Mumbai to Delhi flights

Spicejet: First Private Airline to Operate a Direct Flight Between Jaipur and Dubai

SpiceJet has also announced the launch of two new flights connecting Jaipur and Hyderabad to Dubai from February 16.

Read : Spicejet Celebrates UAE’s 44th National Day

The National Day sale, opened on November 29 and ran till December 3 midnight, and the travel period covered from February 1 to October 29, 2016. The offer was for outgoing direct flights from Dubai to Indian destinations served by SpiceJet, India’s budget airline.

SpiceJet has announced a special UAE National Day offer with one-way fares starting as low as Dh244 ($66.41) base fare (statutory taxes applicable) from Dubai to Indian cities.

In addition to the offer, the airline has announced that it will enhance connectivity from Dubai to a host of Indian cities by increasing frequencies on multiple routes.

"We see a huge potential, especially from non-metro cities such as Jaipur, waiting to be unlocked and over the years we have also witnessed a resurgence in demand on the Hyderabad-Dubai route from business and leisure travellers alike," said Shilpa Bhatia,

senior vice president - commercial with SpiceJet. "Dubai is a key market in increasing our footprint across the Middle East and with these flight launches, we aim to provide our customers with better and more convenient travel options," Bhatia was quoted in a statement.

According to the airline, with the introduction of these new flights, it now connects ten Indian cities with Dubai every day.

Read : Spicejet has Done it : Direct Dubai-Amritsar Flight

Introductory one-way fares (all-inclusive)- 

Rs.6,499  - Jaipur - Dubai.

Rs.7,999  - Hyderabad-Dubai 

Rs.7,199  - Dubai-Hyderabad 

SpiceJet will have the distinction of being the first private airline to operate a direct flight on Jaipur-Dubai sector. SpiceJet will be the only airline to fly 5 times per week on this route. The flights (Hyderabad-Dubai) are so timed as to allow business travelers to India's IT hub make the most of every working day.

The airline said it will deploy its Boeing 737-800 aircraft on these routes. 

Ajay Singh, chairman and managing director, SpiceJet, said: “Dubai is SpiceJet’s key international market. We will continue to increase our presence here. Our customers can expect many more flights and many more exciting offers in the coming months.”

The special offer of Dh244 is for travel from Dubai to Mumbai, Kochi and Kozhikode; while base fares for travel from Dubai to Delhi, Ahmedabad, Amritsar, Madurai and Pune will be Dh344.  

Bookings for these sectors can be made on NC Airways.

Inputs:TradeArabia News Service;  IANS,New Delhi 

A Modern Greenfield Airport Coming up in Vizag: Union Minister of Civil Aviation A G Raju

The Day 3 of The CII Partnership Summit began with a Plenary on The Changing World of Work and was followed by a session on Tourism in Andhra Pradesh and how the state government wants to use it as an agent of economic development. Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu who expects Rs.5 lakh crore investment in A.P., discussed with Tourism professionals and entrepreneurs and encouraged them to bring innovative ideas in this sector.

Participating in the tourism session, the Union Minister of Civil Aviation Ashok Gajapathi Raju  said, "There are only three modern airports in India in the sense with parallel runways​ ​and they are in Hyderabad, Bengaluru and Delhi. India needs to modernise its airports and east and west coasts need modern airports," he said. He made it clear that an international airport would be developed in Bhogapuram. The State Government had earlier proposed to develop a new Greenfield Airport at Bhogapuram, about 50 k.m. from Visakhapatnam. The airport will be located in the town of Bhogapuram and will serve the wider Vizianagaram and Srikakulam districts.

Dec-2015. India's Civil Aviation Ministry has reportedly given site clearance for Bhogapuram Airport. The airport, which is being opposed by the locals, received necessary clearances from the Defence Ministry.

Oct-2015. Bhogapuram Airport received approval from Andhra Pradesh's Government to seek INR15 billion (USD231 million) in loans to cover pre-development, land acquisition and infrastructure development. The Government also appointed Secretary of Energy, Infrastructure and Investments Ajay Jain as Bhogapuram International Airport Corporation (BIAC) chairman.

Read: Durgapur Greenfield Airport

The Minister also urged Chief Ministers of different states to bring down VAT on ATF (aviation turbine fuel) on the lines of ​what ​AP government​ did. The TDP regime had reduced ​VAt on ATF to 1%.

Referring to tourism potential in AP, he said, "AP has all types of terrain. We have abundance of water, the Eastern Ghats and a picturesque Vizag-Bheemili road and Vizianagaram Fort. AP has everything for a tourist."

"Tourism is a human necessity and everyone has a travel bug in him," he said adding that infrastructure does play a part and so does aviation. At the same time, he cautioned investors by stating, "Exploit it, but don't destroy it. Have a sustainable movement for tourism."

Nakul Anand, Executive Director, ITC Limited said, "AP is fast emerging as a tourism destination in India. It has witnessed a 35% growth in domestic and 11% in foreign tourist arrivals. State represents Indian culture and has beaches, hills, wildlife and Eastern Ghats spreading over AP." He said, "AP has identified 42 sub themes for tourism and Vizag alone has 9 sub themes including potential for water sports, religion among others."

Earlier, ITC's The Grand Bharat hotel luxury retreat became the only hotel from India featuring in the Top 50 of the world’s best. More than 128,000 travelers, the most recorded yet, participated in the 28th Annual Readers’ Choice Awards Survey, voting for their favorite hotels from around the world.

Set amidst the ancient Aravali hills spread in 1.2 sq. km. estate, ITC Grand Bharat hotel is India’s first and only all-suite luxury retreat opened in November 2014.  

Nakul Anand has said, “ITC Grand Bharat is a milestone in ITC Hotels’ four-decade journey. 

Andhra Pradesh Tourism Department Principal Secretary Neerabh Kumar Prasad said, "MoUs worth Rs 5,200 crore have been signed in the tourism sector and tourism policy includes a single desk clearance system with approvals in 21 days." He said, "There are certain issues as we don't have water sports policy, but we are working on it and are committed to fill the gap area." He said, "We are not just looking at hotels, we want to think like a tourist and take all stakeholders on board for developing the tourism potential." 

In an effort to portray Andhra Pradesh as a global tourism destination, Neerabh Kumar Prasad had earlier taken part in BITE 2015-16 in China. During his visit, Prasad had meetings with the Buddhist Association of China which has expressed deep interest in visiting Amaravati, Nagarjuna Konda and other Buddhist Sites in Andhra Pradesh.

Highlighting the potential of Andhra Pradesh as a tourist destination, Prasad said that the main sites promoted the Beaches in and around Vizag, the Hill stations, the backwaters of Kakinada, Konaseema, the Hope Island & the Coringa Mangroves, and also the Budhist circuits linking Amaravati and Nagarjuna Konda.

The chairman of HVS Asia Pacific Manav Thadani has said that there are only around 1.10 lakh branded rooms and about 2-3 lakh unbranded rooms in the country. He said, "Put more hotels in AP in order to meet the tourism potential in the state."

Manav Thadani has co-founded SAMHI in 2011, a leading Indian hotel investment and development firm with focus on ownership of branded hotels in the upscale, mid-scale and economy segments across key cities. Within a short span of time, SAMHI has a total pipeline of over 3,400 rooms across 24 hotels in 10 Indian cities under international brands such as Courtyard by Marriott, Hyatt Place, Sheraton Four Points, Fairfield by Marriott and Formule1.

Airbus Increases its Planes' Prices

One year ago the prices of a new Airbus A320 and A320neo were USD 97 million and 106.2 million. Today, they are being priced at USD 98 million USD 107.3 million respectively. Similarly, the list prices of other models and their variants has also gone up by 1.1%.

One day ago one of the oldest Airbus customers, namely, Air India had announced to dry lease 15 A320s including A320neos. Lessors normally charge an airline between 0.85 to 1 per cent of the aircraft's list price (aircraft cost) as rental per month. .

Now, the buyer will have to pay higher price for buying or leasing A320s  as Airbus could not bring down its cost of production. The European aviation major has made an upward revision in the average list price of its aircraft across models by a little over one per cent.  

"The 1.1 per cent price increase has been calculated according to Airbus' standard escalation formula over the January 2015 to January 2016 period and takes into account the drop in materials and commodities prices. We see demand for our aircraft continuing to grow across all size categories as our reliable, efficient product line enables customers to grow their businesses profitably as well as being favoured by passengers who want to travel in the most comfortable cabins," Airbus Chief Operating Officer, Customers, John Leahy said in the statement. 

Airbus new 2016 price increase reflects the strong appetite from customers around the globe for its comprehensive, modern and innovative product range .. 

In India, Air India, IndiGo, GoAir, Vistara and AirAsia India, are the major Airbus customers. Besides, Jet Airways and SpiceJet also have some Airbus planes in their fleet. There are a total of 211 Airbus planes registered as against 175 of the US aircraft maker Boeings. [Source: DGCA]. 

Significantly, most of the Airbus A320 operators in India are opting for more fuel-efficient A320neos. An A320neo is USD 10 million costlier, and the manufacturer claims it to be 10-15% more efficient in fuel consumption.

Story of Indian Aviation: Air India Struggles, Others Progress Merrily

NEW DELHI/MUMBAI.

While Air India struggles, India's private sector air carriers are adding flights across the country connecting  metros with Tier II and Tier III cities. They are giving passengers more options to travel as demand remains robust.

GoAir, IndiGo and SpiceJet are adding flights, Vistara is growing its fleet while Jet Airways is planning to announce new services shortly. (See Jet Air)

Read: Indigo, Jet, and Spicejet earn "Unfair Business Practitioner" tag

Budget carrier GoAir, the Wadia Group-promoted airline and the second most profitable carrier after IndiGo, has disclosed its ambitious plans to increase the air connectivity to tier 2 and tier 3 cities from the metros. It will introduce 12 additional daily services and four new routes on its network in upcoming summer schedule from March.

GoAir as of now operates 144 daily flights across 22 domestic destinations with a fleet of 19 Airbus A320 planes. It had been earlier offering Rs 691+ taxes tickets.

GoAir has announced in a release.-

• It is launching 12 additional daily frequencies and 4 new routes.
• Direct connectivity to Leh from Mumbai, and Port Blair from Bengaluru.
• Additional frequencies with improved timings have also been introduced connecting 10 Indian cities
• Ranchi, Lucknow and Patna will have increased flights from Delhi. 
• Besides, Srinagar will be additionally connected with Mumbai, among other enhanced connections.
• A new daily flight connecting Bengaluru to Patna and Ranchi would also be introduced during the summers of 2016, 
• Ahmedabad being an important market, a third daily direct flight will be introduced from Mumbai.

GoAir will be the first domestic airline providing such direct connections to the two remote areas of the country. 

In the wake of growing demand on these sectors and with the launch of these new routes, GoAir becomes the first airline to directly connect 

• Mumbai - Leh and 
• Bengaluru - Port Blair.

It added that 'improved' timings will be implemented on key routes like 

• Mumbai - Bengaluru, 
• Delhi - Bengaluru, 
• Mumbai - Goa, 
• Delhi - Goa and 
• Delhi - Kolkata. 

"The new summer schedule follows the principle of connecting the triangle of Mumbai-Delhi-Bengaluru with better timings and connectivity from these main hubs to Tier II and Tier III cities," said GoAir Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Wolfgang Prock-Schauer, "the schedules have been planned to allow quick and convenient connections for customers, we hope both holiday and business travelers would find the new flights attractive and convenient".

IndiGo announced the launch of 24 new flights connecting key cities within the country.

IndiGo said in a release that it is launching several flights as follows:-

Effective 07 January, 2016

• Delhi to Trivandrum, 
• Bengaluru to Vishakhapatnam, 
• Bengaluru to Bhubaneshwar, 
• Ahmedabad to Bengaluru, 
• Bhubaneshwar to Kolkata and 
• Chennai to Trivandrum. 

Effective January 14, 2016

• 6th daily non-stop flight between Chennai and Hyderabad.

 Effective January 15, 2016

• Bengaluru to Kolkata, 
• Delhi to Ahmedabad, 
• Delhi to Bengaluru, 
• Delhi to Kolkata and 
• Hyderabad to Mumbai;" 

SpiceJet has increased capacity on the Delhi-Kabul route and other domestic routes such as 

• Chennai- Kochi, 
• Bengaluru-Vijaywada, 
• Kochi-Chennai and 
• Hyderabad-Vijaywada.

Read :Spicejet shares may jump another 300%

Vistara will add 4 Airbus A320 planes this year. The airline currently operates a fleet of 9 Airbus 320 aircraft and operates 307 weekly flights to 12 destinations across the country. 

Jet Airways offers special discounted fares for Amsterdam

Jet Airways, the Indian airline based in Mumbai, the second largest airline in India, both in terms of market share and passengers carried, after IndiGo, would offer special discounted fares for Amsterdam, which is set to become the private carrier's new European Gateway from March, for a limited period.

Under the five-day offer, which can be availed till January 15, Jet Airways has cut ticket prices by up to 16% for both Premier and Economy class passengers travelling to Amsterdam from New Delhi and Mumbai.

The airline has already announced commencement of two daily non-stop flights, one each from its domestic hubs --Mumbai and New Delhi -- to the Dutch capital from March 27. Besides, it will also operate a daily flight from Toronto in Canada to Amsterdam.

"We have received an overwhelming response to our new routes to and from Amsterdam since announcing them last month. The inaugural offer acknowledges the support from our guests, providing them with greater value when travelling to our new European gateway," Jet Airways senior vice president (commercial) Gaurang Shetty said. From Amsterdam, Jet Airways will be able to provide its passengers with one stop access to a wider array of destinations across Europe and North America with its partners, he said.

The airline had last month also announced code sharing pacts with KLM and Delta Air Lines along with its decision to shift the European Gateway to the Dutch capital from Brussels. Code-sharing of flights allows an airline to book passengers on its partner carriers and provide seamless transport to multiple destinations where it has no presence.

Under the inaugural offer, passengers travelling from Mumbai to Amsterdam in Economy class can book all-inclusive return tickets for Rs 33,734 while those travelling in Premiere (business) class can avail an all-inclusive return ticket for Rs 1,47,071, it said.

The fares for the same from New Delhi will be Rs 37,211 (Economy) and Rs 1,12,480 (Premier), the airline said. Special fares are also available for travel from Amsterdam to India, it said.

Jet Airways passengers from Canada can also avail the offered fares while they book on the airline's new service between Toronto and Amsterdam, it said.

Similarly, Jet Airways has also extended the offer to guests travelling to Amsterdam on the airline's network from ASEAN and SAARC countries via Mumbai and Delhi.The codeshare pact with the two global airline, which when approved by the government, would provide seamless air connectivity to Jet Airways passengers to as many as 41 European and American cities from India.

PTI Inputs

Air India to Dry Lease 15 A320s

NEW DELHI, JANUARY 11:  Air Traffic Update

In November last year, domestic airlines flew 73.22 lakh travelers, a 24.65 per cent increase over the 58.74 lakh passengers carried during the same period in the previous year. [Source: DGCA]

Global airlines body, International Air Transport Association (IATA) had in its airlines industry outlook for 2016, released early December last year, has projected passenger capacity growth in the Asia Pacific region to accelerate from six per cent in 2015 to 8.4 per cent in this year "as new aircraft are delivered largely to accommodate growth in the major emerging markets of India, Indonesia and China." (See Largest Aviation Market)

In such a scenario, debt ridden Air India, the national carrier, does not intend to lag behind. The Cabinet Committee of Economic Affairs in April 2012 had doled out a Rs 3,00,000 million bailout package. Faced with substantial debt burden, the national carrier has been exploring various options to raise money to meet its funding requirements. These include sale of properties and land parcels. Earlier, AI had sold four premium flats in the Mumbai’s tony Peddar Road area to its lender SBI for Rs 900 million.

Today Air India wants to lease 15 Airbus A-320 aircraft from Airbus to augment its A320 fleet. The airline has put out a tender for leasing 15 Airbus A-320 aircraft, which it plans to induct into its fleet during 2016-17, as per a senior airline official. Air India plans to take the aircraft on “long lease” and will go in for dry lease, which means that the airline will get the Airbus A-320 planes without the flight crew. The aircraft will be taken on a lease for period of up to 12 years and it may include both new as well as old planes (not older than six years), the airline said. Deliveries of these aircraft are to be made between April-December next year.

The airline currently has 66 Airbus A320s in its fleet, apart from Boeing. The fleet strength of the airline is around 125.

Read : Air India Struggles to pay Debt 

The Airbus A-320 family of aircraft has been the core of the Air India’s business since 1992. A number of aged A320s along with Boeings have been sold as scrap earlier. The manufacturer, Airbus, today has come up with new a variant – the neo – claimed to be 15% more efficient in fuel consumption. The aircraft proposed to be leased will also mainly be deployed on domestic routes.

As per a senior Air India official, the decision to consider the leasing option was taken in the face of stiff competition in a rapidly growing domestic market which recently saw fastest growth among seven major aviation markets including the US, China and Russia. Other factors include

• Global lessors have indicated to Air India that some airlines have either cancelled or postponed their plans of taking such aircraft.
• The fact that aviation turbine prices are at a record low and there is a huge jump in passengers travelling on domestic sectors on most airlines.  
• There has been a visible positive stimulus on its, and other domestic airlines’, revenues.

Airbus neo

Air India is open to lease both A320ceos (current engine option) and the new fuel-efficient A320 neos (new engine option)., the airline said in the invitation for bids. 

Significantly, Air India has already signed a deal for the dry leasing of 14 A320 neos with the Kuwaiti lessor, Aviation Lease and Finance Company. These aircraft are expected to be delivered to Air India between April 2017 and March 2019.

Air India Replaces Sharjah-Kochi Service with Dubai–Kochi Flights

Air India has cancelled operations on Sharjah-Kochi route with effect from January 11, 2016 leaving Sharjah’s Indian community to depend on Air India Express and other budget carriers. 

However, in response to increased demand on the sector, Air India is starting Dubai–Kochi-Dubai non-stop flights on the same day, but without business class. 

Aircraft - Airbus A320  ; Seats - 180

Dubai-Kochi Flight AI 934

Dep Dubai   - 1330 

Arr   Kochi  - 1910  

Kochi - Dubai flight AI 933 

Dep Kochi - 0935 

Arr Dubai  - 1235 

Book your Tickets on NC Airways

All passengers who have booked on Air India’s Sharjah-Kochi-Sharjah route have to go to their travel agents to change their tickets free of cost. Air India is also offering customers an introductory fare of Dhs 330 one-way and Dhs 785 return with 30 kg baggage on the Dubai-Kochi route as per Melvin D’Silva, regional manager, Air India. It is also offering passengers on this route online check-in facility and selection of their preferred seats 24 hours before flight time by visiting the carrier’s website and selecting the Internet check-in option. 

Reactions from Indian residents to the shifting of the Kochi service from Sharjah to Dubai by Air India have been mixed.

“Demand for flights from Sharjah is relatively lower than from Dubai Airport because of accessibility, connectivity and duty free shopping. However, flying daily from Dubai to Kochi without business class may not be good because there are many local and international business passengers flying to Kochi for business and medical treatment. The airline has many Dreamliners but such high-end aircraft are not used on this route,” said an official of a travel agency selling Air India tickets. “Unlike Kozhikode Airport which can handle only smaller aircraft, Kochi can handle any big aircraft but the airline is not utilising its full potential,” he added.

Air India currently operates 74 flights per week to and from Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Sharjah. The airline, along with its low-cost subsidiary Air India Express, operates 300 flights a week from the Gulf Cooperation Council countries to India.

Despite the huge Indian diaspora in the GCC, Air India has been struggling to compete with the big three Gulf Airlines – Emirates, Etihad, and Qatar Airways which have been expanding Indian services.

However, Air India has seen its overall performance improve in the last year due mainly to lower fuel costs, growing passenger demand and minimised aircraft inefficiencies.

Air India is expected to report a profit – the first since its merger with Indian Airlines in 2007 – of close to USD 900,000 in the current fiscal year.

Air India has also announced plans to launch a new service linking Delhi with Gorakhpur, a city located close to the border with Nepal in Uttar Pradesh.

Commencing on 15 January, the route will be operated every day except Sunday

Aircraft - ATR turboprop  ; Seats - 70

Flight AI 9809 

Dep  Delhi  1215 

Arr  Gorakhpur 1415 

The return flight, AI 9810

Dep Gorakhpur - 1445 

Arr Delhi -  1645 

Book your Tickets on NC Airways

Passengers travelling to and from Gorakhpur will be offered connections to a range of international destinations.

This is the latest destination to be added by Air India under its ‘Connecting India’ programme, which aims to serve smaller regional cities. Other new services have included Mumbai-Gwalior, Delhi-Durgapur and Kolkata-Durgapur.

Air India Hiring 500 Pilots on contract Basis; Bond Amount- Rs 10 Million

PTI inputs | Jan 11, 2016

As Air India struggles to pay its debt, it is going to hire over 500 type-rated pilots on contract basis for the carrier's narrow-body fleet, which is expected to grow to about 80 aircraft by March 2018. This is slated to be one of the largest-ever pilot recruitment drives. A few days ago, a senior Air India pilot had to pay around Rs 2.4 lakh as fine for allegedly lifting a pair of sunglasses from a duty-free shop at the Mumbai airport and reported in the media.

This exercise might enable Air India to operate more flights and earn more revenue. The operating losses might hopefully decrease. The present strength of the narrow-body fleet is 66.The fresh hiring of 534 Airbus A320 pilots is in line with Air India's aircraft induction plans and aimed at overcoming the shortage which has many times led to cancellation of its flights at the last minute, according to a source.

At present Air India has 1,441 pilots, with 670 of them flying 66 A320 family aircraft. Besides, another 70 pilots are under training. Air India's pilots strength will cross 2,000 by May this year when the recruitment exercise gets completed, the source said.

"We will be inducting 29 more A320s including 14 A320neos between April this year and March 2018. In line with this induction programme, we are recruiting 534 type-rated pilots as well on a contract basis," an Air India source told PTI. 

Type rating is a regulating agencies certification given to a pilot to fly a certain aircraft type that requires additional training, which involves huge cost, beyond the scope of the initial license and aircraft class training. 

The national carrier has added 66 A320 family aircraft in its fleet besides Boeing planes. It has already tied up with a Kuwaiti aircraft lessor to lease 14 A320neos, which are to be delivered by March 2017.

In addition to this, Air India would soon float tenders for leasing of 15 A320s to augment capacity.

"At the same time, we will also be phasing out some old classic A320s from the fleet. We expect our overall narrow body (A320 family) fleet to stand at around 75-80 aircraft by the end of March 2018," the source said.

Air India has tweaked hiring norms after a number of pilots quit the carrier and moved to private airlines after acquiring high high-cost type-rated training at its expenses, the source said. (See Jewel)

Read Stop Poaching.

“The new pilots joining Air India will have to sign a bond and submit bank guarantee totalling Rs one crore, which will be encashed if a pilot decides to quit the airline before the expiry of his contract,” the source said.

As many as 173 Air India pilots have resigned from the national carrier since 2012, with the maximum being those operating the narrow body Airbus A320 family aircraft, Government had said in Parliament recently.

Of these, 72 pilots operating the narrow-body Airbus A320 family fleet have resigned, while 38 pilots each of Boeing 787 Dreamliner and Boeing 777, eight of Boeing 747 and 17 of Boeing 737 fleet have quit between 2012 and October this year, Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju had said during the Winter session of Parliament.

At present, the cost of training a pilot for an Airbus family of planes stands at Rs 4.01 lakh per pilot while the type rating cost per pilot comes to nearly Rs 23 lakh.

TIRUCHIRAPALLI: An Airport with More Foreign Operations than Domestic

TIRUCHIRAPALLI International Airport has continuously been witnessing an upswing in passenger and freight movements. The unique thing about it is that it has seen more overseas flights than domestic over the years. 

Trichy airport is one of the fastest growing international airports in India. It is the third largest airport in Tamilnadu in terms of passenger and cargo traffic after Chennai and Coimbatore International Airports.

However, there have been various long pending issues regarding Trichy airport. Several rounds of official discussions and representations from public welfare bodies have been held in the past. One major issue has been the expansion of the runway that would eventually facilitate the operation of wide-bodied aircraft from and to Trichy . AAI has decided to expand the runway to around 3,200 m (10,500 ft) initially from the existing 2,480 m (8,136 ft) and later to 3,800 m (12,500 ft). The runway expansion requires 510.30 acres of land of which over 160 acres belongs to the defense. Although the defense ministry had accorded “in-principle” approval for providing about 168.4 acres of its land adjoining the airport, it had sought alternative land of equal value in exchange. Despite several rounds of meetings involving the district administration, runway expansion work is yet to take off. 

The number of foreign flights from Trichy airport keep growing, but it has remained confined only to select overseas destinations. Direct connectivity to key Middle East destinations has been hugely missed by the travel industry and other public who have raised this issue on many occasions.

Air India Express has given Trichy the only direct connectivity to Dubai. There is a large number of people from central and southern districts employed in various Middle East destinations like Kuwait, Riyadh, Damam, Jeddah, Abu Dhabi and Doha. The absence of direct connectivity to these destinations forces passengers to travel via Chennai or Colombo. The Sri Lankan Airlines operates from here profitably.

2 years have passed since a notification allowing international courier operations through Trichy However, courier shipments are yet to take off from the Trichy airport which has seen a significant upward trend in overseas cargo movement.

There is a hope that the facility would be launched in 2016.  It is felt that launch of courier operations would change the profile of overseas freight shipments from Trichy - majority of which are perishable commodities sold overseas. Although the Airports Authority of India and the Customs have held discussion on this issue, international courier operation continues to remain on paper.

Union Civil Aviation Minister P. Ashok Gajapathi Raju paid his maiden visit to Trichy to study the various issues related to the international airport at Trichy. He interacted with the media after a meeting with the stakeholders at the Trichy International Airport, Replying to a query by the  media on the delay in executing Trichy airport runway expansion plan, Mr. Raju mentioned that the land acquisition was a State subject, and the Centre and the Tamil Nadu state government would work together for its development. 

He appeared optimistic on the implementation of the new aviation policy that is being formulated. "The new civil aviation policy  would make the Indian skies vibrant by promoting regional connectivity," he said.

Travel and trade circles also raised a number of points;  a strong pitch was proposed on a slew of issues connected with Tiruchi international airport during a meeting with the Minister. Mr M. Sekaran, president, Air, Rail and Road Travelers Federation, said, "Non-inclusion of Trichy airport as a point of call under the Bi Lateral Air Services Agreement (BASA) has restricted operations to West Asian destinations by many overseas carriers. Given the rising air passenger traffic and the demand, time has come for the Ministry of Civil Aviation to include Trichy airport as a point of call under the BASA which would enable new carriers to operate flights to more West Asian destinations. This would not only address the long pending passengers’ demand, but also enhance overseas cargo movement from Trichy airport thereby augmenting revenue for the Airports Authority of India. 

The minister held discussions with airport officials on the status of land acquisition required for the extension of the runway and bringing the airport under the bilateral air services agreement (BASA).

"A major thrust will be given to Indian players than foreign carriers for flying to Gulf countries," the minister has said. He stressed that the Centre was keen that the advantage should go to the Indian aviation players.

Making it clear that the Centre was not against foreign players operating services from India to other overseas destinations, the Minister said that the government wanted Indian players to go truly global, and the Centre was trying to motivate Indian aviation players to operate more services to foreign destinations that would prove beneficial to them.

Air India Struggles to Lessen Debt; its Peddar Road Flats to be Sold for Rs 900 million.

While the share prices of its contemporaries Indigo, Jet and Spice Jet are breaking life time highs, Air India is struggling. Its debt burden is about Rs 40,000 crore. It is surviving on a bailout package approved in 2012. At times Air India is forced to ground its planes because of its inability to pay for spares. 

Trying to stay afloat

Faced with such a huge debt burden apart of interest thereon, the national carrier has been exploring various options to raise money to meet its funding requirements. Earlier, it had mopped up Rs 7000 cr by selling 9 of its planes.

These options also include sale of properties and land parcels. Under the asset monetisation plan, Air India has to mop up Rs 5,000 crore over a 10-year period, starting from 2013-14, in a bid to bridge the widening mismatch in its revenue and expenditure. The asset monetisation plan was approved by the erstwhile  UPA government along with Air India's turnaround plan by its Cabinet Committee of Economic Affairs in April 2012 with a committed public funding of Rs 30,231 crore, staggered over a period of nine years, with some specific riders.

Today Air India has four premium flats in the Mumbai's up-market Peddar Road area. Each of these 3-BHK flats has a carpet area of 2,033 sq ft. Air India was looking to sell these flats for the past two years. In August 2013, it had also floated bids for e-auctioning of these four flats. State Bank of India, the country's largest state-owned lender, is all set to buy the flats from Air India for Rs 90 crore. It will be an all-cash deal.

The legal team of Air India is preparing a draft sale agreement which will then be given to the counterparts from the SBI.

  

The government recently gave its permission to state-owned Air India to sell the said flats to SBI for about Rs 90 crore as part the airline's asset monetisation plan. 

SBI is planning to allocate these four flats to its top executives. SBI has already taken two floors in the nearly-empty 22-storey Air India Towers at Nariman Point, which till a few years ago was the headquarters of the national carrier Air India.   

See also : Air India Maintenance Standards  

Earlier, Air India hiked the penalty for pilots leaving the airline within five years of joining from Rs 10 lakh to Rs 50 lakh. The move was aimed at checking the mass exodus of pilots and ensuring the cash-strapped Maharaja recovers the cost it incurs on training them. (See To prevent Poaching)

A batch of 25 fresh commercial pilot licence holders (CPL) joining the airline in the coming days will be made to sign a bond and give a bank guarantee that will collectively amount to Rs 50 lakh. 

AI chairman Ashwani Lohani

"We will soon make the combined bank guarantee-cum-bond amount Rs 50 lakh for type-rated pilots who join us and up to Rs 1 crore for non-type rated pilots," AI chairman Ashwani Lohani told media. "This will be clearly mentioned in our future job ads."