Aerospace Diary

Programs Aerospace Daily & Defense Report Jun 30 , 2010 , p. 12 Neelam Mathews NEW DELHI — Lockheed Martin India is offering its software expertise to help Bharat Electronics Ltd. (BEL) of India design the country’s coastal surveillance system. “We have looked at different bids — their radars and C2 systems,” Roger Rose, CEO of Lockheed Martin India, tells Aviation Week. “We have made an offer to BEL to cooperate as they design the system. . . . The hard part is putting the system together and getting the results. India has a huge coastline. The question is how do you allow the free flow of vessel traffic and still protect your coastline.” Lockheed Martin’s MTM-300 is a rules-based software system that integrates and displays vessel tracks from the sensor suite. It has the ability to display vessel tracks from multiple sites and multiple sensors. In addition, vessels tracked by multiple sources are correlated by MTM-300 into a single, fused system track to minimize ambigui...

Safety Aviation Daily Jun 29 , 2010 , p. 12 Neelam Mathews India will develop an action plan within eight months to address priorities identified at a two-day meeting of ICAO’s Industry Safety Strategy Group. The Global Aviation Safety Roadmap is an international strategic plan to promote aviation safety programs that complement the implementation of tactical solutions contained in the U.S. Commercial Aviation Safety Team’s (CAST) safety plan. “What makes the roadmap — the first in Asia — unique is that it is not an audit. We can measure how we are doing. We do not want to create bureaucracies,” says Gerardo Hueto, deputy chief engineer for aviation system safety at Boeing Commercial Airplanes, which helped create the plan. A major focus area identified in the workshop are gaps in the use of technology to enhance safety, including runway excursions. Risks associated with excursions are related to oncoming monsoons that create water-logged runways, low visibility in winter and...

Airports Aviation Daily Jun 29 , 2010 , p. 14 Neelam Mathews GMR Infrastructure Ltd. is increasing its foray into international airport development with a contract to build, operate, modernize and expand Male International Airport (MIA) in Maldives. GMR, which along with consortium partners won the bid to develop Istanbul, Turkey’s Sabiha Gökçen International Airport, opened the airport last year, one year ahead of schedule. The new international terminal, which is designed to handle 20 million passengers, was built for $606 million with a 20-year concession period. The term of the Male Airport contract is for 25 years. MIA, a gateway to resort islands, also includes a seaplane port. Situated on Huhule Island on the southwestern tip of India, Male Airport is the largest airport in the capital of Maldives. With its tourism potential and exponential growth in passenger movement, it is the base for tourist traffic from Europe in the entire region.

Aerospace Daily PROGRAMS June 29, 2010 NEW DELHI — India will need more than 50 medium-sized transport planes in the medium-term, given its diverse border, homeland security and humanitarian needs, Alenia Aeronautica estimates. “India has a lot of hot borders,” says Paolo Girasole, head of Alenia parent company Finmeccanica in India, referring to airlifters required in the remote areas of eastern India occupied by local insurgents, the Naxals. The company has responded to a request for proposals for two medium transport planes, for which it has offered its C-27J Spartan for the Border Security Force. Trials were held last July in Leh and Bengaluru. A request for information is out from the Indian air force for 16 medium airlifters, Roberto Leva, director of Alenia Aeronautica in India, tells Aviation Week. The Philippines and Malaysia also have shown and interest in procuring the aircraft. The C-27J is an advanced derivative of Alenia’s G-222 (C-27A Spartan in U.S. service), w...

Defense Aviation Week & Space Technology Jun 28 , 2010 , p. 48 Neelam Mathews New Delhi Robert Wall Washington Andy Nativi Washington Boeing ponders C-17 derivative, but exports hold the most promise Printed headline: Lifting Fortunes Boeing is once again renewing proposals for a C-17 derivative to try to maintain its military airlifter business line. The latest iteration is the C-17FE concept. The “FE,” which stands for fuel efficient, would have a narrower fuselage by several feet than the aircraft now in production. It also would involve lightening of the structure through use of composites. The goal is to meet the nominal Joint Future Theater Lift (JFTL) program threshold. U.S. Army/Air Force directives would impact the design as their needs evolve. But the ultimate aim is to meet 99% of the JFTL requirement with the C-17FE. PiX-The first three of six C-130Js, due to arrive in India by year-end, are being assembled at Lockheed Martin’s Marietta, Ga., factory.C...

News AWIN First Jun 25 , 2010 Neelam Mathews mathews.neelam@gmail.com Emirates Airlines may fly its Airbus A380 to Delhi for a test run just as the new Terminal 3 at Indira Gandhi International Airport opens to international airlines on July 15, . India’s civil aviation regulator has received Emirates Airline’s request to fly Airbus A380 to Delhi, Director General of Civil Aviation Nasim Zaidi said in a statement to Bloomberg News. It is not clear whether the pending approval is for the one-time run or for scheduled flights to Delhi. Enquiries to Emirates remained unanswered. GMR, the major stakeholder of the Delhi airport, earlier asked Airbus to fly an A380 to Delhi for the terminal’s inauguration on July 3, The DAILY has learned. But after Airbus agreed, GMR reportedly changed its mind. Emirates and Lufthansa have applications pending to fly the A380 into India; however, sources close to the matter say the Ministry of Civil Aviation is not in a hurry to give the permiss...

News AWIN First Jun 24 , 2010 Neelam Mathews mathews.neelam@gmail.com Business is returning for international carriers as India’s hot summer weather is driving people to cooler climates. Airlines of the Lufthansa Passenger Airline Group -- Swiss International Airlines, Austrian and Lufthansa -- are consolidating their position as the leading European provider, offering 75 weekly flights from seven Indian destinations, starting from the winter schedule. Lufthansa,­ which ran an all-business-class Boeing 737 before the recession to Pune from Frankfurt, has introduced an economy-business configuration on four weekly flights, up from the present three. The carrier will replace an Airbus A340-300 on its Chennai-Frankfurt route with an A340-600, adding 80 seats. However, Lufthansa’s request to fly the A380 was rejected by the Indian government. Swiss, which serves Delhi-Zurich and Mumbai-Zurich, will operate daily flights, up from six per week, to Delhi and five per week to Mumb...

Jun 23, 2010 By Neelam Mathews NEW DELHI A contract awarded by India’s Home Affairs Ministry to MKU, an India-based supplier of body armor, will include Honeywell’s Gold Shield and Spectra Shield composite materials for ballistics protection. Modernizing India’s police forces has been a top priority following the Mumbai terrorist attacks. The Indian homeland security budget is set to grow by 25% this year, making India one of the fastest-growing markets for homeland security equipment in the world. The body armor order covers 59,000 jackets that each contain two breast plates. The soft armor containing Gold Shield supposedly can substantially reduce injuries caused by a bullet’s impact, but with improved weight, flexibility and comfort. The breast plates containing Spectra Shield are supposed to offer protection from multiple bullet hits, angle shots and high-velocity rifle rounds. The first shipment of armor is likely to be sent to the Central Reserve Police Force by the end ...

News AWIN First Jun 23 , 2010 Neelam Mathews NEW DELHI The $2.8 billion Terminal 3 at Delhi Indira Gandhi International Airport, which will be capable of processing 34 million passengers per year, is set to be inaugurated July 3. The integrated terminal, which will handle international and domestic traffic, will become the world’s sixth largest terminal after Dubai, Beijing, Singapore, Bangkok and Mexico City. International traffic will start operating from the terminal on July 15 and domestic traffic from July 30. Budget carriers SpiceJet and Indigo will continue to operate from the present terminal. Around 12,800 bags will be handled every hour. With frenzied work on finishing touches, the airport seems to “want to avoid a problem like Heathrow’s T5 did for baggage handling,” according to an official. “The first bag will be on the belt within 15 minutes of arrival,” he promises. For the past six months, the Operational Readiness and Airport Transfer (ORAT) team has been...

News AWIN First Jun 23 , 2010 Neelam Mathews New Delhi Association of Asia Pacific Airlines’ preliminary figures for May point to continued growth in passenger and freight traffic, leading carriers in the region to boost IT investment. Calling this a “surprisingly robust regional economic upturn,” an AAPA statement says Asia-Pacific-based airlines carried 14.6 million international passengers in May, up 17.6% from the same month last year. “For the first five months of the year, Asia-Pacific carriers reported a welcome 10.7% increase in international passenger traffic as both leisure and business travel demand picked up. International freight traffic also bounced back sharply, up 35.6% compared to last year’s slump,” Andrew Herdman, AAPA director general, said. International revenue passenger kilometers grew 14.6%. With a 3.3% expansion in capacity, the average international passenger load factor rose 7.3 percentage points to 74.6%. Strong demand for international air car...

Aviation Daily Jun 23 , 2010 , p. 11 Neelam Mathews Air India will fly daily direct services between Melbourne and Delhi, starting Nov. 1 with a Boeing 777, the first nonstop service to Melbourne from India. Air India also is the first Indian carrier to fly to Australia. The new service was announced after Air India’s Chairman and Managing Director Arvind Jadhav signed a deal with the state of Victoria Premier John Brumby. In 2007, Qantas signed a code-share accord with Jet Airways to offer passengers daily departures from Delhi to Singapore, with onward connections to and from Perth, Adelaide, Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Cairns and Darwin and from Mumbai to Singapore with connections to and from Perth and Sydney. The bilateral agreement between India and Australia gives Indian carriers 6,500 seats per week to six destinations in Australia, including Sydney, Melbourne, Perth and Brisbane. Air India earlier flew to Sydney, Melbourne and Perth, but withdrew its services. “A...

Aerospace Daily June 23, 2010 PROGRAMS NEW DELHI – The delayed launch of the Indian Space Research Organization’s (ISRO) Cartosat-2B 0.8-meter resolution remote-sensing satellite from Sriharikota spaceport is now expected in mid-July, Aerospace DAILY has learned. Previously scheduled for May 9,the flight was delayed following the discovery during routine pre-launch checks of a marginal drop in pressure in the second stage of the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (Aerospace DAILY, April 30). The mission will launch the 700-kg. (1,500-lb.) Cartosat-2B; an Algerian satellite, ALSAT-2A; the NLS 6.1 and NLS 6.2 nanosatellites from the University of Toronto, Canada; and STUDSAT, built by students from academic institutions in Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. ISRO will use the PSLV-C15 to position Cartostat-2B in a polar Sun-synchronous orbit. It is said Cartosat-2B will map borders in the Kashmir Valley to monitor terrorist infiltrations and perform remote sensing of rural and urban a...

PROGRAMS NEW DELHI — India is expected to release a request for proposals soon for outsourcing maritime air surveillance of the country’s coastline. “We are hoping the Request for Proposal will be out soon,” says Lee Griffiths, head of Cobham in India, which plans to bid on the work with an Indian partner. The Australian government’s Border Protection Command entrusted Surveillance Australia, part of the Cobham Services Division, with maritime air surveillance of Australia’s borders. It was named the preferred bidder for a 12-year, A$1 billion contract over Raytheon Australia under a performance-based contract that lasts until 2020. The company provides a full turnkey operation with 10 modified Bombardier Dash 8 maritime patrol aircraft which each year fly 2,500 missions and 15,000 hr. Cobham is taking its prospective Indian partner on the Indian surveillance contract to Australia to observe its operations,according to Griffiths. “The challenge here [in India] is to work throug...

Jun 17, 2010 By Neelam Mathews NEW DELHI South Indian regional carrier Paramount Airways has filed a dispute against the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) for clamping down on its scheduled operations, forcing it to return three of its five operating aircraft to lessor GECAS for alleged nonpayment. In India, an airline must have at least five aircraft to remain a scheduled operator, but Paramount has claimed it is not the regulator’s job to solve such commercial disputes. The carrier says its plans for growth are still intact. However, all aircraft procurement now requires an import license from the DGCA and its approval, which Paramount does not expect to receive until at least August. The airline claims it will purchase more aircraft and has a No Objection Certificate for 22 aircraft. It also says that it will induct two older Airbus A320s in its fleet next month. “We will use what is available for major routes and then replace with new ones,” an airline spokesm...

Jun 17, 2010 By Neelam Mathews NEW DELHI Bob Gower has been named vice president, Boeing Military Aircraft (BMA) in India, where he will “expand and manage the BMA product line in India, including P-8I, F/A-18IN, C-17, and Apache,” the company says. Prior to this assignment, Gower managed several businesses within BMA. Most recently, he served as vice president of F/A-18 and EA-18 programs, and successfully completed development of the EA-18G Growler electronic attack variant, capturing domestic and international orders. Succeeding Gower will be Kory Mathews, who will serve as program vice president of F/A-18 and EA-18 Programs within Boeing’s Global Strike Systems division. In this position, Mathews is responsible for customer satisfaction and the quality, cost, and schedule performance of the F/A-18 family of strike fighters, including the F/A-18A/B/C/D/E/F and the EA-18G.

Jun 15, 2010 By Neelam Mathews mathews.neelam@gmail.com New Delhi The Indian Air Force’s safety woes continued June 15 with the crash of a MiG-21, marking the third loss of a combat fighter this year. The MiG-21 (Type 96) was flying near Pathankot when it crashed around 11.25 a.m. Indian Standard Time due to what air force officials believe was a hydraulic failure. The IAF also lost a MiG-27 and MiG-21 in February. The MiG-27 crash briefly led to the grounding of that fleet. The IAF says the pilot ejected safely and no ground property was damaged. Last year the IAF suffered 11 crashes, including five MiG-21s. More broadly, the IAF has suffered a wave of MiG-21 crashes and other losses. During the past three years, 21 Mikoyan-built fighters have been lost by the service, killing four service personnel. Sixty one aircraft and helicopters of various types have crashed in the last four years, and 28 pilots have died. Of these, 48.3% of the IAF accidents were blamed on technica...

Aerospace Daily & Defense Report June 17, 2010 NEW DELHI — Those awaiting news about an increase in India’s current 26% cap on foreign direct investment (FDI) in defense joint ventures are liable to be disappointed. R.K. Singh, secretary for defense production, said at the Eurosatory defense expo in Paris that the ministry favors continuing with the FDI limit. International investors have argued that the cap should be raised to 49%(Aerospace DAILY, May 11). India’s defense expenditure for 2010-11 is around $32 billion. A report says Indian defense procurement could rise to $42 billion (including $19.2 billion for capital acquisition), which could make India a lucrative market for vendors to set up shop. The defense capital expenditure budget is expected to achieve a compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 10% over 2011-2015, primarily in maritime, land, aerospace and electronics. It is estimated that India is likely to spend nearly $80 billion over the next five years o...

News AWIN First Jun 16 , 2010 Neelam Mathews mathews.neelam@gmail.com Loads are up in India, with domestic airlines carrying 22% more passengers in May -- 4.78 million -- compared with 3.92 million in the same 2009 month, according to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). Some carriers took aircraft out of service last year and also deferred deliveries. Budget carriers continue to lead the pack: IndiGo posted a load factor of 92.3% in May, up from 85% last year; SpiceJet followed with 90.4%, up from 79.1%, and JetLite with 85.4%, up from 77.4%. All-business carrier Paramount Airways, no longer flying as a result of having to return aircraft after defaulting on lease payments, had a load factor of 86.6%. Legacy carrier Kingfisher reported a load factor of 83.2%, up from 72.9% last May, and Jet Airways posted 82.5%, compared with 69.2%. Air India was close behind with 77.8%, up from 69%. Analysis of traffic data on a year-over-year basis indicates that the trend ...

Emerging Markets India Aviation Week & Space Technology Jun 14 , 2010 , p. 51 Bradley Perrett With Neelam Mathews New Delhi As the Indian economy booms, aerospace becomes the next growth opportunity Printed headline: Following the Money The surest sign that India is a rising power in aerospace is the private investment flowing into the industry. Indian manufacturers are competing for orders that would offset India’s purchase of foreign defense products, such as the Boeing P-8I.Credit: BOEING CONCEPT In contrast to state-directed efforts elsewhere in Asia, the growth in Indian aerospace manufacturing and engineering is above all in businesses that rely at most indirectly on government support. “Aerospace is the next growth opportunity in India,” says Avind Mehra, the head of the aircraft and aerostructures operation that Indian conglomerate ­Mahindra is setting up. Mahindra’s judgment is telling. Surveying potential investments across the economy, the experienced an...

News AWIN First Jun 15 , 2010 Neelam Mathews mathews.neelam@gmail.com NEW DELHI GMG Airlines, Bangladesh’s largest privately owned airline, with seven aircraft including a recently inducted Boeing 767-300ER, is looking at fleet replacement and enhancement. The carrier also has three Bombardier Dash 8s and three MD-80s (two MD-82s and one-83), and is planning to add a second 767 in four months. “We are looking at around 30 aircraft in the next five years,” says Jack Ekyl, director of flight operations. “We want planes that are identical. Our options are to go with Boeing NGs as they have a commonality with the 767s and MDs. We could consider the new Embraer 190 and should Airbus come here, we could look at the A319 and even the A330s. “We find that brand loyalty is strong in Bangladesh. We will upgrade our service on the 767 to come close to matching that of Emirates, which has three daily flights from Dhaka to Dubai,” says Ekyl. Other airlines operating at Dhaka’s Shahjalal...

Aerospace Daily June 16, 2010 OPERATIONS NEW DELHI — The Indian air force’s safety woes continued June 15 with the crash of a MiG-21, marking the third loss of a combat fighter this year. The MiG-21 (Type 96) was flying near Pathankot when it crashed at around 11.25 a.m. Indian Standard Time due to what air force officials believe was a hydraulic failure. The IAF also lost a MiG-27 and MiG-21 in February. The MiG-27 crash briefly led to the grounding of that fleet. The IAF says the pilot ejected safely and no ground property was damaged. Last year, the IAF suffered 11 crashes, including five MiG-21s. More broadly, the IAF has suffered a wave of MiG-21 crashes and other losses. During the past three years, 21 Mikoyan-built fighters have been lost by the service, killing four personnel. Sixty-one aircraft and helicopters of various types have crashed in the last four years, and 28 pilots have died. Of these, 48.3% of the IAF accidents were blamed on technical defects, 37.9%...

News AWIN First Jun 14 , 2010 Neelam Mathews mathews.neelam@gmail.com NEW DELHI Indian media baron Kalanithi Maran is acquiring 37.73% of budget carrier Spicejet, with an open offer for another 20%, which is expected to breath new life into the company. One of Maran’s companies, Kal Airways, will acquire the shares held by Royal Holdings Services Ltd. and Wilbur Ross in the airline. “We simply feel that the management we installed has turned the company around and therefore it is ready for the next phase of ownership and expansion,” Ross said to the Financial Times. SpiceJet has 20 Boeing 737s with one more delivery expected this year and three next year. It recently got the rights to fly to neighboring international destinations. “A robust expansion of the carrier is expected with a request for information for around 40 aircraft in the offing for its 10- to 15-year plan,” says Kapil Kaul, Indian subcontinent head of think tank Center for Asia Pacific Aviation. A stable f...

June 15, 2010 NEW DELHI — India will start field development trials with Boeing’s C -17 heavy-lift transport in two weeks, according to Tommy Dunehew, vice president for global mobility systems at Boeing Defense, Space & Security (DSS). “We have submitted the offset proposal and the draft letter of acceptance from the U.S. is expected to come this summer,” an official said. India’s ministry of defense had sent a letter to the U.S. government requesting a Foreign Military Sales purchase of 10 C -17s. Boeing also has completed a series of C -17 demonstration flights in India. Delivery will start two years after the letter of agreement is signed. Boeing also is in discussions with Indian paramilitary forces looking at purchasing C-17s. Boeing is looking at fulfilling the 30% in offsets that would be required for the deal through joint ventures in training and support, manufacturing, IT, support equipment and services. India’s current transport fleet has 40 Russian-made IL-7...

June 15, 2010 NEW DELHI — The jointly developed Indian/Israeli Long-Range Surface-to-Air Missile (LR-SAM) was test fired in Israel within the last two weeks, according to local news reports. Known as Barak-2, the system is due for a second test later this year. “[The] Defense Research Development Organization is jointly developing the next generation surface-to-air missile system and the MFSTAR multi-function radar under a contract with a collaborator [Israel Aerospace Industries],” Indian chief of the naval staff Adm. Nirmal Kumar Verma told AVIATION WEEK recently. “The contract also provides for adaptation, installation, trials and product support. The first of the systems will be operationalized with the commissioning of the first of the P15A destroyers. We are hoping it will get commissioned in 2012.” The missile will be installed on the three Project 15A-class guided missile destroyers being built in Russia, which are due to join the Indian navy at one-year intervals be...

Emerging Markets India Aviation Week & Space Technology Jun 14 , 2010 , p. 70 Neelam Mathews Hyderabad, India Frank Morring, Jr. Hyderabad, India Cooperation in space is commercial as well as international for India Printed headline: Open For Business In India, the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) can be a lucrative associate for large, medium and small enterprises, as more than 500 companies now contribute to the Indian civil space program. As India’s space program grows, more business—currently not in high volumes—is expected as exports rise. ISRO’s budget for outsourcing work to industry exceeds $1 billion this year. As it creates an Indian supply chain using public-private partnerships, opportunity grows with the rise in international space cooperation, as with its Chandrayaan series of lunar probes. U.S. scientists join Indian colleagues in preparing the M3 (Moon Mineralogy Mapper) instrument for Chandrayaan-1. It later found evidence for lunar water....

Emerging Markets India Back To Business Aviation Week & Space Technology Jun 14 , 2010 , p. 56 Neelam Mathews New Delhi Slowdown changes the shape of Indian commercial aviation, favoring growth of budget carriers Indian airlines are cautiously looking at growth plans again as they recover from a recession that produced combined losses of $2 billion in the last financial year. The downturn has strengthened the low-cost model, with one of the three largest carriers moving more capacity into a new no-frills division. Budget airlines have emerged from the recession with a bigger share of traffic. The biggest of them, IndiGo, says it wants to buy 150 aircraft. Although other Indian airlines are still holding back before placing further orders, sooner or later they will have to go back to the manufacturers to accommodate growth. The Ministry of Civil Aviation forecasts that Indian airports will handle 160 million domestic passengers in 2020, compared with 44 million in 2009....

June 11, 2010 Aerospace Daily & Defense Report NEW DELHI - With financial resources scarce, many Asian countries have been receptive to Boeing’s idea of forming a consortium for its C-17 heavy-lift transport aircraft similar to the one implemented by NATO, although it is likely to take a couple of years to work out the details, according to the company. Within NATO, 12 nations share three C-17s based in Hungary. “It is somewhat like a timeshare,” says Tommy Dunehew, vice president of global mobility systems for Boeing. Participating countries are allocated flight hours according to their participation. The 12 nations are Bulgaria, Estonia, Finland, Hungary, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Romania, Slovenia, Sweden,and the U.S. However, selling the idea to Asian countries is a bit more complicated than for Europe. While bilateral agreements exist among nations, there are no multilateral agreements. “We are talking to major players,” Dunehew says. “Many Asian c...

Airframers/Suppliers Aviation Daily Jun 11 , 2010 , p. 16 Neelam Mathews Even as the EADS group said at the ILA Berlin Air Show that it is considering establishing a partnership with Embraer, the Brazilian airframer says it has no plans to reciprocate. “We did some studies for the turboprop market, spoke with some companies, including ATR," spokesman Carlos Eduardo Camargo tells The DAILY, "and currently we have decided not to move on with it.” Embraer has not signed any agreement with EADS for the development of the new Airbus A320 and does not plan to do so, Camargo says. "We are really focused on the future of our airline market segment." “We have big respect for Embraer,” Louis Gallois, CEO of EADS, said, adding, “We are eager to find ways of partnering” (DAILY, June 10). “We are very flattered with those comments. Embraer and EADS have a long-term relationship, as they were our shareholders until 2007, they had a seat on our board of directors, and...

News AWIN First Jun 10 , 2010 Neelam Mathews mathews.neelam@gmail.com New Delhi The Indian state of Goa plans to build a new international greenfield airport at Mopa. The airport will be on a build-own-operate-transfer basis. A request for proposal will soon be released to international players. A study conducted by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) says it is possible to operate both the present Dabolim Airport at Goa and the new one with equitable distribution of traffic between them. The ICAO study concluded that even after the expansion, the Dabolim Airport will be saturated by 2013. It has therefore been decided that the present Dabolim Airport will not be closed to meet the requirement of increased inflow of air traffic more efficiently and result in balanced development of the entire state, says the government.

News AWIN First Jun 10 , 2010 Neelam Mathews mathews.neelam@gmail.com NEW DELHI Air Asia Group says it will not merge all of its entities, putting speculation to rest after it announced a restructuring earlier this week. There is, instead, a move away from consolidating all businesses into a single investment entity toward having separate publicly listed entities that give investors clear choices to invest based on geographic zones, says Air Asia. The group is looking at a more focused business model even as its long-haul arm AirAsiaX launched in November 2007, reaches sufficient economies of scale to stand on its own. AirAsiaX will now take over employment of its own widebody pilots, cabin crew and ground staff, as well as its commercial and marketing team. It says this will enable it to aggressively pursue its own commercial strategy and better develop capabilities in long-haul services. AirAsia X CEO Azran Osman-Rani, on a recent visit to New Delhi, had told AviationWe...

News AWIN First Jun 09 , 2010 Neelam Mathews mathews.neelam@gmail.com NEW DELHI IT provider SITA is on track to complete the IT integration of merged carriers Air India and Indian Airlines in time for Air India to meet its stated March 2011 deadline to join the Star Alliance. Arvind Jadhav, Air India chairman and managing director, told AviationWeek in May that there would be no more delays. “Information technology integration has been a major challenge. Star has over 80 requirements, most of which have been fulfilled,” said Jadhav. The first deadline to join the alliance was March 2009. The National Aviation Company of India (NACIL), parent company of Air India, awarded a $190 million contract over 10 years to SITA to provide its hosted Horizon Passenger Services System (PSS) on a turnkey basis. “A project like this depends on deliverables and getting information requested to support timelines and effort. The main challenge expected was keeping all people on board at the ...

Global Dispatches Jun 01 , 2010 , Neelam Mathews New Delhi Indian army pursues capabilities despite program delays Printed headline: Slow Motion Program delays and an urgent need for upgrades and new equipment are among the challenges confronting Lt. Gen. V.K. Singh, India’s new army chief of staff, as he begins wrestling with modernization of the 1.1-million-strong force. The service has issued numerous requests for information (RFI) and proposals as it moves to increase its operational capabilities. The list of needs is long. Key items include: artillery, missiles, rocket launchers, helicopters and ground strike aircraft, radar, night-vision equipment, future force gear and apparel, and network-centric and battle-management systems. Among the equipment on the Indian army’s needs list are night-vision goggles for helicopter pilots.Credit: ITT Progress is being made, however slowly. The first step toward waging network-centric warfare at the tactical level will be through...

News AWIN First Jun 08 , 2010 Neelam Mathews mathews.neelam@gmail.com Regional-jet maker Embraer thinks Indian commercial aviation needs more regional and short-haul links and is aggressively targeting airlines in India, Aviation DAILY has learned. The Brazilian airframer is in talks with all the budget- and full-service carriers in India to replace and/or add a regional-jet element to their fleet, eyeing 383 low- and medium-density routes across the country. Embraer says India will need 200-250 regional jets (RJs) and turboprops by 2020, a radically different view than Boeing, whose recent market outlook saw a requirement for only 60 regional jets in India through 2028. Indian domestic carriers flew 44 million Indian passengers last year. Of this, 17 million were concentrated in 24 city pairs across major metro cities, known as category 1. The balance, 27 million passengers, flew in low- and medium-density markets (category 2 and 3), says Embraer in a report soon to be made ...

PROGRAMS NEW DELHI — European missile manufacturer MBDA says it will transfer all the “sensitive” technology India requires to produce the Maitri short-range, surface-to-air-missile, such as the seeker and thrust vector control system. India’s Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO) will be prime on the project, with Bharat Dynamics Ltd. as the production partner. The choice of radar will be an Indian one. This is the first co-development by MBDA outside of its core partner countries. “Ours is an open strategic partnership, which is not the case [with] others,” says Loic Piedevache, head of MBDA in India, perhaps referring to the agreement by India and Israel for a longer-range version of the extended-range Barak ship defense system for the Indian Air Force. MBDA is looking at 30 projects in India, ranging from the request for information (RFI) stage to active trials. They include M-2000, SM-39 Exocets (36 Nos) for Scorpene submarines, and the ATAM (Air-To-Air Missil...

Programs Aerospace Daily & Defense Report Jun 08 , 2010 , p. 10 Neelam Mathews NEW DELHI — Following two years of joint development, Indian defense manufacturer Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. (HAL), Lockheed Martin and Cobham have developed an F-16 refueling probe. The probe’s prototype will be demonstrated and showcased at the Farnborough Air Show. “We will market [it] and HAL will [produce and] sell to customers,” Lockheed Martin India chief Roger Rose told Aerospace DAILY. HAL had requested the refueling probe be developed for the Indian air force’s Medium Multi Range Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) program, to fulfill India’s requirement that the MMRCA be able to use drogue-equipped aerial tankers. Many global customers need a similar capability, Rose says. The F-16 does not have a probe since it has a boom refueling system, except for the United Arab Emirates’ version. HAL is expected to sell the product to other vendors even if the F-16 is not chosen for the MMRCA. Lockheed...

India Aviation Week & Space Technology Jun 07 , 2010 , p. 38 Neelam Mathews Sao Jose dos Campos, Brazil EMB-145 airborne early warning aircraft with Indian radars set for first flight this year Printed headline: Readiness Is All Embraer expects a first flight as early as December of the EMB‑145 airborne early warning system aircraft it is building for the Indian air force, utilizing an active array antenna from India’s Defense Research and Development Organization that mimics the Saab-2000 Erieye. The DRDO’s contribution comes from the Active Array Antenna Unit of its Center for Airborne Systems and is to be integrated into the aircraft after certification. Deliveries are expected in 2011, says Embraer’s executive vice president for defense systems, Orlando Jose Ferreira Neto. Work began on the three EMB-145s in March for an initial surveillance program. The three are expected to be sufficient to support two continuous day/night patrols, but only for a limited time. Th...