Aerospace Diary

Dec 30, 2011 There’s news coming in that Russia has handed over the nuclear-powered attack submarine Nerpa to India following two years of delay. The signing ceremony is believed to have happened yesterday at the Bolshoi Kamen ship building facility in the (Far East) Primorye region. The report says an Indian crew would sail the Akula II class craft to its home base at the end of January. The 8,140-ton sub can fire Granat cruise missiles that can be nuclear-tipped.

BMI notification BD991 Thursday 29th December from Almaty (originating from London Heathrow) diverted to Delhi due to fog at Amritsar. Customers have continued their journey on Air India flights from Delhi to Amritsar on Friday 30th December. BD992 Friday 30th December will now operate late as a result of the diversion to Delhi on Thursday. Timings in local times are as follows: BD992 Amritsar departure 2130 Friday 30th December (local time Amritsar) BD992 Almaty departure 0300 Saturday 31st December (local time Almaty) BD992 Estimated arrival time at London Heathrow on Saturday 31st December at 0445 UK time.

Neelam Mathews Dec 30, 2011 Bandhu Ibrahim Saleem has been dismissed as Member of Board of Directors and as Managing Director of Island Aviation Services Limited Board of Directors by President Mohamed Nasheed.   AerospaceDiary learns Saleem was opposed to the government’s bid for privatization. In a letter sent to Bandhu Ibrahim Saleem, President Mohamed Nasheed conveyed his gratitude for services rendered as Member of Board of Directors and as Managing Director of Island Aviation Services Limited Board of Directors. Following his dismissal, Addu Atoll Hithadhoo, Reyalivaage Ahmed Zuhair has been  assigned as Member of the Board of Directors and as Managing Director of Island Aviation Services Limited Board of Directors.

Neelam Mathews Dec 30, 2011 Sri Lanka 's state-run Ceylon Petroleum Corporation has invited bids to build an aviation fuel terminal being built with Chinese finance for an international airport being constructed at Hambantota International Airport at Mattala in the South of the island.   A CPC tender notice said the petroleum firm was looking for a turnkey contractor for the "design, procurement, construction, testing and commissioning works" for the aviation fuel terminal. The terminal has to be built in 12 months. The bids close on February 2.  The estimated cost of the terminal, which includes storage facilities and a hydrant system $31 million.

Posted by- Neelam Mathews Dec 30, 2011 Dragonair says it welcomes the Air Services Arrangement (ASA) signed today between Hong Kong and Taiwan . The ASA signifies a new milestone for the development of air services between Hong Kong and Taiwan. Dragonair believes the A SA will not only allow room to increase flights, capacity and destinations, but also encourage and stimulate traffic between the two places which will bring additional benefits and advantages for both.      Dragonair operates a total of nine daily flights to Taiwan - three to Taipei and six to Kaohsiung. With the airline’s current network which covers key Asian destinations combined with the international network of sister airline Cathay Pacific , Dragonair believes the ASA will offer greater opportunities in strengthening the Cathay Pacific Group’s connectivity worldwide as well as Hong Kong’s position as an aviation hub. Dragonair, an affiliate member of one world, is a Hong Kong-based airline ...

MOCA Press Release- Bilateral Aviation Safety Agreement (BASA) India signed Bilateral Aviation Safety Agreement (BASA) with U.S on July 18. This agreement provides for mutual certification of aeronautical products. It recognizes the mutual benefit of improved procedures for the reciprocal acceptance of airworthiness approvals and environmental testing, and the development of reciprocal recognition procedures for approval and monitoring of flight simulation training devices, aircraft maintenance facilities, maintenance personnel, flight crew members and flight operations. An Implementation Procedure for Airworthiness (IPA) was also signed in November, 2011. Amendments of Air Services Agreements (ASAs) with foreign countries With a view to modernize and update the existing Air Services Agreements (ASAs) with foreign countries as per the ICAO templates, the Ministry of Civil Aviation has signed ASAs with Indonesia and Brazil and ASAs initialed with Jamaica, Dominican Republic, Moza...

Posted by- Neelam Mathews Dec 30, 2011 Emirates starts flights to Dublin Airport in January 2012.  The new route will expand direct links in the region and its onward connections into India, Africa, South East Asia, Australasia and China. It was the additional long-haul capacity provided by new boarding gates at Terminal 2 which clinched the deal, according to the Dublin Airport Authority (DAA).  Starting January 9, 2012, Air Seychelles will suspend its routes to London, Milan, Rome and although it had initially planned to continue some flights to Paris, these have also now been cancelled.  The carrier is looking at narrowbodies for its revised network strategy. The short-haul model will then form the backbone of an expansion in India, East Africa and the Indian Ocean. As it builds its presence in the Middle East market, Ethiopian Airlines inaugurated a three times weekly new route between its Addis Ababa base and Muscat   using a B737-700 on December 27....

Posted by-Neelam Mathews Dec 30, 2011 This might prove useful for planners! Credit- Routes AIRLINES INDIAN DOMESTIC MARKET INDIAN DOMESTIC MARKET ( non-stop weekly flights) Rank Airline Weekly Flights Weekly Seats % Capacity 1 Jet Airways 2,863 336,832 20.3 % 2 Air India 2,403 327,848 19.8 % 3 IndiGo Airlines 1,803 281,268 17.0 % 4 Kingfisher Airlines 2,687 277,656 16.8 % 5 SpiceJet 1,759 184,871 11.1 % (Others) 1,629 248,923 15.0 % TOTAL 13,144 1,657,298   TRANSATLANTIC AIR CAPACITY BETWEEN EUROPE AND NORTH AMERICA (non-stop weekly departures) Rank Airline Weekly Flights Weekly Seats % Capacity 1 British Airways 335 107,226 14.6 % 2 Delta Air Lines 307 73,668 10.0 % 3 Lufthansa 201 59,741 8.1 % 4 Air France 185 50...

Jan 01 , 2012 , Neelam Mathews New Delhi As two Asian giants jostle for regional power and influence, India, traditionally the silent one, is now working to diffuse tensions with its largest trading partner, China. The two locked horns over numerous issues in 2011, including an alleged confrontation between an Indian navy ship—INS Airawat—and a Chinese vessel in the South China Sea near Vietnam in July. Tensions rose further in November following a row over a speech in New Delhi by the Dalai Lama, Tibet’s exiled spiritual leader, causing talks on border management to be postponed. They were subsequently scheduled for a later date. “India’s position on Tibet is clear,” says R.N. Das, senior fellow at the Institute for Defense Studies and Analyses in New Delhi. “It follows the one-China policy and recognizes the Dalai Lama as a spiritual leader only. India did not buckle under pressure from China to cancel the event. Instead it ensured that neither the pr...

Posted by- Neelam Mathews Dec 29, 2011 The Air India Board met today in New Delhi and was was briefed on the progress made on the Financial Restructuring Plan of Air India. Following the meeting with the lenders on November 28, 2011, State Bank of India (SBI), as leader of the consortium has approached Reserve Bank of India for certain additional dispensations in the provisioning norms. A cabinet note is being moved by the Ministry of Civil Aviations for the purpose of equity infusion in Air India and for approving the Financial Restructuring Plan, says Air India. The Board approved the rearrangement of authorized share capital by issue of preference shares worth Rs 7500 cr which are proposed to be allotted to the lenders of the working capital as part of the Financial Restructuring Plan. The improvement in the key performance indicators for November 2011 included-  Passenger revenue went up by 12.3% Capacity in ASKM increased by 1.9% Number of passengers carried increase...

Posted by- Neelam Mathews Dec 29, 2011 Sikorsky Aircraft has announced the delivery of an S-76C helicopter to the Government of Maharashtra for air transportation of senior leaders of the state and other government officials. The aircraft joins a growing fleet of Sikorsky helicopters operating in India including other S-76 family of aircraft.  Air Vice-Marshall (Retd) AJS Walia, Sikorsky Executive Vice President and Regional Head – India & South Asia, said: “This aircraft is recognized the world over for safety, operational performance, and comfort. The State Government has chosen the S-76C++ after an intense and transparent technical evaluation, and it has been customized to meet their requirements of safe and efficient transportation.” Earlier this year, the Maharashtra Government had shortlisted Sikorsky’s S-76C++ helicopter after a technical evaluation process and signed a contract for delivery. The helicopter's versatility, reliability, safety and o...

Neelam Mathews   Dec 28, 2011 Sri Lankan Airlines has added more capacity in India from 64 to 77 flights after 23 December. The carrier added two additional flights to Muscat from December 23. Flights to Chennai increased to four frequencies a day from December 23 bringing the city’s total frequencies to 28 a week. The four daily frequencies to Chennai is the airline’s highest frequency to any destination, except Male, to which the airline operates an average of six frequencies a day. Some of these flights are direct operations from Europe and Tokyo and connect to Colombo via Male. The airline operates it’s A320 and A330 fleet on this sector and caters to a mix of passengers from leisure travelers to business travellers and students from Colombo to through traffic (connecting passengers) from the Far East and Europe . “We are developing Colombo into a hub for the South Asian Region and it is vitally important that we provide the best service for our connecting passengers ...

Neelam Mathews Dec 28, 2011    Oman , aggressively looking to build up its infrastructure and its strategic position in the United Arab Emirates, signed nine agreements worth a total of 2.16 billion in 2011 for new airports and roads. Firms from around the world have snapped up the work. The largest share ($1.7 billion) allotted to the construction of a 334,995-sq-m new terminal at the Muscat International Airport was awarded to a consortium of U.S-based Bechtel, Bahwan Engineering Co., and Turkey’s Enka. The airport terminal, scheduled for completion in 2014, will handle 12 million passengers annually. Piling and earthworks for the project has started. “It took us a while to prepare the soil by removing part of the soil and replacing it with external soil…The entire airport is being built in such a way that it can resist any flooding,” Ahmed bin Mohammed Al Futaisi, minister of transport and communications, said during a site visit last fall. Denmark-based Cowi,...