Air Works joins hands with Dilip Chhabria

HYDERABAD: Third party MRO (maintenance, repair and overhaul) player Air Works India Engineering Pvt Ltd has joined hands with auto designer Dilip Chhabria (DC) to foray into the aircraft refurbishment market with customized and made-in-India interiors. 

The company unveiled a DC-designed prototype of a mid-sized business jet's interiors , which is also the first indigenously designed and built concept, at the India Aviation 2012 hoopla here on Wednesday. Showcasing the prototype , developed at a cost of over Rs 2 crore at the DC Design studio in Pune, iconic designer Dilip Chhabria said that the bespoke interiors for private jets would be conceptualized and designed based on customer preferences. 

Air Works managing director Vivek Gour said that with this foray the company was eyeing the growing market for bespoke interiors aboard private jets in India. "There is a large market for aircraft interiors in India with a market spend of around $150-200 million. But as there are no local interiors providers currently in India all jets have to go abroad for the purpose. This foray will change that and also help save foreign exchange." According to Gour, the company was in talks with 2-3 corporate customers for which DC was already involved with ideas. He pointed out that there were currently 100 business jets in operation in India and Air Works was eyeing the top 50 business houses as potential customers for its refurbishment business. "We can also cater to refurbishment needs of bigger aircraft if required," Gour added. 

"Our plan is to leverage our airframe, avionics and now interior refurbishment capabilities to collectively provide customers with an option to upgrade their aircraft to help them improve their flying experience as well as value of their aircraft ," Gour added. 

Set up in 1951, Air Works is an aviation services provider that maintains 50 aircraft types for over 100 customers across 15 maintenance locations across India.


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Coming soon, air cargo policies to spur aviation sector

HYDERABAD, MARCH 14: 

The Government plans new policies for development of the aviation sector, including an air cargo promotion policy, Mr Ajit Singh, Union Minister for Civil Aviation, said. The proposal will be circulated to garner views.

He said an appropriate economic regulatory framework for future airports is being worked out to attract investments and ensure viability.

Delivering his keynote address at India Aviation 2012, the Minister said with continued growth in the aviation sector, particularly increased air traffic and the fleet expansion programmes of airlines, India offers long-term prospects.

India today is uniquely placed to offer enormous opportunities and potential for global aviation companies to collaborate and expand. In the last decade, the domestic airline traffic has gone up six-fold from 13 million to 60 million in 2011.

The cargo handled at the Indian airports has seen an impressive compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 10.89 per cent in the last five years, with international cargo accounting for two-thirds.

The MRO industry, though currently in a nascent stage is expected to take wings and grow with India, emerging a potential hub for both manufacturing and MRO. An MRO facility has come up at Hyderabad and Air India is building one with Boeing at Nagpur and Airbus is also expected to make an investment in MRO. France is a focus country for the event, the UK a partner and the US a guest nation. The event saw participation from more than 200 global companies.

Mr Jaipal Reddy, Petroleum Minister, said there was a need to focus on services sans frills, this will bring down costs.

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Kingfisher cuts overseas flights after plane 'return'

NEW DELHI, MARCH 14: 

Kingfisher Airlines was forced to curtail its international operations to some destinations in Europe and Asia, after a leasing company allegedly seized an A-330 aircraft being operated by the troubled airline.

Kingfisher, however, said it had "returned" an Airbus A-330-200 aircraft to a lessor in the UK, and decided to curtail its "wide-bodied" international operations. However, industry watchers claim that the aircraft was seized by the lessors in London.

Sources indicated that the possibility of return of one more wide-body Airbus soon cannot be ruled out. "All routes, especially the long-haul ones, are being reviewed and if there is one that is not making money it will be shut down," the sources said.

In effect, this means that the airline's flights to the UK and Hong Kong will be pruned.

The airline uses the wide-body A-330 to destinations in Europe and the Far East and the narrow-body A-320 to neighbouring countries in the South-Asia.

Meanwhile, the airline Chairman, Mr Vijay Mallya, is to meet pilots in Delhi on Thursday, the airline said in a statement. "Despite the shortage of crew, Kingfisher Airlines operated 101 flights on March 13 and will operate 101 flights on March 14. We request one and all to appreciate the serious handicaps we face not only because of our frozen accounts but because of the operating environment. We are working hard to resolve the issues that confront us given the current environment," the statement added.

The airline was recently suspended from the IATA Billing Settlement Plan, 

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Kingfisher did not stick to its recovery plan: DGCA

Hyderabad: Kingfisher Airlines did not stick to its recovery plan, submitted to the regulator last month, and the situation is a grave concern to the public and the government, DGCA said today.

Reports on the financially hit airline are being submitted on daily basis to the Civil Aviation Ministry as flight cancellations have become regular, Director General of Civil Aviation E K Bharat Bhushan said.

"It a matter of grave concern to all including the regulator. I must say that it is matter of concern. Because, they had given us recovery plan for the airlines last month which they have not maintained," Bhushan told reporters on the sidelines of Aviation India-2012.

"The situation cannot go on like this. Yesterday, they flew 98 flights. As I said, the situation cannot go on like this. It is causing lot of distress to the lot of travelling public which is matter of concern for us," he added.

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Boeing to pay AI $500 mn for Dreamliner delay: Govt

The Government of India on Wednesday said Boeing had agreed to pay Air India a $500 million compensation for the four-year delay in delivery of the 787 Dreamliner aircraft. However, the US company said the announcement was news to it.

"I think if we'd settled for $500 mn, somebody would have told me," Jim Albaugh, president of Boeing's commercial aircraft unit said on Wednesday at an aviation meet in New York. "We don't comment on deals that we've done, but I can tell you that we're not writing anybody a cheque for $500 mn."

That was after Prashant Sukul, the government's joint secretary (civil aviation), told journalists after the inauguration of the India Civil Aviation Air Show in Hyderabad that the US company had said it would pay the amount on the long delay in delivering the 27 Boeing 787's the government carrier had ordered. Rohit Nandan, the chairman of AI, was present.

"The compensation demand from Air India is $1 billion. Two weeks back, they (Boeing) agreed to pay a little over $500 million," said Sukul, adding, "We are asking for more, we are talking to them."

Albaugh's retort, broadcast on the internet, too, put a stop to calculations on how the amount would come very handy in staunching the government carrier's flow of red ink. Boeing's India head, Dinesh Keskar, declined to comment when asked whether the plane maker was compensating for the delays.

Negotiations for the compensation have been on for quite a while and the government was learnt to have pressed for $1 billion. AI had placed an order for 27 Boeing 787s and was to get these from 2008. Boeing had then committed to delivery in October-December 2011, but that didn't happen, too.

"The first 787 is expected to be delivered in May," said Nandan. He said seven Boeing 787s would come by next March. Adding: "The aircraft should have come in 2008. Our turnaround plan, route economics and profitability is based on it."

AI is in a severe financial crisis and is still awaiting the government's permission to induct these planes. One argument within policy circles is that it would be better to cancel a large part of the number ordered, given the cash crisis of both AI and the government.

AI is otherwise expecting Rs 5,500 crore of additional equity infusion from the government. This will help clear its huge dues. Of the money, Rs 2,500 crore is to be paid to oil companies, Rs 1,200 crore to airport operators and Rs 580 crore for employee salaries, Nandan said.

The airline has got about Rs 3,200 crore in government bailouts since early 2009.

As for the Dreamliner, the total of global orders Boeing had got for these are 868, according to the company's website. It has so far delivered a total of five, all to Tokyo-based ANA. Boeing says its aim is to make 10 a month by the end of next year.

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Vijay Amritraj quits Kingfisher Airlines board

Mumbai, Mar 14 (PTI) Vijay Amritraj, former tennis star and sports commentator, today quit the board of struggling carrier Kingfisher Airlines (KFA), becoming the third independent director to leave the company this fiscal. Amritraj, whose resignation leaves the KFA board with just one independent director, is quitting the board as increase in "travel schedule and commitments would prevent him from attending any board meetings in 2012-13", the airline said. "His (Amritraj's) resignation has been accepted with effect from March 14, 2012," KFA said in a filing to the BSE. The annual report for 2010-11 showed Amritraj attending just one board meeting, of the seven held during the year. With this development, the company would be left with just four board members, including one independent director -- Anil Kumar Ganguly. According to the report, the company had seven directors on board as of September 5, 2011. And on the same day, another board member, Diwan Arun Nanda, had quit citing personal reasons. The report had listed Chairman and Managing Director Vijay Mallya, Vice Chairman and Non–Executive Director Subhash R Gupte, and Chief Financial Officer and Non–Executive Director A K Ravi Nedungadi, and four independent directors-- Vijay Amritraj, Anil Kumar Ganguly, Piyush Mankad and Ghyanendra Nath Bajpai on the company's board. Amritraj is a Padma Shri and runs the Vijay Amritraj Foundation. He is a designated United Nations Messenger of Peace and a recipient of the International Sportsman of the Year Award in 1987. Amritraj was the youngest player to play Davis Cup for a country and represented India in the coveted tournament for several years.

 

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No bail-out for Kingfisher: Ajit Singh

Union Minister for Civil Aviation Ajit Singh has ruled out bailing out crisis-ridden Kingfisher Airlines and asserted that the Directorate-General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) would not make any compromise on passenger safety.

Addressing a press conference after inaugurating India Aviation Show -2012 here on Wednesday, he said the DGCA, which was looking into the problems such as cancellation of flights and absenteeism by pilots, would submit its report in a day or two and the government would act based on the recommendations.

Stating that the government could not bail out Kingfisher or any other private airline, he said it did not want any airline to close down either. It was a free enterprise and with the aviation industry being capital-intensive, the airline would have to convince the banks about a viable financial business plan. "Government has nothing to do with that".

Mr. Singh said the proposed financial restructuring package for Air India would be put before the Cabinet this week. The package seeks to infuse Rs.6,500 crore as capital in the next couple of weeks and conversion of portion of short-term into long-term loans.

He said the problems being faced by the aviation sector in the country were temporary and the prospects were bright in the long-term. Operating costs were going up and a big factor for this was the aviation fuel. While it accounted for 20-25 per cent of the operating costs the world over, it was 40 per cent or more in India. Part of the problem was high taxes imposed by the States.

In a bid to alleviate the problems faced by the sector, he said the government had decided to allow import of aviation turbine fuel (ATF) by the airlines directly. The proposal to allow FDI in aviation sector was with the Commerce Ministry. Another major step to help airlines was to allocate traffic rights on international routes to private Indian airlines. The move would alleviate financial stress because international operations were more profitable. As a result, the private airlines would add 500-600 flights on international routes this year.

Mr. Singh said the government would come out with a comprehensive civil aviation policy. Admitting that the delay in the delivery of 787 Dreamliner aircraft by Boeing had caused problems to Air India, he declined to comment on the compensation being sought from the airline and merely said that it was being negotiated.

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Kingfisher To Curtail Overseas Operations

The debt-ridden airline Kingfisher Airlines on Wednesday said it would be curtailing its "wide-bodied" international operations that are bleeding heavily. In other words, the airline's flights to the United Kingdom and Hong Kong would be pruned, reports said.

The airline uses the wide body A-330 aircraft for flights to destinations in Europe like London and in Far East like Hong Kong, while the narrow body A-320 aircraft is used to operate flights to neighbouring countries in the South Asian region.

The airline also announced that it had returned an Airbus A-330-200 to a lessor in the UK. The company said positive and immediate action was being initiated on all fronts to cut costs.

Meanwhile, the airline's Chairman and Member of Parliament Vijay Mallya is to meet with pilots in Delhi on Thursday, the airline said.

"Despite the shortage of crew, it operated 101 flights on March 13 and will operate 101 flights on March 14.

Stating the external factors as reasons for its current state of affairs, it said, We request one and all to appreciate the serious handicaps we face not only because of our frozen accounts but because of the operating environment. We are working hard to resolve the issues that confront us given the current environment."

The airline has also been suspended from the IATA network, as it was not able to meet its financial commitments.

The airline, which clocked a net loss of Rs.444 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2011, had a debt of Rs.7,057.08 crore.

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