At the start of this month, Irish low-cost carrier Ryanair announced it has invited proposals from both its sole vendor till date, Boeing, and competitor Airbus for 200 to 300 new single-aisle aircraft in the Boeing 737 and Airbus A320 category, for delivery between 2012 and 2017.

I had a chance to interact with senior Airbus executives during the recently concluded Aero India show in Bangalore, about the RFP from Ryanair. I was told that Airbus had an "unpleasant history" with the carrier, and that they were least interested in pursuing any deal.

The angst of Airbus can be felt in the words of Airbus chief commercial officer John Leahy, “We don’t plan a sales campaign with Ryanair, which would be very expensive and very time consuming,”.

This despite production cutbacks recently announced at the European plane maker.

Ryanair has a known history of ordering extensive capacity at discount prices and then re-negotiating outstanding orders for even lower prices than originally agreed upon.

Going by statistic compiled by Aviation International News, since 1998, if we count the order announcements between Boeing and Ryanair it adds up to almost 540, whereas in reality, Ryanair has placed firm orders for 338 airplanes.

Its now over to Boeing.

Image Courtesy Matt Cawby
Boeing delivered the second of eight 777-200LRs (Longer Range) ordered by Qatar Airways on February 24th. A7-BBB took a near 15-hour journey to its new home in Doha with guests on-board who included a selection of journalists from the United States, India and the Gulf and a high-profile delegation of bankers and financiers.

Along with its sister A7-BBA, A7-BBB will operate the Doha – Houston route, linking the energy capitals of the world, which is scheduled for launch on March 30.

Boeing Image

Breaking from tradition Qatar Airways has officially named the aircraft “Gaza” in solidarity with civilian victims in the recent conflict in Gaza.

Qatar Airways Chief Executive Al Akbar Al Baker said

“I know many of us have been deeply touched by the civilian deaths in the recent bombing of Gaza. Qatar Airways wants to recognise that innocent people, and in particular large numbers of children, were killed in these bomb attacks, and naming our latest aircraft “Gaza” is a symbolic gesture to commemorate and honour these victims.

“The name ‘Gaza’ will fly around the world on Qatar Airways and spread a message of peace and humanity,”

“Qatar Airways customarily names each of its aircraft after place names within the State of Qatar. But we have made an exception in this case,”

Manal Timraz with her son
Image Courtesy Qatar Airways

At the start of February, Qatar Airways offered its support to the One Million Candles campaign, an initiative launched by UK resident Manal Timraz in response to the death of 15 of her family members in a single bomb attack on the Gaza Strip. Twelve of those who died were children – the Palestinian woman’s nieces and nephews. Timraz asked that people donate candles to remember the loss of lives on the West Bank and as a peaceful but powerful signal that public opinion in Britain was against such attacks where innocent victims were killed unnecessarily.

High profile donations included that of British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who donated a candle to the campaign which grew to involve over 75 countries.

Qatar Airways and Qatar Airways Cargo offered to transport the candles from Britain to the Middle East in sending a peaceful message of support.

Qatar Airways has ordered 17 777-300ERs (Extended Range), five of which have been delivered, and two 777 Freighters for future delivery.

I received call earlier this evening from the news media soliciting my reactions to the news that Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa has proposed to the Union Government the renaming of the Bengaluru International Airport, after the founder founder of Bangalore, Kempegowda.

The name of an airport may not mean much, but I am happy and thankful that the airport is being named after a historical figure of stature and respect, and not some politician. I am sick and tired of seeing Indira Gandhi this, or Rajiv Gandhi that, or Sanjay Gandhi that, or Kamaraj this, or Anna that.

However a word of caution. In India, we have an habit of making acronyms of everything. Kempegowda International Airport will be shortened to KIA, which in military jargon is "Killed In Action".

Turkish Airlines THY released the names of their staff killed in crash of their Boeing 737-800 flight TK 1951 at Amsterdam, Schiphol.

A total of nine persons perished, including 3 pilots, 1 flight attendant and 5 passengers.

The pilots who died were Captain Hasan Tahsin Arısan, Murat Sezer and Olgay Ozgur and the flight attendant Ulvi Murat Eskin.

The bodies of victims will be brought to Turkey in a private flight after they are received from the officials of the Netherlands.

At the same time the airline announced compensation for the dead and injured.

Turkish Airlines will make payment of 50,000 Euros to the family members of our passengers and crew members who lost their lives in the crash, as well as the payment of from 5,000 Euros up to 10,000 Euros to those who are being treated in the hospitals. Those calling on this subject, please call +90 800 219 80 35 in order to receive information.

The airport operators at Delhi and Mumbai airports have a mantra as far us passengers go. "Heads I win, tails you lose"

After a messy process, in May 2006, the Delhi Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) was handed over to the Delhi International Airport Ltd. (DIAL) consortium led by the GMR group, for modernising, handling and management. GMR won the bid for by promising to share 46% of the airport’s top-line revenue with the current owner Airports Authority of India (AAI).

DIAL estimates for their master plan was Rs 8,975 crore ($1.8 billion). Funds were to be raised by a combination of equity, borrowings and Rs. 2,739 crore ($476 million) refundable security deposits on commercial property development of what was called a “hospitality district”.


Through the middle of 2006 till the latter half of 2007, DIAL tried, what can only be charitably described as a very devious method, to reduce the revenue paid to AAI as part of their 46% revenue share. In short, DIAL demanded astronomical deposits upfront from bidders for the real estate project, in return for a reduction in long term rent, and then contended these deposits were not income, and therefore need not be shared with AAI. For full and gory details I refer you to Sunil Jain’s article “Mr. 20 per cent” in the Business Standard. Since this scheme would have cut AAI’s revenue share by almost half, it confronted DIAL and forced the consortium to put its plans on hold.

This delay cost DIAL dearly. By the time all disputes were settled in late 2007, the property market collapsed, and along with it the grandiose plans of raising the required Rs. 2,739 crore from security deposits, without which the bankers would not lend any more money.

Hanging the upcoming 2010 Commonwealth Games as a Damocles sword, DIAL quickly ran to their friends in the Indian Civil Aviation ministry for help, and help they did.

On February 10, the government approved a levy of an "Airport Development Fee" (ADF) by DIAL. From March 1, we passengers are forced to pay ADF at the rate of Rs 200 per domestic passenger and Rs 1,300 per passenger travelling abroad, totalling a whopping Rs. 1827 crores ($366 million) over three years. This, keep in mind, is on top of a recent 10% increase in fees the airport charges airlines, which is ultimately passed on to us passengers.

In a "me-too" move, fellow brown-field airport operator, GVK led Mumbai International Airport Ltd. (MIAL), seized the opportunity to gain a bonanza, and has obtained approval for levy of an ADF, again, on top of a recent hike of airport charges levied on airlines, which, by the way, was used by DIAL as justification for demanding a hike.

In a totally unjustified move, the government today approved levying an ADF at Mumbai Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport (CSIA). Rs. 100 will be charged from every outbound domestic passenger and Rs. 600 from each international passenger, effective April 1, 2009, totalling Rs. 1,543 crores ($309 million) over the next four years.

Forget the fact that MIAL is facing no "commonwealth games" type deadline, or that they have till date, spent less than one-third of what DIAL has already spent on developing the airport.

Unfortunately, this is a slippery slope the Government put itself and us passengers on, when they approved ADF for DIAL. They have no grounds for refusing MIAL's demands.

The justification offered by DIAL, MIAL, and their friends in the ministry, is the ADF will be used to develop aeronautical assets which will be transferred back to AAI upon completion of the lease. Never mind that the lease is for 58 years, and passengers are being asked to pay for future assets that they may not use, and this asset creation is precisely what the property development concession rights were meant to cover ???

When both these airport operators bid for the respective airports, there was no condition or plan for the levy of ADF. It was never part of the initial bidding conditions, process or bid documents.

Had the property market not collapsed, DIAL and MIAL would have made a killing on the property development. In such a scenario would DIAL and MIAL have paid an amount equal to the ADF back to passengers as they share of gain? If the economic tide has turned, it a business risk and ultimately DIAL's and MIAL's problem.

It all boils down to DIAL and MIAL raising the collateral money insisted by the banks who have agreed to lend the remaining amount. Unfortunately the shareholders of DIAL and MIAL do not have the financial strength to do.

They have a means to raise the funds, like any other company in the world. They can sell their shares and raise equity. So DIAL and MIAL can sell shares to us passengers against the ADF.

If airport operators want us passengers to bear their share of the risks, it is only fair that we be given our share in the rewards.

A heart-warming and amazing experience occurred over this week which highlights the power and reach of blogging.

On February 4th, I wrote an article about my friend, Marcel Hungerbuehler, taking over as CEO of BIAL, the company which operates the Bengaluru International Airport. In that article was a picture of Marcel.

Two days ago, I received a comment from a lady, Marja, in the Netherlands, addressed to Marcel, wondering if he was the same person she met 40 years ago in Nijmegen.

Hello Marcel Hungerbuehler,
Are you the same Marcel from Zurich 40 years ago? I am Marja from Holland. We were walking in 1968 in Nijmegen and on a holiday together with Joke and Edi. Please contact me.

I forwarded the comment to Marcel for his perusal, instead of posting it.

Marcel responded back to me that he indeed did recognise Marja. His words sum up it best.

Thanks a lot for the mail. What a surprise that I should find a friend from Holland after almost 40years through your blog, that's amazing! I was walking a 4-day march in the Netherlands with this lady back in 1967 and then we spent a holiday together in Switzerland the year after.

Blogging generally, and Bangalore Aviation in particular, is an effort of personal passion. I am reasonably certain that helping these two friends re-unite after 40 years, would not be have possible through the mainstream media.

What is your opinion? Please post your comment. Remember this story began with a “comment”.

Qantas announced plans for its new Indian services via Singapore, which will replace the discontinued direct services between the two countries.

From June 2, flight QF51, will fly to Mumbai via Singapore on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. The return flight QF52 to Singapore will operate on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays.

Qantas will use its Singapore hub to offer passengers connections to seven Australian cities. Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne, Perth and Sydney flights will be on Qantas, Cairns and Darwin will be on Qantas' low-cost subsidiary Jetstar.

In addition to its Mumbai services, Qantas has a code-share arrangement on Jet Airways flights between Delhi and Mumbai to Singapore.

Turkish Airlines has just released a statement refuting rumours in the media, circulating after the crash of their Boeing 737-800 VT-JGE at Schiphol airport near Amsterdam yesterday, and clarifying their aircraft maintenance procedures.

The maintenance work of our aircraft has been carried out according to appropriate procedures.

It has become an absolute necessity to make the statement given below over the news coverage regarding the plane crash of Istanbul- Amsterdam Flight Number TK 1951:

The Boeing 737-800 aircraft involved in the accident was made in 2002, of which the last C class maintenance was completed on 22 October, 2008, and the last A class maintenance was done on 19 February 2009. Our aircraft have flown for 52 hours following the maintenance. All the maintenance work of the aircraft has been executed according to its scheduled program.

The allegation put forth in those news stories regarding the flight of this aircraft to Madrid is incomplete. In above mentioned incident, as soon as the pilot reported a malfunction of the “Master Caution Light”, the aircraft was taken out of service and the part was replaced on 23 February,2009. The aircraft had successfully accomplished landing and taking off for 8 times subsequent to the part replacement.

In reference to the issue of flaps in those news items, the component called Bonding Jumper of left Krueger Flap was changed on 28 October, 2008 and then the aircraft kept its flight service with no problems what so ever.

Being uncompromising in flight safety Turkish Airlines has been applying all those processes of maintenance under the directions of both international and domestic aviation authorities as well as the manufacturers of aircraft. The news articles covering technical defects can be easily misleading and our sole expectation is that this type of comment should be avoided.

And again, we offer our condolences to the families and friends of the passengers and crew members who lost their lives, and a speedy recovery to those passengers who are being treated for injuries. We pray for the souls of the deceased to rest in peace.

Turkish Airlines
Media Relations

I can understand the vicarious human nature to try and flush out all the gory details, especially nowadays, in our well sanitised lives. Even I suffer from it, but I have never accepted the need to speculate on reasons for air crashes or incidents, before proper investigations by the safety boards, are complete. It is a dis-service to the hundreds of people who work diligently to keep our skies safe.

You will observe, at Bangalore Aviation, I never post speculative reports about air crashes.

As usual, your comments are most welcome.

Airline body, International Air Transport Association (IATA) announced international scheduled traffic results for January showing a deepening year-on-year demand slump.

International passenger demand fell by 5.6% in January 2009 compared to the same month in 2008, a full percentage point worse than the 4.6% year-on-year drop recorded in December, and the fifth consecutive month of contraction.

Air cargo is a key indicator of economic and manufacturing activity. It had collapsed 22.6% in December 2008, and this has only worsened in January 2009 with a 23.2% drop. Simple translation, manufacturers are still shedding inventory and cutting production.

Clearly alarm bells are ringing, but it does not appear that governments are hearing them.

Giovanni Bisignani, IATA’s Director General and CEO statement says it best

The drop in demand is much more harmful. The industry is shrinking with revenues expected to fall by US$35 billion to US$500 billion, delivering a loss of US$2.5 billion this year.

Airlines remain in intensive care, but while others ask for government bailouts, our demands on Governments are much more modest. First, don’t tax us to death in order to pay for investments in the banking industry. This includes the UK government’s plans to increase its multi-billion pound Air Passenger Duty and the Dutch Government’s misguided departure tax.

In 2008, even as governments delivered tax breaks to stimulate economic growth, the airline industry took on an additional tax burden of US$6.9 billion.

Second, give airlines the commercial freedoms that every other business takes for granted. With the world’s capital markets in disarray, archaic ownership restrictions are an unnecessary burden that must be lifted. Today’s crisis highlights the need to change the structure of this hyper-fragmented and fragile industry

See the detailed results here.

Do you agree with Giovanni Bisignani's view ? Post your opinions via a comment.

The new domestic departure terminal T1D at New Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) was inaugurated today by Mr. Praful Patel India's Civil Aviation minister.

The new terminal is located between the existing Domestic Arrival T1C and Domestic Departure T1A, and will raise the capacity of domestic departures to 10 million passengers per annum.

The terminal is a dual level terminal with departures at the upper level. It features eight entry gates, and a four layer in-line baggage X-ray system which will free passengers from having to get their check in bags scanned prior to check-in. There are 72 check-in counters and 16 self check-in kiosks spread across 8 rows. The terminal features the CUTE or Common Use Terminal Equipment system, which allows dynamic allocation of counters to airlines depending on need.

Hopefully the CISF would man all 16 channels of the security check to ensure quick and smooth passage for travellers.

The large departure lounge features food and beverage outlets, lounges and retail areas spread across 2 levels.

The airport operator DIAL has announced availability of Wi-fi internet connectivity, but details are not provided.

Flight boarding will take place at the lower level via coach bus to the aircraft via 16 boarding gates. Again it remains to be seen, how many of these gates are operated in parallel by the CISF.

In addition, a special ‘Contact Zone’ service will be available near the terminal entrance to provide facilities for passengers with special needs - passing through the Airport. These would include wheel-chair assistance for physically challenged passengers, assistance for unaccompanied minors amongst others.

A Turkish Airlines (THY) Boeing 737-800 registration TC-JGE performing flight TK1951 crashed at Amsterdam's Schiphol airport at 10:30 local (09:30Z)

The plane carrying 135 passengers on a flight from Istanbul, broke in to three parts when attempting to land on Runway 36L near motorway A9.

There is a massive presence of emergency vehicles and crew on the scene, and there are reports of survivors. There are conflicting reports of casualties. Turkish Airlines officials claim no casualities.



All flights at Schipol have been suspended or cancelled.

Dutch newspaper AD has published this photo of the crash.
TC-JGE, pictured below at Schipol was delivered by Boeing on March 27, 2002. Construction number CN29789. The plane named Tekirdag after the city in Thrace in Turkey, was powered by two CFM56-7B26 engines and had a capacity of 165 passengers.

METAR about accident time:
250925Z 20010KT 4500 BR SCT007 BKN008 OVC010 04/03 Q1027 TEMPO 2500=

Weather. Wind 200 deg/10 kts, visibity 4500m in mist, scattered clouds 700 ft.,broken clouds 800 ft, overcast 1,000 ft,temp. 4 deg. C, barometric pressure 1027QnH.

Some more pictures :


Update 1 - 18:00GMT

Video from Reuters

As per officials 84 people were taken to hospitals, including 25 who were severely hurt. Six in critical condition. Nine fatalities have been confirmed. The pilot and co-pilot are among the dead.

The bodies of three crew members in the cockpit are still in the plane's wreckage, as per investigators who need to complete their investigations before taking apart the cockpit.

The passenger count has been revised to 134 which includes, rather ironically, four employees of the plane manufacturer, Boeing.

This is the second crash of a plane just near the runway, recently. The previous one being the crash of a British Airways Boeing 777 at Heathrow.

Update 2 - 01:00GMT 26-Feb-09

Turkish Airlines issued the following statement

25.02.2009
Turkish Airlines regrets to confirm that its flight Number TK 1951 from Istanbul to Amsterdam the capital of The Netherlands was involved in an accident today near the Amsterdam Airport.

The aircraft, a B737-800 was during the landing when the accident occurred, at around 10:30 a.m. local time.

At this time, after the search and rescue operations, we have 9 casualties, and 50 passengers were injured. Turkish Airlines staff has been doing everything possible to assist the emergency services and local authorities.

There were 127 passengers and 7 crew members on board Flight Number TK 1951 and we are currently confirming the details of the passenger manifest for this flight.

Turkish Airlines has established a passenger information centre, and a toll-free number is available for family or friends of those who may have been on board Flight Number TK 1951. The phone number is: 0800 219 80 35. For those who are calling from outside Turkey, please call + 90 212 465 21 60.

Turkish Airlines will release further information as soon as it is available. Updated information will also be posted on the Turkish Airlines’ website, at www.thy.com

Update 3 - 17:00GMT 26-Feb-09

Turkish Airlines refutes speculation on reasons for crash.

Airbus A380-861 MSN045 currently registered as F-WWSG, and destined as the 10th A380 for launch customer Singapore Airlines made its first flight on February 23 and flew straight to Hamburg, where it will undergo outfitting for the Singapore Airlines' luxurious interiors, and is expected to be delivered late this year and registered 9V-SKJ.

The plane had a rejected take-off the day earlier and underwent engine checks.

A preliminary report into a crash of an Air New Zealand Airbus A320 jet last November off the coast of France, is pointing the cause toward its aircrew who were performing low speed tests, claiming “the flight crew’s failure to adhere to standard operating procedures”.

As a result of the interim finding air safety regulators have issued urgent advice on tightening up procedures on non-commercial or “non-revenue” flights.

France’s Bureau d’Enquetes et d’Analyses (BEA) released an interim report which shows why the plane crashed but not what caused it.

Read the full report here.

Last week Air France took delivery of the first Boeing 777F freighter.

Every new aircraft is given a water cannon salute, and for aviation romantics like me, it is always a poignant occasion, and one we do not see too often.

Courtesy Liz Matzelle enjoy these two videos of the new "Le Freighter" being given its first shower, and then taking off for its new home at Paris Charles De Gaulle airport.

Special thanks to Liz Matzelle and Jon Ostrower. Liz is a wonderful observer of birds and has some excellent videos. Jon, I cannot say enough compliments about him. His title says it all - FlightBlogger!!!

Do take the time to visit their respective sites. It will be time well spent.

Bahrain based Gulf Air has confirmed an agreement to lease four new Boeing 777-300ERs (B77W in industry parlance) from Jet Airways of India. The agreement which was signed on February 22nd, calls for three aircraft to join its fleet in March, and the fourth in May.

This deal was expected since January. Gulf Air is already wet-leasing two Airbus A330-200s from Jet on a temporary basis. Gulf Air was looking to replace its A340-300s with larger capacity B77Ws. Jet Airways has been actively leasing out most of its 11 award winning, uber-luxurious Boeing 777-300ERs in a desperate bid to stem the losses bleeding the airline.

Jet Airways has already leased out four B77Ws to Turkish THY Airlines, and with these four to Gulf Air, it will be left with just three aircraft in its fleet. Since Jet Airways sources confirmed to me they will operate four aircraft, two on the Mumbai London Heathrow route and one on the Delhi London Heathrow route, and one aircraft to be kept in the rotation, I can surmise that one more aircraft is expected to join the Jet fleet.

Jet Airways recently firmed up a deal to lease two A330-200s to Oman Air.

With an award winning cabin product like First Class suites, and herring-bone lie flat business class, these B77Ws will give Gulf Air an immediate product which can compete head-on with neighbours Emirates and Etihad in the luxury category. Gulf Air has indicated these aircraft will be used for services to several destinations such as London Heathrow, Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur as well as within the Middle East.

Jet officials claim the four 777-300ERs will be leased to Gulf Air for 42 months. The reports say the aircraft will be on wet-lease for the first six months, after which they will revert to dry leases. I only hope that Gulf Air looks after the aircraft well, a reputation which Turkish THY Airlines sadly lacks.

A Lion Air Boeing MD90 registration PK-LIO performing flight JT-972, on February 23, 2009, had to perform an emergency landing while on a flight from Medan to Batam, both in Indonesia.

The flight with 156 passengers and 6 crew, could not lower the nose gear while on approach to runway 04. While on approach to Batam the crew noticed, that the nose gear did not show down, green, and locked. They aborted the approach and circled the airport which trying to troubleshoot the problem. After 60 minutes, they were forced to land without the nose gear at around 18:30 local time (11:30GMT). The airport's emergency services sprayed foam on the runway for the landing, which the crew performed safely.

The airplane was evacuated with no injuries being reported, however three passengers were taken to local hospitals in shock.

Batam Runway 04/22 is closed, as the airplane is 1990 meters from threshold runway 04.

Inputs from AVHerald.

Very rarely do I get an opportunity to combine my two passions of aviation and wine and write about it.

A very special thanks to the In-flight Supervisor on a recent Singapore Airlines flight who went in to the first class cellar and served me a superlative Chateau Leoville Poyferre, St. Julien, Bordeaux. Even at 35,000ft, it was one the best airborne wine experiences I had.

Recently Business Traveller magazine, judged and presented its "Cellars in the Sky" awards to various airlines.

A special congratulations to the folks at Jet Airways at making the grade.

What did surprise me is that while many wines from producing powerhouses like France, Italy, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Spain, Portugal, and Chile, made the grade, the airlines from these respective countries did not. Also missing were producers and airlines from the United States.

Cellars in the Sky: Results for 2008

Business class

Business class sparkling

1. Charles Heidsieck (Mis en Bouteille 2008), Champagne, France. Joint winners: KLM, Singapore Airlines
2. Henriot Souverain NV, Champagne, France. Joint winners: Emirates, LAN
3. Charles Heidsieck (Mis en Bouteille 2007), Champagne, France. Joint winners: Asiana, British Airways, Qantas
4. Piper-Hiedsieck NV, Champagne, France. Korean Air
5. Dom Pérignon 2000, Champagne, France. Jet Airways
   

Business class white

1. Bernkasteler Doctor Riesling Kabinett 2005, Mosel, Germany. Qatar Airways
2. Coldstream Hills Chardonnay 2006, Yarra Valley, Australia. Qantas
3. Highfield Sauvignon Blanc 2007, Marlborough, New Zealand. Air New Zealand
4. Bernhard Ott Fass 4 Gruner Veltliner 2007, Wagram, Austria. Austrian Airlines
5. Anakena Ona 2007, Alto Cachapoal, Chile. LAN

Business class red

1. Palliser Estate Martinborough Pinot Noir 2005, Wellington, New Zealand. Cathay Pacific
2. Cline Cellars Cool Climate Syrah 2005, Sonoma Coast, California. British Airways
3. Luis Canas Reserva 2002, Rioja, Spain. Iberia
4. Corbières Gerard Bertrand 2006, Languedoc, France. Lufthansa
5. Casa Silva Los Lingues Gran Reserva Carmenère 2005, Colchagua, Chile. KLM

Business class fortified / dessert

1. Forrest Estate Botrytised Riesling 2007, Marlborough, New Zealand. Air New Zealand
2. Niepoort Late Bottled Vintage Port 2004, Douro, Portugal. Lufthansa
3. Baileys of Glenrowan Founder Series Liqueur Muscat NV, Glenrowan, Australia. Qantas
4. Taylor’s 20-year-old Tawny Port NV, Douro, Portugal. Qatar Airways
5. Jurancon Prestige Cave de Gran Jurancon NV, Jurancon, France. Delta

Best business class cellar

1. KLM
2. Qantas
3. Air New Zealand
4. LAN
5. Qatar Airways

First class

First class sparkling

1. Piper Heidsieck Cuvée Rare NV, Champagne, France. Lufthansa
2. Krug Grande Cuvée, Champagne, France. Joint winners: ANA, Jet Airways
   
3. Taittinger Comtes de Champagne Blanc de Blancs 1998, Champagne, France. Joint winners: LAN, Asiana
4. Charles Heidsieck 1995, Champagne, France. Qantas
5. Salon Blanc de Blancs 1997, Champagne, France. JAL

First class white

1. Wente Riva Ranch Chardonnay 2005, Monterey, California. Lufthansa
2. Coldstream Hills Reserve Chardonnay 2006, Yarra Valley, Australia. Qantas
3. Spy Valley Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2006, Marlborough, New Zealand. American Airlines
4. Joint winners: Selbach-Oster Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Kabinett 2004, Mosel, Germany. TAM; Wegeler Bernkasteler Doctor Riesling Spatlese 2005, Mosel, Germany. American Airlines
5. Manz Riesling Auslese Trocken 2005, Mosel-Saar-Ruwer, Germany. Korean Air
   

First class red

1. Morton Estate Pinot Noir 2005, Marlborough, New Zealand. Qatar Airways
2. Shotfire Shiraz 2005, Barossa, Australia. Lufthansa
3. Château de Beaucastel Châteauneuf-du-Pape 2005, Rhône. France, Air France
4. Mungo Park Shiraz 2008, Barossa, Australia. Emirates
5. Pyrenees Ridge Reserve Shiraz 2005, Victoria, Australia. ANA

First class fortified / dessert

1. Morris of Rutherglen Old Premium Liqueur Tokay Muscat, NV, Rutherglen, Australia. Qantas
2. Graham’s Late Bottled Vintage Port 2003, Douro, Portugal. Singapore Airlines
3. Weingut Neef-Emmich Bacchus Beerenauslese 2007, Rheinhessen, Germany. Lufthansa
4. Tio Pepe Fino Sherry, NV, Andalusia, Spain. Korean Air
5. Ramos Pinto Quinta da Ervamoira Porto Ten Anos NV, Porto, Portugal. Cathay Pacific

Best first class cellar

1. Lufthansa
2. Qantas
3. TAM
4. Emirates
5. Qatar

To locate these wines, I recommend wine-searcher.com.

I have written a book entitled Wines Demystified. Please download your free copy in Adobe Acrobat format here.

Read more about the programme including judging procedures here.

Image : Wikipedia

On February 9th, there was a near miss incident at Mumbai airport which involved the President of India.

The Indian Air Force is at the receiving end of an article by 737 instructor pilot Captain A. Ranganathan, who complains that poor navigation, lack of communication with the control tower and non-conformation with procedures on the part of the navy pilots operating the helicopters, one of which had the the President of India on board, could have resulted in a major disaster in Mumbai.

What is utterly appalling is that the man who saved the situation, the air traffic controller, is the one facing the heat now, while both the pilots involved in the incident have got away scot-free.

The Air Chief Marshall of the Indian Air Force has gone on record to state that the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has to set his house in order. What has angered a lot of people in the civil aviation community is the fact that he said this in front of international media, maintained that his pilots were the best and made no mistakes, when the tape transcripts from the ATC clearly show the helicopter pilots in poor light.

The question on everyone's mind is whether the DGCA has the political guts to counter the Air Chief Marshall. The facts show the Air Force had not used the helicopters that were designated for the flight. They did not follow procedures. They did not use the mandatory safety equipment like the Transponders and TCAS (if they were fitted with them). They did not comply with ATC instructions........and they did this with the President of India on board!!!!!

Read the full article here.

The natural tendency during a recession is to batten down the hatches, freeze all spending, and ride out the storm. There is also a school of thought which advocates increasing investments and advertising spend during a recession to increase market share, when customers are looking to change in an effort to obtain better value for their spend.


Quite evidently, Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al-Maktoum, Chairman and Chief Executive, Emirates Airline is in the latter.

In early January I had written about the phenomenal 400% expansion of Emirates Airline in India, now it appears that Emirates is going for the jugular of its competitors across the globe. At a time when all airlines are cutting back and removing capacity, Emirates recently unveiled plans to grow the number of flights across its network by 14% in 2009. Compare this to the 11% reduction in capacity announced by another world famous and recession beater - Singapore Airlines, just three days ago.

Established in October 1985 with leased aircraft operating flights to Karachi, Pakistan and Mumbai, India, Emirates Airline today directly serves 101 cities in 61 countries. In October 2008, the Emirates dedicated Terminal 3 at Dubai International Airport opened. With a total built-up area of 515,000 sq metres and the capability of handling 43 million passengers annually, the 10-storey concourse was specifically designed with Emirates’ future growth plans in mind.

In 2008, 22 million Emirates passengers passed through Dubai International Airport, an 11% increase on 2007.

This year, Emirates will add 18 new aircraft to its fleet, increasing seating capacity by 14% and enabling it to start new routes as well as increase frequencies on many existing routes. It will also expand cargo capacity by 17%.

The additional frequencies will afford passengers a greater choice of flights, more frequent connections with their target markets and shorter, more convenient connection times.

Emirates already has an all wide-body fleet of 129 aircraft. By the end of the 2008-09 financial year, ending March 31, the fleet will increase to 132, including four superjumbo Airbus A380s. In fiscal 2009-10, the carrier will add a further seven A380s along with 10 Boeing 777-300ERs, one 777-200LR and one Boeing 777F freighter.

Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al-Maktoum, Chairman and Chief Executive, Emirates Airline and Group, recently said

“The next year is not going to be an easy ride for the airline industry. Emirates has prepared the best we can for the challenges we foresee, but we also see it as a time of opportunity. 2009, with our significant capacity increase, will be a year of consolidation for us, with fewer new routes launched than in previous years.

“Instead, we will concentrate on strengthening our presence on routes where there is a greater demand from our customers. All of our new capacity will be deployed in markets where we see growth potential, particularly Africa and the Middle East.”

Africa and the Middle East are Emirates’ fastest growing markets, recording 17% and 6% growth respectively in the last 12 months.

Emirates recently added a second daily flight to Lagos. It will also introduce services from Dubai to Durban, South Africa on 1st October 2009. The route will be served by a two-class, 278-seat Airbus A330-200 which can also carry up to 14 tonnes of cargo into the port city.

Last month, Emirates announced a vast Middle East expansion plan taking the number of seats in the region to 50,000 on 180 flights a week. Additional services to Amman, Riyadh, Jeddah, Kuwait and Damascus were started recently.

Emirates has added 32 weekly flights to its existing Indian services since November, and now operates 163 weekly flights into 10 Indian gateway cities, almost 400% more than it nearest foreign competitor.

As new aircraft come online, both of Emirates' newest routes, Los Angeles and San Francisco, launched in October and December and operated by its luxurious Boeing 777-200LRs, will go from thrice weekly to dailies from May. The extra services will add more than 2,000 seats a week to the current 1,600 seats, between the US west coast and Dubai.

Emirates' strategy is demonstrated very well in Bangalore. The west coast flights enabled Emirates to compete head-on with all the European (British Airways, Air France, Lufthansa) and Asian (Singapore Airlines, Thai Airways, Dragon Air/Cathay Pacific) carriers, for the technology sector dominated traffic of Bangalore, and their need to fly to North America and Europe. From one flight Emirates ramped up to three flights a day. Two of the airline's current three daily flights are going full, and third is also at very respectable passenger load factors. During this time, almost all the other carriers, cut back on flights, frequencies, and/or aircraft capacity.

On 1st February, Emirates became the first carrier to operate commercial superjumbo Airbus A380 flights into New Zealand with the launch of its Dubai-Sydney-Auckland service. There is increased capacity to Australia with additional daily flights to Brisbane and Melbourne, taking the total number of flights a week to 63 effective 1st February. From 1st May, a third daily service to Sydney operated by its 489-seat Airbus A380 three times a week will be added, in full competition to the A380s operated by Australia's Qantas and Singapore Airlines.

Plans are also afoot to deploy the A380 superjumbos on Dubai–Seoul and Dubai–Singapore services in November and December respectively.

The first A380 flight between Dubai and Seoul’s Incheon International Airport will depart in November, while the Singapore service will start in December and initially run four times a week.

In Europe, Emirates has already embarked on an expansion programme. In recent months it has commenced double daily flights into Milan, increased Istanbul services to 11 flights a week, increased services on the Larnaca-Malta route to seven times weekly and Nice flights to five times weekly. Second daily services into Moscow and Athens are also planned for March.

Emirates has been recording an annual growth rate of 20 per cent over the last five years. In 2007, with the launch of its Dubai–Sao Paulo service, Emirates became the first, and only airline to fly to six continents non-stop from a single hub.

With the addition of more than 8,635 seats and around 600 tonnes of cargo capacity added to its fleet, Emirates is showing no signs of slowing down, on the contrary, competitors better watch out.

This photograph by Digital Airliners taken just two days ago at Toulouse shows two Airbus A340-500's.

One is still painted in Kingfisher Airlines' colours. Kingfisher had ordered five A340-500s, but defaulted on taking delivery last year. Three were diverted to Nigeria's Arik Air, but it appears the balance two have become the dreaded white tail for Airbus, i.e. a jet built but now the ordering airline is not taking delivery, and therefore the plane has no place to go.

Just two weeks ago, Kingfisher diverted 4 A321s to Turkish Airlines after its financial problems forced it to again default on delivery from Airbus.

A Northwest Airlines Boeing 747-400, registration N676NW performing flight NW2 from Manila, Philippines, to Tokyo Narita, Japan, with 408 passengers and 14 crew, was in a holding pattern near Chiba, 40nm south of Narita, about 30 minutes before landing with seatbelt signs turned on, when the airplane encountered severe turbulence and suddenly dropped from its assigned altitude of 15000 feet.

Image courtesy Lin Y.C.

A number of passengers, who had not fastened their seatbelts, were thrown out of their seats and hit the ceiling.

The crew reported about 2-3 injuries via radio, but did not declare emergency. The landing 30 minutes later at 12:19 local (03:19 GMT) was safe.

A total of 43 passengers were injured in the upset and were brought to hospitals. Initially reported two serious injuries turned out less severe. However, Japanese officials reported later, that one passenger received a serious injury (neck fracture).

Report by AVHerald

An Antonov AN-12, belonging to Aerolift a cargo operator in Windhoek, Namibia, registration S9-SVN freight flight LFT-1015 from Entebbe, Uganda to Nikolaev, Ukraine with 5 crew on board, had diverted to Luxor (Egypt) due to shortage of fuel. After refuelling the airplane caught fire and burned down while taking off Luxor, killing all 5 occupants.

According to the Egyptian Civil Aviation Authority the airplane crashed about 700 meters off the runway at Luxor, while taking off from Luxor after being refuelled for the flight to the Ukraine.

According to Ukrainian aviation sources one engine caught fire, the fire quickly spread to the entire airframe.

The Ukrainian Embassy in Egypt reported, that flight LFT-1015 from Entebbe to the Ukraine via Luxor was performed by an AN-12 registration S9-SVN. All 5 crew were Ukrainian citizens, later this was corrected to 2 Belarus, one Russian and 2 Ukrainian citizens.

A source at Luxor Airport said, that the airplane had diverted to Luxor to refuel due to a fuel leak. Although the crew was aware of the risk of a fuel leak, they decided to takeoff again.

Russian diplomats in Egypt also reported, that the airplane had diverted due to a fuel leak. The crew was advised by mechanics to not take off before the damage was fixed, the commander however decided to depart despite the risk.

Reported by AVHerald

Boeing delivered the company's first 777 Freighter (777F) to launch customer Air France Cargo in a ceremony at the Future of Flight Aviation Center Tour near Paine Field yesterday.

The contractual delivery and airplane departure are scheduled for Friday, and Air France will land F-GUOC, at Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport tomorrow, 21 February, to join the airline’s fleet.

This video from Liz Matzelle shows the Boeing 777F being wheeled in to position for the ceremony. Thanks Liz. This aircraft does not wear the new livery Air France introduced a week ago.

Providing cargo capacity normally associated with larger airplanes, the 777 Freighter can fly 4,880 nautical miles (9,038 kilometers) with a full payload of 226,700 pounds (103 metric tons). Air France Cargo has ordered five of these aircraft to progressively replace the 747-400 Boeing Converted Freighter (BCF) in its fleet. Air France currently operates five 747-400ER Freighters (ERFs) and four 747-400BCFs.

With a full payload of 103 tonnes, able to carry a total of 37 pallets, equipped with a deck that can accommodate 3-metre pallets and a wide side door, the Boeing 777 freighter is able to carry the same type of freight as the Boeing 747 over equivalent distances.

A passenger on Qantas flight QF032 from London to Singapore, went berserk, on Wednesday, after being caught smoking in the toilet as per news reports from Australia and Singapore.

Believed to be in his 40s, the man set off a smoke alarm in the toilet of the plane. When the Qantas cabin crew tried to restrain him, he ran amok, yelling and kicking walls.

Cabin crew had to bind the burly passenger's hands and tie him to the chair after he managed to break free of their restraints.

He continued to yell and kick the walls during the rest of the QF32 flight to Singapore.

The man was placed in the custody of Singapore police when the flight arrived at Changi Airport earlier this morning.

A Super Puma helicopter with 18 people on board crashed in the North Sea off the coast of Scotland Wednesday. The helicopter ditched about 120 miles east of Aberdeen while approaching an offshore platform in the ETAP field.

Four helicopters, including three in-field aircraft and a Sea King from RAF Lossiemouth, took part in the rescue. The Royal Air Force (RAF) at Kinloss also scrambled a Nimrod. The RAF received its first report of the crash at 18:43 GMT.

BBC quoting the Aberdeen coast guard says all 18 people on-board the helicopter have survived and have been rescued from two life-rafts, say coastguard.

The Eurocopter AS 332 Super Puma is a workhorse, ferrying workers to and from oil platforms in the North Sea.

Image: Eurocopter

The United States Federal Aviation Administration today issued a final airworthiness directive (AD) instructing operators of most Airbus A330 and A340 models to power down suspect air data inertial reference units (ADIRU) using one specific rotary dial on the panel.

The mandate follows EASA Emergency AD 2008-0225-E of December 18, 2008, which superseded EASA Emergency AD 2008-0203-E of November 19, 2008, issued after a Qantas Airways A330-300 pitched down unexpectedly while in cruise at flight level 370, seriously injuring 14 of the 303 passengers.

The Airbus A340 is also affected due to its cockpit similarity to the A330.

Read the directive here.

Qatar Airways has launched an innovative Economy Class in-flight service on all flights operating to and from the UK, which sees all onboard meals served in a new presentation style using recyclable materials, with see through trays, bright meal cartons and cutlery packs, as well as a personal table mat in a variety of different colours. which are 99% recyclable.

For the main meals of lunch and dinner each tray will offer a flavour of Arabia with a regional dressing or dip, such as humus, to serve with the fresh salad starter accompanied by Arabic bread.

Passengers will be given a choice of three delicious main courses, including a lighter option for the more health conscious.

Malaysian chicken curry, fish and fennel pot pie and Indian style kadi pakora are among the selection main meals.

For breakfast service, it is fresh fruit, a healthy yoghurt and croissant with preserves, and a choice from two hot dishes such as Zucchini and Majoran Fritatta with Cherry tomatoes or Apple and Cinnamon crepe with maple syrup and berry garnish.

Following the introduction of this new tray service on flights between Doha and London Heathrow, London Gatwick and Manchester, Qatar Airways plans to roll out the concept across the remainder of its international network over the next few months.

In a bid to strengthen the financial position of Air India, the Indian government yesterday substantially increased the allocation for its holding company, National Aviation Company of India Ltd. (NACIL), by about Rs 4,029 crore (approx $806 million) in the interim Budget 2009-2010. Almost the entire increase in allocation for the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) was cornered by NACIL, with the airline being earmarked Rs 8,165.64 crore ($1.633 billion), up against the revised estimate of Rs 4,136.89 crore for 2008-2009.

MoCA received a total allocation of Rs 12,164.76 crore, compared with the revised 2008-2009 estimate of Rs 7,490.06 crore, a hike of almost Rs 4,675 crore. The move came in the backdrop of Air India seeking enhancement of its equity and a soft loan to meet the growing expenditure on its ongoing aircraft acquisition programme of buying 111 planes.

A provision of Rs four crore was also made, for salaries and other administrative infrastructure was also made in the non-plan budgetary allocation of the Ministry for the newly-created Airport Economic Regulatory Authority (AERA), whose Chairman and two members are yet to be appointed.

Last week Air France unveiled its new logo and livery. The current livery which was changed way back in 1975, i.e. 34 years ago. Due to the current cost pressures, the new scheme will be gradually introduced as new planes are inducted or as existing aircraft come in for maintenance.

Air France is now just one word, and the tail stripes have been subtly redesigned.

The French national colours (blue, white and red) remain present on the aircraft’s tail fin and fuselage

• navy blue, predominant since the birth of Air France, evokes the brand’s historical capital and the airline’s efficiency,
• white, the colour of excellence, suggests well-being and the French travel experience,
• the bright red accent, punctuates and energizes the brand, underlining both French chic and the attention paid to Air France customers by the airline’s staff, both on the ground and on board.

Click on the image to see an animation comparing the two tail liveries.

One aircraft that will definitely wear the new livery will be Air France's first Airbus A380 MSN033 which is expected to be registered F-HPJA, which first took to the skies, on a flight to the paint shop, on February 12th. Observe the old livery on the tail. Thanks to Christophe Ramos for the fabulous picture. Do take the time to visit his Flickr photostream.

The Indian Government yesterday gave post-facto approval to the formation of following Joint Venture Companies (JVC) between the National Aviation Company of India Limited (NACIL) which is the combined Air India and Indian Airlines entity, but branded Air India now, and Singapore Airport Terminal Services (SATS). The joint venture companies are more commonly referred to AI-SATS or Air India-SATS:

For Cargo Handling at Bangalore International Airport Limited (BIAL), Bangalore with 50:50 shareholding.

The project cost is estimated to be Rs.99.10 crores. (Rs. 5 Crore ~ $1 million). The debt-equity ratio will be 50:50 and each partner's equity contribution would be Rs.30 crores in the total share capital of Rs.60 crores. The balance would be borrowed from Banks and Financial Institutions. The JVC is estimated to be profitable during its operation and expected to yield an IRR of 17% over a 15 year period.

To undertake the Ground Handling activities at Bangalore International Airport Limited (BIAL), Bangalore with 50:50 shareholding.

The 50-50 joint venture company would involve investment of around Rs.72.78 crores, out of which Rs.50 crores would be share capital and the balance raised from banks as commercial borrowings. As per estimates, it is expected to yield an IRR of 35% over a period of 10 years.

To undertake the Ground Handling activities at GMR Hyderabad International Airport (GHIAL), Hyderabad with 50:50 shareholding.

The JVC for ground handling services at GHIAL would involve investment of approximately Rs.80 crores, out of which Rs.60 crores would be share capital and the balance capital would be raised from banks as commercial borrowings. The equity share holding of AI and SATS would be in the ratio of 50:50. As per estimates, it is expected to yield an IRR of approximately 41% per annum over a period of 7 years.

(iv) To undertake Ground Handling at Mumbai, Delhi and other Indian Airports excluding Bangalore, Hyderabad and Cochin with 50:50 shareholding.

NACIL as a National Carrier had the option of either undertaking the ground handling services at all metro airports under its subsidiary company or through a Joint Venture partnership company in terms new ground handling policy. It selected SATS as its JV partner for providing comprehensive ground handling services at Indian Airports. This agreement is for all airports other than Bangalore, Hyderabad and Cochin. In the proposed JVC, both AI and SATS shall subscribe 50% of the shares each. The terms and conditions will be firmed-up after negotiations with SATS and accordingly the Memorandum Of Understanding for a particular station would be signed by the partners.

As I had indicated in my article "An air battle ..... on the ground", Government owned Air India, holds majority market share of the ground handling business at Indian Airports, since the existing agreements were signed when the airports were operated by Airport Authority of India, a government department, creating a monopoly situation.

Almost all these contracts were to cease by December 31, 2008, with the introduction of the new policy on ground handling but will now cease by January 1, 2010, due to the protests of airline companies, airline employees, and employee unions of existing ground handling companies.

SATS is considered one of the première ground and terminal handling companies in the world, and Air India would like to meet the increasingly competitive, price sensitive and demanding needs of its customers in a free market scenario. It is looking to SATS to provide the modern equipment, processes, technology and resource management tools needed to upgrade its capabilities.

Eurojet is to propose a thrust-vectoring version of the Eurofighter Typhoon's EJ200 powerplant to meet India's requirement for up to 150 engines to equip the first squadrons of its indigenously developed Tejas Light Combat Aircraft (LCA).

The Aeronautical Development Agency - which is leading development of the Tejas - is expected to issue a request for proposals in the next few weeks, pitching the EJ200 against General Electric's F414.

Read the complete story from Flight International here.

Singapore Airlines (SIA) on the most profitable airlines in the world, announced today further route adjustments as part of the 11 per cent reduction of capacity from April 2009 to March 2010.

While Bangalore remains unaffected, for now, most other gateways of New Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Hyderabad, and Ahmedabad have already been or are being affected by this latest announcement.

I cannot help but compare the withdrawal of services by most international carriers to the massive ramp-up by Emirates and other middle-east airlines in India.

When I visited the airport yesterday, during discussions with various friends, I was informed that the two of the three Emirates flights were going full, and the third was also respectable.

A number of changes have already been announced and some effected, including the withdrawal of service to Amritsar (from Feb 09) and Vancouver (from Apr 09), lower frequency of flights to India, as well as a cutback on the non-stop flights between Singapore and the USA.

A whopping 17 aircraft will be decommissioned from the operating fleet, up from an earlier forecast of four aircraft to be phased out.

The new changes shown below will be in effect from March 29 to October 24, unless specified otherwise:

Europe

For the London route, one of the three daily flights will be replaced with a B777-300ER plane from end-March.

The change in aircraft from the B747-400 will result in a seat count reduction of 97, a minus 7.5 per cent difference a day.

Flights to Manchester will be at three times weekly from May, down from the present five times weekly.

Australia

The frequency of service to Sydney will be reduced from four to three times daily till July.

North Asia

Services to Seoul will be reduced to twice-daily, from its already-reduced schedule of 17 times weekly. One flight will continue on to San Francisco.

Japan, the Singapore-Bangkok-Tokyo service will reduce from six to five flights per week.

China, flights to Beijing will decrease from 21 to 17 weekly. Guangzhou and Nanjing services will reduce to five and two per week respectively.

Flights to Hong Kong will be reduced from a weekly 42 to 35.

West Asia

Aside from already announced changes affecting Indian gateways (see details below), Colombo and Male will each be served by five flights per week, down from seven.

Southeast Asia

In the region, the Jakarta route will see a reduction from 56 to 49 a week, while Bangkok flights will be cut from 41 to 33 per week.

Other routes, such as Brisbane, Perth, Fukuoka, Nagoya and Rome will now be operated with variable frequencies depending on the season.

---

Flights to India

Hyderabad-Singapore services, SQ439 and SQ438, will be reduced from four to three times weekly, with the suspension of the Saturday service from February 21.

SQ405 and SQ406, between New Delhi and Singapore, will be reduced from a six times weekly service, to five times weekly service. Changes will apply from March 10 to 24, as flights on Tuesdays during that period will be suspended.

For Mumbai and Singapore, services SQ421 and SQ422 will be progressively reduced from five to four times weekly services, starting February 27. Flights on Fridays will be suspended.

Morning flights to Chennai will be cut.

The Indian Ministry of Civil Aviation reported that the domestic airline passenger traffic in January 2009 has remained virtually unchanged at 3.326 million when compared to 3.323 million in December 2008.

Kingfisher took the top spot from Jet group (Jet Airways and JetLite), with 0.919 million passengers and 28% market share.

The steep fare cuts and sales announced by airlines have not provided the required jump in passenger load factors, which resulted in the airlines withdrawing the special fares, prompting rumours of cartelisation by the government.

Indigo remained the leader amongst nation-wide carriers in passenger load factors at 72.2%, while regional specialist Paramount kept the overall top spot at a whopping 83.1%. It will be interesting to understand how load factors are calculated.


The images are my copyright but may be used freely, with a credit link to Bangalore Aviation.

Video clip from CNN showcasing Steven Chealander of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) discussing the last moments of the crash of Continental flight 3407.

The NTSB indicates the plane rolled violently before the crash in Buffalo, New York, USA.

Was present to photograph Iron Maiden's departure earlier this morning, after their smash hit concert in Bangalore.

A one on one interaction with pilot and Ed Force One Captain Bruce Dickinson during the bus ride to the airplane. Really nice guy. He said he absolutely enjoyed coming to Bangalore, the fans, and the city. Being an aviator, he really missed visiting the Aero India show, but did offer a suggestion for the Indian Air Force. Look hard at the F-16IN SuperViper, and the F/A-18 E/F SuperHornet. His friends who fly the Eurofighter Typhoon say it is just an F-16, 20 years later. Thanks Bruce and do come back in 2011.

Enjoy the photographs. These are my copyright. If you would like to use these pictures, I request you to please provide a link from your site to mine. If you would like high resolution originals for your website, please contact me via the "About" link in the main menu.

For the aviation fans. Captain Bruce Dickinson on the steps of Ed Force One.

and pictures of Ed Force One at Bengaluru International Airport, Boeing 757-23A, registration G-OJIB, Astreus Airlines, CN 24292, powered by RB211-535E4 engines, from taxi to air borne.

A very special thanks to Photoyogi. At his request, I will not disclose for what though.

I hope you enjoy the slide show. I will post another article with specific details. To visit the album online, just click on the slide show. The control panel will also allow you to remove the captions if you like.

Share your thoughts or visit experience via a comment.

The Aero India 2009 continues to draw large crowds, and for today and tomorrow, a huge crush of footfalls is expected.

Aerial displays in the morning and afternoon sessions are as spectacular and breathtaking as in any major air show held worldwide. While the public focusses on the magnificent flying machines and their daredevil pilots, they remain blissfully unaware of the singular edifice that facilitates and coordinates all the flying activity – the Air Traffic Control (ATC) - the heart of the air show, at Air Force Station (AFS) Yelahanka (VOYK).

Activity at the ATC begin before dawn and continue well beyond dusk. As the premiere training station for all Indian Air Force (IAF) transport wing, AFS Yelahanka, is one of the busiest military airfields in the country. Not only does it handle over 60,000 movements annually, it also has to contend with two major airfields - Bengaluru International Airport (BIA), just 4 nm to the north, and the HAL airport 10nm south. A task well handled by Chief Operations Officer (COO), Wing Commander N.V.M. Unnithan and his team.

Assisting him and bristling with activity, a 24x7 manned 'Base Operations Room' controls all aspects of the flying and coordinating with various agencies including 'flying display director', routine movements, VIP protocol, ground handling agencies, BIA, and HAL remains fully operational at the ATC tower.

While an anxious F-16 pilot, USAF Lieutenant Mike Benson, coordinating the flight schedule of the C-130 Hercules, was happy after the arrangements were explained by the COO, Captain Uphoff and Lieutenant Michael Schumacher (just a coincidence) of the German Air Force's Fighter Wing-73, technical team members of the Eurofighter Typhoon dropped by to thank the officials at the ATC, a gesture symbolic of the universal spirit exemplified at the air show.

Preparations began six months in advance. Coordination meetings were crucial as Aero India 2009 was the first air show since the opening of new airport (BIA) last year. With a lateral separation between the airfields of just 4.3 nautical miles it was imperative to halt all civilian flights at BIA during the air displays. Most visiting aircraft of the IAF had to be housed at HAL due to the space constraints at Yelahanka. There is full cooperation between all the three airports and the flight displays are going perfect as expected.

The proximity of the flight paths at Yelahanka and BIA is demonstrated by this photograph of the F16IN SuperViper by my photography guru and guide, Praveen Sundaram a.k.a. Photoyogi. Do take the time to check his photo-stream.

Significant improvements in airfield infrastructure, resurfacing of the taxi-track, airfield links, refitting of the runway lighting, drainage of the 8,500 feet long runway were completed in just four months, ahead of the show, as per senior ATC officer, Wing Commander Sunil Ninan.

Seated on the console panels in a glass-encased environment, the cool demeanour of the five ATC officers manning the consoles betray little of the highly stressful role the controllers undergo. The banner displayed at the entrance says it all - 'You are about to witness the most stressful profession in the world'.

While many in Indian commercial aviation complain about the accents of expatriate pilots, at Aero India there are many pilots from different countries, speaking in different accents, and the ATC controllers are equally adept at picking up the nuances, ensuring unambiguous and crystal clear communication between the pilots and ATC.

Flight safety remains paramount; all flight paths including the aerial displays, and restrictions are designed with risk mitigation in mind. AFS Yelahanka has the township of Yelahanka to the south, and is bounded to the north and east by BIA and its resultant development.

In an effort to restrict the bird activity especially during the flying displays that are flown at low-levels, adequate aerial surveys were done in the period leading to the air show. Ten 'bird scare' teams mounted on specially procured silent electric bikes prowl the entire airfield with double-barrel guns in the airfield area. In addition, 'whistlers', a pyro-technique device emitting high frequency, high-pitch sound that irritate the birds are being effectively used.

Closure of the fish, poultry, and meat markets in the near vicinity on specified days and covering water bodies (lakes and ponds) with nets are some of the initiatives undertaken by the IAF personnel at the base.

Despite these steps, birds are present in plenty, and BBMP officials have to get serious about sanitation and open-air meat markets in the Yelahanka, Devanahalli and Ejipura area

The meteorological forecasts during the air show got a boost with the installation of a 'Numerical Weather Prediction Module' enabling 24-hours observation watch, and 18-hours forecast watch, informed Wing Commander VK Choudhary, senior Met Officer at the base.

We have to applaud the efforts of all the people involved. From the policeman at Hebbal flyover, ensuring traffic gets to AFS Yelahanka quickly, to the IAF personnel at the base, the exhibitors, the display teams, pilots, and support crews, the government, and the organisers. It is a herculean effort executed with seamless precision and complete cooperation. Last, and certainly not the least, I hats off to the tireless efforts of the entire team at the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), led by Greeta Varughese and Sourav Narayan Biswas. They have all been working 20+ hour days for the last two weeks, to ensure the show is an unbridled success it is.

Stay tuned for a photo-essay........