Air India turn-around a “tough task”: Lohani
Air India’s turnaround is appearing to be a “tough task”, chairman Ashwani Lohani said on Wednesday even as the government is trying to help national carrier come out of the woods. In April, Minister of State for Civil Aviation Mahesh Sharma informed Parliament that Air India may trim losses by more than half to Rs 2,636 crore in FY16 as compared to a net loss of Rs 5,859.91 crore in FY15. The debt-laden carrier’s profits are eroded by hefty interest cost and airport charges while increasing competition from budget carriers is slowing cash flows. Exchange rate variation due to weakening of Indian rupee are reasons for the carrier’s estimated net loss of Rs 2,636 crore during 2015-16. The national carrier was given a Rs 30,231-crore lifeline by the Finance Ministry in 2012 under a turnaround plan stretching over a period of nine years to keep it afloat. This equity infusion also includes the financial support towards repayment of principal as well as interest on government-guaranteed loans taken for aircraft acquisition by the airline. As per the 2012 Turn Around Plan (TAP), the government will infuse Rs 18,929 crore for repayment of government- guaranteed loans/interest till FY 2010-21, Sharma said. Till March, the government has already infused Rs 22,280 crore into the carrier as part of the bailout package. The government has already approved Rs 1,713 crore equity infusion into the carrier for the current fiscal in line with TAP. Despite all these efforts, Lohani said turning-around Air India is a tough task. Dominic Moore Jersey
1.95 lakh flyers hit as hackers break into AI loyalty scheme
Nearly two lakh Air India frequent flyers will lose out on benefits after the national carrier was forced to suspend its passenger loyalty rewards programme, which was hacked into a few weeks ago. A probe by the Delhi Police revealed that hackers accessed the Air India website to steal points worth Rs 16 lakh on air travel miles accumulated by a total of 1.95 lakh flyers by creating fake frequent flyer accounts. The hackers have accessed user IDs and passwords of some of the website administrators to verify such fake accounts and claimed frequent flyer rewards. The anomaly was first noticed on June 8, when an Air India staffer verifying documents of a frequent flyer account holder noticed the account had already been verified. The document submitted towards identity proof was a driving licence, which is not on the Air India list of accepted proof. “Air India only accepts passports, PAN cards, voter IDs and Aadhaar Cards as proof from fliers,” an airline official said. “Further verification revealed that the account was fake, and internal probe showed up 23 such fake accounts,” the official said. Senior Air India officials who were questioned by the Delhi Police said that the rewards programme called Flying Returns had 1.95 lakh frequent flyer accounts, but it was not yet known as to how many passengers were actually affected. An airline staffer said that data from at least 20 genuine accounts could have been stolen. Several account holders, such as Nepean Sea Road resident Manish Kedia, said they only know that the rewards programme had been suspended. “I’m not quite sure what’s going on,” Kedia said. “There hasn’t been any clarity on whether the points we have accumulated will be remitted to the account, and when will be able to claim the benefits,” he added. Troy Apke Jersey
Chennai airport registers record cargo throughput in April & May
In the first two months of the current financial year, there has been a marked improvement in both cargo throughput and revenue from cargo handling at Chennai airport. Cargo handling at airport increased by 32 per cent to a total of 42,765 tonnes up to May as against 31,649 tonnes in the same period last year. Revenue from cargo handling increased by 22 per cent to ?27 crore in the first two months as against ?22 crore in the same period last year, said a press release from Chennai airport. Higher import Major importers such as Nokia Solutions, Lenovo, Foxconn, Nissan and BMW have increased their cargo volume at the airport. “We have been consistently reviewing our procedures so that the ease of doing business at the airport is increased and results in increased volume,” said the release. The airport has facilitated single-window clearance introduced by the Customs at the air cargo complex, which is now functioning effectively. As per the advance planning to clear import cargo, major automobile, electronics and other manufacturing industries can forward their day-to-day clearance plan to Airports Authority of India in advance and in turn their cargo will be kept in readiness for delivery without wasting time for locating the consignments. This has facilitated many major import units to plan for their timely delivery, the release said. The airport has also introduced “self-feeding” of consolidated data by respective agents without depending on AAI officials. A separate counter with computer terminals has been set up in the public dealing area on 24×7 basis. On an average, 50-100 consol related entries are fed in by the break bulk agents before finalisation of the flight segregation, the release said. Mike Singletary Jersey
Air India to fly unconfirmed first AC passengers of Rajdhani
State-run Air India will now flyun confirmed passengers of Rajdhani trains at the fares matching with the AC first class ticket prices under a special scheme for a limited period. Rajdhani Express passengers who remain wait-listed can now book the tickets four hours prior to the flight departure at a fare which is equivalent to the ticket price IA class of these trains, Air India said on June 28. Under the ‘Super Saver’ scheme, Air India offers an all-inclusive economy class one way fare on its select domestic routes, starting June 26 till September 30, it said. Currently 21 Rajdhani Express trains run across the Indian Railways network and close to 20,000 passengers travel in these train everyday. As on date, 1A Rajdhani fares for Mumbai and Chennai stood at Rs 4,755 and Rs 6,335, respectively. Similarly, the first AC fares for these trains to Kolkata and Guwahati were Rs 4,815 and Rs 5,990, respectively. Calvin Ridley Authentic Jersey
Many airports without passengers: will the new aviation policy make a difference?
The recently unveiled National Civil Aviation policy aims to transform the aviation map of India by reviving numerous airports and airstrips that are either not operational or witness little activity. Boosting regional air connectivity is a highlight of the policy – a task that may prove challenging given the present domestic passenger traffic trends at our airports. The country is dotted with as many as 450 airports and airstrips but only 75 have scheduled operations, the policy document says. A number of these belong to Defence establishments while some others belong to State governments or private entities. Many of these airports or airstrips are not operational or have fallen into disuse. They also include newly constructed airports that have not taken off, for various reasons. The large Metro airports account for the bulk of the domestic traffic. The data released by the Airports Authority of India (AAI) for April 2016, relating to 82 airports (international and domestic airports, apart from ones owned by state governments and private parties), reveals that nearly 65 per cent of the domestic passenger traffic totalling nearly 1.6 crores was handled by just six airports – Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai, Kolkata and Hyderabad. And just 26 airports had recorded traffic exceeding one lakh domestic passengers that month. And between them, these airports accounted for over 90 per cent of the total domestic traffic handled. Some of these airports have also witnessed a dramatic growth in passenger traffic year over year – over 50 per cent in the case of Varanasi, Mangalore and Visakhapatnam. Six other airports have recorded a growth of 25 to 50 per cent. The majority of the remaining airports have handled less than 50,000 domestic passengers. Some of the small airports have recorded a big surge in traffic but the total number of passengers they have handed are relatively small. Among the airports which have accounted for more than 50,000 domestic passengers, Udaipur, Dehradun and Madurai have seen a growth of more than 50 per cent, while Imphal and Vadodara have recorded a surge of 25 to 50 per cent. The Regional Connectivity Scheme, to be implemented from the second quarter of 2016-17, aims to revive the fortunes of un-served or under-served airports and routes. The government offered several incentives to promote these underserved locations. Kevin Labanc Jersey
Will heads roll at Air India after Venkaiah Naidu’s public berating?
Sarkari airline Air India had yet another flight delay this afternoon. Only this time, an important Union Minister was among the passengers and chose to fume about his experience on social media. Urban Development Minister M Venkaiah Naidu lashed out at Air India after his Delhi-Hyderabad flight got delayed, saying he missed an “important” meeting because of the delay. Delays are part and parcel of flying, should the minister have made such a big deal about it? It turns out that in a peer-to-peer comparison, Air India is decidedly the least reliable in terms of on-time performance. Whether it be domestic flights or international ones. Air India tweeted its apology to the minister while clarifying that the commander of the said aircraft was held up in a traffic jam. Commanders are required to report at least an hour before the flight so this seems to be a curious case of indiscipline. Will some heads roll now, after the public rebuke by a Union minister and an equally public assertion by the Minister of Civil Aviation A Gajapathi Raju and his deputy that a thorough inquiry would be conducted into this instance of delay? Any strict action seems unlikely against errant Air India staff, as previous such promises of inquiries show. Which would be a pity, since this instance could serve as an opportunity for concerned officials to pull up their socks. De’Vondre Campbell Authentic Jersey
Rickety Juhu hangar will be 30 air traffic controllers’ new home
In an inhuman move, the Central government-run Airports Authority of India (AAI) has asked 30 air traffic controllers to vacate their staff quarters in Juhu and Vile Parle to make way for new transfers and move to a run-down aircraft hangar in the Juhu airport. It’s not a temporary arrangement. The abandoned, dilapidated ‘Shobha Singh’ hangar will be the new residential address of about 40 AAI officials, including 30 air traffic controllers. Inside the hangar, covering about 4,000 sq ft area, the AAI has rigged up two rows of twin-sharing plastic cubicles, each about 100 sq ft, said a source. Each cubicle has two cots and an overhead fan. What is worse, every monsoon, the Juhu airport gets inundated and so does Shobha Singh hangar. “It’s worse than a prison cell. It’s shocking and demoralising,” said an airport source. “The hangar is not conducive for human habitation. It is located barely 10m from Indamer hangar and so there is a constant deafening noise as engine run-ups of helicopters are carried out even at night. It’s not possible to get decent sleep there.” This move is likely to also affect air safety as controllers carry out the critical job of giving navigational instructions to the pilots to ensure smooth and safe flow of aircraft. “This move will surely affect air traffic control job functions. There is already an acute shortage of staff and this will add to the stress,” the official added. “It’s no place to send an official whose job demands split-second decisions that impact air safety.” Randy White Womens Jersey
Airports Authority of India again rejects Changi Airport plan for Jaipur, Ahmedabad airports
For the second time, state-owned Airports Authority of India (AAI) has rejected Singapore’s Changi Airport proposal to operate and maintain Jaipur and Ahmedabad airports after finding the latest plan “unfeasible”. Now, AAI would move ahead with steps to start the international bidding process for choosing the entities to operate and maintain the two domestic aerodromes. The proposal to rope in Singapore’s Changi airport for the projects was floated during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the island nation last November. The revised plan from Changi Airport, owned by the Singapore government, also sought a “higher” quantum of revenue in managing Jaipur and Ahmedabad aerodromes. This is “unfeasible” and not commercially viable for AAI, a source close to the development said. Oliver Ekman-Larsson Jersey
Seaplane awaiting airworthiness certificate
seaplane flown in from USA to the State six months ago for operating services within and outside the State is awaiting a key clearance from the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). The 10-seater amphibian aircraft, brought by a State-based aviation group, is parked in Kochi. It has received Indian registration and is awaiting airworthiness certification from the DGCA. The certification is part of the mandatory procedures for the operators in the aviation sector and it was expected within a month or so, an official of the aviation group told The Hindu . The commercial operations might begin soon after receiving the certification. The operator will meet the Ministers concerned in the Left Democratic Front government to discuss matters pertaining to flight operations. The previous government had issued guidelines for receiving early bird incentives and the operator will be eligible for them, being the first carrier in the category. The government had guaranteed a certain share of seats on regular flights, subject to certain conditions. The setting up of waterdromes and other infrastructure would also have to be ensured before commencement of operations. The original plan of the government was to enable operation of flights in the Kollam-Alappuzha sector. The Alappuzha waterdrome spot was changed from Punnamada to Vattekayal by an official committee set up by government after objections were raised by fishermen on the original landing spot. The seaplane operator is planning to operate flights from Kochi to Lakshadweep initially. Kenny Vaccaro Womens Jersey
Duty-free shops at airports now out of FSSAI purview
As per Hindustan Times, food, drinks and other edibles sold at duty-free shops at all airports will no longer need an approval stamp from India’s top food regulatory body. In a decision taken last month, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), has exempt these retail outlets at airports from following country’s food import regulations. A notice in this regard was uploaded on the FSSAI website. “We heard their side carefully and after a thorough consultation with our experts came to this decision that those outlets being customs-bound and are not technically importing any items directly on the Indian soil, will not be subject to FSSAI inspection and licensing processes,” said Pawan Agarwal, CEO, FSSAI. “… it was decided that duty free shops would be outside the ambit of food safety standards Act 2006 and regulations made there under till the time import regulations are finally notified,” read the FSSAI notice. Ali Marpet Jersey