Indian-Aviation

Rakesh Jhunjhunwala has acquired 1.4 per cent stake in  Kalanithi Maran  owned SpiceJet. The debt-ridden Airline's shares closed with 18.36 per cent increase in  BSE  to Rs 18.24 on Friday. The investment from Jhunjhunwala comes at a time when the promoters of  SpiceJet  is looking for an investor into the company. According to Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE's) Bulk deals data Rakesh Jhunjhunwala's asset management firm Rare Enterprises has purchased 75 lakh equity shares worth an aggregate amount of Rs 13.41 crore in low cost airlines SpiceJet. SpiceJet is the second largest budget carrier in the country behind IndiGo. The Airline, in which promoters holds around 53 per cent, has been scouting for investors for sometime now, but so far it could not find one. The Airline's market cap has been eroding constantly and now it stood at Rs 1,000 crore. Maran owns 53 per cent in SpiceJet, which will increase further has the promoters converted 6,41,69,000 warrants held in

NEW DELHI: British Airways (BA) may consider partnering with an Indian carrier for hub-and-spoke operations in line with its relationship with American Airlines depending on how the market develops over the next 2-3 years, a top official said. "India is the second largest market (for BA) after North America in terms of (traffic) volume or number of seats. ... Our business model (with American Airlines) is to carry traffic to the hubs in the US from where they fly them to other destina ..  Read more at: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/45318333.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst

PANAJI: The Centre has extended the visa-on-arrival facility at the Goa airport for tourists from 43 countries, which is expected to bring in 15 per cent growth in tourism during the ongoing season.  Goa's Dabolim airport is among one of the nine places that has extended this facility, which will further improve the prospects of its tourism growth, state tourism minister Dilip Parulekar told reporters here yesterday.  The cities where VoA (visa-on-arrival) will be issued inclu ..  Read more at: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/45305250.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst

Jet Airways on Friday reported narrowing of consolidated loss by a whopping 95.7 per cent at Rs 43 crore in the three months to September on the back of spurt in operational efficiency. The airline  had reported a net loss of Rs 999 crore in the same quarter a year ago. However, on a standalone basis,  Jet Airways  flew back into profit with a net income of Rs 69.82 crore against a net loss of Rs 891 crore in the year-ago period. The consolidated income rose 13.7 per cent to Rs 5,092 crore during the quarter as against Rs 4,480 crore in the same period last fiscal. However, the standalone sales jumped 16 per cent to Rs 4,772 crore from Rs 4,101 crore in year-ago quarter, the Naresh Goyal-led airline said in a statement. The airline attributed the improvement in overall numbers to operational restructuring and expansion of code-share agreements which increased the load factor. "I am extremely pleased by the progress that is evident across several areas during the report

BENGALURU: The Mauritius government has signed a contract worth nearly Rs 100 crore with aerospace major Hindustan Aeronautics (HAL) to acquire its Dornier aircraft for maritime surveillance. The contract was signed in Mauritius capital Port Louis on Thursday by Kan Oye Fong Weng Poorun, senior chief executive, Prime Minister's Office (Mauritius) and S Subrahmanyan, managing director, HAL (MiG Complex and Accessories), the company said.  The inclusion of Dornier in the National Coast  ..  Read more at: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/45314345.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst

Pune-based  Taneja Aerospace  and Aviation Limited (TAAL) has bagged the contract for life cycle upgradation of MiG-29 fighter aircraft of the Indian Air Force (IAF). TAAL competed with much bigger players like Tatas, L&T and  Punj Lloyd  among total eight bidders to get this deal worth over Rs 12 crore. The deal signed on Wednesday is being dubbed as the first of its kind, because so far only smaller jobs like manufacture of spares or other allied services were outsourced by the IAF. Never before has a private company been involved in retrofitting of an entire aircraft. Till now, this was the sole domain of defence PSU Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL). TOI had reported in December last year that seven private players had evinced interest in the aircraft upgrade contract. They had responded to the request for information (RFI) floated by IAF for upgrade of MiG-29s and AN-32. The latter is a transport aircraft while the MiG-29 is known to be among the best air defence

A three-day National Aerolympics-2014 organised by Aeronautical Society of India (AeSI), Bengaluru Branch, will begin on Thursday at the HAL Management Academy here. The event focussed on promoting advancements in aeronautics among school children will have participation from students from 24 schools across the country, including five schools from Bengaluru. As many as nine events including Project Report, Aviation Quiz, Honours and Awards Quiz, Collage Making, will be held in three categories – individual, team and group categories. Giving the details of the events, AeSI, Bengaluru honorary secretary Mueen Ahamadulla Khan P. told presspersons here on Wednesday, these teams have been selected on the basis of 40-page report submitted by them on the topic ‘Eyes and Arms in the Sky: UAVs’. As many as 72 boys and girls will compete for 40 prizes. The winners in the event will be given free entry to the Aero India-2015 show scheduled to be held in February 2015. Source:  ht

AirAsia India announced addition of Pune to its network on Wednesday and offered an all-inclusive promotional one-way fare starting from Rs 1,499. The daily direct flights from Bangalore to Pune, Pune to Jaipur and vice versa would commence on December 17, the  budget carrier  said in a release. Booking for these routes opened from Nov 20 until November 26, for the travel period from December 17, 2014 to January 17, 2016. "With the surge in business and leisure travel, we truly believe Pune has tremendous potential. We have done a complete analysis of this sector and it is a part our growth strategy to provide convenient, comfortable and enjoyable flying experience via direct flights to first time and frequent flyers," AirAsia India CEO Mittu Chandilya  said. The carrier  has offered a one-way promotional fare of Rs 1,499 from Bengaluru to Pune as well as Rs 2,999 from Pune to Jaipur and vice versa. Source: http://businesstoday.intoday.in/story/airasia-india-adds-

India’s Air One Aviation is seeking $2 billion of jets to take on Singapore Airlines Ltd’s venture in the South Asian nation, stoking competition in a market where carriers lost almost $10 billion in seven years. Air One, among six companies that last month got initial approval to start airlines in India, is looking at Airbus Group NV’s A320s and Boeing Co.’s 737s, its director Alok Sharma said in an interview on Wednesday. At list prices, 20 Boeing 737-900 ERs cost $1.98 billion, though airlines typically get discounts. “You can’t start with one plane and wait for another six months to get the next one,” Sharma said in his office near New Delhi’s airport, adding Air One plans to provide full-service flights from mid-2015. “The launch will be decided by availability of aircraft in a contiguous manner.” Sharma, undeterred by one of the world’s costliest aviation markets, said he sees growing demand for air travel and reduced capacity as some airlines in India are struggling.  Sin

Private carrier  Jet Airways  on Monday said it is likely to lease one more Boeing 777-300 ER to its equity partner Etihad. Etihad Airways , which holds 24 per cent stake in the Naresh Goyal-led carrier, has already taken on lease six planes from Jet Airways. "We may lease one more Boeing 777 aircraft to Etihad on a short-term basis," Jet Airways Vice-president for Aeropolitical, Government and International Affairs Gautam Acharya said during a post-earnings analysts call in Mumbai. The airline has leased altogether nine aircraft to Etihad and Turkish Airlines, he said, adding, "Four Boeing 777-300ERs and two A330s are leased to Etihad, while three Boeing 777-300ERs are with Turkish Airlines." Etihad had recently said it was planning to take some more planes from  Jet  . "We are finalising plans to introduce two aircraft before the end of the year," Etihad had said. One of the three aircraft leased to Turkish Airlines is coming back, and which

Domestic  air traffic  grew by over 18 per cent last month compared to October last year as Air India's passenger load factor overshot that of IndiGo which had the largest number of flight cancellations, official data showed on Monday. Domestic airlines  flew 59.25 lakh passengers in October this year registering a growth of 18.31 per cent over the 50.08 lakh passengers flown during the same period in the previous year, the latest data released by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) showed. However, the total number of passengers carried by domestic airlines during January-October period was 550.68 lakh as against 507.03 lakh during the corresponding period of 2013, registering a growth of 8.61 per cent. Though no-frills airline IndiGo continued to remain the market leader having flown 18.90 lakh passengers during the month, its passenger load factor was just over 76 per cent compared to Air India's 83.5 per cent, the highest among all Indian carriers. L

Indian conglomerate  Mahindra Group  will now be able to sell its Australia-made airplanes in India, with the Civil Aviation Ministry approving its long-pending proposal after amending relevant rules. The aviation ministry has on Tuesday cleared a few norms for certification, which will finally allow us to sell our Australian planes in India, Mahindra Group CMD Anand Mahindra told PTI in Melbourne. "We bought an Australia (aerospace) company and we are selling our planes in California, but due to a rule to do with seating capacity for piston engine plane, we were not able to sell in India," Mahindra, who was a part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's CEO delegation to Australia, said. The aircraft, popularly known as Mahindra Gipps planes, are utility planes having seating capacities ranging from 5 to 10 seats. In New Delhi, ministry sources said the type certification for the single piston engine aircraft, given by the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), was

National passenger carrier  Air India  has lost 50 pilots, who have tendered in their resignation this year, the Rajya Sabha was told Tuesday. Minister of State for Civil Aviation Mahesh Sharma informed the the upper house of parliament: "In this year, 50 pilots have tendered resignation from the services of Air India." When asked about a shortage of air hostesses for more than 70 domestic and 16 international flights, the minister accepted that the national carrier has been facing an acute shortage of cabin crew for both domestic and international routes. Source: http://businesstoday.intoday.in/story/air-india-pilots-quit-this-year-mahesh-sharma/1/212690.html

New Delhi: Premier Airways Ltd, promoted by a non-resident Indian (NRI), and Air One Aviation Pvt. Ltd, founded by a former Air Sahara president, are expected to take to the skies by summer next year, joining over half-a-dozen Indian airlines. The launch of the two new national airlines, following that of another, Vistara, promoted by Tata group and Singapore Airlines Ltd, expected in a few weeks, and the expansion of fledgling Air Asia India Pvt. Ltd could fuel another aviation boom in the country. It will lead to more flights, lower prices, demand for trained crew and ground staff, even an increase in finance and leasing activities. India’s new civil aviation minister, Ashok Gajapathi Raju, gave six new airlines permission to fly in July, overturning an unwritten policy of his predecessors to limit such licences. Some of the airlines had been seeking licences since 2005 and had seen three aviation ministers—Praful Patel, Vayalar Ravi and Ajit Singh—come and go. The airlines given pe

(Reuters) - SpiceJet Ltd ( SPJT.BO ) is in "exploratory and preliminary stage" talks with investors about raising fresh capital that it needs to return to profitability, the budget airline said in a regulatory filing on Monday. SpiceJet, which this month reported its fifth consecutive quarter of losses, has been trying to raise fresh capital for much of this year. It said in May it was in "advanced" talks for capital infusion but no deal materialised. "We wish to clarify that a few parties have approached us and evinced interest in making investments into SpiceJet Limited (the "Company"), as the Company has been exploring various options for raising fresh capital," the airline said. The talks are at an early stage so it would be improper to comment on the specifics of any possible stake sale, it said. Shares in the carrier were down 2.37 percent by 3:45 p.m. following the statement, against a 0.58 percent rise in the  Sensex and erasing

A Mumbai-based aviation company which had been helping an aviation company in Odisha  to set up regional connectivity in that state, has pulled out of the project alleging that the Odisha firm was siphoning off funds and putting it into other uses, jeopardizing the future of the project. In a complaint filed with the sub-judicial magistrate court in Bhubaneshwar, Supreme Aviation Pvt Ltd has said that the directors of M/s  Air Odisha  Pvt Ltd had approached them last year for  business  loan of Rs 1 crore for setting up offices and guest offices as per the requirement of aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). Accordingly, the Odisha company was provided a significant part of the loan. The complainant added that in January this year it realised that the accused, through a well-knit criminal conspiracy, had committed fraud, cheating and criminal breach of trust and had utilised the loan amount for purposes other than those agreed upon. The money was allege

Tata-Singapore Airlines promoted full-service carrier Vistara will now start operations only next year due to delay in grant of scheduled Air Operators’ Permit (AOP). The airline had applied to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) for the permit in April and had planned to launch services by September. “Vistara has still not received the AOP and even if it gets it in the days to come, the airline will take at least a month to launch,” industry sources told PTI. “Besides, any airline looks for few initial bookings before the launch and as of now there is a total silence from the airline on this front,” they said. “We are in the final phase of securing the Air Operators’ Permit (AOP). We are working with the regulator to complete the remaining process expeditiously and look forward to launch our services soon after receiving the permission,” a Vistara spokesperson said in a statement. The to-be-launched full service carrier, in which Tata Sons holds 51 per cent st