Mangalore Airport gets international tag

Private airlines keen on starting services to destinations in West Asia’

The Union Cabinet on Thursday approved international status to Mangalore Airport, according to the Director of the airport M. R. Vasudeva.

Addressing a gathering at a meeting at the Kanara Chamber of Commerce and Industry here on Thursday, he said that the Cabinet had also approved the international status for airports at Lucknow, Varanasi, Trichy and Coimbatore.

He said that he came to know about it on Thursday. He clarified that he had still got nothing in writing.

Later, Mr. Vasudeva told presspersons that several airlines, including Jet Airways, were interested in starting international routes from Mangalore airport. At present, the airport was connected to Abu Dhabi, Kuwait, Muscat, Dubai, Doha, and Qatar. The newer routes could be to other geographies depending on the “benefits”, he said.

“I am very, very happy… today, it has become truly international,” Mr.Vasudeva, who will retire this month end, said. He said that the airport handled 9.29 lakh passengers from July, 2011 to June, 2012 although it was projected to handle 9 lakh passengers in 2025.

‘Create demand’

Earlier, addressing the gathering regarding exports and infrastructure at the airport were concerned, he likened it to a chicken-and-egg situation, with exports and the cargo facilities waiting for each other to start. However, now that the cargo facility was being created, it was up to exporters to use it. However, he said that it was unclear how much cargo could be expected to move through the facility. The KCCI had not been able to provide details of the quantity of exports through the airport though the New Mangalore Port and 30 other exporters and importers around Mangalore were mentioned as potential users of the airport.

A report submitted by Visvesvaraya Industrial Trade Centre (VITC) to Government of Karnataka had said that Mangalore was the best place among all districts to export from, he said.

“Quantifying is the one problem…Customs has to give us this information. It is not clear to the Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) also, which has only certain information,” he said.

“We have the infrastructure (in Mangalore airport), we have to create the demand,” he said. The KCCI has a role in this and the MPEDA had indicated that 20 to 25 tonnes of marine products could be exported from Mangalore, Gangolli, and Malpe, he said. “Potential can be created in Mangalore,” he said.

D. Purushotham, Commissioner of Customs, Mangalore, spoke on the promotion of the air cargo complex at Mangalore airport. He said that Customs was ready to start export work once approvals were done.

The KCCI representatives said the chamber had sufficient figures of exports and had presented it to Customs. At the end of the meeting, it issued a document with data on air cargo expected to move through Mangalore airport. It mentioned 50,075 MTPA (metric tonnes per annum) of exports and 735 MTPA of imports.

---

·  It handled 9.29 lakh passengers in the last one year

·  ‘Picture still clear about the potential for air cargo’

http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-karnataka/mangalore-airport-gets-international-tag/article3967306.ece

Job crisis drives Kingfisher employee’s wife to suicide

Unable to come to terms with financial hardship and afraid that her husband might even lose his job, the 45-year-old wife of a technician with the beleaguered Kingfisher Airlines allegedly committed suicide at her Manglapuri residence here in the Capital on Thursday.

Sushmita, wife of Manas Chakravorty, lived in their first floor DDA flat in Pocket 13 of Manglapuri. Her husband returned from work around 1 p.m. to check on her as she had not been responding to his phone calls. Along with a neighbour he broke open the door which was latched from inside and found her hanging from the ceiling with a chunni. She was rushed to a nearby hospital where she was declared dead on arrival.

The police, who received a call around 1-30 p.m. stating that a woman had allegedly committed suicide in a flat, found a suicide note purportedly written by her in Bengali.

Referring to the financial crisis the family was passing through, Sushmita purportedly wrote that her husband had not been getting his full salary for the past few months. She also expressed fear that he might lose his job.

The note said she had committed mistakes on several occasions but her husband pardoned her each time. “I love my husband and son and feel sorry that I have to leave them now,” she wrote, adding that no one was responsible for her death.

Enquiries by the police revealed that Manas Chakravorty had retired from the Air Force recently and joined the airline as a technician. The couple have an 18-year-old son, who took admission to an engineering college at Silchar in Assam this year. It is learnt that Mr. Chakravorty had also accompanied his son to Silchar last month.

Later on Thursday evening, angry neighbours had a scuffle with some media persons accusing them of sensationalising the matter. A neighbour said on condition of anonymity that Sushmita was also under depression after her son shifted to Silchar for further studies.

“The family owns the flat where it lives. I never saw them fight over any issue. Everything in that family seemed normal. I came to know about the incident when I returned from work in the evening. When some media persons entered the colony for coverage, some neighbours raised objections and directed the security guards not to allow entry to any person from the media,” he said.

While the body of the deceased has been kept in a mortuary for post-mortem on Friday, the police are recording statements of her husband and neighbours.

“We are getting the suicide note in Bengali translated. Prima facieit appears to be a case of suicide. However, the post-mortem report will establish the exact cause of death,” said a police officer.

http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/job-crisis-drives-kingfisher-employees-wife-to-suicide/article3967012.ece

Wife of Kingfisher Airlines' employee commits suicide due to non payment of salary

MUMBAI | NEW DELHI: The wife of a Kingfisher AirlinesBSE -4.68 %staff committed suicide citing non-payment of salaries, bringing home to urban India's cloistered living rooms the brutal realities of a life without income usually experienced by residents in drought-stricken Vidarbha or the parched badlands of Kalahandi.

Sushmita Chakraborty, the 45-year-old wife of Manas Chakraborty, died by her own hands on Thursday at her home in Dwarka in Delhi, police said. She left behind a note that spoke of financial distress caused by non-payment of salaries to her husband, a technician in the airline.

"She has written that her husband has not got salary for the past five months and so she was unable to cope up with the situation," said AK Ojha, additional commissioner of police (south-west), Delhi.

Kingfisher Airlines is owned by one of India's flamboyant and super-rich industrialists, Vijay Mallya. The airline industry is regulated by the Director-General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), which has taken no action in the past one year as Kingfisher imploded, owing salaries to employees and money to lenders.

Aviation experts have been scathing in their criticism of Mallya and about the way the issue has been handled by the government.

"The government's hands seem to be tied due to the political clout of the promoter. But definitely, not being paid for seven months is a safety issue as the mind of the pilot or an engineer is not at work, and in aviation a split-second delay can cause loss of life. What kind of an argument is the CEO putting forth for his employees to accept? If he does not have the money to run the airline and pay salaries, his licence should be cancelled and he has no right to fly the airline," aviation expert Mohan Ranganathan said.

The suicide followed an ugly day of incidents on Wednesday with the airline employees angrily refusing to believe CEO Sanjay Aggarwal's assertions about quick payment, forcing him to walk out. On Thursday, employees held a candle light march to the Kingfisher head office near Mumbai's Santa Cruz airport. In a late night statement, the airline said it had extended the shutdown till October 12 after failing to reach an agreement with agitating employees.

"Emotions are running high now and the management has blood on their hands. They were trying to brush the suicide under the carpet since morning," said Vikrant Patkar, a KFA pilot.

"It is now our only demand that Mallya should come down and speak with employees on critical matters," Patkar added.

A 20-something flight engineer, who earns barely Rs 12,000 a month, has been kicked out of his house thrice in seven months for not paying rent. "I have sent my wife back home to Kolkata since I couldn't manage with no income and ever-growing dues," the engineer said.

Then there is the case of a captain who is struggling to raise EMIs, school fees and other expenses. "I have broken every fixed deposit and emptied all my savings," said the captain. "We don't want March salary we want our dues for the past seven months." While Mallya seems to have time for cricket, racing and even to send in his yacht, he's yet to pay his condolences for this incident, he alleges.

The employees ET spoke to also alleged there were colleagues who were literally homeless and spent their work nights at the Mumbai airport or in neighbouring cargo holds. "There is little hope for many of them," one employee said.

The distrust of Mallya spreads across the rank and file of Kingfisher. Another senior flight engineer complained that employees have become persona non grata with banks, as they seek loans to survive. "No one wants to touch us with seven months of inactivity in our salary accounts," he rued.

With bank loans coming to a halt, employees are reliant on an informal network of fellow colleagues, friends and family to piece together a few thousand rupees.

Many employees believe the regulator's sympathies lie more with Mallya and his debt-laden carrier as it gave the airline more time to submit a recovery plan. The civil aviation ministry, meanwhile, tried to wash its hands of the company's labour troubles. Mallya has not responded so far, but Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singhexpressed condolences. Singh, however, defended the DGCAand his ministry's role in tackling the crisis.

"The government has to go by the rules and we have to see what is in employees' interest. In Maruti also, when the management declared a lockout, the government did not take away its licence as it goes against workers' interests. Since it is a lockout here, we have asked the DGCA to see legally how far we can intervene.

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/news-by-industry/transportation/airlines-/-aviation/wife-of-kingfisher-airlines-employee-commits-suicide-due-to-non-payment-of-salary/articleshow/16675781.cms?curpg=2

KFA staffer's wife kills self, blames salary woes

The ongoing crisis at debt-ridden Kingfisher Airlines claimed a life on Thursday, with the wife of an employee committing suicide and putting non-payment of salary to her husband as the reason in the suicide note.

Sushmita Chakravarty, 45, hung herself from a ceiling fan at her  Manglapuri home in south-west Delhi. She appears to have been depressed about the financial crisis in her family.

Her suicide note, according to additional CP (southwest) AK Ojha, said husband Manas had not been paid for the past six months and she was "unable to cope with the situation".

"My husband and son are very caring and I love them. My husband works with Kingfisher, where they have not paid him for the last six months. We are in an acute financial crisis, so I am committing suicide," the note read.

Manas had joined Kingfisher as store manager after retiring from the air force. Police said the couple's son had taken admission in an engineering college in Assam this year, adding to their financial burden.

Manas called Sushmita from work around 1pm. When she didn't answer the phone, he requested neighbours to check on her. One of the neighbours knocked on the door and, on not getting a response, decided to enter the house by climbing the wall.

"He saw Sushmita and called the police. She was rushed to a nearby hospital, where doctors declared her dead," a police officer said.

Despite repeated attempts, Kingfisher officials did not answer calls. The airline has declared a partial lockout following the continuing strike by employees over unpaid salaries.

http://www.hindustantimes.com/India-news/NewDelhi/KFA-staffer-s-wife-kills-self-blames-salary-woes/Article1-939803.aspx

Company Secretary of Kingfisher Airlines resigns

The Company Secretary of cash-strapped Kingfisher Airlines Bharath Raghavan resigned on Thursday even as talks between the management and agitating employees failed to end the impasse.

In a filing to the National Stock Exchange (NSE) on Thursday, the company said, “Bharath Raghavan has resigned as the Company Secretary of the company with effect from the close of business on September 30, 2012. Consequently, he has ceased to be the designated Compliance Officer of the company with effect from that date.”

Earlier this year, the company’s independent directors had abandoned the carrier, which has been facing a severe financial crisis with banks together having an exposure of nearly Rs 7,000 crore in the airline.

Vijay Amritraj, G.N. Bajpai, Diwan Arun Nanda, Piyush Mankad and Anil Kumar Ganguly, who were the independent directors, quit the company citing personal reasons.

The scrip debt-ridden carrier plunged on the bourses on Thursday. Shares hit the lower circuit and closed at Rs 13.90, down 4.79 per cent on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE).

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/industry-and-economy/logistics/article3965203.ece?homepage=true&ref=wl_home

Mangalore airport gets international status

The Union Cabinet has cleared the proposal to declare Mangalore as an international airport. The approval comes exactly six years after the airport began international operations.

It was on October 3, 2006, the first Air India Express flight from Dubai landed in Mangalore airport, marking the beginning of its international operations.

Speaking on the sidelines of a meeting to promote air cargo complex in Mangalore, organised by Kanara Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI), M.R. Vasudeva, Airport Director, Mangalore, said that the Union Cabinet gave its approval to upgrading customs aerodrome in Mangalore to the status of international airport on Thursday.

Mangalore airport was declared customs aerodrome on May 3, 2006. He hoped that the international status to Mangalore will help it attract more airlines.

At present, Air India Express connects Mangalore with destinations in West Asia such as Abu Dhabi Muscat, Dubai, Kuwait, Doha and Qatar.

Addressing the KCCI members earlier, D. Purushottam, Commissioner of Customs, Mangalore, said he was pursuing the proposal of the trade and commerce bodies to set up an air cargo complex in Mangalore at the highest level.

Mohammed Ameen, president of KCCI, said the Chamber has been demanding an air cargo complex in Mangalore since 1998. The AAI has set up necessary infrastructure for this, he said.

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/todays-paper/tp-others/tp-states/article3965962.ece

In air, but mobile phones no longer grounded

The days of switching off your mobile phone while flying seems to be over. Airlines around the world are beginning to deploy new technologies that allow passengers to stay connected even while flying 30,000 feet above the ground.

For instance, Lufthansa enables you to send and receive emails with large file attachments without time delay on most flights from and to India. And if you are flying the Airbus A-380 of Dubai-based Emirates airlines, you will also be able to remain in touch through phone calls. The service is being offered in partnership with OnAir.

The OnAir system allows passengers to use their own mobile phones to make and receive phone calls and text messages from Emirates aircraft in-flight, just as they would on the ground.

First such flight departed from Dubai international Airport to Munich International Airport on October 2 and the first recorded A380 in-flight call was placed to China while the aircraft cruised at 11,500 metres flying across the Gulf.

Indian passengers may have to wait a while to experience this new technology because the Indian Government does not allow any international airline to operate the A380 to India. But it’s a start and it will be only a matter of time before the technology becomes ubiquitous.

Meanwhile, Lufthansa has introduced high speed on-board Internet services called FlyNet that gives passengers with a laptop or mobile phone with unlimited online access. Using tablets such as an iPad or mobile phones, passengers can connect to the Internet through a hotspot on board the way they would connect through any public hotspot on the ground.

After opening their browser, users are automatically connected to the exclusive free-of-charge FlyNet portal, which provides constant updates on business, political, sports and entertainment news. A satellite links connects the aircraft to the World Wide Web.

The airline has come up with different billing options for Internet usage including €10.95 or 3,500 miles for one hour or €19.95 or 7,000 miles for 24-hour access. The service is available on Delhi-Munich, Mumbai-Frankfurt, Mumbai-Munich and Chennai-Frankfurt routes.

The airline has said data communication using the GSM and GPRS international cell phone standards will also be available by the year-end. The option on board will include cell phone text messaging and data transfer with smartphones such as the iPhone or BlackBerry.

Options On board Emirates is offering this mobile service in partnership with OnAir The OnAir system allows passengers to use their own mobile phones to make and receive phone calls and text messages Lufthansa has introduced high speed on-board Internet services called FlyNet

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/todays-paper/tp-info-tech/article3965903.ece

Kingfisher gets lifeline from banks; no wings yet as talks with staff fail

Even as the Kingfisher Airlines crisis deepened on Thursday with Delhi-based pilots and engineers declining to report to work till wages for the past seven months were paid, the airline got a lifeline from banks. Banks have agreed to release around Rs 60 crore lying in the escrow account with them, said a banker.

Following the restructuring of the airline in November 2010, the escrow account was created to channel all payments, including ticket sales. Under the escrow mechanism, only banks can access the funds. The funds could help in partly clearing salaries and other statutory dues.

According to airline sources, at the meeting the staff had with Chief Executive Officer Sanjay Agarwal in Delhi, “all employees expressed their keenness to resume work provided their dues were cleared expeditiously.” Sources said that Agarwal is travelling around the country and is expected to meet employees in Chennai on Friday.

The cash-strapped airline also suffered a jolt with its Company Secretary Bharath Raghavan resigning.

Tragedy hit the airline staff as the wife of a Delhi-based employee killed herself citing financial stress on the family, as wages had not been paid for the last five months.

The airline today sent out an advisory saying flights will remain grounded till at least October 7. Government sources said the Directorate-General of Civil Aviation had sent an e-mail to the airline asking it not to take any bookings till “the DGCA expresses satisfaction at their operational preparedness.”

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/todays-paper/article3965896.ece\