0.69 percent at 21.85 rupees in a weak Mumbai market as of late morning.

Its share price has fallen 67 percent since the start of the year, cutting its market value to about $202 million.

All but one of India's six main airlines is loss-making, as carriers engage in aggressive price competition even as they are squeezed by the high cost of jet fuel and other expenses.

The aviation regulator DGCA is conducting a financial review of Kingfisher, a process that is ongoing, an official with the regulator said on Monday, declining to be identified.

Kingfisher's active fleet has shrunken to 40 from 69 at the end of 2010, the Economic Times report said.

A Kingfisher spokesman declined to comment to Reuters.

An official source at Mumbai's airport told Reuters that Kingfisher had grounded two aircraft there in recent weeks due to a lack of spare parts, but there were no new flight cancellations.

Kingfisher, which has never made a profit, has seen its market share shrink to third-place after it slashed flights beginning last month. Over 100 of its pilots have quit recently and suppliers, including airports and oil companies, have stopped extending credit to the airline.

(Editing by Tony Munroe)

Klaus · Post by **Klaus** » 21 Dec 2011 07:36

Flights from Lyon and Paris are delayed owing to the strike by security staff.

Air France canceled four flights from Lyon to Paris, Amsterdam and Bordeaux, and said on its website that it is trying to minimize delays from the French capital. Air France (AF) uses Terminal 2 at Paris’s CDG to fly passengers to Hong Kong, New York and Santiago.

Lyon’s airport, used by EasyJet Plc (EZJ) to fly passengers to destinations such as Edinburgh, Prague and Casablanca, is suffering the most from the walkout of security workers who check passengers and bags. To speed things up, luggage requiring special handling such as skis, snowboards and golf caddies won’t be loaded on planes, Aeroports de Lyon said on its website

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 21 Dec 2011 09:32

KF is in trouble again for withholding TDS but failing to deposit it with Govt. but indian promoters are very clever people - there must be lots of legal clauses that insulate the personal wealth of the big bull from such issues with his cos. in mutual fund schemes also I see the liability of the promoters is limited in the prospectus to 10L only.

the big boys sure play the game only with other people's money (pvt investors, banks who 'invest' our deposits...)

Vipul · Post by **Vipul** » 21 Dec 2011 21:27

American ishtyle LLP's are now legal entities in India, i am not sure about LLC's.Without ethics and due to the absence of absence of a strong supervisory/oversight mechanism, industrialists would milk the system even more.

girish.r · Post by **girish.r** » 21 Dec 2011 22:02

From Bloomberg:

Battery-Fire Crashes Seen Every Other Year
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-12-2 ... -year.html

Quite alarming!!

Klaus · Post by **Klaus** » 22 Dec 2011 06:12

It is formal now: European Court of Justice upholds EU's plan to charge airlines for carbon emissions

In a letter dated Dec. 16 that was seen by the International Herald Tribune this week, Hillary Clinton, the United States secretary of state, and Ray LaHood, secretary of transportation, said Washington would be “compelled to take appropriate action” if Brussels proceeds, though the letter did not specify what form that might take.

In a statement on Wednesday, Krishna R. Urs, the State Department’s deputy assistant secretary for transportation affairs, expressed Washington’s disappointment but did not broach the subject of retaliation.

Experts say the Chinese could argue that the European law violates the Kyoto climate agreement by requiring airlines from developing nations, which are exempt from emissions cuts under the treaty, to bear the same burdens as carriers from wealthier nations.

Algeria has already begun a case in France contesting the system, according to the Arab Air Carriers Organization, an industry group that includes the country’s main carrier, Air Algérie.

An engrossing read.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 22 Dec 2011 08:35

cash strapped govts trying to monetize their location in air routes.

all the more reason to use the middle east and far east as transit routes and business destinations.

Austin · Post by **Austin** » 25 Dec 2011 08:56

India's low-cost dreamliner

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 25 Dec 2011 19:28

imo without strong industrial partnerships from the word go (concept defn stage) this project is a dead end like Saras even if they eventually with much delays manage to fly a prototype. NAL like TSagi can only design and do science, they have no history of bringing a product to market with the kind of parameters needed for a successful selling product that people will pay money for.

the global majors in that segment like embraer, dassault,bombardier,sukhoi all have their own products and hence no interest in helping us product a decent competitor.

what we can do is bring in engine suppliers (GE / PW / RR), control systems and avionics (honeywell, sextant etc), specialized consultants for this and that and attempt to do the airframe design and integration on our own...just like the Chinese are already doing with their Cxxx project.

gakakkad · Post by **gakakkad** » 25 Dec 2011 19:36

the last thing the sector needed was a new minister. That to ajit singh , the opportunistic lecher .

Rishirishi · Post by **Rishirishi** » 26 Dec 2011 03:21

Singha wrote:imo without strong industrial partnerships from the word go (concept defn stage) this project is a dead end like Saras even if they eventually with much delays manage to fly a prototype. NAL like TSagi can only design and do science, they have no history of bringing a product to market with the kind of parameters needed for a successful selling product that people will pay money for.

the global majors in that segment like embraer, dassault,bombardier,sukhoi all have their own products and hence no interest in helping us product a decent competitor.

what we can do is bring in engine suppliers (GE / PW / RR), control systems and avionics (honeywell, sextant etc), specialized consultants for this and that and attempt to do the airframe design and integration on our own...just like the Chinese are already doing with their Cxxx project.

These PSU's have a near perfect record in failing to make useful stuff (actually most PSU's have). One option could be to sponsor a local company. Take TATA for example. Offer them 1 billion in subsidy in exchange for 1 billion dollars of investment from them selfs. Further offer free finance to domestic airlines (recover this by a 10% duty on foreign AC).

Soon you will see a new industry grow up.

Austin · Post by **Austin** » 26 Dec 2011 15:28

Let see how the 100 Seater Aircraft develops , it might just be the project our industry needs to get a foothold in the civilian market , hope they can rope in HAL into this and one big private industry like TATAS to support it either in production , development or marketing plus one big international giant to act as consultant for this could be EADS/Airbus , they dont have a 100 seater in their profile so they wont have problems in acting as consultants.

Klaus · Post by **Klaus** » 05 Jan 2012 03:56

India & China mount opposition to EU aviation carbon curbs.

India may ask airlines to withhold emissions data, a civil aviation ministry official said, a move that would undermine the first expansion of the EU carbon cap-and-trade program beyond its borders.

The non-binding ICAO statement was supported by 26 countries, including the U.S., Russia and Japan, who said that the expansion of the EU program was inconsistent with international law.

The Indian government hasn’t yet decided whether to proceed with the plan because of concerns about the possible impact on transportation, said the civil aviation ministry official, who declined to be identified because the discussions are private. Carriers aren’t required to provide environmental information under the bilateral pacts with EU members that govern India- Europe flight rights, he said.

chackojoseph · Post by **chackojoseph** » 20 Jan 2012 09:54

Reginson India to manufacture and supply Aircraft Engines components

chetak · Post by **chetak** » 20 Jan 2012 10:37

gakakkad wrote:the last thing the sector needed was a new minister. That to ajit singh , the opportunistic lecher .

He is USA returned, saar. Farmers leader. Wonder how many farmers he led in the good old us of a

joshvajohn · Post by **joshvajohn** » 25 Jan 2012 03:22

I was so humiliated when Emirates did not announce in any Indian language when they had their flight from Chennai to Dubai. It did not go well with me that I made a note to them. Indian government must make it mandatory to announce either in the local language or at least in Hindi (though I would prefer in local languages whatever it is). They announced in English, Arabic and other languages. I do not know why not in local language announcements cannot be made. Though the service is good in every aspect but this local language is important for Indian context. I hear from my friends that this is a similar case in other flights too.

putnanja · Post by **putnanja** » 25 Jan 2012 08:36

BA is much better that way. On flights to Bangalore, they announce in English, Hindi and Kannada! I was very happy when they announced in Kannada. Even Indian carriers don't announce in local languages.

Surya · Post by **Surya** » 25 Jan 2012 20:39

ha ha you should take it to link language

They should announce in Hindi and English and that should be enough. anything is more up to the airline.

else I will be hearing in Gujarati on flights to Mumbai

nachiket · Post by **nachiket** » 26 Jan 2012 02:48

Surya wrote: else I will be hearing in Gujarati on flights to Mumbai

Followed by a shiv sena protest about Marathi being upstaged.

Prasad · Post by **Prasad** » 26 Jan 2012 03:00

First time I flew BA, I was pleasantly surprised they announced in tamil along with hindi, english. IA/AI/Jet weren't too bothered in all the years of flying i'd done with them.

Sachin · Post by **Sachin** » 26 Jan 2012 13:35

joshvajohn wrote:I do not know why not in local language announcements cannot be made. Though the service is good in every aspect but this local language is important for Indian context. I hear from my friends that this is a similar case in other flights too.

Have not flown international any time soon. But the IndiGo Air Lines flight I boarded recently (to Kolkotha) had crew who could speak in Bengali as well. They announce before take off that the crew on board can speak 1,2 & 3 languages. I felt it was a good move. Considering that these days lots of old folks do travel by flight, who until then have never boarded a flight. With some good impact on economy the kids of these folks, might have paid for the flight. I could see lots of confused old couples in the airport, and thankfully there were people out there to readily help them*.

* The only old folks who I cannot tolerate are the ones who are snobbish, and who get into an argumentative mode when they are clueless on how the system works (jumping queues, the biggest example).

joshvajohn · Post by **joshvajohn** » 27 Jan 2012 11:37

AI Express pilot defies ATC for take-off, puts flyers at risk
http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes ... lot-runway

Air India needs a complete reworking in management, organisation and sales of ticket and so on.

Suppiah · Post by **Suppiah** » 27 Jan 2012 11:42

^^^ AI should be banned from flying to Singapore. These moronic pilots are using to threatening spiness aviation ministers and plundering as much as they want from AI without doing proper work. They bring such behaviour overseas and shame to India's image.

Klaus · Post by **Klaus** » 31 Jan 2012 02:02

Panasonic expands coverage over Asia.

According to Panasonic, with the Yamal 201 satellite, the more than 1,200 aircraft that have been committed to Panasonic’s Global Communications Suite will be able to fly around the globe, above the equator, with uninterrupted broadband coverage from the company’s Ku-band network.

Panasonic’s Global Communications Suite system provides two-way broadband connectivity to an aircraft, supporting a range of passenger and crew applications including in-flight broadband Internet access over Wi-Fi to passengers, and mobile phone service offered in collaboration with AeroMobile.

krishnan · Post by **krishnan** » 31 Jan 2012 14:08

13:56 No meals on AI flights less than 90 minutes : Cash-starved Air India today said it will be following the industry practice on in-flight catering services on all short-haul economy class flights from tomorrow, which will see the national carrier offering only pre-packed snacks and not full meals as done earlier. "In line with the industry practice, AI has decided to revise the on-board catering services in the economy class for short duration domestic flights with effect from February 1," the airline said in a statement.

For flights up to one-hour duration, the service will be of pre-packed dry snacks, water and juice in tetra packs. Coffee/tea will be served on request, it said. For flights up to 90 minutes duration, the service will be of snack boxes containing of sandwiches, brownie and water in addition to coffee/tea, the statement said.

When i boarded spicejet from chennai to coimbatore 4 years back that was the first time i was flying after long time...it was funny to watch the hostess selling snacks like they sell in railways

neerajb · Post by **neerajb** » 31 Jan 2012 18:05

krishnan wrote:
13:56 No meals on AI flights less than 90 minutes : Cash-starved Air India today said it will be following the industry practice on in-flight catering services on all short-haul economy class flights from tomorrow, which will see the national carrier offering only pre-packed snacks and not full meals as done earlier. "In line with the industry practice, AI has decided to revise the on-board catering services in the economy class for short duration domestic flights with effect from February 1," the airline said in a statement.

For flights up to one-hour duration, the service will be of pre-packed dry snacks, water and juice in tetra packs. Coffee/tea will be served on request, it said. For flights up to 90 minutes duration, the service will be of snack boxes containing of sandwiches, brownie and water in addition to coffee/tea, the statement said.
When i boarded spicejet from chennai to coimbatore 4 years back that was the first time i was flying after long time...it was funny to watch the hostess selling snacks like they sell in railways

Me too took to the skies for the first time with Spicejet, They used to serve cookies and tofees to pax back then.

Cheers....

krishnan · Post by **krishnan** » 01 Feb 2012 14:56

It was scary...SHQ had just conceived but she had to come cause her father had passed away and we had to be there as soon as possible.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 01 Feb 2012 21:21

count your blessings...atleast you can buy food here and water is free to an extent. in Khan airlines even water might have to be paid for and food will not be carried to save weight and aviation fuel...people were removing the paint on a/c to save a few hundred kg....
http://www.treehugger.com/aviation/the- ... lanes.html