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  India Approves AirAsia's Investment Proposal
    Jet aieways  
 
  NEW DELHI, March 7, 2013: India Wednesday approved a proposal by Malaysia's AirAsia
BhD to initially invest about 800 million rupees ($14.5 million) to start a budget airline in a joint venture with Tata Sons Ltd. and another local company.The proposal was approved at a meeting of the Foreign Investment Promotion Board, Economic Affairs Secretary Arvind Mayaram told reporters. The FIPB is a panel of officials which examines foreign investment
proposals. Mr. Mayaram is its chairman. AirAsia, Southeast Asia's largest carrier by fleet size, and its local partners will now have to seek approvals from the civil aviation ministry and other authorities to start the airline, Mr. Mayaram said.
  According to the proposal, AirAsia is to own a 49% stake in the joint venture. Tata Sons-- which controls India's diversified Tata Group--would hold a 30% stake and privately held Telestra Tradeplace Pvt. Ltd. the remaining 21%. For India's Tata Group, the establishment of an airline will mark the culmination of years of efforts to reenter the aviation business.
  J.R.D. Tata--the former Tata Group chairman who founded India's now-state-run carrier Air India--is considered the father of civil aviation in India. The government nationalized Air India in 1953. The group had aborted plans to reenter the sector at least twice since early 1990s when India opened the sector for private investment. Ratan Tata , its recently retired chairman, said in a 2011 interview that the aviation ministry once held up his application for years despite his constant prodding. Mr. Tata, the group's chairman emeritus since his retirement in December, welcomed the FIPB decision Wednesday. Source: wsj.com  



  Sky-high fares slide as airlines launch price war 
 
Mumbai, February 20, 2013: Air fares crashed on Tuesday as airlines rolled out never- before offers to lure passengers and fill empty seats. Jet Airways kicked off the price war with a six-day sale of 20 lakh seats over 450 flights across 57 domestic destinations. Go Air , IndiGo and Spice Jet also followed suit with unannounced cuts.
  Under the offer, a Rs 8,000 one-way ticket from Mumbai to Delhi would cost just Rs 2,850. Similar discounts on other sectors are a welcome relief for passengers who have seen fares soar for two years. The offers, at the lowest possible base fare of Rs 1, have been sweetened even more this year. Unlike in the past, passengers can now book low offers up to December 31. Till last year, such offers were available up to, say, March 31 when the lean season ended, or at the most till July. Sudheer Raghavan, chief commercial officer, Jet Airways, said the offer will allow passengers to plan and schedule their travel much in advance, especially during the holiday season, while benefiting from the special fares. The Jet offer comes in four slabs based on distance. For instance, one-way fares from Mumbai to Ahmedabad, Mangalore, Hyderabad, Nagpur or Bhopal would be Rs, 2,250, taxes included. It would be Rs 3,300 to Bengaluru, Raipur, Coimbatore or Jaipur; Rs 2,850 to Chandigarh, Delhi, Bhubaneswar or Visakhapatnam; and Rs 3,800 to Kolkata.
  Similarly, the fare from Delhi to Jammu, Srinagar and Varanasi would be Rs 2,250; Rs 2,850 to Ahmedabad, Patna or Raipur; Rs 3,300 to Bengaluru, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Ranchi or Pune; and Rs 3,800 to Chennai, Bengaluru or Guwahati. Not all bargain hunters may be lucky though as the inventory is limited, and it is not known how many cheap seats are being released per flight. Source: The Times of India

  Domestic air travel sees steepest fall in world, down 2.1% 

  New Delhi, February 3, 2013: India witnessed the sharpest fall in domestic air travel globally last year. The International Air Transport Association (IATA) on Thursday released the data for 2012 over previous year, showing that India's domestic air travel was the 'weakest' , which saw a 2.1% fall compared to the world average of 4% growth. China and Brazil had the strongest domestic growth at 9.5% and 8.6%, respectively .
  "Indian domestic travel shrank by 2.1% on 2011 levels. Weak economic growth was exacerbated by increasing operational costs, insufficient infrastructure, high taxes and onerous regulation. Capacity growth fell to 0.3% (from 16.2% in 2011) and the average load
factor for the year was 72.9%," IATA said. While China and Brazil recorded highest growth rates, US saw a rise in domestic air travel by 0.8%. Japan's domestic market saw demand grow by 3.6% in 2012.
  Indian carriers warn that unless the government does not do something fast to correct the very high cost structure, the growth story of aviation here may be all but over. Officials say that the price of aviation turbine fuel (ATF) or jet fuel and airport charges must be lowered. ATF prices here for domestic flights are among the highest globally.
  "After the Kingfisher experience , airlines know that charging fares that do not cover costs
will lead to a certain closure except for state-funded Air India. Since ATF and airport charges are among the highest here globally, recovery of cost means high fares. Source: The Economic Times

                                                                                                                                                                                                        
 

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