It has been a long road for Star Alliance and its future member Air India, whose entry into Star has been delayed by information technology issues. The carrier will now join the world’s largest alliance next summer (instead of March), Star Alliance CEO Jaan Albrecht told The DAILY in Addis Ababa following an announcement that Ethiopian Airlines would join the alliance within 12-18 months.
An Air India spokesman, while unable to confirm a date for completion of the $190-million SITA migration for the Passenger Services System, said, We are targeting the first quarter of 2011. All systems are in place, but the problem is integrating the two codes of Indian Airlines (domestic) and Air India (international), as they are on two parallel tracks.” The two airlines are now part of the holding company National Aviation Company of India Ltd. (NACIL).
While the contract was to be completed within 300 days, an official told The DAILY in April, when the contract was signed, that this was a mammoth task and would take a year
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
Investments in AI Express need to be nurtured, says new COO
Mumbai: Even as the Air India Express Board will meet later this week to formulate the budget for the national air-carrier's low-cost arm, its newly-appointed COO described his task of growing the airline as a "challenging" one.
"I am taking over as COO of the airline only tomorrow. It is a challenging task that I have been assigned but I am looking forward to it," Air India Express' COO-designate Pawan Arora told PTI here today.
"Investments made in Air India Express need to be nurtured," he said, adding that he was confident that the airline would grow on the right lines. AI Express mainly operates across the Gulf and south-east Asia sectors.
"So far I have known the airline only as an outsider. It will not be wise for me to make any further comments at this stage," Arora, who joins the state-run carrier from IndiGo where he was the fleet commander, said.
"I am taking over as COO of the airline only tomorrow. It is a challenging task that I have been assigned but I am looking forward to it," Air India Express' COO-designate Pawan Arora told PTI here today.
"Investments made in Air India Express need to be nurtured," he said, adding that he was confident that the airline would grow on the right lines. AI Express mainly operates across the Gulf and south-east Asia sectors.
"So far I have known the airline only as an outsider. It will not be wise for me to make any further comments at this stage," Arora, who joins the state-run carrier from IndiGo where he was the fleet commander, said.
IndiGo’s big IPO may lead to re-rating of airline stocks
Mumbai: India’s leading low-fare carrier IndiGo, run by InterGlobe Aviation Pvt. Ltd, is planning to raise $500 million (Rs2,215 crore) through its initial public offering (IPO), the highest ever for an Indian airline, and this may lead to a re-rating of airline stocks, said sector analysts.
Shares of Jet Airways (India) Ltd, Kingfisher Airlines Ltd and SpiceJet Ltd are traded on Indian exchanges.
The IPO is scheduled for the last quarter of the current fiscal ending March 2011, said two persons close to the development. One of them is an airline executive and the other is an investment banker.
IndiGo has hired five investment bankers, including JM Financial Ltd, Credit Suisse Group AG, Citigroup Inc., UBS AG and Morgan Stanley for the proposed IPO.
Ahead of the IPO, IndiGo is looking at an equity placement that could result in dilution of promoters’ stake of as much as 25%. Last week, the company conducted investor roadshows in Hong Kong and Singapore for the equity placement.
Shares of Jet Airways (India) Ltd, Kingfisher Airlines Ltd and SpiceJet Ltd are traded on Indian exchanges.
The IPO is scheduled for the last quarter of the current fiscal ending March 2011, said two persons close to the development. One of them is an airline executive and the other is an investment banker.
IndiGo has hired five investment bankers, including JM Financial Ltd, Credit Suisse Group AG, Citigroup Inc., UBS AG and Morgan Stanley for the proposed IPO.
Ahead of the IPO, IndiGo is looking at an equity placement that could result in dilution of promoters’ stake of as much as 25%. Last week, the company conducted investor roadshows in Hong Kong and Singapore for the equity placement.
Flight 3 hours in air despite bomb alert
Kolkata: A Singapore Airlines flight with 225 passengers and 39 crew on board was forced to remain airborne for three hours after the captain was alerted of a bomb threat on Sunday evening.
The pilot of flight SQ 61, Johny Alberto, was somewhere over Amritsar when he received the LASP (land as soon as possible) message from Moscow air traffic control. His first option was to touch down at Delhi, the nearest airport for the wide-bodied Boeing 777-300 ER. But as the Commonwealth Games (CWG) opening ceremony was in progress, permission was denied and the aircraft directed to Kolkata nearly three hours away.
"Had there been a bomb on board the plane and had it exploded before reaching Kolkata, the authorities in Delhi would have had a lot to answer for. Though a Notice To Airmen (NOTAM) had been issued in view of the high security and restrictions for the CWG opening ceremony, an emergency landing should have been allowed," said an experienced captain.
According to former director general of DGCA Kanu Gohain, an emergency situation like this requires the pilot to land as soon as possible at the nearest available airport at which a safe approach and landing is assured.
On Sunday, the flight on the Houston-Moscow-Singapore sector departed on its last leg on time. Shortly thereafter, the customs office at Moscow airport received a call that claimed there was a bomb on board the plane. The message was immediately relayed to the Singapore Airlines headquarters. The latter alerted the pilots over the AirCraft Analytical System ( ACAS) on the aircraft.
The pilot of flight SQ 61, Johny Alberto, was somewhere over Amritsar when he received the LASP (land as soon as possible) message from Moscow air traffic control. His first option was to touch down at Delhi, the nearest airport for the wide-bodied Boeing 777-300 ER. But as the Commonwealth Games (CWG) opening ceremony was in progress, permission was denied and the aircraft directed to Kolkata nearly three hours away.
"Had there been a bomb on board the plane and had it exploded before reaching Kolkata, the authorities in Delhi would have had a lot to answer for. Though a Notice To Airmen (NOTAM) had been issued in view of the high security and restrictions for the CWG opening ceremony, an emergency landing should have been allowed," said an experienced captain.
According to former director general of DGCA Kanu Gohain, an emergency situation like this requires the pilot to land as soon as possible at the nearest available airport at which a safe approach and landing is assured.
On Sunday, the flight on the Houston-Moscow-Singapore sector departed on its last leg on time. Shortly thereafter, the customs office at Moscow airport received a call that claimed there was a bomb on board the plane. The message was immediately relayed to the Singapore Airlines headquarters. The latter alerted the pilots over the AirCraft Analytical System ( ACAS) on the aircraft.
Sunday, October 3, 2010
Construction of Boeing’s MRO depot in Nagpur set to begin
Nagpur: Work for the construction of the Boeing Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) depot in Nagpur’s MIHAN (Multimodal International Hub Airport at Nagpur) SEZ area is expected to start within two months.
“Finally, Air India and Boeing have got down to designing the MRO. The work for its construction is most likely to start in the next one or two months,” managing director of Maharashtra Airport Development Company (MADC), the nodal agency developing MIHAN, R C Sinha, told The Indian Express. Boeing had announced, amid much fanfare in Nagpur about four years ago, that the Rs 500-crore project would set up the MRO as part of India’s deal for purchase of a fleet of aircraft from the aviation giant. The project, envisaged to bring many ancillaries and business opportunities to Nagpur, however, made little headway, leading to media speculation that Boeing was dragging its feet or was planning to pull out of Nagpur. Boeing (India) Chairman Dinesh Keskar, however, had, all through, been refuting the reports and reaffirming his company’s commitment to set up the project at Nagpur. Sources, however, always maintained that uncertainty about handing over of the Nagpur airport to MADC and public spats between Nagpur MP Vilas Muttemwar and Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel had made Boeing nervous about Nagpur as venue
“Finally, Air India and Boeing have got down to designing the MRO. The work for its construction is most likely to start in the next one or two months,” managing director of Maharashtra Airport Development Company (MADC), the nodal agency developing MIHAN, R C Sinha, told The Indian Express. Boeing had announced, amid much fanfare in Nagpur about four years ago, that the Rs 500-crore project would set up the MRO as part of India’s deal for purchase of a fleet of aircraft from the aviation giant. The project, envisaged to bring many ancillaries and business opportunities to Nagpur, however, made little headway, leading to media speculation that Boeing was dragging its feet or was planning to pull out of Nagpur. Boeing (India) Chairman Dinesh Keskar, however, had, all through, been refuting the reports and reaffirming his company’s commitment to set up the project at Nagpur. Sources, however, always maintained that uncertainty about handing over of the Nagpur airport to MADC and public spats between Nagpur MP Vilas Muttemwar and Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel had made Boeing nervous about Nagpur as venue
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