India to become aircraft maintenence hub

[Hindustani78]

http://indianexpress.com/article/india/pmo-clears-rs-119-crore-bills-of-air-india-4501007/

Bills worth Rs 119 crore pending towards cash-strapped Air India, generated for some foreign visits of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, have been cleared. RTI applicant Commodore (retd) Lokesh Batra said that the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) on January 30 uploaded on its website the details of bills worth about Rs 119.70 crore cleared for eight trips, which were shown pending or under process since last year.

“I sincerely hope that all the public authorities concerned i.e. PMO, Ministry of External Affairs, Ministry of Civil Aviation and Air India will institute suitable norms and guidelines to facilitate expeditious clearance of chartered flights bills as the issue is directly concerned with the ‘Tax-Payers’ money,” Batra said.

The move comes following an order of Chief Information Commissioner R K Mathur who had refused to disclose the file notings related to the travel expenses incurred on the Prime Minister’s visits abroad, but took note of Batra’s quest for timely payment of bills by the government to the public sector units.

“During the hearing, the Commission observed that the appellant’s motive is to improve the governance and transparency in settling the bills of the PM’s foreign or domestic visits, as public money was involved. The loss of public money can add to the burden of tax-payers,” Mathur said.

It is observed that the appellant has repeatedly stressed on timely payment of bills and institution of suitable internal guidelines to facilitate payments, he had said.

“He has stated that this is in public interest. The respondents have taken note of this,” Mathur said.

The PMO has claimed on its website that bills for trips -Japan, Laos, Mozambique, South Africa, Tanzania and Kenya and Uzbekistan – have not been received while it shows that bills are under process for the four visits.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has undertaken 27 visits abroad since assuming the office on May 26, 2014, according to the PMO website.

 

[Hindustani78]

Ministry of Civil Aviation
07-February, 2017 18:00 IST
Government Steps To Encourage MRO Facilities in India

Adequate facilities for Maintenance and Repair of planes are available in the country. However, for overhaul, only limited facility is available. Therefore, some Indian Carriers send their aircrafts to foreign countries to carry out the overhaul maintenance services in Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) approved maintenance organizations located abroad. However, carriers avail maintenance services from DGCA approved maintenance organizations depending upon their commercial considerations, duration for accomplishment of maintenance and lease requirements.


There are 109 (MROs) approved in India of which 07 are capable of carrying out overhaul of planes.


The MRO business of Indian carriers is around Rs 5000 crore, 90% of which is currently spent outside India - in Sri Lanka, Singapore, Malaysia, UAE etc. Given our technology and skill base, the government is keen to develop India as an MRO hub in Asia, attracting business from foreign airlines. Accordingly, the following provisions have been made in the Budget announcements for 2016-17 :

i) The tools and tool-kits used by the MRO have been exempted from Customs duty. The exemption shall be given on the basis of list the tools and tool kits certified by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation approved Quality Managers of aircraft maintenance organisations.

ii) MROs were required to provide proof of their requirements of parts, or orders from their client airlines. The process for the clearance of the parts has been brought in line with that of the tool ?kits for a one time certification by DGCA approved Quality Managers in MRO's.

iii) To enable economies of scale, the restriction of one year for utilisation of duty free parts has been extended to three years.

iv) To allow import of unserviceable parts including aircraft components like engines and landing gears by MROs for providing exchange or advance exchange, the concerned notification has been revised to enable advance export of serviceable parts.

v) Foreign aircraft brought to India for MRO work will be allowed to stay for the entire period of maintenance or up to 6 months, whichever is lesser, provided it undertakes no commercial flights during the stay period. The aircraft may, however, carry passengers in the flights at the beginning and end of the stay period in India. For stay beyond 6 months, DGCA's permission will be required.


This information was given by the Minister of State for Civil Aviation Shri Jayant Sinha in written reply to a question in Rajya Sabha today.

 

[Hindustani78]

First Airbus 320 neo plane receiving a water cannon salute at Avionics Complex, Air India hanger IGI in New Delhi. Air India inducted the first Airbus 320 neo plane, touted as fuel efficient, into its fleet and plans to take 13 more such aircraft on lease this year.

 

[Hindustani78]

The A320 neo (new engine option) plane, inducted by Air India, has been leased from Kuwait’s ALAFCO.(Photo credit: Air India Twitter handle)

http://www.hindustantimes.com/india...e-this-year/story-kI02Txop3K2LdWlPq48neK.html

Air India on Thursday inducted the first Airbus 320 neo plane, touted as fuel efficient, into its fleet and plans to take 13 more such aircraft on lease this year.

The A320 neo (new engine option) plane is configured with 162 seats, including 12 in the business class. The plane has been leased from Kuwait’s ALAFCO.

Soon after formally inducting the plane, which was given the traditional water canon salute at the international airport in New Delhi, Air India CMD Ashwani Lohani said a total of 14 A320 Neos would be inducted into the fleet.

The airline would also look at using these planes for international operations, he said.

Air India is the third Indian carrier after no-frills airlines IndiGo and GoAir to induct A320 neo aircraft.


Air India Group’s fleet size now stands at 138 planes.

The national carrier has plans to induct a total of 29 A320 neos into its fleet by March 2019.

While Air India has already tied up with three lessors --ALAFCO, GECAPS and CIT -- for 22 planes, the process to select a bidder for the remaining seven such planes is underway.

The induction of the new fuel-efficient aircraft into its fleet is aimed at augmenting the capacity in the domestic market which is growing at a rate of over 20 per cent for nearly two years now.

The maker of A320 neo, European aviation major Airbus claims that these planes burn 15 per cent less fuel than the existing model.

As per original schedule, Air India was to receive three such planes in this fiscal with two of them being in January it but the delivery was delayed.

 

[Hindustani78]

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley along with Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju. | Photo Credit: V. Sudershan

http://www.thehindu.com/news/nation...on-Minister/article17338996.ece?homepage=true

“I would like Air India to survive and fly the Indian skies proudly. That’s my wish whether in the public or the private sector,” says Civil Aviation Minister.
Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju tells Somesh Jha in an interview that despite the ₹30,000 crore bailout package approved for Air India in 2012, the national carrier remains in a debt trap. He remained non-committal on privatising the airline, but said taxpayers’ money cannot be committed forever, and it needs to be run in a professional manner. Edited excerpts:

In the Economic Survey 2017, Chief Economic Adviser Arvind Subramanian stopped short of suggesting that government should privatise Air India. What do you think of his views?
The performance of Air India in recent times has gone up. It is a good airline but its finances are bad. Last year, it didn’t make an operating loss, but a profit that is probably worth not talking about. This year, it will make an operational profit again. But it’s in a kind of debt trap. The government had committed money and around ₹23,000 crore has been released. After that money comes in, what about its finances? It is still in a debt trap. So something has to be done. It’s a nice airline, and I have been saying that right from day one in office. Even in Parliament, I said that I will not do Air India bashing. We can’t commit the taxpayers’ money for eternity. If you leave it like this, there will be a downhill slide and one fine day it will close shop. If some strategies come in, then it can survive and compete.

Is privatisation one of the strategies?
It has a big debt. You put the airline on the market and no one will buy it. What do you do? People who are well-versed with finances will have to start thinking on those lines.

There was a proposal to ask banks to convert part of the airline’s debt into equity.
That could be a way. If a consortium of banks decides that they will pick up part equity so that it’s not in a debt trap, then Air India — if it works the way it is working — still has a chance of coming out. Otherwise, with all the money put in and some legacy issues, it’s a problem.

We can’t commit the taxpayers’ money for eternity.

How far have the banks been convinced?
I haven’t even started talking to them. Ideas are floating and probably Air India would have themselves approached the banks to see whether they are willing or not. The die-hard people will say it should remain [in the] public sector or crash — they will go that way. I would like it to survive.

As a public sector entity?
Survive — whether public or private sector. Serve the Indian skies because its reach is the best in India. Among Indian players, Air India is one of the best in ferrying Indians abroad and bringing them back.

There was a news report which said that there is a plan to list Air India on stock markets. Is that true?
You should ask an Air India employee whether he would like to buy stock in Air India then you would know (laughs). The thing is that stock options are generally nice, provided people are willing to take it up. Financially, the airline’s books are bad. That’s the main issue.

Do you think Air India would require more equity from the government beyond 2021-22 as envisaged in the turnaround plan?
First of all, it requires a professional management. It has to run like an airline and then things would work.

Financially, the airline’s books are bad. That’s the main issue.

During the previous government’s tenure, a group of officers suggested to Cabinet Ministers that once the airline reaches a certain growth rate, it can be privatised. Is the government contemplating this option?
First of all, has it come anywhere near profitability? It’s nowhere near that. The turnaround and the financial restructuring plan have all come in. What is the result? Has it come out of the debt-trap? There are a lot of legacy issues. Air India’s debt is the problem. If you can solve that problem, the puzzle of Air India will get solved. It’s unfair to the taxpayer if you have to keep pouring their money there. Beyond a point, it just can’t happen.

Provided the debt issue is resolved, will the government look at privatising Air India?
I would like Air India to survive. I have told some friends this is something like the old story of King Solomon where two women come to him claiming the same baby to be theirs. So one mother says you cut the baby in half, the other one says if this is going to be justice of cutting the baby in half, I would rather have my baby living with the other mother than dead. There are hardly any choices here. I would like Air India to survive and fly the Indian skies proudly. That’s my wish whether in the public or the private sector. But if you see it dying, you don’t want to let it die. That’s it. But I can’t commit the taxpayers’ money for eternity.

 

[Bussard Ramjet]

India was the 9th-largest civil aviation market in the world in 2011 and is expected to become third-largest by 2020, after the U.S.and China and 1st - largest by 2030.

What is the source of your predictions?

I consider both of these predictions highly doubtful, especially the one regarding becoming the largest civil aviation market by 2030.

 

[Hindustani78]

What is the source of your predictions?

I consider both of these predictions highly doubtful, especially the one regarding becoming the largest civil aviation market by 2030.

http://www.nal.res.in/pdf/showdaily2016 (2).pdf

 

[Bussard Ramjet]

http://www.nal.res.in/pdf/showdaily2016 (2).pdf

Yeah, I read that report.

First of all, it is commissioned by FICCI, which is always extra-enthusiastic about India.

Secondly, even what they did was that they repeated government claims, and then presented some supportive evidence.

But, IATA, the independent body has said that it expects Indian civil aviation market to be among top 3 by 2025.

Even, the current aviation minister has started speaking now, that India will be in top 3 by 2022.

My final judgement?

India will surely be among top 3 by 2025, but the largest is too tough, and almost certainly not by 2035.

 

[Hindustani78]

http://www.deccanherald.com/content/597635/air-india-sell-two-dreamliners.html
NEW DELHI, Feb 22, 2017, DHNS:

Air India will sell two more Dreamliners to raise $250 million for the repayment of a short-term loan it took earlier for purchasing these planes.

The national carrier has initiated the process of selling these two aircraft, which could fetch around Rs 1,700 crore, officials said. Air India has fixed the reserve price for each aircraft at $125 million.

After selling the planes, Air India plans to get them back on lease, a normal practice in the aviation sector. Air India had taken delivery of 23 Dreamliners and 21 have already been sold and then leased back.

The two aircraft now on the block were delivered to Air India on November 7, 2016, and January 9, 2017.

In its ‘Invitation to Offer’, the carrier indicates that it intends to operate the aircraft through 'Sale and Lease Back' (SLB).

On lease

Under SLB, Air India would sell these two planes to the lessor and immediately get them back under an operating lease for a period of up to 12 years, with an option to extend the arrangement by another three years.

 

[Hindustani78]

http://www.hindustantimes.com/india...akes-flight/story-VEySDevjdwAVsVY9HtcMCM.html

Government-run Air India has put into operation its newly-leased Airbus A320 Neo with its maiden flight arriving in Chennai from New Delhi.

The first A320 Neo aircraft with 161 passengers on board touched down at the Chennai International Airport from the Indira Gandhi International Airport at 8.30 pm on Thursday, the airline said in a release.


The national carrier had inducted the latest fuel-efficient aircraft from European aviation major Airbus in its fleet on February 16.

The A320 New Engine Option aircraft is configured with 162 seats, including 12 in the business class. Air India has plans to induct a total of 29 A320 Neos into its fleet by March 2019.

The fuel-efficient Airbus A320 Neo aircraft is highly environmental-friendly with reduced noise levels and 50% less carbon emissions, the airline said in the release.

The airline has already tied-up with three lessors -- ALAFCO, GECAPS and CIT -- for 22 planes, and the process to select a bidder for the remaining seven such planes is underway.

Air India has already announced that it will induct 13 more such planes in the fleet in this calendar year.

The flag carrier is the third domestic airline after IndiGo and GoAir with A320 Neo aircraft. Also, the national carrier is the first domestic operator of A320 Neo plane that is powered by CFM engine since the other two are using the aircraft having Pratt & Whitney engine.

 

[Hindustani78]

Cargo being loaded into an airplane of type Airbus 330. | Photo Credit: Getty Images/iStockphoto
http://www.thehindu.com/business/Industry/centre-mulls-dedicated-cargo-airport-for-telangana-up/article17372260.ece?homepage=true

AAI looking into possible sites across India that are industrial & consumption-clusters
The Centre is considering a proposal each from Telangana and Uttar Pradesh for setting up a ‘dedicated cargo airport.’

Telangana wants a dedicated cargo airport to be built in northern Hyderabad, while Uttar Pradesh is seeking the green signal to construct one such airport in the western part of the state, official sources said.

The Centre has informed these two states that the Airports Authority of India (AAI) had appointed a consultant to study and suggest name(s) of airport(s) or site(s) in the country that can be ‘developed’ or ‘converted’ as ‘dedicated cargo airport(s)’ – which may also be termed as ‘merchant airport(s).’

The AAI, subject to the Centre’s approval, would facilitate the construction of such dedicated cargo airport(s) once the site(s) and plans are finalised, and after finding that the same would be geographically suitable for air transportation, the sources said. They added that the cargo airport(s) may also act as ‘air cargo hub(s)’ in the country.

‘Consumption cluster’

To ensure commercial viability for airlines, the other pre-requisites for a dedicated air cargo airport include that the site has to be a ‘consumption cluster’ — where there is a huge demand for consumer-based goods. The site should also be an ‘industrial cluster’ — where there are many goods manufacturing units and a huge industrial base.

Besides, the site should also have well-connected rail/road and airport network for multi-modal transport connectivity, the sources said. The site should also be able to handle large aircraft for transporting cargo in large volumes and for airlifting purposes.

According to the Civil Aviation Ministry, there were five operational airports in the (erstwhile) state of undivided Andhra Pradesh. These are in Hyderabad, Rajahmundry, Tirupati, Vizag and Vijaywada — where commercial flights are operate carrying passengers and cargo.

GMR Hyderabad International Airport Ltd (GHIAL) is managing the new Hyderabad airport in the Telangana state, the ministry said. It added that the AAI is still maintaining the old (Begumpet) Hyderabad Airport in Hyderabad that is not to be used for aviation-related commercial activity.

As far as Uttar Pradesh is concerned, the Civil Aviation Ministry said the operational airports are in Allahabad, Gorakhpur, Kanpur, Lucknow and Varanasi — where commercial flights run their business carrying passengers and cargo.

Air transport freight grows

According to the World Bank data, air transport-freight (volume of freight, express, and diplomatic bags carried on each flight stage – that is, operation of an aircraft from takeoff to its next landing) is measured in metric tons times kilometres.

Air transport-freight for India grew from 96.3 million ton-km in the year 1970 to 1833.8 million ton-km in 2015 (it was 1851.3 million ton-km in 2014). Global air transport-freight grew from 15,568.7 million ton-km in 1973 to 188,000.2 million ton-km in 2015, the Bank data showed.

 

[schoolboy]

I consider both of these predictions highly doubtful, especially the one regarding becoming the largest civil aviation market by 2030.

Bloomberg has a helpful line graph that illustrates the gap between #1,#2 and #3,#4.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/arti...-s-as-world-s-largest-aviation-market-by-2024

 

[Hindustani78]

Ministry of Civil Aviation
09-March, 2017 17:40 IST
Air India Expecting Better Revenues in Current Financial Year

Air India is expecting to report better revenues in Financial Year 2016-17 as compared to FY 2015-16. In fact, the company is expecting to have a total revenue of Rs. 22,521 crores as compared to the figure of Rs. 20,526.11 crores in FY 2015-16 which is an improvement of around 9.7% over the previous year.

The main reason for this increase in revenues is an improvement in capacity utilization in terms of Revenue Passenger Kilometers (RPKMs) by 6.8% and an increase in Passenger Carriages by 6.2% when compared to the previous year 2015-16. The Passenger Load Factor is also expected to increase by 1.2% in absolute terms i.e. from 75.6% in FY 2015-16 to 76.4% in FY 2016-17.

From November, 2015, in addition to Riyadh route, B777-200 LR was deployed on Delhi-London route (AI-161/162) and from December, 2015 on Bangalore-Delhi-San Francisco route (AI-173/174). This has helped in increasing operating utilization of B777-200 LR over 14 hours per day from November, 2015 onward.

The Government had approved a Turnaround Plan (TAP) and Financial Restructuring Plan (FRP) for operational and financial turnaround of Air India. The TAP and FRP provides equity infusion of Rs.30,231 crores upto year 2021 subject to achievement of certain milestones as laid down in the TAP and FRP. The Company has made substantial progress in both Operational as well as Financial Areas as per TAP Milestones. As a part of the Turnaround Strategy for Air India Ltd., the company, with the overall support of the govt., has initiated a number of steps in order to cut costs and losses. These steps, inter-alia, include the following: -

i. Route rationalization of erstwhile AI & IA route and elimination of route network involving parallel operations.

ii. Rationalization of certain loss making routes.

iii. Phasing out of old fleet and consequential reduction in maintenance cost.

iv. Joining of Star Alliance.

v. Enhanced utilization of new fleet resulting in production of higher Available Seat Kilometers (ASKMs).

vi. Closure of overseas offline offices at certain locations.

vii. Introduction of PSS (Passenger Service System) to have single code and SAP ERP based solutions throughout the organization in terms of increase in revenue and decrease in cost.

The following steps have also been taken by Air India to improve revenues:-

i Introduction of New Routes,

ii Preferred seat selection on domestic and international routes,

iii Flash Sale of seats to increase revenues and PLF,

iv To utilize unsold inventory by launching of airfare equivalent to Rajdhani II-AC fare on select sectors,

v Dynamic pricing and introduction of Advance Purchase fare,

vi Various sales and Marketing Initiatives.

This information was given by the Minister of State for Civil Aviation Shri Jayant Sinha in written reply to a question in Lok Sabha today.

******

 

[Hindustani78]

http://www.thehindu.com/business/ne...s-rs-500cr-combined-cover/article17462343.ece

State—owned insurer New India Assurance has bagged a Rs 500—crore combined cover from Reliance Industries for its onshore and offshore assets for the next financial year, according to industry sources.

At Rs 500 crore, this is the single largest insurance cover taken by any corporate in the country so far.

According to the people aware of the development, the premium fixed for the mega combined insurance cover, which came into force from February 1, is Rs 500 crore with a sum assured of over Rs 2.5 trillion.

Such a policy is not new as more than 30 corporates have been availing of such covers since 2000. But it is for the first time that New India is offering a combined cover to both RIL’s onshore and offshore assets.

RIL and New India Assurance could not be reached for comments.

The cover includes RIL’s two 60 mt refineries in Jamnagar and its offshore assets in the Krishna—Godavari Basin, industry sources told PTI.

The combined mega policy provided to Reliance projects have been reinsured by around 90 per cent, the sources added.

It is the largest combined cover provided to the projects owned by a single corporate house in the country.

A mega combined insurance policy has all the policies like fire, breakdown and loss of profit bundled together.

Last year RIL had two insurers —— New India for the offshore cover and one of the Jamnagar refineries, while ICICI Lombard covered the other refinery.

Last year ONGC had paid USD 16 million for its assets valued at USD 34 billion. The cover was provided by state—run United India Insurance.

 

[Hindustani78]

Ministry of Civil Aviation
15-March, 2017 17:35 IST
Acquisition of Dreamliner by Air India

Air India is procuring all the 27 Dreamliners by October, 2017 as per the contract. Air India has acquired 23 Dreamliners progressively from September, 2012 to 9th January, 2017. The Dreamliners aircraft have experienced technical reliability issues, since induction into Air India fleet. These issues, however, do not affect the safety of the airplane due to the system design and inbuilt system redundancy. Further, system improvements are incorporated as a part of reliability enhancement process and the glitches have significantly reduced.

One B787-8 aircraft will be delivered in July-17, two B-787-8 aircraft in August, 2017 and one B787-8 aircraft will be delivered in October, 2017.

This information was given by Minister of State for Civil Aviation, Shri Jayant Sinha in a written reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha today.