Delta expands service at Boston

By BA Staff

Delta Air Lines will increase service at Boston's Logan International Airport with daily year-round and seasonal service to the following seven destinations, including three new markets.

Their services will include:

• New daily service to Jacksonville, Fla. and Richmond, Va., operated by Delta Connection carrier Endeavor Air using 76-seat, two-class CRJ-900s, effective March 3, 2014 and March 6, 2014
• New service to Las Vegas with three flights per week operating a Boeing 737-800, effective March 6, 2014
• Expanding service to Los Angeles with one additional flight for a total of two daily operating a Boeing 737-800, effective April 7, 2014
• New Saturday-only summer seasonal service to Nassau, Bahamas, operated by Delta Connection carrier Shuttle America using 76-seat, two-class E-175s as well as the Providenciales, Turks and Caicos Islands using an Airbus 320, effective March 8, 2014
• Extended service to Cancun, previously scheduled to end April 26, 2014, now ending Aug. 30, 2014

Bob Cortelyou, senior vice president –Network Planning said:

"We continue to see a growing demand in Boston and increased flights next year will give our customers more direct service at more convenient times. Boston is a key domestic city in our network, and we are committed to providing service that continues to keep us the preferred airline of our customers."

Delta and joint venture partner, Virgin Atlantic, recently announced they will coordinate schedules and retime their respective Boston to Heathrow flights.

Delta currently operates 70 peak-day departures from Logan International Airport to 16 nonstop destinations.

Read more »

Emirates announces new service to Boston

by Vinay Bhaskara

Image Credit: Devesh Agarwal ~ Bangalore Aviation

Middle Eastern carrier Emirates has continued its rapid expansion into the North American market by announcing the commencement of daily nonstop services between its global hub at Dubai and Boston to commence from 10th March, 2014. The new flights will be served using Emirates' Boeing 777-200LR aircraft, seating 266 passengers in a three class configuration (8F / 42J / 216Y). Flight schedules for the new route are as follow:

Route	Depart	Arrive	Frequency
DXB-BOS	0945	1515	Daily
BOS-DXB	2255	1910	Daily

Boston becomes Emirates' eighth US destination after New York JFK, Dallas-Fort Worth, Seattle-Tacoma, Washington Dulles, Houston, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. The airline has announced a plan to more than double the number of routes it serves in the United States over the next three to five years to 15 routes. In October, they will launch a third daily service to New York JFK via Milan's Malpensa International Airport.

As with many of Emirates' North American services, the new route will draw heavily on origin and destination traffic to and from the Indian subcontinent. Nearly 200 daily passengers traveled between Boston and India in each direction in 2011, much of it high-yielding business traffic in the information technology (IT) sector). And for Emirates, India represents nearly 12% of its network traffic.

Read more »

Analysis: Delta-Virgin Atlantic tie up does little to enhance Indian connectivity for either carrier

by Vinay Bhaskara

Image by, and copyright Devesh Agarwal. Used with permission.

Earlier this week, Atltanta-based full service carrier Delta Air Lines and London based Virgin Atlantic Airways announced that their application for a code share and joint venture partnership on trans-Atlantic flights had been approved by antitrust authorities in both the United States and European Union.

The deal, in which SkyTeam member Delta will purchase a 49% stake in Virgin Atlantic previously owned by Singapore Airlines, covers 108 routes, 91 by Delta, and 17 by Virgin Atlantic. According to the press release put out by Virgin Atlantic, the deal offers the following benefits for customers.

The agreement includes the following customer benefits:

• Virgin Atlantic customers will now enjoy a vast network of connecting North American destinations while Delta customers will gain an additional six daily frequencies between London to New York

• SkyMiles and Flying Club loyalty programs that will offer up to 125% tier bonus miles* to frequent fliers on all Delta and Virgin Atlantic flights - not just those within the codeshare agreement

• Reciprocal Delta Sky Club and Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse access at applicable airports for Upper Class and BusinessElite passengers and Flying Club Gold members and SkyMiles Platinum and Diamond members

• Priority check-in, boarding, baggage handling and additional baggage allowance on all Virgin Atlantic and Delta operated flights worldwide - not just those within the codeshare agreement - for Virgin Atlantic Upper Class and Flying Club Gold members as well as Delta BusinessElite and SkyMiles Gold, Platinum and Diamond members

This is all pretty standard fare for these types of joint venture agreements, though the reciprocal frequent flyer benefits are better than those for most of Delta's partners in the SkyTeam alliance. The benefits will kick in on July 3rd, and will hopefully mark better times for Virgin Atlantic after two straight years of massive losses and increased pressure from rival British Airways at their core hub at London Heathrow.

However, looking at the deal from an Indian consumer's perspective, it adds very little to the existing offerings for both carriers in the India-USA market. Delta Air Lines currently operates a daily flight between Amsterdam and Mumbai, which is fed by its myriad services between the US and Amsterdam. The deal with Virgin Atlantic does nothing to affect the existing Delta service one way or the other.

However, the deal does open up the potential for Delta to add London as an European connecting point for flights to India along with the existing Amsterdam and Paris Charles de Gaulle points, as well as for Virgin Atlantic to enhance its US-India connectivity on existing flights to and from India. However, the schedules just don't bear this out. First of all, the Delhi flights are poorly timed to connect with the additional Delta flights in either direction. The 5:55 pm arrival into Heathrow means that there are no connections possible onto Delta flights; the last Delta departure from Heathrow is 5:10 pm. In the other direction, every Delta arrival into Heathrow is before 12:15 pm, yet the Delhi flight does not depart till 10:00 pm. That 10 hour (minimum) layover simply is not competitive with the quick connections offered by the Middle East Big 3 competition.

In terms of Mumbai, the arrival into Heathrow at 7:55 am allows for relatively effective connections to New York JFK, Minneapolis, and Atlanta, but not Boston or Detroit (the switch from Terminal 4 to Terminal 3 requires passengers to clear security again at Heathrow, adding time to connections). The departure from Heathrow to Mumbai at 10:35 am allows for connections from Boston, New York JFK, and Atlanta, but not from Detroit or Minneapolis. Furthermore, these destinations already have easy access to Mumbai services via Amsterdam.

So in the short term, the Delta-Virgin Atlantic tie up has limited effect on the Indian market. However, it could push Virgin Atlantic to re-time its Delhi and Mumbai operations (creating a red-eye at Delhi?), which would only make Virgin Atlantic's Indian presence more competitive.

Read more »

Trip report: Air Canada Executive First Boeing 777 Frankfurt Toronto, 767 Ottawa London Heathrow

On a recent trip from Bangalore to Dallas-Fort Worth I flew Air Canada international for the first time in my life.

The first trip was from Frankfurt to Toronto Pearson on their Boeing 777-300ER and thanks to mother nature, and two very efficient and caring customer service executives at United and Air Canada in Boston, from Ottawa to London Heathrow in the Boeing 767-300ER.

Air Canada Executive First Suites on their two class Boeing 777-300ERs

Both trips were in the Executive First Suites cabin product which the crew call "The Pods". On the 777s the mini-suite seats are found in the airline's two-class 777-300ER and all 777-200LR aircraft, in a four abreast 1-2-1 configuration, while on the 767 and A330 they are in a 1-1-1 three abreast configuration. 

Frankfurt to Toronto. AC873. Depart 10:00 Arrive 12:15. All times local.
Boeing 777-300ER. C-FITW. Seat 1K. 29-Apr-2013.

Air Canada Executive First Seat 1K on the two class Boeing 777-300ER

The seats open out to 191cm (6’3") long in lie-flat mode, and is 53cm (21") wide. Each pod is equipped with a 30 cm (12") touch-screen TV married to an Audio-Video On Demand (AVOD) in-flight entertainment (IFE) system, and fitted with noise-cancelling Sennheiser headphones. The seats also offer a single-pin audio jack for your own headset. Pillows and a duvet are standard.

Seat 1K on the 77W lacks a window. Comfort of the seat is good. Lots of nooks for storing small items. Can get confusing for the first timer. Did not notice the plugged in Sennheiser noise cancelling headsets in the nook to the right of the seat. Fresh foam covers for the speakers are provided. Also did not notice the bottle of water tucked in left nook (see the second seat in the picture above). The amenity kit is minimal and nothing to write home about.

The seat has nice padding not too firm, and not too soft. I had a comfortable sleep, though, thanks to my excessive international travels back in the 1990s and early 2000s, my sleep patterns are permanently damaged and I cannot sleep for long periods of time.

The "pods" offer a sense of privacy, but are completely individual traveller focussed. There were some couples travelling on the flight and they had to keep getting up to talk to each other. Also the mini-suites do not offer too much of a window view, so any claustrophobia gets magnified.

Was offered the obligatory hot towel, and it was better than what I have experienced on US carriers, but thinner and colder than those on Lufthansa and Singapore Airlines. A choice of water, orange juice or Champagne is offered before the flight.

Unlike the forward facing seats of most business class which allow you to quietly switch on the flight path display and watch while the plane taxies and takes-off, the Air Canada screens are mounted on the side wall and must be opened 90 degrees for viewing. The crew comes around and shuts all the screens once the safety video completes.

Post take-off, the drinks trolley is wheeled out and warm almonds accompany. I was overwhelmed by the extreme generosity of the Canadians when it came to serving alcoholic drinks. Wine, including the fortified Port which is around 20% alcohol, were poured like water, and one could quickly find themselves floating well above the aircraft's cruising altitude if not careful. Since I sampled all the wines, I had to keep raising my hand to stop the crew from over-pouring the wines. I found the whites being served at almost room temperature 

Once the cabin is darkened, the funky blue LED lighting under the screen and around the seat give some very exotic effects.

The meal service is a five course offering. A good selection of hot breads are offered, and the appetizer plate is switched out for the main course, and finally the dessert.

I was very surprised, almost shocked, at the wine list. Air Canada, the national carrier of Canada, does not feature even one wine from Canada, in its wine list, which is made up of rather mediocre but quaffable $6~$10 wines from Southern France, South America, and California. Given the wine culture in Canada, this should be something the carrier must look to improve.

The quantity of food is ever so slightly on the lesser side, but you can make it up with some additional bread.

Staff service is by and large good. I found the Air Canada cabin crew far more responsive and hospitable compared to their US counterparts, and I certainly appreciated the crew's effort to serve my tenderloin as close to medium-rare as possible, something most Asian, and many European carriers just do not do.

Arrival at Toronto was decent. For a connection to the Toronto - Dallas Fort Worth leg, there was a long walk, and then a long wait to enter the US immigration pre-screening, since your name comes up on the screen only after your bags are put on the baggage belt and their photograph is available to the CBP officer.

The US Immigration is followed by a stringent security but regular metal detectors. Immediately after security there is a very nice Air Canada lounge, equipped with the best business centre I have seen till date. Free computers, printers and photo-copiers. Even mobile phone printing, and internet printing.

After almost 20 hours travelling, the first thing I did was take a nice, long, hot, shower. Finally refreshed and not smelling like some over-ripe fruit, I headed across to the food and drink section. Given that it was around 2:30pm by then, there was no food. Just some dry tid-bits. The food was finally refilled around 5pm with salad, soup, and some hot food. Almost the whole lounge, including me, descended on the food like it was going out of fashion. So after went down to catch my YYZ-DFW flight. Was very tired by then. Got on board. Ate something, and passed out.

Ratings*: Flight 7/10. Transit 5/10. Lounge 8/10

Ottawa to London Heathrow. AC888. Depart 22:30 Arrive 10:15. All times local.
Boeing 767-300ER. C-FXCA. Seat 8K. 09-May-2013.

The counter agent staffing the United GlobalFirst counter at Boston Logan saw me coming, and decided to walk away from her counter, leaving me to wait for the BusinessFirst counter to open. I must thank that snooty woman for abandoning her counter, because Joanne at the BusinessFirst counter turned out to be very courteous and super efficient. Thanks to bad weather at Boston, my Boston to Washington Dulles flight was delayed and this would cause me to miss my United Dulles to London Heathrow connection. While she was thinking of options, I informed her that I remembered there was a Boston-Halifax-London connection on Air Canada. Joanne promptly contacted her counterpart at Air Canada Boston, and in little over five minutes I had a new re-routed ticket Boston-Ottawa-London Heathrow. Thanks once again Joanne.

The Boston Ottawa trip was a all-economy CRJ200. I found the transit connection sort of odd. I had to go through Canadian immigration, pick up my bags, go through Canadian Customs, detour through a side door, check-in my bags in, again, for the Ottawa London flight, undergo security, and then board the aircraft. Ours was one of the last flights to board. By this time, all the duty free shops were closed. Sorry Canada, you missed earning some duty free dollars.

This time, I got the last seat, 8K in the cabin, and in the photo below, you will get a better appreciation of the slightly claustrophobic feeling one gets in the "pods".

The crew on this flight were not as hospitable or responsive when compared to their AC873 colleagues. I almost got the feeling they wanted to just complete the service and get some sleep, but still the service was decent. Professional, but lacking warmth.

A generous helping of Gin between the water and tomato juice

The main course selections for the dinner were good, and this time I got my steak medium-rare and bloody. Just as a good cut of beef should be served.

Morning arrival faced the usual delay in the skies over London. Our flight did the obligatory race-track loops before getting clearance to land. After landing, we had to wait on the taxiway, as our gate was occupied by another aircraft that had technicaled. After about a 20 minute wait we finally embarked.

The usual long walk-run to Heathrow's chronically under-staffed immigration counters. Business class passengers have a separate set of queues, but this turned out to be a curse, as one of the two counters was busy processing the rejection of an arriving passenger, and the other counter had its share of complex cases which took much longer to process. After an almost 45 minute wait, an additional counter was opened up, and at the other counter, the rejection too was processed, so the queue moved along and I passed through immigration quickly. By the time I reached baggage claim, the bags were just arriving. Collected and was soon on my way.

Air Canada offers an arrivals lounge service at London Heathrow, but I did not use it.

Ratings*: Flight 6.5/10. Arrival 4/10.

*After almost ten years being pampered by Singapore Airlines, I am spoilt when it comes to service level expectations. So my reviews tend to be a little on the stiff side.

Read more »

Video: Pilot asked to hold for "VIP movement" responds "We're more important than they are"

A humorous way to start the week.

All of us in India has experienced a disruption in our lives due to "VIP movement".

This video from Jenf777 on a humorous exchange between the air traffic controller at Boston's Logan airport and the pilot of American Airlines 573. After hearing the exchange, all I could think, we need to get some more pilots like him in India, may then Indian airports will not be shut down for hours whenever there is a "VIP movement".

ATC: American 573 Roger. Uh...let's see. Hold your push [back]. Stay with me. You'll be number three to push ...... due to VIP movement ...... the airport's stopped.

AA573 Pilot: Due to what??

ATC: Uh..VIP movement.

AA573: What's that?

ATC: That's a Very Important Person that's moving and nobody else can move.

AA573. We're more important than they are.

ATC:  I wouldn't argue with you, but you've got to stop right there for now.

Another ATC controller (which the AA pilot can hear): Air Force One [The US President's plane] Boston Tower good morning. Winds three-two-zero at one three, runway four right, cleared for take-off.

Air Force One pilot: Air Force One cleared for take off four right, thanks.

What would be your rejoinder to the American Airlines pilot if you were the air traffic controller? Post a comment. Keep it humorous in the spirit of the story.

Read more »

United States NTSB identifies origin of Japan Airlines' Boeing 787 battery fire - Update 1

by Devesh Agarwal

Updated Feb 8, 2013, 0100 GMT, 0630 IST

At a news conference today, NTSB Chairman Deborah A.P. Hersman identified the origin of the Jan. 7 battery fire that occurred on a Japan Airlines 787 parked at Boston Logan Airport, and said that a focus of the investigation will be on the design and certification requirements of the battery system.

Ms. Hersman's presentation and the video of her briefing the media is at the end of this story.

Hersman said

“U.S. airlines carry about two million people through the skies safely every day, which has been achieved in large part through design redundancy and layers of defense,” “Our task now is to see if enough – and appropriate – layers of defense and adequate checks were built into the design, certification and manufacturing of this battery.”

After an exhaustive examination of the JAL lithium-ion battery, which was comprised of eight individual cells, investigators determined that the majority of evidence from the flight data recorder and both thermal and mechanical damage pointed to an initiating event in a single cell. That cell showed multiple signs of short circuiting, leading to a thermal runaway condition, which then cascaded to other cells. Charred battery components indicated that the temperature inside the battery case exceeded 500 degrees Fahrenheit.

As investigators work to find the cause of the initiating short circuit, they ruled out both mechanical impact damage to the battery and external short circuiting. It was determined that signs of deformation and electrical arcing on the battery case occurred as a result of the battery malfunction and were not related to its cause.

Chairman Hersman said that potential causes of the initiating short circuit currently being evaluated include battery charging, the design and construction of the battery, and the possibility of defects introduced during the manufacturing process.

During the 787 certification process, Boeing studied possible failures that could occur within the battery. Those assessments included the likelihood of particular types of failures occurring, as well as the effects they could have on the battery. In tests to validate these assessments, Boeing found no evidence of cell-to-cell propagation or fire, both of which occurred in the JAL event.

The NTSB learned that as part of the risk assessment Boeing conducted during the certification process, it determined that the likelihood of a smoke emission event from a 787 battery would occur less than once in every 10 million flight hours. Noting that there have been two critical battery events on the 787 fleet with fewer than 100,000 flight hours, Hersman said that “the failure rate was higher than predicted as part of the certification process and the possibility that a short circuit in a single cell could propagate to adjacent cells and result in smoke and fire must be reconsidered.”

As the investigation continues, which will include testing on some of the batteries that had been replaced after being in service in the 787 fleet, the NTSB will continue to share its findings in real time with the FAA, Boeing, the Japan Transport Safety Board, and the French investigative agency, the Bureau d'Enquêtes et d'Analyses (BEA).

“The decision to return the fleet to flight will be made by the FAA, which underscores the importance of cooperation and coordination between our agencies,” Hersman said.

She also announced that the NTSB would release an interim report of factual findings within 30 days.

NTSB Presentation. Download it here.


Video of briefing


FAA’s Special Conditions for the B-787 battery system. Download it here.


Airframer Boeing issued this statement

Boeing welcomes the progress reported by the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) in the 787 investigation, including that the NTSB has identified the origin of the event as having been within the battery. The findings discussed today demonstrated a narrowing of the focus of the investigation to short circuiting observed in the battery, while providing the public with a better understanding of the nature of the investigation.

The company remains committed to working with the NTSB, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and our customers to maintain the high level of safety the traveling public expects and that the air transport system has delivered. We continue to provide support to the investigative groups as they work to further understand these events and as we work to prevent such incidents in the future. The safety of passengers and crew members who fly aboard Boeing airplanes is our highest priority.

The 787 was certified following a rigorous Boeing test program and an extensive certification program conducted by the FAA. We provided testing and analysis in support of the requirements of the FAA special conditions associated with the use of lithium ion batteries. We are working collaboratively to address questions about our testing and compliance with certification standards, and we will not hesitate to make changes that lead to improved testing processes and products.

Read more »

Japan Airlines faces much smaller impact of Boeing 787 grounding

by Devesh Agarwal

The impact of the month old grounding of their Boeing 787 Dreamliners on Japan Airlines (JAL) appears to much smaller when compared to fellow Japanese carrier All Nippon Airways (ANA). "We operated only six Dreamliners out of a fleet of 200 aircraft, so the total impact of the Dreamliner grounding on us is very small" JAL CEO Masaru Onishi told Bangalore Aviation on the sidelines of the Oneworld event to mark the entry of Malaysia Airlines in to the alliance, on January 31.

Onishi-san explained that JAL operated six Dreamliners to Boston, San Diego, Singapore and Moscow, keeping one aircraft spare, a much smaller number when compared to the 24 Dreamliners in the fleet of fellow Japanese carrier ANA.

Keeping in mind his airline's focus on passenger convenience, he went on to say, that JAL had minimised disruptions by deploying Boeing 777s on the higher demand routes serviced by the 787, and 767s on the lower demand routes. JAL had also transferred some of its passengers on to fellow oneworld member American Airlines. While JAL did not transfer any passenger on to ANA, they did receive transferred passengers of ANA.

One route that was affected was Tokyo Narita - San Diego, which was specifically planned for 787 operations only. For JAL to operate the flight using 777s, the airline had to take specific certifications which take about three weeks. The airline has already commenced the certification process, but the San Diego flight is suspended till JAL completes the formalities and obtains the certification. [Editor's note: This morning Japan Airlines announced that it was indefinitely delaying the launch of its Narita Helsinki route, scheduled to commence on February 25.]

On operating costs, Onishi san conceded that airline was taking a hit. "With [Boeing] 777s we achieve about 60% passenger load factor compared to 80%+ in the 787s."

Onishi-san also appeared to be resigned to the fact, that the battery problem, which has resulted in the grounding of the global 787 fleet, is not going to be resolved any time soon. "We have had discussions with Boeing and they are doing their best to fix it [the problem], and we hope they do it within two months, but I cannot say for sure".

When asked what will be Japan Airlines' stand on compensation or their order book especially if the fix took longer than the anticipated two months, Onishi san refused to speculate, saying "Let us not focus on such issues right now. More important is the fix."

Onishi-san also indicated that JAL is committed to its 787 orders.

Read more »

US NTSB investigation updates on Japan Airlines Boeing 787 fire at Boston

The National Transportation Safety Board released the fourth update on its on-going investigation into the January 7th fire aboard a Japan Airlines (JAL) Boeing 787, registration JA829J, at Logan International Airport in Boston, USA. The fire occurred after the airplane had landed and no passengers or crew were on-board.

The burnt APU battery unit

The agency has still not found anything untoward and is unable to determine a cause for the auxiliary power unit (APU) battery fire.

In Arizona, investigators have completed testing of the APU start power unit at Securaplane in Tucson and the APU controller at UTC Aerospace Systems in Phoenix. Both units operated normally with no significant findings.

On the left is a photo of the burned auxiliary power unit battery from the JAL Boeing 787. The dimensions of the battery are 19x13.2x10.2 inches and it weighs approximately 63 pounds when new.

JA829J was delivered to JAL on December 20, 2012. At the time of the battery fire, the aircraft had logged 169 flight hours with 22 cycles. The auxiliary power unit battery was manufactured by GS Yuasa in September 2012.

NTSB investigators have continued disassembling the internal components of the APU battery in its Materials Laboratory in Washington, and disassembly of the last of eight cells has begun. Examinations of the cell elements with a scanning-electron microscope and energy-dispersive spectroscopy are ongoing.

A cursory comparative exam has been conducted on the undamaged main battery. No obvious anomalies were found. More detailed examination will be conducted as the main battery undergoes a thorough tear down and test sequence series of non-destructive examinations.

NTSB Investigator Mike Bauer inside the Boeing 787 under investigation at Boston's Logan Airport

In addition to the activities at the NTSB lab, members of the investigative team continue working in Seattle, and Japan.

Two additional NTSB investigators were sent to Seattle to take part in FAA’s comprehensive review. One of the investigators will focus on testing efforts associated with Boeing's root cause corrective action efforts, which FAA is helping to lead. The other will take part in the FAA's ongoing review of the battery and battery system special conditions compliance documentation.


In Japan, the NTSB-led team completed component examination of the JAL APU battery monitoring unit at Kanto Aircraft Instrument Company, Ltd., in Fujisawa, Kanagawa, Japan. The team cleaned and examined both battery monitoring unit circuit boards, which were housed in the APU battery case. The circuit boards were damaged, which limited the information that could be obtained from tests, however the team found no significant discoveries.

Additional information on the NTSB’s investigation of the Japan Airlines B-787 battery fire in Boston can be found at the NTSB incident website.

Read more »

News Digest - Press Releases - 2nd half January 2013

Japan Airlines releases nine month traffic data ending December 2012

--

MIAL awards contract for duty free at New T2 at CSIA

Duty free shops awarded to a consortium led by Aer Rianta International cpt.

Fashion, Luxury and Lifestyle awarded to Nuance Group India Pvt Ltd

Mumbai, January 24, 2013 – Mumbai International Airport Private Limited (MIAL), managed by GVK-led consortium today awarded the duty free retail contract for the upcoming new Terminal 2 (T2) at Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport (CSIA). The contract for the duty-free shops has been awarded to the consortium led by Aer Rianta International cpt., spread over an area of 50,850 sq ft. The Nuance Group (India) Pvt. Ltd. has been awarded the contract for Fashion, Luxury and Lifestyle Duty Free concession that includes luxury and premium fashion apparel and accessories, jewellery, watches, and luxury concepts spread over an area of approximately 12,690 sq ft.

The consortium led by Aer Rianta International cpt will run the core duty free operations (including categories such as tobacco, liquor, perfumes, confectionery) and Electronics (on arrivals), Nuance Group (India) Pvt Ltd will be responsible for designing and building the shopping environment, sourcing a wide range of international luxury brands and developing a strong promotional strategy for duty free shopping at T2 at CSIA.

Speaking on the occasion, GV Sanjay Reddy, Managing Director, MIAL said, “At a time when CSIA is undergoing a major transformation, we decided to associate with duty free partners that showed innovation in all areas of the business and a commitment to provide superior choice to passengers. Both the partners selected are experienced operators who currently operate duty free concessions at several world-class airports and are best placed to understand the T2 consumers. Their offer combined creativity along with dynamic and engaging concepts and a strong operational strategy to maximise opportunities for CSIA and passenger experience at T2”

Announcing the award of the contract, Rajeev Jain, CEO, MIAL said: “Duty free shopping is a significant component of passenger experience at any world-class airport. We would like to provide passengers at CSIA with a truly world-class shopping experience, across brands, product variety and price points. This is also in line with our stated endeavor to take CSIA to international standards”

Both the selected parties will operate the concession for their respective categories for the period until March 31, 2024. The key criteria that were considered while selecting these parties included amongst others, a promise to get the most comprehensive range of brands and products available, operators who understand Indian consumers via their existing Indian operations and someone with a great sense of place in their design and customer centric approach.

With a vision to provide passengers with unique and bespoke concepts, products and services to deliver a premium and memorable experience at T2 , the commercial space includes amongst others 6000 sq. m. of F&B and 465 advertising sites (both indoor and outdoor) along with duty free and luxury, specialty retail and other services.

The new integrated terminal 2 currently being built is the perfect expression of Mumbai’s achievements, its ambition and its imagination. This iconic terminal will serve 40 million passengers each year, creating an inspiring experience and a welcoming gateway to Mumbai and India. With its meticulous planning and state-of-the-art technology, the terminal offers passengers a seamless journey that is punctuated by a series of wonderful experiences. Moreover its overall design will give passengers a distinct ‘Sense of Place’ and a clear awareness that they are in Mumbai

About MIAL

Mumbai International Airport Pvt. Ltd. (MIAL) is a joint venture between the GVK led consortium. MIAL was awarded the mandate of modernizing, upgrading and expanding Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport (CSIA) in May 2006. CSIA catered to 30.75 million passengers and 657469 tonnes of cargo between April 2011 – March 2012. MIAL’s vision is to transform CSIA into one of the world’s best airports that consistently delights customers and to be the pride of Mumbai

About GVK

GVK is a leading Indian conglomerate with presence across energy, resources, airports, transportation, hospitality and life sciences sectors. GVK set up India’s first independent power plant and has around 6000 MW projects under generation and development. It is the first company in India to develop six-lane road project under PPP model and has around 3000 lane km expressway projects under operations and development. As one of India’s largest private sector airport operators, GVK handles 44 mppa through India’s first brownfield airport under PPP model - Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport, Mumbai and Bengaluru International Airport, Bangalore and will develop two airports in Indonesia. Having already invested over USD 3.3 billion, GVK has projects worth over another USD 6.6 billion in the pipeline, in India. It has acquired Australian Coal Mines in Queensland with 8 bt reserves for USD 1.26 billion and envisages an investment of USD 10 billion to for setting up mines, 500 km rail project and 60 mtpa port project which will form one of the world’s largest integrated coal mining operations.

--

NTSB CHAIRMAN SAYS ‘WE HAVE NOT RULED ANYTHING OUT’ IN INVESTIGATION OF BOEING 787 BATTERY FIRE IN BOSTON

January 24, 2013

WASHINGTON – In a press conference today, National Transportation Safety Board Chairman Deborah A.P. Hersman released preliminary findings from the NTSB’s ongoing investigation into the Jan. 7, 2013, Boeing 787 battery fire in Boston. “We have not ruled anything out as a potential factor in the battery fire; there are still many questions to be answered,” Hersman said.

Noting that there was a B-787 battery incident in Japan on Jan. 16, 2013, which is being investigated by the Japan Transport Safety Board, Hersman said, “One of these events alone is serious; two of them in close proximity, especially in an airplane model with only about 100,000 flight hours, underscores the importance of getting to the root cause of these incidents.”

The investigation revealed that the battery in the B-787 fire in Boston showed signs of short circuiting, and had indications of thermal runaway, a situation in which a significant temperature increase can initiate a destructive chain reaction.

Chairman Hersman also expressed concerns about the adequacy of the systems to prevent such a fire from occurring. “The investigation will include an evaluation of how a fault that resulted in a battery fire could have defeated the safeguards in place to guard against that,” said Hersman. “As we learn more in this investigation, we will make recommendations for needed improvements to prevent a recurrence.”

Investigators developed the following timeline of the events on Jan. 7, which was released at today’s briefing:

10:06 am EST – Aircraft arrived at gate in Boston from Narita, Japan
10:32 am – Cleaning and maintenance crew noticed smoke in cabin
10:35 am – Mechanic noted flames coming from APU battery in aft electronics bay
10:37 am – Airport Rescue and Fire Fighting notified
10:40 am – Fire and rescue personnel arrive on scene
12:19 pm – Fire and rescue personnel report event was “controlled”

The batteries were manufactured by GS Yuasa for the Thales electrical installation and are unique to the Boeing 787. The same battery model is used for the main airplane battery and for the battery that is used to start the auxiliary power unit, which is the one that caught fire in Boston.

Radiographic examinations of the incident battery and an exemplar battery were conducted at an independent test facility. The digital radiographs, or computed tomography (CT) scans, generated from these examinations allowed NTSB investigators to document the internal condition of the battery prior to disassembling it.

Ongoing lab work includes an examination of the battery elements with a scanning-electron microscope and energy-dispersive spectroscopy to analyze the elemental constituents of the electrodes to identify contaminants or defects.
NTSB INVESTIGATIVE TEAMS

In addition to the activities at the NTSB lab in Washington, members of the investigative team have been conducting work in Arizona, Seattle and Japan. Their activities are detailed below.

ARIZONA
- The acceptance test procedure of the APU battery charging unit was conducted at Securaplane in Tucson, Ariz., on Jan. 21.
- The battery charging unit passed all significant tests and no anomalies were detected.
- Members of the airworthiness group examined the APU start power unit at Securaplane in Tucson. The same team traveled to Phoenix to conduct an examination of the APU controller at UTC Aerospace Systems.

SEATTLE
- NTSB investigators are working with Boeing teams as part of root cause analysis activities related to the design and manufacturing of the electrical battery system.
- The two JAL B-787 general purpose module units, which record airplane maintenance data are being downloaded at Boeing to obtain information that was recorded after the airplane’s electrical power was interrupted.

JAPAN
- The NTSB-led team conducted component examination of the JAL B-787 APU battery monitoring unit at Kanto Aircraft Instrument Company, Ltd., in Fujisawa, Kanagawa, Japan.
- The team cleaned and examined both battery monitoring unit circuit boards, which were housed in the APU battery case. The circuit boards were damaged, which limited the information that could be obtained from tests.

Additional information on the Japan Airlines B-787 battery fire incident in Boston, including materials from the presentation at today’s briefing, can be found at http://go.usa.gov/4K4J.

--

Boeing Statement on U.S. National Transportation Safety Board 787 Investigation Update

SEATTLE, Jan. 24, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Boeing (NYSE: BA) welcomes the progress being made in the 787 investigation discussed today by the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) in Washington, D.C. The regulatory and investigative agencies in the U.S. and Japan have dedicated substantial resources to these investigations, and we appreciate their effort and leadership.

Boeing continues to assist the NTSB and the other government agencies in the U.S. and Japan responsible for investigating two recent 787 incidents. The company has formed teams consisting of hundreds of engineering and technical experts who are working around the clock with the sole focus of resolving the issue and returning the 787 fleet to flight status. We are working this issue tirelessly in cooperation with our customers and the appropriate regulatory and investigative authorities. The safety of passengers and crew members who fly aboard Boeing airplanes is our highest priority.

In order to ensure the integrity of the process and in adherence to international protocols that govern safety investigations, we are not permitted to comment directly on the ongoing investigations. Boeing is eager to see both investigative groups continue their work and determine the cause of these events, and we support their thorough resolution.

Boeing deeply regrets the impact that recent events have had on the operating schedules of our customers and their passengers.

--

CATHAY PACIFIC INTRODUCES NEW PREMIUM ECONOMY CABIN AND BOOSTS FREQUENCIES ON MUMBAI-HONG KONG ROUTE

Cathay Pacific Airways today announced that passengers can enjoy a new level of luxury when travelling between Mumbai and Hong Kong with the introduction of its new Premium Economy Class cabin on the route. Along with the product enhancement, Cathay Pacific will also increase the number of flights between Mumbai and Hong Kong, operating 10 weekly non-stop flights between the two cities from 2 April 2013.

The airlines’ new Premium Economy Class was designed with the entire customer experience in mind. It features a quieter, more spacious cabin than the traditional Economy Class with between 26 and 34 seats per aircraft. The seat pitch is 38 inches – six inches more than Economy Class – and the seat itself is wider and has a bigger recline. It has a large meal table, cocktail table, footrest, a 10.6-inch personal television, an in-seat power outlet, a multi-port connector for personal devices and extra personal stowage space.

The new schedule will see the additional non-stop flights from Mumbai arrive in Hong Kong at 0705 in the morning, giving passengers greater choice and convenience when connecting to the airlines’ extensive global network to destinations in China, South East Asia, Australia, Japan and Korea.

Cathay Pacific General Manager - South Asia, Middle East and Africa, Charlie Stewart-Cox said: “Cathay Pacific’s Mumbai service is now better than ever. Travellers from India will soon be able to take advantage of improved arrival times in Hong Kong to enjoy smooth and seamless connections to their destination of choice on Cathay Pacific’s network. Our Premium Economy class will also bring a new level of comfort to passengers travelling between the two cities.”

Cathay Pacific has recently introduced new award winning in-flight products in Delhi and Chennai and has also extended its presence in India with a new four-times-weekly service between Hong Kong and Hyderabad. Together with sister airline Dragonair, the group now operates 46 weekly flights from six cities in India.

--

QATAR AIRWAYS VOTED BEST LONG-HAUL AIRLINE AT PRESTIGIOUS LONDON AWARDS

Five-Star Carrier Voted By UK Travellers at 18th Annual Business Travel Awards Ceremony

Continues Airline’s Winning Streak for Superior Quality and Service

New Delhi – Qatar Airways has been voted Best Long-Haul Airline at the 18th annual Business Travel Awards ceremony held at the Grosvenor House hotel in London this week.
Organised by Buying Business Travel magazine, UK travellers awarded the Five-Star carrier for its commitment to quality and superior in-flight service.

Qatar Airways Chief Executive Officer Akbar Al Baker said he was delighted that the airline’s award winning streak has continued into the New Year.

“This is a great start to 2013 and we thank our loyal UK travellers for giving us this vote of confidence.

“We are very proud to receive this honour, testament to the world-class service and personalised treatment that we provide all of our customers.

“2013 will be another big year for Qatar Airways as we continue to expand our worldwide network, welcome more aircraft into our ever-expanding fleet, and of course look forward to the opening of the new Hamad International Airport on April 1,” Al Baker said.

Qatar Airways Vice President Commercial Europe, Paul Johannes, collected the award on behalf of the airline.

Johannes said: “We are very pleased with the level of support we have received from our UK customers, which further highlights the appreciation of our attention to detail and passenger comfort. We look forward to continuing to serve our existing UK-based travellers and welcoming new customers onboard.

Editor of Buying Business Travel, Paul Revel, said: “The judges felt that Qatar Airways is right up there with the best. A very impressive submission, underlining the youth and dynamism of this carrier. A great product, rapidly expanding network and plenty of innovation.”

The past twelve months have seen Qatar Airways honoured with a host of several awards from around the world, including being named Airline of the Year for the second consecutive year by the prestigious Skytrax organisation.

The award follows other recent accolades from Business Traveller’s sister publications around the world; Best Business Class in the World by Business Traveller Middle East and Best Airline in the Middle East and Africa by Business Traveller Asia Pacific.

One of the world’s fastest growing airlines, Qatar Airways has seen rapid growth in just 16 years of operations, currently flying a modern fleet of 118 aircraft to 124 key business and leisure destinations across Europe, Middle East, Africa, Asia Pacific and The Americas with the aggressive expansion continuing well into 2013.

Over the next few weeks and months, Qatar Airways will launch services to a diverse portfolio of new routes, including Phnom Penh, Cambodia (February 20); Chengdu, China (March 19); Chicago, USA (April 10); and Salalah, Oman (May 22) with many more new start-ups planned.

-ends-

--

Read more »

JetBlue to launch Boston-Philadelphia - Will it last?

by Vinay Bhaskara

New York based low cost carrier (LCC) JetBlue will be launching 5 flights per day between their second largest hub in Boston and Philadelphia beginning May 23, 2013. All flights will be operated with Embraer E190s

B62059 BOS 0640 – 0809 PHL E90 Daily
B62159 BOS 0845 – 1016 PHL E90 Daily
B62259 BOS 1124 – 1250 PHL E90 Daily
B62359 BOS 1505 – 1639 PHL E90 Daily
B62459 BOS 1810 – 1949 PHL E90 Daily

B61776 PHL 0845 – 1017 BOS E90 Daily
B62060 PHL 1055 – 1227 BOS E90 Daily
B62160 PHL 1325 – 1454 BOS E90 Daily
B62260 PHL 1715 – 1855 BOS E90 Daily
B62360 PHL 2025 – 2154 BOS E90 Daily

JetBlue's primary competition on the route will be full service carrier US Airways, who operates 16 flights per day between Boston and its hub in Philadelphia. Several carriers have, in the past, attempted to challenge US Airways on the route, including full service carriers American Airlines and Delta Airlines, as well as LCCs AirTran Airways and Southwest Airlines.

In each case, the competing airline was forced off of the route within 4 years - and even LCC powerhouse Southwest ended service on the sector in February, 2012. JetBlue is stronger in Boston in terms of frequent flyer base and demand base than any of those carriers ever were on either end, and the 5x daily frequency is certainly strong enough for business travelers (though not optimal - which would be in the 8-10x daily range). But even so, US Airways has successfully driven several airlines off of this route. It will be interesting to see how this route performs as JetBlue continues to strengthen its Boston hub over the coming months.

Read more »

Japan Airlines to operate Boeing 787 Dreamliner between Tokyo and New Delhi

Earlier today, Japanese national carrier Japan Airlines (JAL) announced that it would be introducing 5 weekly Boeing 787 services between Tokyo’s Narita Airport and New Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) from the northern summer 2012 schedule which begins at the end of March, 2012.

The Dreamliner replaces the existing 5 weekly Boeing 777-200ER service.

Japan Airlines will also be introducing 787 services on the Narita-Moscow and Tokyo Haneda- Beijing routes in a similar timeframe, with direct flights between Tokyo Narita and Boston starting on April 22.

However, the plans could be derailed since Boeing is facing additional delays on the General Electric GEnx powered 787s.

The current Boeing 777-200ER used on the route seats 245 passengers in 3-class seating arrangement (56J/40Y+/149Y), thus the Boeing 787s, which has been reported to seat 186 passengers in a 2-class configuration, will represent a significant capacity reduction.

According to Japan Airlines’ booking engine photos, the 787’s business class will seat 42 passengers in a 2-2-2 configuration, while the economy class cabin will feature 144 seats in a 2-4-2 configuration. However Bangalore Aviation has learned that the business class cabin will feature the uncomfortable Shell Flat NEO seats, not a new generation of business class seats as many had hoped. Shell style seats, which feature hard seat backs (i.e non-reclining) and seat cushions that slide out, are notoriously uncomfortable for passengers

It is interesting that JAL chose to reduce capacity to Delhi, and remove the premium economy product, while it has been reported that this same route is doing extremely well for Indian national carrier Air India. Coincidentally Delhi-Tokyo is one of the routes Air India plans to introduce its 787s on.

With the 787s representing the new standard in onboard passenger comfort, we’re not sure that JAL could afford to not place the 787 on this route. The carrier only services New Delhi, leaving the commercial capital of Mumbai to All Nippon Airways which operates a very scaled down Boeing 737 Business Jet service.

Regardless, congratulations are in order for JAL: they will be the second carrier to start 787 operations to India after Air India.

Read more »

Video: Lufthansa Airbus A380 makes surprise landing at Boston Logan airport

Plane spotters at Boston were pleasantly surprised when a Lufthansa Airbus A380 superjumbo made an unexpected landing at Logan airport.

D-AIMC flying from Frankfurt to New York JFK airport was forced to divert to Boston Logan due to freak winter storm plaguing the north-eastern United States.

Thanks to spotter tbird for this video.

Read more »

Indian passengers allege racial bias at Air France

Over 50 Indian passengers flying Air France had a "harrowing" time at Paris airport after their aircraft developed a technical problem and on reaching Mumbai, complained bitterly that they were victims of "racial" profiling.

The passengers were flying from Boston to Mumbai via Paris in an Airbus A330-200 aircraft registration F-GZCL. AF-218 was en-route from Paris Charles de Gaulle, France, to Mumbai CSIA, India with 169 passengers and 12 crew. About 3:45 hours into the flight overhead the Black Sea, the crew decided to return Paris due to undisclosed technical trouble. The airplane landed safely in Paris 7.5 hours after departure at around 20:15.

The passengers, claim they were confined to a lounge at the airport there from 22:00 (10pm) on Sunday till 07:00 (7am) Monday and given "hardly any food and water". The Indian passengers said while the foreign passengers were taken to hotels shortly after their plane returned to the Paris the Indian passengers were taken to the lounge and given just a bottle of water and a sandwich.

One of the passengers Vineeta Sengupta said

"No foreigner would have been treated like the way we were treated. People were lying down on the floor over there where immigration takes place".

Accusing Air France of "racial" profiling, a teenage girl passenger said that the officials there even had threatened to handed over passengers to the police if they did not stop protesting. To be fair to Air France, other news reports claimed that passengers started screaming at Air France staffers.

Sengupta said the 53 to 54 Indian passengers were later "huddled out" of the airport on a "group visa", which the authorities could have provided much earlier, and taken to a dormitory hotel.

Most definitely a situation that has been handled very badly.

Read more »