Jazeera Airways to add additional cabin classes

Low-cost carrier Jazeera Airways plans to add additional cabin classes as part of an effort to build revenues by attracting business and leisure travellers. New management is implementing changes at the Kuwait-based airline, including the new cabin classes as well as targeting other travel segments and adding more bases of operation throughout the region, in a bid to become one of the top regional carriers.

Finnair launches daily New Delhi-Helsinki flight

Finnair is launching daily flights to Delhi from Helsinki today. The route, which began in October 2006, has been expanded due its popularity among both business and leisure travellers. Flights to the Indian capital from Helsinki last just six-and-a-half hours thanks to its location on the great circle route. It is the shortest flight time between India and anywhere in the European Union. The route, which is the only direct link between northern Europe and Delhi, offers Scandinavian-bound passengers onward connections to Baltic Sea destinations in addition to London and Paris. Passengers travelling to the Indian capital can benefit from Delhi's status as a major hub, with flights operating to most major cities in the country.

Indian Railways rushes to the aid of stranded flyers

With the agitation by Air India executive pilots leading to cancellation of scores of flights for the fourth consecutive day, Railways today started operating 'May I Help You' booths at major airports, including Delhi, for the benefit of stranded passengers. "Passenger reservation counters would also start functioning shortly at all major airport terminals," said a senior railway official after Railways Minister Mamata Banerjee announced running special trains from Kolkata, Mumbai, Chennai, Delhi and Bangalore for those stranded. The official said services at the 'May I Help You' booths would be further beefed up if the need arises.

She said an additional coach could be attached to each superfast train to carry the extra passengers as per the instructions of the Minister. This apart, zonal railways have also been instructed to coordinate with airline officials to facilitate the movement of stranded passengers, the official said. All zonal authorities have been asked to provide information to passengers about vacant berths in all express trains at the temporary reservation counters and help booths at major airports, she said. Banerjee, earlier in the day, said she has asked Union minister of State for Shipping Mukul Roy to arrange a special service of the Shipping Corporation of India tomorrow to bring back stranded air passengers at Port Blair.

Air India to pay staff incentives soon

Air India on Tuesday said that it would pay productivity-linked incentive (PLI) to all sections of employees on October 7. "Air India will pay the August PLI payable in September on October 7," Air India's executive director, Jitendra Bhargava, said. September salaries have already been paid to the employees' respective bank accounts, he said. The PLI will be paid in full, Bhargava added. The national carrier has cancelled 14 international and 79 domestic flights today, the fourth day of the strike by a section of its executive pilots protesting against the up to 50 per cent cut in their PLIs effected by the management. Bhargava said that today 116 pilots from Indian Airlines and 72 from Air India reported sick.

AirAsia to start new routes to India

AirAsia, Asia's leading low cost airline, will fly to Kochi, Trivandrum and Kolkata come December, in a move to expand its network in Southern India. AsiaAsia Group's Regional Head of Commercial Kathleen Tan said AirAsia was flying now to Tiruchirappalli and would spread its wings to other destinations in Southern India this year. "For the fourth quarter and next year, AirAsia will focus on building our network in India where there is huge demand," she said. Elaborating on the Indian sector, Tan said AirAsia was looking at tapping destinations like Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad and AirAsia's long-haul affiliate, AirAsia X, would look further at Mumbai and Delhi.

She said the Tiruchirappalli sector received overwhelming response from the population in Southern India who visited Kuala Lumpur and used it as a gateway to enter Southeast Asia. Tan said the low cost carrier had opened up the flying experience as people not just travel for holidays but also for shopping or medical treatment. She said AirAsia's low cost model also boosted domestic tourism as the airline's huge network enabled more Malaysians to take short domestic holidays to Kota Kinabalu, Kuching, Miri and Tawau.

Angsana Dubai Hotel and Suites to be closed

Damas Hotels LLC and Banyan Tree Hotels and Resorts have agreed to terminate the hotel management contract for the five star Angsana Dubai Hotel and Suites. The hotel will cease to operate as of September 30 and will be converted into residential units that are expected to be sold on a vacant possession basis. Staff will also be compensated and helped to find new jobs, Bernold Schroeder, Senior Vice President and Managing Director, Hotel Operations said.

Hilton Hotels Corporation rebrands corporate name and logo

Hilton Worldwide, formerly Hilton Hotels Corporation, has announced launch of its new corporate name and logo. According to the group, Hilton Worldwide signifies the company's global reach, and the logo incorporates key design elements reflecting Hilton's heritage, vision for the future and commitment to excellence in service. 'The changes have also been mirrored by the internal launch of a refreshed company vision, mission, values and key strategic priorities, which are intended to communicate more clearly how Hilton conducts business and plans to achieve company goals,' the company said in a statement.

US Federal Aviation Administration decides against downgrading India

India was saved a huge international embarrassment on Wednesday when the US Federal Aviation Administration decided against downgrading the country’s aviation safety standards from the current top billing to sub-Sahara Africa level. The aviation ministry let the agency responsible for ensuring safe flying, Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), weaken over years despite the International Civil Aviation Organisation pointing out major deficiencies in 2006 and air traffic in India growing by leaps and bounds. 

Finally, earlier this year, the FAA came for an audit and gave five months before downgrading it, something that would have meant no new flights by Indian airlines to America and strict checks for their planes on US soil. In this short timeframe, aviation secretary M M Nambiar and DGCA’s new chief Nasim Zaidi mounted a herculean effort to strengthen the regulatory mechanism by getting almost 600 technical posts sanctioned for effective implementation of much needed rules for safe flying that were also put in place. Now as a result, Indian carriers will be able to able to expand service in US through more flights and new access points.

Indian carriers dish out offers aplenty to attract fliers

With full service airlines making inroads into the low fare airspace, existing budget carriers are going beyond price advantage and handing out sops to attract and keep passengers. These carriers are either giving away gifts or offering discounts at hotels, restaurants, and retail stores against boarding passes. Low-fare carriers such as IndiGo, SpiceJet, GoAir and JetLite, consider this the most effective way to counter loyalty programmes that are being offered by full service rivals. Jet Airways, Kingfisher Airlines, Air India and Paramount Airways are full service carriers and run loyalty programmes that offer flying miles based on how often a passenger uses the carrier. India’s largest low-fare carrier IndiGo has announced a 20% saving on the prepaid in-flight meal if a passenger books tickets online. In the prepaid excess baggage option, too, the airline has offered a discount of up to 25% on luggage weighing between 10kg and 25kg.

 

Last week, SpiceJet launched its Privilege Pass Programme that allows travellers to avail special benefits from partner hotels against a used boarding pass. Benefits range from complimentary meals worth Rs1,500 or a discount of Rs500 on their total hotel billing. The partner includes Trident Hotels, Ista Hotels, Keys Hotels, Pride Hotels, Maidens Hotels, Rain Tree Hotels, JHM Interstate and The Park. GoAir in early September ran an offer of gifts worth Rs3,000 on tickets sold through 20 September. The gift catalogue includes men’s watches and ties, and an oval pearl jewellery set for women. JetLite, the low-fare unit of full service Jet Airways, is also offering discounts of up to 20% on car rentals with Avis and Hertz, dining, retail stores, and Lemon Tree and Marriott International hotels.

Indian Air Force takes control of 5 civilian airbases in Arunachal Pradesh

India has begun fortifying its borders in Arunachal Pradesh against China. As the first step, five air bases in Arunachal Pradesh have been taken over by the military. On the night of September 18, the Pasighat, Tuting, Vijaynagar, Walong and Mechuka bases close to the China border were passed from the Airports Authority of India to the defence ministry. The five bases were transferred to the military authorities after a quick clearance from the Prime Minister's Office.
 
The bases were initially only to be upgraded by the defence ministry, but now it has been given full control. Under military control, the five bases will be used by the air force and the army to increase surveillance across crucial stretches of the border with China. The defence ministry has already drawn up a fresh airborne surveillance plan for the eastern sector. The plan will coincide with the visit of the Dalai Lama to Tawang in Arunachal Pradesh.

Air India & Star Alliance hold discussions on integrating network

The top management of Air India and the Star Alliance held discussions as the national carrier presented its progress report on integrating its domestic and international network, including the work on evolving a common flight code. Air India CMD Arvind Jadhav held talks with a six member Star Alliance delegation and briefed them about the work being done on integrating the two erstwhile carriers, Air India and Indian Airlines, their fleet and network strength and of integrating their IT systems, official sources said.

 

One of the biggest obstacles for Air India in becoming a part of Star Alliance is the absence of same flight code, which is IC for Indian Airlines and AI for Air India. A common IT system, on which a US company was working, is likely to be finalized soon, the sources said, adding, eventual integration would take another six months. Efforts were being made to align the processes and systems of the two erstwhile airlines and bring them on par with the Star Alliance standards, the sources said.

Fairmont Hotels & Resorts to manage Bab Al Bahr in Abu Dhabi

Fairmont Hotels and Resorts will manage a newly built five star hotel in Abu Dhabi when it opens on October 1. The Fairmont Bab Al Bahr, which is owned by the Al Fahim Group unit Rmal Hospitality, is located near the Abu Dhabi International Airport and has 369 guest rooms, a variety of restaurants, in addition to a private beach, two outdoor swimming pools, a fitness centre and a spa.

New cruise terminal planned in Goa

Mormugao Port Trust is planning a world class cruise terminal to promote cruise tourism in Goa by attracting passenger ships and foreign naval vessels to the state. "We are in the process of developing a large noncargo berth near the port’s breakwater to handle cruise traffic," MPT chairman Pravin Agarwal said. MPT also plans to attract navy ships from countries that opt for Goa as a destination for rest and recuperation. The 235 metre wide and 450 metre long berth will be built on a public-private partnership (PPP) basis. 

 

"We will go for a PPP model in order to make a world class cruise terminal after creating the basic infrastructure. But we are yet to finalize on this," he said. Incidentally in 2005 MPT had constructed a cruise terminal but due to lack of requisite facilities failed to attract such ships. In 2008-09, MPT received 52 cruise ships with just about 20,000 passengers alighting. "Goa is a popular place, but we don’t have adequate facilities. Also when these ships come, we dock them next to berths 11 and 12, which are the coal handling berths. The coal dust renders the port a less attractive destination for cruise vessels. Once we have regular facilities then we will come on the tourist cruise map," he said.

Air India to convert 5 Airbus A320's to all economy configuration

The National Aviation Company Ltd (Nacil), which runs state owned Air India, is planning to convert five of its Airbus 320 planes into low cost carriers under the Air India Express brand. The launches would be in the winter schedule and on 10 sectors. A normal A320 has 124 economy class seats and 20 business class seats. After the conversion, making it a full economy class plane, the number of seats increases to 168. These converted aircraft, say sources, would fly on 10 sectors. These include flights to Sharjah from Hyderabad, Cochin, Trivandrum, Amritsar and Lucknow, Calicut-Dubai, Chennai-Kuala Lumpur, and Chennai-Colombo.

 

An Air India spokesperson said the routes would be decided next week. However, industry sources say Calicut-Dubai and Chennai-Colombo are routes where there is a demand for business class. Business class flyers account for 12 per cent of the revenue and many say the strategy to move more and more aircraft into a single configuration could have an adverse impact on the company’s total revenues from these flights. Air India Express operates 193 weekly flights to 14 international destinations: Dubai, Sharjah, Abu Dhabi, Al Ain, Muscat, Salalah, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok, Bahrain, Doha, Kuwait, Colombo and Dhaka from 17 Indian cities.

Air India to hedge jet fuel requirements

National carrier Air India may hedge a part of its fuel requirement for the first time in three years to guard its bottomline from any future fluctuation in the price of aviation turbine fuel. The spending on ATF is the biggest chunk almost 40% of an airline's operating expenses. "We have approval from the board to hedge nearly 25% of our fuel uplifts. If the prices are likely to increase, Air India would certainly look at hedging, at least a part of the uplift," said an AI spokesperson. A senior Air India official said the company will take up the issue once again at its board meeting on Wednesday, where it will discuss ways to cut costs and rationalise routes.

 

Although airlines across the globe resort to fuel hedging, a contractual agreement to buy fuel in future at a pre-determined rate, Indian companies have largely refrained from it. Air India was the first Indian airline to hedge its jet fuel requirements in March 2006. That time the company’s board set a hedging limit of 750,000 barrels a quarter. The company has not hedged its ATF requirements since then. Other domestic airlines started hedging their fuel needs only very recently, with Jet Airways, Kingfisher and SpiceJet hedging a small portion of their requirements in 2009 due to the high volatility in ATF prices in the global market.

Kingfisher Airlines flights delayed as ground handling staff strike work

A strike by the ground handling staff of Kingfisher Airlines on Monday saw most of its flights delayed by 30 minutes to one hour through the day. The staff reportedly refused to work on the ground of non-payment of outstanding dues by the airline. According to sources, the ground handlers called for a one day strike and hence several of them did not report for work on Monday. Even though other airline staff jumped in to salvage the situation, almost all flights were delayed by up to an hour. Ground handlers are responsible for almost all non-technical work of an airline, including loading and unloading of baggage from the aircraft, driving of trolleys, etc. While sources claimed that the issue was of non-payment of dues by the airline itself, Kingfisher officials said the issue was between the loaders and the previous ground handling agency (GHA) that the airline had employed.

JetLite aircraft returns to Kolkata due to engine trouble

A JetLite flight from Kolkata to Bangalore with 140 passengers on board returned to Kolkata's NSC Bose International Airport, 90 minutes after it had left, after one of its engines developed trouble, airport sources said. The JetLite flight left NSC Bose International Airport at 6.05pm for Bangalore. It landed safely back at NSC Bose around 7.30pm, they said.

Oman to see rise in tourist arrivals this season

The head of development at Oman's tourism ministry said he expects the country to see an increase of about 11% in tourists this year, taking it to the two million mark for the first time. 'The global crisis has forced Gulf nationals to travel closer from home and Oman is hugely benefiting from it,' Khalid al-Ghassan said.

Marriott International to open new hotels in UAE

Marriott International, which operates six hotels in Dubai, is planning to further expand its presence in the Emirate. The company has signed agreements with developers to operate two hotels at Lifestyle City, one in the Marina, one on Sheikh Zayed Road, another two at Healthcare City, one at Jebel Ali and two at Motor City, across its portfolio of brands including Courtyard and Renaissance, according to Jeff Strachan, the area director of sales and marketing for Marriott, Middle East and Africa. Most of the hotels are expected to open between next year and 2012, but construction on those in Jebel Ali and Healthcare City has yet to begin as the broader developments remain on hold.

Millennium Gold Mohur Beach Resort Aden opens in Yemen

The Millennium & Copthorne Hotels has signed its first hotel in Yemen. The five star Millennium Gold Mohur Beach Resort Aden hotel, with 124 rooms and suites, is located on the shore of the Gulf of Aden with private beach and recreational facilities as well as a variety of food and beverage outlets.