'Aranmula airport Work to begin in January’

Controversies notwithstanding, work on the KGS Group promoted international airport in Aranmula is slated from January 2013.

“The first international airport to be started in the private sector in the country and targeting to tap the immense business potential generated through the sizeable chunk of NRK passengers from the Central Travancore region and a section of Sabarimala bound pilgrims who wish to travel by air, the  project is expected to become operational within two years,” said Gigi George, Managing Director of the KGS Group, at a news conference here on Saturday.

“History is in the making,” he expressed confidence, while distancing from various controversies which had engulfed the project. All approvals required for the airport had been obtained from the Union Ministries of Civil Aviation, Defence,Home Affairs and the State Government. “The Union Ministry of Environment and Forests has recommended clearance for the project and a final order is awaited within days,” he said.

The managing director claimed that the Rs 2,000-crore project was being pursued in a very transparent manner and that was the reason why the former LDF Government and the present UDF Government have supported the venture. “We are a group with a vast experience in construction, paper manufacturing and other industries. K Kumaran, myself and Sanmugam P V  are the promoters of the group, along with a 15 per cent stake of the Reliance Group. The funding pattern of the project is raising `700 crore through capital and promoters contribution and `1,300 crore from loans,” the MD clarified.

“The Kerala Government is also participating in the project with minority stake. A sweat equity of 10 per cent has been offered as well as chairmanship,” he disclosed. “Plans are not there to provide equity share to the public,” he said.

He maintained that the KGS Group was keen only on the accomplishment of the project and doesn’t want to be part of any controversies. “We cannot say something one day and retract from it the next day as some political leaders do. Acquisition of land was as per norms and the former LDF Government had notified the proposed project site as an industrial area,” he said.

“The airport will be set up on 500 acres, out of which, only a very small extent will be filled-up paddy fields, which will be utilised for laying the runway and allied facilities,” said P T Nandakumar,executive director of the project.

“The runway will be 3,100 x 45 m and is designed to cater to Airbus A-320/Boeing 747 aircrafts. The terminal building is designed to handle 1,000 passengers at a time,” he said.

http://newindianexpress.com/states/kerala/article1391907.ece

Mysore to be reconnected by air from January 14

Private carrier SpiceJet has announced the launch of flights from Mysore connecting Bangalore, Chennai, Delhi and Mumbai from January 14, coinciding with Sankranti, the festival of harvest in South India.

This will mark the resumption of airlink to Mysore after the debt-laden Kingfisher Airlines withdrew its operations to and from Mysore after it suspended operations.

It had launched its inbound and outbound operations from the Mandakalli airporton the Mysore-Nanjangud Road in October 2010, on the eve of Dasara celebrations.

The daily 72-seater flight saw a good response with over 70 per cent occupancy, but the hopes were shortlived as Kingfisher’s operations were cancelled a year later in November 2011 citing ‘operational reasons’.

However, the Mandakalli airport, modernised in September 2009 at a cost of Rs 82 crore, a year prior to the much-delayed airlink, continued to receive charter flights, while efforts were on to woo other private operators.

SpiceJet will operate flights on alternate days, three times in a week on Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

Mysore Travel Agents’ Association Secretary A C Ravi hoped it would not be short-lived.

Recalling that the district incharge minister was repeatedly giving assurances on a relink for two years, he told Business Standard, “It has become a reality now.

http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/mysore-to-be-reconnected-by-airjanuary-14/497526/

Etihad may buy 24% stake in Jet for up to Rs 1,800 cr in 10 days

Could pay a 25-50% premium on Jet Airways stock's Wednesday closing price on BSE

Abu Dhabi-based Etihad Airways was close to buying 24 per cent stake in Jet Airways in a Rs 1,500-1,800 crore deal, likely to be concluded within ten days, top civil aviation functionary on Wednesday said.

Etihad’s investment in Jet would be the first by a foreign aviation company in an Indian one since the sector was opened up to foreign investment last year. A Rs 1,500-1,800 crore deal would mean Etihad paying a 25-50 per cent premium on Jet stock’s Wednesday closing price of Rs Rs 579.60 on the Bombay Stock Exchange (up 0.47 per cent over the previous close). Its current market capitalisation is a little over Rs 5,000 crore.

Naresh Goyal owns 80 per cent in the airline through Tail Winds Ltd (registered in Isle of Man) and the rest is held by individual and institutional investors. It is not yet clear how the deal is being structured, though earlier reports indicated the airline would issue fresh equity amounting to 24 per cent. Government rules restrict foreign investment in airlines at 49 per cent.

The deal would help Etihad and Abu Dhabi counter Dubai’s dominance in the region’s aviation landscape. Abu Dhabi has 119 weekly flights from India while Dubai has 352 weekly flights to India. Only about 35 per cent of the traffic between India and Dubai/Abu Dhabi is origin-destination traffic; the rest is onward or transit traffic.

For Jet, the deal means infusion of fresh capital for debt reduction and could also lead to rationalisation of its long-haul network. An HSBC Research report says Jet may drop Brussels in favour of Abu Dhabi as its international network hub. Recently, Jet and Etihad had expanded their code-share agreement to include Abu-Dhabi-Paris route, indicating an increased partnership.

An Etihad spokesperson said: “We have not received details from our UAE and India offices. The Indian aviation industry offers tremendous potential, with significant passenger movement on domestic and international sectors. Etihad Airways will invest where it believes commercial prospects are strong”.

Jet Airways did not respond to an e-mailed query till the time of going to press.

http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/etihad-may-buy-24-stake-in-jet-forto-rs-1800-cr-in-10-days/497606/

Dense fog hits rail, air traffic

Dense fog disrupted air and rail schedules here on Wednesday, as the mercury touched a freezing 4.8 degree Celsius,  the lowest in the past 44 years.

As many as 26 trains got delayed, 10 cancelled and 25 rescheduled owing to foggy conditions on a day when the maximum temperature was 9.7 degree Celsius.

The fog also impacted schedules of 30 flights in the morning, leading to the cancellation of seven of them. A Hong Kong- Delhi Air India flight had to be diverted to Mumbai.

The Indira Gandhi International Airport here witnessed dense fog since the wee hours of Wednesday. Visibility on the third runway dropped to a low of 25 metres, following which the airport authorities temporarily stopped flight operations.

The permissible visibility limit for a flight to take off is 150 metres.

While the temperature in Agra, Uttar Pradesh plummeted to 0.9 degree Celsius, there were reports of fog in various parts of North India including Haryana and Punjab.

The temperature at Narnaul in Haryana dropped to a minimum of 2.4 degree Celsius and the minimum temperature at Mathura in Uttar Pradesh hovered around 3 degree Celsius.

This caused delays in train schedules in Haryana, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh.

http://newindianexpress.com/nation/article1405317.ece

Etihad Airways set to buy 24% stake in Jet Airways

Etihad Airways set to buy 24% stake in Jet Airways

Abu Dhabi-based Etihad Airways, reportedly, is set to acquire 24% stake in Jet Airways in next ten days in a deal valuing Rs 1,500-1,800 crore. The deal will help Etihad and its hub Abu Dhabi to counter the dominance of Dubai which is the largest airport in the region.

This will be the first investment in Indian Aviation sector which was opened for foreign airlines last year. Etihad will be paying 25-50% premium over Jet’s January 02, 2013 stock price depending at what price the 24% stake is sold.

For Jet, the deal means fresh infusion of capital to cut down its debt and could also lead to rationalisation of its long haul network. Jet’s current market capitalisation is little over Rs 5,000 crore.

http://www.finalaya.com/1_226450_news_Etihad_Airways_set_to_buy_24_s.aspx?src=Accord%20Fintech

Air India suspends two officers including GM

New Delhi: Two senior officers of Air India have been suspended following instructions from Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh on grounds of fudging of records and dereliction of duty.

While Capt R S Dhillon, General Manager (Operations) and in-charge Training, was suspended fudging simulator training records, Capt H Y Samant, General Manager (Operations), was suspended and removed from his post for failing to put a crew in place for a Mumbai-Singapore flight that was cancelled last night, an official spokesperson said.

Samant was suspended for "gross dereliction of duty" after the flight (AI-330), scheduled at midnight, was cancelled because of non-availability of crew, led by Dhillon.

A preliminary probe found that Samant knew about Dhillon's suspension and the non-availability of the crew but did not make any alternative arrangement, resulting in the cancellation of the flight and putting 220 passengers at great inconvenience, the spokesperson said.

The minister asked Air India to conduct an inquiry and take disciplinary action against Samant and others responsible for the lapse.

Dhillon was suspended after an investigation into a complaint about alleged irregularities in the conduct of Simulator Sessions at Airbus A-330 Jet Airways Simulator.

The alleged misconduct of Dhillon was brought to the notice of the minister, who directed Air India's Vigilance Department to investigate.

The spokesperson said the probe established that Dhillon had "not conducted full eight hours of simulator training. In fact, he has conducted less than 4 hours of training". 

http://zeenews.india.com/business/news/companies/air-india-suspends-two-officers-including-gm-operations_67371.html/air-india-suspends-two-officers-including-gm-operations_67371.html

Ajit Singh suspends Air India officials

Air India has suspended Capt RS Dhillon, GM, Incharge Training, on grounds of fudging simulator training records

Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh on Wednesday ordered shifting of  Capt HY Samant, General Manager (Operations) of Air India following the non-availability of the crew A-330 Mumbai-Singapore flight scheduled for the midnight of 1-2 January. The fiasco took place as the crew was to be led by Captain RS Dhillon, who had been placed under suspension following the charges of fudging  training records.

Samant’s removal was ordered by the minister as he failed to put a crew in place for the flight. Following a preliminary enquiry it was found that Capt RS Dhillon was supposed to take the flight from Mumbai to Singapore. However, after his suspension on 31 December, he had become ineligible to fly and no replacement was put in place.

Information regarding Dhillon was available with Samant. However, no alternative arrangement for crew was ensured by the Operations Department of Air India working under him, which caused immense inconvenience to 220 passengers who were to take this flight, said a government release.

Taking a serious note of this issue, the minister instructed Air India management to take immediate disciplinary action against Samant and all those responsible for the lapse. Air India has suspended Capt RS Dhillon, General Manager (Operations), Incharge Training, on grounds of fudging simulator training records. This follows a complaint received about alleged irregularities in the conduct of Simulator Sessions at A-330 Jet Airways Simulator.

After Dhillon’s misconduct was brought to the notice of the minister, it was entrusted to the Vigilance Department of Air India for investigation. The investigation report has now revealed that records with regard to training imparted on simulator were fudged by Capt. Dhillon. ‘Prima facie, it has also been established that Capt. Dhillon has not conducted full 8 hours of Simulator training - in fact he has conducted less than 4 hours of training,’ says the report.

http://www.millenniumpost.in/NewsContent.aspx?NID=17371

Aranmula airport work to start in two weeks

Kochi: Work on the country’s first private international airport, at Aranmula in southern Kerala, is set to begin in a few days’ time, according to KGS Aranmula International Airport Ltd managing director Gigi George.

The project which has recently obtained all the approvals, including that of the environment ministry, is currently awaiting a decision of the state government which proposed having a stake in the venture.
However, the work would start in a fortnight, and the airport would see flights landing by December, 2014, he said on Wednesday.

George dismissed the opposition to the project from various corners as of no consequence, saying that since all the clearances were obtained, there would be no hitch as such. The plan is to invest Rs 550 crore in the first phase. The total project cost is Rs 2,000 crore, of which Rs 1,300 crore would be debt and the rest through capital and promoter contribution.

The KGS Group, which is into construction, infrastructure development, hospital chains and paper manufacture, has acquired 700 acres of land for the airport project. It is claimed to generate direct employment for 1,500 people and indirect employment for over 6,000 persons.

The terminal would handle 1,000 passengers at a time, and see the landing of big aircraft. It would be a boost to pilgrimage tourism as the Lord Ayyappa temple in Sabarimala is just an hour’s drive from Aranmula, situated in Pathanamthitta district, off a diversion from the MC Road. Sabarimla sees a turnout of 6 crore pilgrims a year.

Also, Aranmula is close to the centre for the annual Maramon convention of Christians, and the Cherukolpuzha Hindu meet.Air traffic in the state has multiplied five times in the last eight years to touch 1 crore passengers a year. Around 40 per cent of the non-resident Keralites has their family base in and around the area.

http://www.deccanchronicle.com/130103/news-current-affairs/article/aranmula-airport-work-start-two-weeks

AI Express looks to poach IAF pilots

Thiruvananthapuram: Faced with the issue of pilot shortage, Air India Express would seek the service of young pilots from Indian Air Force and Indian Navy. The budget carrier would offer attractive remuneration to pilots on par with the market standards, with a view to also reducing the attrition rate, AIE has decided.

AIE was forced to cancel many services in recent times owing to pilot shortage. While it requires at least 252 pilots, including commanders and first officers, to operate its 21 aircraft, the airline has only around 185 pilots.

Unattractive remuneration is a major reason for the scarcity of experienced pilots. "During the last few months alone, nearly ten senior pilots left AIE and joined various other airlines," AIE sources said.

Concerned, the civil aviation ministry chalked out an action plan. "We would be mainly looking for young pilots from the Air Force or Navy as well as other agencies who could be appointed as trainer commanders so that their service could be used for operating the regular services and well as in upgrading the trainee pilots and first-officers to senior positions. The civil aviation ministry will be directly contacting the defence ministry for this," said the sources.

Though the national carrier earlier made an attempt to get trained pilots from the IAF, it did not work well. Unattractive pay package has been a major hindrance, the  sources added.

http://www.deccanchronicle.com/130103/news-current-affairs/article/ai-express-looks-poach-iaf-pilots

Kingfisher Airlines should revive for its employees, passengers: Ajit Singh

NEW DELHI: With uncertainty over the revival ofKingfisher airlinesBSE -1.32 %, Civil Aviation MinisterAjit Singh today said the airline should present a satisfactory operating plan to the DGCA and work on its rescue plans for the sake of its employees, stakeholders and passengers. 

He also pointed out that the airline has not renewed its licence which expired on December 31, 2012. 

"They don't have a (SOP) licence today, if they decide to operate today then the rule says, they don't have to go through paperwork which a new operator has to. All they have to present a satisfactory operating plan to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation who would ensure financial stability before being allowed to fly," he said. 

Singh said the airline should revive of the sake of its employees, banks, stakeholders and passengers. 

"If they don't fly again there will be co-lateral damage," he said. 

As per official estimates, the co-lateral damage could be on banks (which have lent the airline close to Rs 7,000 crore), airports around the country which are owed over Rs 250 crore and oil companies which also not been paid by the now defunct airline. 

The cash strapped airline ceased operations on October 20 last year after it failed to pay employees salaries for close to eight months. The airline has about 4,000 employees on its rolls. 

Asked about if his ministry was mulling an intervention for the sake of employees, Singh said, "We sympathise to them but the ministry can't do anything about payment of their due salary, may be labour ministry could do something." 

Meanwhile, sources said that Jet AirwaysBSE 5.44 %was in talks with the Gulf-based Etihad for stakes in the airline. 

Etihad was looking for a partner to expand operations in India and other Asian markets, they added.

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/news-by-industry/transportation/airlines-/-aviation/kingfisher-airlines-should-revive-for-its-employees-passengers-ajit-singh/articleshow/17861971.cms

Etihad may decide on deal with Jet Airways or Kingfisher Airlines in 10 days

MUMBAI/NEW DELHI: Abu Dhabi-based airline Etihadmight announce an India investment within the next 10 days, a top civil aviation ministry source said on Wednesday.

The ministry source went on to add that Etihad has not yet decided whether it will invest in Jet AirwaysBSE 5.59 % or the debt-laden Kingfisher AirlinesBSE -1.12 % that has not taken to the skies since October last year and also has an expired air operating permit.

"Etihad is likely to decide on an investment in either Jet Airways or Kingfisher Airlines in their next board meeting," he added. There were unconfirmed reports of an Etihad board meet likely to take place next week to announce the equity partnership with an Indian carrier.

According to sources, James Hogan, Etihad's CEO and the person who is widely believed to be driving the negotiations, is on leave till January 4 and things would move once he is back in action.

"A deal is possible within next 10 days, there are a number of agreements to be signed as part of it," the ministry source said

Jet's promoter and chairman Naresh Goyal was in Abu Dhabi for about a fortnight in December and returned only on December 30, a source at Jet Airways added. Goyal was accompanied by his wife Anita Goyal (who plays an active role in the airline company) along with some other top level management personnel.

"None of the Kingfisher top brass is in Abu Dhabi. We are assuming that Jet would have got the deal otherwise why would Naresh Goyal be there for so long?" a Kingfisher top official said on condition of anonymity.

The deal that has been speculated upon widely will be the first investment in domestic airlines by a foreign carrier. Talks for the investment started in September as reported first by ET. The Indian government allowed foreign investment in domestic airline companies last year.

But sources in Jet Airways said that it is difficult to say when a deal will be clinched as "negotiations with Etihad were still on and when will an announcement be made cannot be predicted." Jet Airways stocks were marginally up at the BSE and closed at Rs 579.60, a marginal gain of 0.47%, Kingfisher shares were up 4.91%, closing at Rs 15.16 a share on Wednesday when stock markets touched a two-year high.

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/news-by-industry/transportation/airlines-/-aviation/etihad-may-decide-on-deal-with-jet-airways-or-kingfisher-airlines-in-10-days/articleshow/17864208.cms

Air India likely to register cash positive this financial year

NEW DELHI: Loss-making Air India may now see light at the end of a long tunnel as it is likely to register cash positive this financial year even though it would continue to make an overall loss, official sources said today. 

"The national carrier might report EBITDA positive performance in 2012-13 as its financial performance has shown considerable improvement due to the implementation of the Turnaround and Financial Restructuring Plans," one of the sources said. 

However, in its overall performance, the airline would show losses, the sources said, adding that though Air India was still suffering losses, its performance has improved and it has returned some of the loans taken from banks. 

EBIDTA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation) is an approximate measure of a company's operating cash flow. 

Air India has been suffering losses of Rs 5,548.26 crore in 2008-09, Rs 5,552.44 crore in 2009-10, Rs 6,865.17 crore in 2010-11 and Rs 7,853 crore in 2011-12. 

The prime reasons for these losses are hike in jet fuel prices, its opaque pricing and VAT on it, increase in depreciation provision due to aircraft acquisition, high infrastructure cost, fall in premium traffic and a decline in ground handling revenue, the sources said. 

Air India's revenue also posted an increase of 6.5 per cent during April-September this year at Rs 4,757 crore, as against Rs 4,467 crore in the same period a year ago despite the 58-day long strike by its pilots. 

For the first time since its 2007 merger, the airline made a cash surplus of Rs 48 crore during April-July 2012 as against a cash deficit of Rs 586 crore last year. The net loss during April-July came down by Rs 557 crore. 

Air India, whose 10 narrow-body planes were grounded primarily for want of spares and other issues affecting its finances, has now revived six of them, taking the total fleet to 58 such aircraft from 52, the sources said. 

The government was also considering a voluntary retirement scheme, targeting about 5,000 Air India employees including those in its wholly-owned subsidiaries like Alliance Air and those concerning engineering and ground handling services, the sources said.

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/news-by-industry/transportation/airlines-/-aviation/Air-India-likely-to-register-cash-positive-this-financial-year/articleshow/17858575.cms

Air India takes off on route to profitability; attracts more passengers than arch rival Jet Airways

NEW DELHI: After years of opprobrium for poor financial management, weak performance and customer dissatisfaction, Air India seems to have embarked on a flight to a turnaround. India's national carrier - Air India - has dramatically improved itself on almost all parameters, consequently attracting morepassengers than its arch rival Jet AirwaysBSE 5.59 %.


The most evident indicator of Air India's aggression has been its market share or the number of passengers flown, which has increased continuously to almost 21% in November, from 15.4% of the total fliers in April.

In a media interaction, Ajit Singh, Union minister for civil aviation, ascribed the move to drastic cost rationalisation: "There is an aggressive cost-cutting plan in place for Air India to improve financials in 2013." The aim is to make Air India Ebitda positive by 2012-13, a senior aviation ministry official added.

Rohit Nandan, Air India chairman and managing director, in a recent interaction with ET, said Air India is now better placed to take on its peers from the private sector.

Nandan said several moves, including network expansion for which it has assigned a strategic group within the airline that is looking into newer markets to be created and where more flights can be added. AfterKingfisherBSE -1.39 % grounded operations, Air India has aggressively worked on its Mumbai-Delhi route and offered flights every hour till mid-morning on a daily basis, taking its flights to 18 a day, a strategy that works well for it as it targets more corporate clients on board.

"The grounding of Kingfisher has played a part in the recovery of Air India in 2012. However, one must also take cognizance of lost of systemic changes introduced by AI's managing team. In 2013, AI recovery will depend on successful implementation of the turnaround plan," acknowledges Amber Dubey, partner and head-aviation atKPMG.

On the international front too, Air India has rescheduled some flight timings and introduced afternoon flights to international destinations, which have helped the airline to offer not only better timings, but also better onward connectivity to passengers.

Air India is also strengthening its hub operations in Delhi from where it now operates 90 flights a day, up from 54 flights a couple of years back. It will add flights on some South East Asian routes like Kuala Lumpur and is seeing strong passenger pull on its flights to Colombo and Europe.

According to data by Air India, the average yields per passenger increased 7.5% from Rs 8,210 per passenger during April to November 2011 to Rs 8,828 per passenger for the period April to November 2012, of which domestic yields showed a sharper growth at 18.4%, while it grew by 8.5% in the international segment.

Taking a lesson on on-time performance (OTP) from market leader Indi-Go, Air India, which has always been notorious for delays, attained nearly 80% OTP this year.

"This gradually gave customers, especially corporate ones, confidence that we will take them to their destinations in time for their work. Because of this, more passengers chose to fly with us and our market share went up," said a senior executive of Air India.

"In 2011, we dealt with 200-250 corporate clients. The number has now increased to 1,100. We will be focusing more on first and business class corporate fliers," he said.

According to experts, rival Jet AirwaysBSE 5.59 % did not use the KingfisherBSE -1.39 % opportunity as good as Air India did due to two reasons: instead of filling the gap created by Kingfisher, Jet's perception of a full-service carrier got diluted due to the co-existence of its low-cost arm, JetLite. Jet Airways brought down capacity, while both Air India and IndiGo added capacity.

Government data corroborates this by showing how Jet Airways and Jet-Lite together offered available seat kilometers (ASKs) of 17,09,235 in May, which has dropped to 12,55,302 in September. Whereas, Air India from July consistently increased capacity, which stood much higher at 11,38,300 in September.

In the wake of high ticket prices caused due to the removal of Kingfisher's capacity, the national carrier also introduced a heavy discount scheme for thirty-day advance bookings - a practice immediately followed by both Jet Airways and Indi-Go. Air India officials assure the strategy won't change going into the new year.

However, experts believe that the Maharaja's sustained recovery will not be an instant-noodles affair.

"Air India's performance has to be consistent and they can do better if they add more capacity on the domestic routes," said travel technology solutions provider Bird Group's ED Ankur Bhatia.

Air India is also trying to rationalise its head count. The airline has also undergone a debt restructuring reducing interest costs by Rs 1,000 crore per annum, even as it is taking delivery of 27 Dreamliners. But all these are long-term goals and will take time to show benefits, given the fact that the cumulative losses suffered by the airline since April 1, 2007, till March 31, 2012, were at about Rs 28,000 crore, while it has debts of around Rs 43,000 crore.

The government has already pumped in about Rs 400 crore into the airline after the financial restructuring package was announced and the bond issue of over Rs 7,400 crore, which got fully subscribed in December.

The revenue management system that Air India is now using for the past one year has helped it to manage revenues better and also to boost occupancy levels per flight. Air India says the yields have gone up for the airline by 15% on q-o-q and it is able to manage seats better on each revenue bucket.

With the ground-handling and engineering subsidiaries taking off in January this year, Air India will be left with only 9,000-10,000 employees in the commercial airliner that would help bring down the costs drastically.

One of the important things Air India has done over the past six months in fleet reconfigurations is that it has reconfigured 10 of its Airbus A320s to all economy class which has given it immense lift in terms of offering capacity for budget travelers. It has also brought down the number of business class seats on A321s from 20 to 12.

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/news-by-industry/transportation/airlines-/-aviation/air-india-takes-off-on-route-to-profitability-attracts-more-passengers-than-arch-rival-jet-airways/articleshow/17864813.cms?curpg=2

Work on Kerala’s Aranmula airport set to take off

KOCHI, JAN. 2: 

With all requisite clearances in hand, the Chennai-based KGS Group of companies is all set to start work on the Aranmula International Airport project.

Gigi George, Managing Director, KGS Aranmula International Airport Ltd, said the work on the Rs 2,000-crore project would commence in the second week of this month and is expected to be ready for airport operations by December 2014.

In the first phase, he said 2-km of runway will be developed followed by laying of approach road and other remaining works.

During an interaction with media persons here, he said that the company has in its possession 450 acres in Aranmula and was aiming to have 700 acres in the area. The project is located at the central Travancore belt and the company is targeting the NRI population, the tourism sector and the pilgrimage travel prospects of the region for its success. According to George, around 40 per cent of Kerala’s air traffic originates from within 40 km radius of the proposed airport. Kerala Government had also evinced interest in taking a 10 per cent stake in the project, which will provide the Government with a berth in the board of directors of the airport company.

However, a Cabinet decision in this regard is awaited, he said adding, that the project will have a total equity portion of Rs 700 crore.

Asked whether Cochin International Airport will lose its prominence once the new airport starts functioning, he said according to the aviation policy, 2/3{+r}{+d} of the traffic has to be generated from the 50 km vicinity and only 1/3{+r}{+d} diversion is expected. “Diversion is not our priority but traffic generation, as India is going to witness an aviation boom in the coming years with growth in domestic passenger traffic”, he said. Quoting figures, he said domestic passenger throughput is expected to touch 209 million by FY17 from 106 million in FY11.

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/industry-and-economy/logistics/work-on-keralas-aranmula-airport-set-to-take-off/article4265864.ece?homepage=true&ref=wl_home

Hope Kingfisher takes off again: Ajit Singh

New Delhi, Jan. 2:  

Minister for Civil Aviation Ajit Singh said he hoped that for the sake of its employees, banks and passengers, Kingfisher Airlines was able to take to the skies again.

In an informal interaction with the media here on Wednesday, Singh said the airline had not renewed its licence when it expired on December 31, 2012.

“Kingfisher has two years to renew its licence. They will still have to apply again and satisfy the regulator, apart from ensuring financial stability before being allowed to fly. If they do not fly again, there will be collateral damage,” the Minister said.

Officials indicated that the collateral damage could be on banks (which have lent the airline close to Rs 7,000 crore), airports that are owed over Rs 250 crore and oil companies, which also not been paid by the now defunct airline.

The cash-strapped airline ceased operations on October 20 last year after it failed to pay employees salaries for close to eight months. The airline has about 4,000 employees on its rolls.

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/todays-paper/tp-economy/hope-kingfisher-takes-off-again-ajit-singh/article4266466.ece

Policy to boost regional air connectivity in 3 months: Ajit Singh

New Delhi, Jan 2:  

The Government hopes to have a plan ready to promote regional air connectivity within the next three months, Minister for Civil Aviation Ajit Singh said on Wednesday.

In an informal interaction with the media, the Minister said a committee appointed by the Ministry to give recommendations to promote regional connectivity would submit its report by January 31. “We hope to be able to have some policy in place in about two months after the report is submitted. The idea is to make these operations more commercially viable,” he said. Declining to get into specifics of the report, officials of the Ministry of Civil Aviation said it was unlikely that the existing sops provided to airlines to improve connectivity to far-flung areas and small towns would be done away with.

To promote regional connectivity, the Government has stipulated that airlines operating small aircraft seating up to 70 passengers will be provided aviation turbine fuel (ATF) throughout the country at uniform rate of sales tax of four per cent. This is a big fiscal incentive for airlines, as the level of taxation on ATF varies from four per cent to over 30 per cent in the country. The high rate of sales tax along with the high domestic cost of ATF means that fuel accounts for between 40-45 per cent of the operating cost of domestic airlines.

The Minister said that the report would also relook at the route dispersal guidelines for operating flights keeping in mind the need to promote connectivity throughout the country, not just between major metro cities.

Air India

The loss-making Air India is likely to become cash positive this financial year even though it would continue to make an overall loss, official sources said.

“The national carrier might report EBITDA positive performance in 2012-13 as its financial performance has shown considerable improvement due to the implementation of the turnaround and financial restructuring plans,” the sources said.

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/todays-paper/tp-economy/policy-to-boost-regional-air-connectivity-in-3-months-ajit-singh/article4266465.ece