Air India to launch 787 on Mumbai - London Heathrow

by BA Staff

National carrier Air India is bringing the Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner to its services between its secondary hub at Mumbai and London Heathrow International Airport from 30th March, 2014. Schedules for the flight are as follow

AI131 ~ BOM - LHR ~ D: 0630 A: 1130 ~ 788 ~ Daily

AI130 ~ LHR - BOM ~ D: 1315 A: 0305+1 ~ 788 ~ Daily

Additionally, Bangalore Aviation's sources tell us that new nonstop services between Air India's largest international hub at Delhi and Moscow will soon be loaded into the global distribution system (GDS). Air India already has won approval to launch Delhi-Moscow from the Indian government. 

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Infographic: India's ten busiest airports: June 2013 vs. June 2012

by Vinay Bhaskara

June was a mostly positive month for traffic at India's ten busiest airports. As the table below shows, traffic grew at eight airports, while declining at just two. Total traffic at India's ten busiest airports grew around 2% year-over-year to roughly 10.7 million passengers, positive news after some declines in passenger traffic earlier this year. There were no changes in the top ten, either in constitution or in order, though Bangalore moved closer to surpassing Chennai as India's third busiest airport as traffic grew 2.4% against a drop of 1.2% at Chennai. Just outside the top ten, fast growing Srinagar surpassed Goa to become India's 11th busiest airport in June, and will likely surpass Trivandrum by the end of the year (Srinagar trailed Trivandrum by 11,000 passengers in June).

Airport	June 2013	June 2012	YOY Growth
Delhi (DEL)	3133135	3072780	2.0%
Mumbai (BOM)	2573600	2494202	3.2%
Chennai (MAA)	1077267	1090302	-1.2%
Bengaluru (BLR)	1022158	998302	2.4%
Kolkata (CCU)	854846	890240	-4.0%
Hyderabad (HYD)	711677	702940	1.2%
Kochi (COK)	428251	382566	11.9%
Ahmedabad (AMD)	356558	348273	2.4%
Pune(PNQ)	297421	276496	7.6%
Trivandrum (TRV)	243968	232024	5.1%
TOTAL	10698881	10488125	2.0%

The following chart shows traffic India's top ten airports in June 2013 vs. June 2012 (click for a larger view)

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Analysis: Jet Airways to add second daily flight between Mumbai and Singapore

by Vinay Bhaskara

Image Credit: Devesh Agarwal

India's largest full service carrier, Jet Airways, is adding a second daily flight between its largest hub at Mumbai, and Singapore. The second daily flight, effective 1st November 2013, will be served using 154 seat Boeing 737-800 aircraft in a 2-class configuration (16 J / 138 Y).

The proposed new flights, 9W 10/9 will be scheduled very tightly with the existing daily flights on-board the Airbus A330-200; 9W 12/11. Jet Airways Flight 12 currently departs Mumbai at 23:30, arriving at Singapore at 07:25 the next day. The return, Jet Airways Flight 11 departs Singapore at 19:05 after nearly 12 hours on the ground, returning to Mumbai at 22:00. The outbound, Jet Airways Flight 10, will be offset as a morning departure, leaving Mumbai at 09:50 and arriving to Singapore at 18:00. However, the return Jet Airways Flight 9 is currently scheduled to depart Singapore at 20:05 (just one hour after the existing flight), and return to Mumbai at 23:01.

These flight timings make little sense squished so close together on the return to Mumbai. While it is a good idea for Jet Airways to grow its international operations to Asia given the better performance of its international division as a whole. However, placing the return flight so closely with the existing flight is a missed opportunity for Jet. Especially with an integrated terminal coming to Mumbai by the end of 2014, Jet should be looking to maximize connectivity out of Mumbai, especially on international to domestic and vice-versa. A better schedule for the flight would have been a morning departure from Singapore at around 5:50 am, which would have arrived back at Mumbai at 8:50 am, in time for connections with morning departures to dozens of domestic destinations, while still leaving enough time for a turnaround to depart at 9:50 am. Jet already offers double daily flights to Singapore from Chennai and Delhi, and the second dailies to both of those destinations use a similar schedule to the one we propose here.

However, the addition of a second daily Mumbai-Singapore is a good move for Jet, and it points to future international growth opportunities for Jet. Even as the westbound international operations will largely be culled in favor of routing passengers through Abu Dhabi via the Jetihad partnership, there remain opportunities for Jet to grow its eastbound international operations. Air travel demand between India and East/Southeast Asia is growing rapidly, and Jet could offer more flights to the region moving forward, especially with the purchase of 50 737 MAX aircraft offering increased range on tap. 

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Analysis: Jet Airways to withdraw from Bhubaneswar

by Vinay Bhaskara

According to several reports, Mumbai-based full service carrier Jet Airways is planning on pulling out from Bhubaneswar from the Winter 2013/14 season. Inventory has been zeroed out from 27th October onwards and flights to and from Bhubaneswar are no longer bookable on jetairways.com. Additionally, sources are saying that Jet Airways has not requested slots at Bhubaneswar for this winter, though we will have to wait for the release of route information onto the Global Distribution System (GDS) to confirm this news.

During August, Jet Airways has operated three flights per day to Bhubaneswar, daily Chennai-Bangalore-Bhubaneswar and return, daily Mumbai-Bhubaneswar and return, and daily Kolkata-Bhubaneswar and return. Mumbai-Bhubaneswar and Kolkata-Bhubaneswar are served with JetKonnect Boeing 737-800 equipment, while Bangalore-Bhubaneswar is served with full service 737-800 equipment. The current service level actually marks a reduction from planned levels at the start of the summer, as an additional two flights per day to Kolkata were initially filed with the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) utilizing ATR 72-500 turboprop equipment.

If true, the cancellation of Bhubaneswar is a poor step on the part of Jet Airways. One of the few strengths remaining for the financially struggling Jet Airways is its powerful domestic network, with 49 domestic destinations. Bhubaneswar is the 18th busiest airport in India, and one of the most important destinations in Eastern India. However, Jet Airways has been facing challenges thanks to the steady growth of low cost carrier (LCC) IndiGo in the Bhubaneswar market. IndiGo is the largest carrier in the Bhubaneswar market, with nine flights per day this summer to five nonstop destinations; Delhi, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Mumbai, and Vizag.

Even with the increased LCC competition, it does not make sense that Jet did not at least keep around Mumbai-Bhubaneswar for feed purposes. With the new Mumbai integrated terminal arriving by the end of next year, Jet Airways has the opportunity to build a strong regional hub at Mumbai connecting passengers domestic to international and vice-versa. Since Mumbai-Bhubaneswar is served with JetKonnect equipment, with lower operating costs, it is likely losing the least money of Jet's Bhubaneswar services, and thus it would have made sense for Jet to keep Bhubaneswar around.

But the cancellation is just the latest a growing pattern of poor network decisions made by Jet Airways over the past few years. It is certainly possible for airlines to cut services on their way to profitability; but that usually applies to redundant or heavily money-losing capacity that does not serve a strategic purpose (Delhi-Milan being one rare example at Jet Airways); not a key short haul destination. 

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Thai Airways makes wholesale changes to India service in winter 2013-14

by Vinay Bhaskara

Bangkok based full service carrier Thai Airways International has announced a series of changes in its Indian services in the winter 2013-14 season as per the Airline Route blog

On its Bangkok-Delhi services, beginning 30th September, services will increase from 11 weekly to 14 weekly.

Daytime Thai flights TG323/TG324 will increase from four flights per week to daily using a 299 seat Airbus A330-300 aircraft in a two-class configuration (36J / 263Y). TG-323 departs Bangkok at 07:35, arriving at Delhi at 10:30. The return flight TG-324 departs Delhi at 11:55 arriving at Bangkok at 17:25.

The red-eye flights TG315/TG316 are also seeing an increase, with Boeing 747-400s replacing the existing Boeing 777-300s, an increase from 364 seats (34J / 330 Y) to 374 (49J / 325 Y) or 375 seats (50J / 325 Y), depending on the day. The up-gauge represents a large increase in premium cabin capacity by almost 45% regardless of the 747 configuration used on the route.

TG 315 departs Bangkok at 20:40, arriving at Delhi at 23:40. The return red-eye (overnight) TG 316 departs Delhi at 00:55, arriving at Bangkok at 06:20, in time for connections to Thai's morning departure bank to Asia and Australia. Both flights are operated daily.

Bangkok - Hyderabad was planned to increase from four flights per week to five using the A330-300, but these plans have been shelved, with services remaining at four per week this winter.

The daily Bangkok-Mumbai services have been down-gauged from Boeing 747-400 to Airbus A330-300s for the winter season, a capacity downgrade of around 20% (roughly 35% in premium cabins).

Additionally, Thai's low cost wing Thai Smile, which by January 2014 will serve 19 destinations across India, China, Laos, Macau, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, and Thailand, is also shaking up its India operations. Thai Smile has a fleet of six 174 seat (30Y+ / 144 Y) Airbus A320-200s with its primary hub at Bangkok and a secondary hub at Phuket. Thai Smile is shifting its flight numbers to and from India, and increasing services as well.

Flight Number Changes

• Bankgok-Ahmedabad flights are shifting from TG 765/766 to TG 2935/2936
• Phuket-Delhi flights are shifting from TG 761/762 to TG 2931/2932
• Phuket-Mumbai flights are shifting from TG 763/764 to TG 2933/2934

Frequency Increases

• Bangkok-Ahmedabad increases from two to four weekly flights
• Phuket-Delhi increases from two to four weekly flights
• Phuket-Mumbai increases from two to three weekly flights

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Egyptair increases Mumbai service

An Egyptair Airbus A321 

by Vinay Bhaskara

Troubled Star Alliance member Egyptair is adding one additional flight per week between Cairo and
Mumbai from 27th October 2013, bringing the services to five times per week. Egyptair Flight 968 will operate Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Saturday departing Cairo at 23:05 and arriving at Mumbai at 07:55 the next day. The return, Egyptair Flight 969, will operate Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Sunday departing at 09:10 from Mumbai and arriving at 12:40 pm at Cairo. All flights operate with Boeing 737-800 aircraft seating 144 passengers (24J / 120 Y)

Egyptair is struggling under the weight of demand weakness at home thanks to a poor economy and declining tourism due to the 2011 Arab Spring, and the events that have ensued since. Since June 2011, the carrier has lost more than US $950 million and seen revenue decline sharply. But they have made good business connecting passengers over their growing hub at Cairo Airport, and India has been one of few strong points from an origin and demand (O&D point of view). 

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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.

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GoAir replaces Kingfisher Airlines at Terminal 1A at Mumbai

by Devesh Agarwal

From July 1, 2013, Wadia group promoted GoAir will be moving its operations at Mumbai's Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport, from Terminal 1B (the private airlines' terminal) to Terminal 1A (Air India / Indian Airlines terminal). GoAir will occupy some of the space that has been vacated by the cessation of operations of Vijay Mallya promoted Kingfisher Airlines.

GoAir currently operates 360 movements per week from Mumbai. A dedicated aisle of check-in counters at terminal 1A shall now be available for GoAir passengers. The airline will be also moving its ticketing office to the new premise.

The traffic at Terminal 1B has congested for some time thanks to the diversion of passengers from the implosion of Kingfisher, and the growth of domestic passenger traffic at the commercial capital of India. It would have been better if one of the larger incumbents like IndiGo or SpiceJet would have shifted, when compared to a smaller operator like GoAir which operates about 360 weekly movements i.e. about 26 departures per day.

When queried, persons with knowledge of developments but who preferred to remain anonymous, told Bangalore Aviation that this move has been planned for a long time, and all airlines were given the offer to shift operations. Only GoAir opted for the shift. We can surmize, that GoAir faced the least disruption to their operations since they are a purely domestic airline at present, and the others would find it more convenient to remain in Terminal 1B which is closer to the international terminal T2.

What are your thoughts on this shift? Post a comment.

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Report: Jet Airways scissors hub moving to Amsterdam

Earlier this week in a press conference at Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport, Etihad CEO broke the news that Indian full service carrier Jet Airways will be transferring its European scissors hub from Brussels to Amsterdam. Thanks to the recently created Jetihad partnership (Etihad owns 24% of Jet Airways), Etihad exerts significant control over Jet’s international strategy.

Jet Airways currently operates daily flights from Mumbai and Delhi to Brussels, which then continue onwards to Newark and Toronto. Etihad recently signed a cooperation agreement with KLM that covers several destinations under a joint venture agreement. While Etihad (and by extension Jetihad) have no plans to join SkyTeam, they are apparently interested in working more closely with Air France-KLM and Delta. Etihad already places its code on 12 KLM destinations out of Amsterdam and on 15th May launched daily services between Abu Dhabi and Amsterdam using Airbus A330-200 equipment.

No timeline has been set for the transfer and it remains to be seen whether the shift of Jet’s North American services to Amsterdam is an intermediate step, or the final plan for these flights. Most industry observers had predicted that Jet Airways’ long haul fleet would be re-deployed for use on westbound international services through Abu Dhabi; indeed part of the value proposition for the Jetihad deal was the ability to utilize Jet Airways’ wide-body fleet to augment Etihad’s hub in Abu Dhabi via a scissors hub.

Still, Amsterdam makes sense as an intermediate transfer point. Mumbai does have more O&D demand to Brussels, but KLM’s Amsterdam hub is much stronger than the comparable operation for Brussels Airlines in Brussels. So Jet Airways will get some additional feed in Amsterdam. And if they were to launch a joint venture for US-Europe-India with Air France-KLM and Delta, it could be potentially lucrative.

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News Digest - Press Releases - 2nd half January 2013

Japan Airlines releases nine month traffic data ending December 2012

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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Jet Airways international fleet and network operations analysis

by Vinay Bhaskara

A recent report from Flightglobal quoted Boeing Asia head Dinesh Keskar as saying that India’s largest full service carrier, Jet Airways, could potentially convert existing order into the larger Boeing 787-9 variant. Jet Airways currently has 10 Boeing 787-8s on order for delivery from 2014 onwards, but Mr. Keskar said, “"If they do that [convert orders to the 787-9], there will be a delay. The -9s, however, have better economics for them, so now they are looking at their portfolio."

Interestingly, the move would parallel Jet Airways’ recent fleet planning decision to shift away from the smaller A330-200 to its larger cousin the A330-300. Part of the impetus behind the decision was certainly the competition from Jet’s largest Gulf and Asian rivals. Most of these carriers operate not only the A330-300, but also the Boeing 777-300ER, both of which blow the A330-200 out of the water in terms of unit costs on regional routes. Especially as Jet consolidates around the core long haul routes in New York, Toronto, and London, all of which face severe competition from a myriad of airlines around the world. In response to this heightened state of competition, Jet made the correct choice in opting for a larger variant.

The same principle applies to the 787-8 versus the 787-9. While the smaller 787-8 (seating around 220 passengers) was the first 787 variant to come out, most industry analysts (including Bangalore Aviation) feel that the 787-9 will have much better operating economics, as the airframe is actually more optimized for aerodynamic driven fuel efficiency and has lower seat-kilometer costs thanks to its larger seating capacity. Furthermore, Boeing’s current projections for the ranges of the two aircraft show the 787-9 to have a range of 8,000 – 8,500 nautical miles (9,210 – 9,780 miles), which would allow Jet to operate most, if not all, US-India route pairs nonstop, including routes as long as Mumbai and Bangalore to the US west coast. Bangalore-San Francisco nonstop would be a gold mine to whichever carrier launched it first, and given that Air India only has 787-8s and that United will only receive 14 787-9s (many of which will likely be used to retire aging Boeing 777-200 non-ERs), Jet could conceivably be the first airline to launch onto this important route.

* The range figures for the 787-9 are quoted from sources within the industry

Currently, as per the Jet Airways fleet matrix, beyond the 787s, Jet has 3 A330-300s on order (the A330-300s start service on 23rd December) with 1 already having joined the fleet, 10 operational A330-200s with 5 outstanding orders, and 5 operational Boeing 777-300ERs with 5 aircrafts leased out to Thai Airways International. With the understanding that any *new* (beyond the initial 10) 787 orders would not be delivered till around 2018 at the earliest, the following is my suggestion for Jet Airways’ widebody fleet plan moving forward.

Immediately switch the 787-8 order to 787-9s and trade delivery slots with other airlines wherever possible to ensure delivery of these aircraft between 2015 and 2018. Order 15 further 787-8s for delivery 2018 onwards as well as 15 more 787-9s for delivery in the same timeframe. Of the current A330-200 orders, convert all 5 to A330-300s and cancel one order to create a fleet of 8 A330-300s, with the last 6 being the recently upgraded A330-300 with higher gross weight and range. Keep the current 5 777-300ERs as is, and reconfigure the 5 777-300ERs currently at Thai Airways into a 2-class configuration when they are returned (aim for 349 seats in a 2 class configuration – similar to Air Canada).

*These plans imply that Jet Airways will use Mumbai as an international connecting hub moving forward, made possible in part by the new integrated terminal.

Following this shift, the A330-200 would be used on European flights (excluding Heathrow) from Mumbai (Brussels-Chicago, as well as Paris, Frankfurt, and Munich – the latter two assume Jet’s entry into Star Alliance), Delhi (Brussels – Toronto), Bangalore, and Chennai (both to Munich), as well as on Delhi-Hong Kong-Manila, Mumbai – Seoul, and potentially Bangalore-Narita. Longer term, the 787-8s would replace the A330-200s one to one, converting the Delhi-Toronto and Mumbai-Chicago legs to nonstop flights.

The A330-300s would be used primarily on regional and VFR heavy routes. Mumbai-Brussels-Newark would continue in the very near term. Additionally, Mumbai/Delhi – Beijing, Mumbai – Tokyo-Narita, Mumbai – Jakarta, and Mumbai -Shanghai could be launched with the A330-300s, as well as Mumbai-Nairobi, Mumbai-Cairo, and both Mumbai-Dubai flights. Longer term, 787-9s would be used to replace the A330-300s on a one-to-one basis after all of the 777-300ERs have been replaced.

The 5 777-300ERs currently in the fleet would be deployed onto the two daily flights between Mumbai and London-Heathrow, as well as the daily Delhi - London-Heathrow. Mumbai – Hong Kong would remain as an 777-300ER service, with potential extension to Taipei since the aircraft is required to spend almost 8 hours in Hong Kong anyway for commercially viable timings. And Mumbai-Singapore could be converted to 777-300ER for the night flight, leaving one aircraft for spare.

The remaining 5 777-300ERs would be reconfigured into 349 seat configuration without first class, thus allowing the aircraft to fly India-US nonstop. Two aircraft would be deployed onto the Mumbai-Newark sector nonstop (in partnership with United through a potential JV after joining Star Alliance), while two more aircraft would ply Mumbai – Boston nonstop 3 weekly, and Mumbai- New York JFK 4 times per week. The final aircraft would be used to run thrice weekly flights Mumbai-Sydney-Auckland.

All of these 777-300ERs would be replaced with the first batch of 787-9s. The first 5 aircraft would be configured in 3 class configuration as a subfleet, while the remaining 20 787-9s would be configured in 2 class configuration for 1 to 1 replacements and growth.

All of this would leave Jet Airways with a standardized widebody fleet of 40 Boeing 787s, 28 for replacement, and 12 for growth. The standardized fleet would help save money on maintenance and training (the so-called “commonality” effect) and if necessary, Jet could even order the larger 787-10 to replace some A330-300s and 777-300ERs if demand conditions warrant such an action.

All of the above is an idealized scenario based on several assumptions, but it represents the kind of strategic thinking one should expect from Jet. However, it is also possible that Jet Airways simply wants to delay the acquisition of aircraft due to a funds constraint, in which case the delayed timeline of the 787-9 would offer Jet more time.  

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Opinion: Kingfisher Airlines' license suspension actually helps Vijay Mallya

On Saturday India's civil aviation minister Ajit Singh, announced that aviation regulator, the DGCA had suspended the operating permit of Kingfisher Airlines, after the carrier failed to respond to their show-cause notice.

With mountains of unpaid debts, the airline has been on life-support for some time now. Unpaid employees have been striking since October 1, resulting in a suspension of all flight operations by the Dr. Vijay Mallya promoted airline.

While many proclaimed their eulogies, the PR folks at the airline, called the suspension temporary

"We would like to clarify that this is not a cancellation but a temporary suspension which is valid only till such time that we submit a concrete and reliable revival plan to the satisfaction of DGCA."

The alcoholic beverages (alcobev) business in India is at the intersection of public relations, sexually aspirational marketing, board-room machinations, manoeuvring around the hundreds of contradicting laws, gratification and slush funds of administrators and politicians.

Call me a conspiracy theorist, but I refuse to accept that a man who made his billions in this tricky business, will just fold up his airline, risking his personal assets and those of the UB Group, which have been given as surety on the loans to the airline.

Going out on a limb, I suspect, this suspension may be one last, desperate move by team Mallya, to scare the stakeholders, employees, banks, vendors, and government, into saving the airline.

The striking employees who have been unpaid for seven months have been taking a hard line. With the management offering only one month salary, reconciliation meetings till now have proved futile. Ahead of their meeting with the management on Monday, the suspension suddenly gave the employees a preview of cold, hard reality. If the airline goes under, not only will they not get their unpaid salaries, but they will have to look for new jobs in a shrinking Indian aviation market.

The banks which are refusing to lend any more funds, demanding the Mallya bring in about $500 million (Rs. 2,500 Crore) to re-capitalise the airline, were given a preview of Kingfisher going under. Banks have collateral for only about 10% of their loan exposure. A lengthy, expensive, legal recovery process is not a desirable situation for them. Recovery proceedings may also bring to the surface undesirable information and questions, about potential political influence in these government owned banks granting loans to the airline.

The vendors, especially the airports, the fuel companies, and lessors, who will have to commence lengthy and expensive litigation to recover their dues if Kingfisher goes under. The mess will get further complicated due to cross litigation between the various vendors. For example the lessors who own the aircraft will have to pay the dues of airports before they can take away their aircraft.

The Government, by ordering the suspension or cancellation of Kingfisher's permit, has given Mallya the perfect escape route. He can now dump the entire problem in to the government's lap, saying "What can I do? I did my utmost to save the airline, but the government cancelled the permit. Now they must deal with the consequences."

The spin doctors are UB Group are masters in PR. We recently experienced how well they diverted the media's attention away from the Rs. 60 Cr. humanitarian loan extended by banks. Get a Kingfisher stewardess out in protest saying she is out on the streets, and all the TV news channels will cover it from head to toe. In no time, public opinion will be turned, that the government must be humane and take care of those poor unpaid employees who are now out on the streets.

Last, but not the least, is us passengers and tax payers. Thanks to capacity reductions, fares are already up 20% in the last few months, and over 50% compared to last year. With the Dussera festival this week, kicking off the peak travel season till mid January, and Kingfisher out of the picture, fares will rise to astronomical levels. There will be a public outcry and the government will be forced to defend the situation with the Kingfisher spin doctors saying "See, we tried to save the airline. The government closed us down. These fare increases are due to that."

The situation is being unfolded exactly how the King of Good Times wants it.

What are your thoughts on the suspension of Kingfisher's permit? On my conspirator theory? Your thoughts and comments are always welcome.

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Exclusive interview: Giorgio De Roni - CEO GoAir - Part 2: We first deliver results, we do not over-promise.

Continuing from part 1 of the interview with the the soft spoken CEO of GoAir, Giorgio De Roni, who has quietly turned around the Wadia family promoted airline from a rock bottom position, dismal market share, and reputation for frequent cancellations, to a top performing contender in the Indian airline industry, with some of the best performance parameters in the industry.

In the concluding part of this broad ranging two-on-one interview with Devesh Agarwal and Vinay Bhaskara, De Roni, shares his management mantras, techniques and methods utilised in the turn around of GoAir.

Q: How are things developing at GoAir and in the Indian airline industry as a whole over the past year?

Well the industry is going through a challenging period due to many issues in the market.

Certainly and foremost the cost of fuel and taxation on fuel. We have recorded an increase of 7%, which is a huge increase given that fuel represents more than 50% of our total costs.

Then we have a market that I’m fully confident and sure that in the medium to long term is growing. But unfortunately in the latest few months, we have recorded a drop in respect to last year, and that is a big concern in the short period.

We have some infrastructure bottlenecks and again this is penalizing airlines in India.

That said, I remain confident in the growth of the Indian aviation sector. We might require some revision of the regulatory environment which is a little bit old fashioned. If I’m not wrong the base of the legal framework is dated 1934, so even before the Chicago Convention.

I feel that some commitment from the government to revise and improve efficiency in the system is necessary. I feel confident that all stakeholders will be able to deliver us such an environment.

In my view, a country with 1.2 billion people should have a much stronger aviation sector. Definitely there is an opportunity to create a hub in India, and there is probably also a space for more than one hub. But we need some efficiency in all of the systems.

Q: Till a little more than a year ago, GoAir did not enjoy the best reputation in the industry in terms of dispatch reliability. In the last 1.5 years, that has turned around literally 100%. GoAir ranks, right at the top in terms of least cancellations and best on-time performance. Can you share with us what were the issues confronting GoAir and some of the steps you took to solve them when you joined the airline?

Well I think that quality to customer is one of the pillars of any airline, and we are committed to deliver value for money. Definitely I am aware that in the past, GoAir was suffering in terms of on-time performance. We are now averaging around 90%. And notwithstanding the high on-time performance, we also have high aircraft utilization, because in July we achieved 13 block hours per aircraft per day, which is remarkable for a narrow-body airline.

I think that the only thing that I am trying to reach within the organization is trying to deliver consistent strategy, and a consistent approach throughout the management team and down to the front line. We are investing hugely in terms of training and hugely in processes and procedure. We were IOSA approved [IATA Operational Safety Audit] at the end of 2010. Since it is a 2 year approval, we are now going through the renewal of that certificate. All these aspects are contributing to keep our quality and standard of performance high.

IOSA? We didn’t know that you had undergone IOSA. We only knew that Air India had undergone IOSA.

Well, one of our characteristics is not to overpromise, but first to deliver the result and then communicate. Sometimes my shareholder [Wadia family] blames me, saying that we [GoAir management] should be more proactive in communication.

Well my view is that we have to communicate only what we are able to deliver. And definitely IOSA is a good achievement.

But in the end, does a passenger choose GoAir for being IOSA certified? No I don’t think so.

I think that it is more important to deliver on-time performance, and good service, both on-board and on the ground. And that is why we are investing significantly in training.

Q: You mentioned that GoAir is achieving 13 hours aircraft block utilisation time, That is almost 20% or 30% more than IndiGo or SpiceJet. You appear to have probably the best aircraft utilization in the country?

Well last year we received an award by Airbus for being the best operator of the A320 in whole of Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa in our fleet size. [Editor's note: A320 behemoths AirAsia and IndiGo are in the same geography]

And this is remarkable because of course the higher utilization continues to keep fixed costs more efficient , but also it is remarkable because it is accompanied by a very good on-time performance.

Q: How long are you looking at keeping the same level of aircraft utilization?

I hope that as soon as we get approval, we can start operating on international flights and increase the aircraft utilization by adding some flights at night. Of course on a daily basis we need to carry out maintenance checks on all the aircraft. And these keep the aircraft grounded for 3.5~4 hours every day, so the limit for the utilization is 20 hours.

We have a turnaround time of between 25 and 30 minutes depending on the size of the airport and efficiency of the airport in providing turnaround services. And that’s the limit I cannot go beyond.

Because our first departure is at 05:15 and our last arrival is at 01:00 the following day. Of course not all of the aircraft have such an intensive utilization, but we manage to have a pretty good utilization.

Q: So does this high utilization change the timeline on heavy maintenance checks for the A320s?

We do have C-checks. Another policy of the company is to keep the fleet as young as possible, because this brings efficiency in maintenance and efficiency in fuel consumption, and a good product to our customer. It means that C-checks. Yes we have undergone 8 C-checks for the fleet. These keep the aircraft grounded for around 3 days. We outsource the C-check maintenance. We also have engines updated but considering that we have spare engines, the high utilization is not as much of a concern.

Q: Many Indian carriers are moving to the concept of "power by the hour" with engine manufacturers. Is GoAir using this business method?

[Editor's note: In this business method, airlines agree to pay engine manufacturers a unit price per hour of usage of the engine. The manufacture is then responsible for the performance and maintenance of the engine.]

We do not do so currently, but we are exploring this method. If it saves us money and helps us improve our despatch reliability we will consider it most strongly.

Q: Can you share some of your operational numbers? What are your average number of flights per aircraft per day?

We operate roughly 100 nonstop flights, but the network is constructed to offer as many “via” [connecting] opportunities as possible, particularly via Delhi and via Mumbai. And we carried roughly 3.5 million passengers last year and we have a target of 5.5 [million]. Why? Not only due to the increase of aircraft, we grew capacity by 22% as well.

Q: So you will be targeting growth up to 5.5 million passengers this year?

Yes 5.5 million. Due to increasing capacity by 22% and a higher seat factor. We also slightly increased the productivity by 15 minutes – which is peanuts. But at the end of the day, we can deliver some positive results.

Q: How many rotations do you achieve on average per aircraft per day?

We achieve 7.6 legs per aircraft per day.

[Editor’s Note: Mr. De Roni clarified that he meant 7.6 one way flight segments per aircraft per day.]

Q: Can we ask you for CASK or RASK numbers? (Cost per Available Seat Kilometre, Revenue per Available Seat Kilometre)

Sorry No.

Q: You mentioned the enhanced connectivity that you are looking at through Delhi and Mumbai. Looking forward, how much do you want to grow connections? Will it play an increasing role in the business model or will the primary focus still be point to point connections (P2P)?

Well the main focus will continue to be on point to point, but definitely connectivity might increase without diluting the overall revenue. Furthermore, we also must consider that due to some infrastructure bottlenecks, it wouldn’t be easy to add additional slots in Mumbai or at peak times in Delhi. So we also have a strategy to increase our presence in other areas of the country. We are already relatively strong in the Northwest; in Jammu and Kashmir we are the market share leader in Srinagar. We have recently deployed second aircraft nonstop at Bangalore Airport and the January A320 delivery will be most probably deployed in the South of the country, bypassing both Delhi and Mumbai.

Q: What do you see happening in Mumbai with regards to an integrated terminal? Will it be something similar to Delhi where you have an LCC terminal and a separate integrated terminal.

First of all, I am not Indian and I am not particularly able to forecast Indian decisions. And even if I am able to forecast, since it is sometimes a frustrating experience, I prefer to keep to what is the final the result.

Because media coverage is unpredictable – one week they say that FDI will be approved by Friday, the next Saturday, it is next month, and the next month, it is in a few months time.

So I have the habit of let’s see what happens and planning consequently.

Q: The reason we ask is that if in Bombay they structure the integrated terminal similar to Delhi, will the cost structure be similar to Delhi?

Yes. And it will create inefficiencies in the cost structure if we have to share activity between two terminals. So I do hope that this kind of consideration will be analyzed before any sort of decision is made.

[Editor's note. Please see part 1 of this interview where Mr. De Roni explains how high fees are impacting Delhi airport with reduced traffic]

You recently asked the DGCA to grant you a waiver from the 5-year and 20-aircraft rules for international flying. How confident are you in receiving a waiver, and would this signal a shift in strategy towards more international flying?

No, the core business will remain domestic. I personally see a strong potential for more growth domestically, considering that only 60 million passengers travelled by air last year out of 1.2 billion people.

If there are opportunities to fly internationally, I feel relatively confident to be authorized to fly internationally.

We already have, as you know, the 5 years of experience required, but we are flying less than 20 aircraft. I do not see why foreign airlines are allowed to fly international flights to India with just 1, 2, or 3 aircraft and Indian carriers are not allowed.

In my view, allowing GoAir to fly international, will increase opportunities for employment, flows of currency and tourism, and will serve the economy of the country better, and at the end of the day, it will create a dynamic competitive environment to the benefit of the final customer.

[Editor’s Note: Just to give some examples of this disparity. Avia Traffic Company, an airline with 5 aircraft that is banned in the EU, is allowed to operate in to India. Bhutan's Druk Air with just 3 aircraft, and several sketchy Afghan airlines with very small fleets, operate non-stop international services into Delhi? Yet GoAir with its now sparkling reliability and safety record is not allowed to do so?]

Q: Looking at your network, Mumbai and Delhi seem to be roughly equal in size. Will you increase in Delhi?

We are slightly more present in Delhi, historically due to a lack of slots in Mumbai. But definitely also due to the fact that the cost in Delhi has increased greatly. Thus the expansion plan will mostly be outside Delhi.

Q: One thing we’ve noticed is that the bulk of the expense at Delhi Airport seems to have occurred on Terminal 3. Yet GoAir, SpiceJet, and IndiGo passengers, who do not use T3, are made to pay fees for T3. Your comments?

Unfortunately, this is the common approach to airport development. And with this kind of approach we have weaknesses in the efficiency of the system. We have to survive anyhow.

Thank you sir for the revealing details. It was a pleasure.

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Mobile phones popularise use of self check-in facilities at Mumbai airport

The growing popularity of web, kiosk and mobile check-in has almost doubled passenger self-service check-in at Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport (CSIA), Mumbai over the year, up from 36% to 65%.

The 2011 SITA/Air Transport World Passenger Self-Service Survey found that the web check-in rate was higher in Mumbai than at any of the other airports included in the survey. 70% of Mumbai passengers said they use it occasionally or frequently compared to a global average of 65%. The survey also showed that the mobile phone is now an integral part of the passenger experience in India.

The survey was carried out at Abu Dhabi International Airport, Beijing Capital International Airport, Frankfurt International Airport, São Paulo Guarulhos International Airport and Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport, Mumbai, which serve about 283 million passenger a year.

98% of all passengers carry either a cell phone (56%) or a smartphone (42%). The most popular smartphone is the Blackberry at 48% (all you iPhone and Android only app-writers please tattoo this to your eyelids). Smartphones are most popular with 66% of first/business class passengers and 44% of frequent flyers (who take ten or more trips per year).

Smartphone passengers are driving demand for self-service options and Wi-Fi access at airports. 80% of passengers, globally, want free Wi-Fi access (hello airport operators), but 38% of Mumbai smartphone passengers would accept paying for access compared to 10% globally, though we are sure, this number would dive if the amount is more than a few rupees.

Unlike the developed world, and with 56% of passengers carrying a non-smart mobile phone, India still shows a high demand for SMS notifications of flight information. 48% of passengers already receive SMS notifications and a further 46% would like to receive them.


At 63%, online booking was the most popular form of booking among Mumbai passengers compared to a global rate of 57%. Online travel agencies like Yatra.com, MakeMyTrip.com, Travelocity.com, Cleartrip.com, etc., were used by 59% of those who booked online. Airline websites accounted for 34%. May be passengers need to get more familiar with IXIGO.


Airport operator Mumbai International Airport Pvt. Ltd., (MIAL) will be increasing the use of Common Use Self Service (CUSS) terminals. As per Mr Vikram Sethi, Vice President and Head of Terminal Operations, "There will be a further increase in offsite check-in/self check-in as the government requirement for airlines to stamp boarding cards generated from kiosks is being discontinued and airlines will have to conduct identity checks at the boarding gate."

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MAP: 8 Air India flights cannot even cover their cost of fuel

According to a report from the Press Trust of India (PTI), Indian civil aviation minister Vyalar Ravi revealed before the Rajya Sabha today that Air India's estimated loss for FY 2010-2011 was Rs. 6,994 Crore, down sharply from the Rs. 5552.55 Crore loss posted in FY 2009-2010.

Ravi also said that, "Based on April-September, 2011 route wise profitability, two routes out of 175 services meet total cost viz Kolkata-Yangon (vice versa) and Kolkata-Kathmandu (and vice versa)."

He further related that, "Based on April-September, 2011 out of 175 services [by Air India], 8 services (are) not meeting fuel cost, 109 services(are) meeting fuel cost but not meeting cash cost, 56 services (are) meeting cash cost but not meeting total cost and two services meeting total cost,"

***Note the traditionally accepted difference between cash cost and total cost for airlines is that total costs include aircraft financing costs and aircraft lease payments, which are not included in cash costs.

An earlier report in the Times of India had confirmed those figures for the routes and also contained the following caveat: "90% of the losses in these six months [April-September] came from international routes. AI lost Rs 791 crore on routes in that time, of which only Rs 57 crore was due to domestic flights and the rest on foreign flights. The entire network planning needs a relook and urgently to cover the revenue-expenditure gap."

That report also listed Delhi-Tokyo-Delhi as the only profitable flight in Air India's network, a route not mentioned by Vyalar at the Rajya Sabha.

8 Air India flights not making fuel cost

Bangalore Aviation has obtained the following list of the 8 Air India flights that currently do not generate enough revenue to even cover their fuel costs. One of these routes was already revealed in our post about Air India's London Heathrow slots: Amritsar-Delhi-London Heathrow.

• Amritsar-Delhi-London Heathrow
• Amritsar-Delhi-Toronto,
• Delhi-Dubai (AI 947)
• Ahmedabad-Mumbai (AI653)
• Delhi-Chennai (AIC 437)
• Chennai-Delhi (AIC 438)
• Delhi-Gwalior-Mumbai-Gwalior-Delhi (AI 421/422)
• Mumbai-Delhi (2x: AI 623 and AI 624),
• Mumbai-Ahmedabad (AI 643)
• Delhi-Mumbai (AI688)
• Ahmedabad-Mumbai (AI 614)

In all, 15 of Air India's flights don't make their fuel costs: the map below shows these routes in red, as well as Air India's profitable flights in green.



*Click map for larger view


Maps generated by the Great Circle Mapper : copyright © Karl L. Swartz.

As the map shows, Air India's Delhi operation clearly faces a lot of trouble. Back in 2009, the carrier had shifted towards an intercontinental hub at Delhi's T3. Yet Air India is today unable to even cover its fuel costs on 7 different sectors from Delhi! Despite having a monopoly on nonstop flights from India to Toronto, Air India appears to be bumbling in its attempt to serve this large market of Indian nationals. It's time that Air India takes a good hard look at just how viable its international flights from New Delhi are, and whether it really makes sense for Air India to be operating widebody aircraft on domestic "tag" sectors for international routes (i.e. the Amritsar-Delhi segment of Amritsar-Delhi-Toronto).

At any other airline, routes whose revenues did not cover their fuel cost would have been dropped almost automatically; but at Air India; these routes will continue to be operated into the foreseeable future.

In the coming days, we will be analyzing Air India's financial results for FY 10-11 (and hopefully their annual report with its management commentary as well).

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Photo quiz: What is so special about this Air India tail parade?

Earlier this year, I took this photo at Mumbai's Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport. It shows tails of four Air India group aircraft. Can you identify what is special about this photo. Post a comment, and be specific please.

Photo copyright Devesh Agarwal. All rights reserved. Used with permission.

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No airport fee relief for Delhi passengers in Supreme Court ruling, only Mumbai impacted

Earlier today passengers cheered hearing that the Supreme Court of India ruled that the charging of Airport Development Fee (ADF) by the private airport operators was incorrect.

The initial cheer of air passengers flying out of Delhi though is short lived. A detailed reading of the record of proceedings of the case (read page 42 onwards) allows the operators of Delhi airport, GMR led Delhi International Airport Ltd. (DIAL) to continue charging the ADF of Rs. 200 and Rs. 1,300 on each domestic and international departing passenger respectively since it has received an interim order from the Airport Economic Regulatory Authority to charge such a levy. Unfortunately for the GVK led Mumbai International Airport Ltd., it has received no such permission and therefore will have to stop charging the Rs. 100 and 600 ADF it levies on departing domestic and international passengers.

Supreme Court of India CA 3611 .2011 ADF MIAL DIALpdf
In lay persons terms, the Supreme Court has said, the levy of the fee was not as per law, but now there is an interim order and so Delhi can continue charging the fee. How about the refund of the fee unlawfully collected? Tough luck. We cannot trace each passenger and refund the fee. Just in case the extremely learned counsels are not aware, each ticket, especially international, contains detailed passenger information, including payment information. Just refund it via the same means the original fee was paid.

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Supreme Court quashes Airport Development Fee at Delhi and Mumbai airports

The Supreme Court of India has ruled that the private consortia running the Delhi and Mumbai airports will not be allowed to charge an airport development fee (ADF) on passengers.

The stock prices of both the GMR group which leads Delhi International Airport Ltd. (DIAL) and GVK Group which leads Mumbai International Airport Ltd. (MIAL) were hammered on the stock exchanges. The New Indian Express reports

At 12.30 p.m., shares of GVK was down 3.62 per cent to Rs 25.60 and GMR was down 3.29 per cent to Rs 38.25

DIAL charges an ADF of Rs. 200 from domestic and Rs. 1300 from international passengers embarking from its airport, while MIAL charges Rs. 100 and Rs. 600 respectively.

A bench comprising justices R. V. Raveendran and A. K. Patnaik ruled in favour of Consumer Online Foundation, a non-governmental organization which had filed a public interest case against the levy of the fee on passengers.

The court is reasoning that only the Airports Authority of India (AAI), not private companies, has the rights under the law to levy a fee payable in advance of an airport construction.

Under the OMDA agreement with AAI, in order to compensate the private companies for their expenses and investments in the development of the airports, the AAI allotted them land in the vicinity of the airport.

However, passengers should not expect this as a relaxation of the User Development Fee or UDF which is currently charged at the Bangalore and Hyderabad airports. UDF is levied after an airport has been constructed and is based on the paid project cost and incomes.

Since the airport project at Delhi is completed, DIAL will be able to move from an ADF to a UDF regime very quickly. However, GVK will be impacted since the project at Mumbai is expected to complete only in 2012.

GVK has also gained control of Bengaluru International Airport Ltd., and has announced an expansion of Terminal 1. While this expansion is not expected to be impacted, today's ruling of the Supreme Court is bound to impact the financial flows and planning of the GVK group and this raises the question -- will the long term expansion of the airport i.e. Terminal 2 and the second runway (27L/09R) be impacted?

What is your view? Post a comment.

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Jet Airways incident at Mumbai -- DGCA release preliminary report, crew suspended

A Jet Airways Boeing 737-800 registration VT-JGM operating Jet Airways Konnect flight 9W-2302 from Mumbai CSI airport to Chennai Kamaraj airport, India, with 139 passengers and six crew, was taxing on taxiway N parallel to runway 09-27 having pushed back from stand A-6 at 20:47 (15:17Z). At 20:55 (15:25Z) the captain declared a port side engine (i.e. left side , engine 1) fire, which activated the emergency services.

The aircraft rescue and fire fighting (ARFF) vehicles took position on port side the aircraft by 20:58 (15:58Z) and reported there was no visible indication of fire. The crew evacuated the aircraft via slides while on taxiway N which was completed by 21:02 (15:32Z).

Click on image for high resolution view. Photo used with permission of copyright holder.

Doctors at the airport attended to 25 passengers who suffered injuries during the evacuation process. 13 passengers were sent to area hospitals (11 to Nanavati Hospital and 2 to Sujay hospital) for diagnosis and treatment, including suspected fractures.

Jet Airways carried 117 passengers on a delayed flight operated with another aircraft at 23:57 (18:27Z)

The incident has been referred to India's Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).

TV media reports indicate the DGCA has already found the crew actions highly questionable and suspect lapse on part of both the flight and cabin crew, of standard operating procedures. The crew has been de-rostered pending the detailed investigation.

Apparently the "fire alarm" was raised by passenger(s) in the rear of the aircraft who confused the anti-collision beacon and strobes and their reflections of the engine casing, as sparks coming from the engine.

The cabin crew informed the flight commander who declared a fire emergency and ordered an evacuation, without physical verification, despite a lack of any alert on instruments and reports by the ARFF crew of no visible indication of fire.

The cabin crew, lost control of the situation instead of taking charge and attempting to calm the passengers, thus aggravated the situation leading to a panic. The cabin crew allowed passengers to use the slides wearing shoes and carrying bags, a serious breech of safety procedures. This damaged the slides, further constricted the passages and exits which aided the stampede and caused panicked passengers to jump from the aircraft leading to the injuries sustained.

Despite contrary reports and alleged lack of instrument indications, the evacuation was ordered on the single active taxiway of the airport's primary runway, during the peak period, severely hampering airport flight operations.

Bangalore Aviation made multiple attempts by phone, e-mail and SMS text, to contact the airline for a statement of its version of developments, but did not receive any response till the time of this article. We will post the airline's statement when received.


Update 1 - 16:30 IST (11:00Z)
A statement received from Jet Airways

Jet Airways 9W 2302 from Mumbai to Chennai initiated a precautionary evacuation on the taxiway due to a suspected fire around the left engine. The precautionary evacuation was carried out in the interest of safety of the passengers and the crew. The crew carried out the evacuation in accordance with standard operating procedures.

Subsequent inspection of the engine has indicated that there was no fire.

A formal inquiry has been initiated by the DGCA and Jet Airways is fully co-operating and providing all necessary assistance.

The welfare of our guests and crew is of prime importance and Jet Airways is taking appropriate steps to ensure the same.

Guests travelling on that flight were immediately afforded alternate travel arrangements via an additional flight 9W 2302, which departed Mumbai for Chennai at 2357 hrs with 117 guests onboard.

During the process of evacuation, twelve guests sustained injuries and were duly administered medical assistance and taken to nearby hospitals. Out of the twelve guests, 8 have been released this morning and have proceeded to Chennai. Jet Airways Medical personnel have been onsite at the hospitals and have been co-ordinating the medical assistance provided to the remaining four guests.

Safety is of paramount importance to Jet Airways and we regret the inconvenience caused to our guests. Jet Airways would like to express its gratitude to the crew, the airport staff, the medical staff, MIAL and all other agencies for providing their timely assistance and support.

This is the second incident in less than a year where the crew actions of Jet Airways are suspect. About ten months ago on October 20, 2009, a check pilot on-board a Jet Airways Boeing 737-900ER VT-JGC allegedly performed what is consider in aviation circles an extremely reckless and risky act -- he pulled the circuit-breakers on a regular revenue flight from Delhi to Mumbai. It appears that the check pilot is back on duty with Jet Airways despite such a serious lapse.


Update 2 - 18:30 IST (13:00Z)

India's aviation regulator the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has put out this initial report.

DGCA Finds Serious Procedural Lapses In the Incident of the Jet Airways Flight 9W2302 In Mumbai Yesterday

Pilot and Crew Suspended

Preliminary fact finding by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has indicated serious procedural lapses in dealing with the emergency and evacuation situation as per existing procedures laid down in aircraft rules and regulations, by the operating aircraft crew members of the Jet airways flight 9W2302 scheduled to fly from Mumbai to Chennai yesterday. Hence the Pilot in Command (PIC), First officer, four cabin crew members and four ACMs [additional crew members i.e. off-duty crew] have been suspended till further orders. This incident has been treated as serious incident and will be investigated under rule 77C of Aircraft Rules 1937 by a team comprising of Director Air safety Mumbai, Flight Operation Inspector and Cabin Safety Incharge of DGCA.

On 27 August 2010, the Captain and the First Officer were operating the flight 9W2302 on Mumbai-Chennai Sector. There were four cabin crew members, as per the requirements; 131 passengers including one infant and Nine Additional crew members (8 cabin crew + one trainee Pilot). During the taxing of aircraft, an Additional Crew Member (ACM), travelling as a passenger, seated on 35A apparently observed fire on the Left Engine and informed another ACM also travelling as a passenger, seated on 35B, who also claimed to have seen the fire. The ACM seated on 35B immediately went back and contacted Captain from aft right door location(R-2). He also informed Cabin crew assigned for aft left door (L2). Pilot immediately asked L2 cabin crew to confirm the fire and report. She also confirmed to the Captain.

The PIC, on receiving the confirmation pulled the fire handles for left engine, right engine and APU. However he did not discharge any of the fire bottles. PIC ordered the evacuation from the aircraft. Escape slide on front and aft doors on the right side (R1 & R2) and both the over wing emergency exits were deployed. On the left side, the aft door (L2) and rear over wing emergency exit were also deployed. The airport fire and rescue services personnel immediately reached the site. During the evacuation, 14 passengers sustained injuries. After the evacuation the aircraft inspection was carried out in the night time under supervision of DGCA team. No fire or smoke was observed in the engine area. Both the engines were checked and boroscope inspection was carried out. No abnormality was observed in engines and its systems. CVR and DFDR have been removed.

The DGCA has also called for a meeting of the Heads of training of all Airlines to review the training procedures of cabin and flight crews, particularly in emergency and evacuation procedures.

Taxiway N is parallel to the left of the main active runway 27 i.e. the runway would be on the right side of the aircraft.

The main question that comes to mind is that it is normal procedure for crew never to open the exits on the side of the aircraft with the fire, which in this case was the left, yet the exits, especially overwing (closest to a left side engine fire) were opened. Why??

The exits on the right were also opened which is correct procedure, but the main active runway is on the right, and one cannot have evacuating passengers running away from an aircraft towards an active runway. Was air traffic control informed and runway operations suspended prior to opening the right side doors?

There is much more to this incident and the full truth will have to be determined.

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Mumbai airport upgrades runway for Airbus A380 compliance; will Emirates bring the first scheduled A380 to India?

Between October 2009 and April 2010, passengers and airlines alike, had to put up with runway closures as Mumbai Airport International Ltd. (MIAL), the operators of the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport (CSIA) at India's financial capital, Mumbai, re-carpeted and re-built the secondary runway 14-32. (For details on runway numbering please read this article).

The runway now boasts a smoother surface, new centre line and Barrette approach lights. Six new taxiways including two new rapid exit taxiways have also been constructed to reduce runway occupation time and improve the operational capacity of the runway.


A key point of the secondary runway improvement has been to make it compliant for operations by Code F aircraft such as the Airbus A380 superjumbo. Now MIAL would like to repeat the whole exercise for the main runway 09-27.

The upgrade, subject to approval by Indian regulator the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), is planned for commencement around October 2010, and will continue till the middle of the summer schedule i.e. till about June 2011. Shutting down 09-27 is going to have a significant impact on Mumbai's operations. However, we can expect MIAL to keep the runway operational during the peak hours of 06:00~09:00 and from 18:00 onwards.

Two aspects seem to have driven what appears to be a good decision.

Competition
Over the last year, CSIA has lost its long held premier ranking as India's busiest airport to the rapidly expanding Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) at India's capital New Delhi, and its soon to be operational mega Terminal 3 (T3).

While CSIA is constructing new terminals, the airport simply does not have the space to make a 500,000 m2 integrated terminal, a crucial advantage airlines desire for hub operations. As the map shows, passengers are required to take a tortuous 30 minute ride to transit between the domestic and international terminals, and there is precious little the airport operator can do about it. The national carrier, Air India, currently based at Mumbai and one of CSIA's largest customers, has already announced plans to make Delhi's T3 as its hub to connect the airline's domestic and international network. Kingfisher Airlines too operates more international flights from Delhi than Mumbai. Jet Airways is the only major carrier to be still firmly rooted in Mumbai.

Additionally, while Delhi airport still faces no competition within a two hour flying time (Kolkata, Mumbai, Hyderabad) thus giving it a huge hinterland, Mumbai has seen new or upgraded airports coming up within 60~75 minutes flying time at Hyderabad, Bangalore, Ahmedabad to a small extent).

With no integrated terminal, MIAL needs to have some other aces up its sleeve to lure airlines. Without a doubt Mumbai has the traffic potential, but Mumbai is facing a shortage of air-side operational capacity, specifically its two crossing runways.

Runway capacity
Mumbai airport is facing severe capacity constraints on its runways. With its two crossing runways the number of aircraft movements per hour is limited. Vested political forces have ensured Mumbai airport has not been able to re-claim any of hundreds of acres of airport land encroached on by slum dwellers, which could be used to build new runways.

Adding to the woes of the airport operators are the regulatory authorities and the airlines.

Thanks to the current rules, the AAI run ATC can only handle about 32~34 movements per runway per hour. Compare this will the 55+ movements per hour achieved regularly at London's Gatwick airport. People in the know, say the authorities are moving much too slow on proposals which leverage on newer technology including performance based navigation, which will permit reduction of aircraft separation which in turn will allow for increased movements per hour thus increasing runway capacity.

With a constraint on the number of flight movements, to increase annual passenger traffic from about 26 million currently to a target 40 million, Mumbai needs airlines to change the aircraft patterns.

Airlines are not helping MIAL's case, choosing to operate multiple narrow body flights on trunk routes, instead of consolidating in to fewer wide body flights. For example, the busiest route in India is between Mumbai and Delhi. Domestic carriers operate no less than 17 flights in each direction, every morning between 06:00 and 09:00, all of them narrow bodies. The three full service carriers Air India, Kingfisher, and Jet, all of whom have wide body fleets, each operate at least four flights in each direction with separations as little at 30 minutes with either a Boeing 737 (Jet) or an Airbus A320 (Air India, Kingfisher) family aircraft. Add to this mix, numerous flights operated by smaller turbo-props like the ATR72-500 and there is very little room for the airport operators to manoeuvre.

With the number of movements limited, sooner or later, airlines are going to have to increase the size of aircraft they operate at Mumbai.

The Airbus A380
The A380, most definitely, has a strong passenger pull factor. The two airports in India capable of generating traffic volumes to justify A380 operations are Mumbai and Delhi. Till the upgrade of runway 14-32, Mumbai was loosing out to Delhi, and now this selling point of Delhi has been nullified.

Mumbai has still not received formal approval by the DGCA to commence A380 operations, but expects to shortly.

The airline most likely to commence a scheduled A380 operation at Mumbai will be Emirates. The Dubai based carrier has ordered 90 of the double-decker behemoths and already operates five flights daily between Mumbai and Dubai. Rumours are circulating the carrier is trying for a sixth daily flight, but is not receiving the needed permissions. The other airline which is keen to bring its A380 to India is Lufthansa. However, while Emirates can operate its three hour Mumbai Dubai flight on the shorter 14-32 runway, it remains to be seen if Lufthansa could operate a heavily fuelled aircraft for its ten hour journey. May be Lufthansa will have to wait for runway 09-27 to be upgraded to Code F compliance.

All this remains speculative, as the Ministry of Civil Aviation is still not giving permission to any foreign airline to operate the A380 to India. Kingfisher, the only Indian airline to have ordered the super jumbo does not expect its aircraft before 2015~16, and that it much too long for Indians to wait.

One can only hope that the ministry sees common sense, and the citizens of Mumbai can rejoice that they will see an A380 in their city soon.

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