cruisingheights

CRUISING HEIGHTSwww.cruisingheights.in NOVEMBER 2012 I `90

MALÉ AIRPORT TERMINAL: THE MAKING OF A SHOWPIECE Pg40

The ruins of the once strong and resilient Vijaynagar Empire tell a story of complacency and over-confidence. Vijay Mallya’s Kingfisher saga is a repeat of that story.

VIJAYNAGAR-2

Middle East gets intothe alliance act

Qatar Airways’ entry into oneworld signals attitudinal change of

airline managements

Rolls-Royce eagerto start India ops

Kishore Jayaraman on RR’s plans to drive technological

innovation in India

FOCUS ON

DGCA APAC

MEET

CRUISING HEIGHTS November 2012

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF’S NOTE

3

There are some thingsthat the governmentshould do and some

that the government mustnot. But Civil AviationMinister Ajit Singh

apparently believes that the best way forwardis more regulation by his good self and whobetter than the babus of the Ministry of CivilAviation who are apparently more suitablyplaced than anyone else to tell the industry onvarious issues.

Take, for example, the recent decision toset up a brand new Aircraft AcquisitionCommittee (AAC) under the Chairmanship ofthe AS&FA (Additional Secretary andFinancial Advisor) of the Ministry to “examineand appraise applications/proposals from theperspectives of air transport capacity requiredto meet the air traffic demand, as well as thesafety, security, financial, commercial andother relevant aspects of the proposal to ensureorderly growth of air transport services. Afterexamination and appraisal, the AAC shallmake appropriate recommendations on issuessuch as operation of scheduled air transportservices, operation of regional scheduled airtransport services, operation of non-scheduledair transport services, acquisition of aircraft forflying training institutes, acquisition of aircraftfor private use, in-principle approval forimport/acquisition of aircraft on the request ofthe applicant to enter into long-term contractof supply with other parties like manufacturer,lessor or financer and also to plan theiroperations in future and replacement of aircraftif the seating capacity of the replacementaircraft exceeds by more than 10 per cent ofthe capacity of the aircraft being replaced”.

Now we have the highest respect for MrMachendranathan (the present AS&FA), butdon’t get us wrong. How on earth is he goingto make the informed choice that he will thenconvey to the airlines? Airlines spend crores ofrupees to create the traffic managementsystems and the algorithms that can help themdecode exciting new routes, interesting

nuggets that the rivals have missed, projecttraffic needs based on the pattern of growththey visualise for themselves and also on thebasis of the hubs and connectivity roadmapthey have laid for the road ahead. So, how doesthe sarkar duplicate that? Where will it get thedetails from? Where will it get the data? Whatwill be the building blocks of the informedchoices that it will make?

The Director General of Civil Aviation(DGCA) apparently will provide the data onthe basis of which the committee will make itschoices and inform Mr Rahul Bhatia (ofIndiGo) whether he has the muscle to add 180aircraft to his fleet or he should go for half thatnumber. What Mr Ajit Singh seems to forget isthat fleet acquisition and fleet renewal arestrategic decisions taken on the basis of trafficdata and operational plans. They could bereplacements, they could be sale lease back,they could simply be a buffer to sell when theprices are high … the possibilities are endless.

Naturally, Mr Bhatia and Co aren’t goingto share that recipe with you. In any case it’shis money to burn and why should thegovernment come in the way? Moreover, it’sthe DGCA that’s been asked to cull out thecritical data on which the committee will baseits findings. They are most certainly notamused at this call. As one of them said: “Wedon’t have enough people to service ourpresent needs and here you are asking us fordata that requires a full-fledged team.”

Finally, it was the government that handledthe acquisition of Air India. What a fine messit has made of that acquisition! Under thecircumstances, in all fairness, would it be rightfor the same Mai-baaps to play this advisoryrole to the whole industry?

K Srinivasan

Mai-baap to the industry

[email protected]

KINGFISHER AIRLINES IS FACING ONE OF ITS WORST TIMES. THE RISE ANDFALL OF THE AIRLINE HAS ALTERED THE SCENE OF INDIAN AVIATION. SO,WHAT WENT WRONG FOR THE AIRLINE? WAS IT THE LEADERSHIP CRISIS ORTHE PURSUITS OF THE SELF-STYLED “KING OF GOOD TIMES” VIJAY MALLYA?CRUISING HEIGHTS TAKES A CLOSE LOOK AT THE CRISIS THE AIRLINE IS GOINGTHROUGH AS IT TRIES TO REINVENT ITSELF TO RISE FROM THE ASHES INONE OF THE MOST DIFFICULT TIMES IN THE HISTORY OF AVIATION. .

contentsO

ff th

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CH SPECIAL p40GMR Male airport is poised to becompleted on time. The airport oncecompleted will provide a major fillipto the tourism business of Maldives.Plus, an exclusive interview ofAndrew Harrison, CEO, GMR MaleInternational Airport Private Limited.

Engines on airliners are highlycompetent when they are in flight,but not when functioning on theground. When a plane is taxiingunder its own power, the enginesburn vast amounts of fuel. Here isthe good news for the fuel-guzzlingairplanes, which consume morefuel in propulsion while movingaround an airport. A semi-roboticpull called TaxiBot has beendeveloped by Israel AerospaceIndustries (IAI) to address theproblem. Instead of using a towbar attached to the aircraft’s nosewheel, TaxiBot utilises a system,which mechanically takes thewheel up into a rotating turret.

The TaxiBot also avoids havingany links to connect to the cockpit,yet gives pilots driving control. Itdoes this by speeding up to thespeed set for the taxiway, using itsinbuilt GPS map system. The pilotsthen employ their regular controlsto manoeuvre with the nose wheel(which in turn steers the TaxiBot)and to brake with the main landinggear. A safety driver stays in theTaxiBot, and he also manoeuvresthe vehicle to and from theaircraft.

“With the high price of jet fuel— a tonne can cost more than$1,000 — the savings at a busyairport could be large. At someairports the passenger gates canbe several miles from the runway.All told, the world’s airlines spend$7 billion-8 billion a year taxiingbetween passenger gates and therunway,” said Yehoshua Eldar,who is in charge of businessdevelopment at IAI.

The TaxiBot utilises just 20-30litres of fuel for a usual trip. Italso reduces the risk of dust beingconsumed by the engines andinducing damage. Lufthansa willtry out the system at FrankfurtAirport from May, 2013.

Blocking fuel wastage

4

HC T

IWAR

IBACK TO THE WALL p30

HC T

IWAR

I

NEWS DIGEST p22Kerala Chief Minister Oomen Chandythrew Air India Express (AIE) in aquandary as he announced Kerala’sown airline - Air Kerala. Plus: Willthe government bring forward afresh legislation to put in place anew Civil Aviation Policy.


6

Editor-in-ChiefK SRINIVASAN

Managing EditorTIRTHANKAR GHOSH

Group Consulting EditorR KRISHNAN

Consulting EditorNANDU MANJESHWAR

Assistant EditorsJUSTIN C MURIK, NIDHI SHARMA

Copy EditorASHOK KUMAR

Senior Sub-Editor-cum-ReporterPUNIT MISHRA

Chief Visualiser AJAY NEGI

DesignersMODASSAR NEHAL, MOHIT KANSALNAGENDER DUBEY, CHANDERJEET

Design Consultant ARTWORKS

Picture EditorPRADEEP CHANDRA

Photo EditorHC TIWARI

Staff Photographer

HEMANT RAWAT

Director (Admin & Corporate Affairs)RAJIV SINGH

Director (Marketing)RAKESH GERA

Manager (PR)ASHUTOSH MISHRA

Sr. Executive (Coordination)ALKA GOSWAMI

SubscriptionASHNA PANDIT,CHARU SHARMA (9650433044)

Executive DirectorRENU MITTAL

For advertising and sales enquiries, please contact:+91-9810030533, 9810159332EEddiittoorriiaall && MMaarrkkeettiinngg ooffffiiccee::Newsline Publications Pvt. Ltd., D-11 Basement, Nizamuddin (East), New Delhi -110 013, Tel: +91-11-41033381-82All information in CRUISING HEIGHTS is derived fromsources we consider reliable. It is passed on to our readerswithout any responsibility on our part. Opinions/viewsexpressed by third parties in abstract or in interviews are notnecessarily shared by us. Material appearing in the maga-zine cannot be reproduced in whole or in part(s) withoutprior permission. The publisher assumes no responsibilityfor material lost or damaged in transit. The publisherreserves the right to refuse, withdraw or otherwise deal withall advertisements without explanation. All advertisementsmust comply with the Indian Advertisements Code. The pub-lisher will not be liable for any loss caused by any delay inpublication, error or failure of advertisement to appear.Owned and published by K Srinivasan 4C Pocket-IV, MayurVihar Phase- I, Delhi-91 and printed by him at NutechPhotolithographers, B-240, Okhla Industrial Area, Phase- I,New Delhi-110020.

CRUISING HEIGHTS

CHOPPERS p43Choppers are versatile platforms for civilian aerial photography as they provide a uniqueaerial perspective of the action on the ground.From 2010 Commonwealth Games and the F1Grand Prix, to Bollywood movies, helicoptershave been used to capture the moment for filmfrom the air.

NET EXPRESS p51The New Distribution Capability (NDC), a newmodel for distributing airline services, adopted byIATA at the World Passenger Symposium, receiveda mixed response from the industry. The NDC willallow airlines to differentiate their products beyondjust the lowest ticket price. Plus: Dubai airport goesfor virtual assistants and more.

Volume VII No 7

contentsARTICLES NEWS VIEWS EDITS INTERVIEWS CLIPPINGSPROFILES NEWS DIGEST

CRUISING HEIGHTS

Illustration: Satish UpadhyayDesign:Ajay Negi

COVER

CARGO p57The Air Cargo Agents Association of India isgearing up for the 39th annual convention inthe end of November in Istanbul to discussissues pertaining to the air cargo sector.CRUISING HEIGHTS talks to ACAAI PresidentBharat Thakkar about the convention and theair cargo scenario in India.

SNIPPETS p68 Jet Airways introduces a slewof affordable JetEscapesholidays for those who want tovacation within the country thiswinter while Cathay offersluxury on Delhi-Hong Kongflight.

BACK PAGE p74Chicago’s O’Hare airport setsnew standards in transforminga 928-sq ft mezzanine area intoa high-tech aeroponic garden inTerminal 2 where 44 differenttypes of organic herbs andvegetables can be grown.

The total number of pages in this issue: 72+4SLAT

TERY

HELIC

OPTE

RCHA

RTER

.COM

.AU

FLIC

KR.C

OM


8

The story Just plane food (October2012) was insightful and full of infor-mation on the dynamics and mechan-ics of in-flight catering. After readingthe story, I got to know that the flightcatering industry is a very large,global activity and it is one of themost complex operations in theworld. While some airlines offersome of the finest cuisines, there are

many that provide food that is neither palatable nor goodin looks. In this context, India’s role comes into play. Indiahas got the fastest-growing aviation sector and can lever-age in-flight catering to a great extent.

Kamal Khurana, Meerut

Flying dream (October 2012) story was interesting to read.Air India’s newly-acquired Dreamliner marks a new era ofits operations with the state-of-the-art aircraft on the long-haul routes. That the flyers experienced a smoother ridefrom Chennai to Delhi says all about the Dreamliner. But Ifeel that Dreamliner can’t change the fortunes of the ailingMaharaja or take Air India back to its good old Maharajadays. AI is down due to its pathetic service and until thatis improved, nothing will happen. The magic lies in goodmanagement, which AI obviously doesn’t have.

Nihar Sharma, Lucknow

The story on FDI in aviation, Will FDI open the flood-gates? (October 2012) made some very interesting pointsabout FDI in aviation in India. Relaxing FDI rules willhelp bring much-needed cash flow to India’s bleeding pri-vate airlines. FDI inflow into the aviation industry willboost the ailing Indian aviation sector in the long run. Inmy opinion, FDI in aviation must be backed with reformsin the sector also. While the long-awaited move has beenhailed by many industry stakeholders, it has also beendespised by many in aviation circles.

Ram Uniyal, Dehradun

All correspondence may be addressed toEditor, Cruising Heights, D-11 Basement, Nizamuddin (East),New Delhi -13, OR mail to [email protected].

LETTERS TO EDITOR


“Judicious nature“The Chinese are now building 82 newairports. In Australia, we’ve been talkingabout a second airport for Sydney formore than 23 years.”

ALAN JOYCE, CEO, Qantas, on the number of airports China

is building vis-à-vis Australia

Business insightfulness “Alliances are playing an increasinglyimportant role in the airline industrytoday—and that will continue long intothe future.”

AKBAR AL-BAKER, CEO, Qatar Airways, on the

dynamics and mechanics of airline alliances

Foe or friend “I expect strong opposition from Air Indiato our plans, but we think state govern-ments too have rights to start airlines justlike the national carrier.”

OOMMEN CHANDY, Chief Minister, Kerala, on the threats from Air

India to the upcoming airline from Kerala

Not the right time “This is the power of AirAsia. Everyonewants us, but the right infrastructure andenvironment must be there for us to gothere (India).”

TONY FERNANDES, CEO, AirAsia, on the plans to enter Indian

aviation skies

Constructive criticism “There is a funny rule, by which not even abird can fly out from an airport where theVice-President’s plane has to take off. I gotdelayed as I was stuck at the Delhi airport,from where the Vice-President had to fly.”

SUKHBIR BADAL, Deputy Chief Minister, Punjab, taking potshotsat the current Indian aviation norms

Diplomatic answer “You had the impression that the fireburns much stronger in these peo-ple. The times have gone that youngIndonesians, Chinese would come toEurope. We have to go there now.”

TOM ENDERS, Chief Executive, EADS, on the engineering

potential that Indonesia, China and Europe possess

PERISCOPE

CRUISING HEIGHTSwww.cruisingheights.in OCTOBER 2012 I `90

DOORS OPEN FOR FOREIGN INVESTMENT BUT HESITANCY REMAINSDOORS OPEN FOR FOREIGN INVESTMENT BUT HESITANCY REMAINSPg22

Categorised simply as bad, worse and worst, airlinemeals the world over are undergoing a change andreceiving the attention and care of starred Michelinchefs.

PLANEFOOD

AIR INDIA’S DREAMS OF HOPE TAKE OFF WITH NEW DREAMLINER

“9

COLD STATS


Ever imagined how many airportsdoes the US have? The answer is awhopping 5,194 airports and it is wayahead of other countries. HuffingtonPost recently came out withinteresting statistics on the countrieswith the largest number of airports.With more than three times as manyas its closest competitor, the US wasat number one. The US was followed

by Brazil, Russia, Canada, China, Germany, Australia, the UK, France and Mexico.Here is the list of top ten:

UUnniitteedd SSttaatteess:: 5,194 airports — the highest number of airports in the world.BBrraazziill:: 726 airports but nowhere near the US.RRuussssiiaa:: 593 airports. CCaannaaddaa:: 514 airports. Fourth on the list, Canada boasts of some of thefinest airports in the world. CChhiinnaa:: Number five with 442 airports. The country is gearing to build 82new airports in the future. GGeerrmmaannyy:: 330 airports. AAuussttrraalliiaa:: 326 airports at number seven.UUKK:: With a small size to boast, the UK has 306 airports. FFrraannccee:: 297 airports.Mexico: 250 airports.

Policy review “FDI in civil aviation will help tap expertiseand experience of foreign airlines fordomestic industry.”

AJIT SINGH, Civil Aviation Minister, on the practical feasibility

of FDI in civil aviation

A big no “The current 49 per cent required stake,with no government assurances on issuescreates too great a barrier to entry.Emirates has no plans to acquire a stakein another airline in India.”

TIM CLARK, President, Emirates Airline, on why his carrier will

not invest in India’s civil aviation sector

No longer a shy bride, Indian Aviation woos suitors but where is the knight in shining armour?

LEADING BY EXAMPLE: John F KennedyInternational Airport is one of the biggest airports in the US.

LOOKING GLASS

Whopping number of airports


As per passenger traffic data issuedby Indian aviation regulatorDGCA, the number of passengerscarried by Indian carriers was

438.39 lakh between January and September2012 as against 442.18 lakh during the corre-sponding period of the previous year showinga fall of 0.9 per cent. The total domestic pas-sengers carried by scheduled domestic air-lines for the month of September 2012 were40.18 lakh as against 43.69 lakh in August.

The break-up for the month of September2012 was: Air India — 7.75 lakh, Jet Airways— 7.29 lakh, JetKonnect — 2.29 lakh, IndiGo— 10.94 lakh, SpiceJet — 7.43 lakh, Go Air—3.07 lakh, Kingfisher — 1.41 lakh andMantra — 0.002 lakh. IndiGo continued withits dominance of the domestic market with amarketshare of 27.2 per cent in September. Itwas followed by Jet Airways and JetKonnect(23.8 per cent), SpiceJet (18.5 per cent), AirIndia (19.3 per cent), GoAir (7.6 per cent) andKingfisher Airlines (3.5 per cent).

The passenger load factor in the month ofSeptember 2012 declined mainly due to thelean season. The highest passenger load factorwas obtained by IndiGo at 69 per cent (it was73.4 per cent in August), GoAir’s was 67.7per cent (67.7 per cent in August), SpiceJet’swas 64.4 per cent (August: 67.2 per cent),Kingfisher’s was 58.4 per cent (August: 53.2per cent), JetKonnect 66.1 per cent (August:68.6 per cent), Jet Airways 63.5 per cent(August: 66 per cent), Air India (Domestic)65.2 per cent (August: 66.1 per cent) andMantra 12 per cent (August: 9.1 per cent).

IndiGo led the airlines in the overall on-time performance of airlines in September2012 at six airports — Delhi, Mumbai,Chennai, Kolkata, Bengaluru and Hyderabad—with 96.9 per cent. The other airlines thatfollowed were: Jet Airways and JetKonnect93.7 per cent, GoAir 90.8 per cent, SpiceJet87.4 per cent, Air India (Domestic) 86.9 per

TRAFFIC DATA

120100

80604020

0 Air India(Dom)

JetAirways+Jet

Lite

Kingfisher SpiceJetGoAir IndiGo

OTP

(%)

ON-TIME PERFORMANCE (OTP) SCHEDULED DOMESTIC AIRLINES

OTP AT SIX METRO AIRPORTS

80.8 86.9 87.4 90.8 93.7 96.9

SLOWDOWN INSEPTEMBER

Jet Airways +JetLite = 23.8%

MARKET SHARE OF SCHEDULED DOMESTIC AIRLINES

IndiGo 27.2%

Mantra 0.0%

SpiceJet 18.5%

Air India (DOM 19.3%

GoAir 7.6%

Jet Airways 18.1%

JetLite 5.7%

Kingfisher 3.5%

CRUISING HEIGHTS November 2012 11

100908070605040302010

0 Air India

JetAirways

JetLite Kingfisher SpiceJet GoAir IndiGo MantraSEAT

FACT

OR(%

)

40.18

438.39 LAKH PASSENGERS CARRIED BY

SCHEDULED DOMESTIC AIRLINES IN

JAN-SEP 2012

PASSENGER LOAD FACTOR OF SCHEDULED DOMESTIC AIRLINES

The passenger load factor in the month of July 2012 has declined mainlydue to lean season.

2011 2012

Pax

Car

ried

(in L

akhs

)

Aug 2012 Sep 2012

Capacity (ASKM Demand (RPKM)

PASSENGERS COMPLAINTS OF SCHEDULED DOMESTIC AIRLINES

IndiGoGoAir

SpiceJet

JetLiteJet Airways

All India (DOM)

Kingfisher

Mantra

0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5

Total no. of complaints (Sep 2012) : 595 No. of passenger-related complaints 1.5 per 10,000passengers carried

No. of Complaints /10,000 Pax

Aug Aug SepSep

% C

hang

e ov

er M

onth

Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul

3025201510

50

-5-10-15

CANCELLATION DATA OF SCHEDULEDDOMESTIC AIRLINES

*Overall Cancellation Rate in Sep 2012: 2.2%

Cancellation Rate (%)

IndiGoGoAir

JetLite

All India (DOM)SpiceJet

Jet Airways

KingfisherMantra 36.7

6.5

2.72.5

2.1

0.91.7

0.60 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40

1.10.0

12.0

9.1

18.5

15.4 16.3

12.0 16

.811

.016

.811 11

.96.9

12.2

7.914

.510

.83.0 2.0 2.9

9.55.8

0.2 0.1

-0.3

-0.5

-4.8 -8.8

-4.8

-4.8

-1.3

Year over Year

cent, and Kingfisher 80.8 per cent.The number of passenger complaints

recorded by scheduled domestic airlines inSeptember 2012 was 595. Jet Airways hadone of the highest passenger complaint ratesat two followed by JetKonnect (1.7), AirIndia-Dom (1.6), SpiceJet (1.4), GoAir (1.4),IndiGo (1.2) and Kingfisher Airlines (1.1).

IndiGo’s on-time performance atBengaluru was 99.2 per cent. The carrier’sperformance at Delhi was 97.5 per cent,Hyderabad (97.6 per cent), Chennai (94.8per cent), Kolkata (98.6 per cent) andMumbai (93.8 per cent).

Jet Airways and JetKonnect’s on-timeperformance at Chennai was 98.9 percent. At other’s airports it was: Kolkata(94.6 per cent), Hyderabad (93.6 percent), Bengaluru (95.6 per cent). The car-rier’s performance at Delhi (90.4 percent), and Mumbai (93.5 per cent).

GoAir flies to only five of the six metroairports. The carrier’s on-time performanceat Kolkata was the highest at 100 per cent.In the other four metros, it was: Delhi(88.5 per cent), Mumbai (92.8 per cent),Bengaluru (95.1 per cent) and Chennai(81.1 per cent).

GR

AP

HIC

S: N

AG

EN

DE

R D

UB

EY

500

500

442.1

843

8.39

200250300350400450

150100

YoY MoM

45.87

Growth: YoY=-(-0.9%)

2.01.7

1.61.41.4

1.2

CAPACITY VS DEMAND

Kingfisher flies to four metros. Its on-timeperformance at Bengaluru was 93.4 per cent fol-lowed by Chennai (89.3 per cent), Delhi (77.8 percent) and Mumbai (77 per cent).

SpiceJet’s on-time performance at Kolkatawas 95.9 per cent. The carrier’s performance atHyderabad was 74.8 per cent, Delhi (90.5 per

cent), Bengaluru (84.7 per cent), Mumbai (87.6 percent) and Chennai (92.3 per cent). AI’s on-timeperformance at Kolkata was 89 per cent. The carri-er’s landings and take-offs at the other metroswere: Hyderabad (89.3 per cent), Bengaluru (84.4per cent), Delhi (87.3 per cent) and Mumbai (87.1per cent).

69.073

.4

67.7

63.264.4

67.2

58.4

53.2

66.168.6

63.566

.0

65.266.1

NEWS DIGEST

It was a move that virtually stole thethunder from the very noses of theopponents. The occasion: the formal

welcome of the Doha-based Qatar Airwaysto the oneworld airline alliance on October8. The other alliances — Star and Skyteam— would have loved nothing more than toget one of the high-flying — and now, per-haps, the only airline in the world toincrease capacity, fly to new destinationsand make money — Middle Eastern carrierson board but oneworld beat both to them.

The alliance that boasts of BritishAirways and American Airlines among itsfounder members has certainly been ener-gised by Qatar. The carrier may haveincreased oneworld’s share of global seatcapacity by 0.6 percentage pointsto 12.2 per cent but it is stillnowhere near the Star Alliance’s24.8 per cent. Perhaps, whatmust have prompted oneworld torope in Qatar is the growth in thenumber of passengers it hasbeen experiencing. Addto that the whoppingaverage of 15 destina-tions Qatar CEO AkbarAl Baker is adding tohis list every year, andyou have a winner! Totop it all, oneworldbecame the onlyalliance to have a hub inthe Gulf providing pas-sengers better connec-tivity, due entirely to theco-ordinated flighttimetables on routes viaand within the Middle East.

Almost at the sametime that Qatar joined thealliance, came anotherannouncement — this timeby Air France pointing outthat it would co-ordinateticket sales with Qatar’srival Etihad Airways. Themove will certainly have animpact on the way the globalairlines will operate in the futurebut it will have major implica-tions for passengers.

The fallout of Qatar’s membership onother alliances apart, oneworld will haveto take a long, hard look at itself. To beginwith, it has to strengthen its membershipbase: today, it is a group of airlines thatdoes not share strategic overlaps. Worsestill is the fact that the members do notpresent a united front. Take the case of theailing Australian carrier Qantas. One ofthe oneworld founders, sometime ago, itannounced a codeshare deal with Emiratesforcing British Airways to call off the tie-up it had with it. Aware that the oneworldalliance was talking with Qatar, Qantaswent ahead and shook hands with Qatar’sbiggest regional competitor, Emirates.The handshake may force Qantas out of

the alliance.However, oneworld has not

exactly done itself proud by wel-coming Qatar. It has RoyalJordanian — a member since 2007— that operates on a Middle East-

focussed route network and inmany cases duplicates

Qatar’s. The carrier maymove over to one ofoneworld’s rivals. And,what is more embar-rassing is the fact thatairberlin, already 30 percent owned by Etihad,joined oneworld inMarch this year but hasdone a deal with Skyteammember AirFrance-KLM,and may ultimately alsoleave.

On the flip side, thecore members of oneworldwill be able to bring aboutmore integration and co-operation in their mostimportant markets. Qatar’siconic service standardsmight be able to woo

oneworld’s internationalbusiness and leisure fre-quent-flyers from across theAtlantic. On the other hand,

British Airways could wellleverage its traditional strengthin Africa and offer American

IT’S ONE WORLD, AFTER ALLThe induction of Qatar Airways in oneworld could not only change the manner in whichinternational carriers operate but also bring about an attitudinal transformation in the

way carriers and their managements view Middle Eastern airlines.

12

“Qatar Airways hascarefully reviewed itsstrategic options and

it is very clear thatjoining oneworld isby far the best way

forward for us.”

Akbar Al BakerCEO, Qatar Airways


NEWS DIGEST

Airlines’ passengers routes to Africa andAsia via Doha instead of London. In SouthAmerica, Qatar will be able to use oneworldmembers Iberia and LAN, to gain accesswhile conserving its wide-body fleet forflights to profitable destinations in Indiaand China.

The effects of Qatar’s entry intooneworld will be known in course of time.However, for the moment, Star Alliancelooks to be the biggest loser: it does nothave a foothold in the Middle East. It hasbeen beaten by the Air France-KLM tie-upwith Etihad. Though Star may try to wooEmirates, it is quite clear that the Dubai-based carrier would be content ploughing alonely furrow. After all, it is the largest air-line by passenger kilometres flown outsidethe US and does not need props like thealliances to stand on its own.

The SkyTeam alliance seems to havelost its shine. Qatar, in fact, complementsoneworld’s portfolio of top-quality carriers.Many of them have been awarded five-starratings by Skytrax a number of times. Tocounter that, SkyTeam has precious little; infact, quite the opposite. There are carrierslike Russia’s Aeroflot or China Airlines.

Whatever the present groupings mightthrow up for frequent flyers, what is certainis that over the next few years, majorchanges to the three alliances will be seenand most of it will benefit passengers.Together, the three offer around 44 per centof the global seat capacity and with more

competition between them, heightenedservice standards will be seen on routeshitherto neglected like those in Africa andSouth America. Possibly the biggest gainerswill be the airports and airlines of theMiddle East with aviation being focussedon Doha, Dubai and Abu Dhabi.

Said Willie Walsh, CEO of IAG, that itwas going to hand-hold Qatar through thewhole process of induction into thealliance, “Many of my European counter-parts will complain about the way theMiddle East carriers operate; they thinkthat it is unfair competition. I don’t buyinto that,” he told Business Travel Newsway back in June 2010.

Air France-KLM has continued to beagainst the Middle Eastern carriers. Twoyears ago, Jean-Cyril Spinetta, CEO of thecombined Air France-KLM group, said thatthe “Gulf companies are killing our indus-try”. Perhaps, heeding to his call, former AirFrance CEO Pierre-Henri Gourgeon toldBloomberg in October 2011 Europe was “atthe crossroads of international air travel,and this is a role we need to value anddefend”.

Today, Air France-KLM will indeedhave to raise its defences to counter theonslaught by the carriers from the MiddleEast. Unable to beat them, Air France-KLMhas to join them; witness the tie-up withEtihad. So, has the change of heart for theanti-Middle East carriers happened?Maybe, it has. Only time will tell.

“Oneworld hasmore flexibilitythan rivals Star

and SkyTeam formembers topursue other

pacts.”

Willie WalshCEO, IAG

HALLOWED COMPANY: (L-R) American Airlines’ Chairman Tom Horton, Qatar Airways CEO Akbar Al Baker, IAG CEO Willie Walsh, and oneworld CEO BruceAshby at a oneworld press conference

NEWS DIGEST

Passengers going to or through FrankfurtAirport with Lufthansa or one of its StarAlliance partner airlines can expect new servic-es and smoother connections with the openingof new A-Plus section of German mega-hub. Inaddition to a fresher, lighter and brighter termi-nal, business travellers will see several specificimprovements. Fewer flights will involve a bustrip to the plane, there’ll be 7,600 squaremetres of new lounge space, and business/firstclass passengers will see fast-track lanes.

CAL joinsSkyTeam CargoCHINA Airlines (CAL) hasbroadened its connectionwith SkyTeam, becoming amember of the SkyTeamCargo Alliance. ChinaAirlines’ Senior VicePresident James Yu said thatthe airline was honoured tobecome the tenth member ofthe world’s only cargoalliance.

Representing theSkyTeam Cargo ExecutiveBoard Tony Charaf said thatChina Airlines Cargo wouldconsiderably fortify thealliance’s global reach, furthering an all-inclusiveroute network. The alliancewill see China Airlinesadopts SkyTeam Cargoservice standards with simplified handling proce-dures. China Airlines carried5,670 million tonne-kilome-tres of cargo last yearaccording to IATA.

British Airways and Japan Airlines(JAL) will begin a joint business agree-ment with the two airlines sharing rev-enue on applicable flights betweenEurope and Japan.

The joint business will benefit customers by providing better linksbetween Europe and Japan, greater choiceof flights to more destinations, enhancedfrequent flyer benefits and the potential tolaunch new routes. British Airways andJAL, both members of oneworld, havebeen forging ever closer ties in their evo-lution to the joint business.


HIGHLY ORGANISED: Frankfurt Airport’s new A-Plus gates

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VIRGIN ATLANTIC is exploring wideroptions to join an aviation alliance.Reportedly, the airline controlled by UK billionaire Richard Branson, seeks to boost its position in the market bydoing so.

“Virgin Atlantic has always savouredits independence, but since pretty wellevery competitor that we have has analliance I think we have finally decidedthat to survive we need to have analliance,” Branson said in an interviewwith Bloomberg Television.

“There are anti-competitive alliancesand there are competitive alliances. Ifsomeone controls 60 per cent of the mar-ket they become dominant, and if theytake up with someone who controls 30 percent of the market then they become evenmore dominant. If Virgin has one alliance,BA has 30 of them. We are a minnowcompared to our competitors,” he said.

Earlier in 2011, Branson had said thatVirgin Atlantic was looking at joining aglobal alliance, though he wouldn’t con-

sider a deal thatinvolved him giv-ing up control ofthe airline.

New A-Plus gates unveiled

Ajit Singh whileaddressing EconomicEditors Conference inNew Delhi pushedthe agenda of AirIndia’s inclusion inthe Star Alliance. Hesaid German carrierLufthansa shouldstand by its commit-ment to push for AirIndia’s inclusion inthe Star Alliance.

“The CivilAviation Ministrywill hold talks with Germancarrier Lufthansa for AirIndia’s entry into StarAlliance,” Singh said. “Weare going to talk to Lufthansato adhere to the plan we hadto join the alliance. The gov-ernment gave a lot of facili-ties to the airline that was

mentoring us to join StarAlliance. In the meantime, AIalso had some troubles. Butnow they are over. They weregiven a lot of flights, it wasmade almost open skies forthem.”

Singh said that he wasnot critical of the idea of two

carriers joiningthe global airlinealliance from asingle country.“There is noproblem in twocarriers joiningthe global airlinealliance from asingle country,”Singh added.

Earlier, AirIndia had beeninvited to jointhe alliance in

2007 but its application wasput on the backburner in 2011.

The Star Alliance net-work was established in 1997as the first truly global airlinealliance to offer worldwidereach, recognition and seam-less service to the interna-tional traveller.

AI-Star Alliance issue comes to fore

UPPING THE ANTE: The Union Minister for Civil Aviation, Ajit Singh (in thecentre) addressing the Economic Editors’ Conference, where the AI-StarAlliance issue was raised

Virgin explores joining aviation allianceBA and JapanAirlines tie up

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long-haul passenger jets. The A350 isEurope’s first contribution to a newgeneration of jets planned to cut jet fuel bills through lightweight carbon-compositematerials instead of the heavier aluminum.Airbus said that the A350 would take to theskies in the summer of 2013 and enterservice in the second half of 2014. Threedifferent models of the aircraft willaccommodate between 270 and 350 people.Airbus President Fabrice Bregier said:“Innovation is deeply rooted in our DNAthis is fully demonstrated on the A350

XWB, the world’s newest, most advancedairliner. We honour Roger Beteille, anexceptional aviation pioneer and we namethe A350 XWB final assembly line after him,one of our industry’s greatest innovators.”

A fine of A$10.3 million has been imposed onEmirates by the Australian Competition andConsumer Commission (ACCC) accusing it offixing surcharges for fuel and other prices.Legal proceedings were started against thecarrier in 2009, alleging it was part of a lobbythat operated in the air freight market. “Thissettlement with Emirates brings the totalpenalties ordered in Australia againstinternational airlines involved in the cartel toA$ 68 million,” said ACCC Chairman RodSims and pointed out. “This result sends astrong message that the ACCC and theAustralian courts will not tolerate any businessengaging in cartel conduct that harmscompetition in Australia. Cartel conduct isillegal and often results in increased prices forconsumers”.


NEWS DIGEST

The Transportation SecurityAdministration (TSA) has been removingX-ray body scanners from major airportsin the US and replacing them withmachines that are safer. According to TSA,it made the decision not because ofsecurity concerns but to expeditecheckpoints at busier airports. It means farfewer passengers will be exposed toradiation because the X-ray scanners arebeing moved to smaller airports.

“They’re not all being replaced,” TSAspokesman David Castelveter said. “It’sbeing done intentionally. We are replacingsome of the older equipment and takingthem to smaller airports. That will be doneover a period of time.” He said that theTSA took this conscious decision to moveX-ray machines to move to less-busyairports after conducting an analysis ofprocessing time and staffing requirementsat the airports where the scanners wereinstalled.

Beijing is poised for a new mega airportby Dutch Airport Consultancy firmNACO. To be named Beijing DaxingInternational Airport, it will havecapacity for 130 million passengers peryear, 23 million more than JFK andLondon Heathrow combined. The newairport will offer a second hub for thecity; the current airport, Beijing CapitalInternational Airport, handles almost 75million passengers a year and will besaturated in a few years.

The new airport is slated to open in2017. The recently released plans showa new hub that will cover 55 squarekilometres (about 21 square miles) andinclude eight runways.

Airbus unveiled a plant for its A350jetliner, setting off a new chapter in the battle for fuel efficiency and profitswith US rival Boeing. The plant has been named after ‘Father of Airbus’Roger Beteille, a pioneer of twin-engined

An inside view of A350 plant in Toulouse, France.

A flyer being scanned by a X-ray scanner.

TSA phases out X-ray scanners

China to constructbiggest airport

A$10-million fine for Emirates Emirates was charged with A$7 million forfixing fuel prices, a security surcharge and acustoms fee on air freight carried fromIndonesia to Australia and other countriesbetween October 2001 and May 2006. It wasalso penalised A$3 million for trying to fixrates with DAS Air Cargo for the supply of airfreight from Australia.

Bombardier has started assembling the C-series aircraft and expects to start its flight-testing by year-end. The Canadian aerospacecompany believes that the move will breakthe Boeing-Airbus stranglehold on thenarrowbody jet market. The Canadianaerospace company said that the fuselageand other parts for the first C-Series plane,

which would include assemblies sourcedfrom the UK, China and elsewhere,

were being assembled at the company’sfactory in Mirabel, Quebec, Canada. With100 to 149 seats, the plane would confrontthe Boeing and Airbus planes in the 737 andA320 families. It also will use carbon-fibercomposite technology in the wings. “We’reaiming for first flight this year,” said Marc

Duchesne, spokesperson for Bombardier.“The market is expecting us to start

flying as soon asthat.”

C-series jet gets ready for competition

A C-series jet

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Airbus unveils A350 plant

Qatar Airways Chief Executive OfficerAkbar Al Baker recently came to therescue of one of the world’s busiestinternational airports - London Heathrow-- as he called on the British governmentto urgently address capacity constraintsat the airport to stave off a catastrophicsituation for the country’s economy.“Heathrow is bursting at the seams andhas already reached a vital point,” hesaid. “No capacity increase willinevitably lead to further economichardship with job losses and businessesclosing down. Heathrow is alreadylosing out to European neighbouringhubs that have the resource to expandcapacity. Measures to expand need to betaken soon to avoid a catastrophicsituation in the future.”

Al Baker said the third runway debatewas not an alternative, but a prerequisite tosurmount the capacity crunch, Britain’spremier airport was currently facing.

The EU will put in place a stringent set oflaws to guarantee fair competition andprotect its airline companies as it seeks toboost an industry necessary to the widereconomy. “Outdated ownership and controlrestrictions must also go as part of aninternational effort so as to ensure airlinesget easier access to needed new capital,”EU Transport Commissioner Siim Kallas

said. “The European Union would negotiatenew and more effective EU instruments toprotect European interests against unfairpractices. Standard fair competition clauseswould be included in current bilateral airservices agreements between EU and non-EU countries,” he maintained.

Kallas said the European aviation hadsuffered badly in the economic downturnand it needed a shake-up to make it morecompetitive, given the rise of fast-growingairlines in Asia and the Middle Easttargetting a global market.

‘Heathrow is vital’

Boeing and Samsung recentlyannounced that they would exploreworking together to research anddevelop technologies that improvedin-flight entertainment andcommunications, as well as enhancedfactory productivity. Boeing signed amemorandum of understanding withSamsung to help broaden and deepenthe Korean industry’s ties to Boeingaircraft production.

Boeing and Samsung Electronicswill initially start developingadvanced display and wirelessnetworking technologies that offer

more capabilities for passengerentertainment and ground-to-aircommunications, but are lighter andrequire less power. Additionally, the

companies will explore opportunitiesto collaborate on projects involvingproductivity and enterprise mobilityusing Samsung’s current and futuredevices and solutions in hand-heldmobile devices and other IT products.“Onboard communications and

networking are key elements to thepassenger in-flight experience, andconnecting the airplane with groundcrews during flight is vital to airlineoperational efficiency,” said LarrySchneider, Vice-President of ProductDevelopment, Boeing CommercialAirplanes.

EU to rejig airlineindustry

Boeing ties-up with Samsung for in-flight technology


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NEWS DIGEST

AIRPORTS GET INTERNATIONAL TAGAirports in Lucknow, Varanasi, Mangalore,

Tiruchirapalli and Coimbatore were recentlygranted international airport status. “All these

airports are capable of handling medium capacity range, long-rangetype aircraft and are also equipped with facilities for nightoperations,” Finance Minister P Chidambaram said after themeeting of Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs. He said thatthese airports had been upgraded to international standards and themove was expected to provide impetus to domestic or internationaltourism and contribute to economic development of the regionsconcerned. “These airports already have infrastructure likeimmigration and customs to handle the international operations. Infact, some of them already have some international flights,”Chidambaram added.

BILLION $ IN 2012According to estimatesreleased by the InternationalAir Transport Association(IATA), airlines are expectedto earn $4.1 billion in 2012,up $1.1 billion from the $3

billion forecast in June. “The European sovereign debt crisislingers on. China continues to moderate its growth. And the impactof recent quantitative easing in Japan and the US will take time toyield growth. While some of these risks have diminished slightlyover recent months, they continue to take their toll on businessconfidence. The outlook improvement is due to airlinesperforming better in a difficult environment,” said Tony Tyler,IATA’s Director General and CEO. The IATA also released its firstforecast for the 2013, saying that the industry profits wereexpected to bounce back to $7.5 billion, as economic forecastspoint to slightly stronger economic growth and lower oil prices.

GHOSTS IN UGANDA CAAA government audit report says that CivilAviation Authority of Uganda paid out Sh1.2billion to ghost employees. The Internal Auditand Inspectorate Annual Consolidated report for2011/2012 revealed that lastDecember, nearly 600 peopleillegally received salaries from theauthority. “The auditteam requested for astaff list in order toascertain how manystaff of each category are in

employment. However, managementprovided a list that did not appearoriginal, showing only 287 employeesand leaving out some staff,” the reportsaid. A review of the payroll forDecember 2011 indicated that 895people got salaries from the CAA.

CRORE OUTSTANDING IN DUESAir India (AI) owes a whopping sum of `566 crore to the DelhiInternational Airport Ltd (DIAL) — the consortium which managesthe Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport. “I am aware that AirIndia owes certain dues. We have raised objections on certaincharges that have been levied. We are in the process of meeting withGMR officials and will clear them soon,” Rohit Nandan, Chairmanand Managing director, AI, told Mail Today. The dues are partlyrelated to landing and parking charges, which every aircraft has topay to land at the IGI Airport, the newspaper reported.


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Iran has purchased 11Airbus A320 and A310passenger planes, the Roadsand Urban DevelopmentMinister Ali Nikzad said.Despite the global powers’sanctions, 11 planes havebeen bought, Ali Nikzadsaid, but did not reveal howmuch have been spent onbuying the planes, theILNA news agencyreported. Earlier, thePresident of Civil AviationOrganisation of Iran had said in April, “We plan to increase thenumber of aircraft and replace the older planes with new ones. Wealso plan to raise the lifespan of the fleets by 25 per cent.”

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PERSONNEL FOR 97 AIRPORTS In a startling revelation by anewspaper, Bureau of CivilAviation Security (BCAS) hasgot only eight field officers tosecure 97 airports. InternationalCivil Aviation Organisationduring its safety audit had

pointed out the shortcomings of Bureau of Civil AviationSecurity (BCAS). According to the report by The IndianExpress, currently being run with strength of 126 officials, therestructured BCAS aims to recruit 2,120 personnel. It wants tohave its own team present at all functional airports, therebygiving them an edge to manage the security on their own.

MILLION $ RENOVATIONAn international terminal at O’HareInternational Airport in Chicago will undergoa $26.2-million makeover. Changes includea new food court and a spa offeringreflexology and beauty salon services, plusnew passenger comforts ranging from a sleeksecurity checkpoint to updated restrooms andplenty of electrical outlets for passengers.The upgrades mark the first overhaul ofTerminal 5 since it opened in 1993. “This is aday that is long overdue for O’HareInternational Airport and specifically forTerminal 5,” Chicago AviationCommissioner Rosemarie Andolino said.

FLIGHT ATTENDANTS

Believe it or not, AmericanAirlines has been planningto hire 1,500 new flightattendants for the first timesince the terrorist attackson September 11, 2001.“For the first time in over adecade, American isseeking to add more than1,500 new flight attendantswho we believe will bringnew point of view to theairline,” said Lauri Curtis,American’s Vice President-Flight Service. “We attachimportance to our flightattendants and appreciatethe important contributionsthey make to our company every day. We look forward towelcoming new faces and working together to bring a freshenergy to our team,” Curtis added. The airline will put up thejob opening in November, at which time eligible candidates canvisit aacareers.com and submit their interest. American aims tostart the selection process for new-hire flight attendantcandidates in early December.

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The announcement by the KeralaChief Minister Oomen Chandy thathis state was in an advanced stage of

forming its much-postponed own airline,Air Kerala, may mean a definite death ofAir India Express (AIE), which in any caseseems to be on a self-destruction mode. It islargely due to the callous and negative atti-tude of the Air India management in thepast that has not seen any major mid-coursecorrection by the airlines’ subsequent boss-es. So, before unravelling the Air Keralastory, it will be useful to recall, recollectand project the future of Air India Express(AIE). Looked at any way, the problemsencountered or even inherited by AIE doesnot show that it will ever go away in thenear future. This is notwithstanding theoccasional pep talk by its ever-changingmanagement. The potential of AIE is farfrom being realised and with rising compe-tition from other private domestic carriersapart from the Gulf airlines, the future ofthe carrier will remain in a limbo.

The history and the course of AIE sofar makes an interesting case study of howto emasculate an airline in a space whereevery other competing airline is makingmoney — at least those who fly from theGulf/UAE and South East Asia.

The AIE saga began when the Board ofDirectors of the erstwhile Air India Ltd.decided at its 98th meeting held on May 29,2004, to mandate its wholly-owned sub-sidiary, Air India Charters Ltd (AICL), toset up a separate new airline to start “low-cost low-fare” operations under the brand“Air India Express (AIE)”.

Accordingly, a project report was pre-pared for acquisition of 18 short-rangeBoeing 737-800 aircraft in an all-economyconfiguration. The report prepared inDecember 2004 envisaged Net Project Cost(NPC) of `4,719.66 crore, Net Profit was`2338.48 crore and Net Present Value(NPV) was `2200.84 crore. This report wassubmitted for approval to the Governmentof India. Following all approvals, the low-cost, low-fare airline commenced opera-tions on April 29, 2005, with three Boeing737-800 aircraft taken on lease. The inau-gural flight on Thiruvananthapuram-AbuDhabi route was launched with great fan-fare, heralding a new era in air travel forthe India-Gulf routes.

The approval of the Government of

India for the purchase of aircraft wasreceived on December 30, 2005, and thepurchase agreement with Boeing wassigned soon thereafter. The airline todayhas a fleet of 21 aircraft, 17 of them ownedand four on lease.

Project funding AICL had an equity capital of only `30crore. The project report envisaged fundingthe entire purchase through a 12-yearExternal Commercial Borrowing (ECB)Loan. The total cost of 18 aircraft stood at`3362.38 crore as on March 31, 2010, andactual loans availed through the US EXIMBank — `3192.27 crore — were far lessthan anticipated. The repayment of the loanis entirely through the revenues earned byAir India Express.

Financial crisis faced by Air IndiaExpress The project report had a clause for a rev-enue-sharing arrangement between AirIndia and Air India Express, by which 25per cent of the Gross Passenger Revenue ofAir India Express had to be shared annual-ly with the parent company, to compensateAir India for the loss of revenues due to

transfer of some of the lucrative Gulfroutes to the subsidiary company.

In terms of the TurnaroundPlan/Financial Re-structuring Plan of AirIndia Ltd., the revenue share had beenbrought down to 12.5 per cent fromFinancial Year 2012-13. The revenue shar-ing arrangement placed a huge burden onthe finances of Air India Charters Ltd.because of the low equity base of `30crore. The concept of compensating AirIndia for loss of revenues seems irrationalin the changed market conditions. AIE nowoperates in a low-cost market where thecompetitors are Gulf-based carriers such asAir Arabia, Fly Dubai, etc. Besides, thepowerful India-based low-cost carriershave also joined the Gulf party.

Air India Charters Ltd. today owesalmost `800 crore to Air India on accountof the past revenue-sharing dues. As onMarch 31, 2012, the company had takenworking capital loans amounting to `1300

crore in order to only pay the past revenueshare commitment of 25 per cent due to theparent company.

Market conditions of Air India Express Air India Express managed to establish astrong and loyal customer base in the Gulfmarkets. The airline also became quite pop-ular with the ethnic Indian population inSingapore and Kuala Lumpur. The carrierdeploys 55 to 60 per cent of its capacity inthe four stations in South India: Mangalore,Kozhikode, Kochi andThiruvananthapuram. Another 15 to 20 percent capacity is deployed from Chennaiand Tiruchirapally. Incidentally, the rev-enues from South Indian and Gulf marketscomprised nearly 80 per cent of the totalrevenue of `1750 crore in 2011-12.

Re-structuring of Air India ExpressAir India Express is heavilydependent on Air India fora wide range of resourcesincluding manpower. Infact, the majority of thepilots of Air IndiaExpress is on deputationfrom Air India. Anyagitation by the pilots

of the parentcompany (aswas the case afew months ago)leads to cancellation ofAir India Express flights. A presenta-tion was made to the Ministry of CivilAviation in August 2012, where it was men-tioned that AIE required around 200 morepilots to ensure smooth operations andincrease in its fleet utilisation. How can anyairline survive if it prefers to keep its planeson the ground instead of in the air? The aver-age daily aircraft utilisation of AIE has neverexceeded beyond nine-and-a-half hours andover the years it has come down to a newlow of just about six hours. A major reasonfor the very low utilisation has been the seri-ous shortage of both Commanders and co-pilots. This point was very clearly broughtout in the presentation to the Ministry inAugust last. As per available forecasts, AIE

INDEPENDENCE COULD BOOSTAIR INDIA EXPRESS’ FORTUNES


has about 46 sets or 108 pilots and willrequire an additional 126 sets. Independentassessment suggests that the low-cost, low-fare carrier may require 137 Commandersand 137 co-pilots to ensure at least 11 hoursdaily utilisation of its 21 aircraft as at anygiven moment at least three of those planeswill be on ground for maintenance. The factthat AIE started in 2005 and in the nearlyseven years of its existence, it earlier yield-ed place to Gulf carriers and now to evenour own desi carriers, speaks volumes aboutthe utter callousness of the parent airline,Air India.

This is not to suggest that this is arecent problem. In fact, it was a problemand seems to be continuing even now.Now, Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singhwants the airline to increase utilisation to12 hours day. Of its 21 aircraft 13 are basedin Kerala and Mangalore in Karnataka andfive in Chennai and Trichy. These 13 air-craft operate 119 Gulf Services and 17Mumbai services a week. It may be men-tioned here that till about two years ago,AIE used to operate late night domesticflights to increase utilisation and also rakein more revenue. There were flights, forexample, between Chennai and Mumbaiand even in the reverse direction as well

besides Kerala. Hardly weresuch connections avail-

able at a time

when domesticyields rose sharply in the last 18months. It was sad to let the dailyutilisation of AIE Boeings go

down to six hours a daywhen it could have easily ferrieddomestic passengers. All this was due toserious shortage of pilots. Everyone knewbut no one in the parent company acted. Asfor the Ministry of Civil Aviation, it wastoo busy dishing out rights to both foreignand domestic carriers on the critical Gulfand South-East Asia routes. The latestchanges in FDTL (Flight Duty and TimeLimitations) rules will make it even moredifficult to keep AIE alive as more pilotswill be required as a result of the change inrest regulations. Even in May 2012, AIE

had only 71 commanders as against therequirement of 102 for its 21 aircraft fleet.A source said that AIE’s own cadre ofpilots comprised a measly 45 Commandersand 25-odd co-pilots who were supple-mented by 15 expat Commanders. Thiswas in contrast to 50 Commanders, 75 orso co-pilots and 60 trained pilots who wereon deputation to AIE. These trainees are inthe process of being seconded to AIE nowto increase both aircraft utilisation and earnmore revenues.

Notwithstanding all this, AIE hasannounced a bold new winter scheduleaccording to which there will be a 57 percent increase in flight services betweenKerala and the Gulf andif Mangalore is includ-ed, it will rise by 52.6per cent overall.Against the present14,430 seatsoffered, the winterschedule will seeon offer 22,015seats by AIE.By this meas-ure, AIE

expects toincrease itsrevenue to`2,000 crore inthe currentfinancial year

2012-13.Alongside, theMRO inT r i v a n d r u m

has also started operations with the‘Wheel Production’ or the servicing

of wheel sets. Earlier they had to besent to Hyderabad and Mumbai.

However, AIE COO Ansbert D’Souzaand Deputy COO Capt Pushpinder Singhare optimistic. Addressing a news confer-ence in Kochi on October 12, 2012, theysaid AIE would acquire 14 more Boeing737-800 aircraft in the next four to fiveyears. This would increase its present fleetfrom 21 to 35. The decision to enhance theAIE fleet is taken as part of the new turn-around plan for which the central govern-ment has earmarked `30,000 crore over tenyears. They said: “The airline is yet to

decide whether it should go in for leasingor outright purchase.”

Responding to criticism on the frequentsuspension of flights on the Kerala-Gulfroutes, the AIE top brass said: “The topmanagement will directly monitor the stepsneeded for maintaining schedule integrity.”D’Souza said that nearly 60 per cent of AIEoperations were based out of three airportsin Kerala — Kozhikode with four aircraft,Kochi with three and Trivandrum withthree, besides three Boeings in Mangalore.Already `100 crore had been invested onthe MRO facility in Trivandrum, which bymid-2013 would be in a position to provideand perform “C” checks or minor mainte-nance. AIE is, in fact, awaiting theapproval of DGCA in this regard.

Insiders said that some support wouldbe required from the parent company/Government of India/Government ofKerala. These could be in the form of theGovernment of India agreeing in principlefor AICL to be disinvested in a phased man-ner. The Government of Kerala could take26 per cent stake in AICL, while Air Indiaretained 26 per cent stake and the balancecould be sold to the public though a combi-nation of bonds/preference shares, etc.Kochi airport, for instance, is also undersuch a PPP model. The Government of Indiacould earmark `1,000 crore (out of the`30,000-crore package for Air India) tomeet the immediate capital requirements ofAir India Express.

This would benefit all stakeholders: Travellers from South India to Gulf,

Singapore and Malaysiawill benefit from the low-

cost, low-fare model of AirIndia Express.More stations such as Hyderabad andBengaluru can be added to the AirIndia Express network.The huge market potential in SouthIndia can be tapped, rather than allow-ing the Gulf/SE Asian carriers to hogthe traffic.Air India Express’ footprint can begradually extended to other markets —domestic and international — wherepassengers demand is for low-cost air-line travel. The disinvestment of AICL will be alearning curve for the Government ofIndia to evaluate the market worth ofAir India (assuming that Air India willbe a candidate for disinvestment a fewyears hence)

PROVING ITS WORTH: AirIndia Express is up against

heavy odds to prove its viability


NEWS DIGEST

MINISTRY ALLOWS OWN GROUND-HANDLINGThe government has allowed Indian

carriers to execute ground-handling of

their own flights at all the airports. The

decision was taken after Civil Aviation

Minister Ajit Singh and representatives

of Air India, Jet Airways, SpiceJet, IndiGo

and GoAir, airport operators and senior

government officials discussed the

issue at a recent meeting.

A ministry statement said, “The air-

line representatives initially raised their

apprehensions regarding problems

they will face after implementation of

the proposed policy in terms of

increase in the cost of ground-handling

and adjustment of their employees

engaged in ground-handling opera-

tions. They emphasised they be allowed

self-handling at six metro airports, on

the pattern of non-metro airports.”

After taking into consideration

views of all stakeholders, a Cabinet

Committee on Security note was sub-

mitted and it was approved that all pri-

vate airlines, including foreign airlines,

may undertake self-handling in respect

of ‘passenger and baggage-handling

activities at the airport terminals’ and

‘traffic service including the passenger

check-in’, which require passenger inter-

face, at all airports, the Ministry said in a

statement.

DIAL RECEIVES ISO 20000 CERTIFICATIONDelhi International Airport Ltd (DIAL)

has got an ISO 20000 certification for

reducing and controlling IT-related

threats on its IT service management

system. Delhi has become the sixth air-

port in the world after Dubai, Munich,

Abu Dhabi, Incheon and Hyderabad to

get this certification.

“This confirms our strength on the

IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL) processes

and procedures. It also establishes

ABOVE GROUND LEVEL ¨¨

The big question rolling in the mindsof many in the civil aviation industryis: Will the government bring for-

ward a fresh legislation to put in place anew Civil Aviation Policy (CAP) andreplace the existing ineffective DGCA by amore purposeful and powerful CivilAviation Authority (CAA) which has beenin the making for more than three years?The optimismregarding these twopieces of legisla-t ion-cum-po l icyinstrument arisesfrom the assurancegiven by the leaderof the opposition inthe Lok Sabha,Sushma Swaraj, tothe government thatthe winter session should be held withoutbreak from November 21 to December 23,2012 or “as usual”. The Bharatiya JanataParty (BJP) has — in a manner — assuredthat there will be no break or stoppage of

Parliament as it did in the previous sessionof the Lok Sabha.

If we go by this assurance, the assertionof the Ministry of Civil Aviation that it willbring forward the relevant legislation/poli-cies in the forthcoming winter session ofParliament, then we can look forward tosome momentary changes in the course ofthe Indian civil aviation industry that, as on

date, continues tobe guided by theAircraft Act 1934and Aircraft Rulesof 1937. The legis-lation and regulato-ry framework ofcivil aviation inIndia is currentlyprovided throughthese legislation

and rules. While both of them have beenamended a number of times, they lack theteeth to meet the new challenges faced bythe aviation industry.

While the Aircraft Act 1934 was last

CURTAINS ON THE DGCA?

AIR KERALA: TO BE OR NOT TO BE BORN…

Kerala Chief Minister OomenChandy has announced that AirKerala, a state government-led

airline will be launched on April 14, 2013to coincide with Vishu, New Year day inthe Malayalam calendar. He disclosed thatthe only decision that had to be taken waswhether the airline would operate its firstflight on an international route or adomestic one.

Chandy said that the state governmentwould make a formal application to theDGCA in November 2012 for starting its

airline. The car-rier envisages ap r e l i m i n a r ypaid-up or

authorised capi-tal of `100crore. TheC h i e fM i n i s t e r

said that under the rules, an airline couldfly international routes only after complet-ing five years of domestic service andthere was also a clear stipulation of a min-imum number of aircraft.

In the same breath, he said that itmight be recalled that Air India Expresswas given a relaxation in the rules when itstarted operations in 2005. So, the Keralagovernment too would seek similar relax-ation. According to the CM, his announce-ment made in October 2012 was no differ-ent from what he had said some years agoin 2004 and later in 2006. But, every time,before he could implement it, the LeftFront took over the reins of the state andhis proposal was buried.

According to Chandy, he expectedstrong opposition from Air India to hisplans but added, “We think the state gov-ernments too have rights to start airlineslike the national carrier.” He said AirIndia’s callous attitude towards the Kerala-origin labourers in the Gulf was the main

reason and motivation for wanting tolaunch Air Kerala. In this context hesaid that the air fares often charged byAir India from Kerala to West Europe

was cheaper than that from Kerala tothe Gulf. Further, whenever Air India

Vayalar RaviE K Bharat Bhushan

SIGH OF RELIEF: Baggage-handling staff atwork in one of the airports

Oomen Chandy


DIAL’s robust ITIL

system, adhering to

the world’s most

respected frame-

work for IT projects,

delivery and appli-

cations. Our cus-

tomers’ data, travel

information and

transactions are more secured all

through this structured ISO approach.

Thus, eliminating and controlling all IT-

related threats,” DIAL CEO, I Prabhakara

Rao said.

The continuity of the ISO 27001 cer-

tification was assessed and adjudged by

the British Standards Institution (BSI)

during their annual audit, the statement

of DIAL said.

EUROPEAN CERTIFICATION FOR MRO FACILITYEuropean Aviation Safety Agency (EASA)

has bestowed certification to the MRO

unit of Cochin international airport —

Cochin International Aviation Services

Limited (CIASL) — for the line mainte-

nance of aircraft. With the EASA authori-

sation, CIASL will have licence to com-

plete the maintenance work of aircraft

of most of the airlines across the world.

The permission was for the mainte-

nance work of Airbus 319, 320, 321

classes of aircraft. The MRO unit of CIASL

has two standard airdocks with an area

of 35000 square feet, and competence

to overhaul two aircraft, belonging to A-

320 and B-737 classes, simultaneously.

AHMEDABAD AIRPORT GETS INFRA BOOST Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International

Airport at Ahmedabad will have a new

air surveillance system. The facility will

be able to identify various flying objects,

even if it’s a bird. According to airport

officials, the ADS-B system enhances

safety by making the aircraft visible in

real-time to the ATC as well as to other

ADS-B-fitted planes, as position and


amended in 2008, the Aircraft Rules of 1937was amended in early 2012. In 1934, whenthe Aircraft Act was passed, the majoremphasis was on “aircraft” and relatedissues as reflected in the preamble of theAct: “An Act to make better provision forcontrol of manufacture, possession, use,operation, sale, import and export of air-craft.” There has been a sea change in theaviation industry over the years and thepresent emphasis is on safe and secure,viable, efficient and sustainable air trans-portation of passengers and goods. This hasbeen stated in unmistakable terms by theMinistry of Civil Aviation when it called forcomments on the proposed new CAP. Overthe years, the ministry stated, many addi-tions, deletions and amendments to theAircraft Act 1934 were carried out by incor-porating the provisions of the ChicagoConvention relating to International CivilAviation that was signed in December 1944.With rapid changes engulfing the aviationindustry, it was being felt for quite sometime that there was need to add new provi-sions to cover areas like air navigation serv-ices, passenger protection, etc that are not

yet included in the existing legislation/rules. The Aircraft Act 1934 also has a basic

lacuna as far as regulation of the civil avia-tion industry is concerned. Practically allfunctions, power and duties are vested withthe central government as far as regulationis concerned which, in turn, is delegated toa single individual: the Director General ofCivil Aviation in the Directorate General ofCivil Aviation (DGCA). Alternatively, itcould be any other officer specificallyempowered in this context by the centralgovernment. This is because the AircraftAct 1934 does not recognise an organisa-tion like DGCA and also does not empow-er the Directorate to perform the regulatoryfunctions of civil aviation. An individualcannot carry out all the functions — espe-cially certain aspects of collective andbroad-based decision-making. The AircraftRules 1937 then provided for further dele-gation of powers of the central governmentand that of the DGCA to a specific officerof the DGCA. As a result, too much statu-tory power was and is being provided to anindividual. It is totally out of line with mod-ern legislation in other countries where the

faced industrial unrest, it was the Kerala-origin flights that got hit — referring, per-haps, to the more than two-month-longstrike by Air India pilots in the recent past.

The state government has alreadyenlisted the services of Ernst & Young toprepare a report. The capital or initialequity base of the airline could be around`200 crore. As per the state government, ithas proposed to float shares of `10,000each among Keralites in the Middle East.Each of these identified businessmenemploying about 20,000-odd employeesto raise around `500 crore will not be aproblem, said Chandy in his talk with var-ious dailies. In this context, he said thatAir Kerala could use the hangar facilitiesas well as the MRO being operated by AirIndia in Trivandrum for a fee. Kerala’sIndustries Minister PK Kunhalikutty saidthat it would not be difficult to raise theresources or capital to fund the airline.The state government is also seriouslylooking at the possibility of FDI now thatthe government has allowed foreign carri-ers to pick stake in domestic airlines. Itnow remains to be seen if the Kerala gov-ernment will try to rope in one of the low-cost Gulf-based carriers to realise its Indiaambition. In September 2012, followingserious disturbances to AIE flights on var-ious accounts, namely pilot shortage,technical issues etc, Chandy was one who

protested strongly at the repeatedinstances of cancellation of flights operat-ing in the West Asia sector. To top it all, ahike in fares only added to the misery ofNRIs from the state. Chandy conveyed toPrime Minister Dr Manmohan Singhabout the urgent need for an alternativearrangement and demanded an exclusiveairline — similar to the one the state gov-ernment proposed to launch. This he feltwould offer a permanent solution to thetravel woes between Kerala and WestAsia. Chandy also requested the PrimeMinster to accord early clearance to thestate’s proposal for starting an airline.

However, sources said that theGovernment of Kerala’s decision tolaunch Air Kerala and seek Government ofIndia’s permission to fly overseas routeswould open a Pandora’s Box in terms ofCentre-State relations. International airtravel routes are zealously guarded bynations; and the number of flights/destina-tions served are decided in keeping withthe terms of the bi-lateral air servicesagreements between countries. A similardemand could come up from Tamil Naduor Punjab or even Gujarat with Gujaratispresent in Africa, Europe and further West.So if Air Kerala wished to compete withAir India Express, we could well see aspectacle: there could be an Air Punjab orAir Gujarat competing with Air India.

Prabhakara Rao

STRONG EDIFICE: An outside view ofAhmedabad airport

26

NEWS DIGEST

velocity data are transmitted every sec-

ond. ADS-B data can be recorded and

downloaded for post-flight analysis as

well. It also provides data infrastructure

for inexpensive flight tracking, planning

and dispatch.

ADS-B has three main components —

transponders fixed in the aircraft, an

antenna that gets frequency from the air-

craft transponder and a receiver installed

at the ATC office, according to airport offi-

cials.

MIAL UNVEILS FIRST CORPORATE SUSTAIN-ABILITY REPORTMumbai International Airport Private

Limited (MIAL) recently released its first

comprehensive corporate sustainability

report, The Sustainability Report 2012,

that complies with the rigorous interna-

tional standards of the Global Reporting

Initiative (GRI). With this, CSIA became

the first airport in India to report on sus-

tainability. This comprehensive report

that follows GRI G3.1 Airport Operator

Sector Supplement guidelines, is a first

for the Indian aviation sector, and only

the second in Asia, to achieve the cov-

eted ‘A’ Level by GRI for its complete-

ness, transparency and stakeholder

inclusiveness.

Commenting on the occasion, Rajeev

Jain, CEO, MIAL, said, “MIAL is committed

to be at the forefront of the aviation

industry’s drive towards carbon-neutral

growth with the aim of a sustainable

future for the industry. This report

amongst other things details our corpo-

rate responsible business efforts and pro-

vides a platform for collaboration and

continued improvement as we seek to

lead the Indian aviation sector in triple

bottom line performance. Going forward,

the next step would be to draw a time-

bound sustainability roadmap for CSIA

that addresses the key stakeholder con-

cerns and material issues identified in the

report.”


TOWARDS FIRST: Mumbai airport is aiming for sustainable future through carbon-neutral growth


preference has been for collective andbroad-based decision-making like a board-managed organisation.

It may be recalled that when theInternational Civil Aviation Organisation(ICAO) conducted its audit of DGCA andIndian civil aviation rules and regulations— as did the Federal AviationAdministration (FAA) — they came to thesame conclusion that vital regulatory func-tion powers should not be vested in one sin-gle individual as is the case now. The gov-ernment recognised this lacuna but forpolitical reasons and the exercise of power,the respective political heads of theMinistry of Civil Aviation in the past neverexplored to change this. There was anopportunity when the private sector enteredthe Indian civil aviation industry and therewas yet another chance when a de facto butpartial new civil aviation policy got clearedby the Union Cabinet in December 2004when it permitted private airlines to fly for-eign routes. This was followed by a majorboom in the Indian aviation industry from2005, when the number of passengers fly-ing annually on the domestic sector roseannually by nearly 38 per cent before theglobal meltdown stopped it in late 2008.

The first time one heard of the CAAwas when the Ministry of Civil Aviationinformed the PMO in 2009 that it had putthe CAA proposal on top priority. A lull fol-lowed and not much was heard about itthough a special group had been constitutedto deliberate on the civil aviation authority.Even outside experts were asked to givetheir report about it. In March 2011, thethen DGCA, E K Bharat Bhushan (who was

summarily transferred from the DGCA andMinistry of Civil Aviation for his persist-ence on securing safety in Indian carriersand a tough stand against KingfisherAirlines for safety violation) told PTI thatthe process of setting up an autonomousCAA to regulate all aviation safety issues inIndia was in the final stages and a Cabinetnote would be finalised shortly. He alsosaid that the CAA, which would haveadministrative and financial autonomy,would also keep a tab on the entire range ofactivities from proper provision of air traf-fic services and licensing to financial fit-ness of airlines. A feasibility study, saidBhushan, to set up the CAA was commis-sioned in October 2009 in technical collab-oration with ICAO to improve the financialand administrative autonomy for discharge

SETTING THE AGENDA: Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh has pushed the agenda for the formation ofCAA

TOUGH TASK AHEAD: Civil Aviation Headquarters,Rajiv Gandhi Bhawan will perform a major task toup the ante for the legislation and enactment ofCAA bill

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of safety oversight functions more effec-tively. The ICAO feasibility study wasreviewed by the DGCA and the Ministry ofCivil Aviation in 2012. The proposal (to setup a CAA) was also endorsed by the FAA,stating it would be in line with the ICAOpolicy. This was just before Praful Patelwas shifted from the Civil AviationMinistry. His successor Vayalar Ravi, whotook over in January 2011, said that theprocess to set up the CAA was on. Afterthat the proposal was tossed around beforethe present Minister Ajit Singh took over asthe Civil Aviation Minister nearly a yearago.

In this one year, the CAA proposalreceived many comments — following theMinistry of Civil Aviation hosting it on itswebsite in July 2012, seeking commentsfrom the bodies and individuals concerned,legal experts, etc. While it was meant forseeking comments on a new CAP, therewas also a reference to the DGCA and itspossible replacement by CAA. Before thewebsite of the Ministry of Civil Aviationcarried this issue, Minister Ajit Singh toldthe Rajya Sabha in March 2012 that theproposal to set up a CAA in the place ofDGCA was in a formative stage. He saidthat the CAA would have adequate finan-cial and administrative powers with flexi-bility to meet the functional requirementsfor an effective safety oversight system. Hementioned that in addition, it would alsohave power of economic regulation, con-sumer protection and environmental regu-lation. With passenger volumes rising rap-idly and the number of aircraft alsoincreasing sharply, the need for such anauthority has become imperative.

The Minister told the Rajya Sabha thatthe CAA would be set up through a separateAct. However, the present legal frameworksuch as the Aircraft Act 1934 will continueto govern the aviation sector. Since thenthere has been hectic consultation and theLaw Ministry has also given its opinion,which included different models envisagingdifferent revenue streams to keep theCAA’s autonomy intact.

The proposed CAA will have threewings — safety, economic regulation andgrievance resolution — apart from a full-fledged environmental wing. After discus-sions, a view has more or less crystalisedthat the government may impose a sur-charge of `5 on every air passenger to fundthe CAA besides other avenues such as feefor issuing licences, etc. According to oneestimate, the new CAA will have annualearnings of `140 crore which will beenough to make it financially independent.A major part of the revenue will come fromfees charged for issuing licences besides thepassenger levy. Also nearly one per cent ofthe revenue received for providing naviga-tion services by AAI to airlines may beshared with CAA. In this context, the AAIas well as the Ministry of Civil Aviation haspointed out that the fee charged for provid-ing air traffic control services is quite lowcompared to other countries and has alsonot been revised since 2006. Most impor-tantly, the CAA will have full autonomy tohire its employees and decide on thesalaries. At present, the appointments madein the DGCA are approved by the UPSC(Union Public Service Commission) whichis a time-consuming process, for example,after the DGCA expressed its intention toappoint 400 new personnel as was indicat-ed to it by various teams — which, inciden-tally, criticised the DGCA — for beinggrossly understaffed.

The CAA, hopefully, will not be askedto route its recruitments through the UPSCand will do it itself and directly. It may bepointed out here that few in DGCA are ofthe view that financial autonomy by way ofoffering market-determined salaries to itssenior personnel was a must. For instance,it was finding it increasingly difficult toappoint senior pilots on sarkari salaries.Most important of all the provisions is thedecision to make the CAA a board-man-aged entity. Unlike the DGCA, which isaround one individual who is also alwayson deputation from the Ministry of CivilAviation, the CAA will have one Chairmanwith a five-year fixed term and an 11-mem-ber board. A person with requisite aviationexperience — including an IAS officer withaviation experience — can head the author-ity as Chairman of CAA.

MORE GREENFIELD AIRPORTS OKAYED

Government is planning to build 10-

15 Greenfield airports while mod-

ernising 50 others in the non-metro

cities over the next few years, in a bid

to push aviation infrastructure devel-

opment in the country. “About 50

non-metro airports are being mod-

ernised within the next two years and

overall 10-15 new greenfield airports

are being planned,” said Civil Aviation

Minister Ajit Singh. Maintaining that

the civil aviation sector in India was

witnessing an annual growth of 9 per

cent, he said, “We expect a double-

digit growth in air traffic in the next

few years. The government had initiat-

ed a major process of modernising

existing airports and developing

greenfield ones through a mixed strat-

egy of public sector, private sector,

joint ventures and public-private part-

nership to accommodate the growing

air traffic.”

INDIA AND AUSTRIA DISCUSS AVIATIONTIES A high-powered delegation led by

Austria’s Federal Minister for Transport,

Innovation and Technology Doris

Bures met the Minister of Civil

Aviation Ajit Singh. The two sides dis-

cussed possibilities of enhancing bilat-

eral cooperation in civil aviation sec-

tor. Ajit Singh said that the growth of

air services between the two coun-

tries would greatly facilitate cordial

relationship, connectivity, trade and

tourism. He recalled that the associa-

tion between the two countries went

back to the year 1989 when both the

countries had signed an Air Services

Agreement (ASA).

During the talks India raised the

issue of Substantial Ownership and

Effective Control of Austrian Airlines

due to its takeover by Lufthansa. The

Austrian side was requested to clarify

the shareholding pattern of the

Austrian Airlines. Singh said that the

issue had to be resolved through dis-

cussions between the authorities of

the two countries concerned, keeping

in mind the legal and rule position.


After a gap of 15 years, India onceagain hosted the 49th DirectorsGeneral of Civil Aviation (DGCA)

Conference, Asia Pacific Region, a fact thathighlights the growing prominence of thecountry as a major international aviationhub. The conference saw 45 nations and sixinternational aviation organisations takingpart. The first such conference of DGCAswas held in Manila, Philippines, in 1960.Held every year, it is a major civil aviationevent in the Asia Pacific region andprovides a regional forum for exchange ofviews among the Directors General/ChiefExecutives of Civil Aviation in the AsiaPacific Region.

The Conference, themed “ManagingAir Transport Growth in the Asia PacificRegion through a Collaborative Approachto Safety, Security and Sustainability”, wasinaugurated by the Union Minister of CivilAviation, Ajit Singh, who categoricallystated that the call to suppress aviationgrowth by reducing its environmental

impact was not acceptable as a solution(see accompanying box).

He asked the aviation community in theAsia-Pacific region to oppose the EuropeanUnion’s emissions trading scheme (EU-ETS) taxes on foreign airlines flying overEurope. Implemented in January 2012, theEU-ETS warrants that all airlines,regardless of nationality, would be taxed ifthey overshoot their emission limits whileoperating over Europe. There are also stiffpenalties (which potentially include beingbanned from operating in the EU region)should they fail to comply.

“We need to facilitate growth ofaviation along with finding innovativesolutions to addressing environmentalconcerns. We would request the delegatesto oppose any unilateral environmentmeasures imposed by a state or group ofstates like the EU-ETS and work withICAO (International Civil AviationOrganisation) to evolve globalenvironment protection on basis of equity

TOGETHER FOR A CAUSE: Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh (fourth from left) along with key officials of ICAO and Civil Aviation Ministry at the inau-guration of the DGCA conference: (L-R) Arun Mishra, DGCA India; Nancy Graham, Director, Air Navigation Bureau, ICAO; K N Shrivastava, Secretary,Civil Aviation Ministry; Raymond Benjamin, Secretary General, ICAO; Mokhtar A Awan, Regional Director, ICAO; and, Christian Schleifer, President,Air Navigation Commission, ICAO


India hosted the Asia Pacific Region DGCA conference after a gap of 15 years. It wasindication enough that the country is now an important participant in the international

aviation market. A report.

INDIA FURTHERS COLLABORATION AMONG DGCAs

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Perhaps, what wasimportant was thefact that the DGCAconferenceprovided a greatopportunity forIndia to learn fromwhat others weredoing to tackle thetwin issues offinancial viabilityand airline safety


and consensus,” said Minister Singh.The DGCA meet also highlighted the

initiatives taken by India to furtheraviation. To accommodate increasing airtraffic, the government had undertakeninitiatives to modernise and upgrade theexisting airports and develop newGreenfield airports, the Civil AviationMinister informed. “Twelve newGreenfield airports are being planned.About 50 non-metro airports are beingmodernised within the next two years. Twomajor airports of New Delhi and Mumbaihave been upgraded. Bengaluru andHyderabad airports were commissioned in2008. New airport facilities are ready forcommissioning in Chennai and Kolkatavery soon,” Singh told the attendingDirector Generals.

Harping on the collaborative approachthat was needed to further aviation, Singhsaid that India was still one of the leastpenetrated civil air transport markets in theworld and “its capacity to grow in thecoming years has already triggered a raceamongst major global industrystakeholders to be a part of this process.The challenges of dealing with growth andenvironment are huge but we in India aretrying to deal with this in a mature manner.We need the support of developed countriesboth financially and technologically toaddress the environmental concernswithout depriving the people of India theeconomic benefits of air transport. Indiawould seek support of all the members tohelp create a level playing field for the newdeveloping states in the international civilaviation arena,” said Singh.

Civil Aviation Secretary K MShrivastava emphasised that the meetwould enhance coordination of civilaviation activities in the region.

Perhaps, what is important is the factthat the DGCA conference provided a greatopportunity for India to learn from whatothers are doing to tackle the twin issues offinancial viability and airline safety. Theaviation watchdogs ranging from Pakistanto Australia and Singapore to Sri Lankawere unanimous in their view that themoment an airline was in financial crunch,it started compromising on safety and,therefore, the issue had to be looked at withcare and urgency.

“The biggest corners are cut on safetywhen an airline is in financial stressbecause there are no returns to be madefrom that investment. If we happen to findlapses, we hold the person incharge ofspending responsible,” commented John FMcCormick, Director of Aviation Safetyand CEO of the Australian Civil Aviationand Safety Authority.

In Australia, apart from the DGCA,there is the Australian Securities andInvestment Commission that looks intofinancial issues across sectors. “If you getto know that an airline is cancellingflights, is facing problems in givingrefunds for tickets, paying cash for fuelthat it was earlier getting on credit — thelast one is the kiss of death — then youtake note,” he said. McCormick cautionedthat just because an airline was making aloss it did not mean that it was unsafe.“Sabena Airlines made a loss for each ofthe 70 years that it flew, but it did nothave a single crash,” he pointed out.

Meanwhile, Sri Lanka’s DGCA andChief Executive Officer, HMC Nimalasiripointed out that financial stress couldlead to a situation which could hurt theinterest of the travelling public. “For thisreason, we are now setting up a regulatoryregime to look into the finances ofairlines from the point of view of safetyof operations.”

The Director General of the CivilAviation Authority of Singapore Yap OngHeng commented: “Financial stress couldimpinge on safety because airlines maytake maintenance of aircraft lightly, that’sis a safety concern. In our country, theAOC has to be renewed annually, soairlines have to go through an audit everyyear.” The Pakistani aviation regulator,Nadeem Khan Yousufzai was also inagreement with the relationship betweenfinancial stress and safety issues.

The conference witnessed exchangeof information on matters of interest andreview work of air navigation planningand implementation regional group; andprovided overall guidance, harmonisationand coordination of implementation ofstandards and procedures.

DELIBERATING KEY ISSUES: Delegates from various countries during the DGCA conference

The DGCA presented the CarbonFootprint Report-2011 for the Indianaviation industry, in line with India’sinitiatives to address the climate changechallenge. Compiled for the first time,the report was prepared in cooperationwith the major airlines and airports ofthe country and with the support of theEuropean Union/India Civil AviationCooperation Project. The highlights ofthe report are:

The carbon footprint of Indianscheduled airlines for domestic andinternational operations was 12,704,000tonnes of CO2; a six per cent increase incomparison to 2010.

The carbon footprint of foreignairlines serving internationaldestinations from Indian airports, basedon fuel uplift from India, reached3,623,000 tonnes of CO2.

CO2 emissions from Indianscheduled airline operations as well asfrom foreign airlines to internationaldestinations represent less than one percent of the country’s total CO2emissions. This number is significantlylower than the global averagecontribution of airlines, whichrepresents approximately two per cent ofglobal anthropogenic emissions.

In the business-as-usual scenario(that is, no measures taken to reduceemissions), emissions of Indianscheduled airlines from domestic andinternational operations could reach27,000,000 tonnes of CO2 by 2020.

DGCA TAKES STOCK OFCARBON EMISSIONS

30 CRUISING HEIGHTS November 2012

31CRUISING HEIGHTS November 2012

COVER STORY

Had it been the United States, KingfisherAirlines (KFA) would have downed itsshutters a long time ago. Look at the situ-ation: the airlines shareholders have notgot any value for their money; the staff

has not been paid their salaries for quite a few monthsand Kingfisher Airlines promoter Vijay Mallya is con-tent to be traipsing around the world. Simply put, theking of good times is now in, perhaps, the worst time ofhis life. For a man who does not miss an opportunity todisplay his wealth, the loss of the billionaire ranking inthe Forbes India rich list with his net worth eroding 27per cent to $800 million this year from $1.1 billion lastyear must have come as a shock – never mind the factthat he tweeted, “Thanks to the Almighty that Forbeshas removed me from the so-called billionaires list.Less jealousy, less frenzy and wrongful attacks.”

THE AVIATION BUSINESS HAS SPAWNED ENTREPRENEURS WHO ARE HEROIC,FLAMBOYANT AND FEARLESS AND VIJAY MALLYA IS ONE OF THEM. BUT A

SERIOUS FLAW IN HIS CHARACTER HAS ENDED THE GLORIOUS RUN OFKINGFISHER. WHY INDEED WAS MALLYA KEEN TO HASTEN KINGFISHER’S

RUIN? WAS IT PURE EGO? CRUISING HEIGHTS LETS YOU JUDGE…

THE BEGINNING: Filepicture showingKingfisher AirlinesChairman cheeringwith Indian flag afterintroducing the inaugural flight

LAST KING OFVIJAYNAGAR

32

COVER STORY

If deflection is the best form ofdefence, Mallya proved once again thathe was a master at it. Commenting on theForbes list, he also tweeted, “I have learntthe hard way that in India wealth shouldnot be displayed. (It is) Better to be amulti-billionaire politician dressed inkhadi.” So, it would ultimately be a warbetween a large-hearted and committedbig business house and the politician inkhadi (the government).

What a comedown indeed! This wasthe same Vijay Mallya who during the2008 Farnborough Airshow — when theworld was trying to come to terms withthe financial crisis — made a grandannouncement that he was orderingplanes and that he was ready to flyabroad, “I have a huge cash flow avail-able. Even at oil prices of $140 a barrel,we would have been able to break-even.”One wonders where all that “huge cashflow” is gone, thanks largely to his ill-conceived business plan.

One must, however, give the man hisdue for his never-say-die spirit for evenas we go to press, Vijay Mallya was talk-ing to Civil Aviation Secretary K N Shri-vastava and the Chairman of the AirportsAuthority of India V P Agrawal. The rea-sons seem obvious: Mallya wants to wagea last ditch battle before seeking yetanother chance to present a new revivalplan.

Rewind to the beginning of December2011. That was when the airline engi-neered a rapid reduction in the number offlights. In 2012, the airline saw itsemployees — all types including thepilots and engineers — going on strike.That extreme move was resorted to by the

employees and the critical workforce ofpilots and engineers because they had notbeen paid for months. While in the caseof non-crew employees the salaries hadnot been paid for more than sevenmonths, pilots and engineers had an out-standing for over four months.

An airline can operate without itscommercial staff but it cannot do so with-out the pilots and engineers and this iswhat led to the strike in September 2012.But even before this happened, Kingfish-er Airlines was under serious watch byaviation regulator DGCA (Director Gen-eral of Civil Aviation) who had said asearly as July 2012 that the licence ofKingfisher Airlines should be suspendedbecause of safety violations and itsinability to secure safety of its operations.However, at that time, instead of the air-line, it was the DGCA who got the boot.

Soon we had a spectacle of the newDGCA coming to the same conclusion acouple of months after taking over thatKingfisher Airlines would have to satisfythe regulator about the safety of its oper-ations. It was around this time that indus-trial unrest — simmering for months —came to the fore. The flashpoint occurredwhen the pilots and engineers struckwork and that eventually led the DGCAto suspend the licence of Kingfisher Air-lines in early October 2012.

It was only when this happened, did

One must, however,give the man hisdue for his never-say-die spirit foreven as we go topress, Vijay Mallyawas talking to CivilAviation Secretary KN Shrivastava andthe Chairman of theAirports Authority ofIndia V P Agrawal


THE DOWNFALL: Kingfisher employees on strikeprotesting non-receipt of salaries for months inthe face of the airline’s financial crisis

THOSE WERE THE DAYS: Vijay Mallya interact-ing with former IATA Director General GiovanniBisignani and Dinesh Keskar, Head, BoeingIndia

CENTRE OF ATTRACTION: Vijay Mallya (centre)during a media interaction after welcoming theA380 in 2007, which he said Kingfisher wouldacquire. Also seen in the picture are Airbus’John Leahy, COO-Customers and Kiran Rao,Executive VP, Sales and Marketing

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the flamboyant Mallya realise that hecould no longer play the game alone. Hedrafted his CEO Sanjay Aggarwal andExecutive Director, Commercial, HiteshPatel to talk to all the employees rightfrom the pilots and engineers to the otherstaff members. Subsequently evenMallya who had been adequately hum-bled by then joined the talks. He gave anassurance to the staff of paying part ofthe outstanding wages before Diwali onNovember 13, 2012 and the balance in astaggered manner each month till March2013.

When this happened on October 26,while the suspension order was still on,Mallya and his team submitted a revisedplan to the DGCA seeking permission tofly. The regulator, who had been earlierlulled by such empty promises refused togo along. Mallya thought that if he couldget his employees — about 4000 of themincluding pilots and engineers on board— to resume work, he could get his casecleared. But then it was not the employ-ees alone who were not paid: there wereothers too.

Kingfisher Airlines had not paid oilcompanies, the Airports Authority ofIndia, the banks and even the Income Taxand Service Tax Department. It wasbecause of this the DGCA has decided toget all these “forced stakeholders” tocome on board and discuss the possibility

of allowing Kingfisher Airlines to flyagain.

Rewind to two years ago when theloans of Kingfisher Airlines wererestructured under the so-called corpo-rate debt restructuring plan. Discussionsbegan and by March 2011, the banks hadbeen convinced about the bright future ofKFA under Mallya. As part of the debtrestructuring, `750 crore of the total out-standing money owed to the 17 banks ledby SBI which had funded the airline, wasconverted into equity. Kingfisher Air-lines issued 116 million shares of `10each at a price of `64 per share. Theseshares had a lock-in period of one year.But after around 19 months, the banksare in possession of Kingfisher Airlines’shares the value of which has depreciated500 per cent.

Cut to October 2012. In typicalMallya fashion, he declared that somebusinesses do well and others don’t. Thiswas not a response to any banker’squeries but directed at newsmen whowere singled out for taking unintelligentextremist stands. Mallya lashed out at themedia for “unfairly” targeting him sincethe KFA employees went on strike andthe DGCA suspended his licence.According to Mallya, the Kingfisher Air-lines crisis had been blown out of propor-tion by the media and “some companiesdo well and some do not”.

The statement strangely came whenMallya was at the Buddh InternationalCircuit where he had gone to participatein the F1 Indian Grand Prix. In fact, therewere fears that his striking employeeswould lay seige on the Force India(Mallya’s F1 team) enclosure at the race

Cut to October2012. Mallyadeclared thatsome businessesdo well and othersdon’t. This was butdirected atnewsmen whowere singled outfor takingunintelligentextremist stands.


AT YOUR SERVICE: Kingfisher AirlinesChairman interacted with passengers during theinaugural flight of the airline and a fact that hewas proud of

NO SHOW AS USUAL: Harried passengerscheck out the status of Kingfisher Airlines flightsafter flights were withdrawn; the DGCA’s suspen-sion came later

34

COVER STORY

venue in Greater Noida. But a cleverMallya managed to buy peace after prom-ising to pay his employees their outstand-ing salaries. He accepted the employeesdemand to pay their four-month salaryarrears before December 2012. As perthat settlement, the employees were toreceive the March salary on October 26or so, the April salary before end-Octo-ber, the May salary by Diwali and that ofJune before December 2012. The salarydues of July, August and September 2012would be paid by March 2013 by whenthe airline hoped to recapitalise itself.Taking all this into consideration, the air-line submitted its revival plan to theDGCA and it was in response to this thatthe regulator sought a meeting with allthose so-called “forced” captive share-holders or should we say stakeholders.

If these stakeholders were to raiseserious objections, the so-called wageagreement plan Mallya has entered into tobuy peace and restart his airline, may gointo a limbo. What will happen then?Kingfisher Airlines has accumulated aloss of more than `8000 crore since itsinception in 2005 and contracted a debtof over `7000 crore which the banks seeno prospects of getting back even if theywere to liquidate the assets pledged inlieu of the loan. As for Mallya, he hasalready gone on record that he would notsell even a part of his thriving liquor busi-ness to fund the airline.

Passing the buck, as is his wont,Mallya remarked that the government andthe present environment were to be

blamed for his sorry state. He did notbelieve in selling family silver to fund theairline when the environment for aviationin India was not conducive. KFA’spredicament, according to Mallya, “Veryhigh fuel cost, obscenely high taxation,lack of foreign investment permissionuntil about six weeks ago, and so manydifferent factors which made the Indianaviation space actually unattractive.”

The Airports Authority of India hasclaimed that Mallya’s airline owed it`269 crore by way of various airportcharges and has now in its latest salvoasked the airline not to use the twohangars given to it in Kolkata and Chen-nai. AAI even refused to allow lessors ofsome of its A320s from taking back theplanes till part dues were cleared whichsome lessors did before flying theirplanes out of the country.

The oil companies also have theirown problems. Even the Income TaxDepartment has now decided to file aSpecial Leave Petition in the SupremeCourt against an order of the KarnatakaHigh Court which stayed the freezing ofbank accounts of Kingfisher Airlines fornon-payment of service tax and also notdepositing the tax it had collected fromemployees’ salaries as TDS.

Wallowing in debt does not seem tohave dampened the Kingfisher

boss. Perhaps, his other avatar — that ofthe successful liquor baron — promptshim to declare that everything is finethrough his PR outfit. Notice how the


SEEKING DIVINE INTERVENTION: Pandits performed rituals prior to the induction of an airplane inthe Kingfisher fleet

NOW, INTHE RED

October 17, 2008:

Kingfisher cancels order forthree A340s.

September 3, 2008:

Launches internationaloperations betweenBengaluru and London.

June 21,

2007:

Orders 50Airbusplanes for$7 bn.

March 4, 2008

Conferred the ‘5- Star AirlineStatus' bySkytrax .

January 6,

2007:

KingfisherAirlines buys26 per centstake in AirDeccan.

December 1,

2006: Suffereda net loss of `240 crore in2005-06.

July 26, 2006: Incursdebt of `942 crore.

April 24, 2006:

Purchases five AirbusA340-500 aircraft.

February 19, 2006: KingfisherAirlines wins the 2006 SkytraxAward.

November 15, 2005: Orders 20 new ATR72-500 aircraft and 30 new Airbus A320 family jets.

June 17, 2005: Announcesorders for around 20 Airbus jets,including the jumbo A380.

December 27, 2008:

Plans to raise 400 million dollars.

May 9, 2005:

Kingfisher Airlineslaunches its first flight

on the Bengaluru-Mumbai route withA320 aircraft.

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Continued on page 35

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35CRUISING HEIGHTS November 2012

CLEARING THE AIR: Kingfisher Airlines Executive Director, Commercial, Hitesh Patel (left) and CEOSanjay Aggarwal answering media queries regarding the sorry state of affairs of the airline

October 31, 2012:

Kingfisher AirlinesChairman Vijay Mallyabriefs Civil AviationSecretary onKingfisher revivalplans.

October 1,

2012: KingfisherAirlines cancelall its flights.

February 20, 2012:

Kingfisher cancels16 more flights.

September 28,

2012: Kingfisheraccumulatedlosses stands at`8000 cr.

January 10, 2012: Govtrules out any bail out forKingfisher.

August 10, 2011: KingfisherAirlines net loss up by 40.66per cent.

February 11, 2011: Kingfisher Q3net loss declines by 39.54 per centto `253.89 cr.

October 29, 2010: KingfisherAirlines launches 22 additionalflights.

June 7, 2010:

Announces itsposition asoneworld memberelect.

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Continued from page 34

Compiled by Punit Mishra

Kingfisher team reacted when the DGCAsuspension came, “We would like to clar-ify that this is not a cancellation but atemporary suspension which is valid onlytill such time that we submit a concreteand reliable revival plan to the satisfac-tion of DGCA.”

Read between the lines and what isapparent is that the King expects toregain his empire – in whatever mannerpossible. Many in the industry believethat the suspension has come as a god-send: if Kingfisher goes down, so will ahost of others. And, in a market that is notdoing well at all, the prospects becomemore terrifying. The suspension, then,has become a handle to push everyone —from stakeholders to banks and employ-ees — into line and save the airline.

And, to wring out the last bit of com-passion from a hostile public, the King-fisher chief is building his case to a pointwhen he can tell the world, “Well, l triedmy best. The government cancelled myflying licence and look at the conse-quences…”

The airline started-off with a businessplan that was based on wrong assump-tions. In a report in the Mint, NeerajMonga of Veritas Investment Research ofCanada, said that Mallya’s business planwas “based on flawed assumptions of theairline industry”. He was even more criti-cal, “We believe that the ill-conceivedforay into the airline business has alreadycost UB shareholders dearly, and thattheir ownership of India’s premier liquorand beer assets has been sacrificed at the

altar of egoistic ambitions.” Is it then Mayday for KFA? There

are many who feel that a revival of theairline is possible. One such person is aveteran from the aviation sector ShaktiLumba. He headed Alliance Air and wasVice President with IndiGo. Talking to Cruising Heights, Lumba said that Kingfisher was never run professionally.“It had everything to do with the brandKingfisher,” he said, and professionalmanagers had little or no say in the oper-ations. Mallya’s only objective was theprojection and preservation of the King-fisher brand and all that it has conjuredup over the years — from the attractivecabin crew to the service, etc.

Lumba believes that Kingfisher canfly again but it will not be an easy task. Itneeds a massive infusion of funds andonce it gets that, Kingfisher with Mallyawill no doubt fly — but for a short while.He reasoned, “After all, Vijay Mallya willnot change his style of functioningovernight to start a professional airline.”The only way to make the carrier stablewould be to keep Mallya on the sidelines.“Select an executive board comprisingboth debtors and employees,” said Lum-ba. With the employees representativeson the board, healthy industrial relationswould be ushered in and future strikeswould be stymied. And with Mallyanowhere near the day-to-day functioningof the airline, professional managerswould be able to follow a proper businessplan and do their jobs. n

HC T

IWAR

I

October 29, 2009:

Kingfisher reports a netloss of `418.77 crore.

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October 4,

2012:

Employees ofthe airlinestage country-wide protests.

Q

October 16, 2012:

Kingfisher Airlines'employees get IT notices on non-payment oftaxes.

If you review the market today in India,you hardly have anything with the RRlogo flying in the country.Yes, true. But it’s not totallytrue because if you takethe IAE…

That’s the narrow-bodied market whichis not really your bread and butter…It could have been — in India — you know.But unfortunately for us, if you look

globally it made the best sense for RollsRoyce to move away from the narrow-

bodies and go to the wide-bodies.But from the India perspective, wejust sold all these IAEs. IndiGo’sfleet is just maturing and IAE’sservice loop is just coming around.So, it has been the best for us in

India from the IAE point of view.But if you still look at it, if you takethe IAE, 50 per cent of it, we still

make it. Even though it’s all Prattand Whitney now, we

still make up thesupply chain…so that’s thegood thingthat is there.Officially, Icannot goout intoIndia and

say that

Rolls Royce has formally RR engines onany plane today. But all these have beenRolls Royce designed.

Even there are few wide-bodied with theRR logo.There are very limited wide-bodies. If youlook at the wide-bodies, I think Jet Airwayshas some, Air India has some. Whathappened was that at the first Air Indiacampaign, it was just a competitive biddingbetween us and our competitor. Thecompetitor got the better of us there. In thecase of Jet again, it was a situation wherethere was a lot of financials. It was a timethat was very different for us and we kindof missed that boat.

The thing is that it was five or six yearsback. Unfortunately after that, there hasbeen no wide-bodied for us. Now, there area few wide-bodies that are going to comeup and I think as a company Rolls Roycehas always wanted to participate. But withthe IAE engines and with the narrow-bodied focus and everything like that —when in India there were not so manywide-bodies, not so many internationalroutes — it was very difficult for us at thattime to say that, you know, we should havewon it. To be honest with you, if I werelooking back I would say we should havewon it. But then it’s a game where you wina few, you lose a few and I think that wasall that was.

Overall, you have a great marketshare.The airline industry is such that themanufacturers sometimes join with theseengine manufacturers and they create theseproducts that are specific for the markets.So, if you take the Airbus 350, the XWB,the Trent XWB that we have, is prettymuch on that flight on all the aircraft.Similarly, you take the A330 fleet — wehave over 50 per cent and over 75 percent of future orders.

AERO ENGINES

Kishore Jayaraman is straightforward and says it as it is.The new head of Rolls Royce in India is confident that goingforward, RR will have a greater share of the Indian market.Excerpts from an exclusive conversation:

‘RR IS WAITING TO STARTMANUFACTURING IN INDIA’



But the A 380 Qantas incident atSingapore was a big PR hit for you?Like with every mechanical equipment,there are bound to be certain things hereand there that happens. I think that’s kindof behind us. Initially, when you have allthose things you know, definitely there is abig uproar but I think we’ve solved theproblem; we’ve found out all the things inthis case. Today, our competitor is goingthrough the same pains that we go through.

The V 2500 (International AeroEngines) was a huge winner. Why did youpeople decide to move out?

It was just at the point where we had tomake certain business calls and say wherewe do want to focus. Our order books werepretty solid on the wide-bodies. So, we hadsubstantial market focus on and globallywhen we looked at the narrow-bodies vswide-bodies, we had to pick and chooseand we said, ‘It works better for us with thewide-bodies.’ But it doesn’t mean that wewant to be out completely but we said,‘Look this engine isdeveloped. We still havethe supply chain. A

lot of pieces are still made for the 2500s.’But I think our thing was to get into thenext generation of the narrow-bodiedengines. So in the next 5-10 years, while inthe wide-bodied market we focused on it,executed on it. When the next generationcomes out, we will be ready for it. I thinkthat was the thought process.

But you have missed the Neo.Neo? So, we are working on something

that I don’t know if it is public knowledgeyet or not, but it is something that we aretrying to do is form a partnership just likewe did on the narrow-bodies with Prattand Whitney. And basically go out thereand say, ‘Let’s develop a more efficientand a better engine, beyond thisgeneration and completely new. Thinkdifferently.’

So what the outcome of it will be wewill only know three-five years (fromnow).You’ll find that on the narrow-bodies, single aisles for some time tocome. We probably won’t participate.That’s a hard fact. That’s the truth. Butthen we look at the international sectorfrom India going overseas. We look at theintercontinental, we look at the regionaljets, and we look at the corporate jets. Ithink those are the sectors we’re going tofocus on.

How is it in defence?Well, (in) defence we have you know, thebiggest order we have today is with HAL,that’s the Hawk trainers. That’s a good one.With HAL, our history goes back to 1956and technology transfer, licensing and theymake the Jaguar engines here and theyrepair it. So, Jaguars are very prominent. Ithink if you take the Jaguars out, we areinto the Hawk trainers. That’s the latestwith BAE systems.

So that’s a second big one. The thirdbig one in Defence will be the C 130sLockheed. So, there’s six of them cominginto the fleet. These are the three areas weare in but apart from that we partner withNorthrop Grumman. We have all thesehelicopters and all these products ofNorthrop Grumman. We have a very solidbase with them. We are looking at someopportunities there. We are looking atsome helicopter deals. There are somehelicopter opportunities in this country.You know light-utility helicopters andseveral others. We have good engines forall of these. We are trying to figure out howto participate.

We want to look at the helicoptersection and then see what we can do interms of working together with DRDO,working together with HAL. We are tryingto come up with a futuristic product. Thatis one of the areas I am seriously thinkingabout — how should we partner with localorganisations and build something up forthe future locally? We are trying to figureout how to do it on a country-to-countrybasis, company-to-company basis. There isone end, which is a transactional end ofthings, where you sell what you havealready, into the market. Then there is amid-end of the market, where you fit aproduct to a specific requirement, whichmeans you have to make somemodifications.

Then the third end of it is creating aproduct by itself. So, I think the third endof things has a lot of benefits in the longterm in a country like India. Becauseeventually people are just going to say, Iwant to do it here; I want to invent it here;I want to make it here. And I think there areopportunities here and because RollsRoyce being a technology and innovationcompany, it helps us do those kinds ofpartnerships. I don’t have anything to sayto you today but there are a fewopportunities that exist that I’m looking atand if those fructify, we’ll have a veryinteresting conversation next year.

Are you looking at JVs?We will undoubtedly be looking at them.On the civil side we have a 50-50 JV. Weare doing it with HAL. We signed anagreement to do it together, to manufactureparts out of Bengaluru, for civil aviation.This was in 2010. We signed the agreementto do this joint venture to build it.

It is in progress. So I think we shouldsoon be able to announce something,which says that we’ve built it and it’smanufactured. It’s doing components forengines. That is correct. And what we are

STATE-OF-THE-ART: The first jet engine to be made entirely from Lego by Rolls Royce

Continued on page 38.


AERO ENGINES

waiting for is — you know it was just anagreement that was done before. Now weare waiting for the time we can formallyopen it. So, we are waiting for that daywhen we open the doors for manufacturingin this country. It’s all indigenous, so that’sa good thing.

Other companies....Definitely. I keep talking to Tatas. I amtalking to Mahindras. The other day I metMr Ajit Singh (Civil Aviation Minister). Iwas talking to him about what would bethe thought process in civil aviation in thiscountry in the future. And he was talkingabout the regional jets and Mahindrasbought Gippsland. So, I think we have anopportunity there with our product alreadybeing able to fit. Can we expand that andtake it to the next level?

There are opportunities because whatthe country is looking for at the next stageis beyond just the narrow-bodies and thewide-bodies. Those become ourtransactional planes. But then we will beable to do something and I really want tobe a part of that if I can... to do somethingin terms of localisation, buildingcapabilities, capacities and partnershipshere. I think that’s what positions us in thiscountry for the next 5-10 years. The futureis not in just selling.

You have 850 engineers in Bengaluru...It is all for civil aviation, defence, energy.I’d say primarily civil aviation and energy— very little of defence.

It’s not a campus. We are doing it withtwo other companies, TCS and Quest.Basically, they work exclusively for us andthey are doing requisition, designengineering, application engineering andcomponents. Build-to-Print drawings —all the stuff for the global product. It is oneof the biggest hubs, yes. Like everybodyelse, we are no different. We are inWhitefield. So, that should be no surprise.But it’s something that has quietly grownand I think it is a valuable investment forus in terms of the back office, in terms ofgetting knowledge. We are trying to figureout how to do more knowledge processing.

It’s very similar to GE.We are probably a little bit behind in theevolution phase. If you take GE, theystarted in 2000 and I think we startedaround 2005. I think in the last two-threeyears we have ramped up. I think it is ourambition to take it past 1000 as quickly aswe can. There is a lot of enthusiasm. It willtake some time to get there but we will bethere. It’s part of the plan.

GE Aviation,under the

Adaptive VersatileEngine Technology(ADVENT)programme with theUS Air ForceResearchLaboratory, hasbegun testing theadvanced-technologyjet engine’s core.

In a recentannouncement, thecompany said thatthe test demonstratedGE’s most advanced

core propulsion technologies, including lightweight ceramic matrix composite (CMC)materials, which are part of a programme that will result in a 25 per centimprovement in fuel efficiency, a 30 per cent increase in operating range and higherthrust compared to today’s fixed-cycle engines.

The ADVENT programme is scheduled to conclude in 2013 with a full enginetest. GE will continue to mature the ADVENT technologies through the US AirForce’s Adaptive Engine Technology Development (AETD) programme, which willconclude in 2016.

Unlike fixed-cycle engine architectures powering today’s aircraft, variable-cycle architectures are designed to operate efficiently in a wide variety ofconditions, including both subsonic and supersonic speeds. GE’s design includes athird stream of air that is used for maximum fuel efficiency and provides heatmanagement advantages.

GE STARTS ADVANCED MILITARY ENGINE TESTS

PURE POWER FROM PW READY TO ROLL

Pratt & Whitney recently completedthe assembly of its first engine to

test (FETT) for its PurePowerPW1100G-JM engine — the firstengine to power the Airbus A320neoaircraft. The occasion was celebratedat Pratt & Whitney’s West Palm Beachfacility, with a Last Bolt Ceremony,which was attended by the companyleadership, Airbus, MTU, JapaneseAero Engines Corporation (JAEC) andemployees. The full engine isscheduled to begin testing soon at thisfacility.

Speaking on the occasion, AirbusSenior Vice President, A320neo family,Klaus Roewe, said: “The PurePowerengine is an integral part of the AirbusA320neo family of aircraft. Wecontinue to work closely with Pratt &Whitney to integrate the engine withthe airframe, and we look forward toreviewing the initial test results fromthis first engine to test.”

The PW1100G-JM engine test

programme will run a total of eight testengines over the next 24 months. Testengines will be built both at Pratt &Whitney’s West Palm Beach and atMiddletown facilities and their entryinto service is scheduled for October2015.

The engine, rated at 33,000 poundsof thrust, is the third member of thePurePower PW1000G family ofengines to begin testing. ThePurePower engine uses an advancedgear system allowing the engine’s fanto operate at a different speed than thelow-pressure compressor and turbine.The combination of the gear systemand an all-new advanced core deliversfuel efficiency and environmentalbenefits. Pratt & Whitney’s PurePowerengine family testing recently exceeded3,700 hours and 11,000 cycles of fullengine testing.

“Pratt & Whitney’s GearedTurbofan architecture is revolutionisingthe single-aisle marketplace with game

THE REVOLUTIONARY ENGINE: The Adaptive Versatile EngineTechnology (ADVENT) engine being core tested GE Aviation

Continued from page 37


NO PROBLEMS IN GENX JET ENGINES THAT POWER BOEINGS

Following a second failure of theGEnx jet engine after a Boeing 747-8

freighter aircraft aborted a takeoff inShanghai, China, in September, pressureis mounting on GE, thebiggest maker of power-generation equipment, andBoeing Commercial Airplanesto address defects in theformer’s GEnx engines thatpower Boeing’s 787Dreamliners and 747-8 cargojets.

The Shanghai incident waspreceded by an engine failurein July on a 787 Dreamlinerjet being tested beforedelivery in South Carolina.According to reports,investigators are concernedwith the engines’ low-pressureturbine.

GE was confident that ithad solved the problemsrelated to the engine failure of the GEnxthat powered the 787 Dreamliner, thecompany’s Vice Chairman John Ricesaid. “We think it’s resolved. We thinkthat the inspection process will keep it

from happening again,” Rice said in aninterview with Arabian Business.

The US National TransportationSafety Board said that no cracks were

found on the 747-8 freighter, while areview of the pre-delivery enginesrevealed a GEnx engine installed on a787-8 airplane that had not yet flownhad a cracked fan mid-shaft (FMS).

“We think we have exactly the rightinspection process, which will ensurethat if the procedures are followed wewon’t see another incident,” Rice said.

“We also made a change in ourmanufacturing process to go toa treatment that was moreenvironmentally responsible,”he added. “The prior treatmenthad involved a lead basedsolution and we wanted toeliminate that because fromthe environmental perspective,lead is something you’d rathernot use if you don’t have to.Removing that created aweakness in the part that is notacceptable, so the fix isrelatively straightforward,which is to go back to the oldprocess, which has beenproven for thousands ofengines in service.”

The GEnx family ofengines, which uses new technology andlighter materials, is the fastest-sellingengine in GE Aviation history with morethan 1,300 engines on order, accordingto the company’s website.

changing benefits — reduced fuel burn,emissions, noise, and operating cost. Weare confident the Geared Turbofan is thebest value proposition for our airlinecustomers,” said Paul Adams, Senior VicePresident, Operations and Engineering,Pratt & Whitney. “Our technologyreadiness execution for this engine family

is robust. We’ve proven its benefits withextensive rig, ground, and flight testing;and, we are excited to begin the A320neotest programme.”

“Pratt & Whitney is very proud tohave the lead engine to enter service onthe Airbus A320neo aircraft,” said GregGernhardt, Vice President, PW1100G-JM

engine programme, Pratt & Whitney. “Wehave achieved excellent marketacceptance of our Geared Turbofanengine with announced orders for morethan 1,100 firm PW1100G-JM engineswith 11 customers. The PW1100G-JMengine for the A320neo family reducesfuel burn by about 15 per cent comparedto today’s A320ceo family, and it is wellpositioned to support Airbus in thismarket segment.”

In September, 2011, Pratt & Whitney,JAEC and MTU Aero Engines AG hadannounced that they would collaborate toprovide the PurePower PW1100G-JMengine for the A320neo programme. The“JM” designation in the engine namerecognises JAEC and MTU’sparticipation. Under the collaborationagreement, MTU is responsible for thelow pressure turbine (LPT) andparticipates jointly with Pratt & Whitneyin the high pressure compressor (HPC).JAEC is responsible for the fan, lowpressure compressor (LPC) andcombustor/diffuser. Pratt & Whitney isresponsible for the remainder of theengine and systems integration.

POWER MACHINE: Pratt & Whitney recently completed the assembly of its first engine to test(FETT) its PurePower PW1100G-JM engine, the first engine to power the Airbus A320neo aircraft

MOVING WITH FORCE: A Boeing 747-8 powered by the GEnx jetengines that were recently subjected to inspection


How has your stint in Maldives been?

Let me start by saying the Maldives isone of the most incredible places onearth. One for its natural beauty, two forthe hospitality and the caring nature ofthe Maldivian people and three for thefact that it offers an experience that’sincomparable to anywhere else in theworld. So from that perspective the Mal-dives is doing very well.

How did the work on the airport start and

how is it progressing?

GMR and Malaysian Airports won aninternational competitive bid to managethe airport and develop it under a conces-sion for 25 years with an option for a fur-ther ten years. So we’ve formed a jointventure company where GMR is themajority stakeholder in the company andour brief is to improve the current facili-ties to a standard that will be compatiblewith the resort experience that peoplehave when they come here.

Secondly, to build a brand newterminal that will open in 2014and take our capacity fromtoday’s capacity of some 2.8million to a capacity of about5.5 million — by the timethe terminal opens. So that’swhere we are going in termsof capacity but more impor-tantly we are going to designan airport that is unique tothe Maldives — an air-port that

reminds people that they are in the Mal-dives, from the moment they land to themoment that they actually take off.

Your brief includes restructuring and reva-

mping the old terminal. How far have you pro-

gressed?

We took over the management of the air-port on November 25, 2010, and underthe concession agreement, we were sup-posed to enhance the airport’s processingcapacity. So what we have done is put inan additional two X-ray machines forentry into check-in, extension of thereclaim belts and additional check-indesks. We had a budget of somewherejust under $4 million. However, these areprocessing enhancements. As with anyairport privatisation, the expectation lev-els of the general public are very high andpeople expect immediate results. Whilethat expectation is somewhat unrealistic,we at the same time have to do somethingto meet a reasonable expectation level of

the consumers and the public. So we decided to focus on

not just the processingenhancement, but also theambience and the aestheticappearance of the airport.So I’m pleased to say thattoday we’ve crossed a budg-et of over $11 million andmany more enhancements

are being made to the airportthan that was originally

expected or called for. Thoseenhancements essentially

improve the ambience,the aesthetic

feel… butwe’ve alsoe x t e n d e dand expand-ed areas ofthe airport

CH SPECIAL

Andrew Acquaah Harrison, CEO, Ibrahim Nasir InternationalAirport, Malé, has his work cut out. The new airportterminal has to be ready by 2014 and once it startsfunctioning, it will hopefully boost the country’s economy,he tells Tirthankar Ghosh

MARUHABAA

TO MALÉ

The big glass windows of AndrewAcquaah Harrison’s corner cabin atMalé airport do not look out on the

Indian Ocean — the cityside of the airportis virtually on the ocean — but at theongoing construction of the new airport.Harrison is the CEO, GMR MaléInternational Airport Private Limited(GMIAL) and is in love with theMaldives that he refers to as “the mostincredible place on earth” (seeaccompanying interview). But much as hewould love to soak in the sunshine andswim in the crystal clear waters, everytime he looks up from his work tableHarrison is constantly reminded of thework he and his team have to completeand deliver to the people of Malé by 2014.

Ever since the change in thegovernment — since February this year— the airport has been in the eye of astorm. An optimistic Harrison believesthat things will be sorted out and theairport will be completed in time for agrand opening.

The new airport project is a public-private partnership of the Maldiviangovernment and GMR Group (promotersand operators of the Delhi and HyderabadInternational Airports in India) andMalaysia Airports. The consortium’s aimis to develop Ibrahim Nasir InternationalAirport (INIA) into a global standardairport by 2014, having got a lease tomaintain the airport for 25 years. GMIALis the company that has been registeredfor the implementation of the project.

The task is indeed formidable. TheMaldivian economy that virtually runs ontourism needs an airport that cannot onlyaccommodate many more tourists but also

Developing the Ibrahim NasirInternational Airport is nomean feat but the GMRconsortium that won the bidis well on its way tocompleting the project ontime. A report.


“AN ISLAND RESORT TERMINAL IN THE MAKING”


so that we can deal with growth betweennow and the opening of the new terminal.

Now, a lot of people say, “Why spend somuch money when the terminal has a serv-ice life of only two years?” Well, it’sbecause we believe that the experience inthe Maldives is so unique — from a resortexperience, from a hospitality experience —that the airport as we inherited it, really didnot match the experience or the expectationlevel that people would have coming here.

Given the type of benefits that we havebrought, both GMR airports and Malaysianairports, to the airports that we manage inour various portfolios, the standards thatwe expect are very high and we expect noless here in the Maldives.

When do you expect to open the new

terminal?

We are scheduled for opening in the sum-mer of 2014, so somewhere around July2014 in line with the concession agree-ment.

We have started construction and effec-tively we are ahead of schedule with theconstruction. We have had a temporarystop-order, a temporary suspension of con-struction while some issues related toapprovals are being resolved but even withthat stop-order there is a period of time inwhich we still have a buffer since we areahead of schedule. So, we are very confi-dent that we will be able to open the termi-nal on time, in summer 2014 onceapprovals are issued.

Will the work be completed on time? What will

be so unique about this terminal?

Yes, it will be and, perhaps, I can give yousome examples. We wanted to capture theessence of the natural beauty of the Mal-dives. So we took our designers to a resortand got them to stand on a jetty at theresort. The idea was to look out and catch atypical view that a consumer would seewhen he’s standing on a jetty.

And what you see is the blue of thesky, the azure colour of the waters, thewooden colour of the deck which theywere standing on, the white colour of thesand, the green of the vegetation. And wewanted to see how that can be replicated inthe new terminal. We didn’t want the stan-dard international terminal, you know, thefour-box design. No, we wanted some-thing unique.

So you find the walls of the new termi-nal mimic a colour of the coral and thesand. You’ll find we are using wood floor-ing and sustainable wood and this is wheresome of the eco-credentials come into play.About 70 per cent of the facade of thebuilding will be glass because how do wecreate the blue of the water and the blue ofthe sky? Actually, put a big window thereand the results will speak for themselves.

What that’s also allowing us to do ishave tall, high ceilings which will allowefficient circulation of air and reduce ourcooling requirement because we have glaz-ing that reduces heat gain within the termi-nal as well as the loss of cool air. We’vetaken a decision to spend more money andequip the terminal with LED lightingbecause LED lighting uses less energy, hasa longer lamp life, service life and requiresless maintenance.

So although the acquisition costs arealmost one and a half times that of tradi-tional construction material, in the long runit will pay off and from an environmentalstand point it’s much better because theenergy consumption is lower.

We are looking at options such as deepsea cooling for air-conditioning of the ter-minal. So, (we are using) non-traditionalmethods of providing conditioned air to theterminal that would utilise what we have inthe environment that’s around us. Wastemanagement for example, for the first timeever we will move into an environmentwhere we will use compactors for wastemanagement. We segregate waste at

source. So these are all different types ofinitiatives that we are undertaking as partof this project.

Who are your designers?

For the designers we have Mott MacDon-ald, a very reputed design firm. IDA areour architects for the terminal. They’vedone a number of international projects. Sothey are the architects for the project. Con-struction is being done by GADL which isGMR Airports Development Limitedbecause today we have developed the capa-bility of constructing ourselves. So wehave a division within GMR that does con-struction for us.

How big will the new terminal be?

Essentially the new terminal is three-and-a-half times in size of the existing terminal.In today’s existing terminal, at most, wecan accommodate about eight aircraft at atime whereas in the new terminal we willbe able to accommodate easily aroundabout 20 aircraft at a time.

The new terminal will offer hydrantrefuelling for the first time, rather thanrefuelling trucks going around. Secondly,we will have aerobridges on five of theparking bays. Today we don’t have aero-bridges at all. And we will have fixed elec-trical ground power. Environmentally, air-craft don’t need to use auxiliary powerunits when they’re on the ground for turn-around. These are all features for the newterminal.

What are kinds of aircraft that you are han-

dling today?

Well today we can accommodate any air-craft with the exception of Airbus 380. Forthe Airbus 380, we are putting safeguardsin place so that in future expansion cantake place to accommodate a A380 on oneparking position because we don’t envis-age that Malé will be a destination for alarge number of 380s.

THE BEST IN THE WORLD: An artist’s impression of the new airport terminal that is being constructed at Malé; and, (left) Andrew Acquaah Harrison,CEO, GMR Malé International Airport Private Limited (GMIAL)


CH SPECIAL

be world class. The 190+ tourist resorts— each one of them comprising an island— that the country boasts of are nowopening up to welcome not only the richand the famous, for which they were wellknown, but also the common touristsfrom all over the world. And when theGMR consortium won the bid to revampINIA and put up a new airport, Harrisontook charge. He was a battle-scarredveteran marshalling his forces tocomplete the much-acclaimed T3 ofDelhi in a record period of 37 months.The present delays notwithstanding,Harrison is confident that everything willwork out fine.

The airport’s construction apart,GMR is well aware of its responsibility tothe Maldives. The CEO put it rather aptlywhen he said: “We recognise that astemporary custodians of a nationaleconomic asset, this airport is a gatewayto the Maldives both from a passengerand a cargo perspective because theeconomy is dependent upon imports.”All the produce that goes to the resortslike the perishables are all imported and“most of it actually comes in by air”. Theairport has to function to ensure that theresorts receive stuff that is fresh andexotic. It also helps further the country’sfish exports. “We need to ensure that wecan cater to those,” said Harrison andpointed out: “GMR’s value is the abilityto bring funding solutions, developmentsolutions and a long-term commitment tothe economy and society that we are nowa part of. I, therefore, believe that GMR isone of a number of companies playing avery important role in the Maldives.”

Perhaps, more important is the fact

that the airport’s construction has createdemployment. Said Harrison, “This is thelargest single investment in the history ofthe Maldives. It is also one of the largestsingle employers in the country. Today,we have 1750 employees working for us.That’s more than we as GMR employ inDelhi or in Hyderabad because hereeverything is managed by us with theexception of the regulatory functionssuch as immigration, Customs, security,Air Traffic Control and flight catering.All other airport-related activities aredone by us…” In addition, themanagement of the airport, fuellingoperations, ground handling andpassenger handling is done by the GMRconsortium. “That’s how we inherited theairport when we took over themanagement,” said the CEO, and added,“and so we’ve decided it’s important thatour employees continue to have growthand development opportunities thatprepare them not for just their roles inairports but also for roles outside thiscompany, should they choose to workelsewhere in the economy.”

In addition, GMR also sponsor tenMaldivian students for higher educationin India — degree course studies mostlyin engineering — every year. The onlycondition that is set upon them is “theyreturn to the Maldives to work within theMaldives economic system for the benefitof the Maldivian economy. These are thetype of commitments that we makebecause it’s not about the airportsucceeding but the economy succeeding,”said Harrison with emphasis, “because ifthe economy succeeds then we willsucceed. We cannot succeed in a failingeconomy.”

FUTURE READY: A bird’s eye view of the Male airport once it is completed in 2014. Note the parking of the seaplanes

GMR’s task isindeed formidable.The Maldivianeconomy thatvirtually runs ontourism needs anairport that can not onlyaccommodatemany moretourists but alsobe world class

Continued from page 40.

History was made on October 30,2011, as India hosted its very firstFormula One World Champi-

onship. This year teams from all over the

world burnt the rubber at the 2012 GrandPrix Open on October 28, 2012. Tens ofthousands of locals and tourists flocked tothe Buddh International Circuit in Greater

Noida, near Delhi, to catch the excitementof the world’s most famous car race; whilemany more millions watched the actionunfold on TV around the world.

P46P46The US has offered to sellStinger missiles for the AH-64 Apache gunship

Stingers for IndiaThe Indian Army has issued an RFI for chopper-borne earlywarning systems

Chopper-borne AEW

FOCUS ON ‘COPTERS

Heli-anchors at the races

SLAT

TERY

HELIC

OPTE

RCHA

RTER

.COM

.AU

43

Choppers are versatile platforms for civilian aerial photography as they provide a uniqueaerial perspective of the action on the ground. From the 2010 Commonwealth Games andthe F1 Grand Prix, to Bollywood movies, helicopters have been used to capture the momentfor film from the air.


EYE IN THE SKY: Aerial cameramen provide aunique perspective of the action on the ground


FOCUS ON ‘COPTERS

This year Eurocopter AS350 B3 ofPinnacle Air was flying above the circuitcovering the race with aerial shots thatmesmerised and captivated the TV audi-ence. As demonstrated at this widely-tele-vised world sporting event, aerial filming

certainly helped enhance the overall view-ing experience.

Large-scale sporting events such as theNew York and Paris Marathons and Tourde France have been using helicopters foraerial filming for many years now. Boththe Indian Grand Prix (2011 and 2012) andthe 2010 Commonwealth Games saw thedeployment of helicopters — viewers weretreated to an amazing bird’s eye view ofthe action, as it happened.

Aerial filming has become a “staple”in Hollywood movie-making, and it isevident that Bollywood directors havealso taken a liking to the use of helicop-ters for those spectacular aerial shots thatgive movies the extra dimension. And forthe newsmaker or documentary director,

helicopters have become an almost indis-pensable tool for sensational breakingnews or breathtaking aerial views.

In this day and age where the publicexpects “live” coverage and breakingnews at their fingertips and films withhigh standard of cinematography, whatthe helicopter does in producing suchresults, has been treated as a “given”.Aerial filming can indeed become a “giv-en”, as the advanced technology of heli-copters and the state-of-the-art equipmentavailable today have made aerial filmingnot only safe and cost-efficient, but arealso capable of producing high-qualityand stable images.

The benefits of aerial filming havebeen most evident in the widespread use of

It is not only for news gatheringand surveillance that choppers

have been used in the F-1 races. Inno area has the sport changed asmuch over the years as that of med-ical provision. As late as the early1980s, medical facilities at many

Grand Prix events were shockinglypoor by modern standards. Now, itis one of the top priorities at everyrace. Mobile response teams includefour salvage cars (S-cars) and tworescue cars (R-cars) as well as twoextrication teams based around thecircuit of the races. Hospitals in thevicinity of the race are also kept onstand-by with the intention that veryserious injuries can be transferred tothem. In order to hasten the transferof any injured driver to such hospi-tals a MedEvac helicopter mannedby a doctor, two paramedics and apilot is ready to fly at all times.Another helicopter is kept readyoutside the circuit and four addi-tional ambulances are posted aroundthe race track. In fact, the race can-not go ahead if conditions are suchthat a helicopter cannot take offfrom the circuit or land at the hospi-tal, due to fog or inclement weather.One unusual precaution taken forthe Monaco Grand Prix is that inaddition to the usual track marshals,medics and doctors, several diversare present in case a driver crashesinto the harbour and needs rescuing.For these reasons Formula One rac-ing is vastly safer than it used to be,and medical provision is infinitelybetter.

Choppers at F1 racesNEED FOR SPEED: Helicopters at the F-1 racesare capable of keeping up with the speeds ofthe supercars


FOCUS ON ‘COPTERS

helicopters for electronic news gathering(ENG) services. High-tech heliborne ENGservices have become an essential sourcefor today’s leading news agencies andreporting departments the world over forsource video, live news coverage, broad-cast quality documentation and breakingnews situations.

When a natural disaster strikes, forexample, viewers have seen how fast theinternational news channels and agencieshave been able to produce breaking newsnot only through local correspondents’reports, but also through aerial views of thelocation to supplement the viewers’ under-standing and awareness of the situation.

News agencies in developed marketssuch as the US, Europe and the Far East

have been using aerial footage from heli-copters for a long time. The use of helicop-ters for daily news coverage has providedthese news agencies the crucial edge intoday’s growing and competitive newsgathering market. Even developing heli-copter markets such as Brazil have seen anincrease in the use of helicopters for suchpurposes, where aerial shots are great com-plements to video coverage on ground.

One of the most popular ENG helicop-ters in use today, is the Eurocopter AS350from the “Ecureuil” family. This rotary-wing aircraft can be fitted with fully HighDefinition, vibration free, gyro-mountedcameras to get crystal clear images with-out any disturbance, and has a competi-tion-beating 3.5 hours of flight endurance

while fully equipped. Besides offering itspassengers a very comfortable ride, thecabin is also highly flexible to be alteredfor different needs as the situationdemands, providing a convenient workenvironment for on-air live situations.

When the camera is not fixed on theskids or airframe, the large sliding doorscan be opened in flight for the photogra-pher or videographer. These flyingmachines from Eurocopter are armed withthe latest STARFLEX technology, whichensures low vibration level, thus resultingin a shake-free shoot for the cameraman.The large flat-floor open-space cabin inthe Ecureuil helps in enhanced visibilityand clutter-free shooting experience forthe crew.

Ecureuil helicopters are also known forthe lowest operating and maintenance costsinvolved in operating it. The Ecureuilchoppers also have the added ability tooperate and make film shoots possible atextremely high altitudes and extreme tem-peratures. Wether it be hot, humid or evencold environments, the Ecureuil is able tostill operate safely and reliably.

India’s vast territory and landscape cer-tainly makes the use of helicopters forENG services a necessity. With the recentsuccesses illustrated, aerial filming shouldbe a “given” in no time.

In addition to their medical andENG applications, choppers are

also being used for transport to F-1races. What better way to beat thetraffic snarls on the way to the site ofthe race than to fly to the venue, to

say nothing of the glamour quotientattached? Operators around the worldoffer services to the venues of the F-1races. In fact, these chopper servicesare quite sought after and major oper-ators have already advertised theirschedules for the 2013 F-1 season.

Dropping-in in style


FOCUS ON ‘COPTERS

The United States has offered tosell Stinger missiles to India for

the Apache choppers that are beingsourced from Boeing. According toofficials from Raytheon, the manufacturer of the 245 Stingerair-to-air missiles and 56 launchers are included in theweapons package for the Apache helicopters. Indian Air Forcechief NAK Browne had confirmed recently that India hadselected the Boeing-made Apache AH-64D for its requirementof 22 attack helicopters, which will have both air-to-groundand air-to-air roles. Surface-to-air version of the Stinger mis-sile is widely credited for the collapse of Russian helicopterfleet in Afghan war in 1980s.

The American FederalAviation Administration

(FAA) has approved the TypeCertificate for the S-76D heli-copter, moving the aircraft for-ward to its delivery into themedium-sized marketplace. TheS-76D helicopter has a currentbacklog approaching a half-bil-lion dollars and is expected tobegin deliveries later this quar-ter. There have been more than800 S-76 helicopters deliveredto the global fleet since 1979,contributing daily to a growingsix million-plus flight hours.The S-76D’s standard equip-ment features are all-compositemain rotor blades; Thales-inte-grated avionics; and powerfulPratt & Whitney CanadaPW210S engines.

ECUADOR TAKES DELIVERYOF FIRST TWO FENNECS

Eurocopter delivered thefirst two AS550 C3 Fennec

helicopters to the EcuadorianMinistry of Defence under acontract signed in 2010 forseven of these helicopters andtwo AS350 B2s, which weredelivered in December 2011.The contract contemplatesdelivery of two Fennecs peryear until 2015.

In India, the Fennec is oneof the helicopters in con-tention for the 197-chopperdeal worth `3,000 crore forthe replacement of Chetak andCheetah choppers flown bythe Indian armed forces. Theprocurement of these 197 heli-copters is to be followed byindigenous manufacture of187 similar ones by HAL. TheEurocopter AS 550 C3 Fennecis pitted against the RussianKamov Ka-226T Sergei in thiscompetition.

The Ecuadorian orders arepart of the plans to progres-sively replace their Gazelleand Lama fleet, some ofwhich have been in service forseveral decades. TheEcuadorian armed forces wereone of the first armies in LatinAmerica to integrateEurocopter aircraft into theirfleet, and they now have morethan 20 Eurocopter helicop-ters, including two EcureuilAS350 Bs, two EcureuilAS350 B2s, three SA315 BLamas, two SA316 BAlouettes, seven SA342Gazelles and five AS332Super Pumas. The newFennecs will perform a widerange of missions includingrescue, reconnaissance, drugenforcement and borderpatrol.

Taking a call on the long-running feud between the

Army and the Air Force, theDefence Ministry has decidedto allow the Indian Army tohave its own fleet of attackhelicopters. Defence MinisterAK Antony gave the approvalto the Army to create its ownfleet of attack choppers afterthe involvement of theNational Security Adviser ShivShankar Menon. Menon hadconferred on the issue withArmy Chief General BikramSingh and his IAF counterpartAir Marshal NAK Browne.India, at present, operates twosquadrons of Mi-25 and Mi-35attack helicopters. These areflown and maintained by theIndian Air Force under theoperational control of theIndian Army.

ARMY TO GET ATTACKCHOPPERS

COPTER-BORNE WARNING SYSTEMSFOR ARMY

STINGERS FOR INDIAN APACHES

The Indian Army is planning to procure helicopter-borne early warning systems for the surveillance of

border areas. The new systems will provide commanderswith information about the activity in enemy territorywhile serving as warning systems for oncoming aircraftand armoured units. These early warning systems will actas valuable force multipliers in the battlefield. Theinvolvement of the Indian private sector in the pro-gramme is being considered and the Army is in the finalstages of ordering the novel system. Although the AirForce operates aircraft-based early warning systems, theIndian armed forces need to plug a gap caused by thedependency on helicopter-borne systems that are impera-tive for close-in, ground combat situations where enemyarmour and helicopters operate.

S-76D GETS FAA TYPECERTIFICATION

India is the 15th largest business jetmarket in the world by fleet size (138business jets) and the largest business

jet market in Asia. The future is poised fortremendous growth and the reasons aremany. The sky route for travelling frommetro cities to Tier II and III cities might beextremely smooth through commercialflights, but, again, results in wastage oftime. In addition, accessing remote placesand the hinterland, where there are noairports but just airstrips, but holdtremendous value for corporates and luxurytravellers, is challenging.

Come in providers of business jetservices. One such service is provided byInvision Air, which has made places likeBirwa in Madhya Pradesh, Pantnagar inUttarakhand, Nashik in Maharashtra, orDharamsala in Himachal easily accessiblefrom major cities.

The entry of light jets in the market ofthe kind used by Invision Air — two twin-engine Embraer Phenom 100 jets (aPhenom 300 that will be added to the fleetlater this year) — will increase the market

size by making private jets moreaffordable. As for airstrips that cannot bereached by the jet, Invision Air providesaccessibility with turboprop aircraftthrough its partners.

The company claims that India’seconomic growth is resulting in thecreation of a large target market,comprising owners/promoters of mediumto large businesses, top management (level1 and 2), professionals (lawyers, doctors,specialists), PE/VCs and bankers, high-endtourists, celebrities, etc., whose time is at apremium. They need to travel within thecountry to metros as well as smaller cities.In addition, a large part of India’s futuregrowth will come from the hinterland.

According to Vineet Phatak, ManagingDirector of Invision, the chartered airservice industry of India is estimated at$250 million and has been growing at 10-12 per cent per annum. “More companieswill be buying jets. Its numbers is likely torise to 400 in few years. This will createhuge demand in maintenance and servicing.We are also gearing for it,” he said.

In order to further encourage usage oflight jets, service providers have beenoffering loyalty programmes. Invision Air,for example, has the Jet Card MemberProgramme, for those who plan 25/30 tripsper year using private aircraft. There arethree different levels depending on thehours of travel: Silver (25 hours a year),Gold (50 hours a year), and Platinum (100hours a year). There is also Spot Charters ifa member needs to use the aircraftoccasionally (up to five times a year or lessthan 25 hours).

“We have structured our programmesat a price point similar to a 3-seriesBMW/C-Class Mercedes, 5-seriesBMW/E-Class Mercedes, and a 7-seriesBMW/S-Class Mercedes; so if you canafford to buy one of those cars, you canafford to fly in a private jet,” informedVineet Phatak.

47

BUSINESS AVIATION

Private jet service provider Invision Air has found that a large part of India’s future growthwill come from the hinterland. However, at the moment, connectivity to these destinations is

extremely poor. With the entry of light jets into the market and unique deals of the kindoffered by the company, the market size will increase, resulting in the economy’s growth.

LIGHT JETS WILL INCREASEMARKET, ACCELERATE ECONOMY

GOING NEXT LEVEL: A Phenom 100 aircraftbelonging to the Invision Air fleet


ISRAEL AIRCRAFT INDUSTRIES

1%HAWKER

BEECHCRAFT28%

DASSAULTAVIATION

13%

AIRBUS1%

BOMBARDIERAEROSPACE

22%

Business Jets Market Share in India (Aug 2012) Source: DGCA

CESSNA22%

GULFSTREAMAEROSPACE

7% EMBRAER 6%

Q:From a student of philosophy tobusiness jets, what was themotivation and vision behind

venturing into unexplored territory?

A:Planes were always a passion withme, but since I cannot fly due toweak eyesight, I chose to remain

in the business of aviation. I decided thatI would venture into aviation with theright mindset and project. A friend ofmine identified that light jets were thenext thing.

Moreover, philosophy is very deep. Itis all about who you are. So I went alongwith my passion and ventured into theniche area of business aviation jets.

We started with the belief that we arehelping the economy grow. There is noquicker, more luxurious or efficient wayto get from point A to point B than that ona business jet. On this, there is no debateand business aviation has a very healthyeffect on productivity.

What do you think makes the Indianmarket fertile for businessaviation?With the number of high-netindividuals on a steep rise inIndia, the long-term marketfor business jets isextremely promising.

Business aviation isabout taking people to thenext level. Our ambition isto elevate the high-net-worth individual from thebusiness class to a businessjet. The trend of Low-CostCarriers has led to a declinein the number of businessand firstclass seats. At alater stage, we intend tocapture the market of the nextrung of entrepreneurs.

In the Asian market, India is one of themost progressive and powerful players andhas the right base for business aviation,while China is a new player.However, China is definitelya strong competitor, andhas grown very strong inrecent years.Presently, there arearound 138 businessjets in India, whileChina has only a fewnumbers less,around 120.

What needs to beunderstood is thatbusiness aviation isvery different fromcommercial aviationand even ineconomically difficulttimes, the market is bright. Who are your clientsand which are

your areas of operation?We cater to industrialists, people into realestate, pure manufacturing, top-notch

investment bankers, managers atthe pinnacle and even

lawyers. Invision Air

currently has twoPhenom 100s byEmbraer operationalin its fleet and fourmore to be delivered.

The excellent t a k e - o f f / l a n d i n gperformance of theEmbraer Phenomsallows for


Vinit Phatak entered the arena of business jets with the belief that it is a very promisingfield and would help the economy grow. In an interview with Nidhi Sharma, he explains

how his company aspires to elevate the high-net-worth individuals from the business classto business jets

“BIZ AVIATION IS ABOUT TAKINGPEOPLE TO THE NEXT LEVEL”

BUSINESS AVIATION

Vineet Phatak, Managing Director,Invision Air

HEMANT RAWAT

49

connectivity up to 200 existing airports inIndia alone (commercial services coveronly about 80). Invision Air allows flightsto any international route within the rangeof our aircraft, which covers theMaldives, Sri Lanka, Thailand, MiddleEast and Singapore (with the Phenom300).

Currently operating out of three basesin India, viz, Mumbai Delhi and Nasik,Invision Air aims to have a total of sixbases across the country. The remainingthree bases will be from among thefollowing cities — Ahmedabad, Nagpur,Jaipur, Bengaluru, Hyderabad orChennai. Each base will have the sametype of aircraft available for ourcustomers allowing us to provideconsistent service level and availability.

It may seem a little surpsising, but theMumbai-Delhi route is the most sought-after route on business jets. The curiositywill arise that why is, despite thetremendous and efficient connectivitybetween the two cities on commercialplace with large availability of businessand first-class seats, additional businessjet service so much sought after? Thisgoes to show the convenience thatbusiness jets provide. One needs to reachthe airport simply 15 minutes before aflight and there is very little wastage oftime on security check etc. This provesthat for high-net-individual, for whomtime is money, there is no better optionthan business jets.

Interestingly, I once asked a privatebusiness jet operator in Europe, whichwas the busiest route for business jets thathe catered to, the answer was a replica of

the India situation — the London-Parisroute — the route is already more thanwell connected and saturated.

What are your expansion plans?For a business like this to survive, youdefinitely need multiple revenue sources.We are expanding in many ways with newkinds of auxiliary services. We provide abouquet of services that includes handheldtraining of management and operations ofaircraft. In addition, we are also workingtowards creating brand awareness aboutbusiness jet operations market.

We operate in 200 airports of thecountry and there are a total of 400 airportsin India. This means that we have theopportunity to double the number of placesthat we are catering to. A lot of activity ishappening, especially in Tier II cities. Weare trying to get the right kind ofinfrastructure in place and are working withcertain airport developers for the purpose.

The Invision Air fleet will have 18Phenom 100 jets by 2013 and there arealso six of the larger Phenom 300s tobe delivered, the first of which isplanned for entry into operation in late2012.

Being the only player, are there uniquechallenges that come to your way?Definitely, being a pioneer in the field,there are challenges. One of the things wehave to do is educate. There are 139operators of private jets in the country buthardly will a name spring to your mindwhen asked.

Moreover, the right kind of educationand mindset is a big challenge. Clientsand stakeholders do not know what isinvolved in the whole process of gettinga business jet to fly. They assume that thebrokers’ providing the jet and theirconcerns are not their headache. Evenwhen people and organisations buy a jet,they normally don’t understand what liesahead.

At Invision, safety is bred into our DNA. It is not something that wewill compromise on. The dearth oftrained pilots is a major problem area.

What is your take on the recent casewhere the Mumbai InternationalAirport Limited levied heavy penaltyon business jet operators who overstaytheir allotted time at the parking bays?Definitely the episode was one thatcreated problems for us. The governmenthas to step in to rationalise things. This isan indispensable requirement for theprogress of business aviation. Incidentslike this change the economicscompletely as such heavy charges areunaffordable.

IN THE LAP OF LUXURY: The interiors of Invision Air company’s Phenom 100 business jet aircraft


BUSINESS AVIATION

ROYAL JET, ASM FOCUS ON INDIATo tap the Indian market’s vast potential inthe field of businessaviation, Abu Dhabi-basedprivate jet operator, RoyalJet, and UK-based AviationServices Management(ASM) recently entered intoa partnership. An agreementwas inked in this connection by Ahmed AlMamari, Chief Operating Officer, RoyalJet and Vito Gomes, Founder andManaging Director, ASM.

“The number of high net worthindividuals in India isexperiencing growth,which, when combinedwith a significant gap in theavailability of business jetswith 10 to 42 passengercapacity, presents excellent

opportunities for business aviation acrossthe Indian subcontinent and for Royal Jetin particular,” said Fahad Wali, Vice-President (Commercial), Royal Jet.

After a sale to Superior Aviation BeijingCo. collapsed, business-jet makerHawker Beechcraft Inc. plans to emergefrom bankruptcy as a stand-alonecompany.

According to a recent statement, areview of strategic alternatives for theHawker jet line is under way, and thatbusiness may close “if no satisfactory

bids are received”. The post- bankruptcycompany would be renamed BeechcraftCorp. and focus on planes includingcivilian turboprops and military trainers.

The failed $1.79-billion deal withSuperior may rekindle interest inWichita, Kansas-based Hawker. India’sMahindra & Mahindra Ltd. (MM) hasbeen in contact with the company.

Further enhancing its worldwideaftermarket service network for businessaircraft customers, Bombardier Aerospace,along with its maintenance partner AirWorks, has established its second LineMaintenance Facility ( LMF) in India forChallenger 604, Challenger 605, GlobalExpress and Global Express XRS businessjets at the Indira Gandhi InternationalAirport, New Delhi. “Our longstandingrelationship with Air Works and theircommitment to excellence make them aperfect fit for the needs of Bombardieroperators in the region,” said Éric Martel,President, Customer Services andSpecialised and Amphibious Aircraft,Bombardier Aerospace.

CHANGE IN PRIVATE JETIMPORT RULES COMINGThe civil aviation ministry iscontemplating to make changes in theguidelines for non-scheduled operators(NSOPs). The changes are prompted bythe rule that ensures that individuals orcompanies that buy aircraft for privatepurposes cannot do so under the NSOPcategory at lower import duty and thendivert it for personal use. An import dutyof around two per cent is charged fromnon-scheduled operators in comparison toaround 21 per cent from private jetoperators. Before 2007, there was noimport duty.

Commenting on the issue, CivilAviation Minister Ajit Singh recently toldmediapersons: “We are looking at routedispersal guidelines to encourageconnectivity and we will be going with acode-share arrangement between non-scheduled operators and commercialairlines for connectivity to Tier-III andTier-IV cities (a code share is where twoor more airlines share a flight). We arealso looking to see if we can putguidelines for NSOPs, so that peoplecan’t import jets at lower tax and thenuse it as private ones.” Singh said that theministry was looking into duties, too.“We want some adjustments, so that thereisn’t a wide variance in the duties (onimported jets),” he said.

US President Barack Obama’s statement during the firstpresidential debate with Mitt Romney — where he said

that he wanted to end tax breaks for owners ofbusiness jets in the USA — has brought him a lotof criticism. Expressing his disappointment overObama’s view, National Business AviationAssociation Chief Executive Ed Bolen accusedhim of “disparaging business aviation andmischaracterising the industry”.

During the October 3 debate, Obamahad argued for a change in laws that allowbusinesses who own jets to depreciatetheir value over five years, compared withseven for charter operators.

OBAMA DRAWS FLAK

HAWKER GOES ALONE

In the third quarter of 2012 (3Q12),Embraer delivered 13 jets to executiveaviation market. Deliveries year todate, at the end of September, total 46executive jets, seven more than for thesame period of 2011. Executive jetdeliveries comprised; 5 Phenom 100s,6 Phenom 300s, 1 Legacy 650 and 1Lineage 1000.

EMBRAER DELIVERS 13 EXEC JETS IN 3RD QUARTER

BOMBARDIER MAINTENANCEFACILITY AT IGI AIRPORT

will most probably becompleted by 2013.

In his openingkeynote at the WorldPassenger Symposium,IATA Director Generaland CEO Tony Tyler

said, “Airlines are trying to escape thecommoditisation trap through differentia-tion. But at the end of the day, the travelagent sees only codes F, J, Y and their var-ious derivatives. There is no way to tell ifyour J product is a flat bed or an economyclass seat with an empty seat beside it.”

Speaking on the occasion, EuropeanTechnology and Travel Services Assistant

Secretary GeneralChristoph Klenner said:“I think there’s a renais-sance coming and (air-lines) see they have to dosomething about theirproduct. Airlines havebecome so safe that itdoesn’t matter who youfly with, especially onthe short haul. It hasmeant that price becamethe most important driverfor consumer deci-sions.”

A handful of indus-try groups, including theAmerican Society of

Travel Agents, the Business TravelCoalition and the European Travel Agents’and Tour Operators’ Association have crit-icised IATA’s NDC initiative for severalreasons, including what they called a lackof collaboration.


D I G I T A L T R E N D S F O R T R A V E L L E R E X P E R I E N C E

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IATA formally adopts NewDistribution Capability

IHOLDERS INAIRCRAFTThe iPad has made itsspecial place in thetray tables of planes

52

Paris-Charles deGaulle Airport getssix new e-gates

54

MOBILE SERVICEIN EMIRATESEmirates offers in-flight mobile phoneservices on A380s

54

Indian routes of Lufthansa get paid wi-fi

As IATA lifted the lid on the New Distribution Plan, with 30 airlinesvoting in its favour at the recent World Passenger Symposium inAbu Dhabi, the industry welcomed the move with a mixedresponse. The implications of the new distribution system that willhave an aggregator role are yet to be experienced. A report.

Four Lufthansa routes between India andGermany have started providing wi-fibroadband as a paid in-flight service.Passengers in all three classes on theseflights will be able to browse the Interneton their laptops and tablets without inter-fering with radio signals from the cockpit.Lufthansa plans to extend this to mobilephones also by year end, enabling textmessaging and data transfer.

As hurdles such as some planes fine-tuning their wi-fi-gear (notably, Boeing787s) and clearance from Indian regula-tors (for example, Emirates) are cleared,more airlines flying to India will joinLufthansa in offering in-flight Internetaccess. “We hope to offer this (service)later this year,” says Scott Lefeber, thespokesperson for Boeing (787)Communications. In India, Lufthansawill, to start with, offer this service onfour flights: Delhi-Munich, Mumbai-Frankfurt, Mumbai-Munich and Chennai-Frankfurt at the price of €10.95 for onehour, or €19.95 for 24 hours, that passen-gers can extend to Lufthansa lounges andLufthansa long-haul flights.


Heralding the dawn-ing of a ‘New Agefor distribution’, a

working group of around30 IATA airline representa-tives voted in favour ofand formally adopted theNew DistributionCapability (NDC), a newmodel for distributing air-line services, at the recentWorld PassengerSymposium in Abu Dhabi.

IATA’s NewDistribution Capability isbuilt around XML-based protocols andaims at enabling airlines to offer person-alised offers to customers. The bodyclaims that the new distribution systemwill have an aggregator role, allowing air-lines to differentiate their products moreclearly, beyond just the lowest ticket price—and the definition of standards for NDC

INSIDE

51

IMMIGRATIONE-GGATES AT PARIS

CLEAR VIEWS: (Above) One of thespeakers speaking at the IATAWorld Passenger Symposium; (top)IATA Director General Tony Tyler.


Who would have imagined the kindof influence that Steve Jobs apple wouldhave in all spheres, not just on land, butalso in the skies? The iPad’somnipotence can be gauged from thefact that it has made its special place inthe tray tables of the economy class withthe ‘iHolder’.

Canada’s budget airline, WestJet, forexample, has already beenexperimenting by testing the services onplanes it bought from Boeing without theseat-back inflighte n t e r t a i n m e n tsystems where itrents out Androidtablets that cliponto the back ofthe seat tray.

What indeed isthe iHolder? TheiPad has resultedin the makeover ofthe economy classtray tables, changing their design to turnthem into a place where you don’t justkeep your meal, but can place yourelectronic gadgets with comfort andsecurity. US firm Smart TrayInternational recently unveiled a neweconomy class tray table with a built-in

groove for the purpose of placingelectronic devices. If airlines take afancy to the new design, passengers willbe able to watch content on their iPad oriphone screens hands-free with the traytable up or down, and charge theirdevices at the same time.

WestJet devices are preloaded withfilms and TV shows (and targetedadvertisements) and can be watchedhands-free, without taking up space onthe tray table itself. The airline has been

testing the serviceon planes itbought fromBoeing withoutthe seat-backi n f l i g h te n t e r t a i n m e n tsystems, whichare heavier, moreexpensive andrequire seatmodification or

replacement. Of course, comfort will come for a

price and airlines will certainly generaterevenue from their investments. And forthe more adventurous airlines, tray-tables could bring in advertisingrevenues with targeted ads on-screen.

According to the recently-released 2012SITA/Air Transport World Passenger Self-Service Survey, airline passengers wantmore control of their journey and are look-ing for more self-service and mobile-basedofferings to reduce stress during travel. Thereport states that 70 per cent of passengersnow carry smartphones, that is fuelling thedemand for services such as self-boardingand flight information updates on theirmobiles.

Self-service continues to be increasing-ly popular with passengers. Close to 90 percent of passengers rated flight statusupdates on their mobiles and self-boardingas their top self-service technologies.

Francesco Violante, CEO, SITA, said:“What passengers really want is to avoiddelays and to be kept informed of what ishappening. Nearly everyone surveyed saidthey would welcome any queue-bustingservices and 89 per cent voted self-board-ing as their top technology. It is very clearfrom our IT Trends Surveys earlier this yearthat airports and airlines are working in the

same direction, so we expect to see signifi-cant growth in technologies aimed at reduc-ing waiting times.”

Violante continued: “The number ofpassengers with smartphones has risen dra-matically over the past year from 54 percent to 70 per cent. We are already seeingthe impact at airports with mobile check-inincreasing by one third during this periodand as many as 21 per cent of passengershave now used a mobile boarding pass.We’re now at the tipping point of explosivegrowth in mobile services offered to pas-sengers, which will give them more controlover their journey and reduce stress.”

“Passengers want more control over journey”

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A new Domestic-InternationalPassenger Lounge and Canada BorderServices Agency (CBSA) Arrivals Hall hasbeen unveiled at the EdmontonInternational Airport (EIA) under the lateststage of the Expansion 2012 project.

One of the key features of the newpassenger lounge is the latest baggagedelivery system with three carousels—allof which are adorned with sports-themeddisplays celebrating local teams—Oilers,Eskimos and Oil Kings. The speed ofbaggage delivery is doubled by thecarousel in the CBSA Arrivals Hall that isfitted with two delivery belts.

Sports-themed baggagesystem at EIA

D I G I T A L T R E N D S F O R T R A V E L L E R E X P E R I E N C EeeN tExpressContinued from page 51

iPads give birth to iHoldersIATA formally adoptsNew Distribution...

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The GDSs had given their view back inAugust. Sabre had said: “Based on ourextensive evaluation and deep technicalanalysis of IATA’s proposal, our conclusionis clear. We do not see how the proposedNDC approach would work in the real worldwithout sacrificing fare transparency, limit-ing comparison shopping and compromisingdata privacy rights.”

Not everyone is against the NDC, how-ever, with some technology players voicingtheir support for the initiative.

Ajay Prakash, immediate past Presidentof Travel Agents Federation of India, is ofthe opinion that “the proposed NDC is thelatest insidious move at increasing its hege-mony at the expense of travel agents andGDS companies, both of whom have beenthe mainstay of airline inventory distribu-tion. The NDC is really aimed at marginal-ising both agents and GDSs, to the directbenefit of airlines and to the inevitable detri-ment of passengers—and there should beloud alarm bells ringing on this”.

One has yet to understand the completeand detailed implications of the NDC. Asper industry officials, it is an airline-basedinitiative that is being implemented.


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Immigratione-gates atParis-CDG

SITA’s BagManagertechnology has been

deployed by SATS, a leadinggateway services and foodsolutions provider, for managingthe 15 million bags that ChangiInternational Airport handleseach year.

The new version ofBagManager, operational at 10other airports besides Changi,can be implemented very quickly,

meaning minimal systemdowntime. The technology isdesigned to do away with flightdelays caused by loading issuesand ensures that the groundhandler knows where all bags areon an aircraft so they can beremoved quickly if the passengerfails to board. The browser-baseduser interface improves dailyproductivity, allowing bags to bemanaged efficiently.

Ilya Gutlin, SITA President,Asia Pacific, said: “SITABagManager is used by some ofthe world’s busiest airports,processing around 150 millionbags each year. The fact thatSATS has chosen to implementthe latest version at SingaporeChangi Airport is a significantboost and I have no doubt otherground handlers and airports willfollow suit.”

Changi deploys SITA’s BagManager

A Emirates Airline, inpartnership with OnAir,

will be offering in-flightmobile phone services on anA380 aircraft, wherepassengers aboard the aircraftwill be able to stay in touch via phone calls or through the mobile data link on their

personal devices, the airline said in a statement. Emirates’ first A380 equipped with the full suite of OnAir

connectivity departed from Dubai international Airport to MunichInternational Airport recently and the first recorded A380 in-flight callwas placed to China while the aircraft cruised at 11,500 metres flyingacross the Gulf. The service is in addition to the OnAir WiFi servicealready available on Emirates A380 aircraft, the statement added.

Emirates provides mobile service on A380s

An SMS-based service for“Anytime Anywhere

Travel Assistance” launched byMakeMyTrip has pioneeredcustomer self-service on featurephones.

To avail this service at noextra cost, customers need totype “@mmt” and send it to9266592665. They will receiveservice options for commoncustomer needs — the platformaccepts queries in NaturalLanguage (i.e., not a strict pre-fixed format).

The Natural LanguageProcessing (NLP) byMakeMyTrip solves forlanguage ambiguities. NLPallows the user to ‘query’ in anintuitive (natural) way asopposed to structuring the queryin a standard template.

Speaking on thisdevelopment, Amit Somani,Chief Product Officer,MakeMyTrip said, “Mobile isthe platform of choice for youth,and a large majority of ourcustomers. We are focused onserving a range of customers’needs across the spectrum andhence the launch of theseservices for feature phones.These address commoncustomer queries that wouldotherwise have to be serviced bycalling customer-care. Theseself-service solutions areavailable for a range of queries.”

SMS-based serviceby MakeMyTrip Six new PARAFE

automated bordercontrol e-gates have beeninstalled at the Paris-Charles de GaulleAirport, taking the totalcount to 33.

The e-gates havebeen supplied by Morpho(Safran Group) as part ofthe collaboration withAéroports de Paris(ADP) on the SingleFiltering Inspectionprogramme betweenTerminals E and F.

Considering the fact that largeinternational airports handling heavy

traffic every year have to answerinnumerable passenger queries, the DubaiInternational Airport has upgraded thepresent system to interactive virtualassistants that can respond to specificpassenger queries in Hindi and English.

These virtual assistants are pro-grammed to answer frequently-askedquestions, such as the location of depar-ture gates, washrooms and check-inareas, rather than just providing a staticmessage.

Speaking on the occasion of thelaunch of the virtual assistants, ChrisGarton, Senior Vice President, Operationsat Dubai Airports, said: “Dubai Airport iscontinually exploring new ways ofenhancing service by providing passen-gers with the information they need,when they need it, and ensuring theirpassage though the airport is as quickand pleasant as possible. The new inter-active virtual assistants are another inno-

vative way to create that experience.”

Virtual assistants at Dubai Airport

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BA to changecheck-in’s future

In a move that couldchange the future of

airline check-in as weknow it today, BritishAirways, as part of its £5billion investment progra-mme, is trialling a newservice to provide itscustomers with the optionto use an automatic check-in service.

For the purpose, thismonth the airline startedwith a trial compr-isingselected travellers flyingout of airports in France.Invited customers had theoption to be checked inautomatically. Customerswere automaticallychecked-in, assigned a seatand received their boardingpass electronically, 24hours before their flight.

A I R C A R G O & L O G I S T I C S

www.cruisingheights.in I November 2012CRUISING HEIGHTS

FORUM TOTHE FOREAir cargo stakeholders join hands to form anumbrella organisation that will sort out contentiousissues hampering air cargo movement.

ACAAI Istanbul meet to formulate strategy

Emirates innovates to keep freighters flying

President Bharat Thakkaron challenges and priorities for air cargo stakeholders

How Skycargo’s Ram Menenmanages to fly high with full loads in times of crisis

Pradeep Panicker

President, ACFI


LAST IN/FIRST OUT

It is the season ofcollaboration andcooperation. While closer

home we have witnessed thekick-off of such a move — theAir Cargo Forum India (seefollowing pages for a detailedstory on the launch) —internationally, the InternationalAir Transport Association(IATA) announced the CargoOperations Advisory Group(COAG). Reporting jointly tothe IATA Cargo Committee andthe Ground Handling Council,the COAG has been established“to bring together members fromairlines and ground-handlingagents to develop best-practiceprocesses and procedures inorder to address all aspects ofcargo acceptance and handling”.

The COAG aims to work onthe review, improvement anddevelopment of cargo operationsprocesses and procedures forincorporation into the IATA

Airport Handling Manual(AHM) and IATA GroundOperations Manual (IGOM).The objective being to developoperations processes that can beadopted by airlines and ground-handling agents and that willultimately lead to a greaterdegree of standardisation andharmonisation for cargoacceptance and handling.

“The first effort by COAGwill be to review and developthe cargo acceptance processes,including clear processessupporting paperless e-AWB,”IATA said. The group will beaddressing common standardsfor the acceptance, handling anduplift of cargo, including mail.COAG comprises eight airlinesand six ground handling agents.The COAG consists of not morethan 14 members (eight airlinemembers — Air Canada, AirFrance, Cargolux, Emirates,FedEx, Finnair, LAN Cargo and

Qatar Airways — and six GHAmembers that include DALGlobal Services, DNATA,Fraport Cargo Services, MenziesAviation, Swissport and WFS),each being an expert in cargooperations, Cargo EDImessaging standards, mailoperations, as applicable.

The idea for COAG wasdriven in part by groundhandlers at the 2010 IATAWCS in light of the fact thatairlines continue to outsourceground handling and the GHA(ground-handling agents) areoften faced with pressure fromairlines to do the same task indifferent ways based on whateach airline sees as the “right”way. The COAG then, hasstarted working on an agreedstandard that meets an industrybenchmark and so far all themeetings have been byteleconference with two face-to-face meeting a year.

TRENDS

The recent AnnualGeneral Meeting (AGM)and Conference of ULDCARE in Shanghai sawCHEP presenting aprototype mobileapplication for ULDCARE, with the aim ofproviding a single, user-friendly global interface,portability, ease of use,real- time recording,message error reductionand a paperless system.

The app included‘Bounty Hunter,’ offering areward for bringing in lostULDs, perhaps on thebasis of a multilateralagreement that would gointo the IULDUGcentralised database andpay $10 per unit.Another was ‘PMCdiagram’ for palletdamage limits and UCS‘Move Me’ (ULD ControlMessage). Transactionswould comply with IATAstandards, damage limitsand ODLN codes(operational damagelimits notice), and directaccess to Part 145.

Experts believe thatsuch an app couldgenerate revenue for theULD CARE group withoutany need for the airlinesto develop an interface,with the potential tocharge transaction feeswhile solving industryproblems. The cost todevelop the pilot was$700 and the proposal totake it to full developmentwill be put to the boardfor decision. Come tothink of it, the app wouldbe useful — to say theleast. There are around1.2 billion mobile appusers in the world and15,000 apps have beendeveloped per weeksince July 2008. However,once downloaded, one infour mobile apps arenever used again.

IATA launches cargo advisory group

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“Let’s compare a 747 and a large containership. For the ship it takes one tonne of fuel tomove 330 tonnes of cargo. For the plane, ittakes about 330 tonnes of fuel to move thesame amount of cargo . . . All those big shipsare nibbling away at the air cargo business,and those bites will become bigger when thePanama Canal expansion is completed in2014.”

Frederick W SmithFedEx Chairman

The air cargo sector in the country is ata very crucial juncture. On one hand,while the sector around the world has

seen little or no growth over the last twoquarters — the brief blip on the screen werethe Apple shipments from China to Europeand the USA — on the other, exports fromIndia have been attracting carriers from theMiddle East, Hong Kong and even Europeto start and expand services. On thedomestic front, it has indeed been gloomy:we have witnessed the closure of an aircargo carrier (Deccan 360) and the re-startof another (Quikjet).

Perhaps, what is important is thatwithin the country, air cargo and relatedstakeholders — considered not too longago as step-children — are getting theattention they deserve. Infrastructure isimproving and for the first time, perhaps,the air cargo sector has a clear policy. Onits part, the government took the initiativeto boost the sector when it set up theWorking Group on Air Cargo/ExpressService Industry under the CAEAC (CivilAviation Economic Advisory Council).The report from the Working Group

submitted in the beginning of May thisyear has brought life into the sector.Following that, a first move was madewith the announcement of the setting up ofthe Air Cargo Logistics Board.

It is in such a situation that the AirCargo Agents Association of India(ACAAI) is preparing to hold its 39thAnnual Convention from November 22-25, 2012 at Istanbul, Turkey. The meetwill take a look at the present state of thesector in the country and the challenges itfaces in the growth journey through thetheme, “Air Cargo Logistics: Desire,Design, Develop, Deliver”. The venue issignificant since Turkey, like India, hasgradually opened up its markets througheconomic reforms by reducinggovernment controls on foreign trade andinvestment and the privatisation ofpublicly-owned industries, and theliberalisation of many sectors.

Said ACAAI President BharatThakkar, “All of us desire, plan anddesign to meet our desires, develop thedesign and then deliver the end-product ofour desires. It is in this background thatthe theme of the Convention is structured.The global slowdown has been a traumaticexperience that has taught us a practicallesson and made us think more global andstill have local roots. It has given us thecourage to sail through rough weathersand turbulent times.”

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CARGO

ACAAI’S QUEST FOR INNOVATIONThe Air Cargo Agents Association of India will meet inIstanbul for the 39th annual convention in the end ofNovember to take stock of the situation in the air cargosector. Cruising Heights takes a look at the presentcondition of air cargo in the country and talks to ACAAIPresident Bharat Thakkar about the convention.

Cruising Heights’ Tirthankar Ghoshmet with Bharat Thakkar.

Excerpts from the interview:

Q:Why did you decide to take theconference to Istanbul this year?

A:We held our convention overseasstarting from 2001 in Colombo,followed by Dubai, Kuala Lumpur,

Bangkok and Hong Kong to give ourmembers an overview of facilities at inter-national airports. In 2008, the conventionat Bahrain was postponed due to theNovember attack by terrorists in Mumbai.

After that, came the Government ofIndia’s PPP (Public-Private Partnership)policy and start of brown and greenfieldairports by private operators along with theformation of the Airports Economic

Regulatory Authority (AERA) whereACAAI played an important role. Wemade representations to the Chairman ofthe Parliamentary Committee that broughtair cargo under AERA. In such a situation,it became very important for us to hold theconventions within the country. So, in2009 we were in Goa, in 2010 inBengaluru and in 2011 at Amritsar.

It was on November 4, 2011, duringthe last conference dinner at Amritsar,while talking to a senior governmentofficial, that I expressed my desire to takethe next conference overseas again - thistime further away from the Indian sub-continent and the Far East. It is then thatwe started dreaming. I started askingmyself where we could go. It should not beout of our continent … and it is then that Irealised that Istanbul would be a perfectlocation. It is the only city in the world thatlinks Asia to Europe. Our delegates willarrive at Ataturk International Airport onthe European side and drive across theBosphorus to stay at the convention venueon the Asia side of Istanbul.

Who are the government and industrystakeholders attending and addressingthe conference?That is a good question and I am veryhappy to point out that in the last fewyears ACAAI has strengthened itsrelations with all stakeholders —regardless of the issues. ACAAI iscommitted to work jointly to bring downthe transaction costs in the trade, which isthe highest in the world. We expect senior-most official from the Ministry ofTransport of Turkey, the Director-General,Civil Aviation and Heads of AviationSecurity of Turkey and Managements ofTurkish Airlines Inc., Presidents of theIstanbul Chambers, Turkish ExportersAssociation and UNIKAT (Cargo AgentsAssociation) Board Members of CelebiHolding — one of the two Turkish groundhandling agencies that also operate in

Delhi and Mumbai airports — and headsof cargo from other local cargo carriers.Almost 95 per cent of cargo terminaloperators across India are attendingand efforts are on to get those atCochin, Trivandrum and Calicut toattend. In addition, there will beheads of cargo from majorinternationals airlines,representatives from GSAs, etc. Weare confident that senior officialsfrom our national carrier, theMinistry of Civil Aviation andCentral Board of Excise andCustoms (CBEC), will beaddressing the conference and our

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ACAAI hasstrengthened itsrelations with allstakeholders —regardless of theissues. ACAAI iscommitted towork jointly tobring down thetransaction costsin the trade whichis the highest inthe world


members will benefit from face-to-faceinteractions in a relaxed mode.

In view of the troubled times that theinternational air cargo sector has beengoing through, how does ACAAIpropose to tackle the challenges?2012 has been an eventful year. Thefreight forwarding community weatheredthe storm of recession that triggered in2009 and continued in 2011 and recovered— to an extent — in the first quarter of2012. But before we could breathe easy,the industry was pushed to the wall again.All through the year, we have had to battlewith our customers over the rise in theprice of air turbine fuel. We do not havethe power to do anything about it but it issomething that is so inextricably linkedwith the industry that we simply cannotignore it if we have to stay in business.

As for the industry, the first quarterapart, it has been an uphill task despite thefact that the country’s achievements havepropelled it to the front rows of globalpower. Indeed, some of us did well —what with India being one of the fewcountries that overcame the slowdownwith 12 per cent increase in businesstraffic in 2010-11. Today, with thedeteriorating economic situation inEurope and the USA, the spectre of a freshdownturn has been staring us in the face.In fact, we have started feeling the impact.Added to the high price of aviation fuel,there is the falling value of the rupee andexport uncertainties. Exports, in fact, havedeclined in comparison to 2010-11 whileimports have risen. It will be an extremelytough year but the silver lining is that thegovernment and the civil aviation ministryin particular have announced the first ofits kind air cargo policy after therecommendation by the Working Groupon Air Cargo/Express Service Industry:the Air Logistics Promotion Board(ALPB) was formed to monitorimprovements. In addition, the move bythe government to bring in Foreign DirectInvestment (FDI) in the aviation sectorwould help the aviation sector to grow andbring stability.

In addition to the international market,there are a number of challenges thatACAAI members face due toinfrastructural problems…The biggest challenge is, in fact, servicesat cargo facilities and there is an urgentneed to allow more Air Freight Stations(AFS) at all major metros such as Chennaiand Mumbai and usher in morecooperation from airlines to maintain ULDinventory to enable us to move forward.

What is ACAAI doing about it and howdo you plan to address these issues atthe conference? All issues are going to be addressed byterminal operators from India/overseasofficials from the government of Turkeyand India along with the actual importersand exporters from India, trade bodies ofTurkey, heads of cargo from airlines andACAAI members.

While the working committee set up bythe government has submitted its reportand given some very strict deadlines forcompletion of short and long-termmeasures, is ACAAI hopeful of somesolutions soon?We are very confident since before his retirement as Secretary, Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA), Dr Nasim Zaidiformed the ALPB and held the first board meeting on July 26, Thatcertainly endorses your question Also, asfor ACAAI keeping a close watch on whether the long and short-termdeadlines are being adhered to — we are in touch with the office of the newSecretary, Ministry of Civil Aviation, K N Shrivastava, who is also well-knownfor his expertise, since he was associated with MoCA earlier. He hasfull knowledge of cargo and its requirements to bring in world-classfacilities. The cargo fraternity is very confident that he will pursue the short-term and long-term recommendations withhis team comprising the Economic Adviser(who headed the Working Group on AirCargo/Express Service Industry) and theboard members from all ministries.

BIG FOLLOWING: A file photo of the 2010 ACAAI conference in Bengaluru

It will be anextremely toughyear but the silverlining is that thegovernment andthe civil aviationministry in particularhave announcedthe first of its kindair cargo policyafter therecommendationby the WorkingGroup on AirCargo/ExpressService Industry


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Air cargo stakeholders took the first step to bond together and float the Air CargoForum India. The initiative that started off from Delhi — and soon be seen inaction at the important airports within the country — has the potential tosmoothen the flow of air cargo at airports, reports Tirthankar Ghosh.

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AIR CARGO MATTERS

The Indian air cargo sector has gotits act together. To counter thechallenges of the troubled timesand to look ahead to a bright

future, air cargo stakeholders in Delhi gottogether to launch Air Cargo Forum India(ACFI). This is, incidentally, the first timethat a nationwide, apex forum has beenformed to bring the entire air cargo industryon a common platform. Said CyrusKatgara, Secretary of ACFI, “This is thefirst consolidation initiative. We have beenthinking about this for a long time but it hasbeen achieved now.” He also said that theproject that took six months in the making

was an ambitious one and no effort wouldbe spared to make it succeed.

The members of ACFI comprise allsegments of the air cargo logistics chain:carriers, freight forwarders, cargo terminaloperators, integrators, courier and expressoperators, airport operators, general salesagents, customs house agents and severalassociations connected to the air logisticsindustry spanning the export-import trade,chambers of commerce, etc.

As the first President of ACFI and theChief Commercial Officer of the DelhiInternational Airport, Pradeep Panickeroutlined on the sidelines of the launch show

that the forum would work to bring in inno-vation to achieve high standards in opera-tional excellence. It would also seek bestpractices in handling, processes, and pushfor better infrastructure facilities at all levels of the air cargo supply chain.

With so many other bodies — all relat-ed to air cargo — in the country, was thereneed for another new association? Panickertold Cruising Heights: “Yes, there was aneed. ACFI,” he pointed out, “is an umbrel-la organisation that would have a macroperspective of the industry. Perhaps, moreimportant than anything else, the forumwill be positioned to be a catalyst between

AUSPICIOUS START: (L-R) ACFI Vice President Tushar Jani looks on as the Forum's President Pradeep Panicker lights the lamp while Delhi Airport CEO I PrabhakarRao, Director-General of the Federation of Indian Exporters, Ajay Sahai, Additional Secretary in the Ministry of Civil Aviation, S Machendranathan, Director Logisticsof Nokia, V G S Mani and ACFI Secretary, Cyrus Katgara await their turn

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the trade and government and sort out con-tentious issues.” The work of the forum iscut out: it will be a channel to facilitate aircargo growth. It will also usher in econom-ic efficiencies in the system while collabo-rating with the government's bodies such asCustoms, the Ministries of Finance,Commerce and Civil Aviation, theDirectorate General of Civil Aviation, theBureau of Civil Aviation Safety, etc. foruser-friendly policies and regulation.

Importantly, the ACFI's founding mem-bers are all key players from various seg-ments of the entire air logistics industry.With the Delhi international airport — andthe most important one at that — backing,supporting and promoting the initiative, theACFI is on a solid footing. Said DelhiAirport CEO I Prabhakar Rao: “Our aim isto make the Delhi Airport the cargo hub ofIndia and the ACFI would convert that aimto action.”

Among the founder members alongwith Delhi airport are: Lufthansa, DHL, theCargo Service Center (CSC) and Celebi(both have new state-of the-art cargo termi-nals at the airport), top freight forwarderCyrus Katgara and founder-promoter ofBlue Dart and presently Chairman of CSCTushar Jani (he is also the Vice President ofACFI).

One of the major initiatives that ACFIproposed to take up was the development ofregular dialogues with the governmentagencies where the air cargo industry'sviewpoints on major developments andgovernment policies that would affect theindustry would be presented.

The objectives of the ACFI include thepromotion of cooperation among its mem-bers with regard to matters of mutual andcommon interest and to assist members insecuring better facilities or improve the

existing facilities at airports and elsewherefor the benefit of smooth and efficient han-dling operation at the airports. ACFI wantsto promote and diffuse knowledge about aircargo business and air cargo handling/pro-cessing — a feature that many new entrantsin the business are still unaware about.

Whether ACFI would be able to bringabout a change in the air cargo business -first from Delhi and later, hopefully, fromall the important international and domesticairports across the nation — will bewatched with interest. The fact that theforum has the blessings of the Ministry ofCivil Aviation — a senior bureaucrat, Sachendranathan, was present at the launch— placed it on a growth trajectory.

The last words came from Tushar Jani:“The dream has come true. Now it is goingto be a mission.” The man who has livedand breathed cargo all his waking hours,would like to see cargo being cleared in90 minutes like passengers for interna-tional flights and 45 minutes for domesticflights, hoped that ACFI would enablemeasures to achieve those benchmarks. Ifnothing else, ACFI would benefit thecargo industry, the largest employer inthe nation. Brimming with optimism, Janimentioned that the air cargo industry hadto be in Delhi to take advantage of theACFI's moves. The ACFI could take alook at one such organization in Europe.The IG Air Cargo Switzerland is a similarinterest group that was established in2010. The group's formation was prompt-ed by the fact that air cargo had consider-able importance for the economy ofSwitzerland.

A study of the air cargo sector conduct-ed by the University of St. Gallen in 2010mentioned that air cargo was a key factor inSwitzerland's appeal as a business location,

and made a substantial contribution tostrengthening the Swiss economy and safe-guarding Swiss jobs. The study also point-ed out that air cargo transport was highlyefficient. Although it accounted for lessthan one per cent by weight, around 33 percent of all Swiss exports left the country byair in value terms, while just under 20 percent of all imports by value were flown intothe country.

It was further pointed out that most ofSwitzerland's air cargo was carried into orout of the country on passenger aircraft, onflights that would not be profitable with-out the additional airfreight component.So, the health of the air cargo business hada direct effect on, for instance, the range ofintercontinental destinations that could bereached on flights from Switzerland's air-ports.

Additionally, Swiss companies in allbusiness sectors were keen to furtherdevelop the infrastructure at Swiss air-ports, to improve the handling of aircargo during peak times and expand thecapacities available for handling variouskinds of high-quality goods. The studywarned that if the country's airports wereto fall substantially behind those else-where in Europe in terms of their cargo-handling efficiency and their range of air-freight facilities, it would have devastat-ing consequences for Switzerland.

Keeping all that in mind, the primeobjective of IG Air Cargo Switzerlandwas to promote and support the Swiss aircargo sector through political actions,economic measures and PR activities, tohelp ensure that air cargo — a key ele-ment in Switzerland's transport system —gained in acceptance and that, as a result,Switzerland enhancds its appeal as an air-freight business location.

“ACFI will bepositioned to be acatalyst between thetrade andgovernment.”

PRADEEP PANICKER PRESIDENT, ACFI

“Our aim is tomake the DelhiAirport the cargohub of India.”

I PRABHAKAR RAO CEO, DELHI AIRPORT

“The dream hascome true. Now itis going to be amission.”

TUSHAR JANI VICE PRESIDENT, ACFI

Bellyholds and freighters arebecoming difficult to fill. Operatingin a market that is becoming

difficult by the day is not easy — even fora seasoned player like Emirates. TheDubai-based carrier’s Senior VicePresident, Cargo, Ram Menen and his teamacross the world is always prepared — nomatter what the condition. Speaking toCruising Heights, he maintained thatbusiness at best, could be described as flat.

The cargo head is well aware that the“flat” period could last long. The industryhas gone through similar situations earlier:As for Emirates, it was prepared “for thelong haul”. For the key player from theMiddle East in this part of the world, theIndian market has “been a bright spot for usand, though the yields are under pressure,our capacity has been quite well subscribedto”, said Menen, and as the Emiratesnetwork expands, more distribution andmarket opportunities were being taken tocustomers. “Today,” said a confident

Menen, “our Dubai hub virtually connectsall continents.” Menen talked at length toTirthankar Ghosh. Excerpts from theinterview:

Q:How do you find business now?It looks like the second down-turn has come.

A:Business at best can be describedas flat. From the looks of it,world cargo could end up in flat

to negative territory compared to lastyear. The consumer demand in the Westseems to be at an all-time low and thishas slowed down the production in theEast. Most affected areas seem to beEurope and the US.

In such a situation, what innovativemeasures or long-term strategies haveEmirates undertaken?We are in it for the long haul. So it is aquestion of managing the current situationby making sure we right size the capacity

CARGO

INNOVATION —EMIRATES STYLE

Managing in times of crisis. That is what Emirates Skycargo — one of the leading aircargo players in the region — is doing. Cruising Heights caught up with air cargo

veteran Ram Menen to find out how the carrier is not only coping with the crisis but evenmanaging to flourish.

We are in it for thelong haul. So it isa question ofmanaging thecurrent situationby making surewe right size thecapacity andensure we havethe right capacityat the right place


and ensure we have the right capacity atthe right place. This is not the first timewe have gone through such a situation …and this is not going to be the last timeeither. We continue with our fleet andnetwork expansion strategy and hope themarkets will turn around soon.

You have been a key player from theMiddle East in the India? Havetonnages been affected with the recentdownturn? What has been the tonnagelike from the region?India has been a bright spot for us and,though the yields are under pressure, ourcapacity has been quite well subscribedto. As we grow our network, we arebringing more distribution and marketopportunities for our customers. Today,our Dubai hub virtually connects allcontinents.

Emirates has been looking at Africa.Some analysts describe Africa as the‘New India’. How is the market doingin Africa?African markets have been quite good for us. It is the next frontier. However, Idon’t think it can be compared to India.It is a vaster land mass which is justbeginning to energise. More than 55 percent of the world minerals are found inthat continent and infrastructuredevelopment has just started. The Indianeconomy is far ahead of them in that ithas a far more developed services andmanufacturing capability. It has theadvantage of more skilled resources. Forus, we serve 22 destinations in Africancontinent. For India, Africa is a veryinteresting and great opportunity forexport market. India has historic tieswith this continent as it has a hugepopulation of immigrants whose originstie back to it.

Now with the Eurozone crisis, arethere any plans to look towards Chinaand South-east Asia?Today, the economies are more intertwinedand interlinked than people realise. Theslowdown in Europe has a marked effecton production (exports) from places likeChina. However, the good thing is thatIndia, China and some of the othercountries in the East are creating their ownconsumer powerbase, which has resultedin keeping the demand for some of theEuropean goods strong, which has alsohelped larger economies suh as Germany,the UK, etc. with strong exports, especiallyin the automotive sector.

There are many carriers that have cutdown capacities. In such a market,what is the strategy Emirates isfollowing?Yes, markets are tough and thecompetition is hard. Many carriers havebeen forced to cut capacity. We have alsodone our share in right sizing ourcapacity and redeployed capacity inplaces where there is better demand. Wehave also not renewed leases on coupleof leased freighters. Having said that weare also taking on four brand new B777Fin the next six months. So, all in all, weare adding more capacity and continuingwith our expansion plans.

Are you planning to put in morecapacity in India?At the moment, we are keeping ourcapacity status quo. We do bring in ourfreighter capacity on demand basis.

I remember your telling me that thecargo sections in Delhi and Mumbaiwere a ‘dog’s breakfast’.The situation in Delhi and places such asHyderabad, Bengaluru, etc. whereinvestments have gone in has got better.However, places such as Mumbai andChennai have not seen muchimprovement. Customs regime, thoughmuch improved from the past, stillremains very archaic in many areas.

63

Ram Menen, Senior Vice President, Cargo,

Emirates Skycargo

Trichy airport recently introduced Bonded Trucking Operation(BTO) for the first time and Air-Asia was the first airline to lift 2.2tonnes of finished leather goods that had been transported to Trichyby road after Customs clearance in Chennai. The goods were destined for Hanoi.

Said S Dharmaraj, Airport Director, Trichy airport, “More out-put could be expected with the introduction of the service and therewould be better capacity utilisation of the cargo lifting capacity ofthe airlines. There is potential for inbound bonded trucking too asthe consignments could be sent to other airports from here afterCustoms clearance.”


CARGO JOTTINGS

FedEx Express is rolling out a broad expansion of its ‘PriorityAlert’ and ‘Priority Alert Plus’ inbound and outbound services,introducing them to more than 70 countries viawww.fedex.com/peaceofmind that span the globe including 29countries in Europe, Middle-East, Indian Subcontinent and Africa(EMEA). FedEx Priority Alert and FedEx Priority Alert Plus willalso be offered on domestic services in Switzerland, the UnitedArab Emirates, Mexico and Canada.

FedEx Priority Alert packages are identified with a bright pinktape to signal their priority status when it comes to loading andunloading. Customers use FedEx Priority Alert to ship criticalmaterials for the financial, aerospace, electronics, manufacturingand healthcare industries, where timing and visibility is of theessence. Customers using the service also receive 24/7 supportfrom a team of dedicated global service analysts. These specially-trained analysts provide an added level of proactive monitoringand notification of the status of a shipment, whether it’s movingthrough the EMEA region or internationally.Launches ‘FedEx International Student of the Year’ cam-paign: FedEx Express recently announced the special ‘FedExStudent Offer’ and launched ‘FedEx International ‘Student of theYear’ campaign in association with the film, Student of the Year,produced by Dharma Productions and Red Chillies Entertainment.

The campaign gives Indian students who intend to pursue highereducation abroad an opportunity to earn a sponsorship of `500,000and a chance to meet Karan Johar.

Targeted at the large Indian student population, the new FedExStudent Offer is a cost-effective delivery of university applicationsacross the world for shipments weighing up to 0.5 kg. The latest solu-tion by FedEx gives a day-definite and door-to-door service with atransit time—typically of 2-4 business days—and is supported by theconvenience of online tracking, outstanding customer care services,and the money back guarantee feature with no additional charge.

STAR APPEARANCE: (L-R) Sidharth Malhotra, Varun Dhawan, Alia Bhatt,Karan Johar, Rakesh Shalia, MD, Marketing, FedEx Express unveiling theInternational Student of the Year campaign

FIRST IN THE LIST: A front view of Trichy airport.

Easier flow of cargo from Trichy partner network. RishikeshTrivedi,CEO, Encore Enpower, said, “KaleLogistics is a much respected brandwith good recall and more importantly itis possibly the only focussed IT solutionprovider having a very strong verticalpresence in logistics, airports and trans-portation segments in the emerging mar-kets. Our goal is to strengthen KaleLogistics' presence in MEA regionwhich would help them in addressingthis market aggressively and help them support their customer better.” Speaking on the occasion, Vineet Malhotra, Senior VP,Kale Logistics Solutions said, “Kale Logistics has established itsfoundation on the basis of strong techno-domain expertise in thespace of logistics and airports industries.”

Vineet Malhotra

Kale Logistics has witnessed increasing demand for its best-of-breed applications in Middle-East and African sub continent. Tostrengthen its reach and support services for its regional customers,it has signed up with Encore Enpower for developing a strong

Kale ties up with Encore Enpower

CEVA Logistics recently announced the retirement of JohnPattullo, Chief Executive Officer. Marvin O Schlanger, CEVA’scurrent Chairman of the Board, will be appointed CEO.Pattullo will continue to serve on CEVA’s Board of Directors.

“When John came to CEVA, he expressed his expectation ofstaying with the company for five years,” Schlanger said.“Under his leadership, the integration of TNT Logistics andEGL was successfully executed and the company’s unique cus-tomer-focussed, end-to-end operating model successfully devel-oped. He has also assembled a world-class leadership team. Allof this has allowed CEVA to serve our customers better and togrow faster than the market. We want to thank John for hisstrong leadership of the company and look forward to his con-tinued guidance as a member of our Board.”

Schlanger added, “I look forward to working with the talentedand dedicated employees of CEVA as we execute our strategies tobecome the most admired company in the supply chain industry.”

CEVA announces retirement of CEO

FedEx extends 'Priority Alert' services


Volumes declined at Lufthansa Cargo in the first nine months of2012. Compared with the first nine-month period in the previousyear, tonnage fell by 8.9 per cent in the term to 1.29 milliontonnes. In a highly demanding global market, the business ofGermany's biggest cargo carrier from January through Septemberwas depressed especially by a downturn in the Asia/Pacific region(minus 12.9 per cent). Given the adverse market environment,Lufthansa Cargo made flexible use of its capacities to keeputilisation at a high level. The load factor fell year-on-yearmarginally by 0.3 percentage points to 69 per cent. “Knowinghow volatile the airfreight business is and aware of theimportance of exercising maximum flexibility, we make a pointof focussing particularly on capacity management,” emphasisedChairman and CEO Karl Ulrich Garnadt. In that way, LufthansaCargo has kept utilisation of its aircraft stable in spite of the weakmarket. Garnadt said, “Whenever fuel prices are high, the rulethat only high load factors enable a cargo airline to fly profitablyapplies more than ever.”

The Global Air Cargo AdvisoryGroup (GACAG) has urged themembers of the World CustomsOrganisation (WCO) to adopt andexecute the principles of the revisedKyoto Convention and shift from a dependency on paper documents toa full e-customs environment. GACAG pointed out that harmonisationof global customs procedures would play a pivotal role in establishinge-customs platforms and also pledged the support of the entire aircargo industry in the effort.

“Doing so will stimulate economic development, removeinefficiencies and lead to much-needed productivity gains,” GAGAGChairman Michael Steen stated.

“Harmonised customs procedures facilitate the internationaltransportation of air cargo and, more broadly, benefit all involved inglobal trade—including manufacturers, farmers, transportationcompanies involved in all modes, consumers and nations themselves,”Steen said in a statement.

Blue Dart took home the honours in the categories of 'BestAir Express Provider of the Year-Domestic’, ‘Best Air CargoCarrier of the Year’ and ‘CSR initiative of the Year’. In theindividual category, Anil Khanna, Managing Director, Blue

Dart Express, won the ‘ELSC CEO of the Year’ award. DHL,on the other hand, received the awards for ‘Best Air ExpressProvider of the Year -International’ (DHL Express) and ‘BestLogistics Service Provider of the Year-Air Freight’.

These awards were a result of an independent researchagency entrusted with the task of choosing the winners withthe key parameters being the ability to adapt to the businessto meet the changing dynamics of the new economic era,drive renewed growth and gain marketshare.

Commenting on the awards, Anil Khanna, ManagingDirector, Blue Dart Express, said, “These awards are yetanother manifestation of the group’s stature in the supplychain logistics and express industry and our commitment tocontinuing excellence in delivery capabilities that have seenus emerge as a ‘provider of choice’ to some of the best knownbrands in the country. As a good corporate citizen, socialresponsibility has been a key element in our core strategy. Weare committed in letter and spirit to supporting initiatives thatmake a difference and enable the future.”

R S Subramanian, Country Manager, DHL Express, said,“As the leader in international express, DHL continues to pro-vide superior quality of service to its customers through inno-vative products and services. It is a pleasure to receive thisindustry award as recognition of the tremendous effort put inby our employees at every service touch point.”

Cargolux and CHEP Aerospace Solutions have extended their ULDoutsourcing and management services agreement until 2017. Cargoluxand CHEP Aerospace Solutions, which previously operated as Unit-pool, started their partnership in 2009 following a detailed cost andbenefit analysis and due diligence process. This extension of theircooperation demonstrates that both parties have been pleased withtheir arrangement and are committed to further improving their rela-tionship.

Cargolux's Henrik Ambak, VP Ground Services and CommercialIT, said that three years ago, “When we made the strategic decision tooutsource the management of our entire fleet of over 11,000 ULDs, weexpected that pooling our ULDs would deliver tangible service andfinancial benefits. CHEP Aerospace Solutions' 24 hours a day, 365

days a year operations and extensive global maintenance and servicenetwork provide us with peace of mind that we will always have thenecessary ULDs at our disposal when and where we need them, allow-ing us to focus on our core business of flying cargos.”

Cargolux and CHEP tie up

THREE CHEERS: (L-R) Anil Khanna (MD, BDEL) receiving the award fromAnshuman Singh (MD and CEO, Future Supply Chain Solutions

Blue Dart and DHL sweep awards

A GIANT LEAP: A Cargolux freighter

Lufthansa keeps load factor stable GACAG urges WCO to turn to e-customs

66

GLOBETROTTING

A lady got so drunk that she made a totalass of herself on a flight. Bela Chopra wasalready drunk when she got on her plane.When the in-flight meal was served,Chopra began stealing food from otherpeople's trays. Other erratic behaviourincluded getting out of her seat to use thebathroom while the plane was preparingfor take-off and loudly demanding thatmusic be played from the plane's speakersin which she said, “I just want the f*@#%music on”. Crew members who tried tocalm Chopra down were told to shut up.Chopra was arrested at Heathrow, where

she sobered and apologised for her behav-iour. She explained she had not slept thenight before and was terrified of flying.Chopra said she had been sipping neat ginto calm her nerves which was why she wasso drunk.

It proved to be one of the most dreadfulflights for passengers who witnessed twosisters quarrel in flight. It all happenedat Brisbane Airport when two of the foursisters ordered back to Italy in a bittercustody dispute were taken off theirplane after creating a scene that upsetother passengers. The two eldest weretraumatising other passengers beforetheir flight left and four federal policeescorts were unable to restrain them. Thetwo girls were pulled off the flight andstayed at the Novotel Hotel at BrisbaneAirport overnight. The girls' great-aunt

Awful sisters Poor lady

Losing its sheen


Tiger unleashed on Tiger

Believe it or not, a psycho went berserk in a Tiger Airways flight from the Gold Coastto Sydney. The maniac provoked the pilot to fly at full speed so he could be offloadedas soon as possible. Later, the 39-year-old man was arrested when the aircraft toucheddown after the hour-long flight.

Passengers on the flight recounted the horror to Sunday Telegraph about the terri-fying incident. Passenger Daniel Schwerdtfeger said he and other men on board kept aclose eye on the man, fearing he would storm the cockpit. “It was the scariest thingever. He eye-balled me from behind the curtain and ran his finger across his neck sug-gesting he was going to kill me,” he said. Several eyewitness said the man had beenacting strangely since departure, but got furious and howled obscenitieswhen a stewardess asked him about his frequent toilet visits. The flightattendant was terrified and had to hide from the man at the front of theaircraft. Schwerdtfeger said he joined her to keep her safe from the abu-sive passenger, who allegedly yelled, “I hope you have life insurance.”

A drunken businessman created a ruckusin mid-air when he started giving pas-sengers €50 notes during a flight beforebreaking up a mobile phone Sim cardand eating it. Leon Quarless, who hadbeen drinking before boarding the flightfrom Palma to Blackpool, also dishedout Sterling from a bag containing thou-sands in both currencies. But when peo-ple refused to accept the notes, the 45-year-old from Formby, Liverpool, theUK, started screaming and cursing. Cab-in crew alerted the pilot who radioedahead to police. Quarless was arrestedand escorted from the aircraft when itlanded. Later, Quarless pleaded guilty tobeing drunk on the Boeing 737 on aflight. He was fined £320 with £85 costsand ordered to pay the £15 victims' sur-charge by Blackpool magistrates. Pre-siding magistrate, Andrew Myers, said“Your behaviour was nothing short ofdisgraceful. You will now be passingsome of your money to the court ratherthan giving it away in planes.”

No model passenger

A male model, Arash Durrani, was restrained on board a UnitedAirlines flight from Chicago to John Wayne Airport, California,the US. The drunk male model wrestled with passengers on boardthe plane before he was tied up with their belts for three hours.Passengers said they had to tackle the man who was behavingaggressively and grabbing women during a flight from Chicago toOrange County's John Wayne Airport, the US.

Passenger David Truong told a newspaper, “Durrani beganpacing around the plane about 45 minutes into the flight andwas grabbing women and harassing people. I was on his chestand three other guys were holding his arms and legs. He wouldgo in and out of consciousness, but every time he came aroundhe would try to fight again.”

“He grabbed my hair and lifted my head up and said, I wantto kiss you,” said another passenger, Nona Pitts. According toIMBd.com, Durrani is an actor, model and founder of GROWClothing, a company geared toward promoting awareness ofsocial movements and charities.

Gunfire at ground level

It was one of the strangest things to have happened in flight. Agun that was detected inside an air hostess' purse at an airportwas accidentally fired when it was taken into a search room.Republic Airlines flight attendant Jaclyn Luby said she forgotshe had a gun in her handbag when she brought it to the

Philadelphia International Airport. The gun imploded when apolice officer made an attempt to put the gun on safety mode —but missed hitting anyone, WPVI reported. The bullet went into aTSA break room where an employee was seated. No one wasinjured. Philadelphia Police told NBC. Luby, who has been an airhostess for more than five years, had a permit to carry a gun buthad forgotten to take it out of her purse.

Help, this plane smells bad!

Strange things happen on flight. A Qantas plane had to makean emergency landing in Darwin after an unusual smell filledthe cabin. “Qantas flight QF5 operating from Sydney to Singa-pore diverted to Darwin due to an odour in the cabin,” a Qan-tas Spokeswoman said. “The captain requested a priority land-ing. The odour dissipated within 10 minutes. The captain said itsmelled of plastic. No medical attention was needed for any of thepassengers or crew.”

Twitter users on board the flight described the experience.Mark Cubey wrote, “It was allgoing well — aisle seat,Moonrise Kingdom — untilthe smell of burning filled theplane. Now grounded in Dar-win. Waiting...” Whileanother passenger Jim Mac-namara wrote, “Electricalfire on Qantas QF5 to Singa-pore. Landed safely in Dar-win. Stranded. But welcomeTerra firma.”


If you think stealing an iPad is child'splay, then read this story and you willfind out that it is not that easy. A US air-line passenger who lost his iPad on boardused a special app to find it, in the homeof one of the flight attendants. The atten-dant, identified as 43-year-old HorizonAir employee Wendy Ronelle Dye wasarrested. The passenger was a Nevadaman who used the Find My iPad app tolocate his tablet after it went missing onthe plane. Bill Kler, Spokesman, OregonCity Police Department, said, “Travellerson the aircraft said they found the tablet

on a seat and gave it to her, and she hadplanned to turn it over to the airline even-tually and had not used it. But policefound personal information of hers on it,including her husband's birthday.”

You can't steal my iPad

told AAP, “They were screaming,kicking, fighting and struggling likewild animals. They were traumatis-ing the other passengers. How thehell could you put children like thaton a plane?”


SNIPPETS

Virgin Atlantic pledges £300m investment VIRGIN ATLANTIC stated that its product investment programmefor India would reach more than £300m as it started its flights fromLondon Heathrow to Mumbai offering fabulous connections toUSA powerhouses of New York, Boston, Washington, Miami andChicago. The two new A330 aircraft with its latest Upper-Classproduct to both Mumbai and Delhi represent a record productinvestment in the region for the airline. Mumbai launch also signi-fies the airline's biggest connectivity offering and commitment toIndia. The move will also create 140 new jobs across India and theUK. The restarting of the Mumbai route will double the capacityto India for Sir Richard Branson’s airline with daily services toboth key markets and strong connectivity to the US along with theUK. One million people fly between Mumbai and the UK eachyear, with the market increasing by 10 per cent in the last two yearsalone. With India’s economy remaining one of the fastest growingin the world, Virgin Atlantic expects passenger numbers to contin-ue to rise.

The President of Virgin Atlantic, Sir Richard Branson, said,“We are delighted to be back in this amazing city. The importanceof strengthening the connections between the economies of India,the UK and the USA cannot be emphasised enough — our new dai-ly connecting service from Mumbai all the way to the USA will bea winner for businesses across all three continents.”

“Given the importance of both of our Indian markets we areintroducing our newest aircraft on flights from India, which repre-sents hundreds of millions of pounds of investment. Our arrivalwill offer the people of Mumbai more choice and a better service.

It goes without saying that we will be bringing to Mumbai ourunique product and services but with local relevance. With Indianfood, Indian entertainment and warm Indian crew, I am confidentMumbaikars will choose to fly with Virgin Atlantic.”

The key market for the airline will be business travellers, pas-sengers visiting friends and family and leisure travellers, whichrepresent 80 per cent of the 300,000 plus passengers the British air-line will initially carry each year to and from India. With its Mum-bai route launch, Virgin Atlantic is seeking to build on recorddemand for travel between Delhi, London and New York. Last yearthere was a 13 per cent increase in the airline’s passenger numbersbetween Delhi and London. The airline attributes much of theincrease to more passengers connecting via London. The airlineexpects to develop this trend further with the introduction of thisweekend of a new service to New York.

The latest addition to Virgin’s schedule mean passengers canconnect seamlessly to New York along with the existing connec-tion to Newark from Delhi also. This daily service to New Yorkwill depart at night from Heathrow, which returns early the nextday from JFK airport. Mumbai along with London will also havedaily two way connections to New York, Boston and Washingtonalong with four weekly connections to Miami and summer connec-tivity to Chicago.

The A330-300, flying on the routes from both Mumbai andDelhi, carries the brand new Upper-Class Suite, with an enhancedseat, a futuristic bar, and many other cabin updates to give passen-gers a unique flying experience. All cabins are fitted with the latesttouch-screen in-flight entertainment.

INTERNATIONAL AIRLINES

INDIAN STYLE: Chairman of Virgin Atlantic Sir Richard Branson playing an Indian drum during a parade in Mumbai.


AirAsia’s Tan: ‘Marketer of the Year’ AIRASIA’S GROUP Head ofCommercial, Kathleen Tan,described as one of Asia’s top10 most influential womenleaders and brand advocate intravel industry, was named asWeb in Travel’s (WIT) ‘Mar-keter of the Year’ award win-ner at the recent annualWITovation awards ceremo-ny, held in conjunction withthe WIT ‘Unplugged’ Con-ference 2012 at the SandsExpo and Exhibition Centrein Singapore.

The ‘Marketer of theYear’ award — an editorial choice prize — was presented to Kath-leen Tan in recognition for her remarkable achievements in build-ing the AirAsia brand and for possessing a great vision and leader-ship.

Cathay offers luxury on Delhi-Hong Kong WITH THE introduction of its award-winning new Business Classcabin and new Premium Economy Class cabin on the Delhi-HongKong route, Cathay Pacific will be giving its passengers a taste ofunmatched luxury.

Cathay Pacific aircraft operating between the two cities willfeature a three-class configuration — new Business Class, PremiumEconomy Class and the new long-haul Economy Class seats.

The airline’s new Business Class cabin is the result ofcollaboration between its customers and the Cathay Pacific team.The product design allows passengers to control their degree ofprivacy and openness while enjoying the renowned personalservice that sets Cathay Pacific apart from other airlines.

Cathay Pacific’s new Premium Economy Class was designedwith the entire customer experience in mind. It features a quieter,more spacious cabin than the traditional Economy Class withbetween 26 and 34 seats per aircraft.

The new long-haul Economy Class seat features a cradlemechanism to enhance the level of comfort in the recline position.Each seat comes with the latest high-resolution touch-screenpersonal television, a USB outlet and an iPod/iPhone outlet toallow passengers to connect their own mobile devices to view

content through their personal television. Cathay Pacific’s General Manager (South Asia, Middle-East

and Africa) Tom Wright said, “At Cathay Pacific, we always doour best to make our customers feel special. India is a growingmarket for luxury travel and our new three-class product willprovide our passengers here with the ultimate travel experience.”

AI Express to acquire 14 aircraft AIR INDIA Express (AIE) will be acquiring 14 Boeing 737-800aircraft in the next four to five years, a move that will strengthenits fleet from 21 to 35. Announcing the acquisition plan, ChiefOperating Officer, Ansbert D’souza and Deputy Chief OperatingOfficer, Captain Puspinder Singh, said the decision to get the newaircraft was taken as part of the `30,000 turnaround plan approvedby the Civil Aviation Ministry for Air India as a whole. A decisionis yet to be taken on whether the airlines will go in for leasing orbuy the aircraft. The airline’s current fleet comprises 17 ownedand four leased aircraft.

AIE’s revenue was `1,700 crore last year and it is expected totouch `2,000 crore this year with the proposed 57 per cent hike inservices. Faced with acute criticism on cancellation of flights,particularly in the Kerala-Gulf sector, the officials said the airlinewould ensure scheduled integrity and promptness in departures.

Pointing out that nearly 60 per cent of AIE operations were

based out of the three airports in Kerala and the one in Mangalore,they said that the airline’s investment in Kerala and Mangalorewas `3,600 in aircraft alone. The AIE would base four aircraft inKozhikode and three each in Kochi, Thiruvananthapuram andMangalore. “Another `100 crore have been invested in the hangarfacility in Thiruvananthapuram. This aircraft’s Maintenance,Repair Overhaul (MRO) facility will be able to perform ‘C’ checksof aircraft (after 6,000 hours of flying) in a few months’ time. It iswaiting for DGCA approval to start brakes assembly production,”they said.

27 additional flights to Gulf by AIE: The number of AirIndia Express (AIE) flights from the three airports in Kerala andfrom Mangalore to the Gulf countries have gone up from 92 perweek to 119. This addition of 27 flights per week, as part of thewinter schedule of the budget carrier, means a rise of about 3,800seats in the Gulf sector from October-end to almost the end ofMarch 2013.

AIE officials informed that since the launch of its low-budgetcarrier in 2005, this was the first time that the airline wasdeploying so many services from the cities of Kerala andMangalore to the Gulf countries.

Passengers from Kochi will be offered convenient connectionsto Dammam via Kozhikode daily, and to Kuwait three times a

A TOP PLAYER : AirAsia’s KathleenTan awarded “Marketer of the year”

PROVIDING UNMATCHED LUXURY: (L to R) Cathay Pacific airline’s AbhijitAbhyankar, Area Sales Manager, Northern India,Tom Wright,GM, SouthAsia Middle East and Africa and Rakesh Raicar, Regional Sales andMarketing Manager South Asia, during the press conference in New Delhito announce the new luxury flight between Delhi to Hongkong

GOING PLACES: An Air India Express aircraft


SNIPPETS

destinations in the Russian Federation,” said Adel Ali, GroupChief Executive Officer, Air Arabia. “We have marked ourexpansion into Russia last October and with this new service, AirArabia will further contribute to the ever-strengthening social andeconomic ties between the UAE and Russia.”

Qatar extends presence in IraqQATAR AIRWAYS continues to expand its network with theannouncement of scheduled flights to Najaf — its third route in theRepublic of Iraq, effective January 23, a move that will take theairways’ frequency to Iraq from eight flights to 12 services a week.The southern city of Najaf, home to the holy Imam Ali mosque,joins the capital Baghdad and northern city of Erbil, two routeslaunched earlier this year.

The Doha-based airline will operate four-flights-a-week non-stop to Najaf, offering travellers a greater choice of travel optionsto more than 100 destinations around the world served by theairline via its hub.

The Najaf route will be operated with an Airbus A320 in atwo-class configuration of 12 seats in Business Class and 132 inEconomy.

Qatar Airways Chief Executive Officer Akbar Al Baker saidthat he was delighted the airline was boosting services to Iraq, amarket where the carrier this year alone had launched services totwo prime cities.

“Iraq is proving to be an important market for Qatar Airways;we currently operate four-flights-a-week between Doha and thecities of Baghdad and Erbil. We are confident that Najaf will proveto be a popular destination for our passengers, especially thosefrom the Middle East, Africa and Asia Pacific and those returningto visit their homeland,” he said.

“With major infrastructure developments and vast untappedtourist potential, we are very excited about our launch of flightsto Najaf.”

BIS empowers BB Airways BIRD INFORMATION Systems Private Limited (BIS) recentlyentered into a strategic partnership with the Nepalese carrier BBAirways, for the use of its Airline Inventory and ReservationsSystem (AIRS). Bhuban Bhatta, Chairman of BB Airways, andAnkur Bhatia, Executive Director, Bird Information Systems,recently signed the contract.

As per the partnership, Bird Information Systems will provideBB Airways the booking technology for the Airline InventoryHosting, reservation at all city and airport offices, call centres andinternet booking engines. Further, through the use of AIRS, BBAirways will have access to a user-friendly GUI (graphical user

week. The boarding cards for both these destinations will be issuedin Kochi and the baggage will be tagged to the ultimatedestination.There will be daily flights from Kozhikode to AbuDhabi, Dubai, Sharjah, Bahrain, Doha, Dammam and Muscat.Salalah flight from Kozhikode will be twice a week, while Kuwaitflight will be thrice a week. The new schedule will offer dailyflights from Thiruvananthapuram to Abu Dhabi and Dubai daily,thrice a week flights to Muscat, four times a week service toSharjah and twice weekly flight to Salalah.

The schedule offers new flights from Mangalore which is alsobeing used by large number of Gulf migrants from north Kerala.

India, New Zealand join hands in aviation FOLLOWING THE signing of an arrangement

to support increased training and technicalcooperation in civil aviation, New Zealandand India’s collaboration in the aviation

sector is set to progress. The signing was witnessed by

visiting New Zealand Minister forEconomic Development, StevenJoyce, and Ajit Singh, Ministerof Civil Aviation, at SafdarjungAirport in New Delhi.

A booming local civilaviation sector is providingsignificant opportunities forcollaboration, with India

predicted to jump from the ninthlargest civil aviation market to

the third by 2020. Domestic trafficis predicted to grow from 46 million to 90 million withinternational traffic soaring from 34 million to 90 million in thesame period.

As a world leader in innovative aviation technology, NewZealand is already working in India in infrastructure development,pilot training, and engine maintenance and repair. Recent projectsby New Zealand companies have included the provision ofproducts and services to airports in Delhi, Mumbai andHyderabad.

“This aviation arrangement demonstrates the strengtheningbusiness relationship between New Zealand and India,” saidSteven Joyce.

“Already, New Zealand aviation companies are making theirmark in India with a range of successful projects. Thisarrangement will see India and New Zealand commit to furtherexploring exciting opportunities for co-operation in the aviationsector.”

Air Arabia adds fourth destination WITH THE launch of its flights to Kazan, Air Arabia, the low-costcarrier (LCC) of the Middle-East and North Africa, recentlyannounced that it had added its fourth destination in Russia. Thenew route is Air Arabia’s fourth destination in Russia and willbecome the carrier’s ninth destination in CIS and RussianFederation, as well as its 78th worldwide.

As part of its route expansion strategy in the RussianFederation and CIS region, Air Arabia has also launched anadditional weekly service to Yekaterinburg. With the launch of theadditional services, Air Arabia will now operate more than 30weekly flights to Russia and CIS region.

“The launch of our non-stop service to Kazan is a continuationof Air Arabia’s promise to customers to expand its EasternEuropean presence and offer value for money fares to multiple

ADDING DESTINATIONS: An Air Arabia fleet at one of the airports

Steven Joyce


interface) which will enable their partners — whether it will betravellers or travel agents — to make online reservations quicklyand easily. BIS will also provide BB Airways with a unique state-of-the-art Departure Control System for their airport operations.

Travel agencies would benefit from a distribution interfaceand a unique integrated application within using AIRS.

Commenting on the partnership, Ankur Bhatia, ExecutiveDirector, Bird Group, said, “Our expertise in providing cutting-edge technology for the travel and aviation industry as well as ourcontinued focus on service excellence has resulted in strongrelationships in the entire SAARC region. This strategic alliance

with BB Airways will give us another opportunity to empower anairline with the latest technology to improve its operationalefficiency.”

Bhuban Bhatta, Chairman of BB Airways, said, “We are surethat our association with Bird Information Systems will power theairline with state-of-the-art technology that integrates at all levelsof operation. Through AIRS, we have acquired a hosting solutionthat is cost effective and yet enables us to integrate seamlesslyacross our distribution channel network comprising ATOs (AirlineTicketing Offices), CTOs (City Ticketing Offices), call centres,travel agencies and end-customers.”

Japan celebrates India ties AS PART of an ongoing series of events to commemorate the 60thyear of diplomatic relations between India and Japan in 2012, anevent was recently organised by the Japan Tourism Agency (JTA),Japan National Tourism Organisation (JNTO) and the Embassy ofJapan at the India International Centre (IIC) in New Delhi.Bollywood actress Dia Mirza was in Delhi as a part of the event to

promote Japan tourism in India.The event also featured spectacular performances by

traditional dancers from Morioka and Sendai regions of Tohoku inNorthern Japan, a region often referred to as a “treasure chest” offolk arts.

The centuries-old folk music and dance tradition survived theferocious earthquake and tsunami of 3/11. The region is now onthe road to recovery and efforts are being made to continuouslyrevive the tourism in affected areas.

Affordable holidays with JetEscapes JET AIRWAYS has recently introduced a slew of affordableJetEscapes holidays for those who want vacation within thecountry this winter. These all-inclusive holidays are beingoffered across various popular domestic tourist destinationsand include return air travel in economy, airport transfers,accommodation at budget hotels as well as four and five starhotels with breakfast, sightseeing and travel insurance.

These holidays can be availed at attractive rates. Forexample, there is a two night stay in Kochi and Jaipur startingat `12,575 and `12,675, respectively. A three-night stay atGoa starting at `13,785 and many more extended duration

packages in Kerala, Himachal Pradesh, Golden Triangle andKashmir are also on the offer.

Besides, JetEscapes is also offering special winter holi-days to destinations across the globe. JetPrivilege membersearn five JPMiles on every `100 spent while they avail ofthese packages. According to Sudheer Raghavan, Chief Com-mercial Officer, Jet Airways, “Jet Airways has always focusedon providing exceptional value to its guests by way of specialprogrammes and partnerships. This initiative is yet anotherstep in that direction offering guests attractive benefits. It isour endeavor to create an exceptional experience that willresult in creating a strong relationship based on value propo-sitions and reliability, with our discerning travellers. We areconfident that our packages will prove to be extremely popu-lar with travellers.” ‘Premiere’ service on JetKonnect: JetKonnect recently

announced the introduction of a premium service onboard itsflights. “The JetKonnect flights, being operated with Boeing737-700/800 planes, will now come equipped with a premi-um, front-end premiere cabin allowing guests to experienceJet Airways’ acclaimed ‘Premiere’ service across its full serv-ice and low-fare brands respectively,” a Jet spokesperson saidin a statement. The ‘Premiere’ cabin service comes withplush, extra-wide seats with a 44-inch seat pitch, delectablemulti-course menu options, extra leg-room, dedicated check-in counters and 30 kg baggage allowance. Celebrates its 5th year in Brussels: To celebrate the 5thanniversary of Jet Airways in Brussels, the Belgium trade wasinvited at the zoological garden Planckendael (Mechelen,Belgium). The theme of the evening was “India” to give theagents a feeling of what the country has to offer. In addition,the event comprised extensive Indian buffets, exceptionaldecorations, stunning prize draws, Indian dancers and a birth-day cake.

STRENGTHENING TIES: Dia Mirza to promote Japan Tourism in Indiaseen with officials from JTA, JNTO and Japan Embassy in India

DOMESTIC AIRLINES


SNIPPETS

TRAVEL & TOURISM Royal Phuket Marina offers luxury living ROYAL PHUKET Marina introduced La Reserve Residences, one-of-its-kind residential units, marking its India entry. The majesticproject offers Indians to own a lavish home, with first 40 condo-miniums amidst the beautiful seascapes in an international destina-tion at an introductory offer starting from $164,000. Gulu Lalvani,the Founder and Chairman of Binatone, has built Royal PhuketMarina with an investment exceeding $100 million. This ambitiousproject is a testament to his love for Phuket and yachting.

La Reserve Residences at Royal Phuket Marina feature 40 one-and-two-bedroom spacious condominiums in two separate build-ings each with its own private rooftop ‘Sky Pool’. Additionally, itis equipped with optional furniture and fit-out packages, allowingowners to purchase a fully-decorated and ready-to-move-in unit.

Commenting on his dream project, Gulu Lalvani, Chairman,Royal Phuket Marina, said, “Royal Phuket Marina is an outcome ofmy vision to create the best yachting paradise possible. With year-round sailing, today it is a leisure and lifestyle hub on par with thebest in the world. With our newly-launched La Reserve Resi-dences, combined with our Royal Villas, and Aquaminium, theworld’s first waterfront condominium with private moorings forboats, I am sure Phuket will not only be restricted to be a touristattraction but also is already the favourite holiday destination forthe discerning luxury seeker.”

Balaji Motion Pictures ties up with Oman BALAJI MOTION Pictures recently shot a part of its much-await-

ed film Once Upon A Time in Mumbaai-2 in the Sultanate of Oman. The sequel tothe 2010 blockbuster, which is top-linedby superstars such as Akshay Kumar,Sonakshi Sinha, Imran Khan and SonaliBendre, is slated for an August 8, 2013release worldwide.

This was the first time that a majorBollywood film was shot in Oman.Speaking about the destination and theexperience of shooting in the country,

Tanuj Garg, CEO-Balaji Motion Pictures, said, “Oman is a stun-ning country with varied landscapes. We required a good mix ofretro and contemporary for the part we wanted to shoot there, andOman gave us a lot more. It has a lot to offer visually, whichworked well for us as film-makers.”

The film shoot, a first-of-its-kind in and for Oman, is set tobring the destination to limelight. “Oman’s stunning locale was a

destination of choice for the producers of Once Upon a Time inMumbaai-2 and it fits seamlessly into the script of the movie. Webelieve that through the movie the audiences will see the differentfacets of Oman in their natural splendor,” says Lubaina Sheerazi,Ministry of Tourism, Oman-India representative.

Mapple inaugurates two hotels THE MAPPLE Group of Hotels recently inaugurated two new hotels— the Mapple Exotica, on Chattarpur Mandir Road — and the Map-ple Emerald on National Highway — 8 for its Delhi clientele.

Mapple Emerald and Mapple Exotica comprise over forty ele-gantly designed rooms and suites set within world-class infrastruc-ture and amenities, offering breathtaking views of green vistas andtranquil surroundings. The commodious indoor halls have thecapacity to adapt to small groups of 50 or larger groups of 1000.Meanwhile, outdoor spaces of up to 36,500 sq ft allow you to com-fortably host events for a gathering of 2000 or more.

List of top cave destinations unveiled TRIPADVISOR RECENTLY announced the list of top cave desti-nations in India to consider for your next vacation. These comprisethe Ajanta Caves, Aurangabad (World Heritage Site); Ellora Caves,Aurangabad (World Heritage Site); Rock Shelters of Bhimbetka,Bhopal (World Heritage Site); Badami Cave Temples, Badami,Kanheri Caves, Mumbai; Borra Caves, Visakhapatnam, UdayagiriCaves; Bhubaneswar Edakkal Caves, Kalpetta, and Karla Caves,Lonavala. The top three caves — Ajanta, Ellora and Rock Sheltersof Bhimbetka — are also recognised by UNESCO as World Her-itage sites and a number of these monuments are protected sites bythe Archaeological Survey of India.

Slovenia Embassy appoints VFS GlobalTHE EMBASSY of the Republic of Slovenia in New Delhi, Indiaintroduced a new facility for collection of visa applications and

Trimbakeshwar on Ibis Nashik radar IN AN effort to provide a holistic experience of Nashik to its cus-tomers, Ibis Nashik will offer its customers visits to the Trim-bakeshwar temple and Sula Vineyards, inclusive with the accom-modation.

The objective of this service is to provide complete package ofvalue-added services to its customers to increase tourism in the city.This service is most suitable during long weekends, get away, shortvacations with family and friends and company off sights.

Speaking about the offer, Rohit Ahuja, General Manager of IbisNashik, said, “Our primary focus is to provide our guests with inter-national experience at a reasonable price, through our services.Nashik is a gifted city with culturally rich temples and alleys ofvineyards. Tourism in Nashik is growing at a fast pace every year.This along with increasing business set ups and manufacturing unitscoming up in MIDC gives us a great opportunity to service the busi-ness segments of the city.”

Ibis Nashik provides the best quality service and value for mon-ey. It offers maximum comfort, flawless service and a warm wel-come 24 hours a day, all at an unbeatable price. It is well-connected

LIVING A DREAM: A view of the luxurious Royal Phuket Marina


delivery process with the appointment of VFS Global. VFS Globalwill offer the new visa application services in Bengaluru, Chennai,Hyderabad, Kolkata, Mumbai and New Delhi.

The new service for Slovenian visas are offered at VFS Glob-al-operated Joint Visa Application Centres at Bengaluru, Chennai,Hyderabad, Kolkata, Mumbai and New Delhi.

VFS Global will be responsible only for accepting applicationsfor Slovenia visas from applicants residing in India. All applica-tions will continue to be assessed and processed by the Embassy ofthe Republic of Slovenia in New Delhi, India. The key features ofthese centres will be longer operating hours, dedicated website foreasy access, visa information including visa types, applicable feesand application status, professional and responsive staff dedicatedto handle visa queries, dedicated call centre unit and email support.

Offers Dubai Visa free: Dubai Visa Processing Centre(DVPC), a part of VFS Global, kick-started its promotional cam-paign for the upcoming holiday travel season with the launch of its‘Dubai Visa for Free’ offer. Emirates passengers can now get theirvisas virtually for free by applying with DVPC when flying toDubai or to onwards destinations transiting Dubai.

Upbeat about this campaign, Jervis D’Souza, Head, SpecialProjects-DVPC, VFS Global, said, “We are pleased to announceour new offer — ‘Dubai Visa for Free’, for the upcoming holidayseason. Travellers can now avail a host of additional benefits whenapplying for their Dubai visas through DVPC, equivalent to thecost of their visa charges.”

Citrus forays into North with Gurgaon hotel WITH THE start of the Citrus Gurgaon Central in Sector 29 ofGurgaon, Citrus Hotels & Resorts has made its foray into the NorthIndian market. The 46-room property has been taken on a longlease and is now fully operational.

Speaking about the launch, Kurian Varghese, General Manag-er-Travel Trade, Citrus Hotels, said, “The NCR region has a totalinventory of 22,900 Keys of which 75 per cent are accounted bythe organised sector. The organised segment in the region has17,550 keys in the pipeline over the next five years. According tothe Airports Authority of India, the highest number of air arrivalswas recorded in NCR (18.2 million) with the domestic arrivalsaccounting for 12.7 million and foreign arrivals 5.5 million. We

are, therefore quite confident,that Citrus will do well from thefirst year of operation. Being asmaller inventory hotel, wehave the advantage of choosingthe best price business.”

The Citrus Hotels GurgaonCentral property will havetrademark outlets like BISO (thecoffee shop), 60 ml (the bar)and is in the process of settingup SKYLIT, a rooftop restau-rant. The 46 well-appointedrooms are in the Superior,Deluxe, Premier and Suite cate-

gories. The key feature of the hotel is its meeting and conferenceroom, which are Citron 1 with the area of 1200 sq ft and Citron IIwith the area of 650 sq ft. Both of the conference halls are fullyequipped with high-speed Wi-Fi internet and LCD projector. Thehotel also has a swimming pool and a fitness centre.

Indian Hotels Company ups the anteTHE INDIAN Hotels Company Ltd recently announced that italong with Charme II Fund, an Italian Fund, had sent a letter toOrient-Express Hotels Ltd. “Orient-Express” is proposing topurchase all of the outstanding shares of Orient-Express’ Class.Indian Hotels’ and Charme II Funds’ proposal, which would createone of the world’s preeminent portfolios of luxury hotels andresorts, is valued at approximately $1.86 billion, including Orient-Express’ net debt. The all-cash offer represents a 40 per centpremium to Orient-Express’ closing stock price on October 17,2012, the last trading day prior to this announcement, a 45.2 percent premium to Orient-Express’ 10 trading day average of closingstock prices, and a premium to the 52-week closing high of $10.90per share. “Indian Hotels has great respect for Orient-Express andits collection of unique luxury hotel properties around the worldand we are very excited at the prospect of bringing our two greatcompanies and brands together,” said RK Krishna Kumar, ViceChairman of Indian Hotels. “We believe this premium all-cashoffer represents a compelling and immediate value proposition forOrient-Express’ shareholders and provides Orient-Express withaccess to the additional capital necessary to preserve its propertiesand heritage while potentially expanding its footprint.”

TAAI hosts Indian Travel Trade ExpoTHE TRAVEL Agents Association of India (TAAI) hosted theIndian Travel Trade Expo (ITTE) 2012 on October 22-23 at theTrident, Nariman Point, Mumbai. The expo brought together sevennodal travel and hospitality associations for a business sessiontitled ‘The United Voice — President’s Round Table’.

Participated in the session were the Presidents andRepresentatives of eminent associations. The confirmed list ofattendees includes the host Iqbal Mulla, President of TAAI; SarabjitSingh, President of ITTA; Subhash Verma, President of ADTOI;Subhash Goyal, President of IATO, Bharat Thakkar, President ofACAAI; and a representative from ETAA. Iqbal Mulla, Presidentof TAAI, said, “Over the years, ITTE has emerged as a strongnetworking platform for exhibitors to showcase its products andservices to its domestic and foreign counterparts. We want to makemaximum use of the opportunity that ITTE 2012 offers byproviding a multi-faceted exposure through interactive businesssessions and the travel trade awards.”

to Nashik’s industrial landscape where-in some of the leading national andinternational companies like Mahin-dra & Mahindra, Bosch, CEAT,ABB, Crompton Greaves, Siemens,Kirloskar, GlaxoSmithKline, Eatonare present.

VISITING THE DIVINE: The Trimbakeshwar temple in Maharashtra

EXPLORING NEW LAND: The CitrusHotels and Group entered northwith the Citrus Gurgaon Central

Passengers can take home some of the surplus herbs, whichare packaged in nice to-go containers. Until now, most of the pro-duce grown in O’Hare’s aeroponic garden was used exclusively bysome of the HMSHost airport restaurants, including Tortas Fron-tera by Rick Bayless, Blackhawks Restaurant, Wicker ParkSeafood and Sushi, and Tuscany.

“We are very excited to partner with HMSHost to offer thisunique ‘farm to table’ experience for travellers and employees at

O’Hare International Airport,” said CDA CommissionerRosemarie S. Andolino. “The O’Hare farmers’ market

supports our overall sustainability efforts by pro-viding fresh, delicious and healthy food options

that are produced locally. It also helps promoteChicago’s outstanding citywide farmers’ mar-ket programme, as well as local food compa-nies and products.”

Airport delays at this airport are notgoing to be reason for frustration any more

but will give travellers time for a one-of-its-kind experience. O’Hare has set the trend for

healthy airports and while Singapore has a gar-den in one of its terminals, let us see which airport

takes a step towards greenery? n

BACK PAGE

Airports generally may not have a good reputation forhelping in the reduction of CO2 emissions or satisfy-ing the health-conscious eater. But Chicago’s O’Hareairport has set new standards by transforming a 928-

sq-ft mezzanine area into high-tech aeroponic garden in Termi-nal 2, where 44 different types of organic herbs and vegetablesare grown.

The garden is a joint effort between the Chicago Department ofAviation (CDA) and HMSHost, a world leader in travel dining andshopping. Aeroponics is a method of growing plants in a water-and-mineral nutrient solution without soil. The method/technologyis becoming increasingly popular around the world as the growingconcrete blocks have left agriculture with very little space.The O’Hare garden provides year-round cultivationand can produce a higher yield per square foot,requires no weed pulling. In addition, the gardenuses about two-third less water.

What will sound music to health-consciouspassengers’ ear is the new farmers’ market atthe airport’s Terminal 3, located right belowthe O’Hare Urban Garden in the rotunda areanear the entrance to Concourse G. It offersfresh herbs including basil, coriander andthyme, which are all grown at the airport’s aero-ponic garden. A variety of other snack items isoffered at O’Hare’s farmers market including drycereal, trail mix, hummus plates and marinated olives.

FRIENDS OF NATURE: On September 16, 2011, Rosemarie S. Andolino,Commissioner, Chicago Department of Aviation (CDA) (left) and Elie W.Maalouf, President and CEO, HMSHost, cut the ribbon for the grand open-ing of the O’Hare Urban Garden, a unique, environmentally-friendly aero-ponic garden located in the mezzanine level of Terminal 3, G Concourse

HEAVEN OF HEALTH FREAKS :The Farmers’ Market at Terminal 3of Chicago o’Hare airport thatsells fresh herbs from the aero-ponic garden as well as healthysnacks

O’HARE GETS FRESH WITH

PASSENGERS


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