43 unused airports to be operationalised soon: Aviation Secy
In a move aimed at boosting the regional connectivity across the country, the Union Civil Aviation ministry today said that 43 unused airports would be operationalised within a year. “The main idea behind operationalising these 43 unused airports is to improve the connectivity to the hinterland. Proposals have already been received from 11 bidders who will put these airports into commercial operations,” Union Civil Aviation Secretary R N Choubey told reporters in South Goa. He was briefing media in presence of Union Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju after inaugurating the three-day workshop on indigenously developed software aiding to manage revenue in the sky. Choubey said at present their are 72 airports and addition of these 43 will change the scenario in the Indian skies. “It will take another 15-20 days to award the routes for the airlines, who will take somewhere between one to six months to start the operations at these newly inducted facilities,” he added. Fixing a rate cap for the fares at these newly inducted airports, the ministry has decided that flying to these facilities would not cost more than Rs 2,500 for an hour long flight. “These unused airports which are taken up for revival are evenly distributed across the country,” Choubey said adding, of these ten are in the Southern region. Choubey said that various initiatives taken up by the Ministry coupled with dip in the international oil prices has resulted in reduction of airfare by almost 30 per cent. Brooks Laich Jersey
Dabolim facility will not be shut down: Ashok Gajapathi Raju
The Union Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju today made it clear that the Dabolim facility would not be shut down after the commissioning of new greenfield airport at Mopa as it was required to handle the increasing number of passengers flying to the coastal state. “The national growth rate in the number of fliers is 20-odd per cent per year. The rate for Goa is above the national average at 30 per cent. If you interact with the passengers at Dabolim airport, you will know that the existing airport is congested,” Raju told reporters in South Goa here. The minister, who faced a volley of questions on possibility of closure of Dabolim airport after commissioning of Mopa facility, shot back stating “If this trend of 30 per cent growth continues, then Goa airport will be choked.” “Do you want Goa to choke or you want Goa to grow? I think that Goa should grow. If you are getting an opportunity to grow, then why not. Nobody is shutting down any airport,” said the minister. Raju said the new Mopa airport would be functional in three years, by May 2020. “Goa deserves another airport. The new airport is feasible, if it was not feasible why would the private party invest money?” he added. The minister further informed that the facilities at the existing Dabolim airport are being upgraded. “The existing Dabolim airport is owned by military but airport authority has civil enclave, airport authority is making investment close to Rs 300 crore including Rs 90 crore for taxi bay, which will decongest the runway. Nobody thought of ever shutting it down,” said the minister. Ishmaa’ily Kitchen Authentic Jersey
Domestic air traffic in Jan up 25% at 95.8 lakh passengers
The domestic airlines flew 95.79 lakh passengers in January this year, registering a growth of 25.13 per cent over the 76.55 lakh passengers flown during the same period previously. The latest data released by the Directorate-General of Civil Aviation shows that IndiGo carried the maximum number of passengers during the month at 38.09 lakh, followed by Jet Airways (14.84 lakh), with Air India in the number three spot with 13.5 lakh passengers. SpiceJet flew 12.29 lakh, while GoAir carried (7.88 lakh), Vistara (3.03 lakh) and AirAsia 2 .86 lakh passengers during January this year. SpiceJet, however, reported the highest Passenger Load Factor of 93.6 per cent, followed by GoAir (90.8 per cent) and IndiGo (90 per cent). The passenger load factor shows how many of the total seats on offer by each airline were getting filled SpiceJet also reported the highest On Time Performance at 71.6 per cent, followed by IndiGo 71.2 per cent and GoAir (60.6 per cent) at the four metro airports of Bengaluru, Delhi, Hyderabad and Mumbai. Stacy McGee Jersey
Airports body clears parallel taxiway second phase at Mangaluru airport
Airports Authority of India (AAI) has approved the construction of the second phase of the part-parallel taxiway at Mangaluru International Airport. The AAI has placed the work order, amounting to ?98 crore, to PBI Construction Company. JT Radhakrishna, Airport Director, Mangaluru International Airport, said that the works on the second phase of the parallel taxiway are likely to be completed in 30 months. The first phase of 1,200-metre stretch of the taxiway has already been completed. On starting operation on that taxiway, he said they are waiting for the clearance from DGCA (Directorate General of Civil Aviation) for this. In the second phase, the taxiway will be extended by another 1,200 metres. He said that the additional taxiway helps in the long run when the number of flights increases in the airport. It is very important for the movement of flights on the ground, he said. Taxiway is the stretch or the track that connects the runway with the apron (parking lot for aircraft) in the terminal building. With the construction of the parallel taxiway, aircraft could move from the parking stand, wait in the additional taxiway and enter the runway for take-off immediately after the plane that has landed exits the runway. Andrej Sekera Jersey
Regional air connectivity to bring down cost of flying to Rs 2,500 an hour: Sinha
The regional air connectivity scheme, UDAN, will see the number of operational airports in the country shoot up by over 50, while the cost of travelling will come down to as low as Rs. 2,500 up to an hour of journey (via air). According to Jayant Sinha, Union Minister of State for Civil Aviation, there are 75 operational small airports in the country and this number will increase to “over 125” with the successful implementation of UDAN (acronym for Ude Desh ka Aam Nagrik) – the new scheme through which the government hopes to make flying to Tier-II and III cities viable. “We are building new airports, adding new terminals. We are improving the efficiency of existing terminals. The regional connectivity scheme will see us go from 75 operational airports to over 125,” the minister told BusinessLine on the sidelines of the Momentum Jharkhand Global Investors’ Summit. “We have significantly stepped up investments in airports,” he added, pointing out that Jamshedpur was one such region that was proposed to be connected through UDAN. Drawing a reference to Jharkhand, the minister said “in a year or two” the Centre will be able to connect all major cities of the state. “Our goal is to provide connectivity to all of India’s major cities,” the minister maintained. Affordable pricing With traffic growing by over 20 per cent, there will obviously be “capacity constraints” but the Centre is taking all possible actions to ensure decongestion and utilisation of existing capacities. According to Sinha, the cost of flying is coming down because of technology. And if oil prices remain at “reasonable levels’, it would be one of the cheapest modes of transport after Railways. “Viability gap funding will enable us to offer seats at Rs. 2,500 up to an hour of flight. So it will be very affordable,” he said. Private airliners, Sinha maintained, will obviously take a call on the routes depending on commercial viability. And the introduction of viability gap funding will only boost connectivity, making many more routes viable. Tech Disruption Disruption in mass transport is also on the cards with companies such as Hyperloop proposing new-age rapid transit options. Asked whether such proposals might lead to disruptions in regional air connectivity schemes, Sinha said these technologies are still “futuristic” and yet to see “mass adoption”. “These are futuristic technologies that (are) decades away from being adopted in the mass market. We welcome innovations and new futuristic technologies. But regional connectivity will be available very soon,” he added. Johnny Hekker Authentic Jersey
Lufthansa bets on India growth; to boost ties with Jet Airways
Bullish on Indian market, European airliner group Lufthansa plans to enhance bilateral ties with Jet Airways for increased connectivity to new cities and launch flight from Brussels to Mumbai next month. Lufthansa Group, which operates 60 flights to and from India per week, has recently introduced the fuel-efficient A350-900 aircraft on Munich-Delhi route. “We are also looking to intensify the bilateral relationship between Jet Airways and Lufthansa,” Chairman of the Executive Board and CEO of Deutsche Lufthansa AG Carsten Spohr today said. Already, Lufthansa and Jet Airways operate code share flights on certain routes and this collaboration is likely to be expanded further. Code share allows an airline to book its passengers for destination where it does not fly through a partner carrier. Recently, the European major had expanded its partnership with Gulf carrier Etihad Airways — which is a strategic partner of Jet Airways. All the three carriers have significant presence in the European market. “We have some code share going with Jet Airways. We would like to intensify and may be enlarge our portfolio of code share… That means flights to second tier cities which we are not operating directly could be destinations where we cooperate in terms of code share,” Senior Director (South Asia) at Lufthansa Group Wolfgang Will said at a press meet. He also noted code share has been a healthy component in their services. Soon, Lufthansa would be introducing the A350-900 plane on Munich-Mumbai route apart from increasing the frequencies of its services between Pune and Frankfurt. “The services between Brussels and Mumbai would start by end of March,” he noted. Besides, the group would be naming one of its big aircraft flying to India as ‘Delhi’. “This shows the importance of Delhi as a hub and India as a market to us,” Spohr said. Meanwhile, the Airbus 350-900 plane has been configured to seat 293 passengers, including 224 in Economy Class. This aircraft consumes 25 per cent less fuel, emits 25 per cent less carbon dioxide and generates 50 per cent less noise. In the Asia-Pacific, Lufthansa Group flies to 18 destinations in eight countries, operating 249 weekly flights from this region to Europe. Davante Adams Jersey
HAL to invest about Rs 17,500 cr over 5 to 6 years
Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd today said its overall investment over the next five to six years is expected to be about Rs 17,500 crore, and it may go for loans from banks soon to fund its projects. The company also said it has contributed over Rs 5000 crore to the government exchequer through the buyback option. “…we will be happy if we get more funds, but we will present the case. Not waiting for two or three years till CCS sanctions to meet the current expectations and requirements, we are funding from our own reserves,” HAL Chairman and Managing Director T Suvarna Raju told reporters. Responding to a question at the Aero India 2017 air show here, he said “you may watch during the month of March, maybe we are going to take loan from the banks for our projects.” “Overall expected investment as of now, approximately is Rs 17,500 crore, spread over five to six years,” he added. On disinvestment activity of the company based on the government approval of 10 per cent of the shareholding in 2013, Raju said progress has been made in this regard with the identification of Book Running Lead Managers and preparation of draft red herring prospectus. Necessary documents are in place. “…10 per cent of the equity capital that is 3.615 crore of equity at the face value of Rs 10 would be considered for the IPO, the valuation will be done by the BRLMS and the other financial experts. We are awaiting for the valuations from them,” a senior company official added. Responding to a question about when the company will be filing red herring prospectus with SEBI, Raju said by the end of this financial year. Raju also said the option of buyback of 25 per cent of share capital and reserves of the company has been executed through which the company has contributed over Rs 5000 crore to the government exchequer. “During 2015-16 twelve crore five lakh shares have been offered for buyback amounting to Rs 4,284 crore apart from Rs 981 crore as buyback plan, in all amounting to Rs 5,265 crore. This is what we have paid back to the government by offering 25 per cent of the equity capital,” a company official said. Speaking about the financial performance of the company for 2015-16, Raju said it recorded the highest ever turnover of Rs 16,736 crore and registered a growth of 7.14 per cent compared with the previous year. He said the profit before tax of the company for the year was Rs 3288 crore, adding, against the target turnover of Rs 17,100 crore at the end of January 2017, the company has achieved sales of Rs 10,086 crore with a healthy profit of Rs 1,621 crore. T. J. Watt Womens Jersey
Lufthansa has no plans to buy equity in Indian carriers, says CEO Spohr
German airline Lufthansa will soon start operating the Airbus A-350, the latest aircraft in its fleet, between Mumbai and Munich, Carsten Spohr, Chairman of the Executive Board and Chief Executive Officer, Lufthansa Group said on Wednesday. On February 11 this year, Delhi became the first destination in Lufthansa’s global network to which the A-350 was deployed when its maiden flight landed from Munich. The Airbus A-350 is considered one of the most modern long-haul aircraft as its average jet fuel consumption of 2.9 litres per passenger per 100 km means 25 per cent less fuel than any other comparable aircraft type, airline officials said. Addressing a press conference here, Spohr also announced that Brussels Airlines will start operating between Brussels and Mumbai. Lufthansa recently acquired stake in Brussels Airlines. Besides, Lufthansa will also christen one of its Airbus A-380 aircraft ‘Delhi’ and increase the frequency of flights between Pune and Germany, Spohr announced. The start of the Brussels Airlines flight to Mumbai and the naming of the Airbus A-380 after Delhi are expected in March this year. “The first thing that we do after buying Brussels Airlines is to help them fly to India,” Spohr announced, adding that naming one of the few Airbus A-380s that Lufthansa has as ‘Delhi’ points to the Capital as a hub and India as a market for the airline. “At this point we are not approaching any other airline to enter the Star Alliance,” the CEO said in response to a question on whether he would be talking to any Indian airline about handholding it to enter the Star Alliance, adding that he would be meeting with his counterpart in AI on Thursday to look at ways of “intensifying” the Indian carrier’s membership in the Alliance. The CEO ruled out the Lufthansa Group buying equity in an Indian airline saying that the focus of the German company was on airlines in Europe and that this would continue. Asked whether the recent three-year tie-up finalised between Etihad and Lufthansa will impact the Indian market, Spohr said, “Etihad group is an investor in Jet Airways so when we look to intensify our cooperation with Etihad we will also look to enhancing the bilateral relationship between Jet Airways and Lufthansa, which already exists but could offer room for more.” Spohr also announced that Lufthansa’s recently launched international low-cost airline will operate to India. Although he declined to specify by when this would happen, he did indicate the possibility of the low-cost airline looking at flights between Germany and Goa. “Germans love to go to Goa. There is no direct service. So we can look at these kinds of destinations,” he said. Lawson Crouse Jersey
Business aircraft operators air their concerns over UDAN
Business aircraft operators addressed their concerns over the Centre’s Regional Connectivity Scheme to the executive director of Airports Authority of India (AAI) at the BizAV India 2017 conference organised by Business Aviation Operators Association (BAOA), here on Monday. The scheme, also known as Ude Desh Ka Aam Nagrik (UDAN) intends to boost air connectivity to underserved or unserved airports in the country and increase accessibility to air travel. Rohit Kapur, managing director of Arrow Aircraft Sales and Charters said that while the policy was good, the implementation is falling short of expectations. “We needed a policy which would allow non-scheduled operators’ transition seamlessly into scheduled flight operators. But, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has placed several entry barriers.” He pointed out that several single-engine aircraft were serving low-traffic routes in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan but the draft civil aviation requirements formed by DGCA say that only twin-engine aircraft can be used for scheduled flights. G K Chaukiyal, executive director (Project Monitoring and Quality Assurance) in AAI, said that work on the scheme was in full swing and changes are being made based on concerns of stakeholders. The civil aviation ministry is in discussions over the issues Kapur raised, he said. Kevin Hogan Womens Jersey
Airfares crash post demonetisation; passengers up 22% in November, December 2016
Airlines have seen as much as a 35% decline in average domestic fares in the three months through January, as demonetisation took away their pricing power at a time when they were also adding capacity. Data compiled by Yatra.com, India’s second largest online travel portal, show average domestic fares from November 1, 2016 to January 31 this year declined on key domestic routes compared with a year earlier (see chart). Scrapping of the Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 banknotes, announced by the Prime Minister on November 8, drained out more than 85% of the total cash in circulation. Consumers limited spending as replenishing of cash in ATMs and banks moved at a slow pace, crippling demand for everything from soaps and packaged food to automobiles and real estate. The weak sentiment, airlines said, rubbed off on their performance. IndiGo, the local market leader, blamed the “impact on consumer spending and behaviour” from demonetisation for the fall in fares. “The monetisation policy went into effect on November 8 and for the full month of November, our yields were down 20% and in December our yields were down 17%,” IndiGo chief financial officer Rohit Philip said during the company’s earnings call on January 31. The situation, though, is improving. In January, the yield decline was smaller at about 10%. “Based on the January 2017 yield forecast, we are hopeful that the effects of demonetisation are largely behind us,” Philip had said. SpiceJetBSE -5.91 % chairman Ajay Singh said discretionary travel went down post demonetisation, hurting international business that accounted for about a quarter of the airline’s revenue. Airline is an industry where digital payments had already become somewhat a norm even before demonetisation — the government cites promotion of cashless payments as one of the objectives of the note-recall. Many expected this would insulate the industry from demonetisation effect. But lastminute travel, where a chunk of payments was still in cash, took a hit as a result of liquidity crunch, hurting the pricing power of airlines, said experts. “Our pricing power was gone, may be, because a lot of last-minute ticket bookers – corporate travellers including from small and medium enterprises – postponed or cancelled their travel,” said a senior executive at a full-service carrier, who didn’t want to be identified. The executive, too, reported an improvement in January, after “a sharp dip in average fares during November and December”. Travel industry insiders see another reason for the impact on fares. Airlines added capacity in recent months, which led to a demand-supply mismatch. “We believe that declining average fares are driven more by the capacity addition by airlines. The number of domestic passengers has increased by a very healthy 23% over last year despite demonetisation, which means it never had a major impact on the aviation sector,” said Sharat Dhall, chief operating officer (B2C), at Yatra.com. Notably, the number of air passengers grew in double digits despite the note ban, by 22.45% and 23.91% in November and December, respectively. These two months are the peak months for the industry in India. Justin Blackmon Jersey