The Hindustan Times : Kingfisher set to fly overseas next month

Sidhartha Roy, Hindustan Times

Kingfisher Airlines is all set to fly overseas from the first week of September.
A senior official at the directorate general of civil aviation (DGCA ) told Hindustan Times that the airline has received the traffic rights to fly to London and has also secured parking slots at the Heathrow airport.
At a meeting with aviation authorities on Thursday, senior executives from the airline presented their plans to connect Bangalore to London from September 3, said the official, who didn’t want to be named.
The presentation included details of how the airline was preparing to fly on international route — its existing infrastructure, number of pilots who can fly long-haul flights, engineering services, etc, all of which must bet vetted by the DGCA.
When contacted, a spokesperson for Kingfisher Airlines confirmed the development.
Although Kingfisher has yet to complete five years in service, as is required by the government for allowing any airline in the country to fly overseas, the Bangalore-based company has been given the go-ahead following its purchase of Air Deccan last year.
Air Deccan has been in operation for more than five years and is eligible for flying on international routes.
Kingfisher also plans to fly from Mumbai to London, but that may take some time. Also, the airline is buying several of the jumbo-sized A380 jets from Airbus SAS as part of a plan to fly non-stop between India and the United States.

The Hindustan Times : AAI union threatens to disrupt flight traffic

PTI

The Airports authority of India Employees Union in Kolkata on Monday threatened to strike work on August 20 in support of the industrial strike called by the Left trade unions.
"All the employees of the AAI Employees Union in Kolkata would participate in the August 20 strike. So no aircraft would take off of or land in the airport," AAI Employees Union President, Deepankar Ghosh and CPI(M) MP Amitabha Nandi told reporters in Kolkata.
Only Air Traffic Controllers (ATC) would report for duty during the August 20 strike, while all others would boycott work, the union official said.
"We had informed the airlines that they should not operate any flight from the city on August 20, as all the AAI employees of Kolkata would join the strike on August 20," he said.
The Left trade unions have called the strike to protest the "anti-people" economic policies of the Centre.

The Hindustan Times : Consumer court pulls up Kingfisher airline

Kanu Sarda, Indo-Asian News Service

The national consumer redressal body has pulled up Kingfisher Airlines for adopting an unfair trade practice by misinforming passengers about the airline they were flying by.
JK Mittal bought a Delhi-Bhubaneswar return ticket on a March 8 Kingfisher flight over the internet from the airline's website. He paid Rs 4,800 each way.
When he reached the airport, he was told at the check-in counter that Kingfisher Airlines did not have a flight between Delhi and Bhubaneswar. Mittal was asked to take an Air Deccan flight instead.
The ticket for an Air Deccan flight cost Rs 2,500 each way while Mittal had paid Rs 4,800, he pointed out when he approached the National Consumer Redressal Commission.
Mittal, a lawyer, contended in his petition that the trade practice adopted by Kingfisher Airlines was unfair and should be prevented. He demanded Rs 50 million as punitive damages, to be given to the Consumer Welfare Fund set up by the commission.
Kingfisher Airlines lawyer MN Krishnamani told the commission that if Mittal had suffered a loss, he should have gone to the district forum. He also described the Rs 50 million claim as "totally exaggerated".
In his interim order, National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission president MB Shah said he was not going into the exaggeration or otherwise of the claim at this stage.
But he ordered the airline "not to indulge in such unfair trade practice. A copy of this order be also sent to Director General of Civil Aviation for appropriate action," said the commission.
Krishnamani had also said that Consumer Voice, an NGO, ought not to have joined the case as a party at the request of Mittal.
Rejecting this contention of the airline, the commission said: "This contention appears to be without any substance, because consumer organisations are required to take up such causes for preventing unfair trade practices and under the Consumer Protection Act they are entitled to file such complaints".

The Sentinel : Etihad Airways to augment freighter fleet

The $2.5- billion Etihad Airways of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) plans to increase the share of its cargo revenue from the current 15 per cent by augmenting its freighter fleet. “Currently, we have three freighter craft, and that number will be doubled,” said Geert Boven, executive vice president, sales and services, Etihad Airways. Eithad is expecting deliveries of three A330 freighter aircraft between 2008 and 2011. The freighter order is part of its $2.2 billion order for 12 aircraft, including nine passenger carriers, placed with Airbus. At present the airline’s freighter fleet consists of three Airbus A300-600RF, serving destinations like Bangalore, Chennai, Kolkata and New Delhi in India as well as Shanghai, Dhaka, Khartoum and Shenzhen. “Freighter aircraft apart, every passenger craft has cargo space in its belly to carry anything between five and 20 tonnes, giving us good revenue,” Boven told IANS. During the first half of 2008, the airline carried more than 100,000 tonnes consisting of 127,000 global shipments. The cargo revenue is expected to grow as Etihad Airways increases its passenger routes. “The five-year-old airline will break even by 2010,” said James Hogan, chief executive of the airline. He said, Etihad had employed fuel hedging actively in the past two years and was not much affected by the hike in fuel prices. “Now that the fuel price is going down, it augurs well for us.” Abu Dhabi-based Etihad is increasing its passenger destinations. Flying to 48 destinations now, the airline is aiming to touch 50 by the end of the year with the launch of services to Moscow in Russia and Almaty in Kazakhstan. Operating with a passenger fleet strength of 35 aircraft, Etihad in July had placed confirmed orders for 100 craft, 55 options and 50 purchase rights-the right to take delivery of an aircraft at a specified price on a future date. (IANS)