|
Use of Mobile phone in the aircraft
Delhi, August 02, 2010: Currently, mobile phones can be used
only in aircwhen the doors of an aircraft are open, either before
take-off or after landing and parking. Now you will soon be able to
use your mobile phone after your aircraft rafts has landed and is
taxiing towards the parking bay.
The rule also makes it clear that an aircraft shall be deemed
to be in flight when all its external doors are closed following
embarkation until the moment when any such door is opened for
disembarkation. The government has sought objections or suggestions
from the public on this draft rule by the middle of August. Once the
rule is adopted, it would form part of Aircraft Rules of 1937, which
govern the entire gamut of civil aviation procedures in the country.
Air tickets to cost more from today
Mumbai, July 1, 2010: -- Your flight tickets will get a little costlier from
Thursday. As a new service tax kicks in, air travel within the country
will cost Rs 103 more and an international journey will cost Rs 515 more.
The service tax will be calculated at the rate of 10.3 per cent of the
gross value of the tickets or Rs 103 whichever is less. The gross value
of the ticket comprises the base fare, fuel surcharge and congestion charge.
Source: Yahoo News
British Airways woos Indian students with special offers
Mumbai, June 30, 2010 (PTI) : British Airways on Monday announced a special offer to woo Indian
students, who are seeking admission to educational institutions in various countries, including the UK and US.
Under this offer, Indian students who are flying abroad from Mumbai,
Delhi, Bangalore and Chennai to the UK, Europe, Canada and USA for studies would be allowed to carry 23 kg of free excess baggage, a press
release said.
Students hopping onto a British Airways flight from Hyderabad would be
entitled to a discount of Rs. 4,000 on all bookings, it added. According to the airline, the offer is valid for students holding valid
student visas to the UK, Europe, USA and Canada only, and the outbound
trip must be undertaken before November 15.
Air travel will
turn dearer from July
New Delhi, June 24, 2010: Starting from next month onwards
air travel will become costlier as the Centre, on Thursday, proposed
to impose modified service tax on air tickets both for domestic as
well as international flights. At the same time, the government
proposed to exempt a slew of services like construction of certain
low-cost housing, services within ports and airports and power
distribution from the ambit of Service Tax with effect from July 1.
Application of modified Service Tax on air travel as well as the
proposed exemptions will come into effect from July one, the Central
Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) said through plethora of
notifications issued here on Thursday to give effect to various
provisions in the Finance Act 2010.
Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee in the Budget 2010-11 had
proposed imposition of Service Tax on international and domestic air
passengers. This had led to disappointment in the air travel
industry. Responding to grievances of the air industry Mukherjee
while replying to debate on Finance Bill 2010 clarified that
effective rates of levy would be a maximum of Rs 100 per travel for
domestic journey in any class and a maximum of Rs 500 per travel for
international journey by economy class.
Now the CBEC has come out with notifications giving effect to
modified Service Tax on air travel as announced by Mukherjee. A
service tax of little over 12 per cent is already imposed on foreign
travel by business or first class for the past several years. In a
separate notification the CBEC said those flying to and from the
North Eastern states will be exempted from Service Tax.
Source: DH News Service :
Close shave for IA plane carrying 102 passengers at Delhi airport
New Delhi, June 15, 2010: An Indian Airlines plane IC 113, carrying 102 passengers on board,
had a close shave at the IGI airport in Delhi on Tuesday as two tyres of the
plane burst on landing, according to a TV report.
All the passengers of the plane have been reported to be safe and the
evacuation process was underway when the reports came in. The accident occurred when the Mumbai-Bhopal-Indore-Delhi flight was
moving towards the apron area. Source:Hindustan Times
Air
India strike ends after being ruled illegal
New Delhi/Mumbai. May 27, 2010 (PTI): A two-day Air India
strike came to an end on Wednesday after the Delhi high court said
it was illegal and the national carrier dismissed 17 officials,
including union leaders, and suspended 15 engineers, in the
strongest action it has taken against labour unrest. The airline
said as many as 73 flights were affected, with revenue losses
running into Rs12 crore. The international services disrupted
included flights to Singapore, Kathmandu, Dubai, Muscat and Abu
Dhabi, a Delhi airport official said.
Strike
in Air India called off today
New Delhi, May 26, 2010 A strike at Air India
called off today on its second day on Wednesday that forced many flight
cancellations days after one of its aircraft crashed killing 158
people. At least 13,000 passengers were stranded because of the
strike called by Air India's ground and technical staff who said
they were protesting against a company "gag" order on
union leaders speaking to reporters about Saturday's accident.
Air India spokesman K. Swaminathan said 76 flights, mostly
domestic, had been cancelled. Flights to the United States, Britain,
Tokyo, Hong Kong and other long-haul destinations were operating.
The striking employees said the "gag" order had also asked
them not to speak about the airline's safety issues or staff
problems. They said two of their leaders had been threatened with
sacking for speaking to the media on these issues. Vivek
Rao, general secretary of Air Corp Employees Union, told Reuters
that some 15,000 employees had joined the strike.
On Wednesday, hundreds of weary passengers were seen waiting
for their flights at airports in New Delhi and Mumbai. Many
complained of harassment. The ailing airline is expected to lose
millions of rupees in refunds. The airline lost $875 million in the
fiscal year ended March 2009.
An aircraft of the airline's budget arm Air India Express
crashed while negotiating a tricky landing in southern India on
Saturday, killing all but eight of the 166 people onboard in India's
worst air disaster in a decade.
Indigo, Jet, Paramount, look to add capacity
NEW DELHI, May 3, 2010: The budget airline IndiGo is set to make a big splash
again. The airline has sought government permission to buy 150 aircraft, an indication that the crisis-hit aviation sector is fast returning to normal. There are others in the queue as well to add to their fleet. Paramount has asked permission to import 17 jets, which include 10 Airbus 321, one Embraer ERJ and six Q400.
Just a year ago, airlines were cutting capacity following a sudden slump due to the financial crisis-triggered slowdown. The sudden revival in the traffic growth has encouraged India’s airlines to
expand capacity. Domestic air carriers flew 39.67 lakh passengers during March, registering an increase of 23% over the corresponding month last year.
The airlines were meeting the recent surge in demand through increased frequency, but now they need to add capacity to service the rapidly-rising traffic. Jet Airways has also decided to induct
two Boeing 737s into its fleet. IndiGo had placed an order for 100 aircraft in 2005, creating a
flutter in the aviation circles. The ministry is, unlikely to clear Paramount Airways’
proposal.
Jet Airways sees fares rise 10-15 pct
MUMBAI, April 9, 2010 (Reuters) - Jet Airways expects average fares to rise by
-15 percent in April-June over the previous quarter, an official told reporters on Friday.
Raj Sivakumar, vice president, revenue management, said the rise in crude prices
and better volumes were likely to push the fares up. "If fuel goes back to $100 how can we survive without increasing fares?" said
Saroj Datta, executive director at the airline. Aviation turbine fuel, which makes up over 40 percent of the cost of an airline,
has a 95 percent correlation with crude oil. Oil rose above $86 on Friday to
near 18-month highs. Jet officials were speaking on the sidelines of a conference to announce the
launch of daily flights from Mumbai to Johannesburg in South Africa from April
14. Jet, India's largest private carrier by sales, has seen healthy load factors
of about 80 percent for international and 70 percent for domestic routes in Jan-March, Sivakumar said.
Jet Airways is also expecting revenues of over $1 million every month for every
aircraft leased, another official, who declined to be named, said.The carrier has leased four aircraft to Turkish Airlines and three Boeings from
its fleet to Thai Airways THAI.BK. Datta also said the airline is looking to replace 10 aircraft this fiscal year
and would add a few to its fleet of 112.
|
|
