Etihad Airways signs code share agreement with Kenya Airways; strengthened ties with SkyTeam?

by Vinay Bhaskara

Abu Dhabi based Etihad Airways has inked a code share with Nairobi based Kenya Airways, expanding access to second and third tier African destinations for its consumers. Etihad Airways will place its code on flights by Kenya Airways to 27 destinations across Kenya Airways' African network. Meanwhile, Kenya Airways will place its code onto 32 onward destinations from Etihad's global hub. The Kenya Airways code will also be placed onto Etihad's daily Abu Dhabi-Nairobi service with 136 seat (16J/120Y) Airbus A320 aircraft, while Kenya Airways will launch a thrice-weekly service Nairobi-Abu Dhabi from mid 2013 onwards.

James Hogan, Etihad Airways President and Chief Executive Officer, said: “The partnership agreement with Kenya Airways is in line with our strategy of forming alliances with airlines around the world to enhance our network and marketing reach. This agreement will also allow both airlines to benefit from cost savings achieved through synergies and economies of scale.

Dr. Titus Naikuni, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Kenya Airways, said: “The new codeshare partnership with Etihad Airways is a significant strengthening of the global network of both airlines, which provides more choice to all our passengers. As part of the agreement we are looking for greater collaboration and coordination on cargo operations, training and procurement opportunities which will make us more cost efficient and customer responsive.”

Code share agreements in and of themselves aren't huge news, but this agreement is notable because it marks increased ties for Etihad with the SkyTeam alliance. After fellow Gulf rival Qatar Airways broke tradition and joined the oneworld alliance, it has become increasingly speculated that Etihad will follow suit and join SkyTeam (Star Alliance is seen as too crowded for another middle-eastern carrier with Turkish Airlines already in the fold).

Etihad now has code share partnerships with nine SkyTeam carriers, including its founder member, Air France. While Etihad touts the benefits of its so-called "equity alliances" composed of its investments and reciprocal codeshares in European LCC airberlin, African regional carrier Air Seychelles, Australian carrier Virgin Australia, and Irish national carrier Aer Lingus, it would undoubtedly benefit from the increased feed provided by membership in a global alliance. While this particular agreement does not mean that a deal is imminent, it does add incrementally to the likelihood of Etihad joining SkyTeam.

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Spotting image: Saudi Arabian Boeing 747-168 at lift-off from Mumbai

One of the better pictures I have taken. This Saudi Arabian Boeing 747-168 HZ-AID lifts off in the late evening carrying pilgrims for the Haj.

Click on the image for a larger view and to see the minute details like the thrust of the jets.


As usual comments and feedback is always welcome.

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Correct landings at wrong airports

Today's post is a guest post courtesy of Bangalore Aviation regular Rupam Singh - a performance engineer. Follow Rupam on Twitter.

Despite the tremendous advances in navigational technology incidents of pilots landing at the wrong airport continue to occur - most often when two airfields are located in close proximity. Similar wind patterns and airspace safety dictates that the two airfields have similar runway alignments, and in many cases one of the two airports is a military facility.

Indian aviation history too has many incidents of the flight crew landing their aircraft with no fatalities, but at a completely wrong airport.

Landing an airplane is one of the toughest parts of flying. Add to this two factors -- most international flights are at night and many a foreign pilot is unfamiliar with the local area -- and the situation is ripe for mistakes.

Blame has to be placed squarely on the pilot's shoulders. These incidents typically occur when a pilot relies on what he/she sees out the cockpit window rather than the instruments and charts.

The air force station at Tambram near Chennai has been commonly mistaken for the Chennai (MAA) airport. The airports are about six nautical miles (12km) apart and both used to have runways aligned 12-30 and with a runway length of about 6,820 feet but for Tambaram 12-30 is the primary runway and for Chennai it is the secondary. Chennai has since decommissioned runway 12-30.

In 1997 thanks to an unfamiliar flight crew, a Saudi Arabian Airlines 747 destined for Chennai mistakenly landed on the secondary runway at air force station Tambaram. It was a nerve racking experience for everyone. The fully loaded 747 came down on a 4,700 feet runway instead of a 10,000 feet one. The plane blew out all its tyres, startling the air force personnel who went on a high alert, surrounded the aircraft, weapons cocked and locked, all very Hollywood or Bollywood, but all to real. The incident cost Saudi Arabian airlines a boatload of money as the plane had to be lightened. Interiors were stripped bare, and a specialist pilot was contracted to take the plane off from the small Tambaram runway.

Similarly, air force station Sulur has been a missed target for many a flight heading for Coimbatore (CJB) airport just seven nautical miles (14 km) away. Again both airports are single runway airports with the same orientation and almost the same length. In 1993, the Jet Airways inaugural flight to Coimbatore landed at AFS Sulur instead. A little less melodramatic this time, since it was in the day.

The piece-de-resistance has to be in Mumbai, the commercial capital of India, and till recently, India's busiest airport. The small Juhu Airport has been mistaken by many a flier for Bombay (BOM) Santa Cruz airport, now renamed Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport (CSIA), since it is less than one nautical mile away (2 km). In fact Juhu airport sits in between the approach paths of the two runways at CSIA. In 1972 a Japan Airlines DC-8 landed at Juhu Airport runway 08 instead of Bombay runway 09. The aircraft overran Juhu's runway, went through a ditch before stopping, damaging the aircraft beyond repair which had to be written off.

Bangalore's new Bengaluru International Airport (BIA) is just about six nautical miles away (12 km) from AFS Yelahanka, the Indian Air Force's main training centre for AN-32 transport pilots, and home to the Aero India show. Both airports have runways in a 09-27 alignment. When the second runway at the BIA is commissioned, it will be only about four nautical miles away from Yelahanka. Hopefully pilots have learnt from the past mistakes of their colleagues and will not commit similar bloopers.

Lest you believe that India alone suffers from this problem, I invite you to read this article which is a comprehensive listing of "wrong way" landings around the world.

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Mumbai airport runway shut down

A Saudi Arabian Boeing 747-300 registration HZ-AIT performing flight SV-744 from Jeddah via Riyadh, Saudi Arabia to Mumbai, India, burst the number 2 and 3 tyres of the left hand main gear while landing on runway 27 at 18:24 (12:54Z) in heavy monsoon rains.

Since the aircraft was heavily loaded, it was stopped on taxiway N8 and passengers were disembarked normally by stairs and taken by bus to the terminal. The plane was towed to the terminal. The main runway 27 was shut down at 18:30 (13:00Z) till 19:06 (13:36Z) while the airport workers checked and collected debris.

Being a peak hour, a number of flights would have been diverted if they had insufficient fuel to remain in a holding patten. We would estimate around 10 flights.

METARS
VABB 041240Z 26008KT 0300 R27/0570 +RA SCT008 SCT015 FEW025TCU OVC080 25/25 Q0999 NOSIG
VABB 041410Z 21010KT 0300 R27/0900 +RA SCT008 SCT012 FEW025TCU OVC080 25/25 Q1000 NOSIG

Earlier weather forced Cathay Pacific flight CX-685 from Hong Kong to Mumbai to perform a "go-around" and land safely at 18:03 local as well as a Kingfisher Airlines flight IT-2138 from Thiruvananthapuram to Mumbai which landed safely just before the runway was shut down.

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Airline services India update: El-Al, Air India, Saudi Arabian, Turkish THY

A host of new and updated services to and from India announced this week.

Saudi Arabian Airlines (Saudia) will launch new flights to Bangalore, Lucknow, and Kozhikode (Calicut) over the next few days. The airline has commenced operating three flights a week to Lucknow; two flights a week to Bangalore from today, March 30, 2009 and four flights a week to Kozhikode, starting tomorrow March 31, 2009.

Israel's national air-carrier El Al Israel Airlines is planning to enhance connectivity between India and Israel by launching twice a week Tel Aviv-New Delhi service from summer. At present El Al Airlines operates three flights a week from Mumbai to Tel Aviv and has a commercial tie-up with national air-carrier Air India and private airline Jet Airways for onward connections to other Indian cities. A spokesman for the airline indicated that El Al was considering Bangalore as a destination, but at a later stage.

Air India has introduced a daily Delhi-Chicago flight via Frankfurt using the new 342 seat Boeing 777-300ER in a three class configuration. The Delhi-Chicago flight will actually originate from Hyderabad (the GMR-UPA connection at work?), while passengers from Kolkata and Amritsar will complete through check-in, immigration and customs formalities at their respective airports.

Turkish Airlines, has increased its seat capacity (measured in ASKs) by 24 per cent and frequencies by 12 per cent from its new summer schedule which went in to effect yesterday. New Delhi, Bombay and Chicago flights are now upgraded to a daily operation. For more details of the changes click here.

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