http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/181_1755491,00020016.htm
Socialite evening at sarkari airline

Nandini R Iyer

Mumbai, July 28, 2006
 
On Thursday, India's A-list socialites descended on the landmark Air India building at Nariman Point. Their mission? To rummage through Hermes and Rochas products and point out the differences between them.

Parmeshwar Godrej, Maureen Wadia, Avantika Birla, Marshneil and Sunil Gavaskar, among others, were the guests of Air India Chairman V Thulasidas to help the carrier choose luxury products for its giveaway toilet bag to first and business class travellers.

The goodie bag comes with such  handy basics as mouthwash, moisturiser and perfume to keep passengers bright and perky on long-haul flights. "If passengers retain the  A-I kit, it's unspoken publicity for us," a senior official commented.

And who better than front-end passengers themselves to decide what makes the grade?

Thulasidas came up with the idea of roping in the celebrities to rummage through 116 amenity kits after he requested India Inc's top names like Ratan Tata and Deepak Parekh to test various passenger seat options.

"It is good to see that a revamp is underway," said Maureen Wadia who, incidentally, was an airhostess with A-I before marriage.

However, she felt, "Why use foreign products when Indian products, particularly herbal cosmetics, are such a rage abroad?"

But A-I wants kits that can match up with the best internationally. Bidders have included such brands as Hermes, Rochas, Lancome, Ferre, Aigner and Delsey.

Air India is clear that, unlike some competitors, it does not subscribe to a minimalistic kits. “Our passengers will not need to ask for extras," says Thulasidas.

Two ex-AI airhostesses!! Parameshwar Godrej and Maureen Wadia (now in charge of GoAir!!)

www.uninews.com

HKIA, Heathrow join in passenger-flow trial

HONG KONG, July 31 (UNI) -- Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA) and London’s Heathrow Airport will launch a trial project using biometrics technology to evaluate a simplified and secure process flow for international travelers. The use of biometrics technology, including fingerprint, is expected to simplify existing procedures and enhance airport security and border-control efficiency, according to a letter of intent signed by Director of Immigration Lai Tung-kwok and the United Kingdom Immigration Service’s Director of Border Control Tony Smith here on Monday.

 The trial is a project under the Ideal Process Flow concept developed by the Simplifying Passenger Travel Interest Group led by the International Air Transport Association. It will be conducted at London’s Heathrow Airport, the Hong Kong International Airport and the Dubai International Airport andwill, however, initially involve volunteers.

 The trial project will involve border-control authorities, airlines, airport authorities and technology providers, according to the letter of intent.

 A spokesman for the Immigration Department said the introduction of the e-passport has provided a new common platform for border control authorities throughout the world to develop a more simplified and yet more secure ways to process the increasingnumber of people traveling. Based on the capabilities provided by the e-passport, the trialwill look into the possibilities of facilitating the travel of e-passport holders through automated facilities such as e-channel.

http://www.financialexpress.com/fe_full_story.php?content_id=136191

Carriers shop big-time for aircraft 
 
CORPORATE BUREAU 
Posted online: Friday, August 04, 2006 at 0000 hours IST 
  
 
NEW DELHI, AUG 3:  To supplement the huge increase in passenger traffic, airlines in India are chalking out major expansion plans. Each, on an average, is planning to acquire 50 planes in the next six to seven years.
After almost a decade of waiting, national carriers Air-India and Indian Airlines are set to bag 68 and 43 planes valued at Rs 35,000 crore and Rs 10,000 crore, respectively. While Air-India has placed orders with Boeing, Indian Airlines has opted for Boeing’s European rival Airbus.

Surprisingly, the largest order has been placed by new entrant, Gurgaon-based Indigo Airlines. The company is acquiring 100 planes of single configuration from Airbus worth $6 billion. The next big order comes from the first low-cost airline in India, Air Deccan, worth Rs 16,000 crore, for 96 planes. Of the 96 aircraft, 67 will be A-320s and 29 will be ATRs.

Jet Airways, the airline with the highest market share, has ordered 30 planes valued at Rs 12,000 crore. Another premium carrier, Kingfisher Airlines, will add 30 more aircraft to its fleet by 2010, costing around Rs 10,000 crore.

The company is also the first in India to place orders for five Airbus superjumbo A-380s.

The other low-cost airlines, Spice, Jet and GoAir, have together placed orders for 43 aircraft worth Rs 11,300 crore.

With new airlines like Jagson, East-West and Magic Air expected to commence operations before the end of this financial year, more than 450 aircraft will be set to take off for Indian skies before the end of 2010.
 

www.uninews.com

Canada’s Manitoba flying school trains pilots from India

Toronto, Aug 4 (UNI)

Canada’s Manitoba province is emerging as a centre for training students from India to become pilots. Winnipeg Aviation, a joint venture between India and Canada in the private sector, here is training ten Indian students who will become pilots within 12 months, compared to two to three years in India, Hemant Shah, spokesperson of the company said. ‘‘It is a designated school for Indian students who are being trained to fly the single-engine Cesna aircraft, and the training will be certified by appropriate Canadian authority that will have international recognition,’’ he said. He said it is estimated that India would need between 2,500 and 4,000 pilots to fill cockpits over the next six years. Rapid economic growth and a growing middle class in India have resulted in 50 new airlines starting up in the last five years, Shah said. ‘‘So this has resulted in a shortage of pilots, and quite frankly they just can’t train enough fast enough,’’ said Shah. Devarsh Patel, one of the students from India, in Winnipeg Aviation for pilot training, said that it was the only way he could fulfill his dream of becoming a pilot. ‘‘Actually, it was my childhood dream to become a pilot, and so after I completed my high school I was already enrolled with one of the flying clubs in India,’’ said Patel, 18. Patel claimed it would have cost about the same for flight training in Manitoba as it does in India, with the only cost difference here being the price of accommodation.

http://www.strategiy.com/retailnew.asp?id=20060803114939
Damas ‘Back to Home’ competition winners announced
[Thursday, August 3, 2006 3:50:00 pm] 

Damas has announced winners of its ‘Back to Home’ contest which saw 100 couples win free flight tickets to their home country.

The contest was open to all customers who made jewellery purchases worth AED 1000 and above at any of the Damas outlets. To enter the contest, eligible customers had to do pen their most cherished childhood memories and writers of the best 100 messages would receive 2 return tickets to their home country on Etihad Airways or Indian Airlines, depending on their destination.

“We got over 12,000 entries and it was a difficult task to choose the winners as all the messages were pretty impressive, “said Tawhid Abdullah, Managing Director, Damas.

“We are happy to give away the tickets to the 100 lucky couples, all of who are now looking forward to their trip. Contests like this help us to show our appreciation to our customers for their loyalty and support.” 52 of the winning couples will fly Etihad Airways to various Arab countries including Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt and Syria.

One of the winners, Fatima Ahmed Wedad Deeb, a Syrian national said, “I was planning to visit my family and now I can make my trip without worrying about the travel cost. Damas has made my wish come true.”

43 other winning couples will travel to 15 different destinations in India by Indian Airlines and 5 Pakistani couples will fly home by Etihad Airways.

A huge boost for IA which is going to town with this in the Gulf. 

380

Its called TRIVIA!!!

So anything goes here if it doesn;t fit in elsewhere and related to aviation.

http://www.hindu.com/2006/08/08/stories/2006080818140300.htm
MNC engineer uses fake e-ticket to enter airport

T. S. Shankar

Aug. 8, 2006

Alert CISF Sub-Inspector of Police latches on to the accused He was able to dupe security personnel by displaying the company identity card, which matched the name mentioned in the e-ticket. 

CHENNAI : E-ticketing may be fast catching up among the air travelling public. But, on Sunday evening, an airline e-ticket was "artificially created" by a senior executive engineer working for a South Korean automobile giant to gain entry to the Kamaraj Domestic Terminal (KDT) since the Airports Authority of India had banned entry of visitors for "security reasons".

Giving details of the misuse of modern tools of Information Technology, airport sources told The Hindu here on Monday that Soma Raju, a resident of Anna Nagar West, gained entry through the main entrance of the KDT by flaunting a faked Indian (formerly Indian Airlines) e-mail ticket to see off his parents who were bound for Hyderabad.

At the first entry point, Raju was allowed to enter, on showing the paper e-ticket.

He was stopped at the second checkpoint before the departure check-in area, where he was able to dupe security personnel by displaying the company identity card, which matched the name mentioned in the e-ticket.

However, Raju finished all the pre-departure formalities for his parents and saw them off before the security hold area.

At this juncture, a vigilant Sub-Inspector of Police of the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), Kesavan, saw this person and wondered how he gained entry into the terminal building.

As suspicion arose, the CISF Sub-Inspector intercepted and questioned Raju about where he was going.

Raju started fumbling and said he was going to Bangalore and started running towards the newly created Departure-II module.

Hot chase

After a hot chase by the CISF personnel, Raju was caught. On perusal of the "e-ticket", the CISF authorities found that it was "faked" and did not have the Passenger Reference Number.

The CISF then handed over Raju to Meenambakkam airport police, who registered cases under IPC sections of 448 (punishment of house trespass), 420 (cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property), 421(dishonest or fraudulent removal or concealment of property to prevent distribution among creditors) and 468 (forgery for the purpose of cheating).

Raju has been remanded to custody.

http://www.cnn.com/2006/TRAVEL/07/31/smokers.airline/
 
'Smoking airline' plan, as hotels stub out
By Julie Clothier for CNN

Tuesday, August 1, 2006; Posted: 9:26 p.m. EDT (01:26 GMT)

From September, smoking will be banned from Marriott hotels in North America. 
(CNN) -- As more and more hotels go completely smoke-free, a German entrepreneur is bucking the trend by launching an airline for those determined not to kick the habit.

From September, smoking will not be allowed in all 400,000 Marriott hotel and corporate apartment rooms in the U.S. and Canada.

Marriott says the ban has been spurred by public demand and will cover all guest rooms, restaurants, lounges, meeting rooms, public space and employee work areas.

Westin hotels in Australia and the Pacific region are also 100 percent smoke free from July 31 after the company's 77 North American hotels became smoke free in January this year.

But it is not all bad news for those determined to keep smoking.

Former German investment banker Alexander W. Schoppmann hopes his new airline, Smokers' International Airline (Smintair), will begin daily services on March 26 between Dusseldorf in Germany and Tokyo's Narita airport.

He says smoking will be permitted in all 138 seats -- 100 in business-class and 30 in first-class -- onboard the airline's two leased Boeing 747 aircraft.

Most airlines have at least 400 seats in a 747 and some have up to 500 seats. Schoppmann said Smintair business-class seats would have 70 inches (1.77 meters) of legroom, while first-class seats would have 80 inches (2.03 meters.)

There will be no seats in the plane's upper deck, which will be used as a lounge.

Flights will cost 6,500 euros ($8,300) return for business-class seats and 10,000 euros ($12,800) return for first-class seats.

Schoppmann said he has had the idea for a luxury airline with all the services airlines offered in the 1960s for about 25 years. He has been actively working to make it happen for nearly a year and a half.

"I have been a traveler for the best part of 50 years. I have seen the level of service go down and the price go up," he told CNN.

He believes the route between Germany and Japan will offer a service to bridge Europe and Asia, and hopes to eventually extend the Dusseldorf to Tokyo route to Shanghai in China.

"It's not so much the idea of letting someone smoke, it's more the idea of letting people who are coming on board, who are making decisions every day, they don't want to be told off and we are giving them a feeling of being on a luxury airline."

Schoppmann, who has smoked for 40 years, said each passenger would be able to use onboard Internet and would have their own 15-inch (38-centimeter) television screen.

Smintair plans to start flying in March next year.Non-smokers will also be encouraged to fly with Smintair.

"Allowing our guests to smoke is one of the freedoms we are happily prepared to grant," says the company's Web site.

"Non-smokers will find the cabin air more refreshing than on any other flight with any other airline, as Smintair adds fresh outside air to the conditioning system."

Anthony Concil, spokesman for the International Air Transport Association (IATA), told CNN it was up to individual airlines to determine what their smoking onboard policy was and the association did not have a stance either way.

IATA represents 265 airlines accounting for 94 percent of international air traffic.

He could not confirm whether Smintair had applied for IATA membership, but could see no reason for refusing the airline membership if it met safety and financial criteria.

In order to begin flying, airlines need an operations certificate issued by the government of the country in which they are based to show they meet safety and financial criteria, Concil said.

Ian Willmore, spokesman for UK-based anti-smoking lobby group Action on Smoking and Health (ASH), said he hoped Smintair would not go ahead.

"Hopefully it will hit the ground faster than a flightless turkey," he told CNN. "I hope that it will be stopped by the German government as they move towards a smoking ban in public places. I hope that onboard a plane is considered a public place," he said.

He welcomed the move by hotel chains to ban smoking and said an increasing number of countries were banning smoking in public places.

"All evidence clearly shows that the times has come that smoke-free public places are here to stay. They are obviously the way of the future," Willmore told CNN.

"More and more people don't want a hotel room smelling of smoke. It takes a long time for the smell to go away."