IPG seeks meeting with Ajit Singh

The Indian Pilots Guild (IPG) on Thursday sought a meeting with Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh in a bid to end the current impasse.

In a letter to Mr. Singh on Thursday, IPG general secretary Capt. E.A. Kapadia asked the Minister to give them an audience to discuss and clarify various issues.

“We believe that an earnest dialogue will help resolve all issues in the interest of the country, the airline and its employees. We would be very grateful if you could accommodate us in your busy schedule and grant us an appointment at the earliest,'' the letter said.

The strike entered the 17 day on Thursday with Air India announcing a curtailed schedule for international flights from June 1 to 30.

This is understood to have sent a strong message to the striking pilots that the government was prepared for a long haul and it would not give in to the tactics of the IPG.

The IPG said they had come to know through media reports that Mr. Singh had offered to take back all terminated pilots and look into its demands.

http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/article3453344.ece

Jet Q4 loss widens

A sharp rise in fuel cost coupled with a sliding rupee pushed Jet Airways deeper into the red for the fifth quarter in a row with the combined losses soaring 140 per cent to Rs.298.10 crore in the quarter ended March 31, 2012. The losses negated a healthy 24.3 per cent increase in total income, which stood at Rs.4,638.9 crore during the period. The airline saw its fuel bill jumping 42.4 per cent to Rs.1,822.50 crore from Rs.1,279.70 crore in the year-ago period.

The Jet Group, on Thursday, reported an operating profit of Rs.412.40 crore for the reporting quarter, which it described as a ‘challenging environment' marked by a massive spike in fuel cost and a doddering rupee. Commenting on the results, Jet Group Chief Executive Nikos Kardassis said, “the rupee depreciation and high fuel prices have impacted the quarterly results.”

http://www.thehindu.com/business/companies/article3452896.ece

Hit by high fuel cost, Jet Airways posts 5th straight quarterly loss

Loss widens to Rs 354 crore in what is traditionally a weak quarter for airlines

Hit by high fuel cost and a weakened rupee, private carrier Jet Airways (India) Ltd posted a consolidated net loss of Rs 354 crore in the March quarter, compared with a loss of Rs 200 crore in the year-ago period.

For 2011-12, Jet Airways’ consolidated loss stood at Rs 1,420 crore, against a Rs 85-crore loss in the year before, the company said in a statement on Thursday

The company said fuel costs jumped 42 per cent year-on-year in the March quarter.

While the 24 per cent jump in revenue during the quarter was in the line with analysts’ expectations, the bottom line performance was better than estimations. The stock ended flat in on Thursday's trade at Rs 321.

Traditionally, the fourth quarter is a weak season for airlines and travel companies. However, Jet Airways registered significant passenger, revenue and yield growth in the quarter, as Kingfisher Airlines Ltd, another private carrier, curtailed its domestic services to around 100 flights from 400 six months ago. Load factors were up 510 basis points y-o-y to 83 per cent. To reach break-even, the company needed load factors of 91 per cent.

Yields grew 9.6 per cent y-o-y on a stand-alone basis. Both Jet Airways and its subsidiary JetLite (now renamed as Jet Konnect) registered revenue growth of around 24 per cent to Rs 4,638 crore in the March quarter, compared with Rs 3,729 crore in the year-ago quarter. The growth was aided by fare increases and a sharp jump in load factors.

“Rupee depreciation and fuel prices have impacted the quarterly results. However, capacity reduction in the industry has helped raise fares and improve yields,’’ said Jet Airways chief executive officer Nikos Kardassis.

The company also said it would discontinue loss-making routes.

Capacity reduction in the industry has helped domestic airlines to increase fares and improve yields. The full impact of the same would be felt in the current quarter. “We have not seen any adverse effect on the passenger traffic flow. Rupee depreciation and crude oil prices continue to be a cause of concern. This, coupled with a sluggish economy, could impact traffic growth to some extent in the short to medium term, as the discretionary spending on travel could get affected,’’ the airline said.

The airline also told its investors that it appointed a valuer to assess exposure in JetLite, whose performance had been affected due to high operating costs. The unit continues to have a negative net worth. Jet Airways has total investment of around Rs 1,645 crore in JetLite in the form of equity and preference shares. The valuer has recommended that no impairment in exposure is required.

http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/hit-by-high-fuel-cost-jet-airways-posts-5th-straight-quarterly-loss/475348/

AI, Kingfisher crisis benefited Jet Airways

The crisis in Air India and Kingfisher Airlines has benefited Jet Airways the most and the private carrier is expected to place an order of up to 100 narrow-body aircraft during this financial year, a global aviation strategy firm has projected.

The Centre for Asia-Pacific Aviation (CAPA) also expects India's airlines to post a combined loss of a whopping USD 1.4 billion, with Air India likely to be the "worst performer" to report a loss of almost the entire amount of USD 1.3 billion.

In its latest analysis titled 'India Outlook 2012-13', it said that while Kingfisher would post an estimated loss of USD 220-260 million, the remaining four private carriers – Jet Airways, IndiGo, SpiceJet and GoAir combined, could post a modest profit of approximately USD 200 million.

It said although the troubles facing Air India and Kingfisher "have been positive for all of the other carriers, Jet Airways has been, and will continue to be, the largest beneficiary."

The "dramatic contraction" of Kingfisher from 66 to 16 operational aircraft, half of which are regional turboprop ATRs, and the pilots' strike hitting Air India's long-haul global operations, has left the domestic and international business market open for Jet Airways.

The CAPA report also said that Jet Airways was expected to "place a massive fleet order for up to 100 narrow-body aircraft in 2012/13".

"Despite the carrier's own weakness, it may decide to take advantage of the situation to expand both domestically and internationally as it had done in 1996 when a number of its competitors had closed down," it projected.

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/ai-kingfisher-crisis-benefited-jet-airways/953452/

AI, Kingfisher crisis benefited Jet Airways

The crisis in Air India and Kingfisher Airlines has benefited Jet Airways the most and the private carrier is expected to place an order of up to 100 narrow-body aircraft during this financial year, a global aviation strategy firm has projected. The Centre for Asia-Pacific Aviation also expects India's airlines to post a combined loss of a $1.4 billion, with Air India likely to be the "worst performer" to report a loss of almost the entire amount of $1.3 billion.

http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/ai-kingfisher-crisis-benefited-jet-airways-/475333/

New norm, AI stir spoil Gulf jobs

With Kerala accounting for almost one-fourth of the Air India flight cancellations following the pilot strike, the state’s Gulf job aspirants face a bleak scenario.

Adding to their woes is a new system introduced by Gulf Cooperation Council Approved Medical Centres’ Association (GAMCA) to obtain medical fitness certificates.

Gulf sector fares have gone up by 50 to 60 per cent following the AI strike. About 200 AI flights have been cancelled in the last 17 days of strike, of which 50 were from Kerala and majority, Gulf services.

Owing to the last-minute cancellation of flights, many are not able to join duty before the expiry of the visa and many are not able to afford the heavy fares in the sector.

“Despite being a lean season, foreign airlines have hiked fares to Gulf countries,” said the Kerala Association of Travel Agents president, Mr. K.V. Muraleedharan.

Meanwhile, the recently introduced GMAC system for obtaining medical certificates, mandatory for employment in Gulf countries, is also a nightmare for job-seekers.

In the new system, an applicant cannot turn up for medical test directly at any of the 23 GCC medical centres in the state, but should enroll at any of the three GAMCA offices located in Thiruvananthapu- ram, Kochi and Kozhikode.

Hundreds of candidates who turn up at the GMAC centres daily wait for long hours and many were allotted medical test the next day, said Recruiting Agents Association of Kerala president, Mr. B. Vivek

http://www.deccanchronicle.com/channels/nation/south/new-norm-ai-stir-spoil-gulf-jobs-590

'Air India to get its first Boeing 787 Dreamliner by May-end'

New Delhi: Air India would get its first Boeing 787 Dreamliner by this month end as scheduled, official sources said Wednesday, though Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh cancelled his US visit to receive the new-generation aircraft owing to problems facing the national carrier.

Official sources said the first Dreamliner would come to India by the "end of this month as scheduled".

The Minister, who was supposed to lead a delegation to Seattle and Charleston to take the delivery of Dreamliner, cancelled the trip "in view of the on-going problems of Air India including pilots' strike and passengers' inconvenience," an official statement said.

While Air India has ordered 27 of these new planes, Jet Airways has placed orders for ten which are likely to be delivered in another four years. The national carrier is expected to get at least three of these airplanes this year.

The long-haul aircraft, which is made of composite materials like carbon fibre, is portrayed as a fuel-efficient plane that would help slash flying costs significantly due to its lighter weight and non-stop flying capacity.

Boeing has received 896 orders for this aircraft and has so far delivered about 12 of them, mostly to two competing airlines from Japan -- Japan Airlines (JAL) and All Nippon Airways (ANA) which was the first customer. As of last year, the list price of a Dreamliner 787 was about USD 194 million.

Meanwhile, Singh held a meeting to review the Haj operations for this year where he took inputs from representatives of the Haj Committee of India and the state Haj committees.

About 1,25,000 pilgrims are expected to visit Saudi Arabia to undertake Haj this year. There would be 21 embarkation points across the country.

These are Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Kozikhode, Delhi, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Lucknow, Mumbai, Aurangabad, Bhopal, Indore, Nagpur, Gaya, Ranchi, Varanasi, Guwahati, Jaipur, Mangalore, Srinagar and Goa.

Singh said the Civil Aviation Ministry has geared itself to put in place all logistics well before the start of the Haj flights, which are proposed to commence in the second half of September.

Penalty provisions have been incorporated in proposed MoUs for air charter services to ensure better facilities for Haj pilgrims during air travel and at the airports.

These include penalty clauses for non-tagging and non-weighing of baggage and for absence of airline personnel at help desks in Jeddah and Madina.

Round-the-clock control rooms would be opened at Jeddah and Madina in Saudi Arabia and in Delhi.

Haj Committee Chairperson Mohsina Kidwai and Civil Aviation Secretary S N A Zaidi were also present at the meeting. 

http://zeenews.india.com/business/news/companies/air-india-to-get-its-first-boeing-787-dreamliner-by-may-end_48202.html

Jet Airways Q4 loss doubles on rising fuel costs

Mumbai, May 24:  

Jet Airways more than doubled its losses at Rs 298 crore in the fourth quarter of the financial year 2012 compared with the year-ago period.  Despite a 24 per cent growth in revenues, rising fuel costs and a weak rupee pushed the company deeper into red.

For the full year, losses were Rs 1,255 crore against profits of Rs 46 crore in the previous fiscal. Fuel costs were up 52 per cent at Rs 663 crore for the full fiscal.

 The Jet Group (Jet Airways and Jetlite) has reported a 24 per cent increase in total revenue of Rs 4,638 crore in the fourth quarter of FY 2012. Operating profits were at Rs 412 crore, while operating margins were at nine per cent. For the full year, revenues were at Rs 16,898 crore, up 15 per cent, while operating profits were at Rs 1,168 crore.

In a press statement issued by the company, Mr Nikos Kardassis, Chief Executive Officer, Jet Airways (I) Ltd said: “Rupee depreciation and fuel prices have impacted the quarterly results.”

In its outlook, the company said, “Capacity reduction in the industry has helped the domestic airlines to increase fares and improve yields. The full impact of the same would be felt in the current quarter.

“We have not seen any adverse effect on the passenger traffic flow. Rupee depreciation and crude oil prices continue to be a cause of concern. This coupled with sluggish economy could impact traffic growth to some extent in the short to medium term as the discretionary spending on travel could get affected.”

On the company's strategy going forward, the company statement said: “We have taken various initiatives to improve our operating efficiency and revenue earning potential. JetKonnect rebranding initiative will help us to enhance revenues.

“Other initiatives such as enhancing ancillary revenues, discontinuing loss making routes, sale of aircraft, restructuring commissions being paid to the agents will also help us in medium to long term.”

“Our International business continues to be robust and we are achieving healthy seat factors. We are focusing on network rationalisation, selectively adding flights to profit making markets such as Gulf & West Asia and Asean routes and discontinuation of loss making routes,” added the statement.

The Jet Air Group claimed its market share in the fourth quarter ended March 31, 2012, stood at 29.3 per cent.

The company scrip closed at Rs 321.20 on the BSE on Thursday, down 0.23 per cent from its previous close.

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/todays-paper/tp-corporate/article3453485.ece

Airbus to set up global innovation cell in Bangalore

Toulouse (France), May 24:  

Bangalore will conceive new generation Airbus aircraft, the Toulouse, France-based aircraft manufacturer Airbus Industrie has announced.

It will set up its global innovation cell in India. The Airbus President and CEO, Mr Tom Enders, said , “This cell will not just be based in India but also be headed by an Indian. We see the future of aviation industry lies in Asia.”

Although he did not announce the name of the new head, it is believed that Mr Ardhendu Pathak (earlier with GE Industrial Solutions) will be heading the new cell.

Adding to Mr Enders' statement, Mr Kiran Rao, Executive Vice-President (Marketing and Contracts), Airbus, said that the new innovation cell will start working from next year, from the existing engineering facility at Bangalore. “It will work on next generation aircraft for 2030, 2040, 2050 and so on,” Mr Rao said.

Asia-Pacific market

Setting up a global innovation cell in India is part of Airbus' bid to tap the bigger potential of the Asia-Pacific market. It is estimated that the APAC market will require 9,160 aircraft in the next 20 years.

At the same time, India, along with China and other emerging markets, is estimated to witness 6 per cent yearly growth in revenue passenger per kilometre (RPK). Nearly 6 billion people in these regions undertook air travel in 2011.

Echoing the same sentiments, Mr John Leahy, Chief Operating officer (Customers), Airbus, said that emerging economies such as India and China will drive strong travel growth.

At present, the per capita air travel in India is around 0.01-0.1, so there is lot of potential to grow. With such potential in entire region, Asia-Pacific region will account 32 per cent (highest among all the regions) of total delivery.

INDIA PLANS

Mr Rao said efforts are on to increase the headcount at the Bangalore offshore Engineering Centre, one of the five such centres worldwide for Airbus.

At present, it has nearly 300 persons employed there. This is likely to increase to 450 over the next year or two. By the end of the decade, the plan is to take this number to 1,000. A new pilot training centre near the F1 Racing ground in Greater Noida near Delhi is expected to start functioning from May-June 2013.

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/todays-paper/tp-economy/article3453503.ece

Pilots guild seeks audience with Ajit Singh

New Delhi, May 24:  

The Indian Pilots Guild, which is leading the agitation of Air India pilots, has sought an “audience” with the Union Civil Aviation Minister, Mr Ajit Singh to “discuss and clarify” issues to bring an end to the 21-day-old impasse.

“We would be grateful if you could accommodate us in your busy schedule and grant us an appointment at the earliest,” the IPG General- Secretary, Captain E.A. Kapadia, said in his communication to the Minister.

The IPG offer comes a day after the Minister for Civil Aviation indicated that he was willing to talk with any one provided no conditions were set for the talks to take place. ashphadnis@thehindu.co.in

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/todays-paper/tp-economy/article3453499.ece

Flying to get more comfortable for plus size travellers

Toulouse (France), May 24:  

People with plus size waistlines will be happy with Airbus' new range of aircraft, expected to be in the market soon.

The new aircraft may come with bigger seats in the all economy-class type of aircraft favoured by low- cost airlines. However, there is a catch. While the aircraft maker is happy to build them, the airlines may charge extra for such seats.

Aircraft manufacturer Airbus has offered to equip its new A320 type aircraft with some extra wide seats, without reducing the total number of seats in the Economy Class. The company claims that some North American airline customers have shown interest in such seats. However, it is not clear whether Indian carriers such as IndiGo, Go and Air India, who have placed order for A320 and A320neo, have shown interest in such wider seats. This is one of the innovations unveiled by Airbus on the occasion of its ‘Innovation Day'. The company said the new features have been conceptualised with the “passenger at heart, airline in mind.” Airbus's head of Aircraft Interiors Marketing, Ms Zuzana Hrnkova, said, “There is recognition that people are getting larger. That is why we need to provide an improved comfort in all classes.” Here the effort is providing adequate seat width for those who need it most, while improving the travel experience for those sitting close by, she added.

With this, the option is to provide extra wide seat by narrowing the remaining seats on the same row. Typically, a seat on A320 comes with 18-inch width. If an airline wants an extra wide seat, the additional width in one seat will be provided by trimming the width in the other two seats. So, the aisle seat will be 20 inches wide, while the middle and window seats will be only 17-inches wide.

Over 50 such extra wide seats can be provided on one A 320 aircraft. This can give additional revenue to the airline. “We believe such extra wide seats can add over $3 million net product value (NPV) additional revenue over 15 years,” Ms Hrnkova added.

OTHER INNOVATIONS

Airbus also proposes to provide, for the first time for a single-class configuration aircraft, lavatory for persons with reduced mobility. Such an arrangement is known as Space Flex can easily provide 3 extra seats in the rear.

Another feature is widening the body around the passenger seating area. Its new model, the A350X WB will become 5 inches wider at eye, shoulder and armrest levels, giving more shoulder and elbow room.

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/todays-paper/tp-economy/article3453494.ece

AirAsia net profit up 4.0%

UALA LUMPUR, 24 May 2012: Southeast Asia’s largest budget carrier AirAsia posted a 4.0% increase in first-quarter net profit, Wednesday, with the company citing a solid business model as the reason.

Net profit for the quarter ending 31 March was 167.97 million ringgit (US$53.4 million), compared with 161.9 million a year earlier, the airline said in a statement.

It posted a record quarter revenue of 1.17 billion ringgit, up 11%, from 1.05 billion in the same quarter last year, the company added.

Group chief executive officer Tony Fernandes said the airline had defied industry trends by achieving the percentage growth in net operating profit.

“This remarkable performance, relative to our peers, signifies our resilient business model in the volatile and cyclical airline business coupled with the current stubborn high oil prices,” he said.

For the quarter ended 31 March, rival carrier Malaysia Airlines reported its fifth consecutive loss amounting to 171.8 million ringgit, compared with a loss of 242.3 million a year earlier.

AirAsia said the revenue growth came on the back of 12% growth in passenger numbers and plane availability which saw the number of aircraft operating in Malaysia increase to 57.

http://www.ttrweekly.com/site/2012/05/airasia-net-profit-up-4-0/

Kolkata Airport-New Garia metro project may face fresh delays

Pending Airports Authority nod for underground alignment

Kolkata, May 24:  

The Rs 3,951-crore Kolkata Airport-New Garia metro project may face fresh delays due to non-availability of approval from Airports Authority for a crucial underground leg at the airport end.

The 32 km long metro line will run along the eastern fringes of the city.

Executed by Metro Railway, Kolkata – a wing of the Indian Railways – the project was scheduled to be completed by end-2015.

“The project may be delayed further if we don't get approval from the Airports Authority soon. We have already submitted an alignment outlay for the 7 km stretch connecting airport,” a key official involved in the project told Business Line.

According to him, the metro link will connect the upcoming integrated terminal of Kolkata airport.

“Unless the new airport terminal becomes operational, we cannot draw the outlay for the metro station near airport also,” he pointed out.

A Metro Railway spokesperson confirmed the non-availability of approval from airport authority.

Land hurdles

Even if the airport authorities give clearance, the project may face land hurdles as the stretch connecting to airport will pass through a large number of private properties, the source added.

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/todays-paper/tp-logistics/article3453547.ece