IndiGo sets up subsidiary for airport services
InterGlobe Aviation today said it has set up a wholly-owned subsidiary for airport services. The subsidiary, Agile Airport Services Pvt Ltd, has a paid-up capital of Rs 1 lakh. In a regulatory filing, InterGlobe Aviation said Agile was incorporated as a wholly-owned subsidiary on February 14 and “is yet to commence its business”. InterGlobe is the parent of no-frills carrier IndiGo. In a separate filing, Jet Airways said it has set up the subsidiary Airjet Ground Services Ltd (AGSL) having a paid-up capital of Rs 50 lakh. It has been incorporated “as a wholly-owned subsidiary of the company for providing airline support services,” the carrier said in a regulatory filing today. The subsidiary is yet to start operations, the filing added. Customer Service Jersey
Eyeing regional connectivity, Alliance Air plans to triple its fleet
Alliance Air, the regional arm of Air India, plans to triple its fleet this fiscal by inducting 20 more ATR aircraft amid an increased focus on enhancing connectivity to underserved and unserved airports. Over the next two years, Alliance Air aims to expand its fleet to 50 ATR aeroplanes, Air India CMD Ashwani Lohani said. “We will induct 10 ATR 72-600 planes in September. We plan to lease another 10 ATR aircraft within this financial year. In the following year, we hope to procure another 10 to 20 ATRs,” he said. The 10 new ATRs are being procured on lease for 12 years. At present, the Air India subsidiary has a fleet of eight ATR 72-600 (70 seater) and two ATR 42-320 (48 seater) aircraft. Alliance Air has recently been awarded 15 of the 128 routes under the Centre’s regional connectivity scheme, Ude Desh ka Aam Naagrik (UDAN), wherein fares are capped at Rs 2,500 for one-hour flights and airlines are extended viability gap funding by the government. However, the Air India subsidiary will not be restricted to merely the routes awarded to it and will be flying additional ones to improve connectivity to smaller cities. “We will be operating flights to enhance regional connectivity, and (only) some of them will be part of UDAN. We are very aggressive about this,” Lohani said while interacting with mediapersons. Air India is also procuring a new ATR 72-600 simulator, which will be operational in October, in order to train pilots for flying the new aircraft. This will replace the Airbus A320 simulator at AI’s Central Training Establishment in Hyderabad. “So far, Alliance Air has been sending its pilots for training to Toulouse, Singapore and Bangkok. This is a costly and time consuming exercise. These pilots can now train at our facility in Hyderabad,” Captain Amitabh Singh, Executive Director (Training), Air India told PTI. Alliance Air, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Air India, currently provides flight services to 34 tier-two and tier-three cities via Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai, Bengaluru and Hyderabad. Evgeny Svechnikov Womens Jersey
SpiceJet Awarded Six Routes Under Regional Connectivity Scheme
SpiceJet, the country’s favourite low-cost carrier, was today awarded 6 proposals and 11 routes under the first phase of the Government of India’s UDAN Regional Connectivity Scheme, the airline said. Out of the six finalised proposals, four will be to Adampur, Kandla, Pondicherry and Jaisalmer whereas two will be for underserved markets of Porbandar and Kanpur. Under the UDAAN scheme, airlines will get a subsidy of a few thousand rupees per passenger depending on the length of the route. The scheme is meant to help connect poorly connected cities. SpiceJet will be serving 6 airports by operating flights on the routes of Adampur–Delhi-Adampur, Kandla–Mumbai-Kandla, Pondicherry–Hyderabad-Pondicherry, Mumbai-Porbandar, Jaisalmer– Jaipur-Jaisalmer and Kanpur– Delhi-Kanpur. Under the scheme, SpiceJet has three years exclusivity on the routes which makes it the only airline to operate on these sectors. Shawn Williams Jersey
Russia Gains Advantage as India’s Aviation Sector Accelerates
India’s emergence as the third largest aviation market in terms of domestic passenger traffic overtaking Japan and now just behind China and the US comes as an opportunity for major aircraft manufacturers, including Russia’s United Aircraft Corporation, which recently expressed its desire to localise some of its production line in India with its local partner Mahindra Aerospace. In its latest report, the Sydney-based think tank Capa – Centre of Aviation said that India with 100 million domestic air passenger traffic in 2016 stood behind only China (436 million) and the US (719 million). India beat Japan (97 million) and claimed third spot for itself. Not only that, India is expected to become the third largest aviation market (both domestic and international passenger traffic) by March next year overtaking the UK, according to Capa. India was projected to emerge as the third largest aviation market by 2020. Mike Pouncey Womens Jersey
MRO Facilities for Aviation Sector
Adequate facilities for maintenance and repair of planes are available in the country. However, for overhaul, only limited facility is available. Therefore, operators are taking their planes to other countries for overhaul. There are 110 Maintenance, Repair & Overhaul (MRO’s) approved in India, of which only 7 are capable of carrying out overhaul of planes. To increase the business potential, employment generation and foreign exchange earning of the country, following provisions have been made in the Budget announcements for 2016-17:- i) The tools and tool-kits used by the MRO have been exempted from Customs duty. The exemption shall be given on the basis of list the tools and tool kits certified by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) approved Quality Managers of aircraft maintenance organisations. ii) MROs were required to provide proof of their requirements of parts, or orders from their client airlines. The process for the clearance of the parts has been brought in line with that of the tool kits for a one time certification by DGCA approved Quality Managers in MRO’s. Steve Young Authentic Jersey
Flying made easy for common man: Aviation Minister awards 128 routes under UDAN; here’s all you need to know!
Fulfulling Narendra Modi’s vision of regional connectivity, Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju on Thursday awarded 128 routes to a total of five operators under UDAN wherein fares are capped at Rs 2,500 for one-hour flights. “UDAN network will cover the whole country, giving a major economic boost to hinterland areas,” the minister said. He also added that UDAN will have a positive effect on the economy, in terms of employment and investment. Further, chalking out the details of the scheme, MoS Aviation Jayant Sinha said that the first flight under Regional Connectivity Scheme will take place in April. “Criteria on the basis of which airlines were selected was the extent of VGF – viability gap funding – demanded by them. UDAN will stimulate the growth of regional aviation market in India,” he added. Here’s all about the scheme: 1) Over 45 unserved and under-served airports would be connected under the scheme — UDAN (Ude Desh ka Aam Naagrik) that seeks to make flying more affordable. 2) The operators are Air India subsidiary Airline Allied Services, SpiceJet, Air Deccan, Air Odisha and Turbo Megha. They would be operating 19-78 seater aircraft. 3) The airports that would be connected under UDAN include Bhatinda, Puducherry and Shimla. 4) On each flight, 50 per cent of the seats would have a cap of Rs 2,500 per seat/hour, Civil Aviation Secretary R N Choubey said. Under UDAN, the operators would be extended viability gap funding. 5) The amount is estimated to be around Rs 205 crore per annum for the operators chosen in the first round of bidding, Choubey added. Minister of State for Civil Aviation Jayant Sinha said the scheme provides for various benefits including no airport charges and three-year exclusivity on the routes. Craig Mager Authentic Jersey
Govt mulls second airports at cities where primary airports are saturating
The Modi government will start work on a plan to build second airports at all airports, where the primary airports have saturated or reaching saturation, a government official announced at an ET event. “That is a very valid suggestion. We are thinking about it, as Airports Authority of India (AAI) has its hands full. The management of Ahmedabad and Jaipur airports are being awarded under public-private partnership (PPP). The line of thinking is there but nothing is concrete as of now,” Anil Srivastava, joint secretary, civil aviation ministry told at a panel discussion at Economic Times Global Business Summit. Srivastava’s response was to a question by panel moderator Amber Dubey, head of aviation and aerospace at KPMG. Apart from Srivastava and Dubey, the panel constituted Ashwani Lohani, CMD, Air India, Rajiv Jain, CEO, Mumbai International Airport Ltd (MIAL), Kapil Kaul, CEO and Director at Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation, Palash Roychowdhury, Managing Director, Pratt & Whitney (P&W), Ajay Mehra, Managing Director, Airbus and K S Kunwar, Director General, Air Cargo Forum India. The panel discussed ‘Regional connectivity and affordable airline solutions’ and suggestions ranged on making the regional connectivity scheme simplified and developing secondary airports to make the scheme successful. “If we plan to go to take regional connectivity to the hinterland of this country, we will have to reduce costs,” said Air India CMD Lohani. P&W’s Roychowdhury also says that the focus should be on keeping ‘lower cost, cost and cost.’ “Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS) will be a game changer but needs to be simplified. The payment of subsidy should be on per flying hour basis rather than per seat basis,” Lohani added. The government had, in June last year, announced a new aviation policy that aimed at providing regional connectivity in the country. The programme, Ude Desh ka Aam Nagrik (UDAN), offers carriers cash subsidies for selling up to 40 seats at Rs 2,500 for each hour of flight. About eleven airlines, including AI, have bid to connect 43 regional airports in the country in the first phase. The winners will be announced on Thursday. MIAL CEO Jain also feels that developing airport infrastructure is a minimum requirement for this scheme to turn successful. “There are five regional routes out of Maharashtra – 5 into Mumbai and one each into Pune and Hyderabad – all three are congested airports. Secondary airports, away from larger airports, should be created and treated as hubs for regional flights,” said Jain. However, aviation industry insiders like Kaul and Mehra expect a lot of hurdles in the scheme becoming a success. “The government has both opportunity and challenge at hand. Bids have to be careful or we may see bid failure. The government also needs to expedite the regulatory approval process from the aviation safety regulator like DGCA and security regulator like BCAS. We may have an army of airline failures over 6 to 12 months (post the start of regional connectivity scheme),” said Kapil Kaul, CEO at CAPA. Airbus’ Mehra also says it will be difficult for regional airlines to lease planes. “Leasing companies may not look at leasing to commuter or regional airlines,” said Mehra. Sammie Coates Authentic Jersey
Qatar Air chief bets on PM Modi, accelerates India push with 100 jets order
Qatar Airways Ltd. may order 100 new jetliners before the end of this year to power its push into India and also plans to announce two new routes to the U.K. even as the country prepares to exit the European Union, Chief Executive Officer Akbar Al Baker said. The Persian Gulf carrier is confident that a new aviation policy mapped out by “futuristic” Prime Minister Narendra Modi will permit 100% foreign ownership of a domestic airline, Al Baker said Monday in London. Qatar Airways is briefing lawyers in India and will seek formally to establish the new airline soon, with a tender for aircraft to follow. “It could be this year,” the CEO told journalists after addressing the Qatar-U.K. Business and Investment Forum. “It depends how fast we can arrange our application.” Al Baker revealed last month that he planned to set up an Indian carrier with a fleet of 100 narrow-body jets, breaking into a fast-growing market where local rules previously prevented full ownership by foreign airlines. He said at the time that the Qatar Investment Authority could fund the venture, leaving Qatar Air to run it, though it’s not clear whether such an arrangement would avoid the curb. Qatar Air is targeting an Indian foothold after Etihad Airways of Abu Dhabi took a 24 percent stake in Jet Airways India Ltd. Leading Asian carriers Singapore Airlines Ltd. and AirAsia Bhd. also have 49 percent holdings in affiliates in the subcontinent, though no foreign operator has been able to acquire full control. UK growth Al Baker sought to use QIA to secure a position in discount specialist Indigo during its initial public offering, but the fund failed to gain the required approvals in time. Qatar Air’s expansion plans elsewhere include the addition of two new routes to Britain, the CEO said at the investment event. The carrier already offers 72 weekly services to the U.K., where it serves London’s Heathrow hub as well as Manchester and Birmingham in England and Edinburgh in Scotland. Al Baker said his company accepts that a ban on passengers carrying large electronic devices aboard U.S.-bound flights from a clutch of Mideast and African nations including Qatar is a “security decision,” adding that it’s too early to say if the measures will hurt business. “I don’t think it is targeted at Gulf airlines,” he said. “It is a decision made by the United States that we as an operator have to follow. We have to comply and make sure that we don’t cause any inconvenience to our passengers.” Qatar Air customers bound for the U.S. are required to surrender their laptops and other equipment when passing through security screening, unlike those at Dubai-based Emirates, who can hang on to them until the gate. Qatar Air doesn’t plan to hand out loaner devices in the cabin, something Emirates President Tim Clark has said may be an option. “We don’t want to do anything that will violate the directions we have received,” Al Baker said. Ozzie Smith Jersey
Government, airlines discuss UDAN, Delhi airport terminal issues
Airlines today held detailed discussions with Civil Aviation Ministers and senior ministry officials about the regional connectivity scheme and issues pertaining to terminals for carriers at the Delhi airport. Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju and his junior Jayant Sinha as well as Civil Aviation Secretary R N Choubey and other officials were part of the meeting. Air India CMD Ashwani Lohani, SpiceJet CMD Ajay Singh, GoAir Managing Director and CEO Wolfgang Prock-Schauer, IndiGo President and Whole Time Director Aditya Ghosh as well as representative from Jet Airways were among those in attendance. Choubey said RCS (regional connectivity scheme) and issues related to terminal 2 of the Delhi airport were discussed during the meeting with the airline officials. Earlier this year, Delhi airport operator had asked no- frills carriers — IndiGo, SpiceJet and GoAir — were asked to shift some of their operations to terminal 2 from terminal 1D. However, differences have been persisting over the matter between the airlines and the airport operator. About the issues pertaining to terminal 2, Choubey said several rounds of discussions have happened. “We are taking the process forward… Today, there was one more round of discussions,” he said without providing specific details. Before taking a decision, the requirements of the airlines, airport and the passengers have to be kept in mind and those requirements have to be matched, Choubey noted. After the meeting, Minister of State for Civil Aviation Jayant Sinha said, “we have to find a way to use the two terminals at the Delhi airport…. We are trying our best on how to find a pathway taking into account the Delhi airport’s master plan”. Meanwhile, to provide connectivity to unserved and under-served airports as well as make flying more affordable, the government has unveiled the ambitious regional connectivity scheme (UDAN) — Ude Desh Ka Aam Naagrik. n order to provide viability gap funding under the scheme, a levy of up to Rs 8,500 is being levied for every flight on major routes. However, airlines had raised concerns about the levy and have also challenged it. The government is expected to soon announce the routes and the operators selected under UDAN scheme. Prior to the meeting with the ministers, Choubey had little over an hour-long meeting with officials of airlines and airport operators. Grady Jarrett Womens Jersey
India becomes third largest aviation market in domestic traffic
India has become the third largest aviation market in terms of domestic passenger traffic, beating Japan, an industry report has said. India’s domestic air passenger traffic stood at 100 million in 2016 and was behind only the US (719 million) and China (436 million), Sydney-based aviation think-tank Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation (CAPA) said in its latest report. India acquired the third spot globally by unseating Japan, which flew 97 million domestic passengers in 2016, CAPA said. Domestic air traffic has shown a consistent growth of 20-25 per cent throughout 2015 and 2016, peaking in January this year at 25.13 per cent. However, the domestic travel demand rose 16 per cent in February this year, ending the long streak of over 20 per cent. According to CAPA, India which enjoyed the fourth position in terms of overall air passenger traffic (both domestic and international) along with the UK, has also inched closer to becoming the third largest one by March next year. “India will become the third largest market 2-3 years ahead of what was projected. This is because the growth has been much higher,” Kapil Kaul, head of CAPA India, said. Japan, which flew 141 million passengers in 2016, was ahead of India whose total air passenger traffic was 131 million in the previous year, as per CAPA. United States with 815 million passengers in 2016 enjoyed the top position, followed by China with 490 million, according to the report. “While we will reach the third spot for both domestic and international air travel ahead of the projected period, we will remain at that position for a very long time because it will not be easy to surpass China and the US,” Kaul said. Cody Bellinger Authentic Jersey