Jet Airways announced plans to launch a new service to Dubai from Chennai, as well as a second service on the Mumbai Dubai sector, from April 23 using its two class Boeing 737-800 narrow body aircraft.

The airline currently has two daily flights to Dubai, one from Mumbai and one from New Delhi.

The schedules of the announced new flights are :

9W 546 depart Chennai 12:45 hrs, arriving Dubai 15:30 hrs.
9W 545 depart Dubai 16:30 hrs, arriving Chennai 22:15 hrs.

9W 542 depart Mumbai 09:30 hrs, arriving Dubai 11:05 hrs.
9W 541 depart Dubai 12:35 hrs, arriving Mumbai at 17:10 hrs.

This Mumbai Dubai flight is timed to offer connections to Jet's extensive domestic network.

Passengers travelling on these new services may also earn Double JPMiles and enjoy a 25 per cent discount on Jet Award tickets up to May 31, 2009.

In a space of just two days, Mumbai airport authorities received a dual shock.

Virgin Atlantic is suspending its London Mumbai service from May 3rd, while Finnair will suspend its Helsinki Mumbai service by mid May.

Clearly the economic woes are playing havoc. The Mumbai London route has excess capacity with British Airways, Jet Airways, and Kingfisher Airlines operating non-stops, and Emirates operating five daily flights via Dubai. Finnair though, is still targeting flights to Chennai and/or Bangalore, to capture the tech industry traffic.

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.

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.

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.

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.

February 9, 2009, 10:00 IST (04:30 GMT)

TV channels are reporting that an Air India Airbus A321 performing flight IC866 was involved in a rejected take-off/near miss at Mumbai Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport earlier this morning.

The flight had commenced its take-off run, when a helicopter which was given permission to land, strayed across the runway to land on the helipad. On sighting the helicopter the flight crew of IC866, rejected the take-off, applying emergency braking.

All passengers on board, estimated at 148 are safe. The tires of the aircraft require changing which is being done right now.

Initially it appears a fault of the air traffic control, which appears to have given permission to the helicopter to land, while at the same time, giving permission to the Air India flight to take-off.

Update 1 - 10:55 IST (05:25 GMT)

The shocker. The army helicopter was part a three helicopter convoy of Indian President Pratibha Patil.

The presidential convoy was conveying the President from the Governor's mansion, The Raj Bhavan, along with the top most leadership of the state of Maharashtra, to the airport. Due to security procedures, it is unknown whether the President was on board the chopper which strayed on to the runway.

Clearly a major mishap has been avoided, and there is bound to be a major investigation.

Information from aviation experts indicate the plane was at V-1 speed (around 100 knots). This is why the plane was able to perform a "rejected take-off", with the autobrake system kicking in. In another few seconds, the plane would have crossed the V-2 threshold, at which point the aircraft is travelling just to fast for it to stop on the runway. That would have surely resulted in a disaster of epic proportions.

The wheels of the Airbus A321 aircraft jammed after the rejected take-off, and the aircraft tyres burst due to the excess heat caused by the emergency braking. It has been taken back to the terminal. The passengers have been dis-embarked and are in the terminal. Arrangements for an alternate aircraft are being made.

Update 2 - 13:25 IST (07:55 GMT)

A Mumbai Airport official told news agencies.

"At around 09.00 hrs today, an Air Force chopper landed on the same runway from which Air India flight IC 866 (with 150 passengers on board) was taking off for Delhi, forcing the pilot of the plane to abort take off at the last minute,"

However there is some confusion. News reports claim

the Air India aircraft was taxiing to reach the main runway for the take off when the Air Traffic Control talked to the pilot regarding the helicopter. The pilot applied the brake to bring the aircraft to a halt

Whereas, all reports indicate a high speed take-off reject, resulting in the nose wheel tyre blowing out, indicating the pilot had commenced the take-off run and was not taxiing.

Credit is being given to the alertness of Captain SS Kohli, pilot of IC 866, who aborted the take off. Captain Kohli said,

"The the chopper and our aircraft got the clearence from the ATC at the same time. The ATC had lost contact with the chopper."

"The chopper just landed without taking a landing clearance. I cannot say much more,"

Meanwhile, an official spokesperson of the President told news agencies that "Everything is perfectly fine. The President was attending her normal functions."

As per Timesnow TV.

A fleet of three helicopters including the one carrying Patil, along with Maharashtra Governor SC Jamir and some other dignitaries, had taken off from Mumbai's Naval base 'INS Kunjali' and were on their way to the airport since the President was to fly to Gondia by her special Indian Air Force Plane (IAF) plane to attend a function.

A probe into the incident has been ordered by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation, the sources said. A senior DGCA official is coming from New Delhi to Mumbai to join the investigation, they said.

An IAF spokesman said, "the pilots of the chopper had followed the instructions from Bombay approach meliculously. The Presidential entourage was cleared to take off from INS Kunjali and land at Santa Cruz between two taxiways". An inquiry has been ordered by the IAF into the incident, he said.

While full information is not yet available, this appears to be the most likely situation based on past knowledge, historic traffic patterns, and information.



Update 3 - 17:00 IST (11:30 GMT)

The Indian Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) released a statement at 16:10IST ((10:40 GMT)

Mumbai Airport, the busiest airport in India was witnessing heavy air traffic and operations today morning. The ATC Mumbai was aware of the Presidential visit and were watching the approach movement of the Presidential convoy of helicopters. At that time an aircraft of Air India was on the active runway-27. The ATC, noticing movement of the aircraft on the runway, asked the aircraft to immediately apply brakes and exit through the taxiway. The aircraft exited immediately and the helicopters landed safely.

Director General Civil Aviation has ordered an investigation of the incident under rule 77 and appointed Jt. DGCA as the Inquiry Officer for the purpose of carrying out the investigation. Jt. DGCA has reached Mumabi and started investigation proceedings.

Considering this incident involved the President of India, the poor controller on duty is in for a very rough time.

Update 4 - 20:00 IST (14:30 GMT)

The Air India aircraft is registration VT-PPF. An Airbus A321-211 construction number 3340, it did it first test flight on December 5, 2007, and was delivered by Airbus on December 14, 2007. It is powered by the CFM56-5B3/3 engines.

Image copyright Flickr user Pallav105

All Nippon Airways (ANA) of Japan, is planning strategies similar to their world-wide airline counterparts in these times of global recession. Suspending operations, reducing flights and switching to smaller aircraft, essentially slashing capacity to keep passenger load factors high, in an effort to keep the business going this year.

India is one of the more badly affected countries by ANA's re-alignments. It used to operate a 38 seat all business class Boeing 737-781ER Business Jet between Mumbai and Tokyo Narita thrice a week. This will come down to twice a week. ANA also has a code share arrangement with Jet Airways and transits passengers via Singapore.

Talking about the Indian operations, Kenji Sugino, Director – Sales, Administration and Marketing, ANA said

“Despite the global slowdown, India is one of the growing markets for ANA. We are positive about this year and are expecting good load factors and sales margins. We are going to play strategically in the Indian market this year.”

“We were receiving a good 60-70 per cent of passenger load on Mumbai – Narita route. Post 26/11, ANA is receiving about 30 per cent loads on Mumbai – Narita route. Now, the loads are about 50 per cent, but due to recession, it's not logical to operate flights half empty. However, the reduction of flights on Mumbai – Narita route is temporary and will be rescheduled once the market demand goes high. We are positive about this year and assume that the market will stabilise by mid-2009.”

76 seats for a population of 1.1 billion ??? In my opinion, both Japanese and Indian carriers are just handing over business to ASEAN carriers by their lack of capacity.

ANA has also rolled out strategic plans for its worldwide operations announcing it will slash nine per cent of its international service in the next fiscal year (April 2009 to March 2010). It will withdraw the Boeing 747 service on the Tokyo - Paris and Tokyo - Frankfurt routes, and will introduce smaller aircraft on the Washington route.

ANA is looking to the first quarter of 2010 when, as launch customer, it will receive its long awaited Boeing 787 Dreamliner.

Unlike rival Japan Airlines (JAL) whose traditional focus is on international operations from Tokyo Narita airport, ANA has always put Tokyo Haneda and domestic business first; and it is gearing up to take full advantage of the huge business opportunity expected by the massive expansion of Haneda and Narita airports in 2010 – described by ANA President and Chief Executive, Mineo Yamamoto, as the ‘Big Bang’ for Japanese aviation, coupled with deliveries of the Dreamliner.

For now, financially, ANA expects a group net loss of JPY nine billion ($ 100.4 million), instead of a previously projected profit of JPY 17 billion. ANA also slashed its group operating profit forecast from JPY 55 billion to JPY eight billion.

Tomohiro Hidema, Executive VP of Finance, ANA stated in a media release

“Given the likelihood of the situation worsening in the foreseeable future, we are faced with an operating environment vastly different from the recent past, one that offers challenges of a much harsher nature.”

The Japanese airline industry have already asked their government for financial aid.

Read the ANA press releases detailing their business plans and their financial results.

CNN-IBN is reporting on TV that a Russian man thought to be a crew member of Russian national airline Aeroflot has committed suicide by jumping out of the 16th floor at the Oberoi Hotel in Mumbai, India.

Update 1 - 14:30 IST (09:00 GMT)

The deceased has been identified as Alexander (22), a flight attendant with Aeroflot.

Alexander, along with four other colleagues, had checked into Room 1603 on Sunday evening.

According to the police, Alexander was in an inebriated condition and talking to some one around 01:00 on the phone, when he suddenly got very agitated and threw himself forcefully onto the sealed glass windows of his room, crashing through and falling 16 floors to the ground.

The police said that Alexander's colleagues said he was in an inebriated state and received a phone call around 0100 hours.

The hotel authorities and police managed to rush him to the Bombay Hospital where he succumbed around 06:30 this morning.

The body has been sent to Sir J.J. Hospital for an autopsy.

The motive behind his act is not yet known and police investigations are on.

Singapore Airlines is making further adjustments to its route network, primarily cutting back flights to various destinations in India, Thailand, Europe, and USA, while increasing capacities to the middle east.

The changes, will take place progressively from now and will apply for the rest of the Northern Winter schedule (i.e. till end-March 2009), and will most likely continue in to the Summer schedule.

India
Hyderabad-Singapore services SQ439 and SQ438 will be reduced from four to three times weekly, with the suspension of the Saturday service from 21 February. Service will operate on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays.

New Delhi-Singapore services SQ405 and SQ406 will be reduced from a six times weekly service, to five times weekly service, from 10 March to 24 March 2009, as flights on Tuesdays during this period will be suspended.

Mumbai-Singapore services SQ421 and SQ422 will be progressively reduced from five to four times weekly services, starting 27 February 2009. Flights on Fridays will be suspended.

Thailand
Bangkok-Singapore services SQ972 and SQ975 will be suspended from 2 February until the end of the Northern Winter Schedule bringing Singapore Airlines capacity to 25 flights weekly.

USA
Newark-Singapore and Los Angeles-Singapore non-stop services performed by the Airbus A340-500; frequency will reduce by two flights to five weekly flights on each route. The Tuesday and Wednesday services, will be suspended.

Ironically, Thai Airways, who has been unable to find a buyer for its suspended A340-500 aircraft, is resuming Bangkok-USA non-stop services.

Europe
United Kingdom
London Heathrow-Singapore services SQ308 and SQ319 will be suspended on Mondays and Thursdays between 9 and 23 March 2009. Total frequency on the Singapore-London route will reduce from 21 to 19 flights per week.

Switzerland
Zurich-Singapore services SQ342 and SQ341 will be reduced from daily to five times weekly, from 9 March 2009. Total frequency on the Singapore-Zurich route will reduce from 14 to 12 flights per week.

Middle East
Kuwait and Abu Dhabi
Singapore Airlines will commence four times weekly services to Kuwait, via Abu Dhabi, from 15 March 2009, with the introduction of SQ458 and SQ457 on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays. Singapore Airlines will continue its existing three times weekly service to Abu Dhabi. With the addition of the Kuwait service, Abu Dhabi will become a daily service.

Egypt
Cairo-Singapore services SQ492 and SQ493 will increase from thrice weekly to four times a week from 12 March. The Cairo flights will operate via Dubai, thus increasing frequency between Singapore and Dubai to 16 per week.

Delta Airlines which recently commenced its Atlanta - Mumbai non-stop is feeling the pinch of the economic slowdown affecting India's IT industry.

Effective March 29, it will reduce the frequency of its service from a daily to five flights a week.

The service will not operate on Tuesdays and Sundays ex-Atlanta, and Mondays and Wednesdays ex-Mumbai. In my opinion, it is a very sensible move. Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday are the slowest days of the week.

Service will continue to operate with the ultra long range Boeing 777-200LR.

My post The world's most delayed and most punctual airports, seems to have ignited a media frenzy within India.

Times of India carried snippets from the article Sunday 11th January, which became a national story, and was picked up later that morning by the TV networks.

A lot of Bangalore Aviation readers have been asking me questions relating to the article.

Why are Mumbai and Delhi airports at the top of the list of delayed flight arrivals?

It is actually very simple. At both airports the number of flights arriving per hour exceeds the capacity of the runways. At Mumbai, there are two runways, but they cross each other in an X shape. There are also limitations of taxiways, but, I will not go into such a high level of detail.

Bottom line, the capacity of Mumbai airport is 30 landings per hour, but with a little juggling and using the crossing runway, the Mumbai Air Traffic Control (ATC) is able to push the number up to 36 per hour. But the demand is even higher.

It's a similar situation with Delhi airport, which inaugurated a new third runway, plagued with problems. Drainage, non-functional aeronautical aids, and to top it off, some faceless bureaucrat, probably encouraged by a narcissist politician, allowed a 40 feet (4 storey) tall statue of Lord Shiva along the path of the runway. Now the new runway cannot be used by the Airbus A380, the very aircraft it was specifically built for, till that statue is removed. And we all know, how very impossible that is, in a religiously charged India.

Add to this excess demand and weather. Fog in Delhi, and rains in Mumbai. The system is so over-capacity that it provides the ATC absolutely no room to manoeuvre during bad weather, and flights get even more delayed.

If Mumbai and Delhi are at the top of the list for delayed arrivals, why are they not at the top of the list for delayed departures?

The clock gets reset to the revised departure time, due to the late arrival of the incoming aircraft. The departure time is measured when the airplane doors are closed. Airlines get their passengers on board, close the doors, and then wait for taxi clearance. Due to the traffic jam in the skies, you will find that your aircraft will taxi, and then wait in line, for a long time, to take-off.

Why is Bengaluru International Airport (BIA) at rank 4 in the Top 5 list of most delayed arrivals? Is it not an efficient airport?

BIA is an efficient airport, no doubt. I suspect three reasons. One is thrust on to BIA, one is temporary, and one needs to be addressed.

One, and this is the biggest reason, as the airport spokesperson said, Bangalore's dependence on trunk routes. i.e. Bangalore-Mumbai, Bangalore-Delhi, and more especially after the increase in fares, which dropped the bottom out of regional flights. Flights from Mumbai and Delhi, may leave their gate/stand on time, but get delayed in take-off. So the blame lands up on Bangalore's door-step for the late arrival. It is unfair.

Two, last year, when the new airport opened, there was massive disruption for about a month. I suspect this brought down the overall performance of Bangalore. On the positive side, everyone at BIA have been working very hard, and the kinks have been solved. I suspect Bangalore will be off the list in 2009.

Third, and I have highlighted it in my original post, is weather. Bangalore suffers from fog, between 15th November to 15th February, typically between 3AM and 8:30AM. 6AM to 10AM is peak period, and the fog impacts the performance of arriving and departing aircraft. While fog is limited to a short period in the year, the disruptions are significant enough, to lower the overall annual performance.

The Instrument Landing System at BIA, has been installed incorrectly. Despite being CAT-II capable, which will permit operations in poorer visibility conditions, the equipment is forced to function at CAT-I level. (For a better understanding of CAT levels please read this Wikipedia article).

How, the Airports Authority of India (AAI), which is responsible for the equipment, and has installed over a hundred ILS systems, managed this blunder, is beyond me. Repairs of the installation were to have been carried out during the first six months of operations, i.e. by end November 2008, but given the delays this winter season, they obviously have not.

What is the solution?

We all want to fly during the peak hours of 6AM and 10AM and 5PM and 7PM.

While domestic traffic has declined, the demand during peak hours is sharper. Now that the economy is in the tank, we want to reduce our costs and try and complete all our work in a day trip, or at least not waste the working hours, flying.

Mumbai and Delhi are still way too overloaded, especially during the peak period.

With overall reduction in air traffic and shrinking incomes, there is pressure from the private airport operators MIAL and DIAL, on the ATC to accommodate more flights, as they scramble to earn more income. I cannot fault them. They are in business for profit, not charity, but this adds to the problem.

This economic connection, is the single path to solutions.

The first part of the solution lies with the Directorate General for Civil Aviation (DGCA). It is time they woke up from their slumber, audit the airports, and allocate the maximum number of flights per hour. Any airport scheduling more flights than capacity pays a hefty fine, and is open to punitive law suits from delayed passengers for permitting flights greater than capacity.

To help the airports demand the needed reductions from the airlines, the second part of the solution lies in changing the system of flight slot allocations. India follows a system of "historic rights", i.e. once an airline gets a slot, then they continue to get that slot, till such time they revoke it. Which no airline ever does. Move to system of performance based allocation :

• If a flight gets delayed, they loose their place in the queue. Similar to an appointment at the doctor, wait for the next appointment to open up, rather than delaying everyone in the queue behind you.
• Mr. Airline you want a premium landing or take-off slot, pay a premium for it. Hey, but that is unfair to the low cost airlines ? Sorry, but life is not fair.

The airlines can recover the premiums they pay for the slot, from the passengers as a higher fare. They used to charge Rs. 150 ~ Rs. 300 "congestion surcharge", in any case. We passengers who are flying during peak hours, are already paying for them benefit.

Third, and this is partly under way, optimise the air traffic control system. Implement Gagan and the GBAS systems fast. Encourage airlines to use Performance Based Navigation (PBN), and reward those who do.

In the mean time, force the air traffic controllers and pilots to perform efficiently. Right now, the system calls for a two minute separation or 5 nautical miles (10km). World over airports function with a 90 second separation, some even at 60 seconds. A 25 per cent reduction in separation from 120 seconds to 90 seconds at the major airports, will result in a 50 per cent increase in capacity from 30 movements to 45 movements.

Pilots don't react fast enough in the sky, SPIN 'EM. They can land nice and easy sometime before the day is out. Foreign pilots cannot speak English fluently, DE-CERTIFY 'EM. They can fly in less congestion countries. Controllers cannot cope, TRANSFER 'EM. Let them go to nice and easy Jabalpur, Guwahati, or one of the smaller airports in India.

We risk a future similar to La Guardia airport, where the US Department of Transportation is forcing slot reductions, since the system cannot cope any more.

It is time for some radical solutions to this creaking system.

Lufthansa has opened its new design, super lounge for its premium passengers, in Terminal 1 at New York's John F. Kennedy airport. The new lounge is spread across 3 levels and has a total area of 1,500 square meters (about 16,000 square feet).

The highlight of the new lounge is the First Class area for HON Circle members and First Class passengers, located on the third level. The first outside the Lufthansa and SWISS hubs at Frankfurt, Munich and Zurich, it features an exclusive atmosphere, where First Class passengers and HON Circle members will find all the amenities they need in order to refresh themselves and unwind; or they can simply sit back and be spoilt by the attentive staff. The area has its own large reception desk, where guests are welcomed, and 27 comfortable chairs. In a separate pre-flight dinner area, guests can have a meal before their flight departs so that they can then sleep or relax on a night flight without any interruption. Generously proportioned shower rooms are also provided so that guests can freshen up before their flight.

The Senator Lounge on the second floor, which also reflects the elegant new lounge design, has 124 seats. Comfortable relaxing armchairs invite guests to unwind and recharge their batteries. In the bistro area, snacks, a choice selection of German wines, beers and spirits are served. The Senator Lounge also has comfortable bathrooms with bathtubs and showers.

On the lower floor, the completely renovated, spacious Business Lounge will accommodate up to 171 guests. It has a bistro and bar area offering a choice of snacks and drinks, a lounge area with groups of comfortable leather easy chairs and televisions and a separate work area with workstations for business travellers.

Oliver Wagner, Vice President Global Airport Products and Services at Lufthansa said

“The lounge at John F. Kennedy Airport is a walk-in advertisement for Lufthansa on the American continent and is an important component of our 150-million-euro investment programme to upgrade our lounges worldwide,” “In the first three months of this year alone, we will open seven lounges, including in Mumbai and Paris.”

Access to the Lufthansa lounge at JFK is directly behind the security checkpoints to minimise the distance lounge guests have to walk to the departure gates.

Lufthansa currently operates about 60 lounges worldwide with a total floor space of over 22,000 square metres. One entirely new facility is the first Lufthansa Welcome Lounge at Frankfurt, Lufthansa’s largest hub.

Until 2013, Lufthansa will be investing about 150 million euros in constructing new lounges and refurbishing existing ones in order to further expand and enhance its airport lounge facilities for customers.

Effective June 1, 2009, Delta Air Lines will change the aircraft and flight number on its Amsterdam to Mumbai service.

The current NW34/NW33 service operated by an Airbus A330-200 will be replaced by NW792/NW791 operated by a Boeing 767-300.

Singapore Airlines is reducing operations from Singapore to Mumbai and New Delhi, while Dragonair is cutting back on its Hong Kong Bangalore route.

Singapore - Mumbai
SQ422/SQ423, service is reduced from a daily to five a week (Daily except Tuesday and Thrursday) from February 9, 2009. Service operates with a Boeing 777-200.

Overall frequency to Mumbai reduced to 12 weekly from 14 weekly.

Singapore - Delhi
SQ406/SQ407, service reduced from a daily to six a week, operating Daily except Tuesday from February 6, 2009 to March 2, 2009. From March 3, 2009, service will operate Daily except Wednesday. Service operates with a Boeing 777-200

Overall frequency reduced to 13 weekly

Dragonair is reducing its Hong Kong - Bangalore service is reducing from a daily to five a week, operating daily except Thursday and Sunday, between February 9, 2009 and March 7, 2009. Service operates with an Airbus A330-300.

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.

Jet Airways has announced a basket of special deals on its international flights. Remember all fares mentioned herein are exclusive of surcharge and taxes.

Mumbai/Delhi/Chennai/Kolkata – Singapore/Hong Kong/Bangkok

Companion Free Offer on Premiére (business class)
Jet Airways’ international Premiére customers travelling to Singapore and Hong Kong can now avail of exciting Companion Free travel offers.

A Mumbai – Singapore Premiére return fare is available for two persons travelling together for a sum of INR 1,01,250. Hong Kong is INR 94,500, Bangkok is INR 57,065.

Jet also has Delhi – Bangkok, Delhi - Singapore, Chennai - Singapore, Chennai – Kuala Lumpur, and Kolkata – Bangkok sectors.

Special offers for individual travel
Premiére class return fare of INR 54,000 for Mumbai - Hong Kong.

Economy class return fare of INR 7,480 for travel between Mumbai – Singapore, INR 12,635 for Mumbai – Singapore, INR 9,750 Mumbai - Bangkok.

Mumbai/Delhi – London Heathrow

Special offers for individual travel
India and London Heathrow, a special return Premiére fare of INR 85,000 for a 14 day Advance Purchase or APEX. Economy class fares start at INR 15,990.

Double JPMiles
Jet Airways JetPrivilege members travelling on Mumbai/Delhi - London return sectors can earn Double JPMiles until January 15, 2009. This is applicable on First Class, Premiére and Economy class travel.

Mumbai – New York (Newark / JFK)

Special offer for individual travel
Mumbai - New York (Newark / JFK) Economy class return fare of INR 32,600.

For further information and sales and travel validity, customers may visit www.jetairways.com, or contact their nearest travel agent, or call the reservations number (city code) 3989-3333, or call Toll free on 1800-22-55-22.

At a time when airport authorities in Singapore, Thailand, Korea, and Taiwan, are reducing their airport charges to stimulate air travel, travellers flying from Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport (CSIA), Mumbai will pay more soon.

The Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) has recently sent a letter to the GVK promoted, Mumbai International Airport Limited (MIAL), allowing the airport operator to increase aeronautical charges by ten per cent which in turn will be passed on to the passengers.

Aeronautical charges comprise Passenger Service Fee (PSF) currently at Rs. 225, and aircraft landing and parking charges. According to a report in Economic Times, certain sources informed that MoCA has allowed MIAL to increase aeronautical charges by ten per cent effective January 1, 2009. MIAL has already issued a circular in this regard to airlines. A ten per cent increase in airport charges will add to about Rs 35 crore to the airport’s total annual revenue.

Passengers can expect a similar hike at New Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport operator, GMR promoted, Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL).

PTI reports, the engine of a Gulf Air Airbus A321 aircraft with 124 passengers and nine crew caught fire a few minutes prior to its take-off today, disrupting flight operations at the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport at Mumbai, for about an hour.

"The engine of the Bahrain-bound Gulf Air flight GF 065 caught fire just when it was lined up for departure," a spokeperson for airport operator Mumbai International Airport Limited (MIAL) said, adding that all the people on board the plane are safe.

The aircraft was scheduled to take-off at 19:21 (13:51 GMT)

Immediately, apron control and fire officials rushed to the runway and put out the fire, the spokesperson said.

As a result of the incident, two Air India flights scheduled to land had to make a"go-around" and circle in the skies for some time before the airport could resume full operations.

An Air India official said one of its Chennai-Mumbai flights was diverted to Pune in addition to a Delhi-Mumbai and Bangkok-Mumbai flight being forced to make a "go-around".

Kari Stolbow, Director-Indian Subcontinent, of Finnair informed that despite the economic crisis, the airline's plans for the Indian market for next year have not changed.

Finnair will increase its flights between Helsinki and New Delhi to a daily service and Mumbai to six days a week. Finnair will also replace their existing Boeing MD-11 aircraft on the India with Airbus A340.

Stolbow also said that Finnair will be looking at South Indian cities likes Bangalore and Chennai for later stage expansion, keeping in mind the market progress. Finnair has already indicated the bilateral agreement is impeding it.

Finnair is positioning itself as the fastest route between India and the United States other than a non-stop flight.