Thursday, 29 November 2012

Air fare, petrol cartelisation: CCI waits for info before taking call


New Delhi: The Competition Commission of India (CCI) said on Thursday it will take a decision on whether to probe alleged cartelisation among airlines in fixing air fares after getting more information on the issue. CCI has also sought information from the petroleum ministry on alleged oil price carterlisation.
CCI chairman Ashok Chawla said: “We have asked the petroleum ministry to give us information on the way the sector works and how all of them arrive at similar prices. We are awaiting their response.”
On the issue of cartelisation in air fares, as alleged by Captain Gopinath, former head of Air Deccan and the pioneer of low-cost airlines in the country, Chawla said: “The commission has taken note of the statement. So, we have asked him to share whatever information he has... He has asked for a meeting (with me). We are awaiting further inputs from him before we look into the matter.”
In recent times, the fair trade regulator has imposed penalties on some industry associations, such as cement, pharmaceutical, LPG cylinders and film producers associations. It has also dismissed cases brought forward by tyre associations, among others.
Commenting on the current competition law, Chawla said they are “reasonably robust and quite aggressive”.


Coimbatore Airport to get plant quarantine


For examination and certification of export material
Airports Authority of India is gearing up to open a plant quarantine facility at the Coimbatore Airport within the next ten days. The facility would help in speedy examination of the export material and issue a certification.
Whenever a perishable item or a flora is exported, it would have to be subjected to examination for presence of parasites, fungus and other virus to prevent communicable diseases. Only when certified by the plant quarantine facility, the importing countries accept such assignments, airport sources said.
Coimbatore accounted for export of vegetables from Coimbatore, the Nilgiris, Dindigul besides roses from Hosur, other varieties of flowers from Dindigul and Madurai. On average 30 tonnes are being exported every month from Coimbatore to destinations in Middle East and Singapore.
Cargo
At present, Coimbatore Airport on an average handled 280 tonnes of cargo export (all items put together) and the import was 11 tonnes.
The export quantity is likely to witness a fall this month owing to power supply related problems and is likely to close to 150 to 180 tonnes maximum.
Airport Director K. Peter Abraham said that in the existing airport cargo unit, 700 sq ft has been assigned for the plant quarantine facility and officials have been posted for the same.
Officials pointed out that on an average there are seven flights a week to Sharjah and Singapore. There could be an export of 2 to 2.5 tonnes per day based on the carrying capacity of the aircraft used by the airliner operating services to Middle East and Singapore.
This would translate into an average export of perishable commodities to an extent of 60 tonnes per month as against the present 30 tonnes per month, thus giving a fillip.
http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-tamilnadu/coimbatore-airport-to-get-plant-quarantine/article4149358.ece

Modern amenities to be inaugurated at Coimbatore Airport soon


Passenger amenities such as Interactive Voice Response System (IVRS) and Short Messaging Service (SMS alerts on flight status and Flight Information Display Systems (FIDS) installed at a cost of over Rs. 1 crore at the Coimbatore Airport are all set for inauguration during the first week of December.
After an initial trial run, the facility was to be inaugurated during November but prior to launch, the AAI wanted to ensure that the system worked without any technical hitches.
Hence, the inauguration was put off for two to three weeks, AAI sources said.
Airport Director K. Peter Abraham told The Hindu that after installation, the facilities were tried out over the last few days.
Fifty-one Flight Information Display Systems, including two light emitting diode (LED) walls just outside the airport, 12 in the counters of the airlines and the rest in departure, security check and waiting lounge have completed the test run. These boards would provide real time update on arrival and departure of flights and their accuracy would largely depend on the inputs provided by the respective airlines.
These boards now come to replace the 15-year-old conventional flight information board.
In addition, passengers wanting to board a flight, relatives coming to see off a passenger or those planning to visit the airport for receiving the incoming passengers hereafter need not search for the phone number of the respective airlines.
They could instead dial 0422-2573100/ 2574100 to access the IVRS to know the status of incoming flights and departure time of flights ex-Coimbatore.
In addition, the other passenger amenity ready for inauguration could be SMS service, wherein passengers or relatives could send the flight code by SMS to 94422-64287/ 94422-64297.
These two facilities are expected to relieve the people of problems such as constantly engaged phone lines or human interface.
These facilities are getting inaugurated ahead of 2013 marking the recently-granted International Airport status for Coimbatore.
Facilities are coming in at a time when the airport, with 20 aircraft movements a day, is continuously on a growth trajectory recording an average of 3,500 to 4,000 passengers every day. Ten to 12 per cent of them are international passengers to Sharjah and Singapore.
Mr.Peter Abraham said that during the first week of December, all the three facilities would be dedicated.
Information systems ready for inauguration during first week of December

GMR seeking legal remedy to stay on in Male


The GMR group, which is being evicted from the Maldives over the cancellation of its airport development contract, is seeking legal remedy to enable them to remain in the archipelago and to protect its investment and employees.
“We are seeking legal remedy and are hopeful of getting legal protection to continue our airport operations at the Maldives,” said GMR group spokesperson Arun Bhagat.
Several senior GMR officials are in the Maldives, trying to find a solution to the imbroglio.
The Maldives government has issued a notice to GMR, asking it to move out of the airport within seven days and threatened to cancel the visas of GMR employees seven days hence.
Mr. Bhagat, who flew down to the Maldives after trouble broke out and returned on Thursday, said although the airport was operating normally, the situation was very intimidating.
“We have not defaulted on anything. The deed signed with the government was to modernise the airport and develop a new one. We are doing both. How can they cancel the contract without a rational reason? Their stance is not tenable and they are illegally asking us to clear out. We have completed two years of the 25-year contract. Twenty-three years are still left,” Mr. Bhagat said.
The GMR-led consortium has so far invested $230 million in the project, out of which $160 million has been funded by Axis Bank. The company has 80 expatriates working at the airport and they may have to be evacuated in case the matter continues to remain unresolved in seven days.
Even as the international community watches silently, questions have been raised about the safety of foreign investment in the Maldives. The shares of Bangalore-based GMR Infrastructure Ltd. on Thursday hit a 52-week low of Rs. 16.75 a share before closing at Rs. 17.85, down by 0.83 per cent on a day when the BSE Sensex surged 329 points (1.75 per cent).

Gulf Air to connect three more Indian cities


Passengers on Delhi, Kochi, Chennai and Mumbai routes to get new aircraft and facilities
Stating that it is expecting a huge traffic volume from India as it had experienced on the India-Gulf sector, Gulf Air has announced flights from three more cities -- Pune, Ahmedabad and Amritsar -- and deployment of new A-321 state-of-the-art aircraft with new facilities on the existing Kochi, Chennai, Mumbai and Delhi routes.
Gulf Air Chief Commercial Officer Karim Makhlouf told journalists here that, subject to approvals, Gulf Air would connect Amritsar, Pune and Ahmedabad. He also welcomed the decision of the Union Civil Aviation Ministry to hold fresh bilateral negotiations to enhance air tariff rights with countries like Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Iraq, Macao, Afghanistan, Singapore and Thailand.
Mr. Makhlouf said Gulf Air would continue to develop the four destinations it now flies, by offering new products like a fully-flat bed in the business class of the new Airbus A-321s.
“Keeping in mind the large volume traffic between Indian cities and Bahrain and our commitment to offer best-in-class products and services to our Indian customers, I am glad to introduce the Airbus A-321 aircraft on our Indian routes. The aircraft, for the first time, offers full flat beds in its class with several innovative features, including an in-seat massage mechanism that can be operated by the passenger. In addition, the single aisle aircraft offers more legroom, extra galley space for movement and comes with the latest in-flight entertainment of its class. We offer our Indian travellers seamless and faster connections in less than 3 hours giving you a choice of as many as 730 flights a week to the Gulf, Middle East, North Africa and Europe via our efficient hub Bahrain,” he said.  
He also unveiled the airline’s new commercial initiatives exclusive to the Indian market. These included Falcon Corporate Plus, a package designed exclusively for corporate travellers, offering a range of benefits that include special price discounts and free upgrades from economy to Falcon Gold class. 
He said the airline earned about eight per cent of its total revenue from the Indian sector and had almost exhausted its bilateral rights and was currently offering 16,600 seats a week between Bahrain and the four Indian cities.
Asked whether the airline was interested in picking up a stake in any Indian carrier, he said at the moment they were not thinking about it. “Today, Bahrain is the second home to nearly 400,000 Indians and bilateral trade has last year touched $1.7 billion,” he added.
He also said that the most important of this suite of initiatives was the state-of-the-art in-flight entertainment offering  the world’s first full connectivity onboard Gulf Air’s long-haul flights offering high speed internet, 3G-4G mobile data speed connectivity, voice over the internet (VOIP) i.e. Skype, streaming videos and in-flight live TV via satellite.

Durgapur private airport to take off by April next year


Operator hopes to attract airlines by offering cheaper landing, usage charges
KOLKATA, NOV 29: 
West Bengal’s first private airport is expected to be operational by March-April next year.
The airport is being developed near Durgapur — approximately 200 km south of Kolkata — by Bengal Aerotropolis Pvt Ltd (BAPL), a venture involving four Indian companies and the Singapore-based Changi Airports International.
“Nearly 80 per cent work has been completed. We are hoping that the project will be operational around the first half of next year, say, around March-April 2013,” Ang Cheng Nam, Vice-President, Changi Airports told Business Line.
Ang was in the city to attend Bengal Builds, a conference on urban development.
Changi holds 26 per cent equity in the project.
The airport is being developed under direct technical assistance from Changi and will be fitted with modern night-landing facilities. “It will be run differently from other Indian airports,” he promised.
Talks are on with two domestic carriers — Air India and Jet Airways — to start operations in Durgapur.

CLEARANCES

BAPL will also approach the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) by the end of this year seeking licenses for its aerodrome, and inspection of its equipment and other facilities that include safety and security measures.
According to BAPL officials, efforts are on to attract airlines by making landing charges, airport usage fees, rentals, and night-parking facilities cheaper.
The attempt is to woo leading airlines to use the airport as a terminal point instead of Kolkata.
Sources suggest BAPL has also approached the State Government for sales tax concessions for refuelling.

TOWNSHIP

Apart from the Rs 600-crore domestic airport, with peak hour capacity of nearly 450 passengers, BAPL is also developing an airport city (aerotropolis) on an 1,800-acre plot.
According to Ang , more traffic is expected once the adjoining housing project takes shape.
“Initially, there will be some challenges as it’s a greenfield airport. However, once the township comes up we can expect more flow of passengers,” he said.

SpiceJet Kochi-Male flight


Kochi, Nov. 29:  
The low-cost airline SpiceJet Ltd has launched a flight from Kochi connecting Maldivian capital city Male. The airline will also be connecting Kochi with Dubai from the second week of December. The company is offering daily direct flight from Kochi to Male and Dubai and inau-gural ticket fares are Rs 4,999 (one way fare inclusive of all taxes). This is the first international launch of SpiceJet on any international route from Kerala.
http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/todays-paper/tp-others/tp-states/spicejet-kochimale-flight/article4147951.ece

Domestic air traffic drops 12% in Oct


Mumbai, Nov 29:  
Asia-Pacific carriers experienced an increase of just 1.4 per cent in October this year compared with October 2011, and unchanged from September’s year-over-year performance, according to a global air traffic report by the International Air Transport Association (IATA).
Strong competition on long haul markets could be holding down growth for the region’s airlines, and reductions in international seat capacity by Indian airlines would also be contributing to the weaker growth, the report added. Compared to September, traffic rose 1.1 per cent.
Indian domestic traffic plunged 12.4 per cent in October compared with a year ago, the worst performance for any market, reflecting the weakening economy and the struggles within the domestic airline industry. Capacity declined 7.3 per cent and load factor fell to 70.1 per cent.
Globally, domestic market growth trend has been soft throughout most of 2012, partly owing to the impact of Hurricane Sandy on the US domestic market. Weakness in India, Japan and the US was in stark contrast to strong growth experienced in China and Brazil.
Air freight
Globally, air freight demand fell sharply in October, down 3.5 per cent compared to October 2011. The weakness in demand continues to be focused on Asia-Pacific airlines, while West Asian carriers experienced strong demand growth.
Asia-Pacific carriers saw a 6.8 per cent decline in demand in October compared to October last year, the steepest decline for any region, while capacity fell 4.6 per cent. Between September and October, two-thirds of the fall in global air freight volumes has come from Asia-Pacific carriers, as demand for Asian exports declined in the weak global economy, according to the IATA report.
http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/todays-paper/tp-logistics/domestic-air-traffic-drops-12-in-oct/article4147912.ece

Outcome of GMR issue may impact ties with Maldives: Govt


New Delhi, Nov. 29:  
India on Thursday cautioned that the outcome of the problems that the GMR group was facing in completing the modernising of Male airport project could affect relations between the two countries.
“Frankly, it is likely to affect not only an Indian investor, but investors worldwide and their attitude to investing in Maldives. It (GMR) is the largest Indian investment there. And the manner in which the campaign against it has gone has been extremely unfortunate and has caused great worry because of the language being used by some of the marginal political parties (there),” a senior Government official said.
On Tuesday, the Maldivian Cabinet recommended termination of the contract that the GMR group won to modernise the Ibrahim Nasir airport in Male.
It was in 2010, that a consortium led by the GMR Group won the tender through an international tendering process, which was managed by the International Finance Corporation. GMR won the airport development contract during the regime of former President Nasheed, who was removed from office in February this year.
Officials claimed that with the elections in Maldives scheduled to be held latest by October next year, the GMR airport issue has become an “election issue and ceased to be a purely commercial issue.”
The Maldivian Government, however, has told India that the GMR issue was “purely a legal matter” and there was no politics in it.
Asked about the security of about 30,000 Indians living in Maldives, officials said that the island’s Government had assured that they would be looked after.

International flight charges to cost you dear


AI Hikes Fuel Charge,Others Set To Follow 
New Delhi: Flying abroad this holiday season is set to bite into your budget more than you thought.Air India has increased the fuel surcharge of flights to North America and Europe by $20 (around Rs 1,100) for a oneway ticket and $40 (Rs 2,200) for a return ticket.Flights to Seoul,Bangkok and Singapore will cost $10 (Rs 550) and $20 (Rs 1,100) more for a oneway and return ticket,respectively.The new charge will be applicable on all tickets sold from Wednesday and other airlines are set to follow suit.
Airlines hike fuel surcharge in a staggered manner.AI has done it and others will follow suit.But the gap between the announcements may be more this time as Competition Commission of India chief Ashok Chawla is likely to meet Air Deccan founder G R Gopinath this week to see if the latters complaint of airlines acting as a cartel and hiking fares simultaneously merits an inquiry, said a leading travel agent who did not wish to be identified.
The hike comes at a time when international fares are already high.Almost all flights to and from India till January 15 are full,pushing up fares.For instance,Delhi-New York is around Rs 1 lakh in economy return at the moment while it usually costs Rs 70,000-80,000, said Anil Kalsi of the Society of Foreign Travel Operators (India chapter).After Wednesdays hike,the one-way fuel surcharge will be: $259 (Rs 14,245) for flights to North America and Europe;$269 (Rs 14,795) for first/business and $219 (Rs 12,045) for economy flyers to UK and Europe via London;$194 (Rs 10,670) for Germany and Europe via Frankfurt and Paris.
That is for flyers who can duck a triple whammy high basic fares,ever-rising fuel surcharge and new airport charges and still make it.Outbound international flyers from Delhi have to pay a user development fee in the range of Rs 600 to Rs 1,200 in addition to an airport development fee of Rs 1,300.Landing in Delhi from abroad means paying between Rs 490 and Rs 990 as incoming fee.
On their part,airlines complain of very high operating costs in India because of which despite hiking fares they end up making huge losses.In the 2011-12 fiscal,airlines lost Rs 10,000 crore.The grounding of near-bankrupt Kingfisher has acted as an eyeopener for airlines who are now trying to at least recover their costs in peak travel months of October-December and April-June.The money made in these two quarters will be used to tide over the remaining lean-travel and poor cash-flow quarters.Not doing so means shutting down like Kingfisher unless the government decides to give a bailout from taxpayers money like AI gets, said a senior official of a private airline.

'Kingfisher still enjoys goodwill among travellers'

Kingfisher's operations were stalled since October 1 this year following a strike by its pilots and engineering staff over non-payment of salaries

Kingfisher Airlines still enjoys goodwill among Indian travellers who are optimistic about its revival sometime in the future, according to a recent survey conducted by tripadvisor.in, a global travel site.
As many as 74 per cent of the respondents to the survey, conducted across 2,800 respondents a fortnight ago, were optimistic about the revival of Kingfisher airline,TripAdvisor India country manager, Nikhil Ganju, told mediapersons here on Wednesday.
Kingfisher's operations were stalled since October 1, this year following a strike by its pilots and engineering staff over non-payment of salaries.
This year, according to the survey, IndiGo and Jet Airways were close contenders for the title of "Favourite Domestic Airline", displacing two time winner Kingfisher Airlines, with IndiGo taking the lead by a small margin.
The survey, however, stated that Air India closely followed by Kingfisher was perceived as the most unsafe airline by Indian travellers while Jet Airways was voted as the safest domestic airline closely followed by IndiGo.
With regard to international travel, Emirates leads for the third year in a row with 26 per cent of the respondents voting it as the "Best International Airline" followed by Singapore Airline ( 15 per cent) and Lufthansa (11 per cent).
Releasing the survey, Ganju said the aim of TripAdvisor, which started its operations in India in 2008, was to become the largest travel site in the country in a couple of years.
“tripadvisor is currently the number one Website in the country for destinations and accommodations. Now, we want to become the largest travel site also on the transactions side,” he said.
Hyderabad
Ganju said that travellers were the least optimistic about Kingfisher’s revival in future. They prefer IndiGo over all other domestic travellers.
According to him, Hyderabad has the highest percentage of travellers across six metros in the country. Over 43 per cent of the city travellers were high on adventure. About 63 per cent of the respondents said that they would spend between Rs 50,000 to Rs 2 lakh on travel.

Maldives airport fiasco: India reacts sharply


A day after the cancellation of India’s biggest investment ever, there is not much chance that the Mohamed Waheed regime will step back from its decision to scrap the GMR group’s $511 deal for the Malé airport.
On Tuesday evening, the Maldives Government scrapped the deal for the development of the Ibrahim Nasir International Airport, giving the GMR group a period of seven days to leave the country. India reacted sharply stating that it was a ‘very negative signal’ to the international community and against foreign investment. It also warned that it would use ‘all necessary measures’ to ensure the safety and security of its interests.
In the first reaction after the decision, President Waheed forcefully defended the decision asserting that only commercial considerations were behind the decision. He said he was confident that the India-Maldives reaction will not be affected by the cancellation.
“Termination of the GMR contract, which was signed under dubious conditions, only provides assurances that Maldives is committed to a clean and safe business environment for foreign investments,” said Waheed.
According to the Indian diplomats, there are 30,000 Indian nationals in Maldives. There are around 290 Indian nationals, including women and children, who are in Maldives for GMR’s airport project.
http://newindianexpress.com/nation/article1359235.ece

‘IndiGo pips KfA as most favourite domestic airline’


IndiGo Airlines emerged as the country’s most favourite domestic airline pipping crisis-ridden Kingfisher Airlines (KfA), according to a survey conducted by TripAdvisor.
Kinghfisher, which was the most favourite air carrier last year, however, had been voted as the one of the best aircarriers for in-flight entertainment and continues to enjoy goodwill among Indian travelers with 74% of the respondents being optimistic about its revival in future.
According to TripAdvisor, Jet Airways was also one among the favourite air carriers after Indigo.
“The domestic airline industry has witnessed a difficult year and with recent turbulent times for KfA, consumers have limited options. However, our survey shows respondents consider the airline resilient and are positive about the comeback. While IndiGo remains n the top spot, travelers have voted Jet Airways as the best on most inflight service parameters,” said Nikhil Ganju - Country Manager , TripAdvisor India.
National carrier Air India extended its legacy as the least favourite domestic airline for the third year in a row.
As per the survey findings, IndiGo scores over all other domestic airlines when it comes to on-time performance, value for money and landing or takeoff quality. Jet Airways is a favourite due to its cabin crew, in-flight maintenance, seat comfort and website experience.
Emirates was voted the Best International Airline for the third year in a row by 26% of the respondents, followed by Singapore Airlines (15%) and Lufthansa (11%).
In another survey for business travel, Jet Airways emerged at the top with 46% respondents voting as their favourites followed by Indigo, KfA, SpiceJet and AirIndia. On international airlines front, passengers chose Emirates as the best airline.
http://newindianexpress.com/business/news/article1359227.ece

Air India on course for a turnaround


Achieves a substantial increase in number of passengers in November
Air India’s (AI) performance in the first half of the current fiscal indicates that the national carrier is on track to meet the various norms laid down in the turnaround plan that were approved by the government in April. Various financial and operational restructuring currently underway would accrue substantial benefits and the airline seems determined to turn EBITDA positive by March 2013, said AI officials.
On-time performance in the first half improved to 85 per cent from below 80 per cent in the first half last year. For domestic, it was 89 per cent (78 per cent) while international was 81 per cent (78 per cent).
Passenger load factor improved to 70.9 per cent with the domestic services contributing substantially, the requirement being 69.5 per cent. AI has achieved a network yield of Rs. 4.31 per passenger km, with domestic yield of Rs. 6 and an international yield of Rs. 3.5, which is comparable with other full service carriers. On fleet utilisation, AI achieved an average utilisation of 10.9 hours for its Airbus fleet as compared to 10.50 hours set in the turnaround plan. The wide body fleet hit 13 hours utilisation as against 14 hours set in the turnaround plan.
The number of passengers in November showed a substantial increase, with an average of 46,300 passengers flying daily, of which 66 per cent were domestic passengers.
Productivity Linked Incentives have been abolished from July 1 and the airline has taken steps to operationalize the engineering and ground handling businesses with the appointment of SBI Caps as its advisors.
Towards monetizing its real estate assets, DTZ has been appointed as global real estate consultant. The objective is to monetize Rs 500 crore a year with a target of Rs 5,000 crore in 10 years.
The IT system has been upgraded. A voluntary retirement scheme (VRS) has been finalized at the board level and has been submitted to the ministry of civil aviation for approval. VRS is targeted at 5,000 surplus employees.
With 20,000 employees to be shifted to the ground handling and engineering businesses, the effective strength of the parent company would come down substantially. “The objective is to have an aircraft to employee ratio of 1:100,” an official said.
“Route rationalisation continues to be a significant part of our strategy to return to profitability.
“In the first half, domestic services contributed surplus of Rs.200 crore as compared to Rs.57 crore loss in the first half of last year. 65 per cent of the domestic routes contributed to higher yield,” said S Venkat, Director-Finance, Air India.
Through various cost reduction measures, AI has been able to bring down cost by nearly Rs.600 crore in the first half, officials said.
The restructuring of working capital loan and non-convertible debenture issue will bring down AI’s interest burden substantially. AI’s short term loans will come down to Rs. 4,500 crore from Rs. 22,500 crore.
http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-business/air-india-on-course-for-a-turnaround/article4144838.ece

“Spice Jet’s flight schedule next week”


A spokesperson seems much less optimistic of the time-frame
Despite officials from the government stating that Spice Jet would release their flight schedule from Bangalore to Puducherry in the next week, the carrier is a little more hesitant to commit on these dates.
On Tuesday, Welfare Minister P. Rajavelu, along with several officials from the Tourism Department, met with the Regional Executive Director of the Airport Authority of India, Chennai, D. Devaraj and representatives from Air India, Spice Jet, Jet Airways, Jet Connect, Air Asia and Indigo Airlines. Following the meeting, an official from the Tourism Department told TheHindu that Spice Jet would be releasing their flight schedule between Puducherry and Bangalore in the coming week.
According to the official, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation approval had been obtained for the airlines around a year ago, and all that was left was for the work on the airport to be completed and the carrier to release their schedule before they would start operating flights.
A spokesperson for Spice Jet, however, seemed much less optimistic of the time frame. Speaking toTheHindu , the spokesperson said that they had not yet made a decision on Puducherry and they would most definitely not be releasing the schedule that early. They could not comment on whether a schedule would be released at a later date.
In the meanwhile, the work on the terminal building has almost been completed.
According to a Tourism Department official, all the building work and runway work had been completed. What was left was for the infrastructure work such as fitting of air-conditioners, wiring, CCTVs and scanning machines to be completed. It was possible to complete the work in a month’s time.
As a consequence of the meeting, gardening work and other works have started at the airport complex.
Speaking of the other airline companies who had attended the meeting, the official said that although there was an interest to come to Puducherry, there were several “internal problems” in the companies that were currently holding them back from committing. Since the runway could only allow ATR flights to operate, it was a bit of a problem for some companies who currently operated only bigger flights in the region.

Obama Gives Shield To Airlines


President Barack Obama signed a law Tuesday that shields U.S. airlines from having to comply with a greenhouse-gas standard adopted by the European Union, ratcheting up a conflict that reflects U.S. concerns about European environmental measures.
The bill recently passed both the House and the Senate, with both Republican and Democratic lawmakers saying the EU lacked the power to create standards for U.S. operators.
The EU’s program requires airlines using European airports to obtain allowances for carbon dioxide emitted during the full length of their flights. Airlines that exceed designated limits will be allowed to buy additional allowances on the open market.
Earlier this month, the EU said it would postpone the greenhouse-gas program for a year. The EU said it was encouraged by progress being made in a United Nations agency that develops global aviation policy and is working on similar standards for use around the world.
Despite the EU delay, U.S. lawmakers said the law signed by Mr. Obama was needed in case the U.N. effort stalled and the EU went ahead with enforcing its program in 2013.
“American sovereignty will no longer be threatened by the EU’s illegitimate and disingenuous ‘environmental’ tax on our country,” said Sen. John Thune (R., S.D.), the primary author of the bill, on Tuesday.
U.S. airlines said the greenhouse-gas requirement would have cost them $3 billion between now and 2020. Some airlines already started to charge fees on trans-Atlantic flights to cover future costs. The law doesn’t immediately forbid U.S. airlines from taking part in the EU program but empowers the administration to exempt U.S. airlines at a future date.
“We regret the...decision to adopt the so-called Thune bill,” a spokeswoman for the EU said. “We encourage all countries, including the U.S., to focus their efforts on injecting positive ideas and forward-looking solutions into that UN-led process.”
“The Obama administration is firmly committed to reducing harmful carbon pollution from civil aviation,” a White House spokesman said. “But, as we have said on many occasions, the application of the EU [standard] to non-EU air carriers is the wrong way to achieve that objective.”
Environmental groups said Mr. Obama’s handling of the EU airline bill marked his first test on climate change following re-election. In previous weeks, environmental groups criticized the president for failing to talk about climate change during campaign debates.
World Wildlife Fund, one of the environmental groups supporting the EU, said Tuesday it was “disappointed” the measure was signed into law. The group said it was pleased, however, that the U.S. was willing to adopt a global standard under the umbrella of the U.N.’s International Civil Aviation Organization.
Depending on what the EU decides to do a year from now, the new U.S. law could escalate tensions over the greenhouse-gas standard. China, Russia and other nations have said they also oppose the EU’s program.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324784404578145602934327318.html

HAL’s upgraded Jaguar Darin III makes maiden flight


BANGALORE, NOV. 28: 
Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) has carried out the maiden flight of avionics-upgraded Jaguar aircraft ‘Darin III.’
“This is significant moment for HAL as the upgrade will result in major operational improvement with regard to all-weather air-to-ground, air-to-sea and air-to-air capabilities through the incorporation of multi-mode radar,” said Dr R. K. Tyagi, Chairman, HAL.
The aircraft upgrade incorporates new avionics architecture including mission computer (MC), engine and flight instrument system (EFIS), solid state digital video recording system (SSDVRS), solid state flight data recorder (SSFDR) and additional functions in inertial global positioning system (INGPS), autopilot, radar and RWR.
The upgrade also covers modern navigation, EW and weapon delivery system, with INGPS using primary and reversionary modes, man-machine interface (near glass cockpit), with two smart multi-function display and head-up display.
The HAL release said the total design from system requirement capture, specification preparation, software, hardware, electrical, mechanical design and development has been done indigenously by HAL at its Mission and Combat System Research & Design Centre (MCSRDC).
The aircraft trial modification is done by HAL’s Overhaul Division. The fleet compliance will also be carried out by HAL.
http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/industry-and-economy/logistics/hals-upgraded-jaguar-darin-iii-makes-maiden-flight/article4143700.ece?homepage=true&ref=wl_home