Ghan celebrates 80 years of outback train travel

Celebrating with Spirit

The Ghan will celebrate its 80th anniversary in August. The legendary train, named after the Afghan camel drivers who helped open Australia\'s interior, left Adelaide for the first time on August 4, 1929.

Since then, it has travelled 25 million kilometres or, to put it another way, the equivalent of 625 times around the world.

Right from the start, the intention was that the railway line would extend to Darwin but finances dictated otherwise and it took until February 4, 2004, before the Ghan chugged into Darwin.

To celebrate this year\'s anniversary and to stimulate business, Great Southern Rail (GSR), the Ghan\'s owner, has a choice of eight free tour and accommodation packages on new bookings made before June 3. Some of the add-ons are valued at $600.

Also, GSR is to push ahead with the Southern Spirit rail journeys it launched and then shelved last year. The Southern Spirit, which is separate from the Ghan, is described as cruising on wheels because it has 24-hour room service, meals, entertainment and off-rail excursions. Guests stay in hotels when there are multi-day stopovers in towns.

GSR management says the Southern Spirit will operate in January and February, 2010, travelling from Uluru to Sydney and Uluru to Brisbane and return.

For example, the 13-day Grand Tour starts in Uluru and ends in Brisbane, travelling via Alice Springs, Adelaide, Melbourne and Sydney. Tours and special events on that itinerary include opal mining in Cooper Pedy, Hunter Valley wine tastings and a close encounter with seals on Kangaroo Island. Prices range from $8990 to $13,990. See gsr.com.au.

Economy slows adventurers

From a small town in Canada, Bruce Poon Tip (pictured) created the world\'s largest adventure company, GAP Adventures.

Not surprisingly for a man who started the company on his credit card, Poon Tip is upbeat about the travails besetting the travel industry, or at least his section of it.

GAP Adventures, which last year took 85,000 travellers on more than 1000 different trips in 100 countries, has not been affected as dramatically as companies catering to more conventional markets, he says.

\"But adventure is different,\" he says. \"It always has been. Adventurers are willing to take a few risks anyway.\"

He concedes bookings are softer than he has seen in 19 years in the business. His prediction is that the industry will take two years to get back to where it was before last year\'s meltdown.

\"All travellers, Aussies included, are booking later,\" he says, making it hard for companies to hold their nerve (and keep their bankers at bay).

Poon Tip says this is apparent in bookings for his latest venture, the MV Expedition, the replacement ship for the Explorer, which went down in the Antarctic Ocean after hitting an iceberg in November 2007.

In sounder economic times, the trips to Antarctica, scheduled for the second half of the year, would be filling fast, he says. \"We\'re getting there but it\'s slower.\"

See gapadventures.com.

Portrait of success

Cultural tourism has long been regarded as one of the ACT\'s drawcards. Figures suggest it attracts in more than 750,000 annually with up to 70 per cent being interstate visitors.

Certainly, there were high expectations for the Degas exhibition at the National Gallery of Australia, which ran over the summer and closed last Sunday.

Exhibition attendance failed to reach the lofty heights set by the Turner To Monet blockbuster exhibit of the previous year, but visitors topped 150,000 over four months. Kirsten Downie, the head of marketing and communications for the National Gallery, says the French-themed gallery shop set up for the duration of the exhibition broke all records.

http://www.livemint.com/2009/03/25221335/Reliance-Money-teams-up-with-K.html

Mumbai: Domestic brokerage Reliance Money Ltd has tied up with Kuoni Travel India Pvt. Ltd to buy and sell foreign exchange at the travel firm�s 75 retail establishments across the country.
The tie-up will be for one year but could be renewed, said Sudip Bandyopadhyay, chief executive officer of Reliance Money, a wholly owned subsidiary of Anil Ambani-controlled financial services company Reliance Capital Ltd.
�We have completed our contract with Kuoni India to set up shop-in-shops in their outlets to target the over nine million Indians who travel overseas every year,� Bandyopadhyay said. �Apart from selling them forex, we will have an opportunity of offering them travel insurance and loans, and later follow it up with our other retail services as we will have their contacts in our database.�
This cooperation with Reliance Money will enable Kuoni, which also runs outlets under the SOTC brand, to improve services to customers, said Zubin Karkaria, managing director, India and South Asia, for Kuoni Travel Group. Kuoni Travel India is part of Zurich-based tourist travel corporation Kuoni Travel Holding Ltd.
The number of outbound tourists from India is expected to touch 16.3 million by 2011, according to global business intelligence provider Euromonitor International.
Reliance Money is expected to generate revenues of Rs15,000 crore from Reliance Money Express, its business unit for foreign exchange services, in the fiscal year to 31 March, Bandyopadhyay said.
Of this, between Rs2,000 crore and Rs2,500 crore would be from domestic retail, a segment expected to benefit from the tie-up.
Bandyopadhyay said the partnership is expected to help Reliance Money to double forex retail revenues in the next financial year.
According to a January Citigroup Inc. report, Reliance Money has increased its outlets to 10,392 in the three months to 31 December, a growth of 136% compared with the same period the previous year.

Building runway for air travel\'s successful take-off

KANPUR: Why has the city in spite of being India\'s fifth largest metro, a crucial industrial hub, presence of IIT, Green Park stadium, RBI etc

has failed to establish itself on aviation map. Kanpur has failed to record any growth in terms of passenger load or revenue generation via air travel.

A comparative study with three major cities of state reflects this sorry state. Lucknow, the state capital has huge influx of passengers from all major metros. Varanasi sits pretty on the factor of it being an important holy pilgrimage, both for Buddhists and Hindus. An international flight operates from Kathmandu to Varanasi. Agra, cashes on fame of world famous Taj Mahal which contributes for bulk of domestic and foreign tourists to Agra.

Interestingly, the passenger load at Amausi airport in Lucknow comprises 60-70 per cent from Kanpur. Prashant Shukla, media co-ordinator of Air India, talking to TOI said, \"on Lucknow-Delhi route, timings are convenient, aircraft are big, fares are comparatively cheaper and meal are better. There is a price-difference of thousand rupees as one pays Rs 3000 from Lucknow while Rs 4000 is the minimum fare from Kanpur.\"

Shukla further explained the problems, \"one of the major hindrances is irregular flight timings. The city is daily visited by industrialists, IIT delegates, RBI officials etc who say we need a morning flight to commute to and fro from Delhi, as is the case with Lucknow.\"

More importantly, Kanpur has huge share of international passengers as well but they prefer to take the route of state capital. Shukla explained, \"all the international flights from Gulf, US, UK start land in Delhi at mid-night after 12 and they carry a huge load of Kanpur-bound passengers. But they all prefer to take indirect route to Lucknow in absence of immediate direct flight to Kanpur.\"

The aviation sector in Kanpur faces a tough competition from Shatabadi Express. The scenario will brighten up if fares come down or come at comparative level. There were plans to replace the 48-seater airliner with 70-seater Boeing airplane.

Travel agents, S\'pore Airlines\' talks end in a stalemate

MUMBAI\" A marathon four-hour long meeting between leading Indian travel agents and Singapore Airlines ended in a stalemate.


The meeting, between Singapore Airlines� general manager CW Foo and travel agents, had been called to resolve a three-month long issue of non payment of commissions.
The issue had also resulted in the agents boycotting Singapore Airlines.

�Mr Foo offered the travel agents a 1% commission for six months only, and after that, it would go to zero commission structure,� said a source who was present in the meeting.

Even the 1% commission is linked to productivity, he added. Also, the ticketing amount should come from basic fares only.

Mr Foo met six travel association heads including the Travel Agents� Association of India, Travel Agents Federation of India and IATA Agents Association of India.

When contacted, Travel Agents Federation of India national general secretary Ajay Prakash told ET: �The terms and conditions are not acceptable by the agents.

If they want to do business here then they have to abide by our rules, at least to some extent. We had proposed a 5% commission, but it was not accepted. We will continue to boycott Singapore Airlines.�

India beckons at world\'s largest travel fair- Feature

Berlin - India\'s travel industry is promoting traditional remedies for those stressed out by the global financial crisis, at the world\'s largest travel fair in Berlin. Buoyed by the success of its \"Incredible India\" promotion campaign, Indian travel officials this year are focusing on spa treatments and rural tourism.

The sub-continent presented itself in a two-storey exhibition stand designed like an Indian palace, at the ITB travel fair.

The exhibition kicked off mid-week, with 11,098 tourism industry exhibitors from 187 different countries.

Leena Nandan, of the Indian Tourism Ministry explained what made the country a popular destination for spas and health therapies.

\"On the one hand, we have advanced medical facilities in the country, on the other we are blessed with traditional spa methods and processes which have existed for centuries,\" Nandan said.

\"Methods like yoga and Ayurveda are gaining popularity,\" Nandan added. \"We want to tell the world that Indian tourism today offers all kinds of remedies from stress.\"

In recent years Europeans have been heading to India to seek treatment for conditions such as arthritis, rheumatic and degenerate disorders, sports and spinal injuries and also digestive diseases.

Dr. A.M. Anvar, of the Punarnava Ayurveda Hospital in Kerala, on India\'s southwestern coast said, \"We have a lot of patients coming to us from Germany.\"

\"Our facilities are world-class and the treatment is five times cheaper than what you would get in Europe,\" Anvar said.

Plush Indian hotels, palaces and camps in Rajasthan competed for attention at the fair. Gaj Singh, of Alsisar Hotels in the northern city of Jaipur said said adventure tourism was taking off in the region.

\"We have a lot of places opening off the beaten track,\" Singh said, adding that people were \"going to far off places, and getting involved in sports and camel safaris.\"

\"Rural tourism and cooperatives are developing,\" Singh added, since people wanted \"to visit the real, rural Rajasthan.\"
Entrepreneur Ranjit Sinh Parmar, from Ahmedabad in the northwestern state of Gujarat said, \"The ITB is important for us.\"

\"Central Europe rates among the top five tourist markets into India,\" Parmar said. The main other markets were the UK, France, the US and Canada.

But he said not all tourists came from abroad. \"In India we also have a very large domestic market that is quite vibrant,\" Parmar added.

The five-day travel show at Berlin\'s Funkturm exhibition grounds opens Saturday to the public.

China expects domestic air travel to grow 10% in 2009

China\'s aviation industry is expected to post at least 10 percent growth in its domestic passenger traffic this year thanks to government efforts to boost the economy, while international traffic is likely to fall sharply, the country\'s top aviation industry official said on Wednesday.

China\'s domestic passenger traffic increased 13.47 percent in February from a year earlier, after registering 20 percent growth in January, said Li Jiaxiang, director of the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC).
However, international cargo traffic plunged 28 percent from a year earlier, while international passenger traffic dropped 16 percent, Li said on the sidelines of the annual session of the Chinese People\'s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC).

China\'s entire aviation industry, which lost 28.2 billion yuan ($4.12 billion) last year, made a combined profit of 40 million yuan in January, Li said.

Travel feels punch of powerful storm

By Judy Keen, USA TODAY

A potent March storm dumped up to 14 inches of snow along the East Coast on Monday, creating travel chaos and serving notice that it\'s not spring yet.

WEATHER GUYS: Winter storm rolls into the Northeast

SHOW AND TELL US:How are you spending your snow break?

RANKING WINTER STORMS: The Northeast Snow Impact Scale

The storm was a factor in at least four deaths on roads in Massachusetts, Rhode Island and New York. Thousands of people lost electricity.

Some people were unfazed by the winter blast. \"Nothing we can\'t deal with,\" said Mike Blais, owner of a garden center in Lewiston, Maine, where almost 12 inches fell.

Others fumed. Business consultant Larry Hughes took refuge at a bar near Newark Liberty International Airport after his flight home to Los Angeles was postponed for four hours, then canceled. \"It\'s March � shouldn\'t flowers be coming up?\" he asked.

Not yet, said Weather Channel meteorologist Mark Ressler. Although the storm produced record snowfall totals in some areas, it was \"a fairly typical storm for this time of year,\" he said.

March snowstorms in 1960 and 1993 rank among the top five since 1950 in impact on the Northeast, the National Climatic Data Center said.

The storm barreled through the Tennessee Valley and Southeast over the weekend, then overspread the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast overnight Sunday. Ressler said today \"will be much quieter.\"

The storm created a mess from Alabama to Maine:

� Airports. Weather conditions were still so disruptive late Monday that the Federal Aviation Administration said airlines planned to cancel a total of 1,140 flights Monday evening at the largest airports hit by the storm including Boston\'s Logan; New York\'s LaGuardia and Kennedy; Newark Liberty; Philadelphia International; Washington\'s Reagan National and Dulles; and Charlotte Douglas International.

USAirways alone canceled about 850 flights earlier in the day. The airline has the largest number of flights at airports in the storm\'s path � at LaGuardia, Philadelphia, Reagan National and Charlotte airports.

\"We are focusing on � restarting the airline for (today), making sure planes and crews are in the right places,\" USAirways spokesman Jim Olson said.

� Roads. State troopers and Red Cross rescuers checked cars early Monday where dozens were stranded after a crash Sunday created a 15-mile backup on Interstate 85 near the South Carolina-North Carolina border. There were no serious injuries.

Blowing snow created white-out conditions on parts of Interstate 78 in Pennsylvania, said a state police spokeswoman, Cpl. Linette Quinn.

In New Jersey, 500 motor vehicle accidents were reported between 5 p.m. Sunday and noon Monday, said a state police spokesman, Sgt. Julian Castellanos.

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg said 2,000 workers with 1,400 plows and 100,000 tons of salt were clearing 6,000 miles of streets.

Dangerous road conditions forced Greyhound Lines to suspend all bus service out of Boston until at least 7 a.m. today. Northbound Greyhound service from New York\'s Port Authority terminal also was suspended Monday.

� Rail. All Amtrak regional trains between Washington and Newport News, Va., were canceled Monday because of \"downed trees � switch malfunctions and a lot of snow,\" spokeswoman Tracy Connell said.

Amtrak said 140 passengers were stuck on a train Sunday night in Virginia between Richmond and Williamsburg, blocked by fallen trees and locomotive problems. The train arrived at its destination about 16 hours late, pulled by a spare engine.

� Schools. New York City\'s 1.1 million public school students had a snow day for the first time since 2004.

The city announced its decision around 5:40 a.m. Monday, leaving some parents scrambling to arrange child care.

New York City\'s snow day fun program provided youngsters with free sleds and hot chocolate at some city parks.

In Staunton, Va., Henry Goodson, 9, said his favorite thing about the snow day might be \"going down the hill\" on a snow saucer \"and then flipping over.\"

Contributing: Marilyn Adams and Bob Swanson in Virginia; Rick Hampson in New Jersey; Paul Alongi, The Greenville News in Greenville, S.C.; Nicole Barbaro, The News Leader in Staunton, Va.; Dale Neal, the Asheville Citizen-Times in Asheville, N.C.

DGCA told to sort out travel agent commission issue

MUMBAI: Domestic travel agents, which have been demanding commission from foreign airlines, have managed to draw the government�s attention.

Civil Aviation minister Praful Patel on Tuesday asked the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) to look into the matter, a person privy to the development said. He said the DGCA might ask both parties to explain their case.

Earlier, members of six associations, including the Travel Agents� Association of India (TAAI), Travel Agents Federation of India (TAFI) and the IATA Agents Association of India (IAAI), met Mr Patel in New Delhi. TAAI president Rajii Rai told ET: �We have urged Mr Patel to restore our commission.�

Most airlines stopped paying 5% commission from November last year forcing agents to shift to a fixed-transaction fee on every ticket purchased. From December, however, the fixed-transaction fee, which was in the range of Rs 350-2,500 a ticket, was also discontinued.

Later, all domestic carriers agreed to pay 3% commission to travel agents from December. But foreign airlines have not been paying anything to travel agents.

Typically, travel agents and online portals account for more than 85% of airlines\' ticket sales, while the remaining 15% are sold directly by the carriers. There are about 50,000 travel agents in the country.

JetLite gets global certification for maintainance, safety

New Delhi (PTI): JetLite, the wholly-owned no-frill subsidiary of Jet Airways, on Monday announced receiving a global certification for maintainance of safety in flight operations and other areas. Following stringent audit of its operations in various areas including engineering, maintenance, flight operations and dispatch, cabin operation, ground handling and security, the airline received the International Air Transport Association\'s (IATA) Safety Audit certification called IOSA. The IOSA is a globally recognised and accepted benchmarking and evaluation system to asses the operational management and control systems of an airline. It uses internationally-accepted quality audit principles. It is also used by airlines worldwide to identify partners for the purpose of codesharing. This is a very important step for JetLite. We have confirmed that we have operational safety processes that are in alignment with all IOSA standards. We welcome the confirmation of our high standards of safety through IOSA registration, Jet Airways CEO Wolfgang Prock-Schauer said. IOSA Registration is also a condition for airlines to become members of the IATA. As many as 274 airlines across the globe are IOSA registered at present.

New Syndicated for Domestic Airlines in India.

Jet Airways not to opt for FDI in present market conditions

Mumbai (PTI): Private air carrier Jet Airways on Tuesday said it would not sell its equity to foreign carriers at this stage in view of the low valuation in current market. We will not go for any equity dilution to foreign air-carriers at this stage as it will not fetch us the required funds, a senior Jet Airways official told PTI here. Jet Airways is the largest air-carrier in the country. Naresh Goyal\'s Tail Winds holds 80 per cent stake in it. Jet\'s assertion comes in the wake of the Union Government\'s proposal to allow domestic airlines to sell stake to foreign carriers. Last year, Goyal was looking at diluting his stake to raise funds. But the stock markets have been on the downslide since January 2008, leading to a slump in Jet Airways stock prices, too. Low valuation was the reason for not going ahead with Goyal\'s dilution last year, too, the Jet official said. Even industry experts feel that it would not be a good move for the air carrier to go for equity infusion from overseas in view of the prevailing market conditions. It is correct on Jet Airways part not to go for equity infusion from foreign airlines and rather manage cash on their own, an aviation analyst from a brokerage firm said on anonymity. The market cap of Jet is currently Rs 1,500 crore, which is too low valuation to dilute the stake, he said. The current FDI norms prohibit overseas airlines from picking up stake in Indian carriers.Kingfisher Airlines Chairman Vijay Mallya had sometime ago written to the Union Government to allow FDI in domestic carriers to make them internationally competitive. With mounting losses, liquidity crunch, Mallya is scouting for foreign funds to keep his airlines afloat.

New Syndicated for Domestic Airlines in India.

Kingfisher Airlines registers net loss worth Rs 413 crores in Q3

The Vijay Mallya-controlled Kingfisher Airlines has posted a net loss of Rs 413 crore for the third quarter of the current financial year as against a net loss of Rs 427 crore in the corresponding period last year.Company officials stated in a release that the increase in loss in the quarter was on account of initiation costs of international operations (Rs 17 crore), increase in interest expenses (Rs 100 crore) and exchange rate impact of dollar denominated expenses (Rs 60 crore).
It may be noted that private carrier had a loss of Rs 105 crore in the nine months ended December 2008 against a loss of Rs 617 crore reported for the same period in the last financial year.However, the company\'s net income during the period has surged to Rs 1,447 crore as compared to Rs 1,353 crore in the same quarter in the previous year.

New Syndicated by Domestic Airlines

India\'s Kingfisher Airlines To Fly To KL

NEW DELHI, Jan 16 (Bernama) -- Kingfisher Airlines, India\'s second largest private airlines, will soon start daily flights from Chennai to Kuala Lumpur.



India\'s Civil Aviation Ministry is said to have granted permission for the airline to fly the Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok and Singapore sector.



The Economic Times reported today that the Kingfisher, owned by the United Breweries Group, controlled by Indian industrialist, Vijay Mallya, would fly the new routes.



We have granted permission to Kingfisher to operate daily services on three more international sectors, including Chennai-Kuala Lumpur, with immediate effect, a ministry official was quoted as saying.



The paper however did not name the official.



The Aviation Ministry has asked the airlines to conduct proper study of air tr+affic on new routes before announcing the launch.



In case the airline launches its services on new routes without a market survey, it may be forced to withdraw flights later. This must be avoided, said the official.



After Jet Airways, Kingfisher is one of the most preferred airlines in the domestic circuit. As of last year its share of Indian aviation market stood at 27 percent.



According to recent ministry data, the Bangalore-based airline, along with its budget carrier, Kingfisher Red, flew 11.26 million passengers last year, only next to Jet Airways that carried 12.01 million passengers.



-- BERNAMA

Airlines cut business class fares

Faced with a 10 to 15 per cent fall in passenger traffic, business class travel is coming down to earth. For the first time, Jet Airways and Paramount are introducing apex (advance purchase) fares and Kingfisher and state-owned Air India are offering free travel for spouses to boost bookings for this premium service.

But even all-business carrier Paramount Airways has announced apex fares and a scheme under which passengers can get a complimentary ticket for a companion for Rs 750 in January.

Much of the hit is a result of corporate cost cutting, with senior executives now increasingly travelling economy class on domestic routes. Business class tickets are about three times an economy class ticket.

�Since the financial meltdown in the US and Europe, we have seen companies in India tightening their belts. From September onwards, we have seen a fall in premium travel within India,� said Raj Sivakumar, vice president, revenue management, Jet Airways, India\'s largest private airline.

In response, the airline launched an apex offer January 5, applicable to 60 flights, that are 30 to 35 per cent lower than normal business class fares.

The three-day apex fares range from Rs 7,900 to Rs 8,100 (one-way), the five-day apex fares range from Rs 6,500 to Rs 11,500 and the seven-day apex fares from Rs 4,500 to Rs 17,500 depending on the sector.

�We are looking to not just pump up the loads, but also to get less price-sensitive economy passengers to fly business,� says Sivakumar. He claims the airline has seen a five to 10 percentage point increase in premium traffic since the scheme began.

�We\'ve managed to increase our market share from 26 to 28 in South India in 2008. After the slowdown, companies were finding our product even more attractive as ours is a business class product with high-end economy fares,� said M Thiagarajan, managing director, Paramount Airways.

Air India was among the first off the block, announcing a spouse-plus offer December 31 for executive class passengers on the domestic routes.

The scheme, on offer between January and February, allows business class passengers to take spouses along by paying only the passenger service fee (paid to the airport authority) and airport user development charges on select routes.

The airline has sweetened the deal with a free-stay for the spouse at select Taj properties. The Indian flag carrier is also looking to aggressively market its coupon schemes for corporate travelers that offers corporate houses a 15 per cent discount.

Meanwhile, Kingfisher Airlines, which has seen its passenger load factor in business class at 35 per cent to 40 per cent in the last few months, is planning a free-companion offer on domestic routes. It has also introduced a 12-coupon offer on its domestic business class that comes tied with the possibility of winning a business class ticket to London and back through a draw of lots.

Business class typically accounts for 50 to 60 per cent of an airline\'s revenue. �The drop in business class passengers is bound to get the airlines worried as it\'s the business class tickets that give them the power to price lower in economy,� said Kapil Kaul, CEO-India subcontinent & Middle East, Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation (CAPA).

The move to cut fares in business class takes place even as airlines have cut economy fares. �We have seen about 25 per cent of the business class traffic shift to economy over the last six months,� said Anoop Kanuga, chairman-western region, Travel Agents Association of India.

Airline losses will be manageable in \'09: Report

NEW DELHI: There\'s a silver lining behind every dark cloud. This holds true for the aviation sector too as the turbulence which hit it in 2008 is likely to clear up a little this year. But that\'s likely only in the third quarter of this year, says Policy Outlook 2009, a report by the Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation (CAPA). The demand for the first half of 2009-10 will be weak, but improve later. Though there will be airline losses this year too, the magnitude will be manageable. Over the last three to four years, the industry has lost over $3 billion.

"CAPA, in fact, had projected in 2005 that the period until 2010 would be largely profitless, and the true potential of the sector would only emerge after that,\'\' says Kapil Kaul, CEO Indian Subcontinent & Middle East. "So 2009 will dictate who emerges a winner.\'\'

If oil prices stay below $50, airline losses will be significantly reduced, he says. "In fact, air traffic for 2009-10 could return to 2007-08 levels.\'\'

But Sushi Shyamal, associate director, Ernst & Young, says that hoping for low crude prices may not be the best bet for Indian aviation. "Though it\'s highly unlikely that crude will reach the high levels that were ruling sometime back, in the foreseeable future, they are expected to stabilize at price levels higher than the current prices. The key to profitability for airlines would hinge on streamlining operations and optimizing routes.\'\' Plus, if additional sops are given to this sector in terms of FDI relaxations, fiscal bailout and a lower interest rate regime, it could help the sector to recover.

"International traffic, especially to West and South Asia, remains strong. Premium traffic, however, has been declining and may seriously impact Indian carriers such as Jet Airways, Kingfisher and Air India.\'\' Traffic to Europe and North America is likely to remain weak due to the economic slowdown there and excess capacity on UK/Europe routes. Inbound traffic too has been hit due to the Mumbai\'s terror attacks. But all is not doom and gloom, it predicts. Much depends on the economy, fuel prices and political/security stability.

The report says as per the long standing proposal, if the foreign airlines are permitted to invest up to 25% in domestic airlines, it would give them a lifeline. This would see direct investment of $750 million to $1 billion based on an industry valuation of $3-4 billion (excluding AI). "However, most prospective airline investors would probably seek at least 26% to secure a seat on the board,\'\' it says. Low-cost carriers (LCC) such as AirAsia, Ryanair, easyJet, Jetstar and Air Arabia may also evaluate opportunities in India once regulations permit.

It\'s also likely that the regulation that domestic airlines must operate for at least five years and operate a minimum fleet size of 20 aircraft before being allowed to go international, may be relaxed to three years. This would help LCCs like SpiceJet and IndiGo.

Restrictions on new airline entry may continue in 2009, but licences may be issued for those planning to start operations in 2010. "This would be due to concerns regarding overcapacity in the sector,\'\' says Shyamal.

The report further says that there will be pressure on full service carriers to reduce losses this year. Jet, AI and Kingfisher may need cash cover till 2010. Though the government has infused fresh blood into airlines last year, what with the reduction of oil prices, the overall fiscal environment is uncertain.

LCCs continue to be vulnerable. "The new management in SpiceJet is still to take hold of the situation and the present cash position may last a few months more. Indigo\'s losses may not be very different either, but it continues to deliver a robust operational performance,\'\' says the report.

Will we once again fly high? It waits to be seen.

Zero visibility hits Kolkata\'s air traffic

Zero visibility due to dense fog on Thursday affected air traffic at the Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport in Kolkata, airport sources said.
Visibility which was around 0.55 metre at 11 pm on Wednesday night dropped to zero around midnight and hovered around zero metre till 8 am on Thursday, the sources said.
Altogether 47 domestic flights could not take off while 13 flights could not land, the sources said.

Eleven international flights were also delayed. Of them, six could not take off.Of the five arrivals, three were diverted, the sources added.Three international flights which arrived after midnight were re-routed, airport sources said.

Lufthansa\'s Frankfurt-Kolkata flight could not land and was diverted to Hyderabad. Similarly, Air India Express\' Singapore-Kolkata flight was diverted to Hyderabad while Air India\'s Jeddah-Kolkata flight was re-routed to Nagpur.

However, two other international flights which arrived before 11.30 pm could land taking advantage of the CAT II Instrumental Landing System at the airport, sources said.

Three domestic flights, too, were diverted on Wednesday night.Indigo\'s Mumbai-Kolkata flight was sent back to Mumbai. Kingfisher Airlines\' Chennai-Kolkata flight was diverted to Hyderabad. Sahara Airlines\' Bengaluru-Kolkata flight returned to Bengaluru as it could not land in Kolkata, the sources said.

No flights operated on early Thursday morning and the situation was expected to improve only later in the day, the sources added.

Aviation sector registers 5 percent decline in air traffic

The global financial crisis has adversely impacted the Indian aviation sector and it has posted 5 per cent decrease in domestic air traffic for the calendar year 2008. About

411 lakh people used air services in 2008 as compared to 433 lakh in 2007. Number of air travelers posted negative growth rate first time in last six years.

High air fares and low customer spending affected the airline industry during the period. Almost all leading air lines posted negative passenger growth rate except low cost carriers IndiGo and SpiceJet and south-based Paramount.

International crude rates surged to its peak level in the period between April to September leading to increase in Jet fuel prices. Air lines hiked air fares causing decline in number of air travelers.

Government has expressed concerns over declining growth of Indian aviation sector. Union Aviation Minister, Praful Patel said, "The slowdown in aviation is having a trickle down impact on everything. Lesser number of people flying means poor finances for airlines and also affects airport development projects among other things."

Government may increase Foreign Direct Investment limit in the aviation sector to help the ailing industry.

Jet Airways announces intentions to lease out planes

Jet Airways is eyeing a possible leasing of its surplus aircraft to other carriers, after recent route rationalisation which has seen numerous planes grounded.

Plans to launch a service to Saudi Arabia and a second service to Dubai have been postponed due to the current global economic climate, and another service to Shanghai has been dropped from the network.

Confirming the talks Saroj K. Datta, Jet Airways Executive Director, named Oman Air, Turkish Airlines and Gulf Air as two carriers which Jet has hosted meetings with.

“We have some surplus aircraft and wanted to know whether Oman Air would be interested in leasing them,” said Mr Datta.

“We already have leased two A330s to Gulf and three A777s to Turkish Airlines.”

“But [a lease] is subject to government approval, so I can’t talk more on this at this stage. Apart from that, the board of directors of both companies also need to approve this,” he adds.

Jet Airways also notes that because they are cutting capacity, it’s logical that staff operations will also need to be cut.

Jet Airways currently operates with a fleet of 85 planes to over 60 destinations.

Jet Airways group remains India\'s largest airline

New Delhi (IANS): Private carrier Jet Airways, together with its low-cost airline JetLite, was India\'s largest domestic air services operator in 2008, ferrying some 12.01 million passengers for a market share of 29.5 percent, latest data showed on Tuesday.

Vijay Mallya\'s Kingfisher Airlines, along with its budget carrier Kingfisher Red, was next, flying 11.26 million passengers to capture a 27.6 percent market share, as per data released by the civil aviation ministry.

The state-run Air India\'s domestic operations, which earlier operated under the Indian Airlines brand name, continued to lose market share and flew just 6.63 million passengers for a market share of 16.3 percent. It had a 19-percent market share in 2007.

�We have been the market leader since 2000 and we continue to maintain that lead. The acquisition of Air Sahara, which now flies under the JetLite brand name, our market share has only improved,� said a spokesperson for Jet.

Air India, which was formed after the merger of another state-run carrier Indian Airlines - that now ceases as a brand name - said they hope to regain a lot of their market share in the current year.

�Last year, we were third. Now we rank second after Jet Airways and ahead of Kingfisher, that is, if you consider the airlines individually,� said an Air India spokesperson.

�As new aircraft join our fleet at regular intervals, you will see our market share improve further.�

Interestingly, despite the proliferation of low-cost carriers like SpiceJet, GoAir and IndiGo, the scheduled carriers continued to dominate the market with a 54.7 percent share.

Overall, Indian domestic carriers ferried 40.7 million passengers in 2008, a marginal drop of 5 percent over the previous year. Indian carriers carried 42.8 million passengers in 2007.

Low-cost carriers show maturity in new year

Mumbai: The year\'s begun on a positive note for the airline business. Lower jet fuel prices have helped bring back occupancy, while making the airlines more aware of preset market dynamics and the negative effects of aggressive competition.

Amongst this, an interesting trend that got me thinking was the evolution of Indian low cost carriers (Indigo, Spicejet,Jetlite,Go Air), who have gone ahead to provide what the customer wants, as opposed to what he can pay for.

They have also started using products and services as market differentiators, as against the earlier practice of using price points.

LCCs are no longer toeing the line of positioning themselves at mere price point of Rs 2,999 or Re 1 per ticket. Instead, to drive loyalty, they have raised the tempo for building awareness on flight connections, schedules and in-flight services.

Recent shifts in the corporate strategies of LCCs include the introduction of business class to attract corporate travellers, the positioning of flight services and network as choice points, innovative radio and television advertising campaigns that focus on in-flight services, a wide selection of reading material and hot meals on board.

Interestingly, they are also offering flyers the chance to earn frequent flier miles, something uncommon in the LCC business. This is a stark difference to how LCCs started off in 2005. I personally am pleasantly surprised that they no longer contest rail ticket prices nor adopt aggressive pricing strategies.

They have also stopped talking trash in the market (remember the hoardings that came out in Mumbai of "We\'re Changed" and "We Made them Change"?) and haven\'t deployed frivolous capacity.

Airlines in India have finally realised that what might have worked well in the West does not necessarily work here. While travellers there might be more practical, back home, anyone who sets foot in an aircraft demands to be pampered, and rightly so.Pricing strategies too have adopted market dynamics and what consumers want as service.

Today, instead of negotiating for an overpriced snack on-board, the cost of a light meal is \'secretly\' billed in your ticket price. So, while you\'re impressed on getting a free meal, the airline is actually making additional revenue by billing everyone on board, instead of only those who would have opted for it.

Additionally, keeping the base fare flexible and maintaining a constant fixed revenue element is also working right for airlines. The Rs 3,200-3,800 in the ticket charged as the \'fuel surcharge\' might put off customers, especially when fuel prices have plummeted over 60%. However, in a market where oil pricing is dynamic and revisions are expected twice a month, the element of fuel surcharge works more as a minimum revenue assurance per seat. This creates elasticity in ticket pricing.

In the year ahead, airlines will mature and realise that whether they are an LCC or a full-service carrier, the Indian passenger wants to be pampered. It does not require complicated strategies to run an airline, all it takes is common sense and an uncanny intuition to understand what sells, as opposed of what you can offer.So, welcome aboard, your coffee and favourite newspaper awaits!

Indian Government Likely To Allow 25% FDI In Domestic Airlines

Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel hinted that the Government was considering foreign direct investment or FDI of up to 25% Indian carriers by overseas airlines, reports media.



In other words, the foreign airliner will have no right to block special resolutions in the board, for which an investor needs a 26% voting right.



Airlines, including Kingfisher, have been requesting the Government allowing foreign carriers to take stakes in domestic carriers. For information, the Indian airline industry is estimated to lose close to Rs.10,000 crore this fiscal, reports said.

The report further stated that foreign carriers such as British Airways, Lufthansa, Emirates, Singapore Airlines and Virgin Atlantic are understood to have shown interest in Indian carriers in the recent past.



Kapil Kaul, Chief Executive Officer (Indian sub-continent) of global aviation consultancy firm, Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation, reportedly said the ability for foreign airlines to invest might provide a much-needed lifeline for an industry that desperately needs cash.