GoAir in talks with European firms for maintenance, spares

Wadia Group-owned GoAir has said that it is in talks with two European companies to take care of the company?s aircraft maintenance and supply of spare parts. Besides, the airline said it is contemplating to start international operations and focus will be neighbouring countries. 

After launching its service to Chennai, which will be the 22nd destination for the airline in the country, Giorgio De Roni, chief executive officer, Go Airlines (India) Ltd said, currently the aircraft maintenance is done in-house. With the airline?s fleet increasing it is better to have a maintenance agreement with another carrier which will help bring down the cost. 

While minor maintenance activities will be carried out in the country, major overhaul will be taken up outside India, added Kamal Kikani, vice president - customer service and airports, Go Airlines (India) Ltd. 

The airline expects to take delivery of 72 new fuel-efficient A320 NEO aircraft from Airbus starting 2016. In June 2011, GoAir announced it has placed an order worth $7.2 billion, which according to the then currency strength was estimated to be around Rs 32,400 crore. 

The additional aircraft will be in addition to the 11 and its proposed target of 20 aircraft by mid-2014. 

?We expect deliveries starting from the first quarter of 2016,? said Roni. 

Meanwhile, the airline is also studying the possibility of commencing international operations. ?We will not look at long haul international routes, focus will be neigbouring countries,? said Roni. 

At present, there is a threshold set by the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) that to operate internationally, the Indian airlines should have at least 20 aircraft. However, the foreign airlines who have operations in India do not have such mandates. 

?We are studying the possibilities of approaching the government for permission for the Indian airlines with fewer than 20 aircraft to fly internationally,? he said. 

Last fiscal, the airline operated around 30,000 flights with around 50,000 flight hours, serving around 4 million passengers to and from 21 destinations. This year, the company expects to operate around 35,000 flights, with 60,000 flight hours, serving 5 million passengers to reach various destinations. 

Meanwhile, even as airline companies are lining up for government?s approval for directly importing aviation turbine fuel (ATF) which would lower the fuel bill, there are issues like handling and transportation of the fuel without contamination to be addressed, said Giorgio De Roni, chief executive officer, Go Airlines (India) Ltd. 

?There are some issues to be addressed before directly importing ATF directly. The fuel has to be brought unloaded in the port and then transported up to the aircraft. Contamination would be an issue in the sector where safety is key priority,? he said. 

?It should be a joint effort of the industry and we have to discuss it in the federation of airline companies,? he added. 

Commenting on the talks on allowing for foreign direct investment in the Indian carriers, he said that the foreign companies could support the Indian airlines to grow better. However, he added that it is the Indian companies which should strengthen their presence in the country. 

http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/goair-in-talkseuropean-firms-for-maintenance-spares/472099/

Aviation sector allowed to raise up to $1 bn in ECB

After clearing the implementation of relaxed external commercial borrowing (ECB) norms to meet capital requirements in the power and road sectors yesterday, the finance ministry today paved the way for implementing the measures announced in the Budget for the airline sector. 

Keeping in mind the immediate financing concerns of the civil aviation sector, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, in his Budget speech, had announced companies in the aviation sector would be allowed to avail of ECBs for one year for working capital and refinancing of working capital rupee loans. 

ECBs under this provision would have a ceiling of $1 billion for the entire civil aviation sector. The cap for individual airline companies has been fixed at $300 million. This may be availed either in a lump sum or in tranches, depending upon the utilisation of the limit during a particular financial year. 

Saying the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) would come out with the relevant circulars and notification for implementing these measures within a week, Joint Secretary, (capital markets), Thomas Mathew, said the proposals of individual companies would be considered by RBI under the approval route, based on parameters such as cash flows and the capacity of individual companies to repay these loans from their foreign exchange earnings. 

To increase access to ECBs, RBI would consider relaxation in the average maturity period for ECBs above $20 million from five to three years, he said, adding the central bank would also keep a tab on the utilisation of the funds. 

?Working capital loans are short-term and attract higher interest rates. Raising these through ECBs would reduce costs by 200 basis points,? said an Air India official, on condition of anonymity. 

On the possibility of raising the $1-billion limit, Mathew said, ?We will answer this issue when we reach such a situation.? The civil aviation ministry has already demanded this limit be raised to $2 billion. 

http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/aviation-sector-allowed-to-raiseto-1-bn-in-ecb/472021/

Eligibility for carriers flying abroad may be relaxed

In a reversal of its policy, the civil aviation ministry is open to relaxing eligibility norms for Indian carriers planning to fly abroad. 

?We are open to relaxing eligibility norms required for Indian carriers to fly international. No one has approached us with a proposal to relax norms, but it can be looked at,? said civil aviation minister Ajit Singh. He said relaxation in the eligibility norms would also depend on the merit of the case. 

According to the norms, an Indian airline should have domestic flying experience of at least five years and a fleet of 20 aircraft to be eligible to fly abroad. However, there are no such norms for international carriers flying into India. These only require permission under bilateral rights. 

GoAir is the only Indian carrier that does not have the approval to fly abroad because it does not fulfill the minimum 20-aircraft fleet criteria. Due to financial constraints, Kingfisher Airlines has also stopped flying to foreign locations. 

GoAir chief executive officer Giorgio De Roni recently said the carrier was studying possibilities to approach the government for allowing it to fly abroad with less than 20 aircraft. The airline operates with a fleet of 12 Airbus 320 aircraft, which it plans to increase to 20 by mid-2014. In June 2011, the airline had placed orders worth $ 7.2 billion for 72 new, fuel-efficient A320 NEO aircraft and the deliveries are expected to start in 2016. 

The civil aviation ministry, under Ajit Singh, has allowed increasing the utilisation of foreign bilateral rights for Indian carriers to 40 per cent from the summer schedule, roughly equal to the utilisation by foreign carriers. Before this, Indian carriers were utilising only 22.7 per cent of the total foreign bilateral rights and foreign carriers were utilising about 40 per cent of their allocated rights. 

India has signed bilateral rights agreements with about 100 countries and there are 834,000 weekly seats on international air routes. Of the 22.7 per cent utilisation by Indian carriers, Air India utilises 11.9 per cent, while the remaining four private carriers that fly abroad utilise a combined average of 10.8 per cent. International carriers utilise 37.9 per cent of the total ceiling. 

http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/eligibility-for-carriers-flying-abroad-may-be-relaxed/472142/ 

ode-share alliance with JetBlue to expand Emirates' US network

Emirates passengers travelling to the US from India will soon enjoy seamless connections to a dozen US cities, with the airline starting a one-way code-share with JetBlue. 

The two airlines have been interline partners since 2010, facilitating passengers the convenience of a single ticket for Emirates- and JetBlue-operated flights. 

Mr Orhan Abbas, Vice-President (India & Nepal), Emirates Airline, said, ?US attracts huge traffic from India for work, education and leisure. The association with JetBlue will benefit Indians travelling to US on Emirates by offering smooth connectivity from New York's JFK Airport to some of the most popular destinations in the US.? 

Emirates' network within the US will soon extend to almost 20 cities through JetBlue. Emirates currently offers two daily non-stop flights to JFK. 

As a one-way code-share, an Emirates' flight number will be placed on JetBlue services to 12 cities, including Boston, Buffalo, Chicago, Fort Lauderdale, Tampa and Washington Dulles. 

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/industry-and-economy/logistics/article3335992.ece

Air India to sort out pricing issue with online travel agencies

Air India will be meeting major online travel agencies to sort out issues concerning ticket pricing and revenue sharing. 

Airline companies are at loggerheads with travel portals on ?opaque fares'. Airlines like Indigo and Jet Airways had pulled out inventory (removed their tickets) from the Nasdaq-listed Web site makemytrip.com in protest against the ?opaque fares' scheme the portal deployed on its Web site. 

?Opaque fares' is a practice where a portal sells heavily discounted tickets. It is a form of blind booking as the identity of the airline is kept a secret till the buyer pays for the non-refundable ticket. 

Late last month, aviation regulator DGCA had directed all airlines to stop participating in any ?opaque fare' scheme being offered by the online travel portals 

Several airlines complained that through this scheme, some portals were issuing low-priced tickets of cash-strapped Kingfisher Airlines, a charge denied by Vijay Mallya's carrier. 

However, makemytrip.com maintained ?that the fares and inventory of various airlines on its Web site was controlled by the airlines. All fares are displayed as per the guidelines received and approved by airlines including the special fares that were approved by the participating airlines.? 

Industry sources pointed out that some portals were not charging any cancellation fee on some air tickets. 

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/industry-and-economy/logistics/article3336459.ece?homepage=true&ref=wl_home

Air India's upgrade scheme

Mumbai, April 20: 

Economy class travellers of Air India can now get themselves upgraded to executive class on AI's domestic network from 45 cities. The airline has added 28 more cities to the scheme. 

?Under Air India's on-going airport upgrade scheme named ?Get Up Front', passengers flying in economy class can avail upgrade subject to availability of seats in executive class at the airport, on payment of a fixed amount of Rs 4,000 for travel distance up to 750 km and Rs 6,000 for distance more than 750 km,? an AI spokesperson said. 

The offer is open to all passengers holding tickets in Economy class, including APEX fares. Passengers holding frequent flyer award tickets would also be able to avail themselves of the upgrade facility by paying the requisite upgrade amount. The scheme is valid till June 30, he added. 

ADVANTAGE OF AN AIRLINE TO DO SELF HANDLING

ADVANTAGE OF AN AIRLINE TO DO SELF HANDLING

1.       The policy and notification dated 17-01-2000 permit to do self handling with bonafide staffs.

2.     The cost of self handling by their own staffs can show different on their service to their customers who pay to them.

3.   The cost is only 25% compared to the cost the ground handling charge to the customer airline in India.

4.    The airline can pay more to their staffs who work directly under them which will boost the motivation of the staff will help them to improve the customer service.

5.       Due to this the airline can increase their sales and increase their frequency 1 to 2, 2 to 3. 3 to 4 etc..

6.    In March 2007 the Government foreign airline who operate 14 flights per week in a particular destination can do self handling. Because even the frequency is increased they can do with the same staffs and handle which cost less.

DISADVANTAGE OF GROUND HANDLING

1.       Ground handler will not pay as per the standard of the airline. Due to make profit which will reduce the quality of service level to their customs.

2.      They will be giving the same type of service which they will be giving other airline.

3.     There will not be any motivation for them to give different service to the customers which will affect the customer service and destination of sales.

4.       Quality of staff will not available like the airline standard.

5.   Most of the foreign airline ground staffs standards are monitored by the respective civil aviation authority in respect of safety and security.

6.       Ground handlers cannot provide security staffs. If airline is doing self handling the security staffs are also will do customer service. Since it is one team.

It is justified by your Government to show step mother treatment to foreign airline to force them to use cheap ground handlers who do not have any experience also do not gone through any safety training as per ICAO directive.