Foreign airlines flock to India, ignore global downturn

India is seen as a growing market for international airline traffic and the current market size is nearly $5 billion (Rs 21,000 cr) a year

They are cutting flights to several destinations in the wake of a worldwide slump in business, but international airlines are doing just the opposite in India because they believe the country’s international air traffic will only grow in the coming years.

Interestingly, this comes even as the domestic aviation business is going through a downturn.

Large carriers already operating here such as British Airways and Emirates are either increasing the number of flights to Indian cities they already fly to, or beginning to fly to new cities, while smaller players such RAK Airways and Garuda Indonesia are starting to fly into the country.

India is seen as a growing market for international airline traffic and the current market size is nearly $5 billion (Rs21,000 crore) a year, said a senior official with a foreign airline.

“India, with its huge middle-class population of over 250 million, is like an untapped gold mine,” said K. Ravindran, chief operating officer, RAK Airways, which started operations in India from April, flying between Kozhikode and Ras al-Khaimah in the United Arab Emirates. “With its present international travel market not even covering 2% of the population, the country offers large opportunities for airlines. India is an important geographic area in all our future network plans.”

ON THE RADAR

Kapil Kaul, chief executive officer (Indian subcontinent and West Asia) of consulting firm Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation, said India is a critical destination for international airlines based on the “various dynamics of competition and consolidation of their network”.

“So, when a rebound happens there (in global markets), these carriers will have an advantage as they would have already built capacities in India,” he added.

Deutsche Lufthansa AG, Singapore Airlines Ltd, Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd, British Airways Plc. (BA) and Emirates are in the process of increasing the frequency of their flights and connecting new destinations here.

Hong Kong Dragon Airlines Ltd (an affiliate of Cathay Pacific), Saudi Arabia’s Sama LelTayaran Co. Ltd (popularly known as Sama), and AirAsia Berhad are also launching operations in the country.

This surge, Kaul said, is also because international airlines are trying to gain a foothold in the India-bound market before domestic private carriers Jet Airways (India) Ltd and Kingfisher Airlines Ltd grow into a threat.

Jet launched its international operations in 2004 and Kingfisher will start flying overseas routes from September.

“Other reasons include a nearly liberalized bilateral government policy with other countries and sustained economic growth amidst recession,” he added.

For instance, Emirates, which recently increased the frequency of its Delhi-Dubai flights, is readying for another round of expansion by increasing the number of flights to Hyderabad and Bangalore from October.

Singapore Airlines is also adding five flights on its Delhi-Singapore sector from September, taking its total flights to Indian cities to 63.

“We will be adding two more flights in Bangalore as India is our key market,” said Gunjn Chanana, public relations manager for India at Singapore Airlines, without disclosing the airline’s growth rates here. “We believe there is potential (for more) growth.”

“India today is by far the largest single market for Qatar Airways with a network of nine cities, which represents more than 10% of our global network of 83 international routes,” said Qatar Airways’ chief executive officer Akbar Al Baker in an email.

Qatar Airways added Kozhikode as its ninth destination in India in June.

The global aviation industry is waging a losing battle against rising aviation fuel costs, which have increased 30% this year.

However, international airlines expect potential passenger growth from India to nullify the impact over the long term.

“For example, we have registered a load factor of 86% during the first half of this year in the India-Sharjah sector,” said Housam Raydan, corporate communications manager, Air Arabia PJSC which operates 86 flights a week between Sharjah and India.

Much of the rise in international air travel from India is driven by traffic to South-East Asian countries, while demand for destinations in the US, Australia and New Zealand is also increasing.

“The overall (number of) Indian arrivals to Malaysia from January to May 2008 is 234,245, a growth of 32.5% from last year. Similarly, Singapore has also witnessed above-average growth,” said Neelu Singh, chief operating officer, Ezeego1.com, a Mumbai-based online travel agency.

Naresh Goyal, founder chairman of Jet Airways, had said in an earlier conversation with Mint that Indian airlines pose a serious threat to international carriers on account of the quality of their service.

He had added that Jet, which earns nearly half of its operating revenues from international operations, would extend its global reach to other cities in North America, Europe, Africa and Asia in phases.

“However, international carriers will have to be a bit cautious in increasing their capacities considering the current downturn,” said Wolfgang Prock-Schauer, chief executive officer of Jet Airways.

His warning holds merit as three carriers—Linee Aeree Italiane SpA (Alitalia), Eva Air (Taiwan) and British Midland Airways Ltd—have suspended their Indian operations over the past two years, because of intense competition.

Ryanair Ltd, United Air Lines Inc., US Airways Inc., Qantas Airways Ltd and BA have either deferred, or cancelled their international flights to various cities owing to the high jet fuel prices.

Source : The Mint

New Bangalore airport faces probe by legislators
August 10th, 2008 ICT by IANs

By Vishwanath Karnic

Bangalore, Aug 10 (IANS) The two-month old Bangalore international airport, a Rs. 25-billion ($625-million) greenfield project, faces a probe by a Karnataka legislators’ panel over alleged deviation in design and lack of sufficient facilities for passengers as well as visitors. “The new airport is no better than an ordinary bus stand”, “It is substandard”, “There is no proper seating arrangements for passengers and visitors” - these are the terms in which state legislators and ministers describe the new airport.

A consortium of Unique Zurich Airport, Siemens Project Ventures and Larsen & Toubro (L&T) has built the airport, with the Airports Authority of India (AAI) and the Karnataka government as minority stakeholders.

“There has been deviation from the architecture, style and design. It does not add to the image of Bangalore. There are no proper facilities for passengers and visitors,” Congress legislator D.K. Shivakumar, who raised the issue in the state assembly last week, told IANS.

Legislators from other parties supported him. The Bharatiya Janata Party government agreed to set up a committee of members from both the assembly and the council to probe the lapses. The panel is to be set up soon.

“I have raised the issue based on my personal experience at the airport and also because of complaints I have received from several people,” Shivakumar said.

“As a representative of the people I cannot sit quietly,” he said when asked why the alleged deviation and lack of facilities are being raised now, more than two months after the airport began operations.

“I am a former urban development minister. The design of the airport is different from what was approved,” Shivakumar charged.

When asked if there was any scope to change the design now, he insisted: “There are lots of possibilities to improve. It can be done. The legislators’ panel will decide that.”

On Wednesday Minister for IT and BT, Katta Subramanya Naidu, called the new airport, about 40 km north of the city centre, “a poor cousin to other airports of international standards, including the New Delhi and Hyderabad airports.

“The new airport was expected to enhance Bangalore’s image and also that of Karnataka. But it is nowhere near the expectation one had from it.”

He said if the airport management does not upgrade the facilities to international standards, the state government may invite others to take up the job.

While the management declined comment on the move for a probe by the legislators’ panel and Naidu’s near-threat, the response from industry and trade organisations was lukewarm.

“It is a ticklish question. It is better if we leave these issues to the judgement of users,” said D. Muralidhar, president of the Federation of Karnataka Chambers of Commerce and Industry.

“Personally I think facilities are good. However, scope for improvement is always there,” he said.

“It is a new airport. Some questions (regarding facilities) do get raised when we tend to compare it with other international airports. At the same time we need to understand that facilities are far better than at the old airport,” Muralidhar said.

T. Ramappa, secretary general of the Bangalore Chamber of Industry and Commerce, shared Muralidhar’s views.

“Personally I don’t think it is so bad,” he said.

“I have used it twice and I did not have any problems. Of course there certainly is room for improvement,” Ramappa said.

The airport began operations May 24 after three failed starts in the previous two months. The promoter operator - Bangalore International Airport Ltd (BIAL) — had to settle for a soft launch because the Election Commission’s model code of conduct was in force as assembly elections were on in Karnataka.

Marred by controversies, litigations, protests and cost over-runs, the much-awaited launch was put off thrice (March 28, May 11 and May 23) due to delays in setting up the air traffic control, training operators, government clearances and finally the poll panel’s directive.

With the opening of the new airport, the 50-year-old state-run Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) airport in the city was shut for civilian traffic despite protests by corporate honchos of the new economy against its closure.

However, Naidu said the state government will ensure HAL airport stays as there are a number of cities with two airports. “We will take up the matter with the central government,” he said.

According to the Concession Agreement between BIAL promoters and the Indian government no airport can operate within 150 km of the new Bangalore international airport.

Longest range commercial jetliner will connect Atlanta to one of world’s fastest-growing economies

Boeing 777-200 Long Range aircraft features lie-flat seats in Delta’s BusinessElite class

ATLANTA, Aug. 7, 2008 – Delta Air Lines (NYSE: DAL) today announced a new daily nonstop flight between Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport and Mumbai, India, starting Nov. 1, 2008*. The new flight will connect the world’s largest airport with one of the world’s fastest-growing economies.

Delta’s recently acquired Boeing 777-200 Long Range (LR) aircraft will make the 17-hour, 55-minute westbound nonstop flight possible. The world’s longest range commercial jetliner bolsters Delta’s ability to connect customers and cargo between virtually any two cities around the globe, nonstop.

Delta’s first two 777-200LRs joined the fleet earlier this year as the first of 10 such models to be delivered through 2010. Since April, these aircraft have been serving the New York-JFK-Mumbai route, which will be discontinued with the start of nonstop service between Atlanta and Mumbai.

“The size and scope of Delta’s operations at our Atlanta hub are best suited for the capacity of the 777-200LR in terms of cargo and passenger lift,” said Glen Hauenstein, executive vice president – Network and Revenue Management. “Serving Mumbai from Atlanta will allow us to optimize the route thanks to the approximately 150 U.S. destinations to which Mumbai customers will be able to connect, as well as the more than 30 easy connections available to and from Latin America and the Caribbean.”

With the new service, Delta will offer customers nonstop service to 78 international destinations from Atlanta, including service recently announced or inaugurated between Atlanta and Shanghai, China; London-Heathrow, England; Stockholm, Sweden; and Kuwait City, Kuwait (effective Nov. 7).

Delta’s schedule between Atlanta and Mumbai will be:

Flight	Departs	Arrives	Frequency
DL 184	Atlanta at 7:15 p.m.	Mumbai at 10:35 p.m.**	Daily
DL 185	Mumbai at 1:05 a.m.	Atlanta at 8:30 a.m.	Daily

** arrives the next day

The 777-200LR is the flagship aircraft for Delta’s global product, including fully horizontal personal sleeper suites in BusinessElite®, next-generation, more comfortable seats in coach, and Delta’s on-demand entertainment system on larger screens at every seat.

BusinessElite customers flying on the 777-200LR enjoy:

• Reclining seats that adjust to multiple comfortable positions, including a completely flat 6-foot 3-inch bed;
• Privacy screens incorporating pull-out meal table, fold-out 10.6-inch personal video screen, integrated footrest and personal stowage compartment for bags, shoes or blankets;
• Immediate access to the aisle so customers do not have to disturb another passenger when exiting their seat; and
• USB ports offering charging ability for laptops and MP3 players.

Customers flying BusinessElite on any Delta international aircraft enjoy Delta on Demand featuring first-run and popular classic movies, music, TV programming and video games – all available on demand; a five-course menu offering culinary creations by celebrity chef Michelle Bernstein, including an appetizer, soup or salad, and choice of four entrees (including a vegetarian selection); a reinvented wine program launched in February by Master Sommelier Andrea Robinson featuring wines from around the world; new full-size pillows, duvets; modern and stylish dinnerware; and in-seat power outlets that allow customers to recharge their laptops.

Delta’s 777-200LR aircraft offers customers flying in coach comfortable new, all leather slim-line seats each with on-demand music, movies, games and television on individual 9-inch video monitors. Delta is the first airline to offer the sleek, new, leading-edge seats from Weber Aircraft LP, offering up to 1.5 inches of increased personal space, additional under-seat storage, and ergonomically-designed cushions.

Delta Air Lines operates service to more worldwide destinations than any airline with Delta and Delta Connection flights to 312 destinations in 61 countries. Delta has added more international capacity than any major U.S. airline during the last two years and is the leader across the Atlantic with flights to 44 trans-Atlantic markets. To Latin America and the Caribbean, Delta offers 393 weekly flights to 47 destinations. Delta's marketing alliances also allow customers to earn and redeem SkyMiles on more than 16,000 flights offered by SkyTeam and other partners. Delta is a founding member of SkyTeam, a global airline alliance that provides customers with extensive worldwide destinations, flights and services. Including its SkyTeam and worldwide codeshare partners, Delta offers flights to 500 worldwide destinations in 105 countries. Customers can check in for flights, print boarding passes, check bags and flight status at delta.com.

*Subject to foreign government approval

WINE PRICES IN BANGALORE HEADED INTO THE STRATOSPHERE !

You might be surprised at a wine article in my aviation blog, but wine is a subject close to my heart.

The convoluted alcoholic beverages policy in India, makes each state, akin to another country, each with their own cumbersome taxes and regulations. The recent collapse of the Doha round of trade talks was not the only failure last month. A trade war is growing between the three wine producing states in India, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Goa, and it is going to send prices of Indian wines up by 46% ~ 100%, in Karnataka. Unfortunately, unlike the world which has the World Trade Organisation, India has no mechanism for settling economic wars between states.

Bangaloreans, along with the rest of India, are increasingly taking to wine as their drink of choice. It is more healthy, low impact, goes great with food, and more fashionable. What ever the reason, the market is growing about 20% year on year. In 2007-8, about 56,225 cases of wine were sold in Karnataka, almost all of it in Bangalore. This does not include the Goan Port "Wines". As consumers' wine tastes evolve, they gravitate from the cheap and cheerful variety to the mid-range and higher quality.

Maharashtra is India's California; the leading producer of wines. About 18 "non-Karnataka", Indian wine producers, Sula, Indage, Reveilo, Nine Hills, Mandala Valley, Big Banyan, sell their wines in Karnataka. There are two wine producers in Karnataka, Grover and Naka, and about 27 foreign (Non-Indian) wine producers whose products are available in Bangalore.

(Click on image for a larger image)

A few years ago, the Government of Maharashtra imposed a special tax of 150% on wines “imported” into the state from outside Maharashtra. It was a purely political decision done at the behest of one of India's most influential politicians in India, who has, for long, been reportedly, the major player in the wine-grape farming and wine producing industry in Maharashtra. The 150% tax made non-Maharashtra wines more expensive in the state. The wine producers of Karnataka, found it hard to compete in Mumbai, the capital of Maharashtra, but more importantly, the economic capital of India.

There have been half-hearted attempts by the Karnataka Government to resolve this issue with their Maharashtra counter-parts. The lack of genuine desire, urgency, or sensibility, on both sides, expectedly, has not yielded positive results. While, I will be the first to say, the nasty actions of Maharashtra deserve a response, the recent actions of the Karnataka Government, are equally nasty. Two wrongs do not make a right.

Effective August 1, 2008, the Karnataka government started levying a tax, just as offensive, to the one in Maharashtra, on all wines of Indian origin “imported” into Karnataka. The new levy raises the import fee on wine from outside Karnataka from Rs. 10 to Rs. 300 per bulk litre, an increase of Rs 217.50 per bottle!!!! Add to this other levies and margins that will subsequently accrue, the final retail price to consumers will rise by approx Rs 250~280 per bottle.

55% of all wine sold in Karnataka is currently priced between Rs. 350 - Rs. 550 a bottle. The increase translates to a 46% - 100% increase in final price. Lower priced, entry level, wines like UB's Zinzi will see their prices go up over 100% from Rs. 250 to Rs. 500~530 per bottle. Dr. Mallya’s fledgling Indian wine business (Zinzi) will be hit hard, in his home town of Bangalore, since all his Indian wines are produced in Maharashtra.

(Click on image for a larger image)

The wines produced by Grover's and Naka in Karnataka, will be spared the tax. I wonder how long will they maintain their original price. Like any opportunistic business house, I am sure they will slip in a few price increases since their competition is more expensive by Rs. 250.

Another most unfortunate consequence: as the entry-level wines will rise 100% in prices, many prospective wine drinkers, who were just taking to wine, will decide wine is suddenly too rich for their blood, and give healthy wine-drinking a go-by, reverting back to high impact spirits.

Observing the antics of their fellow Governments in Maharashtra and Karnataka, the Government of Goa is now talking about similar "protection" for its wine producers and growers.

The market place, consumers and producers, determine usage. Government can implement rules of conduct (procedures) but no one, including the self-proclaimed smartest people in the world, often found working in government, can accurately predict a marketplace. The market place determines itself.

The majority of the wine producers in this country are going to take a hit – the emerging wine drinking segment will take a hit – the retailing industry will take a hit. Even the wine producers of Karnataka will be hit. To get around the new levy Maharashtra wine producers will set up wineries in Karnataka state. There is simply not enough wine-grape grown in Karnataka to meet the needs of the state. Existing farmers will be tempted away from their existing contracts with Grovers and Naka to supply the newcomers.

The only “good news” in this sorry saga ? Fearing the wrath of the WTO, the new Karnataka levy does not apply to foreign wines. With the new higher prices of the non-Karnataka wines, many of the Australian, Chilean, South African, Spanish, and Argentinian wines will now look quite attractive. This retrograde step is helping the foreign brands, while sticking a most cruel knife into the heart of the Indian wine business. How many wineries will close, and as a result farmers going bankrupt, as sales drop and mayhem prevails ?

This squabble, in many ways, reminds me of the days of the British Raj. While the Indian states are busy fighting each other, the winners are the foreign wines.

I wonder if Indian wine producers can go to the WTO and beg for protection from their own governments.

Thanks to Stanley Pinto for the inspiration and some of the data.

As my final post for the month of July, I reproduce a touching example of the revolutionary change occurring within the aviation sector in India. Indian Airlines is 100% government owned, and has mended its ways thanks to the competition from private sector airlines. A similar revolution has already occurred at the state owned BSNL, who is competing head on with the private telecom providers, and all the state owned banks, who are competing with their private counterparts.

It is time the mandarins at Rajiv Gandhi Bhavan free NACIL (Air India and Indian Airlines) and the Airport Authority of India from their clutches. They will compete and effectively.

Devesh
----------------------------------------------------
A quiet revolution in service delivery ?
31 Jul, 2008,
Arvind Panagariya,

The events preceding the recent trust vote in the Parliament — the chanting, the shouting, the waving of wads of cash, and the display of total contempt for the country’s highest office expressed in the hissing and heckling that forced the prime minister to table rather than deliver his speech — point to virtual chaos in governance. Daily reports of rapidly deteriorating law and order situation in our major cities reinforce this picture.

Yet, within the complex democracy that is India, this image masks some dramatic improvements under way. The entry of multiple private-sector players into areas that were previously monopolised or dominated by the government is bringing a quiet revolution in service delivery.

Traditionally, Indians seeking service have approached the man behind the desk with great apprehension: Should they plead with him? Should they consider bribing him? Perhaps an aggressive approach involving a physical threat would do the trick? Or may be they should find a “connection” to bring pressure from the top?

But thanks to freer private-sector entry, this tyranny of the man behind the desk is beginning to give way to a culture of service with smile. This realisation came to me during a recent visit to India that involved a lecture tour in four cities in as many days.

My first two stops — Hyderabad and Bangalore — brought me to dazzling new airports built to international standards. I had read much about the woes of the journey between each of these airports and the city they served. But less than one hour between Rajiv Gandhi International Airport and the heart of Hyderabad and approximately one hour and fifteen minutes between Bengaluru International Airport and the city centre of Bangalore seemed no worse to me than the time taken going from the JFK Airport to Manhattan or from Narita Airport to Tokyo.

My third stop was Chennai, which too was smooth. But my luck seemed to turn for the worse as I began my journey to Jaipur via Mumbai. Upon arrival at Chennai airport, I learned that my Jet Air flight to Mumbai had been discontinued a week earlier. With no contact number at hand, the airline had been unable to inform me of the change.

So I suddenly found myself at the mercy of the “man behind the (Jet Air) desk.” But much to my surprise and comfort, he booked me on an Indian Airlines flight that would bring me to Mumbai well in time to make the connection to my Jet Air flight to Jaipur. He got me the Indian Airlines boarding pass and also issued the boarding pass for Jet Air flight from Mumbai to Jaipur. All I had to do was wait.

As luck would have it, the Indian Airlines flight also got delayed. By the time I arrived in Mumbai, I was left with only 35 minutes to catch the flight to Jaipur. It looked hopeless: my checked bag was yet to come and I also needed to transfer from Terminal 1A to Terminal 1B. In desperation, I caught hold of the first ground staff I could spot. He turned out to be from Kingfisher.

The young man nevertheless walked me to the nearest Indian Airlines office. That office was meant to deal with lost baggage and not flight connections. Yet, the woman in charge immediately called Jet Air to alert them that I was on my way. Sadly, Jet Air responded in the negative: I was too late to make the connection.

But the woman urged me to pick up my luggage and rush to Terminal 1B anyway since flights can experience last minute delay. Thanks to the efficiency of luggage handlers at the airport, by the time I walked back to the luggage area, my bag had arrived. I loaded it on a cart and rushed to Terminal 1B. With multiple counters open, I could walk straight to one of them and display the boarding pass issued in Chennai. “The woman behind the desk” immediately called the staff at the gate and successfully persuaded it to let me in. Alongside, she had me run and get the luggage scanned, checked it in and asked an employee to rush me through the security and thence to the gate. To my sheer pleasure, I (and my luggage) arrived in Jaipur as planned.

It is unlikely that this episode could have occurred in the pre-liberalisation era. The happy outcome required swift movement of luggage from the plane to the arrival area and assistance of employees of an airline and a department that had no direct responsibility to me.

Sceptics would undoubtedly say that this episode relates to an industry in which only the well off benefit, with the common man continuing to suffer the same old fate. There are three responses to this argument. First, the process of improved service delivery must begin somewhere. We should not let the best be the enemy of good.

Second, ordinary folks are not as untouched from the pleasures of superior delivery as sceptics would have us believe. In Jaipur, my brother-in-law, a middle-class Indian, could scarcely stop talking about the excellent service he was experiencing at a new private-sector bank. In turn, his wife had stories of great service combined with low prices of fruits and vegetables at a recently opened supermarket. To these, I may add the dramatic benefits of improved and expanded telecommunications service benefiting virtually all.

Finally, it is only through demonstration in some sectors that we will bring pressure on service providers in other sectors (including public sector) to mend their ways. Already, public sector providers in banking, telecommunications and airlines have had to adjust their attitudes under competition from their private sector rivals. Under the able leadership of Lalu Prasad Yadav, even railways, a public monopoly, has become customer friendly. And the day may not be far when providers of electricity, water, education, health and even law and order will feel the heat.

(The author is a professor at Columbia and Non-resident Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution.)

Source : The Economic Times

Leave three hours to get there…

By Saritha Rai
Wednesday 30 July 2008

There were high hopes for Bangalore's multimillion dollar air hub, which opened in May. But locating it in a near wilderness without a decent road was not a great start, says Saritha Rai.

Raghu Shenoy, chief executive of a small Bangalore IT services firm, thinks nothing of jumping on a plane to see a client. If a customer wants a face-to-face meeting, Shenoy will be in Europe in less than 24 hours.

But he quails at the prospect of using Bangalore's new international airport. Even the businesses that lobbied for its creation are hardly breaking out the champagne.

For a start, despite a decade of planning, no one appears to have thought about how to reach the glass-and-steel structure. The $620m airport opened at the end of May, apparently in the middle of nowhere and without a new road link.

Shenoy's company has its headquarters in the gigantic Electronics City, a pristine suburban technology park, where neighbours include India's leading outsourcing companies such as Infosys Technologies and Wipro.

From Electronics City, the 65km trip to the airport can take three hours, outstripping the charge on most laptop batteries.

While top executives can use the expensive helicopter ferry service launching soon, others are obliged to factor in a five-hour lead time before boarding even 30- to 50-minute short-haul flights to neighbouring tech cities such as Chennai and Hyderabad.

Shenoy gets all the way to London from Bangalore in about twice the time his colleagues take to travel to the airport to catch a domestic flight.

The new airport was first conceived 17 years ago, when Bangalore was not even a blip on the globalisation map. In the past decade, as the government dithered monumentally, the city has turned into a verb - being "Bangalored" means your job is being offshored - and air traffic to and from the city had grown some 300 per cent, far above initial projections.

Dozens of multinationals such as Google, HSBC, IBM, Microsoft and Tesco have large operations in the city.

This year, some 11 million passengers will fly in and out of the airport and the technology outsourcing industry will account for a chunk of that.

Yet if air traffic growth has been fuelled by the business traveller, why is the new airport located in near wilderness, far from these businesses?

But then nothing has come easily for the technology industry in Bangalore. For want of a public transport system in the city, companies such as Wipro and Infosys run a fleet of hundreds of private buses to ferry employees to the workplace and back.

Faced with Bangalore's notorious power shutdowns, many run their own power-generating plants.

When hotel rooms in the city got scarce and exorbitant, some IT companies set up hotels on campus for their visitors. To spare thousands of their employees from getting stuck in the never-ending traffic jams that choke the arterial road taking them to Electronics City, companies are chipping in to fund the government's project to build an elevated expressway.

And yet, for businesses that pushed for the new airport, the frustrations are endless. For the best part of the ride to the airport, commuters have to jostle with fume-spewing three-wheelers, bikes, buses, cyclists and, as in most Indian cities, the odd stray animal.

Once out of the city and on to the speedier highway, drivers have to watch for pedestrians - workers from factories, inhabitants of the villages dotting the fringes of the expressway - darting across the high-speed stretch.

Traffic police work the route, not directing traffic but stopping pedestrians from hurtling into the path of vehicles speeding towards the airport.

The airport's swanky façade is attracting oglers from nearby villages, all trying to peer through the glass. Inside, commuters are less impressed.

When Shenoy arrived at the airport last month to board a night flight to London, he found the business class lounge overflowing even at midnight. Passengers have plenty of complaints: the aerobridges don't work, the wi-fi goes on and off, and the lavatories smell.

Certainly, the new facility is an improvement on the embarrassment that was Bangalore's old airport. In the words of a frequent traveller, it resembled a Greyhound bus station in a US town rather than an airport.

The airport was so cramped that the wait to clear immigration and customs and to retrieve baggage was interminable. Travellers eventually found their way out, only to be hounded by private taxi operators who fell on them like a pack of wolves.

The new airport with its 53 check-in counters and 2,500-vehicle car park is an improvement. But commuting three hours for a 40-minute flight is no one's idea of good connectivity. Harried techies are clamouring for the old airport to be reopened at least for domestic flights.

Bangalore's airport was conceived so it could give this otherwise gung-ho tech city an infrastructure edge and signal a change in its dodgy traffic and transport systems.

Now, the local talk is that it's only a matter of time before even obscure Chinese cities, wannabe Bangalores, plan and pull off better airports.

Source : Silicon.com
Story URL: http://management.silicon.com/itdirector/0,39024673,39265482,00.htm

India set to sign liberal aviation pact with EU

NEW DELHI: Indian airlines are set to get an improved access to European destinations. A liberal aviation pact between India and the European Union (EU) is on the cards, which will enable this as well as give EU carriers better access to India. In a way, the pact will work like an ‘open skies’ agreement between India and the EU.

According to civil aviation ministry sources, Indian carriers will get to operate a virtually unrestricted number of flights to European destinations like London, Paris and Frankfurt.

They can also enter into code-share pacts with European carriers without seeking government approval. On a reciprocal basis, European carriers will also get similar market access to India and be able to ink pacts with Indian counterparts without going through elaborate government clearances.

The proposed horizontal aviation agreement between the two sides provides far more flexibility than the air service arrangements being pursued by India with individual EU members. The liberal aviation pact between two of the world’s largest trading partners is expected to be signed in September when prime minister Manmohan Singh visits France to participate in the India-EU summit.

“Germany and the UK have already agreed to the terms of the proposed agreement. We are expected to negotiate with other member states as well shortly. The agreement is expected to be signed during the PM’s visit to France in September this year,” a civil aviation ministry official said.

The EU has similar agreements with China and the US. Currently, 26 bilateral air services agreements exist between EU members and India. The horizontal agreement between India and the 26-member EU would also allow people from either side to book an integrated ticket for travelling by different modes of transport.

It will also ensure technical co-operation between the two sides in areas like aviation safety, security and traffic management.

The proposed pact between the sides would remove nationality restrictions (from the EU side) in the bilateral air services agreements between EU members and India. This will allow any designated airline from the member states and India to operate flights to each other’s territory where a bilateral agreement with India exists and traffic rights are available.

The agreement will also pave the way for routing flexibility to European carriers, which means designated carriers of different countries may use each other’s traffic rights. For example, if a designated French carrier exhausts all its bilateral traffic rights with India, it can still operate additional services using traffic rights of the Netherlands.

But this comes with a rider—the French airline would have to operate from the country whose rights are being used.

It’s estimated that US and EU traffic constitutes about 30% of India’s total international air traffic.

Source : The Economic Times