Air India's Kochi-Delhi flight makes emergency landing

An Air India Kochi-Delhi flight carrying 151 passengers including Kerala Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan on Friday made an emergency landing at the Nagpur airport following a technical problem, airport sources said. The flight IC 466 landed around 1000 hours and a relief aircraft has been asked to take the passengers, Area Marketing Manager of the Airlines, I A Dhas said. The flight developed an engine trouble and made emergency landing. There are 151 passengers and six crew members in the aircraft, the source said. The Kerala Chief Minister was among the passengers along with two of his colleague, state Home Minister Kodiyari Balakrishnan and Water Resources Minister M K Premchandran. The VVIP's were accommodated in the lounge while passengers were shifted to a nearby hotel, Dhas said, adding the relief aircraft has already left for Nagpur from Delhi.

Air Arabia flight makes emergency landing

An Air Arabia flight from Chittagong to Sharjah made an emergency landing at the Kolkata airport on Thursday night when one of the two engines of the Airbus 320 stopped functioning mid-air. The flight, with 159 passengers and eight crew members on board, landed at the city airport at 10.20 pm. "The aircraft was under our jurisdiction and flying over Jamshedpur when the pilot sought emergency landing permission from us," said an air traffic controller. As the plane prepared to land, airport officials stood by with all emergency facilities such as fire-tenders and ambulances. "The flight, G9 522, landed safely and was grounded. All passengers were disembarked and were taken to the transit lounge for refreshments," said R Srinivasan, the airport director. Air India's ground security staff are looking after the passengers and engineers of the same airlines are rectifying the snag.

Jet Airways-Kingfisher pact finally takes off

After an eight-month delay, the alliance between the country’s two largest private carriers, Jet Airways and Kingfisher Airlines, finally took off on July 1. “To start with, both the airlines have started sharing infrastructure at the domestic airports that include Delhi and Mumbai,” a senior Kingfisher Airlines said. Apart from infrastructure sharing at airports, the code sharing between the two airlines will start this month. “The infrastructure and code sharing will reduce Kingfisher’s operational costs by 20-30%,” added the official. According to an official at Jet, code sharing on domestic and international flights will start soon, apart from joint fuel management and network rationalisation. Last October, Vijay Mallya and Naresh Goyal signed an agreement to significantly rationalise capacity and reduce costs at a time when prices of jetfuel had hit record highs. Landing and parking charges are high in India. Besides, jetfuel prices have moved upwards in the last two months.

SpiceJet may merge with JetLite

Consolidation is in the air, and there is buzz that SpiceJet may fly together with JetLite. However, SpiceJet said a consolidation is not the only option to strengthen the industry. Analysts point out that since the industry is bleeding profusely, acquisitions will also mean a transfer of huge liabilities. The aviation sector could soon see a third round of consolidation. Experts believe that among low cost carriers, SpiceJet is most likely to go in for a merger or an acquisition. That's mainly because the airline's financial condition has improved thanks to funding by Wilbur Ross. JetLite, experts say, may be in SpiceJet's crosshairs. Something SpiceJet does not seem opposed to, in principle.

Ajay Singh, Director, SpiceJet said, “We do not comment on market rumours. But in concept, it is a good thing.” Sources say some low cost carriers are already in advanced merger and acquisition talks and JetLite might play a crucial role in this consolidation. We learn SpiceJet may look at taking over JetLite, as both airlines operate with Boeing aircraft, a factor that could make synergies easier. However, SpiceJet says consolidation is not the only option to strengthen the industry. Ajay Singh added, “As a concept we believe that consolidation is a good thing. Just as capacity rationalisation is a good thing and there are several other steps that can be taken by the government and the industry to make sure that it is a healthy industry.

Air India employees on strike

About 13,000 employees at state run Air India walked off the job for two hours Friday after the airline failed to pay their monthly wage. The strike was the last resort for some employees who say management failed to keep a promise to pay them Friday, said J.B. Kadian, the general secretary of the Air Corporation Employees Union. There have been strained talks between management and three unions that includes everyone from the cabin crew to sweepers after Air India told the bulk of its employees their pay would be delayed by two weeks. The unions said 13,000 employees participated in the strike but Air India did not provide a number.

The walkout comes after management did not follow through on its latest verbal agreement to pay the lowest paid employees by July 3, employees say. Employees normally get paid on the last day of the month. The lowest paid unionized employees make less than $100 a week. Employees said they were angered that their pay was delayed at a time when the airline has continued to buy new planes. Air India is in deep financial trouble. It lost about a billion dollars last year alone. It says it is in a fight for survival due to lower volumes of passengers, the high cost of employing about 31,000 employees as well as the current world financial downturn.

Sindbad Frequent Flyer teams up with Oman Air Holidays

Oman Air's Sindbad Frequent Flyer Programme has teamed up with Oman Air Holidays to offer a range of holiday packages with the benefit of earning Sindbad Miles. Packages combine flights on Oman Air with selected hotels, tours and excursions at destinations including the Egypt, Jordan, India, Thailand, and London. Sindbad members will not only earn miles on the flight segment but will receive an equal number of miles from Oman Air Holidays, the firm said.

Flydubai announces Indian routes

Flydubai, Dubai's first low cost airline, is all set for take off to the Indian sub-continent with the announcement of a trio of routes to the region. Flydubai will begin its Indian adventure with flights to the north eastern city of Lucknow on July 13. This will be closely followed by Coimbatore in the south of the country on July 14. The trio of destinations will be completed on July 23 when flights to the north western city of Chandigarh begin. FZ449 will depart Dubai for Lucknow on July 13 and will operate four times per week. Prices will include all taxes and one piece of hand baggage weighing up to 10kg. The thrice-weekly Coimbatore service, FZ413, will take off from Dubai on July 14. FZ431 will become the first international flight to touch down at Chandigarh airport on July 23.

The flydubai model is simple, with customers paying only for the services they want to receive. The ticket price includes all taxes and one piece of hand baggage, weighing up to 10kg, per passenger. Passengers have the option to purchase checked-in baggage in advance, weighing up to 32kgs, subject to availability. Checked baggage at the airport is also strictly subject to availability and passengers are advised to book online early to secure the space, as only pre-purchased baggage can be guaranteed. A nominal payment allows customers to select their seat and secures the extra legroom positions. Bookings can be changed for a small fee, plus any difference in the fare, and food and drink can be purchased on board. Flydubai operates from a modernized and enhanced Terminal 2 on the north side of Dubai International Airport.

Oman seeks to tap its tourism potential

Oman is spending billions to boost tourism as part of a strategy to diversify its economy. But while the Sultanate is keen to attract more visitors, it is also determined to protect its culture and traditions. Oman recently unveiled a new scheme that places great importance on tourism as a way to diversify the country's economy away from oil. Under the new strategy, called 'Vision 2020', the government is teaming up with the private sector to invest more than $10bn in several major tourism projects. The country hopes that the new initiative will enable it to attract 12 million tourists annually by 2020, as compared to 3.2 million per annum at present. One of the key projects that has been launched is a major expansion of Muscat International Airport, which includes a new terminal building, an additional runway, and an upgrade to the existing runway that will enable it to handle the Airbus A380. When finished in 2011 the airport will be able to accommodate more than 12 million annual visitor arrivals.

Three smaller airports are also to be built in Nizwa, Salalah and Duqm to help promote these relatively new areas. The blueprint for Vision 2020 also entails the development of 10 new resorts over the next five years, including the newly opened Muscat Hills Golf and Country Club, the $7bn Blue City complex, and the Wave, a beachfront resort costing $4bn. Oman Air is also doing its part by rolling out new service to Frankfurt, Munich, and Paris starting in September. The carrier will fly seven times a week to Germany and four times a week to Paris. Last but not least, Oman is building a venue for the 2010 Asian Beach Games, which it will host in Wudum Al Sahil near Muscat in December next year. In addition to building new resorts and infrastructure, Oman recently eased its visa policies to make it possible for nationals of up to 60 countries to receive entry visas on arrival at the airport.

New international flights begin landing at Salalah

New flights announced for the Khareef season by GCC countries have begun landing at Salalah airport, officials said. Its first direct flight from Riyadh, Saudi Arabian Airlines’ special aircraft flew in tourists to Salalah. The airline is operating five flights a week between Riyadh and Salalah to catch in on the tourist rush from that country during Khareef. The airport also welcomed a group of journalists and tourists aboard Gulf Air’s first flight to Salalah this season from the Kingdom of Bahrain. Gulf Air has announced that it is operating three flights a week from Manama to Salalah. The flights will operate till mid September, officials said. Among other regional airlines, Jazeera Airways had started operating flights between Salalah Airport and Kuwait last month. The airline is operating two flights a week from Kuwait, in addition to Al Saeedah Airline, which was recently added to its flights programme between Aden and Salalah.

Kingfisher to start Pune-Goa flight

Those travelling to and from Pune will soon have an option, while those wanting to enjoy holidays and festivals in Goa will for the first time get to reach their destination directly through Kingfisher Red which is all set to link Nagpur with Pune and Goa from July 1. Confirming the development, a senior official of Kingfisher Red said, “The airline has finalised plans to link Nagpur with Pune and Goa by introducing the ATR aircraft. The flight will operate on the Nagpur-Indore-Pune and Goa route and the return flight will operate on Goa-Pune-Indore and Nagpur route. The flight IT-2801 will take off from Nagpur at 8.10 am and reach Indore at 9.30 am. It will leave Indore at 9.55 am and reach Pune at 11.15 am. From Pune, it will leave at 12 noon and reach Goa at 1.15 pm.

This means that the passengers will reach Pune with one stop at Indore in three hours and Goa in five hours, the official added. On the return journey, the flight IT-2802 will depart from Goa at 1.45 pm, reach Pune at 3 pm, leave Pune at 4.50 pm and reach Indore at 6.10 am before landing in Nagpur at 8 am. The fares for Goa will start from Rs 9,000 onwards while Pune fares will be from Rs 4,000 onwards, the official added. Sources at airport said, The Kingfisher Red Pune flight will be another option for travelers to go to Pune as Indigo is already operating a daily Pune flight with a minimum fare of Rs 1,779.

Yemenia A310 crashes into the Indian Ocean

An Airbus 310 belonging to Yemenia, Yemen’s national airline, and flying to Moroni, the capital of Grand Comore, fell into the sea a few miles short of its destination. The flight had originally taken off from Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport for Sana'a, Yemen's capital, with 147 passengers. In Sana'a, 67 onward bound passengers then changed planes and flew on via Djibouti to Comoros, where the aircraft is thought to have come down in "choppy" weather three to six miles short of Moroni. "The plane has crashed and we still don't know exactly where," said the Comoros' vice-president, Idi Nadhoim, who went immediately to the airport. "We think it's in the area of Mitsamiouli. There were 150 passengers on board."

Television reports suggested that families waiting to meet passengers at Moroni airport saw the plane make an approach to the runway, and turn to make a second attempt. It never returned, disappearing from radar screens shortly afterwards. Sana'a airport later gave a figure of 142 passengers with the remainder being crew. There were no immediate reports of survivors, officials said, though speedboats had been dispatched to the scene. The Comoros is an archipelago nation of three islands between Mozambique and Madagascar off the coast of East Africa. It used to be a French colony and a fourth island, Mayotte, in the archipelago remains under French rule. French military jets based at Mayotte and another Indian Ocean territory, Reunion, were helping with the search for survivors.

"We think the crash is somewhere along its landing approach," Ibrahim Kassim, of the Agency for Aviation Security and Navigation in Africa and Madagascar, said. "The weather is really not very favourable. The sea is very rough." Grand Comore is the largest of the islands, the others being Mohéli and Anjouan. Its 800,000 population makes it one of Africa's smallest countries, but also one of its most densely populated. Yemen, which occupies the southernmost part of the Arabian peninsula, is often troubled by Islamist, sectarian and tribal violence, and the authorities there are still looking for a Briton and and a German family of five kidnapped there earlier this month. However, there are no initial suspicions of terrorist involvement on this occasion.

Oman Air increases flights to Salalah during Khareef

Oman Air has increased flights to Salalah to carry more visitors to the summer Khareef season in the southern Dhofar region. It is running 25 flights a week between Muscat and Salalah, four from Dubai, and one from Kuwait.

Air India flight makes emergency landing in Delhi

An Air India flight to Hyderabad made an emergency landing in Delhi on Monday, an hour after taking off from the Indira Gandhi International Airport, when the pilot reported a technical snag. The Delhi-Hyderabad-Tirupati Air India flight 942, carrying 75 passengers, made an emergency landing at 11.40 a.m., said a spokesperson of the Delhi International Airport Ltd (DIAL) that operates the Delhi airport. "All passengers are safe," he said and added that there were some problems in the hydraulic system of the aircraft. An Air India spokesperson said the pilot had decided to come back to Delhi midway as a precautionary measure as he suspected a technical snag.

India Post to go airborne

Around the first of July, two new aircraft bearing the logo of India Post will take off from Mumbai and Chennai. These freighters have been leased from Air India by India Post, under the ministry of communications. For this purpose, two of Air India's old Boeing 737-200s, have been converted into freighters, says Jitendra Bhargava, spokesperson of Air India. With a capacity of 15 tonnes each, the planes will connect cities like Mumbai, Chennai, Bangalore, Ahmedabad, Surat and Nagpur. The cue for launching this service came from the success of India Post's first such aircraft which flies everything from handicrafts to foodgrain on the Kolkata-Guwahati route.

As a result of this aircraft, which was launched in August 2007, birthday gifts reached the same day, businesses prospered, and the seven North Eastern sisters were brought that much closer to mainstream India. The services of this existing aircraft will be extended from next month to cover Delhi and Nagpur. Three cities - Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata will act as hubs for overnight transmission of mail. Every night before the freighters leave their centres at around 11:30 pm, all mail from nearby cities will reach them. The three Boeings will then converge at Nagpur and exchange palettes (metal sheets which carry mails sorted according to destination cities). The aircraft will then fly back with their respective palettes. When they touch down at their centres early next morning, local distribution services like trucks, trains and other airlines will take over.

Oman Air to induct new Airbus A330 aircraft

National air carrier Oman Air is all set to fly its new A330 aircraft by the end of August from Muscat. The airline is also adding new destinations in Europe and Asia to its network in the coming months. The first A330 will only have business and economy class. “We will provide a completely new look business class with first class experience. The seats will be bigger and spacious,” said Hamad Saif Al Harthy, senior manager for reservation and global distribution, Oman Air. Paris, Frankfurt, Munich, Maldives and Colombo are some of the new destinations the airline will add to its already existing global network.

Flights to Frankfurt and Munich is planned to start by end of September, Paris, Maldives and Colombo by October. Currently Oman Air’s total fleet includes two A330, 13 of 737s and two ATRs. The airline had plans for seven new A330 aircrafts as a part of its expansion plan. This year it is geared for adding four new carriers to its fleet. “Adding the new aircrafts was planned for the last three years, so it is not impacted by the recession,” said Muhannad Mohammad Ba’Haggag, senior officer for corporate communication, Oman Air. Oman is a major tourist destination in the Middle East. “To encourage tourism and to support big business and infrastructure projects happening in the country it is important to have good air network. Oman Air is committed to deliver that,” said Ba’Haggag.

Oman Air, the flagship company in the Sultanate’s civil aviation sector, started operations in 1993. The percentage of government shareholding is 97.96 per cent and others 2.4 per cent. Currently Oman Air has direct international flights to major Gulf destinations from Muscat. The airline also flies to ten destinations in India. It has flights to Bangladesh, Pakistan, London, Bangkok and other destinations. It also operates domestic flights from Muscat to Salalah and Khasab. It is the first airline in the Gulf to introduce the new Boeing NG 737 aircraft series.

Shaheen Air launches Peshawar-Muscat flight

Shaheen Air, Pakistan's second national carrier, has announced the launch of two flights a week from Muscat to Peshawar. Shaheen Air is now operating Boeing 737 aircraft, full economy class with 121 seat capacity on every Sunday and Thursday with uniform timings. Departure from Peshawar starts at 0045 hours and arrival in Muscat is at 0130 hours. Departure from Muscat starts at 0215 hours and arrival into Peshawar is at 1015 hours (via Kuwait.

Shaheen Air was taken over by the TAWA group of companies, Canada in June 2004 and since then Shaheen Air has expanded its fleet and acquired new routes to facilitate air travel at a reasonable price. The Gulf network of Shaheen Air includes Kuwait, Doha, Abu Dhabi and Al Ain in addition to Muscat, which was added in August, 2007. In 2007, Shaheen Air introduced e-Ticketing and online booking with a dynamic pricing structure offering more than 70-80 per cent discount for passengers booking and purchasing tickets in advance. National Travel & Tourism is the GSA for Shaheen Air in Oman.

Air India offers special monsoon fares

After private air-carrier, Jet Airways, it is now the turn of national airline, Air India, to offer monsoon special fares to customers on select destinations on its domestic network. Tickets under this offer can be purchased between June 27-July 3 for travel up to September 10, a company press release said. Under these special fares, travel from Mumbai to Delhi/Chennai/Bangalore/Hyderabad would cost Rs 2,479 all inclusive except user development fee, the release said. Similarly, the fares for Mumbai-Kolkata would be Rs 2,729, whereas fares for Delhi to Mumbai and Kolkata would be Rs 2,479 it said.

Kingfisher aircraft hits bunker at Bagdogra

A Kingfisher Airlines Airbus A320 had a close shave at Bagdogra airport this afternoon when its right wingtip hit a grass camouflaged air force bunker near the runway while taxiing for takeoff. Airline officials said all 178 passengers and six crew members of the Bagdogra-Delhi IT 3334 were safe. “The aircraft suffered structural damage and the bunker wall cracked,” airport director K.K. Bhowmick said. Airline officials claimed there was no chance of a tragedy. But a senior flight engineer in Calcutta said, “Had the aircraft gained speed by then, there would have been a chance of it catching fire.” The incident happened around 3.30pm..

“While executing a 180-degree turn to line-up for take-off, the right wingtip touched the wall of a grass-camouflaged bunker,” a Kingfisher spokesperson said. Airport officials said the air force uses such bunkers to park its fighter planes underground. Aircraft movement was stalled at Bagdogra for more than an hour and Calcutta bound SpiceJet and Kingfisher flights were delayed. A SpiceJet flight from Delhi hovered over the airport for nearly 40 minutes, unable to land. “The flight safety department of Kingfisher is investigating the matter,” the spokesperson said. An Airports Authority of India official said the fault appeared to be the pilot’s. “The Directorate-General of Civil Aviation will conduct an inquiry.”

Air India re-schedules flights at Chennai

Air India has re-scheduled its international flights to and from Chennai since the Airports Authority of India (AAI) will be closing the main runway for six hours everyday from July 1 to September 15 to facilitate construction of linkways. The linkways are being constructed to connect the secondary runway with the main one to enhance the airport's aircraft-handling capacity. The main runway will be closed from 11 am to 5 pm everyday as workers will be using machinery close to it. The runway will be used for flight operations the rest of the time.

A senior AAI official said that more airlines had agreed to re-schedule their flights before work began. The closure period was chosen because there wouldn't be many flight movements then, he added. A couple of international flights would be operated on the secondary runway with load restrictions. An AI official said there would not be much change in the timings of domestic flights which would be operated from the secondary runway with load restrictions. Besides, most of the domestic flights were scheduled before 11 am and after 5 pm.

Kochi airport on high alert

Security personnel at the Kochi International Airport swung into action after the Jeddah office of Saudi Airlines alerted the Bureau of Civil Aviation Securities (BCAS) about an anonymous bomb threat to a flight operating from India to Saudi Arabia. Saudi Airlines authorities reportedly informed the BCAS of the threat, the authenticity of which could not be confirmed, airport sources said. The BCAS subsequently alerted all the airports in the country about the threat, the sources said adding that, it was also not clear whether the threat was to any specific flight, they said. Security measures have been strengthened in and around Kochi airport from Friday night onwards. Additional CISF and Police Personnel have been deployed.