Paramount to buy 15 more Embraer Aircrafts for $450 million. Link:
http://www1.economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1356007.cms

Quotes:
After ending ‘05 with a bang, the Indian aviation industry seems determined to start the new year on the same note. Paramount Airways, the Coimbatore-based all business class airline, has finalised plans to buy 15 more aircraft from the Brazilian commuter jet maker Embraer. The order worth $450m is expected to be formally placed later this month. Paramount will buy eight Embraer 175 aircraft and six Embraer 195s, which will be delivered to the airline over the next 18 to 20 months, the company managing director M Thiagarajan said.

The aircraft will be configured in a two-class configuration with fully reclining flat beds in the first class. They will also be fitted with the latest inflight entertainment systems, he said. Analysts expect a 20% growth in traffic going forward and airlines are expanding capacity to cater to the growth.

Paramount is the first Indian carrier to opt for the Brazilian aircraft. The Embraer family of four jets was launched for the 70 to 110 seat market, with four aircraft the Embraer 170, 175, 190 and 195 — seating respectively, 70, 78, 100 and 110 passengers at 32-inch seat pitch.

The aircraft are all fly by wire with glass (computerised) cockpit panels. All Paramount’s aircraft are also equipped with Category-II low visibility auto-land. This enables aircraft to land automatically with the auto-pilot in very low visibility and foggy conditions, similar to those being experienced in Delhi now. “Paramount is the only airline with absolutely no delay in any of its flights in the past few weeks at Delhi because of the equipment as well as the pilots being trained to use it,” Mr Thiagarajan said.

Why Arn't Paramount training Indians for Mx & Flt ops.I believe they still use Expats.
Is it part of a deal.
regds
MEL

Would I be right is guessing that Paramounts' initial set of flights is doing OK then? Given they're going ahead and ordering additional aircraft, it would seem like they are happy with the response to their current flights. Has anyone here flown them so far? Any feedback?

So Paramount will return the 170's they're using right now and go for a E175 and E195 fleet?
Any clue?
I know of a person who used the airline on Delhi-Coimbatore and he said it was relatively comfy, but that the plane was small. I guess that is a psychological thing - people would prefer a cramped 737 or A320 cabin rather than the more airy E-Jet cabin. I hope other Indian carriers also start using the E-Jets.

Quoting HAWK21M (Reply 1): Why Arn't Paramount training Indians for Mx & Flt ops.I believe they still use Expats.

Mel - how does it matter? They'll do what they believe is the best for them, and if they believe expats is the way to go, that's the way they should go.

Why do you think they should not use expats, but should train Indians?

They did advertise in the past to recruit, but I guess the response may have been less than ideal?

Quoting Nimish (Reply 4): They'll do what they believe is the best for them, and if they believe expats is the way to go, that's the way they should go.

I'm sure they must be training some Indians, and you do have to give them credit for introducing a new aircraft type into India. Which other new carrier has done that? Which is why I guess they need the expats (I guess they'll be a lot of Brazilians) to service and fly the planes.

Quoting Cricket (Reply 5): I'm sure they must be training some Indians, and you do have to give them credit for introducing a new aircraft type into India. Which other new carrier has done that

Agreed fully. It's just that if (in their infinite wisdom) they decide that expats is the way to go, well - more power to them. I'm basically hinting that there is likely to be a method behind the madness  

I was at a new year party in Mumbai and was speaking to a fairly senior ground staff manager of BA as well as a First Officer on Air India who flies on the "rustbuckets". While they may be a little biased, they both did mention that 9W's yields on the BOM-LHR route was poor and there was some serious thinking going on at the 9W headquarters on all options, including actually dropping the sector. Anyone else hear any rumors on this front?

The AI FO also did mention something that I found amusing. Apparently on most days AI's flight to LHR overtakes 9W's flight despite a later departure. There have been occasions when the pilot has asked passengers to look to their left or look below them to view the "overtaking" maneouvre. Is there any truth to this or was this just too much rum and coke on New Years eve?

Quoting Snehnath (Reply 7): While they may be a little biased, they both did mention that 9W's yields on the BOM-LHR route was poor and there was some serious thinking going on at the 9W headquarters on all options, including actually dropping the sector. Anyone else hear any rumors on this front?

From what I hear, a lot of 9W's target high-yield passengers will not budge from BA Club World for love of money. That said, they did spend a bomb on their new HQ at Bandra-Kurla. Maybe they'll start thinking once they move.
 

Quoting Snehnath (Reply 7): The AI FO also did mention something that I found amusing. Apparently on most days AI's flight to LHR overtakes 9W's flight despite a later departure. There have been occasions when the pilot has asked passengers to look to their left or look below them to view the "overtaking" maneouvre. Is there any truth to this or was this just too much rum and coke on New Years eve?

This statement (true or not) will start (yet) another A340 vs B777 debate. But, if true, the AI pilots must be having a good laugh each time.

How are 9W doing on the DEL-LHR-DEL route.How are the yeilds on this route for them.Now that S2 is also joining the league and that too with a bang by offering the lowest fares ever on the India-UK route so whats stored in the future?
Apparently 9W had said that they were looking forward to start a 3rd Daily from India to London/UK so where will that 3rd originate from??

Regards
Jetway

Quoting JetWay (Reply 9): Now that S2 is also joining the league

More laughs for the AI pilots...  

Quoting Snehnath (Reply 7): on most days AI's flight to LHR overtakes 9W's flight despite a later departure.

I have this from the websites..

Origin TO Dest Landing
9W: Mumbai 1320 London 1750 (2220 IST)
AI: Mumbai 1430 London 1900 (2330 IST)

AI leaves an hour & 10 mins later and reaches an hour & 10 mins later! Perhaps more rum and less coke for the AI FO  

Paramount has already axed Kochi! Their website now lists only Chennai, Delhi, Coimbatore as active stations. So I guess there is not yet a good market for Kochi - Delhi?

Quoting Snehnath (Reply 7): While they may be a little biased, they both did mention that 9W's yields on the BOM-LHR route was poor

How are BA's other competitors doing on that route? VS, BD, and AI? VS appears to be targetting London bound pax only, and unless BD takes on US bound UA code-shared pax, I guess they're aiming for the UK market only as well. AI, of course, combine 10 of their UK flights with the US, so they may not really have to worry that much.

Quoting Snehnath (Reply 7): The AI FO also did mention something that I found amusing. Apparently on most days AI's flight to LHR overtakes 9W's flight despite a later departure. There have been occasions when the pilot has asked passengers to look to their left or look below them to view the "overtaking" maneouvre. Is there any truth to this or was this just too much rum and coke on New Years eve?

too much rum and coke...

Quoting BandA (Reply 13): The AI FO also did mention something that I found amusing. Apparently on most days AI's flight to LHR overtakes 9W's flight despite a later departure. There have been occasions when the pilot has asked passengers to look to their left or look below them to view the "overtaking" maneouvre. Is there any truth to this or was this just too much rum and coke on New Years eve?

Ya agreed too much rum and coke.May be the AI F/O was talking about his overtaking a 9W F/O's car with his car on the streets of Mumbai.Quite possible.

Quoting JetWay (Reply 14): Ya agreed too much rum and coke.May be the AI F/O was talking about his overtaking a 9W F/O's car with his car on the streets of Mumbai.Quite possible.

Maybe the AI F/O was talking about the return leg as according to

http://www.heathrowairport.com/porta...35771a2010VgnVCM100000147e120a____

these are the return flight timings.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 2105 1135+1 9W0117 343 Non-Stop 09:00 hrs
1 2 - 4 - 6 - 2130 1140+1 AI0130 777 Non-Stop 08:40 hrs

Quoting Snehnath (Reply 7): Is there any truth to this or was this just too much rum and coke on New Years eve?

Well I hope that is Coca-Cola and not cocaine.  

Air-India to ink Boeing deal next week

Quote: With the empowered group of ministers (EGoM) having approved Air India�s proposal for purchasing 68 Boeing aircraft, the public sector carrier is all set to sign the deal with the US-based manufacturer on January 11. According to senior Air-India officials, the two would be signing on the dotted line next Wednesday at a function where the CEO of Boeing Harry Stonecipher is likely to be present. ... AI and Boeing officials are also likely to work out details on the $100-million maintenance, repair and overhauling facility which Boeing will set up in India as part of the aircraft deal. ��We have received land for setting up our engineering base from the Kerala government and we are keen to enter the MRO segment there is a possibility that we can have a tie-up with Boeing for setting up a combined unit in India,�� said Air India CMD V Thulasidas. ...

Peter Luethi quits as Jet Air COO. Link:
http://www.financialexpress.com/fe_full_story.php?content_id=113462

Quotes:
Peter Luethi has resigned as chief operating officer (COO) of Jet Airways, the country's largest private carrier. Industry sources said that Mr Luethi has put in his resignation papers ahead of the expiry of his contract in April 2006. Industry analysts said that Mr Luethi played a significant role in pushing the airline to a comfortable position in the country and that he was a key force behind Jet's foray into international routes. His exit at a juncture when there is a lot of competition in the industry could be critical for the airline.


Mr Luethi was earlier with Swiss Air and has more than 30 years of experience in the aviation industry. Last year two expat CEOs decided to return home. Citing family reasons, ex-COO of Kingfisher Airlines, Alex Wilcox returned to the US though the airline says that he is now a consultant for Kingfisher.
Next was SpiceJet's CEO Mark Winders deciding to go back home. Mr Luethi and CEO, Wolfgang Prock-Schauer were the subject of speculation, which Jet had to deny earlier.

"Shifting home and adjusting to the Indian environment are initially a problem for expats. These can be off-set by giving them healthy work environment and freedom at work," said Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation (CAPA), CEO, Kapil Kaul

It seems that Air Sahara has re-luanched its website and it now has online booking and check-in.

http://www.airsahara.net/s2v1/

Is there anyone out there involved in some way with their Air India or Indian Airlines?

I'm after the company fleet list for both companies, ie. the official fleet list from the company computer, not the fleet lists from one of the aircraft hobby sites.

Specifically, I'm after a list of the aircraft selcal's.

eg. MQDP = VT-AIJ (AI), MQHS = VT-AIK (AI), JRDQ = VT-EVO (IC), CRDS = VT-EVR (IC), etc...

Can anyone help?        

RK  

Quote: Govt may relook at bids for airports revamp The government will not scrap the Delhi-Mumbai airport modernisation plan, though it was open to re-evaluation of the bids already submitted. Highly placed sources said on Wednesday the process could be delayed if the government decided to undertake "re-evaluation or rectification" of the bids, but there was no question of the entire process being scrapped. They said the civil aviation sector needed a focus and direction at this moment and a lot of it depended on the modernisation of the two airports, which together handle almost half of the country's air traffic. However, sources made it clear that in case the government decided to go in for re-evaluation of the bids, only contentious issues would be gone through.

Hindustan Times

 

VT-ASJ

from www.ndtv.com:

Quote: Thursday, January 5, 2006 (New Delhi): The fog continues to play havoc with flight schedules at the Delhi airport. On Thursday morning, close to 20 flights have been delayed or cancelled with visibility on the runway reduced to 225 metres at 8:30 am (IST). As many as six Air Sahara flights have been delayed, including S2 101 to Mumbai, S2 121 to Bangalore, S2 612 to Lucknow, S2 141 to Chennai and S2 131 to Pune. Four Air Deccan flights have been cancelled including DN 625 to Srinagar, DN 661 to Bangalore, DN 619 to Bangalore and DN 601 to Jaipur.

It is a good thing the government is relooking at the airports revamp - even though there is a rumour in Delhi that the entire reevaluation is to placate the Bharti-Changi combine which was generally considered the best bidder. Don't be surprised if they win the bid for DEL. There is no way in hell Anil Ambani will win this bid with the current government in power given the name calling between the SP and the Congress right now.

My first post in around 25 days,

First of all A Happy New Year to all

Secondly i want to mention that CNN IBN reported pax being seated for upto 10 hrs inside S2 aircrafts at Lucknow which was overnighted due to Delhi fog.

Due to the report and no sort of food services provided to pax S2 have announced a free rturn ticket anywhere on their network for each of the 170 odd pax.
This includes their DEL-LHR services

Also saw the CNN IBN report on air safety in India shocking to hear that our ATC systems are around 15 yrs old.

Also they PP on in the night he is a good speaker and defended and at the same time aknowledged the air safety scenario in the country

Quoting Karan69 (Reply 24): Secondly i want to mention that CNN IBN reported pax being seated for upto 10 hrs inside S2 aircrafts at Lucknow which was overnighted due to Delhi fog.

To be fair - Star News actually broke the story first followed by Rajdeep TV and Undie TV. And ToI had a report today morning.
What was ironic was that just the day before all the channels and papers were going hyper on S2's DEL-LHR Rs 10k fare just the previous day.

Quoting Karan69 (Reply 24): Secondly i want to mention that CNN IBN reported pax being seated for upto 10 hrs inside S2 aircrafts at Lucknow which was overnighted due to Delhi fog

The only problem was Food being served.With the terminal already Overflowing with other Diverted Flights there was no question of Deplaning the Pax.
regds
MEL

Quoting HAWK21M (Reply 27): With the terminal already Overflowing with other Diverted Flights there was no question of Deplaning the Pax.

Amausi is a tiny terminal - I don't know how it can handle more than two flights at a time, its more or less the same size as Pune.

Quoting Cricket (Reply 28): Amausi is a tiny terminal - I don't know how it can handle more than two flights at a time, its more or less the same size as Pune

And there were four diverted flights not including S2. 
regds
MEL

G Kingshott, an Australian national, to be new Jet Airways COO. Hope his connections in Australia will enable Jet to offer a BOM-SYD non stop. They have a spare A340 and are expecting two A330s in March. How about timing the BOM-SYD flight such that LHR-BOM passengers can connect within two hours. Link:
http://www1.economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1361637.cms

Quotes:
Jet Airways has announced appointment of Garry Kingshott, an Australian national, as the Airways' Chief Commercial Officer from March 2006.
Kingshott, who brings to the Airways over 31 years of corporate experience with ten years in Airline industry, will oversee areas of marketing and sales, commercial, airport services and all aspects of customer services -- the growth plans of Jet airways both in domestic and international markets, a release issued by the airways said here today. The Airline's chief operating officer Peter Luethi will be retiring at the end of his three-year contract in April end when he will relocate to USA.

Quoting Cricket (Reply 26): Rajdeep TV and Undie TV.

He he! I've never heard it called Undie TV... What's that all about?  

And, does anyone watch Rajdeep's new channel?

Kingfisher close to equity deal. Based on the figures cited in the article, Kingfisher is being valued at about $800 million. Link:
http://dnaindia.com/report.asp?NewsID=1005429

Quotes:

Kingfisher Airlines is close to taking on board a slew of leading private equity investors to fund its ambitious growth plans.ICICI Ventures, Temasek and NewBridge are said to be among those in the race for an equity stake in the seven-month-old airline. Vijay Mallya, the promoter of Kingfisher Airlines, is believed to be conducting the beauty parade to enlist long term investors.

About $200 million is the size of the investment the airline is looking at from the equity investors, with the minimum deal size pegged at $30 million. The airline is eyeing a rapid increase in market share by bidding for Air Sahara, which has the license to fly abroad. It is learnt that Mallya may give 26% to the private equity partners. Unlike, other airlines Kingfisher boasts of being the highest capitalised airline with about Rs 197 crore as paid-up equity capital. The entire sum was raised through the UB group’s

Quoting Jasepl (Reply 31): And, does anyone watch Rajdeep's new channel?

I do, because with the CNN link, they have access to CNN's worlwide news services too. They do have scope for improvement.

I was not quiet happy with their story on air safety. Their channel kept displaying figures like "26 near misses in 2005". Such comments creates fear among first time flyers, who are the target segment for LCC's.

However, a near miss is a term given to a scenario if 2 aircratfs are close to each other, not necessary that they are in danger of a collision. I clarified this with a retired Director of Air Safety, DGCA.

IBN also flashed news about Jagson Airlines acquiring A319s. Can anyone confirm this?

Quoting AirIndia (Reply 34): IBN also flashed news about Jagson Airlines acquiring A319s. Can anyone confirm this?

It is being discussed:

http://www.airliners.net/discussions...general_aviation/read.main/2530587

Emirates service to bangalore starting from Oct 29 '06, 8x weekly with 772 & 332 splitting the service equally....

EK 517 2030 Bangalore 2305 Dubai - 772-FJY 4:05 M.W....
EK 517 2030 Bangalore 2305 Dubai - 332-FJY 4:05 ...TF..

EK 519 0425 Bangalore 0700 Dubai - 772-FJY 4:05 MT.....
EK 519 0425 Bangalore 0700 Dubai - 332-FJY 4:05 ..W...S

EK 516 1400 Dubai 1910 Bangalore - 772-FJY 3:40 M.W....
EK 516 1400 Dubai 1910 Bangalore - 332-FJY 3:40 ...TF..

EK 518 2200 Dubai 0310 Bangalore - 772-FJY 3:40 M.....S
EK 518 2200 Dubai 0310 Bangalore - 332-FJY 3:40 .T...S.

Quoting Jasepl (Reply 31): And, does anyone watch Rajdeep's new channel?

Quoting AirIndia (Reply 33): "26 near misses in 2005". Such comments creates fear among first time flyers, who are the target segment for LCC's.

Reading the Defination of near miss.Its not as serious as it sounds.Pity the common man does not know & the news gets Sensationalised.
regds
MEL

Quoting BlrBird (Reply 36): Emirates service to bangalore starting from Oct 29 '06, 8x weekly with 772 & 332 splitting the service equally.... EK 517 2030 Bangalore 2305 Dubai - 772-FJY 4:05 M.W.... EK 517 2030 Bangalore 2305 Dubai - 332-FJY 4:05 ...TF.. EK 519 0425 Bangalore 0700 Dubai - 772-FJY 4:05 MT..... EK 519 0425 Bangalore 0700 Dubai - 332-FJY 4:05 ..W...S

As I said in the other thread - this is really great news - and good for BLR & EK.

EK is fast. I know they have additional 8000 seats per week under the new bilateral and didn't they use some for service to TRV. What's next on their list in India?

Air Sahara offers discounts on new services, better connectivity to London, Kathmandu, and Singapore. Link:
http://www1.economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1362845.cms

Quotes:
Proposing to add ten new flights to key domestic destinations, Air Sahara on Saturday announced an introductory offer for a week to sell tickets on these services at Rs 2,999 and Rs 1,999, inclusive of taxes. The flights being launched on January 15 are Mumbai- Ahmedabad, Ahmedabad-Delhi, Delhi-Kolkata, Kolkata-Delhi, Delhi-Ahmedabad and Ahmedabad-Mumbai. Two flights to be launched from January 20 are Delhi-Mumbai and Mumbai-Delhi and the two from February one are Delhi-Hyderabad and return.

While the tickets on Delhi-Ahmedabad and Mumbai-Ahmedabad would be offered for a week at Rs 1,999 including taxes, the introductory offer on other flights would be Rs 2,999. The normal fares for Delhi-Kolkata start at Rs 4,222 and Delhi- Mumbai at Rs 3,888.

"Efforts are being made to position our major services in such a manner so as to connect the afternoon flights to London and Kathmandu and the evening ones to Singapore and Chicago," Sharma said.

The new flights would take the total number of services of Air Sahara to about 140. The new Delhi-Kolkata flight would be afternoon services which no other scheduled airline operates, while a late morning flight is being added between Delhi and Mumbai.

The Air Sahara official claimed the airline, which has Hyderabad as its hub of operations, has now become the largest operator on Delhi-Kolkata-Hyderabad

Is this a serious proposal to let private airlines fly to Gulf before the three year duopoly to AI and IC ends? Link:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1362947.cms

Quotes:
India will consider allowing private airlines to fly to the Gulf to meet the needs of non-resident Indians in the region, a top official said. "As the demand for seats grows, it will create more openings between the Gulf countries and India for the aviation sector," said S. Krishna Kumar, secretary in the ministry of overseas Indian affairs.

The ministry of civil aviation could favourably consider proposals from private carriers to fly to the Gulf after similar opening up of the skies in other sectors, he told a press conference after the opening session of the 4th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas that was inaugurated by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. Krishna Kumar cited the example of private Indian carrier Air Deccan, which has launched a service to Colombo in partnership with a Sri Lankan airline to primarily serve the growing demand from non-resident Indians in the Gulf.

Air Sahara will soon be taking delivery of their brand new BBJ from Boeing Field. Reg for the ferry flight should be N746BA and will be VT-SRS once registered in India.

RK   

Quoting RobK (Reply 42): Air Sahara will soon be taking delivery of their brand new BBJ from Boeing Field

What hapens to VT-HSS.
When is VT-SID going to start flying.  

regds
MEL

Air Deccan to add more ATRs to its fleet. Link:
http://www1.economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1363480.cms

Quotes:
Close on the heels of a fresh order placed to acquire 30 Airbus aircraft, budget carrier Air Deccan is planning to acquire more turbo-prop aircraft from Avions de Transport Regional (ATR) soon to enhance its regional connectivity maintaining lower fare. The airline would go ahead with the purchase plan in the current year itself to tackle the issue of volatile crude prices, Air Deccan CMD G R Gopinath said. "We will be acquiring more ATR aircraft soon. We have not yet decided about number of aircrafts.. but definitely, we have planned for a purchase," he said.

Attributing the decision to crusing crude prices, Gopinath said ATR aircraft are fuel efficient. Aviation Turbine Fuel (ATF) accounts for nearly 30-40 per cent of the total cost of operations of Indian carriers as against the international average of 16 per cent.

Quoting RobK (Reply 42): Air Sahara will soon be taking delivery of their brand new BBJ from Boeing Field. Reg for the ferry flight should be N746BA and will be VT-SRS once registered in India.

Sahara shri seems to be on a massive ego trip. What does he plan to do with two BBJs. He already has the VT-HSS.

Quoting HAWK21M (Reply 43): When is VT-SID going to start flying.

By the looks of it, it seems to be write off.  

Quoting Himmat01 (Reply 45): Sahara shri seems to be on a massive ego trip. What does he plan to do with two BBJs. He already has the VT-HSS.

This is exactly the reason that S2 has such a bleak future. When funds are wasted in such a manner, it's only time before the airline is bankrupt.

Quoting HAWK21M (Reply 1): Why Arn't Paramount training Indians for Mx & Flt ops.I believe they still use Expats.

from http://www.paramountairways.com/operations.html

Operations

Staffing requirement

Captain
Qualification Indian
Experience ATPL/FRTO/COP-RTR/MEDICAL with minimum of 4000 hrs of flying experience. 1000 hrs of PIC experience on an aircraft AUW exceeding 5700 kgs


First Officer
Qualification Indian
Experience CPL/FRTO/COP-RTR/MEDICAL with muti-engine endorsement

Quoting Himmat01 (Reply 45): By the looks of it, it seems to be write off.

I don't think so.Not for an overshoot.
But they are paying parking charges unnecessarly.Scrap it or Fly it.
AOG does not earn money.
regds
MEL

Quoting Himmat01 (Reply 45): He already has the VT-HSS.

VT-HSS was a temporary plane that Boeing gave him pending delivery of his own BBJ.

Quoting HAWK21M (Reply 43): When is VT-SID going to start flying

What is VT-SID...? whose plane is this?

Quoting AirIndia (Reply 50): What is VT-SID...? whose plane is this?

This was the ill-fated Sahara 737 that skidded when landing and ended up in the mud. This incident was a couple of months ago now, and they had a tough time retrieving the plane from the mud, and hence the runway was in operable for a long time.

Discussed at length in Air Sahara (S2) 737 Overshoots BOM Runway (by Nimish Oct 9 2005 in Civil Aviation)

Quoting Nimish (Reply 51): This incident was a couple of months ago now, and they had a tough time retrieving the plane from the mud, and hence the runway was in operable for a long time.

It became a perfect demonstration of what happens when 9-27 shuts down. I believe S2 still have a CRJ-200 which is lying in Goa.

Quoting Himmat01 (Reply 45): Sahara shri seems to be on a massive ego trip. What does he plan to do with two BBJs. He already has the VT-HSS.

Perhaps there's a few more weddings planned in Lucknow?

Quoting Jasepl (Reply 53): Perhaps there's a few more weddings planned in Lucknow?

Oh God! No!!   

That would be scary - having to go through all the hoopla again. But then Cricket might get to fly their BBJ and we might get a "unique" trip report  

Quoting Nimish (Reply 51): This was the ill-fated Sahara 737 that skidded when landing and ended up in the mud

Oh that one. I was in Mumbai and used to pass that stretch on the Western Express Highway (if you can call it a highway). Managed to get a glance from a Volvo bus to pune...

Check out NDTV 27x7 tom night 10PM. They are interviewing the captain of the AI744 that made an emergency landing in LAX last month.

Quoting AirIndia (Reply 55): NDTV 27x7

27x7???!!!  

Quoting AirIndia (Reply 55): Check out NDTV 27x7 tom night 10PM. They are interviewing the captain of the AI744 that made an emergency landing in LAX last month.

I was at LAX on December 26th and stayed at the LAX Hilton. I tell you, it was the best experience and the reason being, I had the view of the runway right from my hotel window. I was like right there!! I did take a picture of the tail section of an Air India aircraft that was parked outside a building and all I could see from my room was the tail end of it. It could very well be the 744, if it still there. I will load that picture up on a.net tonight and will post it here tomorrow.

Cheers..

OURBOEING

Quoting Nimish (Reply 54): Oh God! No!! That would be scary - having to go through all the hoopla again.

He he! Did you go to Lucknow for the weddings? Or did you suffer because of them?

BOM and DEL Airports modernization update. Link:
http://www1.economictimes.indiatimes...ticleshow/msid-1365127,curpg-1.cms

Quotes:
The controversy over restructuring of Delhi and Mumbai airports is all set to take a dramatic turn with a new thinking emerging within the government to go ahead with financial evaluation of the GMR-Fraport bid or leave all work related to modernization of airports to the Airports Authority of India (AAI).

Highly-placed government sources said the expert committee headed by E Sreedharan has suggested that forming special purpose vehicles (SPVs) for modernization of the two airports would be the ideal solution. For the SPVs, AAI could tie up with foreign airport operators to bring in the necessary technical expertise. If the government ultimately goes by the expert committee’s views, financial bid submitted by the Reliance Airport Developers, in collaboration with ASA of Mexico, would not be considered — quelling part of the row over alleged bias in technical evaluation.

At the same time, AAI would be allowed to modernise the Chennai and Kolkata airports too with overseas partners, allowing a political soft-landing for the government which has been under pressure from the Left parties to scrap the entire bidding process for upgradation of the Delhi and Mumbai airports.
The committee of secretaries (CoS) headed by Cabinet secretary BK Chaturvedi is expected to firm up its views within the next couple of days on the basis of inputs provided by the expert committee headed by the Delhi Metro chief. Ultimately, the empowered group of ministers (eGoM) headed by defence minister Pranab Mukherjee has to take the final decision.

The swift turn of events has taken even senior officials by surprise and there is considerable speculation over AAI’s return to favour. Instead of just sticking to Delhi and Mumbai, the current discussion has started looking at allowing AAI to develop Chennai and Kolkata airports too.

Air Deccan, Jet in talks for partnership. Link:
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1365277.cms

Quotes:
After the Kingfisher-Indian Airlines collaboration on ground-handling services, another strategic relationship seems to be budding on the Indian aviation tarmac. Jet Airways and Air Deccan are discussing sharing of resources and collaboration possibilities, in an experiment that could see whether a symbiotic relationship could flower between a full-service carrier and a low-cost rival.


“The focus is on saving costs. Representatives of Air Deccan and Jet would discuss the details,” Mr Gopinath told ET. Both Jet and Air Deccan operate ATR tuboprop aircraft, and one idea is to save costs through a common maintenance infrastructure. The relationship could also cover an interline arrangement whereby Air Deccan could provide domestic connectivity to Jet’s international passengers. Another possibility covers purchase of available seat kilometer miles, which indicate operation of mandatory services on non-viable routes, by Jet from Air Deccan.

Quoting LAXDESI (Reply 60): “The focus is on saving costs. Representatives of Air Deccan and Jet would discuss the details,” Mr Gopinath told ET. Both Jet and Air Deccan operate ATR tuboprop aircraft, and one idea is to save costs through a common maintenance infrastructure. The relationship could also cover an interline arrangement whereby Air Deccan could provide domestic connectivity to Jet’s international passengers. Another possibility covers purchase of available seat kilometer miles, which indicate operation of mandatory services on non-viable routes, by Jet from Air Deccan.

Deccan has been able to operate Cat II and Cat III routes profitably, unlike many of the other carriers. Maybe this tie-up is a good thing for Jet, because (w's international opns are not doing that great and their domestic high-yield passengers are being poached by Kingfisher.
To give you an idea of how 9W is fighting back, I'm flying 9W-361 BOM-DEL tonight and my office booked my ticket yesterday and it cost under Rs 4500. Kingfisher is hitting Jet hard, and I guess the numbers will be clear to see when Jet decalres its third quarter results.
For Deccan on the other hand, the deal also makes sense because they will become the largest operator of ATR's in India anyway. If Jet transfers their ATR opns to Deccan, I guess both airlines win.

Interesting market share numbers of Jet Airways from October. Down to 35% from 45% a year earlier. With both Kingfisher and Deccan getting more aircrafts the slide is not over yet. I expect Jet to have no more than 30% market share. Link:
http://dnaindia.com/report.asp?NewsID=1006556

Quotes:
The war for marketshare in Indian aviation has brought about realignments in the industry. Faced with Kingfisher Air’s serious efforts to wean away its higher-value clientele, market leader Jet Airways has tied up with Air Deccan, pioneer in the low-fares business, to share domestic and international routes.

From more than 45-46 % a year back, Jet has seen its marketshare dip in October to 35%, losing out both to the no-frills carriers and full-service airlines. The real threat is Kingfisher, which has positioned itself as a full-service carrier with reasonable rates and is now openly bidding for Jet’s higher-value customer base with special discount offers aimed at them.

Jet is now in talks to team up with Air Deccan to both cut costs and stem the erosion in marketshare. Says Air Deccan managing director GR Gopinath: “We are looking at cooperating with Jet to bring down our costs and fight competition.” The two airlines, both of which own ATR fleet, will collaborate to share engineering resources and pilots. The airlines are also exploring ways to shares routes on domestic and international routes. “Jet doesn’t fly to many routes on the domestic sector. They can use our wide network while we can use their international network,” says Gopinath.

On the other side, Kingfisher boss Vijay Mallya is also clear that Jet is the airline to beat.

Interesting survey of Indian fliers. Link:
http://www.newkerala.com/news.php?action=fullnews&id=82824

Quotes:
With a boom in business and leisure travel, airlines will need to put in a lot of effort to avoid brand clutter, says a global provider of market information. The same goes for travel agents and hotels as well, according to the recent TNS Indian Travel Dossier.

The survey among 6,433 travellers upto the age of 55 years tracks impact of the surge in travel in recent years. It also looked at the commitment levels of customers to various airline and hotel brands. TNS -- listed on London Stock Exchange -- says Indian (earlier called Indian Airlines) and Jet Airways are neck-to-neck for the top slot followed at a distance by Air Sahara. Among newcomers, Kingfisher Airlines is one step above SpiceJet.

Most travel was undertaken by people in the age group of 26 to 40 years. However, the average age is marginally lower in the case of the corporate segment and also among travellers from the metros. A significant proportion of such travellers comes from IT and financial sectors. In business-related overseas travel, a substantial proportion of the SME (small and medium enterprise) segment is young.

guys its confirmed. 9W has bought S2 for 560 million $.
I have already started a new thread with that heading.
This news has lots of implications for indian aviation.
AI

The airport modernization drama continues...

Govt may call for fresh airport bids

Quote: NEW DELHI, JAN 10: The empowered group of ministers on airports modernisation may ask five bidders which were not shortlisted by the global technical advisor Air Plane to submit fresh bids in 15 days. The Sreedharan committee set up to re-evaluate the technical bids has eliminated Reliance-ASA — one of the two consortia shortlisted by the advisor (the other being GMR-Fraport) — by downgrading its bid. According to official sources, the Sreedharan committee which submitted its report to the cabinet secretary on Tuesday has, in fact, studied only the Reliance-ASA bid. Further, the committee has endorsed the Airports Authority of India’s proposal to set up a special purpose vehicle for modernising the two airports. The sources said the option to rebid may be considered by the EGoM in the worst case scenario, if only one bidder (GMR-Fraport) remains. “The remaining five bidders, including Reliance, would be asked to submit fresh bids within 15 days,” the sources said. ...

AI will recuit like anything

Quote: Fleet float: A-I to hire 4,900 in 7 yrs BANGALORE: While Air-India (A-I) has decided to freeze further recruitment in non-operational positions, it proposes to induct at least 700 pilots, 3,000-3,500 cabin crew and 700 engineers over seven years to meet the needs of a larger fleet. The airline is buying 68 planes, deliveries for which begin this October. Some of the new recruits will add to the team size while others will fill up slots of those who retire every year.

Economic Times

rgds
VT-ASJ

Indigo set for launch, to take delivery of Airbus A320 in July. Link:
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1366689.cms

Quotes:
Indigo Airlines, the Delhi-based low cost carrier, which brought global attention to Indian aviation when it ordered 100 planes at the Paris airshow last year, is finally revving up for a launch. The airline, promoted by travel company Interglobe and Rakesh Gangwal, former CEO, US Airways, will take delivery of its first A320 from Airbus in July this year. Indigo will induct six aircraft between July and December this year and nine in ’07. A team from the European manufacturer is in Delhi to work out the delivery schedule for the airline.

Rahul Bhatia, managing director, Interglobe said, the airline is likely to take wing in July when its first aircraft is delivered. However, the option of starting before this with leased aircraft has not been ruled out yet. The induction schedule is to get in 23 aircraft in the first 30 months of operation, he said. The airline was originally scheduled to be airborne by the end of ’05. Indigo’s plans are being closely watched by the aviation industry in India and abroad, because of the airline’s ambitious plans and the likely benefits to several suppliers and contractors. An initial equity investment of $50m is being made in the venture by the two promoters, Interglobe and Mr Gangwal.

Theres a Boeing ad in the TOI today congratulating AI for signing the deal for the B738,B772LR,B773ER,B787.
Now let the Recruitment begin   

Quoting Aseem (Reply 66): it proposes to induct at least 700 pilots, 3,000-3,500 cabin crew and 700 engineers over seven years to meet the needs of a larger fleet.

  

regds
MEL

No night parking for new airlines. Link:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/a...ticleshow/msid-1366734,curpg-3.cms

Quotes:
There's simply no room left for new airlines at Mumbai airport. In the absence of slots available for night parking of aircraft, the Airports Authority of India (AAI) has turned down requests from a host of airlines for night parking bays at the city airport. They have instead been given slots at airports like Pune, Baroda, Ahmedabad and even Indore in one case.

Sources said although 12 parking bays are under construction at Mumbai airport (there are currently 83), the current capacity for night parking has been exhausted. "Currently, only two night parking slots for Boeing 747s—which are not flown by domestic carriers—are left," said a source.

An AAI communique dated January 1 to domestic airlines says night parking bays have been allocated in four non-metro airports and that airlines should start positioning cabin crew and engineering staff in these places to maintain their aircraft parked there.

The decision would mean there will be more early morning and late night flights tofrom non-metros and Mumbai. Aviation sources said aircraft utilisation too would be affected, which would adversely affect bottomlines.
"These routes could have a low passenger load and, considering the costs of positioning crew and staff in such places, they won't be economically feasible," said an observer.

The situation could improve though if slums around the airport are cleared to make way for land for more parking bays. AAI has allotted bays in four non-metros to almost all domestic carriers. Three night parking bays in Pune went to Jet Airways, Kingfisher Airlines and Air One (yet to launch).

Go Air wanted four parking bays in Mumbai for its A-321s, but was given slots at Baroda. Another still-to-be-launched airline had to be content with a night parking slot in Indore for its two ATR-72s, said sources. Similarly, Ahmedabad airport's night parking bays have been earmarked for an Indian Airlines A 320, two A 320s belonging to Go Air, 2 ATRs of Air Deccan and one Boeing 737-800 of Spice Jet. In fact, the queue at Ahmedabad airport for night parking bays has been getting longer.

AAI is now considering requests from Air Deccan for night parking there for an A-320, from Kingfisher Airlines for another A-320, and parking bays for two A-320s for the still-to-be launched IndiGo. Last year, at the Paris air show, IndiGo had created a stir by announcing plans to order 100 Airbus 320s.

"This decision will hit new airlines and those still to be launched ones badly as they will have to operate routes like Indore-Mumbai, which they did not plan to in the first place," said an aviation observer.

More on parking bay issue. Link:
http://news.webindia123.com/news/sho...details.asp?id=215463&cat=Business

Quotes:

Recently six additional bays have been added to the Delhi Airport and work is on for 19 bays to be completed by October 2006. Eight bays have been added to the Mumbai Airport and work is on for 18 more bays to be completed by June 2006.

The AAI have also initiated up gradation work at Chennai and Kolkata Airports. Amongst other works being taken up at Chennai Airport, additional checking counters are being provided in both domestic and international departure terminals and construction of a new international arrival terminal and its integration with the new international departure terminal is in progress. In Kolkata a new international departure terminal is proposed to be constructed at a tentative cost of Rs.215 crores besides other developmental works.

A total number of 143 additional bays are planned or being constructed at 45 Airports.

In order to encourage the airline operators to use Airports other than six busy airports i.e. Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Bangalore and Hyderabad the night parking charges between 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. have been reduced to 50 percent of the existing parking charges for all airline operators at AAI Airports from January 1, 2006.

Quoting AI (Reply 64): guys its confirmed. 9W has bought S2 for 560 million $. I have already started a new thread with that heading.

This is great news - more in the other thread I guess.

Since we're talking about Indian aviation, here's a couple of updates:

Supposedly THY are going to start IST-BOM soon.

DL will re route the JFK-CDG-BOM flight from Summer 2006; it will now be ATL-CDG-BOM (with the ATL-CDG on a 777 and CDG-BOM-CDG-ATL on the 763).

QF will replace the 743 with the 332 on SYD-BOM-SYD. WIth this change, the Westbound SYD-BOM leg will make a stop in DRW.

Quoting Jasepl (Reply 72): Supposedly THY are going to start IST-BOM soon.

More cheap connections to the UK I guess  . Or is there a lot of business/Tourist traffic between Turkey & India?

An interesting article on the VS recruitment drive, and other matters regarding aviation in India!:



http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/4595942.stm

Regards,

Feroze

[Edited 2006-01-12 17:37:17]