Airport row: BJP chief blames State govt.
Bharatiya Janata Party State president Kummanam Rajasekharan has said the KGS Aranmula Airport Company has been “misusing” the in-principle clearance given to it by the State government in 2011 for repeatedly seeking Central clearance for the airport project. Talking to The Hindu from Delhi over the phone, Mr. Rajasekharan said he met Union Minister for Environment, Forests, and Climate Change Anil Madhav Dave on Wednesday afternoon and apprised him of the people’s concern over the new development. Mr. Rajasekharan said the Union Minister, who himself is a staunch environmentalist, assured him that the government would not give any clearance for the controversial airport project at Aranmula.He said the ToR had been issued by a nine-member committee solely on the basis of the entries given by the applicant in the pro forma submitted for the same. He said KGS had been repeatedly submitting fresh application before the EAC, citing the State government’s clearance and the industrial area notification issued in favour of the proposed airport by the State government. Dale Weise Authentic Jersey
Air India turns to Narendra Modi govt for more help; Centre says meet targets
The government has assured Air India of financial and other assistance urging the carrier to meet the targets spelt out in the new turnaround plan. The state-owned airline must improve on time performance (OTP), passenger load factor (PLF), capacity growth and monetise assets. Air India chairman and managing director Aswani Lohani is understood to have asked the government to waive the guarantee fee charged to secure the airline’s loans and bonds. The airline also wants the government to provide for the shortfall in equity, support in the recovery of the dues for services provided to the VIPs and conversion of the long-term loans into equity. The carrier is also believed to have requested for a rationalisation of the cost structure at the airports. Top government officials in an oversight committee meeting with executives of the state-run airline Air India took stock of the financial recovery and operational improvement of the airline under the existing turn around plan (TAP). Jodie Meeks Jersey
Govt won’t interfere in fixing airfares
The government has ruled out interfering in fixing airfares fearing litigation by foreign airlines, but a Parliamentary panel wants it to take steps to ensure that the public is protected from predatory pricing. The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Transport, Tourism and Culture has rejected the contentions of the Ministry of Civil Aviation for not interfering in ensuring that airfares do not hit the skies. In the report tabled in Parliament on Wednesday, the panel, headed by Trinamool Congress MP K D Singh, said that it was not satisfied with the response of the Ministry on dealing with high airfare. To the recommendation to tackle “exorbitant” fare from Kerala airports to Gulf sector, the ministry had said that it does not normally interfere in the commercial aspects of airlines. “In case Indian carriers operating in Gulf sector are asked to provide much lower fare for Indian citizens, the issue may translate into discriminatory or predatory pricing practices and invite litigation by foreign carriers. Also, the issue of international operations by domestic airlines is covered under bilateral agreements,” the ministry said. Nick Easton Womens Jersey
Fares dip as 3 airlines shower discounts
Air fares have started to dip as domestic carriers have started a fare war to lure travellers in the lean season for the next three months. Air India, SpiceJet, and Indigo have come out with discounts on select domestic routes. The offer fares range from 960 to 2,500 for most of the popular routes like Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Visakhapatnam, Kochi, and Thiruvananthapuram. Though the offers are for limited seats, the discounts announced one after the other has led to lowering of air fare on most of the routes. From Chennai, flying to Bengaluru has become cheaper, if booked in advance, than travelling by train on higher class because the three airlines is offering discounted fares of 399, 970 and 1,199. The low-fare offers, some of them excluding taxes, have led to a general dip in fares. Fares for travel on days in mid-August to last week of the month hover in the range of 2,300-4,000 to Mumbai; 1,800-4,000 to Hyderabad; and 976-2,500 to Bengaluru. Fares to Coimbatore, Kochi, and Thiruvananthapuram start from 1,500 to 1,800. Trumaine Johnson Jersey
Air Costa may sell 26% stake to Qatar Airways
Air Costa, the Vijayawada based airline, is in talks with Qatar Airways for an equity tie up. Sources in the regional airline told BusinessLine that even as Air Costa suspended its operations for a day early this month, its top management was in Doha in Qatar to negotiate the deal. The airline resumed operations after it restructured its leasing terms with its lessor, GECAS (GE Capital Aviation Services). It had earlier leased its two 78-seater E170s from Embraer itself. Air Costa is promoted by the LEPL Group, which has interests ranging from real estate to power plants. A spokesperson for the company refused to comment on the developments. Sources said that Air Costa is willing to sell 26 per cent equity to the foreign airline but is expected to shed a higher stake if it is able to get more funds. Last year, it was in talks with a couple of foreign investors to sell 26 per cent stake to raise Rs. 350 crore. It has placed orders for 50 new E190s worth $ 2.94 billion which are expected to start arriving from 2018. Air Costa now has three 110 seater E190 Embraers and flies to nine destinations. It operates 35 flights daily and has already flown over 1 million passengers. By 2018, it plans to have a total fleet size of 12 aircraft and fly to 18 stations. Qatar Airways, a state-owned airline based out of Doha, has been in talks with several foreign airlines for similar tie ups to put together a network of international alliances. It has a fleet size of over 180 aircraft and flies to more than 150 destinations globally. According to its web site, Qatar Airways operates to 13 cities in India with over 100 weekly flights and has been in talks with a few Indian airlines for an alliance. With Air Costa set to receive its pan India licence, Qatar has been keen on coming on board the airline, sources in the Vijayawada-based airline said. At one point of time, Qatar Airways was learnt to be in talks with Kingfisher Airlines but the talks fizzled out after the Indian carrier folded up. As per the civil aviation policy, foreign airlines can pick up 49 per cent stake in an Indian carrier. If they want a higher stake, they can join hands with foreign funds and portfolio investors to cross the 49 per cent barrier. Trent Williams Authentic Jersey
Passenger footfalls surge in Andhra Pradesh airports
All four airports of Andhra Pradesh located in Vizag, Vijayawada, Tirupati and Rajahmundry have registered a surge in passenger footfalls during the first quarter of 2016-17. Visakhapatnam Airport continues to be the leader among the four airports in terms of passenger traffic in the state, while Rajahmundry Airport registered the highest growth rate of 73.7 per cent in the first quarter of the current fiscal. As many as 5.48 lakh passengers used the Visakhapatnam Airport during the first quarter of this fiscal as against 3.9 lakh during the same period last year, thus recording an increase of 40.3%. With a spurt in air traffic, Visakhapatnam Airport has outscored Bhubaneswar Airport in terms of passenger footfalls during the first quarter. Bhubaneswar handled 5.01 lakh passengers as against the 5.48 lakh of Visakhapatnam Airport in the current fiscal, whereas in the previous fiscal, Bhubaneswar had handled 4.45 lakh passengers as against 3.90 lakh at Visakhapatnam Airport. Bryan Anger Jersey
Writ will not lie against foreign airlines: HC
Travel agents cannot file writ petitions against airline companies, especially if they happen to be foreign airlines, seeking a direction to issue air tickets without demanding additional charges, the Madras High Court Bench here has held. Justice M. Venugopal passed the order while dismissing a writ petition filed by Ameer Travels of Tiruchi seeking a direction to Sri Lankan Airlines to confirm tickets for 249 Haj pilgrims from Tiruchi to Saudi Arabia between August 16 and September 5. The judge agreed with the airlines that the writ petition was not maintainable since a writ could be issued only against a State within the ambit of Article 12 of the Constitution and the airlines, incorporated under the laws of Sri Lanka, would not fall under the definition of State. The counsel for the airlines pointed out that 99.11 per cent of its shares were held by the Government of Sri Lanka and it was not a statutory body in India or an instrumentality of the government or an agency of the State to be compelled to perform a statutory duty. Vance McDonald Womens Jersey
AAI simplifies NOC norms for buildings
The city Corporation has been authorised to issue building permits for constructions in 20-km radius of the Thiruvananthapuram international airport for the ‘approved levels’ that figure in the Colour Coded Zoning Map (CCZM) of the city rolled out by the Airports Authority of India (AAI). Henceforth, No Objection Certificate (NOC) from the AAI is not needed for constructions in the approved levels of CCZM. The AAI has also eased the procedures for getting NOC for undertaking constructions in the 20 km radius. At present, for any construction within the 20 km radius of the airport, NOC is to be obtained from the AAI to assess whether the construction affects aircraft operation in Thiruvananthapuram airport as well as the overflying aircrafts. The CCZM, through different colour-coded grids, indicates the permissible top elevation in the areas around the airport. The officials of the civic body can verify the status of the building site in the CCZM and can issue the building permit. John Hannah Womens Jersey
Fuel price rise to impact industry profitability: ICRA
‘As per ICRA estimates, ATF price increase has resulted in the fuel cost per ASKM (CASK) of the domestic aviation industry increasing to Rs. 1.05 in June 2016 from a low of Rs. 0.82 in February 2016. This is expected to dent profitability of the airlines in Q1FY2017’, says Subrata Ray, Sr Group VP, ICRA Limited. Domestic passenger traffic in June 2016 reported a robust YoY growth of 20.8%, primarily backed by low airfares on account of intense competition. Considerable decline in domestic aviation turbine fuel (ATF) prices over the last fiscal had provided buffer to the airlines to reduce airfares; however, the recent increase in ATF prices has partially curtailed the benefit. ‘As per ICRA estimates, ATF price increase has resulted in the fuel cost per ASKM (CASK) of the domestic aviation industry increasing to Rs. 1.05 in June 2016 from a low of Rs. 0.82 in February 2016. This is expected to dent profitability of the airlines in Q1FY2017’, says Subrata Ray, Sr Group VP, ICRA Limited. The industry continued to add capacity on domestic routes during the month, which reported a growth of 22.4% YoY backed by fleet expansion and scale-up by the airlines. The capacity addition is likely to grow at a healthy rate going forward as indicated by pending aircraft orders of various airlines. Despite the capacity addition and impact of off-peak season, the domestic industry reported adequate PLF of 81.0% in June 2016. Joe Thuney Jersey
Four years after AAI study on 2nd airport, TN yet to lay a brick
The Tamil Nadu government is yet to take any steps to build the second airport at Sriperumbudur even though Airports Authority of India (AAI) has submitted a pre-feasibility report almost four years ago. Union minister of state for civil aviation Jayant Sinha has said the ministry has not received any proposal from the state government for the construction of the airport in Sriperumbudur, 40km from Chennai. AAI handed over the report prepared by International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) to the state government four years ago saying the facility can be constructed.The authority hinted that they were ready to build the airport if the state government gave them the green signal and acquired land. Bud Dupree Authentic Jersey