Britain launches fraud probe into Airbus
Britain’s Serious Fraud Office has said on it had opened a criminal probe into Airbus Group, investigating allegations of fraud, bribery and corruption. “These allegations relate to irregularities concerning third party consultants,” the SFO said in a statement yesterday. The authority said it opened the investigation in July and asked anyone with relevant information to come forward. A spokesperson for the SFO said additional details of the probe would not be made public until charges were brought or the investigation is dropped. European planemaker Airbus said it was aware of the probe and the aviation firm was working with investigators. “Airbus Group has been informed by the SFO that it has opened a criminal investigation into allegations of fraud, bribery and corruption in the civil aviation business of Airbus Group relating to irregularities concerning third party consultants,” the company said in a statement. “Airbus Group continues to cooperate with the SFO,” the statement concluded. The company was informed on Friday that the authority had launched an investigation, an Airbus spokesman told AFP. “We ourselves detected this issue and self-disclosed it to the authorities. “This is as an effort of our enhanced anti-corruption (policy). Management has taken robust action and is determined to resolve this issue in cooperation with the authorities,” spokesman Jeremy Greaves said. Airbus informed authorities of the irregularities in April. The same month the UK Export Finance decided to suspend export credits to the firm, a move followed by France and Germany. The aviation firm said at the time it hoped to resolve the financing problem as soon as possible. The current SFO investigation is expected to take years. The probe was described by the Financial Times newspaper as a “severe blow to the European aircraft maker” which would be exploited by its US rival Boeing. Airbus is the largest commercial aerospace company in Britain and last month said its net profit rose 15 per cent in the first half of the year. Profits were up 1.76 billion euros (USD 1.94 billion), but the gain was due to exceptional items that masked a slide in operating earnings. The company was hit by charges of just over 1 billion euros related to its troubled A400M military cargo transporter programme, while adverse currency movements and charges on its widebody A350 aircraft totalled nearly 900 million. However, these were compensated for by the sale of shares in Dassault Aviation and the creation of a rocket launcher joint venture with Safran that generated a net gain of nearly 1.9 billion euros. Alex Biega Jersey
Here’s what it costs to maintain non-operational airports
A total amount of Rs 36.98 crore was spent on maintenance of non-operational airports over the last three years while Rs 897.28 crore were spent on 24 additional operational airports from where no scheduled airline is operating, Minister of State for Civil Aviation Jayant Sinha told the Rajya Sabha. This amount was being spent from the consolidated fund of India, he said. Several members of the house raised questions relating to non-operational airports while several others spoke about the need for air-connectivity to various important cities and towns. However he added that the government is working on a “regional connectivity scheme” and once it takes off, “many (non-operational) airports would be put into service.” Sinha said while private airlines have the freedom to decide their routes, they could be given concessions for operating under the regional connectivity scheme like reduced tax on Aviation Turbine Fuel, Viability Gap Funding, reduced langing as well as route facilitation charges for flying to regional towns etc. To a question on connecting cities in Maharashtra, Sinha said that while government is keen, the reduction in fuel prices has led to an increase in demand for air travel across the world. This situation has resulted in shortage of planes domestically and the Mumbai Airport getting “congested” as it is difficult to find landing slots. To a question asked on connecting various cities in the states of Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh he said that the Centre is willing to work with the state governments on this. Tony Watson Jersey
Air Costa grounds fleet, says renegotiating with lessors
Another regional airline Air Costa has suspended its operations on Thursday claiming that it is renegotiating contract with its lessors. The Vijaywada-based airline suspended all its flights but said it will resume the operations on Friday. GE Capital Aviation Services (GECAS) is Air Costa’s lessor and is also the world’s leading commercial aircraft and engine lessor based out of the US. Last week, the Bengaluru-based Air Pegasus suspended its operations after lessors took back all its aircraft after the airline failed to pay the rentals. “We are resolving the issues we have with lessors. Currently, we are operating with 3 E190’s and simultaneously other developments about inducting new aircraft as well as the pan-India licence is in process,” a spokesperson for Air Costa said. He added that the airline was neither committed to its future expansion plans nor were there any delays in disbursing salaries to its employees. This is the second time the airline is renegotiating its contract with its lessors. A year ago, it had carried out a similar exercise and brought down the leasing cost to ?1.2 crore from ?2 crore. Mounting losses The airline had two E170s in its fleet earlier, which was a major reason for the airline’s mounting losses. The E170 has a total capacity of 78 but the airline chose to have a configuration of 60 economy and seven business class seats, thereby losing 11 seats per aircraft in the process. On an average, the airline was incurring loss of about ?2.5 crore per month for both the aircraft. Hence, E170s were phased out and replaced with two more 112-seater E190s. The airline has three E190s. An analyst with a global consultancy firm, who did not wish to be quoted, said in spite of carrying out the necessary correction in the fleet, the airline has not been able to post profits. The airline as of last year has invested over ?400 crore in its operations and was planning to invest a further ?60-80 crore this year. It had also placed an order for 50-E190s for a total ticket price of $2.94 billion. As of last year, the airline which was in the process of phasing out E170s, used to incur costs of up to ?40 crore per month, while revenues were of the order of between ?36 crore and ?37 crore per month. Victor Rask Womens Jersey
SpiceJet, Ajay Singh move HC against order to deposit Rs 579 crore
Budget carrier SpiceJet and its owner Ajay Singh have moved the Delhi High Court against its single judge’s order directing the airline to deposit Rs 579 crore within 12 months in connection with a share transfer dispute with the previous airline owner Kalanithi Maran. The single judge’s order had come on a plea of Sun Group chief Kalanithi Maran, along with his Kal Airways, for issuance of stock warrants in SpiceJet to them as per a sale purchase agreement (SPA) of 2015 which led to transfer of ownership of the budget carrier to its co-founder Ajay Singh. A bench of Justices Pradeep Nandrajog and Jayant Nath, before which the matter was listed today, merely ordered that the pleas of SpiceJet and Ajay Singh be taken up by the appropriate bench on August 8. Maran and his airline had alleged before the single judge that despite giving Rs 579 crore to SpiceJet, the carrier had failed to issue them the warrants or allot tranche 1 and 2 of Convertible Redeemable Preference Shares and that the amount was not utilised for paying statutory dues due to which they were also facing prosecution. Apart from ordering deposition of the amount in the court, Justice Manmohan Singh had also asked Spicejet and Maran to appoint an arbitral tribunal to decide the share transfer dispute between them in a year. The amount was to be deposited in five instalments with the first one in August this year, the court had said. Market regulator SEBI had earlier expressed its inability before the single judge to approve the board resolution passed by SpiceJet for issue of warrants in favour of Maran and his Kal Airways. The board resolution was passed on the court’s direction. Under the SPA, Maran and Kal Airways had transferred their entire 350,428,758 equity shares (58.46 per cent stake) in the airline to Ajay Singh. According to the SPA, Maran and Kal were to receive the redeemable warrants in return for around Rs 679 crore that they were to give to the airline towards operating costs and debt payment, Maran had said in his plea. SpiceJet had earlier told the court that the change of ownership was effected as a rehabilitative measure to address the liability of Rs 2,000 crore incurred by the airline when it was under the management of Maran. It had also claimed that every penny had been utilised towards operations and discharge of liabilities. Brandon Mebane Authentic Jersey
Airlines should keep pilots records for 3 years after training
Airlines offering type-rated pilot training programmes should maintain records of the concerned individuals for at least three years after they complete their courses, aviation regulator DGCA has directed. The watchdog’s directive, part of guidelines to be followed for Airline Type Rating Programme (ATRP), comes in the backdrop of persisting concerns over aviation safety and focus on psychological well-being of pilots. These requirements are part of the fresh Airline Type Rating Programme (ATRP) guidelines for scheduled operators issued by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). Among other things, the operator should retain detailed student records to show that all requirements of the training course have been met as approved by the DGCA. These records have to be “kept for a minimum period of three years after completion of the training,” as per the guidelines. The operator should maintain a system for recording the qualifications and training of instructional and examining staff. Such records would be kept for at least three years after the instructor or examiner ceases to perform a function for the operator. The guidelines or Civil Aviation Requirement (CAR) would be applicable from October 1. According to the DGCA, the operator should have a minimum fleet of five aeroplanes for the type proposed to be included in the ATRP. “For operators with an approved ATRP on one type of aeroplane, the requirement of a minimum fleet of five aeroplanes for another type may be met by an order of the additional type without the aeroplanes being held on strength at time of inclusion of the additional type in the ATRP,” the regulator said. In recent times, concerns about overall aviation safety have been growing. The crash of a Germanwings plane flying from Spain to Germany in March last year raised serious concerns as it is believed that the co-pilot had deliberately done it. Chris Davis Womens Jersey
Bidders remain elusive for Kingfisher House; auction may fail
The proposed auction of Kingfisher House, the erstwhile headquarters of Vijay Mallya-led group’s long-grounded airline, may prove to be a damp squib yet again tomorrow as bidders have remained elusive even at a reduced reserve price of Rs 135 crore. This is the second attempt by the banks to recover part of their unpaid loans from Kingfisher Airlines through auction of this prime office property near domestic airport here, after not even a single bidder turned up at an earlier auction in March at a reserve price of Rs 150 crore. Sources said same fate awaits for the one-hour auction scheduled for tomorrow, as not even a single bidder deposited the earnest deposit money within the deadline of August 1. Besides, the still high reserve price, the numerous legal issues facing the group may also be keeping the bidders away. Kingfisher House is just one of the several properties, together worth over Rs 700 crore that lenders and the tax department will put under hammer this month to recover part of their outstanding dues totalling thousands of crores of rupees from the airline. Gordon Hayward Jersey
Sector impact: GST and the aviation sector
The goods and service tax (GST) once implemented will increase the cost of air tickets and other services such as cargo transportation and aircraft maintenance. The Indian aviation industry believes that the exclusion of petroleum and aviation fuel from its ambit will continue to impact the aviation sector. The central government will continue to impose excise duty on five petroleum products—crude oil, diesel, petrol, natural gas and aviation turbine fuel (ATF), while the state governments will continue to impose value-added tax on these petroleum products. ATF contributes over 40% of an airlines’ operating cost. Jet fuel prices in India are among the highest in the world. ATF prices for domestic carriers vary at different airports across the country due to different rates of sales tax and value-added tax. The various tax components before arriving at the final price include import duty on ATF. While petroleum and petroleum products are technically under GST, the GST council comprising of the Union and state finance ministers will decide upon their induction after the final GST regime is in place. Experts believe that the proposition shall be discussed. Jeff Heuerman Authentic Jersey
AAI profit surges 30% to Rs 2,537 crore in 2015-16
Airports Authority of India (AAI) saw its profit after tax jump nearly 30 percent to Rs 2,537.36 crore last fiscal, on the back of higher passenger numbers and increased revenues. Minister of State for Civil Aviation Jayant Sinha informed the Lok Sabha today that AAI recorded a total revenue of Rs 10,824.50 crore in 2015-16 compared to Rs 9,284.98 crore in the year-ago period. In the last financial year, AAI’s profit after tax stood at Rs 2,537.36 crore, higher than Rs 1,959.22 crore in 2014-15. “Increase in passenger numbers, marginal increase of User Development Fee (UDF) charges in AAI airports, Passenger Service Fee (Facilitation Component) and increase in lease revenue from Delhi and Mumbai airports have contributed to the increase in AAI revenues,” Sinha said in a written reply. According to him, there was an 18 percent rise in passenger traffic, 11 percent increase in aircraft movements and 16.23 percent jump in airport lease revenue during 2015-16. State-owned AAI manages 125 airports, including 11 international aerodromes and 25 civil enclaves. It also provides air traffic management services. Jason Pierre-Paul Jersey
After Air Pegasus, Air Costa cancels flights
Air Costa today cancelled all its flights since morning but said that the airline will restart operations tomorrow. The airline, in an email statement, said that the cancellation of lights is only for 24 hours due to unresolved issues with aircraft lessor. “From Tomorrow (5-08-2016), we will start our operations as scheduled. We are resolving the issues we have with lessors. We are very positive about our operations and future expansions. There are absolutely no issue regarding salaries in Air Costa,” said Kavi Chaurasia, Vice President – marketing for Air Costa said in an email statement. Flight cancellation by the Vijaywada-based airline raises concerns over the viability of regional airlines in India, as it follows flight cancellations by Bengaluru-based Air Pegasus recently. Air Costa is currently the largest regional airline in the country and operates 24 daily flights with 3 E190’s. The airline also has plans to induct new aircraft as it awaits approvals for a PAN India license from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation. Kevan Miller Authentic Jersey
Airlines cancel/reroute flights to Dubai on part runway closure
Budget carriers IndiGo and SpiceJet cancelled their flights to Dubai while Jet Airways and Air India re-routed and clubbed their as the airport partly shut operations following a crash landing and explosion of an Emirates flight on Wednesday. “Due to unavailability of runway at Dubai airport, all IndiGo flights operating to and fro India stands cancelled for August 4, 2016,” said IndiGo in a statement. “From August 05 till 0730 IST August 07, 2016 – limited flights will be allowed to operate from Dubai airport,” it added. SpiceJet too cancelled its flights. Spokespersons at Jet Airways and Air India said their flights are being re-routed to Sharjah. The Jet spokesperson also said it has clubbed some of its flights from Mumbai into one operated by the widebodied Airbus A330 plane. Operation of Code C aircraft and below (Boeing 737/Airbus A320 and below ) are not being allowed at Dubai airport till tomorrow morning. This follows the crash landing of Emirates Trivandrum-Mumbai flight EK521 on the Dubai airport. The aircraft caught fire after landing and all passengers were evacuated. A fireman died in the incident. Thomas Chabot Authentic Jersey