Kingfisher Airlines prides itself as the "King of Good Times", full of glamour and model quality cabin crew. A British trio took things too literally and decide to have a "bang" from Bangalore.

Sarah Hannon. Image copyright The Sun.

As per The Sun newspaper, model and cover-girl Sarah Hannon and her boyfriend Daniel Melia boarded IT001 from Bangalore to London Heathrow. Through the flight Sarah Hannon indulged in quite a few drinks (hey Kingfisher is also India's largest alcoholic beverages company), and fell asleep in a drunken stupor.

Daniel Melia got the itch for fellow passenger Clare Irby and decided to “get on well” underneath a blanket with her but was stopped by one of the Kingfisher cabin crew.

Obviously there must have been a commotion since Sarah Hannon woke up, caught her boyfriend romping in a "sky-high" sex act, and flew in to a rage. She had to be calmed down by the crew at 30,000ft.

Armed cops boarded Kingfisher Airlines Flight IT001 on its arrival at London's Heathrow airport, and arrested the trio.

Mr Melia, 36, and Ms Irby, 29, were arrested for alleged gross indecency while Sarah Hannon, 35, was held for being drunk on an aircraft. All three were released on bail.

None of the three had any comment.

2008 was the year reality struck home in the Indian airline industry. One whiff of the downturn exposed the lack of robust business planning, and abundance of financial vulnerability of Indian carriers, leaving all of them battered and bruised, some more than others.

We saw mass-scale defaulting on payments by carriers in India to everyone from airports to aircraft manufacturers.

Touted as THE growth sector of the future by both Boeing and Airbus in 2007, in the last nine months, domestic airlines have slashed capacity and with very shallow pockets, pulled back at least one-third of their aircraft orders due for delivery this year.

India’s domestic airline capacity shrank by more than 8%, compared with 3.5% in Japan and growth of 18% in China.

As late as mid 2008 Boeing, Airbus SAS and Empresa Brasileira de Aeronautica SA (Embraer) were projecting delivery of 91 aircraft during 2009. They will now thank the stars if they can deliver the reduced quantity of 57 aircraft expected this year.

Both Boeing and Airbus are claiming that no airline has "cancelled orders", but this statement does not account for the deferrals in delivery and the diversion sales of aircraft by Indian carriers to foreign airlines.

In this highly competitive market, it appears that Boeing has the upper hand. It is facing deferral of only two of its 22 expected deliveries down 10%, while Airbus is down 53% expecting to deliver only 32 out of the expected 68 aircraft in large part due to Kingfisher. Embraer increased its delivery tally to five aircraft up 500% from the projected one thanks to the phenomenal growth of Paramount Airways their main customer

Boeing Customers

Jet Airways with fleet of 111 aircraft accounts for the two deferrals of Boeing. One 777-300ER and one 737. Jet has leased out a significant portion of its wide-body fleet. A total of seven of its eleven uber-luxurious Boeing 777-300ERs to Turkish Airlines THY and Gulf Air, and two each of its Airbus A330-200s to Oman Air and Gulf Air. Jet has called for a further ten per cent cut in seat capacity and is now trying to leasing out its narrow body Boeing 737s.

Image courtesy and copyright A.J. Best. Used with his permission. Please do not re-use without permission.

SpiceJet with 12.5 per cent growth will take delivery of 12 Boeing 737-800s/900s, one each quarter for the next three years adding to its fleet of 14 Boeing 737-800s and 900s.

Air India backed by the Government of India, will take delivery of its new Boeing 737-800s, four 777-300ERs and and three 777-200LRs by September, as scheduled. Air India (domestic and international combined) has a fleet of 150 aircraft. The combined order to Boeing and Airbus was for 111 aircraft.

Airbus Customers

The largest domestic carrier and most aggressive Airbus customer Kingfisher Airlines is in terrible financial shape. It led all Asian carriers with a 17.1 per cent capacity cut and has held its expansion to its existing 76 aircraft not withstanding the fracas with GECAS on four of its aircraft. It has diverted its three of its five A340-500s to Arik Air of Nigeria, the balance two have become "white tails" at Toulouse. Of the five A330-200s delivered, two are lying idle. Kingfisher is now in talks with Arik Air in an effort to lease them. The deliveries of the A380 have been deferred yet again. Even pending deliveries of ATR42s and 72s from the Air Deccan days are languishing at Toulouse. Kingfisher has been forced to defer delivery of 32 of 48 Airbus A320 planes that were due for delivery in late 2008 and in 2009 and is also diverting its narrow body A320 family orders to foreign airlines like Turkish THY. So while Airbus may deliver planes to an Indian airline, the aircraft may never come to India.

IndiGo along with fellow value carrier SpiceJet has been registered increasing market share, and has recently taken delivery of its 19th Airbus A320. It is maintaining a more conservative but steady delivery rate.

Air India domestic (formerly Indian Airlines) will maintain its delivery with Airbus for the narrow body A320 family having recently taken delivery of three each A321-200s and A319-100s. Airbus has also commenced discussions with Air India on the A380 superjumbo and hopes to convince the airline to buy a few.

While both Boeing and Airbus do not expect any new orders from the Indian market in the near to medium term, they continue to be bullish on India and maintain their market forecasts which estimates that the country’s airlines would buy up to 1,100 planes over the next 20 years.

Kingfisher Airlines recently released its Summer schedule which comes in to effect from March 29th.

Some of the highlights :

• Introduction of double daily flights between Mumbai and Vadodara.
• Introduction of direct daily flight between Mumbai and Thiruvananthapuram.
• Introduction of direct daily flight service between Aurangabad and Hyderabad to ensure Aurangabad is connected to Kolkata, Chennai and Bangalore via Hyderabad.
• Introduction of direct daily flights between Mumbai and Patna with onward connection to Ranchi from April 6th.
• Mumbai Bhuj service will be operated by Kingfisher Red (the former Air Deccan)
• Excellent connection from Goa to Chennai via Mumbai.
• Reinstatment of late night departure from Mumbai to Delhi at 22:10 (10:10 PM).

Jet Airways, Kingfisher Airlines and SpiceJet are the only three publicly listed airlines in India, and are required to release their quarterly results.

Using the results of the third quarter which ended December 31, 2008, I compiled three graphs to analyse their expenses. Depreciation and interest is included as part of expenses and other income is included as part of income.

It is important to realise each airline is compared against itself. For example, due to its low cost carrier model which forces lower expenses, SpiceJet will show a higher proportion of its operational expenses for fuel compared to the full service Jet Airways and mixed model (full and low cost) Kingfisher Airlines.



Graph 1 clearly shows that Jet Airways in the lead with the lowest expenses to income ratio at 117% up 16% from the same 9 month period from last year. The greater than 100% numbers indicate a loss. Kingfisher is spending 49% more than its income, up 10% from the same period last year. Is it any wonder the airline is in trouble ?

Click on any of the images for a larger version

Graph 2 goes a little more in detail on the expenses of the airlines. Due to the differing heads of accounts, I was forced to do a little consolidation. I have also included interest and depreciation as part of the expenses, Kingfisher and SpiceJet have managed to bring down their operational expenses by about 5%, clearly the effects on the plunging jet fuel prices.

Jet's expenses have gone up 5%. I can only surmise it is due to the cost of their uber-luxurious Boeing 777-300ERs. Now that Jet has leased out seven of its 11 777s, these expenses should come down.

Both Jet and SpiceJet have brought down their employee costs by about 2.5%. Something Kingfisher has not yet been able to achieve, and desperately needs to.

SpiceJet shows "other expenses" which includes legal, professional and consulting expenses, but the airline does not provide details in its statement.


Graph 3, shows a break up of the operational expenses as a percentage of total expenses including interest and depreciation. Kingfisher still leads the pack with the highest OpEx of 81.2%. Again Jet Airways has gone against the trend and increased its OpEx by a whopping 8% thanks to those empty international flights.

Do observe; jet fuel expenses constitute only about 36% of total expenses. So airline execs better be careful the next time they blame fuel prices for their woes.

SpiceJet with its low cost model enjoys a 16% advantage in "other operating expenses" when compared to its full service counter parts.


Unlike airlines overseas, no Indian carrier reports its performance in terms of Revenue Passenger Kilometres/Miles (RPK or RPM) or Freight Ton Kilometres/Miles (FTK or FTM). I think it is time for airlines in India to take analysts in to their confident and start sharing this information, if nothing else, it builds trust.

Please note, these graphs are copyright, but you are free to use them, unaltered, with due credit and a link to Bangalore Aviation.

I came across some interesting photos by fellow Flickr user A380spotter.

ATR42-500 MSN503 VT-ADI in the old Air Deccan livery, still sporting the common man by R.K. Laxman.


ATR72-212A MSN785 F-WWED supposed to be VT-DKL. This aircraft is painted in the Kingfisher livery, but obviously delivery has not been taken. The aircraft has been stored at Toulouse since early 2008 and signs of extended storage are showing.

My thanks to A380spotter.

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.

The financial woes at Kingfisher Airlines, forcing them to divert ordered aircraft to other airlines, continue.

First it was the Airbus A340-500's meant for the flagship Bangalore to San Francisco "Silicon to Silicon" flights, that were diverted to Arik when Kingfisher could not take delivery.

Now it is the turn of Turkish Airlines THY, who is taking delivery of four brand spanking new Airbus A321's originally destined for Kingfisher, fitted with the uber-comfortable business class called Kingfisher First, and the great in-flight entertainment system.

With the collapsing domestic demand, Kingfisher has been deploying A321s on the regional international routes. These aircraft had even obtained their India registrations (VT-KRx series).

Pictures from a Turkish blog, showing the interiors confirm that the aircraft are indeed Kingfisher, and this picture shows the Kingfisher liveried A321 with the Turkish flagged TC-JMH registration.

Two aircraft, CN 3637 (Ex VT-KRA now TC-JMH), and CN 3673 (Ex VT-KRB now TC-JMI), have been delivered recently to THY, and the next two, CN 3688 (Ex VT-KRC), and CN 3717 (Ex VT-KRE), are expected to be delivered in late January and February.

There is no news on the fifth A321, CN 3738 VT-KRF.

Kingfisher's must touted alliance with Jet Airways, has also remained stuck in neutral not producing any benefits for either airline, and Air Transport Intelligence is reporting that Kingfisher has again, for the second time, sought a delay in delivery of its ordered A380s to 2014.

The A380 deferral could also be as a result of the fact that no airport in India, other than Hyderabad, which will not provide the needed traffic, is capable to taking the "high take-off weight" optioned A380 that Kingfisher wants. Bengaluru International Airport, which is considered Kingfisher's home base, has deferred its 2nd phase expansion plans, which include an A380 capable runway, due to the slowdown in domestic traffic.

Kingfisher is the largest defaulting private airline in India, and this has finally caught up with it. State owned oil marketing companies (OMCs), who claim they are owed about Rs. 1,000 Crore ($200 million), have enforced 'cash and carry' payment terms on the airline, since it has not cleared its dues, even after the extended 90 day payment terms.

Kingfisher Airlines will now have to pay upfront to buy aviation turbine fuel from oil companies to operate its regular scheduled flights. It goes without saying, this will put a major kink in the operations of the airline.

Airline officials are trying to keep its operations unaffected and claim that Kingfisher is sticking to all its schedules.

Hectic negotiations are on behind the scene. Industry sources in the oil industry indicate that with Kingfisher Airlines agreeing to the cash upfront terms, OMCs may not carry out any immediate action against the airline, though they will continue to seek ways to get the dues from the airline, and are also demanding interest on the outstanding dues, and bank guarantees.

Kingfisher Alliance partner, Jet Airways, has paid about Rs. 98 Crore, when pressed by the OMCs on January 28th. However, no action is contemplated against, the state owned National Aviation Company of India Ltd. (NACIL) which operates Air India.

NACIL is estimated to owe the OMCs about Rs. 2,500 Crore ($500 million), but no official, including the CEOs of the OMCs, would even dream of taking any step, for fear of their job. One hand of government has to scratch the back of the other.

The Mint is reporting that GoAir recently started offering uniform fares, inclusive of surcharges and other taxes, for purchases made 21 days in advance.

For short sectors, defined as less than 750 kms travel distance, the airline will charge Rs 1,700 a ticket and Rs 2,700 for distances greater than 750 kms. According to the company statement, in effect a Mumbai-Delhi ticket bought 21 days in advance will be for Rs 2,700 instead of the base fare of at least Rs 1,000 plus Rs 2,925 of surcharges and airport fees.

GoAir’s new offer is in reaction to the introduction of Rs one fare by IndiGo on certain routes and SpiceJet Ltd.’s Rs 99 base fare for tickets booked at least 21 days before travel.

The quarter ended December 31, 2008 witnessed an 18 per cent decline in domestic passenger growth, and has prompted all major airline groups in India to resort to price cuts in order to stimulate passenger demand.

Jet Airways, and its low cost subsidiary JetLite, were one of the early adopters of the 21 day advance fares also called APEX fares. Jet Airways also recently offered Rs 250 base ticket fares, while JetLite started Rs nine base fare for travel during this month. It has similar schemes for its Business-Class too. Jet Airways is expecting a 15 per cent increase in passenger traffic.

Jet's alliance partner Kingfisher Airlines also slashed fares between 21 per cent and 65 per cent on various routes earlier this month while the state-owned and operated National Aviation Company of India Ltd. (NACIL), which runs Air India, also announced an average reduction of 52 per cent in basic fares for domestic travel on 20 major routes.

2008 was a torrid year for domestic airlines in India, as recently released figures by the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) show.

Domestic passenger traffic for the year 2008 fell 5% from 42.58 million to 40.77 million (Fig. 1), driven by the increase in fuel costs, and the massive hikes in air fares, which are yet to fully retreat, and capacity reductions by the airlines.


The Low Cost Carriers (LCCs) Indigo, SpiceJet, and JetLite, improved their market shares at the expense of Full Service Carriers (FCCs) Air India, Jet Airways, and Kingfisher Airlines. IndiGo is the big winner this year with a four per cent market share gain. Air India (the former Indian Airlines), gave up a big three per cent share. (Fig. 2)

The notable exception is Go Air (now called No Go Air due to its numerous flight cancellations), and the former Air Deccan, now christened Kingfisher Red after their acquisition. Kingfisher Red lost five per cent market share, while Kingfisher Airlines gained only three per cent, resulting in an overall loss of two per cent market share to competitors. Clearly the strategy at Kingfisher is not working.


While most airlines and airline groups lost in actual passenger numbers, LCCs IndiGo, SpiceJet, JetLite (the former Air Sahara now a subsidiary of Jet Airways), and Paramount, gained passengers. (Fig. 3).

The capacity swapping at Kingfisher group is clearly visible, and when performance of both Kingfisher Airlines and Kingfisher Red is combined, actual passenger numbers went down 10.5 per cent, from 12.56 million to 11.25 million.


The first two quarters of 2008, provided no clue to the excess capacity in the Indian airline industry. The "perfect storm" of increased fuel prices and reduced economic activity started rearing its ugly head towards the end of Q2 (April, May, June), and kicked the industry in it's teeth in Q3, with a mind numbing 25 per cent drop in traffic. (Fig. 4). Q4 has provided some seasonal relief, but Q1 of 2009 will see numbers dropping back again.


With the exception of Paramount, which has a small niche regional market, all the airlines saw massive drops in passengers in Q3. (Fig. 5). Most airlines staged a recovery in Q4, but the surprise is Jet Airways. It's passenger numbers tanked almost 20 per cent in Q3 and continued the downfall by another 15 per cent in Q4.


The market share of LCCs followed the increase in air fares, as passengers shifted from the FSCs. SpiceJet share in Q3 reflected its financial problems, prior to the Ross bailout. (Fig. 6)

It is an ignominious performance that the pioneer in the air travel bubble, Air Deccan (now Kingfisher Red) has lost over six per cent market share over the year. Clearly many of the "first time flier" passengers have chosen not to repeat, either returning back to trains and buses, or moving to other carriers like IndiGo and SpiceJet.


The data highlights the price sensitive nature of the Indian traveller. IndiGo appears to have a winning formula with its low prices and efficient service. Fancy gimmicks do not work. At a time of economic slowdown, the FSCs have to get their act together quickly. By holding fuel surcharges to unjustifiably high levels, they are surrendering ground to the LCCs and surface transport.

I forwarded my "eureka" moment to Dr. Vijay Mallya about servicing the Kangaroo route via Mumbai, given the imminent withdrawal of Qantas from the Mumbai-Sydney route.

He very kind replied, and my thanks to him.

Dear Mr. Agarwal,

Thank you for your email of 6 January, for your good wishes and compliments on the launch of our international operations. I am pleased to know that you are a member of King Club and that you are frequent traveler with Kingfisher Airlines.

I acknowledge your suggestion that Kingfisher Airlines should operate flights between London Heathrow, Singapore and Sydney via Mumbai and appreciate your insightful inputs. I would like to share with you that the network planning team is indeed looking at establishing the best possible network internationally, by efficiently utilizing our fleet of aircraft, in order to make the convenience and delight of flying Kingfisher Airlines available to our overseas guests.

I thank you once again for your patronage of Kingfisher Airlines and look forward to the continued pleasure of welcoming you on board our flights.

Cheers,

Dr. Vijay Mallya
Chairman & CEO
Kingfisher Airlines
A UB Group Company

But then, I came across this article in the Mint newspaper and my heart sunk.

Kingfisher postpones launch of two flights

The airline, which had started taking Hong Kong and Singapore flight booking in December, is refunding passengers or transferring them to other flights

New Delhi: India’s second largest carrier by passengers flown, Kingfisher Airlines Ltd has postponed plans to start flights to Hong Kong and Singapore from Mumbai this week, and is refunding customers or transferring them to other airlines.

Despite an economic slowdown and slowing passenger demand, the airline run by liquor tycoon Vijay Mallya had planned to launch a daily flight to Hong Kong starting on Monday and to Singapore on Friday, as part of its overseas expansion plan.

“Kingfisher will not start operating at Hong Kong International Airport on 12 January,” said Cathy Cheung, a spokeswoman for the Airport Authority Hong Kong, without giving details. The airline earlier this month pulled the flights off the ticketing system, said an executive at an online travel portal who did not want to be named. “They have postponed them indefinitely without giving any reason,” the executive said.

The airline, which had started taking Hong Kong and Singapore flight booking in December, is refunding passengers or transferring them to other flights. Kingfisher Airlines flies to London from Bangalore and Mumbai using up to three of the five wide-body Airbus SAS-made A330 aircraft that it took delivery of last year. At least two other A330 aircraft grounded at Mumbai and Bangalore airports since late last year would have been put to use with the addition of the two new international routes.

A Kingfisher Airlines executive, who didn’t want to be named, said the airline may finally launch flights on those routes in mid-February after its flights using Airbus A320 planes to Dubai and Colombo take off. One reason for the delay was a glitch in the in-flight entertainment system, this executive said.

Singapore’s Changi Airport said it could not confirm any dates for Kingfisher’s flights yet. “We are always in discussion with prospective airlines,” said Constanze Chia, spokeswoman for the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore, “and we will announce the commencement of new airlines at Changi Airport at the appropriate time when plans are finalized.” Flights from Chennai and Bangalore to Colombo, the Sri Lankan capital, are expected to start on 19 January and the Bangalore-Dubai flight from 8 February, Mint reported earlier. Kingfisher Airlines operates about 442 flights a day with a fleet of 87 aircraft.

Given the high lease rentals for the wide-body A330 aircraft, the airline has little choice but to fly them, said an analyst. Each Airbus A330 costs around $10 million (Rs 48.6 crore) in annual lease rental. “The three aircraft they have on ground will be utilized; perhaps sooner. You cannot afford to keep three A330s on ground,” said Kapil Kaul, India head for the Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation.

Cancelling a much publicised launch due to the in-flight entertainment system ?!?!?!? Naaaahh!!!!!!

I am afraid, Kingfisher is loosing credibility with this on-again, off-again, approach.

Getting passengers on the ultra-competitive Mumbai-Hong Kong and Mumbai-Singapore routes is not easy, even more so, when you are competing head on with Cathay Pacific and Singapore Airlines. While the lease rentals cost $10 million, flying the aircraft with less than break-even passenger loads would be even more expensive. Now that the peak Christmas-New Year rush is over, passenger numbers will dwindle drastically, and could be one of the reasons for the withdrawal.

Kingfisher Airlines has announced its alliance with Hilton HHonors, a guest rewards programme for the more than 3000 Hilton Family Hotels worldwide. The new alliance allows members of Kingfisher Airlines’ ‘King Club’ frequent flyer programme to earn both King Miles and HHonors points when they stay at the Hilton Family of hotels. Hilton HHonors is the only guest rewards programme in the world that lets members earn both, hotel points and airline miles for the same stay and redeem points for free nights with No Blackout Dates.

“We are constantly looking for ways to provide our members with options,” said Adam Burke, Senior Vice President - Customer Loyalty, Hilton Hotels Corporation. King Club and Hilton HHonors members can earn Points and Miles in either of the following ways: Points and Variable Miles - earn 10 HHonors points and 1 King Mile for every eligible dollar charged to room at all Hilton Family hotels; Points and Fixed Miles - Members regularly earn 10 HHonors points for every eligible dollar charged to room and 500 King Miles per stay (100 miles at Hampton and Homewood).

Since earning Points and Variable Miles can maximise points and King Miles during longer stays and Points and Fixed Miles may offer more King Miles during shorter stays, HHonors members have the opportunity to change their earnings style with every stay.

In order to start earning King Miles and HHonors points, consumers can enrol in Hilton HHonors at Hilton HHonors.com. Hilton HHonors members need to then sign into their HHonors account and select Kingfisher Airlines as their preferred airline partner and ensure that they present their King Club membership card at the time of check-in.

In addition to earning Points and King Miles, King Club members who are also HHonors members can now convert their HHonors points into King Miles. For every 10000 Hilton HHonors points, King Club members can make an exchange for 1000 King Miles. Every additional or subsequent conversion has to be in multiples of 10000 Hilton HHonors points. In order to complete an exchange, members can contact the Hilton HHonors Customer Service Centre.

According to a report by DNA, on January 3, 2009, a Kingfisher Airlines Airbus A320, flight IT 335 with 86 passengers on board, landed at New Delhi Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) with just about 20 minutes fuel on-board, a mere 5 minutes short of a "Mayday".

As per standard aviation practice, flights always carry enough fuel for it's planned route to the destination airport, plus some hovering time, and for a diversion to an alternate airport. The flight left Mumbai at 19:45 with enough fuel to reach its scheduled destination of New Delhi by 21:30 and the immediate alternate diversion airports of Jaipur or Lucknow.

Winter fog is a problem for the Delhi area, and normally, airlines in India assign a CAT-III licensed pilot for flights that land in Delhi after 21:00, since these pilots are licensed to land in much poorer visibility, typically 100 meters. (A detailed explanation of CAT is below in this article).

However the pilot on this flight, Tariq Khan was licensed for only CAT-I, i.e. minimum 550 meters of visibility.

Seeds are sown
As per the article, minutes before landing, the air traffic control (ATC) at Delhi airport informed the pilot that visibility had dropped to CAT-III conditions, which meant the pilot would not be able to see beyond 100 metres. The source said Khan sought a landing at Jaipur, but permission was denied due to lack of parking space. Khan then decided to divert the flight to Lucknow as he had already consumed a lot of fuel hovering over Delhi.

When Khan was halfway to Lucknow, which is 55 minutes flying time from Delhi, the Delhi ATC informed him that the fog had lifted and he could return, the source said.

The big risk
The aircraft would have consumed nearly 45% of its additional fuel by this time. Instead of opting to land at Lucknow, refuel, and fly back to Delhi, Khan decided to head back to the capital.

Once he reached Delhi, he was ninth in the landing queue. By now, the plane was dangerously low on fuel with just a few kilolitres left in the tank.

The incident
Other sources indicate that the flight landed with only 940 kilograms of fuel on-board, which translates to about 20 minutes flying time.

When usable fuel remaining is less than 30 minutes endurance, pilots declare a "Pan Pan" or urgency. When fuel remaining is less than 15 minutes endurance, pilot MUST declare "Mayday" or distress/emergency.

A crisis was averted only after the pilot Tarig Khan requested the ATC, and obtained, a "fuel priority" landing, allowing him to jump the other planes ahead in the queue.

What Kingfisher says
Confirming the incident, Kingfisher spokesperson Prakash Mirpuri told DNA on Monday that the pilot did ask for preferential landing at Delhi as he was running low on fuel. The aircraft was in the queue for landing when visibility at Delhi dropped. The captain then requested a diversion to an alternate designated airfield, which was Jaipur. As the parking bays were full, the aircraft was diverted to Lucknow, Mirpuri said.

"En route Lucknow the weather deteriorated. Consequently, the aircraft was turned back to Delhi and the captain requested priority sequencing for landing," Mirpuri said in his written communication to DNA.

Kingfisher's flight safety department summoned captain Khan to seek an explanation on Sunday. Mirpuri termed it a "routine enquiry" by the department whenever there was a deviation from the assigned route.

Your view
Hindsight is always 20-20, but what is your opinion on the pilot's actions ?

Share your thoughts via a comment.

My view

1. While I agree the pilot took some risks, we must consider the following Weather at Delhi was clear when the flight took off from Mumbai
2. 9pm-12mid night is rush hour at Delhi, obviously the flight must have been in a hold. The visibility dropped during this time
3. The pilot has diverted to Lucknow as per procedure. Half way there, he is informed Delhi is back to Cat-I visibility. Was he explicitly informed of the queue ? If yes, he deserves to be hanged, but no commercial pilot I know, is that reckless.
4. So that will imply the pilot was informed about the queue, only when he reached Delhi a second time.
5. At this point he has no choice. As per procedure, he declares a PAN PAN PAN, requests and is given a priority landing. Perfectly as per operating procedures.
   

Explanation of ILS (instrument landing system) CATegories
There are three categories of ILS which support similarly named categories of operation. In each case a suitably equipped aircraft and appropriately qualified crew are required.

• Category I - A precision instrument approach and landing with a decision height not lower than 200 feet (61 m) above touchdown zone elevation and with either a visibility not less than 800 meters (2,625 ft) or a runway visual range not less than 550 meters (1,804 ft).
• Category II - Category II operation: A precision instrument approach and landing with a decision height lower than 200 feet (61 m) above touchdown zone elevation but not lower than 100 feet (30 m), and a runway visual range not less than 350 meters (1,148 ft).
• Category III is further subdivided
• Category III A - A precision instrument approach and landing with:
• a) a decision height lower than 100 feet (30 m) above touchdown zone elevation, or no decision height; and
• b) a runway visual range not less than 200 meters (656ft).
• Category III B - A precision instrument approach and landing with:
• a) a decision height lower than 50 feet (15 m) above touchdown zone elevation, or no decision height; and
• b) a runway visual range less than 200 meters (656 ft) but not less than 50 meters (164 ft).
• Category III C - A precision instrument approach and landing with no decision height and no runway visual range limitations. A Category III C system is capable of using an aircraft's autopilot to land the aircraft and can also provide guidance along the runway surface.

Source: Wikipedia

Update - January 6. It never struck me, when posting the original article, but based on the timings, Kingfisher can offer passengers, connection between Singapore and London via Mumbai. Further, if Kingfisher can streamline its current Bangalore London operations with better slots at Heathrow, it need only one Airbus A330 instead of the current two. It can deploy that aircraft on a Mumbai-Singapore-Sydney route, since Qantas is reportedly withdrawing its Mumbai - Sydney service. An added benefit for Kingfisher will be to offer a complete Kangaroo route.

Original Article - January 4.
Kingfisher Airlines will launch a slew of international services to London, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Colombo, through the month of January, starting tomorrow.

Mumbai, India - London Heathrow, United Kingdom
On 5th January, Kingfisher will commence its second international flight, on the Mumbai Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport - London Heathrow sector. Kingfisher's only existing international service is also to London Heathrow, from Bangalore, launched in September 2008.

Kingfisher will deploy its new VT-VJx series Airbus A330-200 aircraft on this route, in a two class configuration. The Kingfisher First features full flat seats with massage, touch-screen controls, full size pillows and merino wool blankets. Both classes features an in-flight entertainment system.

IT7 will depart Mumbai 13:50 and arrive London Heathrow Terminal 4 at 17:55.
IT8 will depart London Heathrow 20:30 and arrive Mumbai at 11:00 the next day.

Mumbai, India - Hong Kong, SAR
Kingfisher has scheduled operations, on the Mumbai - Hong Kong sector, to commence from January 12, 2009, using the Airbus A330-200 VT-VJx series.

IT31 will depart Mumbai 00:15 and arrive Hong Kong at 08:45.
IT32 will depart Hong Kong at 14:00 and arrive Mumbai at 17:30.

Mumbai, India - Singapore
Kingfisher has scheduled operations, on the Mumbai - Singapore sector, to commence from January 16, 2009, using the same Airbus A330-200 VT-VJx series.

IT21 will depart Mumbai 23:40 and arrive Singapore at 07:40 the next day.
IT22 will depart Singapore 09:20 and arrive Mumbai at 12:10.

Bangalore and Chennai, India - Colombo, Sri Lanka
Kingfisher has scheduled operations, on the Bangalore - Colombo and Chennai - Colombo sectors, to commence from January 19, 2009, using the narrow body Airbus A320 aircraft.

IT61 will depart Chennai 07:15 and arrive Colombo at 08:15.
IT62 will depart Colombo 17:30 and arrive Chennai at 18:30.

IT63 will depart Bangalore 15:00 and arrive Colombo at 16:20.
IT64 will depart Colombo 09:15 and arrive Bangalore at 10:30.

With the exception of the Singapore flights, I am concerned at the amount of time, the aircraft are spending at the destinations. Airplanes on the ground, only cost, not earn, money,

For more details visit the Kingfisher Airlines' website. Click here to download the schedules in Excel format.

Congrats to Kingfisher for finally ramping up the international show.

Both the European EASA and US FAA have issued emergency Airworthiness Directives ADs for operators of CFM56-5B engines, typically operated on the Airbus A320 family of aircraft, which include the A318, A319, A320 and A321.

Snecma Image
EASA Emergency Airworthiness Directive 2008-228 and the FAA Airworthiness Directive AD 2009-01-01, requests operators of CFM56-5B engines, to monitor Exhaust Gas Temperatures (EGT) for deterioration. If both engines show deteriorations of 80 or more degrees, at least one engine must be replaced according to the new directive. EGT monitoring is a crucial aspect of flight operations.

The emergency directives come after an incident, in which an Airbus A321-200 experienced compressor stalls on both engines during initial climb out on December 15th 2008. While not disclosed, it is suspected, this is the incident involving Air France Airbus A321-200, F-GTAJ, flight AF 2585 from Tunis to Paris CDG, where the flight had to return to Tunis 14 minutes after take-off due to "unspecified engine problems".

The CFM56-5B is a very popular engine with over 60% of Airbus A320 family operators, selecting them.

In India, Indian (now Air India) operates the CFM engine on the new series of Airbus aircraft, part of the 43 ordered by them in 2006. Indian had ordered 20 Airbus A321s, 19 Airbus A319s and four A320s. The older series of Indian's A320 fleet use engines from IAE, as do most of India's private operators, Kingfisher Airlines, Kingfisher Red, and IndiGo, which are not impacted by these ADs.

I must stress that there is no need for passengers to treat these ADs as negative, and Air India has an excellent maintenance record.

PTI reports, Kingfisher Airlines, has said that it would effect fare cut across its network from January 1.

Without specifying the quantum of reduction in fares, in a statement today, Kingfisher Airlines Chairman, Dr. Vijay Mallya said

Kingfisher Airlines will begin the New Year on an aggressive note by slashing fares on its network,

The current low prices of Air Turbine Fuel (ATF) allows Kingfisher to pursue an opportunity to significantly increase market share by offering the fine five star flying experience at reduced fares.

Bangalore Aviation readers will recall, until now, Kingfisher, and its alliance partner Jet Airways, had been saying, fares would be cut only after the government classifies ATF in the Declared Goods category. The proposal of the Civil Aviation ministry is before the Parliament.

This long standing demand of airlines across the board, will ensure there will be a uniform four per cent sales tax on air fuel across the country, unlike the present, where sales taxes range from four per cent to 32 per cent, depending on the state, and accounts for over 35 per cent of airlines' operational costs.

However, several state governments oppose the uniform taxation as it would cause revenue loss to them.

Over the last four months, there has been a sharp decline in ATF prices. While some air carriers earlier this month reduced the fuel surcharge between Rs 200 and Rs 400, they did not touch the basic fare.

Mallya's decision could have its inspiration in the fact that Low Cost Carrier (LCC) IndiGo recently beat both Kingfisher Airlines and its LCC Kingfisher Red, to take third place in market share.

There is no doubt, the losses at the airline are significant. Just two weeks ago, there was news about four Kingfisher aircraft being de-registered. Doubts are rising on the impact of these losses on Dr. Mallya or his core alcoholic beverages business.

December 29, update.

The Times of India is reporting the fare reductions will be in the range of 10% and 15%. Jet Airways is expected to cut its fares by a similar amount, and Air India will follow suit. The LCCs IndiGo, SpiceJet, and Kingfisher Red are also working on the fares.

I must tip my hat to the travel agents' associations in India. Their strategy of targeting one airline at a time, has paid handsome dividends.

From a paltry five per cent commission on the basic fare, they have successfully made all the airlines pay three per cent on the gross fare, which includes the fuel surcharges, on domestic fares. Passengers will recognise that very often, fuel surcharges are anywhere from 4 to 10 times greater than the basic fare.

Travel agents represent as much as 85 per cent of the full service airlines' business. By selectively boycotting one airline at a time, the agents focussed all the hurt on one airline, while still preserving relations by continuing to provide services to their customers, using other airlines. In these days of economic crises, and rabid competition, the "non-boycotted" airlines were happy to benefit from their competitor's misery.

Like dominoes, each airline folded its negotiation hand. It started with Jet, then Kingfisher, then Paramount, and finally Air India.

In the history of air travel, prior to this action, only agents in Japan have been able to force a roll back of the zero commission regime. I wonder if it is too late for agents in other countries to learn from the Indian strategy. For all of us, regardless of business vertical, we should take lessons. Prior to negotiation, recognise the weaknesses in the opposite party/parties, if possible target one at a time i.e. divide and rule, adopt a strategy that pressures them, but never, ever, compromise your business survival, by pressuring your customers.

After obtaining concessions from the domestic airlines, the travel agents have now focussed their attention on the international carriers. starting with Singapore Airlines.

Following a failure of negotiations (read re-instatement of agency commission), six associations of travel agents today decided not to sell tickets of Singapore Airlines from Monday, December 29, 2008. Later, they have also decided to boycott, Singapore Airlines' subsidiary, SilkAir from January 1, 2009.

In the case of foreign travel, since the commission is paid only on basic fare, and fuel surcharges do not constitute as significant a component as in the case of domestic travel, the agents are demanding a five per cent commission.

Singapore Airlines, like other foreign airlines, at present, allows travel agents to charge around Rs 1,200 on sale of its tickets as a transaction fee.

A Singapore Airlines spokesperson said travel agents comprised an important element of its business and that it was very much interested in working with them. "Travel agents are getting a transaction fee, around Rs 1,200 per ticket. We think this model is good for the business. The model is working well and we would like to persist with it," the spokesperson said.

However, having tasted success with their "selective boycott" strategy, the associations are firm in their stand, that they would not settle for anything less, than a five per cent commission.

The senior management of Singapore Airlines has rushed to Singapore for "consulatations" with senior airline management. Stay tuned. I am sure, an announcement from Singapore Airlines, capitulating to the agents, will follow, very shortly. After which it will be the turn of Lufthansa, British Airways, Emirates, and other major foreign carriers.

In the Rajya Sabha today, the Minister for Civil Aviation, Shri Praful Patel informed the Parliament today that airport developers both in public and private sectors are not getting their dues from the airlines on time which is causing them financial problems.

As per the minister's statement in the house

In respect of Airports Authority of India’s (AAI), the dues, in Rs. Crore (Rs. 5 Cr = $1 million) of defaulting airlines are :

NACIL-Air India - 739.50; Kingfisher Airlines / Kingfisher Red - 286.62; Jet Airways / Jetlite - 32.78; Spicejet - 15.76; Paramount Airways - 12.50; Interglobe Aviation - 6.00; Go Air - 8.81. Total dues are Rs. 1,101.87 Cr.

Mumbai International Airport’s dues are as follows: NACIL-Air India - 52.90; Kingfisher Airlines / Kingfisher Red - 14.11; Jet Airways / Jet Lite - 7.51; Go Airlines - 2.29; Air Indian Charters Ltd - 0.80; Lufthansa Airlines - 0.80; Malaysia Airlines - 0.63; Emirates - 0.61;
Indigo Airlines - 0.57; Spicejet Ltd - 0.55; Singapore Airlines - 0.42; British Airways - 0.30;
Kuwait Airways - 0.27; KLM Royal Dutch Airlines - 0.26; Airlines Allied Services - 0.25; Kenya Airways - 0.25; El-al Israel Airlines - 0.23; Qatar Airways - 0.21; Saudi Arabian Airlines - 0.20; Ethiopian Airlines - 0.20; Other airlines - 3.18. Total dues are Rs. 86.54 Cr.

The total dues of airlines as on date owed to Hyderabad International Airport Limited (HIAL) is Rs. 48.75 Cr.

The total dues of airlines as on 15.12.2008 on Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL) is Rs. 84.50 Cr.

The total dues of airlines on Bangalore International Airport Limited (BIAL) is Rs.41 Cr.

Cochin International Airport Limited (CIAL) have also informed that there are some dues from airlines, but it appears no details are provided.

Government has given instructions to AAI to take all possible steps including legal action, if warranted against the defaulting airlines.

Just two airlines, Air India and Kingfisher owe 93% of total AAI dues, and 80.5% of MIAL dues. I suspect the trends at other airports will be similar.

Without political directive, it is career suicide for anybody at AAI, which is a government body, to even dream about, let alone execute, pursuing recovery operations against Air India, which is a government owned entity. In any case, Air India, just does not have the money. It is waiting for Sugar-Daddy a.k.a. Government of India to bail it out.

In case of Kingfisher, I am completely stupified. Dr. Mallya runs a global empire, he is astute and I am told, an extremely driven man. Aviation and Kingfisher, the airline, is his passion. What has gone wrong ? Have the liabilities of the Air Deccan merger finally caught up ?

Rs. 1,100+ Crores is not a trivial amount. This is money of the taxpayers of India, that should be put to better use, than left as overdues.

How seriously can we treat the minister's statement about instructing AAI to use all possible means to recover their dues ? It will be a simple step for AAI. All they have to do is stop the airlines from landing at their airfields, and seize the aircraft already parked. It will probably take, all of 2 seconds, before holy hell will break loose.

All the airport operators are suffering due to the economic crisis, and the subsequent reduction in overall aviation activity, be it flights, passengers or cargo.

AAI revenue has decreased by Rs. 228 Cr., April to September 2008, as compared to the corresponding period in 2007. MIAL's aeronautical revenue is down Rs. 79.83 Cr., April, 2008 to November, 2008. DIAL is down Rs. 50 Cr., and is already begging for financial assistance for its ambitious expansion plans, needed to meet the requirement of the Commonwealth Games 2010. HIAL has seen a total revenue decline by 15%. BIAL is down, but has not provided figures. The only other major airport operator, CIAL, has not been affected significantly, due to the constant middle east traffic, the one area of global aviation that is still escaping the global meltdown.

Overdues impose unneeded operational expenses on airport operators, and that ultimately comes back to passengers in the form of decreased services, delayed facilities, and higher fees. MIAL has been given permission for a 10% across the board rate hikes at Mumbai, Delhi can be expected to follow very soon.

Mr. Praful Patel is in difficult position of being the "boss" of both the defaulting airline and the airport operator owed the money. He has to make up his mind, and fast.

Turkish Airlines (THY) will begin offering first class seats on the three Boeing 777-300ERs, recently leased from Jet Airways, by Dec. 29, THY General Manager Temel Kotil has said.

The first 2 Boeing 777-300ER aircraft scheduled to join the fleet on December 24th and 25th, 2008 are configured with 8 First Class suites, 30 Business in a herringbone layout, and 274 Economy, a total seat capacity of 312. The first class cabin offers complete privacy and suite comfort with its seats in 2.1m length reclining a full 180 degrees.

Jet Airways / Turkish Airlines Boeing 777-300ER seat map. Click on map for larger image.

Jet Airways recently won a Business Traveller award for its First Class on these very same aircraft. This is the second instance, within this month, of a foreign carrier benefiting from the financial woes of an Indian carrier. Just two weeks ago, I wrote about, Arik Air of Nigeria using the Kingfisher A340-500 aircraft, complete with its luxurious interiors.

The Boeing 777-300ER aircraft will initially furnish Istanbul services on Singapore, Hong Kong, London, New York, and Tokyo routes. The aircraft will also allow THY to augment its cargo capacity. Using the aircraft on New York route will increase the cargo capacity up to 18 tons per flight.

Turkish Airlines will expand its current 9 A340-500 and 5 A330-200 long haul fleet with 3 Boeing 777-300ER aircraft. Further additions will be 2 A330-200 aircraft, successively joining the fleet in February and April 2009, thus increasing the number of long haul aircraft to 19.

Thanks to a napping Air Traffic Control at Chandigarh airport, two aircraft, one from Jet Airways and another of Kingfisher Airlines, almost achieved a physical merger, one I am sure, their managements did not want, when they planned their recently formed alliance.

TNN reports that two planes of Jet Airways and Kingfisher Airlines, with a total 139 passengers on board, were a mere 15 feet away from crashing in to each other at the Chandigarh airport on Tuesday, December 16, 2008.

Due to a delay of the Kingfisher flight IT 605, three aircraft were jostling on the apron which has only 2 parking bays.

The Air Traffic Control was caught napping, as it had given permission for the Jet Airways flight 9W 734 to taxi and take-off, without realising that the Kingfisher passengers were disembarking, close by.

By the time the Jet technical team realised something was amiss and alerted their pilots, forcing them to slam the emergency brakes, the planes were within 15 feet of crashing in to one another.

Amidst this confusion, an Air India flight from Mumbai to Chandigarh landed on schedule, adding to the congestion and chaos, since the airport has only two spots on the apron, requiring some delicate maneuvering on the part of all the players.