Wednesday, 12 December 2012

GMR to sue Maldives for $800 mn damages due to airport project cancellation


MUMBAI: Indian infrastructure company GMR, which was forced to hand over Male airport to the Maldivesgovernment last Saturday, is planning to seek compensation of over $800 million from the government of the island state. 

GMR, which was operating the 
Ibrahim Nasir International Airport at Male at an investment of $511 million, says it "feels cheated" for having the contract cancelled over an illegal component - airport development charge - present in it, which they were not aware of. 

"The estimated compensation that 
GMRBSE 1.63 %would seek from the Maldives government would be upwards of $800 million. We will discuss with our lawyers and work out a legal strategy. We will also continue to keep the government updated on various issues and seek appropriate support at the right time," GMR (Airports) CFO Sidharath Kapur told ET. 

GMR and Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad won the contract in November 2010 to modernise and run the Male airport for 25 years, with Singapore as the jurisdiction in the event of disputes. GMR's was the biggest foreign investment in the archipelago nation. 

However, GMR's decision to impose an airport development charge (ADC) of $25 per departing passenger became a bone of contention between the company and the government, especially with a regime change in Maldives in February. 

The finances of the deal went askew when a local court struck down the provision for the airport development charge, terming it illegal, though the provision for the charge was there in the contract. 

"We feel we were fooled and cheated. We feel that this information in the contract about the ADC being illegal was suppressed from us. This is going to be our stance in the international arbitration tribunal, where the first hearing over ADC will take place soon," another top GMR executive told ET, requesting anonymity. 

Meanwhile, the Maldives government thinks that GMR should have done due diligence and not have played in the hands of the previous government. 

"We feel the former government should have been transparent with GMR on the ADC issue. While we are sorry for GMR, I think they should have verified and not played into the hands of the Mohammed Nasheed government," press secretary to Maldives President, Masood Iman told ET over phone. 

AndrewBSE 0.25 % Acquaah Harrison, CEO of GMR Male International Airport in a letter addressed to theMinistry of Finance and Treasury of Maldives on December 11, 2012, argued that the Concession Agreement is a "binding agreement" with "specific mechanisms" allowing for termination under certain circumstances. "There is no suggestion that any of the circumstances arose," the letter said. 

Further, Harrison in the letter mentioned that the Government of the Maldives also warranted and specifically represented that the Concession Agreement was valid, legal and binding. Further, as part of the closing of the financial transaction on 28 December 2010, the then Attorney General of the Maldives rendered a formal legal opinion confirming that the Concession Agreement was lawful." 
The Singapore Court of Appeal had on 6 December, overturned an order by a lower court that barred Maldives from interfering with the airport's operations. The court, however, held that "the wrongful taking of the airport would amount to an act of expropriation for which the respondent (GMR-led consortium) would be entitled to be compensated in accordance with the agreement". 

India responded to the Singapore court decision saying the judgment was being studied. The external Affairs Ministry spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin had then said the decision has only dealt with the sovereign right of a nation and that the legality of the agreement and other pending issues have not been taken into account. 

According to GMRBSE 1.63 %, there were in all roughly 80 employees at the Male airport and they won't be affected except their displacement from Male.
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/news-by-industry/transportation/airlines-/-aviation/gmr-to-sue-maldives-for-800-mn-damages-due-to-airport-project-cancellation/articleshow/17592455.cms?curpg=2

Cargo firms like FedEx, Gati and Blue Dart allege local airlines fix fuel prices


MUMBAI: The industry body representing air cargo companies, including FedEx, GatiBSE 0.84 % and Blue Dart, has alleged that the domestic airlines have formed a cartel to rig prices under the pretext of fuel surcharge.


Seeking redressal, the 
Express Industry Council of India (EICI) wrote to the Competition Commission of India (CCI) and to the Civil Aviation Minster Ajit Singhlast week urging them to look into the matter. 

"All domestic airlines have been increase the fuel surcharge by the same amount at more or less the same time. This has led us to believe that they acted in concert," said 
Vijay Kumar, COO, EICI. 

The EICI has demanded that airlines must stop charging fuel surcharge till such time as pricing is made transparent and market forces allowed to determine pricing. 

Domestic airlines are already mired in a controversy after leading industry luminaries alleged that airlines fix fares. 

"The airlines increased the fuel surcharge by about 70% last year while the crude oil and dollar did not show such an abnormal increase. There is no transparent mechanism to charge fuel surcharge and the increases are ad hoc and arbitrary. The lack of a transparent mechanism of the levies makes it difficult to recover charges from customers," said Anil Khanna, MD, 
Blue Dart ExpressBSE -0.61 %. 

Blue Dart, however, has its own aviation network so its costs are relatively higher than other players. 

Domestic airlines started levying fuel surcharge on cargo players in 2008. All domestic airlines use the belly of their aircraft for cargo movement. So, an A320 that is used by airlines like 
Air India and IndiGo would move about seven to eight tonnes of freight and a Boeing 737, operated by Air India, SpiceJetBSE 0.42 % and Jet AirwaysBSE 1.57 %, would move about three to four tonnes of goods in one flight. 

"The industry is slowing down, and if costs continue to increase like this, the industry will bleed further. It is, not possible for us to pass on this hike in fuel surcharge to our customers every quarter or every month", said Subasish Chakraborthy, MD, DTDC. 

The EICI, after studying price movement of air turbine fuel and the fuel surcharge levied by domestic airlines over the past four years, has found that the hike in the surcharge is not in line with the price movement of the ATF. In fact, there is no correlation. The ATF prices have see-sawed over the past year in the range of $90 to $115 per barrel. 

Internationally, according to express air cargo officials, this volatility is hedged to a certain extent and the interest of companies is protected as the fuel surcharges are benchmarked to an index, which is not the case in India. Benchmarking prohibits airlines to escalate pricing when ATF prices shoot up at the same time it allows the benefits to be passed on to logistics firms when the prices dip. 

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/news-by-industry/transportation/shipping-/-transport/cargo-firms-like-fedex-gati-and-blue-dart-allege-local-airlines-fix-fuel-prices/articleshow/17592515.cms

Air India Express to function independent of parent airline with own pilot pool


MUMBAI: Air India Express will start functioning independently of its parent airline and soon be able to operate as a separate entity with its own pool of pilots, according to a top Air India executive. 

The move is aimed at smoothening the operations of Air India's budget carrier, which has been struggling with its flight schedule as it uses the same pilot pool as state-run Air India to operate its near-200 flights a week. 

"Air India Express will be allowed to function as an independent company and in insulation from Air India," Air India's chairman and managing director 
Rohit Nandan told ET. "We are now putting in place a formula that would resolve the pilot issue for Air India Express. Pilots will no more go from Air India as we are getting expat trainers for Air India Express." 

Air India Express has a fleet of 21 aircraft. In the recent past, it was forced to restructure its network and withdraw some flights in the winter schedule (effective October 28) because of pilot shortage. Its profitable flights to Abu Dhabi from Chennai were affected, for instance. 

According to travel agents, the airline cancelled at least 168 flights in September to the Gulf from southern India, which has a sizeable number of people undertaking job-related travel to the Middle-east. Recently, Kerala announced plans to start an airline to meet the burgeoning demand for cheaper flights. 

According to Nandan, the number of trainers for Air India Express would go up from four at present to 13 by December-end, enabling the carrier to have sufficient number of trained pilots. Although Air India Express has a separate air-operating permit, it was unable to leverage this to enhance its network. 

Also planned for the Kochi-headquartered carrier are dedicated officials to look after its flight operations in other cities and a call centre for handling queries. 

"There will be separate deputy heads for commerce, finance and operations and Air India Express will have offices in Chennai and Mangalore," Nandan said. A separate MRO for Express aircraft at Trivandrum has already been announced. 

Airport Director seeks help of panchayats


Combating bird and animal menace at Karipur
Calicut International Airport Director J.P. Alex has reiterated the necessity of setting up mechanised slaughterhouses in the neighbouring panchayats of Kondotty, Pallikkal, and Nediyiruppu in the wake of the narrow escape an Air India flight had at Karipur a few days ago after one of the engines of the aircraft sucked in a mammal while taking off with 173 passengers on board.
Air India flight 997 suffered serious damage when the engine on its right wing caught fire after hit by the nocturnal mammal (suspected to be a palm civet), and was forced to seek an emergency landing soon after take-off at Karipur. People on duty at the airport were terrified by the deafening sound of the aircraft when the mammal hit the engine.
The incident, described by airport officials as a providential escape, has brought back to focus the presence of birds and animals in the airport’s vicinity. An increase in poultry and meat stalls in the neighbouring panchayats in recent years and incessant dumping of slaughter waste in open spaces has been attracting birds, particularly scavenger birds, raising concerns of the airport authorities about aviation safety.
“We have been asking the civic authorities in the neighbouring panchayats to set up mechanised slaughterhouses for the past several years. Setting up mechanised slaughterhouses will certainly help control the presence of birds in the airport vicinity,’’ said Mr. Alex.
The airport head said that vigil against animals and birds would be intensified. Bushes in the airport compound will be cleared and grass will not be allowed to grow near the runway, he said.
Mr. Alex said the demand for having mechanised slaughterhouses in the neighbouring panchayats would be raised again at the Airport Environmental Management Committee (AEMC) meeting to be held soon.
He said that best efforts were being made to make the airport animal and birds-free. ‘‘Yet, certain things are beyond our hands. We want the cooperation and support of the local civic authorities,’’ he said, adding that all efforts would be taken to minimise such happenings.
Mr. Alex said the airport had begun to break at the seams because of the unavailability of land.
‘‘What we badly need is land for expansion. Without it, nothing can be done,’’ he said.
Demand for land
The demand for 137 acres of land on the southern side of the airport has been raised for the past several years. But local people have been refusing to part with their land.
The proposal for setting up a new terminal for international flight operations at the southern side of the runway has been lying in limbo because of the cold response of the local people to the airport’s expansion plans.

·  Call to set up mechanised abattoirs
·  Plea to stop dumping of wastes in the open
http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-kerala/airport-director-seeks-help-of-panchayats/article4194339.ece

Dengue awareness exhibition at airport


An exhibition to raise awareness of dengue and steps to be taken to reduce source reduction of breeding of mosquitoes, organised by Airport Health Organisation, was declared open at Tiruchi airport on Wednesday. The exhibition, to be open till Friday, was intended to sensitise the airport staff to preventive measures taken against the spread of dengue.