Civil Aviation Development & Discussion

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 17 Jun 2011 15:17

the relative industrial backwardness of WB continues to bottle up the NE states from economic growth.

Magadha being big enough and having alternate routes to the west has escaped the cage.

chetak · Post by **chetak** » 17 Jun 2011 15:56

nachiket wrote: What is the situation of Chennai airport now BTW? That was the other metro airport not privatized when the Mumbai and Delhi airports were. It'll still be probably better than Kolkata though.

Wait and watch as the powers be realign and new pockets (pun intended!) of influence open up.

No matter that DMK has lost in Tamilnadu, they are on their way to absolute majority in Tihar jail

Amma will prevail and hopefully on the way, restore Chennai back to it's old glory

Suraj · Post by **Suraj** » 17 Jun 2011 21:54

Friday piss and plogless report:
DEL T3 transit hotel pictures

Bade · Post by **Bade** » 17 Jun 2011 22:15

I have never stayed at a transit hotel, being too pricey for SDRE purse. Are these T3 Delhi ones comparable in price to city hotels ?

Suraj · Post by **Suraj** » 17 Jun 2011 23:01

No idea. They just opened and prices don't appear to be on the site yet. Hopefully they have cheap rates like the Changi transit hotel does, for a few hours of rest an a shower. I've never used those though, since I always go out into the city to meet and stay with friends and family.

Vasu · Post by **Vasu** » 20 Jun 2011 17:28

oh dear.

Air India staff threaten strike as May salaries are delayed

I may be sounding too heartless here but I get a feeling that a lot of the Air India employees may not be employable elsewhere in the aviation sector, and I think they know it too.

Is there any information on the number of employees leaving the organization on their own accord in the recent past?

I suppose its a moot point but the more this goes on, bigger the muckhole that the government will be filling.

Prasad · Post by **Prasad** » 21 Jun 2011 03:55

These guys do the roster with a pen and paper?? Do they still live in the 1950s??

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/indi ... 931285.cms

Vasu · Post by **Vasu** » 21 Jun 2011 13:23

New civil aviation policy to end the isolation of the Northeast

Smaller airports, smaller aircrafts, intra-regional air connectivity, and more frequent flights in and out of this geographically difficult region - apart from improving safety standards - could end the physical exclusion of the Northeast, Union Minister for the Development of the Northeast Region (DONER) Bijoy Krishna Handique told The Hindu.

“Our outlook is limited by geography,” Mr. Handique said, “We need to break the shell of isolation within which the people of the Northeast live, separating them from mainland India. We need to connect important towns in the interior with each other, and the major towns with the rest of India. Improving connectivity is the only way to promote real integration.”

It is to this end that the DONER Ministry has produced a policy document on civil aviation entitled ‘Multi-Utility Aviation in the North Eastern Region – An Alternative Innovative Model for Hastening Development', which Mr. Handique discussed with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh recently. “The Prime Minister said that the PMO [Prime Minister's Office] would examine the document,” the Minister said.

Indeed, in the wake of the helicopter crash last month in which Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Dorjee Khandu was killed, Mr. Handique had also met Union Minister for Civil Aviation Vayalar Ravi to discuss his Ministry's proposal for a different approach to civil aviation for the North east.

Following that discussion, the Civil Aviation Ministry agreed in principle to develop Guwahati, Agartala, Imphal, and Dibrugarh airports as regional hubs (Level 1).

If the DONER ministry's plan is accepted, then the regional hubs, which would connect the Northeast to the rest of the country, would in turn be linked to 20 “spokes” (Level 2) across all the seven North eastern States and Sikkim. Currently, there are 20 such airfields (in addition to the four regional hubs); sadly, only seven are operational, while the remaining 13 have fallen into disuse, but could be easily upgraded. Once the “spokes” are activated, the DONER Ministry would like the 59 of the 86 districts not serviced by Level 1 and 2 services or three proposed green-field airports, to have permanent helipads.

Please not that this is a policy proposal, and no policy has been passed just yet.

Vipul · Post by **Vipul** » 23 Jun 2011 00:23

More money down the Sink Hole.

Ailing Air India is likely to get an additional equity infusion of Rs 1,200 crore with a Group of Ministers (GoM) tonight deciding to bring a proposal on the issue soon.

"The GoM will bring a proposal to release Rs 1,200 crore of equity and place it before the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs within a short time-frame", Civil Aviation Minister Vayalar Ravi said after a 90-minute meeting of the ministerial group headed by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee .

At the first meeting of the GoM, it was also decided to set up a committee to examine the turnaround and financial restructuring plans of Air India and submit its report within six weeks to the GoM for a review, he said.

This committee would also examine the plan to restructure its massive debt of Rs 40,000 crore, sources said.

A Committee of Secretaries, headed by Cabinet Secretary A K Seth, would be established to look into the financial claims submitted by Air India to the government for carrying out VVIP flights and evacuation of people from various countries in the recent past, Ravi said.

The CoS would have Secretaries of Economic Affairs, Expenditure, Civil Aviation, Financial Services and representatives of the Planning Commission.

The decisions were taken in view of the precarious financial situation of the national carrier and expeditious steps need to save it from a virtual bankruptcy.

Besides Mukherjee and Ravi, the meeting was attended among others by Petroleum Minister S Jaipal Reddy, Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia , Cabinet Secretary A K Seth, Civil Aviation Secretary Nasim Zaidi and Air India CMD Arvind Jadhav.

VinodTK · Post by **VinodTK** » 23 Jun 2011 05:45

Airbus Announces Largest Order In Aviation History

Airbus said today that it had received "the biggest order in aviation history" from low-cost Indian carrier IndiGo, mostly for its new fuel-efficient A320neo jets.

The airline ordered 150 A320neos, and 30 standard A320 single-aisle short and medium haul jets. Airbus has now seen 600 total orders for the A320neo since it began marketing the jet in December 2010.

The company says the plane is 15% more fuel efficient than the older model. A top salesman also said they might have more than 1,000 commitments for the A320neo jet by the time the Paris Air Show ends this weekend.

It's the largest order submitted to a single company in terms of the number of planes. The previous record order was by Central Aircraft Sales Corp. of China for 150 planes each from Airbus and archrival Boeing (NYSE:BA) in 2005.

Shares of Boeing are trading down 1.31% at $73.01.

Boeing has a potential upside of 19.6% based on a current price of $73.01 and an average consensus analyst price target of $87.32.

Boeing is currently below its 50-day moving average (MA) of $75.97 and should find support at its 200-day MA of $70.43.

In the last five trading sessions, the 50-day MA has remained constant while the 200-day MA has risen 0.23%.

The Boeing Company, together with its subsidiaries, develops, produces, and markets commercial jet aircraft, as well as provides related support services to the commercial airline industry worldwide. The Company also researches, develops, produces, modifies, and supports information, space, and defense systems, including military aircraft, helicopters and space and missile systems.

vic · Post by **vic** » 23 Jun 2011 09:57

VinodTK wrote:Airbus Announces Largest Order In Aviation History
Airbus said today that it had received "the biggest order in aviation history" from low-cost Indian carrier IndiGo, mostly for its new fuel-efficient A320neo jets.

The airline ordered 150 A320neos, and 30 standard A320 single-aisle short and medium haul jets. Airbus has now seen 600 total orders for the A320neo since it began marketing the jet in December 2010.

It's the largest order submitted to a single company in terms of the number of planes. The previous record order was by Central Aircraft Sales Corp. of China for 150 planes each from Airbus and archrival Boeing (NYSE:BA) in 2005.

And we will not be getting any tech transfer or related benefits

Vasu · Post by **Vasu** » 23 Jun 2011 11:56

Boeing's MRO is coming up in Nagpur MIHAN, though I hear now that Boeing will only fund and construct it and then hand it over to the leeches at Air India who will then take care of their precious Boeings they purchased.

Airbus's MRO facility was to come up at Delhi, though I haven't heard anything about it in a while. That was to be built with a company called Jupiter Aviation, owned by Rajeev Chandrasekhar, also a RS MP. Last heard, they had pushed it to the backburner post 2008.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 23 Jun 2011 14:29

juniper aviation seems to be a very well connected outfit with fumble harmer for some reason. MRO type plans were announced when that regime was in power.http://www.hindu.com/2008/10/12/stories ... 220400.htm

Suhas H · Post by **Suhas H** » 24 Jun 2011 08:37

Please correct me if i am wrong but I thought that IndiGo order was done a few months ago. There is news today that Air Asia has ordered 200 of these aircraft.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-06-2 ... order.html

Suraj · Post by **Suraj** » 24 Jun 2011 09:20

The IndiGo statement a few months was a MoU, not a firm order signing. The latter occured the other day at the Paris Air Show.

Suhas H · Post by **Suhas H** » 24 Jun 2011 10:47

Ok thanks for clarifying Suraj.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 24 Jun 2011 15:09

air asia does need to replace some of their old planes - held together by cellotape, chewing gum and a prayer with ultra tight seating arrangement.

Ambar · Post by **Ambar** » 24 Jun 2011 18:21

Singha wrote:air asia does need to replace some of their old planes - held together by cellotape, chewing gum and a prayer with ultra tight seating arrangement.

Its ceo,Tony Fernandes is busy doing 'Mallya', i.e. invested in a F1 team, and walks around with a new "super model" like PYT almost every race. But i must admit, Tony Fernandes has quick wits and a great sense of humor.

About IndiGo's order, how on earth are they gonna get 15 billion$ from ? Here we are after 20 years of planning nowhere close to closing 12 billion $ MRCA deal that is directly related to our national security, and a budget airlines signs a bigger procurement deal in months!

nachiket · Post by **nachiket** » 24 Jun 2011 19:01

^^They will borrow the money and then lease out many of the aircraft to recover it. I don't think they actually need 150 A320s. Other airlines have done this in the past.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 24 Jun 2011 19:31

Air asia is a great bargain to travel within ASEAN .... most of the planes are ok ... kingfisher red style ... very cheap seats...pay as you go for luggage...lots of destinations.

now they are trying to take up the outbound indian tourism mkt for popular places like bangkok.

Vipul · Post by **Vipul** » 24 Jun 2011 20:26

What happened to their plan of starting budget travel on trans continental routes?

neerajb · Post by **neerajb** » 25 Jun 2011 14:04

Indigo bookings are open for DEL-BKK, DEL-SIN and DEL-DXB starting 1 Sep. Round trip 10K all inclusive! Right now the cheapest air fare for these destinations is Air Asia at 15K.

Cheers....

rsingh · Post by **rsingh** » 26 Jun 2011 01:20

^^^
Why take risk? Let them to get used to fly to new destinations

arun · Post by **arun** » 28 Jun 2011 21:39

Reuters reports that collectively airlines from India ordered an impressive 252 aircraft at the Paris Airshow with IndiGo ordering 180 and GoAir ordering 72. Orders by Indian airline operators represented a third of total orders at the Paris Airshow and amounted to a staggering USD 23 Billion :

India's air travel growth spurs jet orders

By Jui Chakravorty and Tim Hepher

MUMBAI/LE BOURGET | Mon Jun 27, 2011 5:16am EDT

(Reuters) - Indian airlines walked away from the Paris Air Show with a third of the airplane orders last week -- a $23 billion gamble that air will finally conquer rail despite a formidable list of obstacles.

Malaysia's AirAsia (AIRA.KL) created most buzz with an historic 200-plane order. But its record for the world's largest deal by number of aircraft only just pipped that of Indian budget carrier IndiGo which finalized an order for 180 jets.

GoAir also placed what by any normal standards would have been an eye-catching order for 72 Airbus jets at $6.6 billion.

"It's been a frenzy in Paris with orders from India proving that the industry is in pretty good shape...It's all part of the continuing shift in economic power from west to east," said BGC Partners senior strategist Howard Wheeldon……………………

Reuters

Prasad · Post by **Prasad** » 30 Jun 2011 02:49

We had a recent article on animals running across the runways in India and stopping flights. Well heres one in new york -
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/06/ ... JG20110629

Dileep · Post by **Dileep** » 30 Jun 2011 10:54

Turtles? We have packs of dogs going, well, doggy istyle on the runway of COK.

Klaus · Post by **Klaus** » 03 Jul 2011 04:12

Projection reveals that Air India needs 135 planes to make a comeback

In other news, Kingfisher's maintenance woes continue: DEL-MUM flight makes emergency landing soon after take-off

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 03 Jul 2011 11:24

Air India is a bottomless pit for public funds better spent elsewhere. I read a report saying they need 45000cr to 'stage a comeback'. this is akin to the Pak-e-con-omy demanding $10b every five years to be on comeback.

they will never come back and continue to consume finds best given to AAI to improve the airports under its control, if at all these funds be spent on aviation. @8000cr/annum being demanded, we could build one T3 every year wherever its needed. or build a few desi Ramsteins for shakinaw ops.

http://www.hindustantimes.com/Once-agai ... 16305.aspx

With less than a month left for Air India’s loans to become non-performing assets (NPA), the civil aviation ministry issued a statement on Friday saying the “government attached utmost importance to the credible revival of AI”. How the government plans to turn around a bleeding carrier
that owes around Rs48,000 crore in loans and payments to vendors is not clear.

Hindustan Times on Friday reported that AI has defaulted on payments. Banks have stopped lending and in the event of a default, government guarantees would be triggered, affecting the credibility of the sovereign.

AI’s loans will become NPAs by July-end if the minimum interest is not paid. After this, banks may sell off its assets that it had pledged to secure the loans and freeze its accounts, bringing operations to a halt.

According to a revival plan prepared by SBI Caps, AI would require over Rs43,000 crore over the next 10 years — Rs8,000 crore in 2011-12 itself.

Purush · Post by **Purush** » 03 Jul 2011 22:00

Don't fly Jetstar!
It's a White Pacqui airline anyway, so that's a good reason for avoiding it in the first place.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/travel/news/a ... d=10735146

A drunk New Zealand passenger urinated in the aisle of a Jetstar aircraft - spraying one man and soaking a woman's scarf - but was allowed to leave the flight with only a warning.

The man, travelling from Auckland to Singapore two days ago, emptied his bladder about six hours into the 11-hour flight.

Passenger Amos Chapple said: "I hear this sound of running water and then I hear a guy going 'No, no, no, what the hell is wrong with you?'

"And there's this guy pissing in the aisle, waving back and forth."

The man urinated on to the aircraft carpet, a man's leg, and a woman's scarf.

"Everyone was yelling at him and he slowly became aware that he was being uncouth. He pulled up ... and wobbled back to the other end of the plane."

The man and a friend were seen drinking whisky before take-off.

"Him and the mate were sitting there and mixing it in Burger King cups. Six hours later they were catatonic," Mr Chapple said.

The man left the plane with only a warning and Singapore police were not called to deal with the matter on landing, he said.

Jetstar crew gave wipes to the man who was sprayed and moved him to another seat, but Mr Chapple was left sitting next to a large reminder for the rest of the flight.

"We were sitting next to a pool of urine for a good five and a half hours. You couldn't see a puddle but you could tell it was there. It was pretty outrageous."

The female passenger whose scarf was sprayed had to repeatedly ask for a plastic bag for the soaked item, said Mr Chapple.

Mr Chapple criticised the way the Jetstar crew handled the incident, saying they were "slack".

He said he confronted the man in Singapore and asked him "what was that all about" but the man did not know what he was talking about.

"I told him that he had pissed everywhere and he looked quite shocked," Mr Chapple said.

JetStar said the urinator was issued an official warning from the plane's captain, had his alcohol confiscated, and returned to his seat to sleep off the public incident.

Jetstar last night confirmed that "there was an inebriated passenger who engaged in inappropriate and disruptive behaviour", but maintained police did not need to get involved.

"We issued our final warning ... if you don't behave after the warning, then it becomes a matter for federal police," said airline spokeswoman Jennifer Timm. {Oooh a final warning. How scary. }

Jetstar was contacting the customers affected by the incident to arrange compensation.

They would probably get a $200 voucher and an apology letter.

http://www.airliners.net/aviation-forum ... n/5190265/

From the comments..

Urinating on the seat is a very common problem on Airnorth (Australia) when flying to the Arnhem land in the Northern Territory. Those that don't know, but Arnhem land destinations are Gove, Groote Island, Elcote Island, Manangrida, Milingimbi.
Usually the PAX are drunk.

Vasu · Post by **Vasu** » 04 Jul 2011 13:07

[quote="Klaus"]Projection reveals that Air India needs 135 planes to make a comeback

Come back to being Air India??? I shudder to even think of it!

Its like being in between a bottomless pit and a well.

chetak · Post by **chetak** » 04 Jul 2011 17:01

Gopinath's Deccan 360 has folded up.

Employees have been "encouraged" to look for alternate jobs.

Gopinath is already in the thick of launching another regional airline whose launch date is steadily getting pushed back due to lack of vitamin M.

Klaus · Post by **Klaus** » 05 Jul 2011 01:50

CASA grounds entire Australian fleet of budget airline over safety concerns

chetak · Post by **chetak** » 05 Jul 2011 17:51

To blow it all up in salary payments onlee??

Air India demands VVIP dues from govt

VinodTK · Post by **VinodTK** » 06 Jul 2011 07:35

Boeing Values India Market for 1320 New Airplanes at $150 Billion

The biggest demand will be for single-aisle airplanes. In that category is the Next- Generation Boeing 737, the most widely flown jetliner in the world. To keep up with demand, Boeing recently announced it will boost production to a record 42 737s per month by the first half of 2014.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 06 Jul 2011 08:39

42 x 737 wow

that would likely need a couple 100 airframes in the pipeline to churn out 42 / month

neerajb · Post by **neerajb** » 06 Jul 2011 22:57

Klaus wrote:DEL-MUM flight makes emergency landing soon after take-off[/url]

Nit-picking : IATA code for chatrapati shivaji international airport is BOM. This three letter airport code has nothing to do with the city/airport, for example, Chennai's airport has the code MAA.

Cheers....

nachiket · Post by **nachiket** » 06 Jul 2011 23:10

neerajb wrote:
Klaus wrote:DEL-MUM flight makes emergency landing soon after take-off[/url]
Nit-picking : IATA code for chatrapati shivaji international airport is BOM. This three letter airport code has nothing to do with the city/airport, for example, Chennai's airport has the code MAA.

Cheers....

I believe they try to keep the codes similar to the city name. They probably got MAA from Madras. MAD doesn't sound very nice.

neerajb · Post by **neerajb** » 06 Jul 2011 23:37

More than city, Airport's name takes precedence. Like Charles De Gaulle (CDG) for paris, JFK & LGA (LaGuardia Intl) (both in New York) etc. Technically these are airport codes and not city codes. A city can have multiple airports

though rare.

Cheers....

Suraj · Post by **Suraj** » 07 Jul 2011 00:53

nachiket wrote:I believe they try to keep the codes similar to the city name. They probably got MAA from Madras. MAD doesn't sound very nice.

MAD is Madrid Barajas International Airport. Those Spaniards are crazy

Suhas H · Post by **Suhas H** » 07 Jul 2011 06:38

Klaus wrote:CASA grounds entire Australian fleet of budget airline over safety concerns

This might be the end of Tiger airways in Oz. CASA is seeking a court order to ground the fleet till 1st August and their CEO in Oz has resigned. it's difficult for an airline to start up here in the 90's Compass tried twice and recently Impulse started started as an all business class and both failed with the market dominated by Qantas and Virgin.

Tiger boss quits as flying ban to be extended