Airbus mulls U.S. assembly plant

Europe's Airbus is seriously studying the possibility of opening an assembly line in the United States, marking a direct challenge to Boeing in its home market as competition heats up in the global jet market, people familiar with the matter said.

The plan calls for the possible production of A320 narrowbody jets, Airbus's best-selling model, most probably in Mobile, Alabama, where EADS had planned to assemble U.S. tanker aircraft in a Pentagon contest it lost to Boeing last year.

Airbus and its Franco-German parent company EADS have said for some months that they were studying reshaping the plan to establish a foothold in commercial aircraft production in the world's largest single passenger-jet market.

One of the sources did not rule out an imminent announcement.

But an Airbus spokesman said the company had not yet completed its studies.

"No decision has been taken," Airbus spokesman Stefan Schaffrath said, declining further comment.

Airbus Chief Executive Fabrice Bregier was quoted in a Spanish newspaper on Wednesday as saying the planemaker was actively looking at a possible new assembly plant.

"This is part of the brainstorming we are doing regarding our international development," El Economista quoted him saying.

Setting up in the United States would boost Airbus's presence in the key U.S. market as it enters a phase of fleet renewal, and would reduce currency risk by increasing its exposure to costs in dollars, the currency in which aircraft are sold.

It would be the second Airbus assembly plant outside Europe.

None of the sources agreed to speak publicly on the matter because decisions have not yet been finalized.

Airbus is currently the world's largest producer of passenger jets ahead of Boeing. It assembles in Toulouse, France, the German port city of Hamburg and, since 2009, in Tianjin outside Beijing, China. Airbus said earlier this month it had started talks to extend the Tianjin venture beyond 2016.

When EADS lost the tanker contest to Boeing, analysts said the long, politically charged competition had focused industry attention on Alabama and fostered a belief that this could lead to future projects.

The original tanker proposal included a kernel of commercial production in Alabama with plans to assemble commercial freighters alongside the U.S. Air Force refueling planes.

But the new proposal would spread its reach to passenger jets, a much larger market in which Airbus and Boeing compete fiercely for the lion's share of a global jet market estimated at $100 billion a year.

Alabama and the U.S. South have made strides in recent years in gaining aerospace and other manufacturing work.

Aerospace and defense industry employment in Alabama rose 13 percent from 2002 to 2008, according to a study by the Alabama Aerospace Industry Association. High-tech space jobs are centered around Huntsville, with Boeing and Lockheed Martin as major employers.

http://in.reuters.com/article/2012/06/28/airbus-usa-idINL6E8HRHUR20120628

Oman Air Supports Salalah Tourism Festival 2011

Oman Air has announced being the Official Carrier and Diamond Sponsor of this year's Salalah Tourism Festival. The festival, which runs from the 1st of July to the end of the same month, celebrates the unique history, culture and climate of the Sultanate of Oman's most southerly Governorate. Due to its exceptional natural phenomena, Dhofar is considered as one of the most arresting areas for tourists particularly in autumn, where the temperature ranges between 15 to 22 degrees Celsius.

Usama Bin Karim Al Haremi, Head of Corporate Communications and Media at Oman Air, said:

"We are very pleased to once again be playing a pivotal role in promoting Dhofar Governate in general and Salalah Tourism Festival in particular. The Salalah Tourism Festival is a wonderful window on the amazing history, culture and traditions of this breathtaking region of Oman and, between July and September, we are offering some superb deals. Travelers from throughout the AGCC area and beyond will be given the opportunity to experience the Khareef. This monsoon season is unique to the area, bringing lush greenery, bright flowers, waterfalls, and relief from the heat."

Hundreds of thousands of AGCC nationals are preparing to head to the green hills and valleys of Salalah, the principal town of the Governorate of Dhofar. Located between the blue waters of the Arabian Sea and the spectacular, precipitous mountains, beyond which lies the vast desert of the fabled Empty Quarter, it is the only area of the AGCC where people can escape the desert heat in the summer and experience the relief of rain

Along with the Festival, Oman Air will also be promoting the wider attractions and superb facilities of Dhofar, which is also famed for its many archeological sites and ancient Frankincense trade.

Usama Bin Karim Al Haremi added:

"Oman Air has sponsored this event since its inception and we are proud to be helping to boost domestic tourism through our support of various forums and events held throughout Oman. This initiative is part of the national carrier of Oman's efforts to develop greater levels of in-bound tourism and it again signals our strong commitment to building a solid AGCC-wide tourism proposition.

I invite everyone to make the most of our latest, great-value promotional packages, to come to Oman and experience our wonderful hospitality, as well as learn what this wonderful country has to offer over the summer months. "

I would also encourage people to take a twin-centre holiday, so they can go to see the Salalah Tourism Festival and then come to Muscat for a few days. This will not only offer them the opportunity to see Oman's beautiful and historic capital for themselves, but also to experience the diversity of history, culture and landscapes that Oman has to offer. Join us for a uniquely enjoyable journey to a very special destination”.

http://www.omanair.com/wy/about-us/media-center/press-releases-2011/oman-air-supports-salalah-tourism-festival-2011

Aviation trials of Admiral Gorshkov to begin in July

New Delhi, Jun 28 (PTI) Fighter aircraft will start taking off from Admiral Gorshkov aircraft carrier next month as Russia will start trials of aviation facilities on the warship scheduled to join Indian Navy by December. The Russian side will start critical trials of the aviation complex of the aircraft carrier from mid-July using two MiG 29K fighter aircraft, Navy officials said here. The ship trials of the aircraft carrier had started early this month in the White Sea and now it will move towards the Briants Sea for the aviation complex trials, they said. India had signed a deal worth over USD 2.3 billion with Russia for procuring the aircraft carrier along with a component of MiG 29K naval fighter aircraft for the Navy. During the trials, the Russian side will check navigation, radars and landing facilities at the warship in presence of the Indian team, they said. The trials, to continue for another six months, will be done by Russian experts only as the warship is yet to be handed over to India, an official said, adding, "Our pilots will start flying operations on it only after it is officially handed over to us." As part of the contract, the Indian Navy will send a team of its pilots to Russia for flying operations on the aircraft at a shore-based facility in Ukraine. The purchase of Admiral Gorshkov was agreed in 2004 but delivery to India has been long delayed. India has already received a squadron of 16 MiG 29K aircraft from Russia and has deployed it at its air base in Goa. For India, which is operating lone aircraft carrier INS Virat, the Gorshkov is key to its military strategy as it wants to operate two such warships at its two vast Eastern and Western sea boards. Navy Chief Admiral Nirmal Verma had recently stated that Indian Navy's medium term aim was to to have at least two fully operational and combat-worthy carriers available at any given time.

http://ibnlive.in.com/generalnewsfeed/news/aviation-trials-of-admiral-gorshkov-to-begin-in-july/1017766.html

Pilots in a catch-22 Situation

Three days of continuous hunger strike by the Air India pilots seems to have fallen on deaf ears as 25 members of the pilots’ union in Mumbai and Delhi failed to draw attention of the management or the Civil Aviation Ministry to their plea.

The so-called most well-paid pilots of the world have done everything possible now to ensure that the management and the ministry at least call them for negotiations or unconditionally take them back.

From sitting on dharna and hunger protests on roads to sending messengers, the pilots have tried it all, but in vain.Three members of the union have also fallen sick as a result of the hunger strike and have been advised by the company doctor that if unless force fed, the situation will become critical.

The International Federation of Airline Pilots’ Association (IFALPA) has pledged its unconditional support to the cause of these pilots and requested for mutual assistance policies of ban on extra flights, wet leasing or any fresh recruitments of expats and denial of training facilities to the Air India.

The IFALPA also noted how the pilots, who were taking part in the protest, have been terminated, the IPG has been derecognised and ‘in a very worrying precedent, 10 members of the IPG managing committee have had their licences cancelled by the Indian DGCA’.

The IFALPA will make representations to the DGCA as it was a clear violation of their role as an independent regulator.

The pilots sought the intervention of the highest authorities of the government, but are yet to be given a sounding board by anyone in the political set up.

http://newindianexpress.com/nation/article553777.ece

Air India hushes up drunk pilot’s report

An Air India pilot, who tested positive on the breath analyser, came clean when the airline failed to report his test or take any further action on it.

A breath analyser test (BA Test) is a mandatory requirement for all crew before they take a flight to analyse the alcohol content in the body.

This incident occurred on June 12 in Mumbai, in which a senior executive pilot reported to his duty for flight AI864 to Delhi.

On being tested for alcohol, he was found positive. Capt Sunil Saxena was not reported to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), neither was any report made on the incident.

Capt Saxena, a management pilot, was supposed to operate the Delhi flight and his transport slip showed that he had gone to the airport but didn’t operate the flight.

“I think there is a massive cover-up and reason quoted is he had gargled Listerine before doing the BA Test,” said an Air India source who was aware of the hush up.

The Air India spokesperson failed to comment on the issue neither did the DG Bharat Bhushan respond to a SMS query.

The DGCA has been coming down hard on pilots found positive on the BA Test.

Earlier this year, as many as 15 people were caught positive on a new alcho-meter equipment that the DGCA used on crew of a particular line in a surprise visit to the airport.

Subsequently, a senior management pilot of the national carrier was stripped of his position following a positive alcohol test.

The executive pilots of Air India can not be spared especially now when the airline is depending on them for operating the Air India international flights, as 400 pilots of the erstwhile Air India have called in sick to duty and have not been operating flights for over 50 days.

http://newindianexpress.com/nation/article553771.ece

Foreign pilots’ body urges DGCA to end Air India strike

Mumbai, June 28:

Striking Air India pilots got backing from a global pilots’ body which extended them support and sought the intervention of Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) to end the deadlock that entered the 52nd day today.

In a letter to the DGCA, Mr E.K. Bharat Bhushan, International Federation of Air Line Pilots’ Association (IFALPA), said, “It is our view that DGCA, as the responsible regulator, is in a unique position and can make a very positive contribution towards ending this dispute.

“We would ask you to use your good offices to bring both sides back to the negotiating table so that the differing views can be resolved,” the IFALPA President, Capt Don Wykoff, said in the letter. Capt Wykoff also said, “Whilst it is not our role to sit in judgement as to the rights and wrongs of the dispute that seem centred on issues arising from the Air India and Indian Airlines merger, we feel a duty to make every effort to find a solution which is both fair and acceptable to both sides.”

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/industry-and-economy/logistics/article3581775.ece

Air India pilots seek PM, Sonia’s intervention

New Delhi, June 28:

Agitating Air India pilots today urged the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, and the Congress top brass to step in to resolve the impasse over the 52-day long strike, as the condition of some of them on protest fast worsened.

The Indian Pilots’ Guild (IPG), which is spearheading the agitation and the five-day-old hunger strike, shot off letters to Dr Singh, the Congress President, Ms Sonia Gandhi, and the General Secretary, Mr Rahul Gandhi, seeking their “urgent intervention to resolve the prolonged agitation”.

With three pilots, who were on hunger strike since Sunday, being hospitalised on Wednesday following deterioration in their health, the condition of a few more in Delhi and Mumbai worsened.

Castigating the Air India management for maintaining “a stony silence” on finding a resolution to the prolonged imbroglio, the IPG Joint Secretary, Mr Tauseef Mukadam, said in that the well-being of the airline was “essential if the aviation industry has to be an engine of economic growth”.

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/industry-and-economy/logistics/article3581772.ece?ref=wl_industry-and-economy

Airlines, power sector loans are ‘a drag on banks’

Mumbai, June 28:

Airlines and power sectors have been creating problems for banks, says the Financial Stability Report released by the Reserve Bank of India. Banks have restructured much of their advances to the two sectors.

The two sectors account for over 23 per cent of the total restructured portfolio of banks.

The central bank does not see much improvement in the near future. Policy uncertainties and funding constraints are likely to pose challenges.

The fourth quarter ended March 31, 2012 was especially bad for banks.

In that quarter, banks restructured about 12 per cent of their total loans for the airline industry.

This was the highest in over four quarters and almost three times the restructured loans for the airline industry in the quarter ended December 2011.

Only 10 banks, mostly in the public sector, accounted for 86 per cent of the total credit to the airline industry.

As on March 2012, nearly 75 per cent of the loans of banks, which have an exposure of above $10 billion (Rs 57,000 crore today) to the airline industry, were either impaired or restructured, the RBI report said.

Rising losses and debt levels in state electricity boards and shortage of fuel availability of power generation have raised questions on the ability of state electricity boards to repay loans.

Banks restructured about 11 per cent of its total loan portfolio for the power sector in the fourth quarter. In the quarter ended December 2011, banks had restructured about three per cent of their total loan portfolio for the power sector.

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/todays-paper/tp-economy/article3582123.ece