By Deepak Arora

NEW DELHI, June 13: The growing prowess of the Indian economy can be gauged from the fact that some of the leading countries of the world have been seeking more air traffic rights with India. Recently, New Delhi has signed such agreements with the US, the UK, Germany, France and Qatar. And now, India and Canada agreed to liberalise the existing bilateral air transport agreement to 35 round trip flights per week for each country. This translates into a five-fold increase in passenger flights between the two nations.

While the new agreement allows Canadian carriers to access Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Kolkata, Chennai and Hyderabad, the Indian carriers can access Edmonton, Vancouver and two other cities in Canada, in addition to Montreal and Toronto. The choice of the two cities has been left to India.

At present, Air India operates three flights a week between Delhi, Amritsar and Toronto via Birmingham, while Air Canada flies a daily service between Delhi and Toronto. Each country can designate as many air carriers it wishes for flights between Canada and India.

The Civil Aviation Secretary, Mr Ajay Prasad, and the Chief of Air Negotiator for Canada, Mr John Mcnab, signed the agreement earlier this month in Ottawa. The agreement also grants 'Fifth Freedom' rights to airlines from India between points in Canada and one intermediate point in Asia and three in Europe including UK. The right allows an airline to either pick up passengers en route or fly beyond the port of call in the second country.

Another highlight of the agreement is the unlimited capacity for all-cargo services.

On the new agreement, the Canada's International Trade Minister, Mr Jim Peterson, said "this will help facilitate and encourage our rapidly growing commercial and scientific ties with India. The extended air services will also spur tourism and cultural exchanges, which will benefit both countries."

The Canadian Transport Minister, Mr Jean-C. Lapierre said the arrangement would allow the airliners of both countries to better meet the needs of the travelling public, including the business community. It also reflected a shared commitment to improved air services.

Under the agreement, the airlines of both nations would be able to take advantage of the new code-share provisions under which an airline sells seats in its name on the flights of another airline.

As per the previous agreement, the number of air carriers that could serve the market was limited. The total capacity was restricted to approximately seven round trip flights per week for each country and confined Indian carriers' effective access to Montreal and Toronto and Canadian carriers' to Delhi and Mumbai. It also did not provide for the flexible marketing arrangements such as code sharing that have become prevalent in recent years.

The new agreement sets the stage for the growth of Canada-India air services and is consistent with Canada's International Policy Statement objective of creating sustainable long-term relationships with new economic powers. The active promotion of trade and investment by both countries has resulted in a record merchandise bilateral trade valued at about $2.45 billion, reflecting a trade relationship that has grown over 60 percent over the past five years.

In light of the potential for rapid expansion of the Canada-India air transport market, the Canadian and Indian negotiating delegations agreed to meet again in 2007, or sooner if necessary, to ensure that the air services agreement continues to be consistent with Canada's trade objectives and meet the needs of the travelling public.

India national flag carrier, Air India, resumed its service from India to Toronto, the financial capital of Canada, on May 15 last after a gap of eight years, fulfilling a long-standing demand of Indians living in that country. The national flag carrier had received a jolt when its Kanishka aircraft, a Boeing 747 flight from Toronto to Mumbai via London, was blown off the Irish coast in the Atlantic Ocean, killing 329 passengers, in 1985.

On the launch of Delhi-Amritsar-Birmingham-Toronto flight, the Chairman and Managing Director of Air India, Mr V. Thulasidas, said the flight was the second long haul flight being included this year from Delhi indicating the growth plans that Air-India has embarked upon. The Delhi-Frankfurt-Los Angeles flight had been inaugurated in March this year providing direct connectivity to the West coast of USA.

In a move to strengthen trade and economic ties with Canada, the Punjab Chief Minister, Capt Amarinder Singh, along with a seven-member delegation, visited Canada taking advantage of the new Air India flight. During their weeklong stay in Canada, the delegation explored the opportunities and possibilities in the field of small-scale industries and biotechnology through the mode of technology transfer, partnership and marketing network.

Capt. Singh also signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Cooperation in Agricultural Biotechnology between the Province of Saskatchewan, Canada and the State of Punjab. A "Made in Punjab" Trade Show at International Centre, Mississauga, Ontario was also organized. This was the first initiative of Punjab's Industry to organize such a show anywhere outside India, informed Capt. Singh.

Air Deccan offers tickets at Re One

By Deepak Arora

NEW DELHI, June 7: In a revolution that could go unmatched, there is great news for those who dream of air travel and this cannot become better than this. Beginning Tuesday morning, one can travel at Rupee one on Air Deccan, India's first low-cost airline.

Speaking to this correspondent, Managing Director of Air Deccan, Capt G R Gopinath, said "we will be offering three to four seats totally to 1,000 per month on each Airbus flights on metro routes at Re One. The idea is to give the flying experience to each and every Indian -- the common man." The sectors on which the rupee one ticket would be applicable are -- Delhi-Bangalore, Bangalore-Mumbai, Mumbai-Delhi, Delhi-Kolkata, Kolkata-Hyderabad-Kolkata, Kolkata-Chennai, Chennai-Mumbai, Mumbai-Coimbatore-Mumbai, Delhi-Guwahati-Delhi, and Delhi-Bagdogra-Delhi.

Air Deccan is world's fastest growing airline. In the first year, its turnover was Rs 350 crore and it moved over one million passengers. "In the current financial year, our turnover will be Rs 1,000 crore and over 4.4 million passengers will travel by us," said the Managing Director of Air Deccan.

Compare this with other big wigs of the sector: Indian Airlines moved 7.6 million and Jet Airways carried 7.9 million passengers. "It took them decades to reach this figure and we intend to achieve this in our second year of existence," said Capt Gopinath.

Air Deccan's present fleet strength is 18 with 13 ATRs and five Airbus aircraft. "Beginning June 15 we will be adding one brand new aircraft - either ATR or Airbus - every month to our fleet. By end of the current financial year we will have a fleet size of 29 with 18 ATRs and 11 Airbus planes."

He said that he would like every Indian to travel by air at an affordable price. "I am not in competition with any other carrier - be it Kingfisher or SpiceJet. My target is to woo the AC second-class train passengers and empower every Indian to fly."

Giving figures of tremendous growth potential in the country, he said India has only 400 flights per day for one billion population as compared to 45,000 flights a day in the US, which has one fourth of our population.

Continuing with its innovations like being the first company to introduce low-budget carrier, first to introduce 100 per cent seat inventory on Internet, first to introduce e-tickets etc, Air Deccan in a strategic tie up with Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd (HPCL) has launched sale of tickets at HP petrol stations.

Air Deccan's Commercial Chief John Kuruvilla said "this is the first initiative of its kind in the country wherein a passenger will be able to book air tickets at a petrol station. This was first launched in Bangalore in March this year with 10 HPCL stations. It has greatly benefited those who do not have immediate access to the internet, travel agents or the airport."

Announcing the launch, Mr Sudhakar Rao, General Manager, North Zone, HPCL, said "we shall distribute tickets through 30 petrol stations in Delhi. We intend to cover 300 HPCL stations in North zone in the next three months."

Mr Sudhakar Rao said the partnership was a win-win situation for both the companies and was part of the PSU's efforts to provide more value-added services to its customers. Part of the Club HP retail brand, ticketing services are the latest addition to a long list of customer friendly services including bookshops, chocolate shops, eating joints and convenience stores.

The partnership would enable the low-cost carrier to expand its ticketing network to every nook and cranny of the country. Similar practice is in vogue in the US.

Capt Gopinath also announced special reduced fares on the Delhi-Bangalore and Bangalore-Mumbai sectors, to be applicable till the July six. The fares would be Rs 4600 and Rs 2600 respectively for these sectors.

In a world first Eurocopter lands copter on top of Everest

By Deepak Arora

NEW DELHI, May 26: The enigma of Mount Everest continues to allure mountaineers and super-climbers even 50 years after when Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay planted the first flag atop Mount Everest on May 29. The world is celebrating this day by marking the event worldwide. If the man can do it, how can machine be far behind? Keeping this cliché in mind, Eurocopter, the European helicopter maker, has landed its Ecureuil/ Astar AS350B3 helicopter on the top of Mount Everest in a world first. The Ecureuil helicopter landed May 14 at 8,850 meters atop the Himalayan peak, setting a new world record for high-altitude landings and takeoffs, according to Eurocopter.

The aircraft, flown by test pilot Didier Delsalle, took off from a Nepalese base camp of Lukla, and remained atop the peak for more than two minutes, Eurocopter said. A second successful landing and takeoff took place later. Eurocopter said it had submitted the feat to the International Federation of Aviation for approval as a world record. The company is a division of the defence and aviation giant European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company (EADS).

On the India front, New Delhi has liberalised its air services agreement with Germany by increasing the total number of flights to 50 each week in both directions, with a maximum of 20 frequencies to and through Delhi.

At a recent meeting in New Delhi, top aviation officials of the two countries revised the air services agreement granting three additional points of call at Hyderabad, Goa and Kochi to designated German carriers, without the right to travel beyond these designated points (Fifth Freedom Right). On its part, Germany would grant access to three additional points of call to be specified by India without similar intermediate Fifth Freedom Right.

As per the agreement, the number of flights per week could be increased to 42 from October-November this year and further to 50 in March-April next year. The designated carriers of each side would be permitted to operate these flights with an aircraft with capacity not exceeding that of a Boeing-747, official sources said.

Germany would be permitted to operate a maximum of seven frequencies to or through any point of call in India, but for Delhi, their designated German airlines would be permitted mount a maximum of 20 frequencies to or through the national capital in a phased manner.

For Delhi, the number of weekly flights could be raised to 14 each week this winter, 17 from next summer and 20 from winter of 2006-07. The two sides also agreed to meet again in mid-2006 to hold further discussions in mid-2006, including the use of Airbus A380, the world's largest aircraft with 550 plus seats.

With the launch of Air India Express, India's first international budget airline, foreign carriers have begun to eye this sector. The latest one is Oman Air which has announced new flights to India during the peak summer from next month with the launch of two additional routes to Delhi and Hyderabad taking its services from 30 to 40 weekly flights and extending destinations from four to six.

There will be four weekly flights to Delhi from Muscat, an airline official said. It would fly three flights a week to Hyderabad with flights departing Muscat after midnight and arriving at the Andhra capital early morning and then returning from there to Muscat in the morning. He also announced that Oman Air would increase its weekly services to Kochi from five flights to daily flights.

Air-India has also announced its third weekly flight from Bahrain to Mumbai from June 7 with the introduction of services every Tuesday bringing to seven the number of its departures from Bahrain. The high point of the third flight to Mumbai is that it connects within a few hours from Mumbai to several other domestic destinations in India, particularly Hyderabad, Chennai, Ahmedabad and Bangalore, an official said pointing out that it now has two weekly flights to Cochin, two to Calicut, four to Thiruvananthapuram and three to Mumbai.

Meanwhile, Jet Airways has become the first airline in India to induct Airbus A340-300 E into its fleet for servicing its long-haul routes from Mumbai to London. The A340-300E aircraft was selected because of its high degree of operational flexibility and economy combined with optimal passenger comfort.

Says Wolfgang Prock-Schauer, Chief Executive Officer, Jet Airways, "We are delighted to present to our traveling public, this state-of-the-art A340-300E aircraft. This technology-driven enhanced version results in fuel-efficiency and operational flexibility. This aircraft type also offers superior cabin comfort, equipped with the world's best flat beds and an Inflight Entertainment system (IFE) which promises to offer unmatched passenger delight."

Airbus-Vice President Sales, India and South Asia, Nigel Harwood, said: "Jet Airways is renowned throughout the world for its high level of service. Airbus is delighted that it has chosen the A340-300E to commence long-haul operations."

Jet Airways have also strengthened their operations team by appointing Capt Gustav Baldauf as Vice-President, Flight Operations. Before this assignment Capt Baldauf was the Executive Vice President, Flight Operations with Austrian Airlines and brings with him his valuable experience on the A340 aircraft as an Examiner.

A-I Express commences services from Delhi, Mumbai

NEW DELHI, May 23: Air-India Express, the international budget airline set up by Air-India, has commenced its services from the city, with the operation of its first flight on Mumbai-Abu Dhabi-Muscat sector. While the flight on the Mumbai-Abu Dhabi-Muscat sector operated on Sunday night, the services on Delhi-Muscat sector began operation from Monday, according to an Air India spokesman.

Initially, the low-cost carrier would operate three flights per week on the Delhi-Muscat sector and increase the frequency to six per week from the next month, he said. Air-India had launched A-I Express from Thiruvananthapuram on April 29, 2005. In the initial phase, flights would be operated from five points Thiruvananthapuram, Kozikode, Kochi, Mumbai and Delhi, he added.

Safran is born; Posts sale of 3 m Euros

By Deepak Arora

NEW DELHI, May 23: During the Annual General and Extraordinary Meeting of Shareholders, shareholders approved the merger of Sagem and Snecma, as well as the new name, Safran. The Safran Group is organized in four branches: Aerospace Propulsion, Communications, Aerospace Equipment, Defense-Security. The group is headquartered in Paris, France.

Jean-Paul Béchat is Chairman of the Executive Board, which also includes Grégoire Olivier and Yves Imbert. Mario Colaiacovo is Chairman of the Supervisory Board. Shareholders also approved the financial statements of Sagem for 2004 at the meeting. On May 10, the annual general meeting of Snecma shareholders approved the merger with Sagem, as well as Snecma's consolidated financial statements for 2004. The Safran group has posted sales of 2,380 million euros for the three months ended March 31, 2005, based on International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), and 2,480 millions euros based on French accounting standards. These are pro forma figures, calculated by adding the sales of Snecma and Sagem.

On the basis of identical accounting standards, sales rose 4.5 percent over the first quarter of 2004. Application of the IAS 39 standard to sales in foreign currencies had an impact of 100 million euros on the Aerospace Propulsion and Aerospace Equipment branches. Higher sales by the Aerospace Propulsion branch reflected a growth in service business and increased deliveries of helicopter engines.

Results at the Communications branch were contrasted, with strong growth in the broadband segment (ADSL modems, digital TV set-top boxes), but a decrease in mobile phone sales compared with the first quarter of 2004, when sales were especially strong. The Aerospace Equipment branch also saw higher sales, mainly due to its wiring, wheels, brakes and nacelle businesses. The Defense and Security branch posted steady growth in sales of aeronautical systems and security products.

Spice, Kingfisher hot up fare war in Indian skies

By Deepak Arora

NEW DELHI, May 21: Much to the delight of passengers, a new fare war has begun in the Indian skies. Though Indian Airlines and Jet Airways had recently raised the fares due to sharp increase in air turbine fuel (ATF), the latest entrant, SpiceJet that commences operations from May 23, has offered air tickets at Rs 99. Air Deccan has announced plans for ridiculously low priced tickets at Re One.

Low-cost SpiceJet Chairman Siddhanth Sharma said to celebrate the launch of the airline, SpiceJet would offer over 30,000 "Red Hot Special Fares" starting at Rs 99 for the first 99 days of its operation. These fares would also be available at Rs 499 and Rs 799. Over 9,000 seats would be available under the introductory offer and all flights would offer between five to 10 seats daily at low prices.

With a fleet of three Boeing 737-800 aircraft and an initial investment of $25 million, SpiceJet will operate its first flight on Monday on the Delhi-Ahmedabad-Mumbai route. On May 27, the airline will fly to Goa and on June 13, to Pune and Bangalore. The airline offers a single class in all its 189-seater planes, with complementary snacks and water.

"It is not just the price, but what we offer at that price and our commitment to high quality service that will differentiate and position SpiceJet," according to the CEO Mark Winders. He said "we see ourselves taking train traffic and putting it in air, creating a new market for seniors, students, leisure and train travelers."

He said by January 2006, the airline would have 10 brand new aircraft. "We see ourselves with a fleet of 20-30 airplanes eventually." The company aims to issue convertible bonds in June to raise $90 million for its fleet expansion plans.

Company director Ajay Singh said SpiceJet, a reincarnate of ModiLuft, was 20 per cent owned by foreign institutional investors and other institutions such as Citibank, ABN Amro and Goldman Sachs. Royal Holdings Services Limited, a Nevada-based company, has a major stake in SpiceJet.

On May 18, the opening day of the bookings, SpiceJet sold a record 37,348 tickets. The company claimed no other carrier in Asia had managed to sell so many tickets on day one. It opened bookings with tickets as low-priced as Rs 99 to Rs 799. Besides, its regular fares range from Rs 699 to Rs 6,999. SpiceJet's website received in excess of 5.4 million hits in the last 30 hours, the company claimed.

"I am astounded by the level of bookings on the first day. We had our first sale at 6:40 am. Tickets were sold not only in the discounted category but also in the regular fares category. The response that we have received shows that there is a huge untapped market for air travel in India," said Mark Winders.

Compared with this, Air Deccan, the country's first low-cost carrier, has so far sold a total of 82,263 Rs 500 tickets, according to its website. A normal SpiceJet ticket costs a little over the AC III tier train fare. These one-way fares will be available in five to six different price buckets, with the most expensive being approximately 55 to 60 per cent of the regular full-economy fare. The airline is also expected to break even in the first year of operation itself.

A day after SpiceJet announced its debut; Kingfisher Airlines on Wednesday intensified the airfare war by offering discounted tickets on the Delhi-Bangalore and Mumbai-Bangalore routes. Unlike other airlines that have several buckets of discount fares, Kingfisher Airlines offers a single fare on these sectors. The Delhi-Bangalore one-way ticket will cost Rs 4,999, a 60 per cent discount over the ticket prices of Indian Airlines and Jet Airways. On the Mumbai-Bangalore route, Kingfisher will have a flat fare of Rs 2,999. Other full-service airlines charge nearly Rs 6,200.

Indian Airlines, Jet Airways and Air Sahara charge Rs 12,600 for a Delhi-Bangalore ticket. In comparison, SpiceJet has an inaugural offer of Rs 99 on the Delhi-Pune-Bangalore route, while its highest fare is close to Rs 8,000.

Sharing the motivation behind the launch of the special Fun Time fare, twelve days into its launch, Alex Wilcox, President and Chief Operating Officer, Kingfisher Airlines reiterated that "The Kingfisher Class experience is something that is new and unique to the Indian skies and by introducing this Fun Time fare, we hope to offer more guests the opportunity to fly with us and get a first-hand feel of Kingfisher Class. Kingfisher Airlines will commence flights on the New Delhi-Bangalore sector on June 9 and for the month of June, a special inaugural one-way fare of Rupees 4,999 will be offered."

Kingfisher Airlines currently operates only on the metro routes and offers a 'triple daily' service from Mumbai to Bangalore, in both directions. The second brand-new Airbus A320 aircraft will be pressed into service from June 9 and the airline will offer a 'triple daily' service on the New Delhi-Bangalore sector from the same day.

Country's first low-cost carrier, Air Deccan, has announced that it would offer Re One air tickets to lure the common man to travel by air.

Kingfisher to break even in first year: Mallya

By Deepak Arora

NEW DELHI, May 15: Whatever Industrialist Vijaya Mallya does, he does it in style. Keeping up with his tag of "King of Good Times", flamboyant liquour baron entered the aviation sector with a bang by launching Kingfisher Airlines. "Whatever I have done, its with the intention of becoming Number One: Be it whisky, rum or beer. So shall be with my new airline," says a confident Dr Vijaya Mallya.

After carving out a niche for him in the liquor business, the head of the diversified UB Group has taken off to make his mark in the Indian sky. May 9, the date of the airline launch, coincided with birthday of his son, Siddhartha, who turned 18 that day. The UB Group became the second largest spirits company in the world in March after it bought a majority stake in its rival Shaw Wallace.

Even before the launch of the airline, Dr Mallya gained several firsts to his credit. Kingfisher Airlines was the first private Indian carrier taking delivery of a brand-new aircraft to commence commercial operations. It took delivery of an Airbus 320 in Toulouse, France, in the last week of April. It was also for the first time that any private airline had its pre-launch party at the Air India hangar, displaying public-private partnership.

In the words of Maharashtra Chief Mininister Vilasrao Deshmukh: "Kingfisher Airlines is a classic example of public-private partnership as India's own carrier Air India and Indian Airlines would provide ground service to Kingfisher Airlines."

In a coup of sorts, Dr Mallaya signed a landmark agreement with Indian Airlines by which Kingfisher outsourced its ground handling, engineering and aircraft maintenance support from the public-sector carrier. Under the 120-crore deal, Kingfisher will also buy the surplus flight kilometres that Indian Airline operates in non-profitable routes in a bid to keep its overheads and costs low.

Though now a competitor, Dr Mallya went on all out praise for Indian Airlines. "The public-sector airline has a wealth expertise and facilities for Airbus A-320 aircraft which Kingfisher too has. Indian Airlines is the world leader in handling these aircraft, as it was the launch customer of A 320s. They also have enough surplus capacity that can be put into profitable use. In an era of outsourcing, it is a good win-win situation for both," says Mallya.

He said the average seat per kilometre (ASKM) was part of the overall Kingfisher Airlines-Indian Airlines agreement in which the private carrier would make payments to its public sector counterpart for costs incurred per aircraft turnaround.

He said the first such agreement was signed between two private carriers Damania and NEPC in 1995. However, both the airlines closed down later.

Under the ASKM sharing, Kingfisher will buy the surplus flight kilometres that Indian Airlines operates on non-profitable routes to keep its overheads and operating costs low. "Our agreement with Indian Airlines is for two years minimum. It gives us an immense saving potential. Besides, the present policy allows pooling of flying requirements by carriers," said Dr Mallya.

Kingfisher's agreement with Indian Airlines also allows the private carrier to use the terminals and infrastructure of the state-owned carriers in all the airports. He said Indian Airlines is one of the finest products of the country. And it is for this reason, it does ground handling of 23 international airlines, including Singapore and Emirates that are top-notch airlines of the world.

He said that the carrier hopes to break-even in the first year of operation itself. Kingfisher will start flying smaller routes in December once its fleet of Airbus A 319s come on board. The airline's A 319 fleet based out of Bangalore and will serve operations to cities like Pune, Hyderabad, Thiruvananthapuram and Kochi.

Though, Kingfisher commenced operations with two flights from Mumbai to Bangalore, the frequency would go up to three from May 20. From June 6, it plans to launch triple daily flights between Bangalore and Delhi. By July-end, Kingfisher will commence six flights a week on the Mumbai-Delhi route. "We plan to stress on more frequencies on each sector as that is what a customer desires," he said.

He said "Kingfisher will have 11 planes flying by December, each logging 11 hours a day. We will have another six next year. By 2008, we will have 30 Airbus A320s and three Airbus A 319s in our fleet. And more aircraft would follow in the subsequent years. My vision is to make Kingfisher the largest private sector carrier." The airline will offer a single class configuration with 174 seats on all the A 320 routes.

Keeping its promise of offering premium product with low fares as compared to existing carriers like Jet Airways, Indian Airlines and Air Sahara, Kingfisher offers fares in three buckets - Rs 3,900, Rs 4,900 and Rs 5,900 on its Mumbair-Bangalore sector. "I do not want to offer complex fares to the passengers. The tickets will be sold in three different slabs on first-come-first-serve basis."

Although Kingfisher is being positioned as a "full service" airline, it will have just one class for all passengers. For the first time in the domestic aviation sector, all Kingfisher planes will have in-flight entertainment with a personal TV screen at the back of each seat with a 10-channel audio and five-channel video system.

Mallaya has also hired the best possible staff that includes extremely attractive and well-trained flight attendants. He keeps his personal touch in hiring the staff to keep up with the slogan "Fly the Good Times". For example, he has hired Ms Nandini Verma of Jet Airways fame as Senior Vice President, Corporate Affairs, UB Group.

Air India resumes operations to Canada

NEW DELHI, May 15: Air India on Sunday resumed its service from India to Toronto, the financial capital of Canada, after a gap of eight years, fulfilling a long-standing demand of Indians living in that country.

Air India's first service from New Delhi via Amritsar and Birmingham was flagged off at the Indira Gandhi International Airport here by Tourism Minister Renuka Chowdhury, and Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel, who also launched a special service -- 'Swagat Seva' -- at the airport for providing help to foreign tourists. Air India will operate three services a week to Toronto.

The national flag carrier had received a jolt when its Kanishka aircraft, a Boeing 747 flight from Toronto to Mumbai via London, was blown off the Irish coast in the Atlantic ocean, killing 329 passengers, in 1985. Learning lessons from the past, special security measures have been taken by the Canadian authorities to protect the aircraft and passengers.

Speaking at a function organized at IGI Airport to mark the commencement of services, Mr Praful Patel complimented Air-India on expanding its network and introducing direct flights to destinations in the West from major Indian cities. He expressed optimism that with the product being substantially upgraded, Air-India will attain a high level of passenger satisfaction. Mrs Renuka Choudhury expressed happiness at the launch of the flight as it would help boost tourism. She said the joint relationship between the Civil Aviation Ministry and tourism will usher in a new era for promoting tourism and this new flight will help the tourist places in Northern India. Mr V. Thulasidas, Chairman and Managing Director, Air-India, while welcoming the guests said that the Delhi-Amritsar-Birmingham-Toronto flight was the second long haul flight being included this year from Delhi indicating the growth plans that Air-India has embarked upon. The Delhi-Frankfurt-Los Angeles flight had been inaugurated in March this year providing direct connectivity to the West coast of USA.

Mrs Chowdhury said the 'Swagat Seva', a facilitation service evolved on the lines of 'Maharabba' in Dubai, would progressively be implemented in Mumbai and other international airports. "There are five-million Indian tourists going to foreign destinations and India has become a major market for outbound tourists. This cannot be at the cost of domestic tourism which is affected by high cost of air travel. We have to reverse this trend", the Tourism Minister said.

A proposal to instal GPS (Global Positioning Satellite) system on all taxis at the airport is also being considered by the Civil Aviation and Tourism Ministries, along with having gift shops and money-changers after the immigration and customs counters in the departure area of the international airports.

Two decades after the bombing of Kanishka, a British Columbia Supreme Court had on March 16 acquitted prime accused Ajaib Singh Bagri and Ripudaman Singh Malik, of first-degree murder and conspiracy charges in the downing of the Air India plane. However, following public outcry against the verdict, former Ontario Premier Bob Rae, was appointed to advice the Canadian Government whether a public inquiry was needed into the disaster after the acquittals.

With the launch of these new flights, Air-India will provide to the people of Punjab direct and convenient services to Birmingham, the heartland of industrial and economic activity in the UK, and to Toronto, the financial capital of Canada. The introduction of these services, which is part of Air-India's sustained drive to expand its network, will take the number of flights operated by Air-India to the UK from 18 to 21 per week. Air-India at present operates 10 flights to London which are extended to the USA -- seven to New York and three to Chicago, there are eight terminator flights -- five on the Mumbai-London-sector, two on the Mumbai-Ahmedabad-London sector and one on the routing Mumbai-Delhi-London. Three more flights will be launched on the Delhi-Dhaka-Kolkata-London sector effective June 18, 2005, connecting East India to London. With the introduction of these flights, the number of flights to the UK will go up to 24 a week, thus doubling the capacity offered by Air-India on the India-UK route in the past six months. Air-India is poised to significantly improve its market leadership positions on the India-Europe-USA routes. The airline has grown from 10 services (seven to New York and three to Chicago) a week in December 2002 to 28 services (seven each to New York, Newark, Chicago and Los Angeles) a week, from March 2005. Air-India now operates 14 flights a week to Frankfurt, which has now become a hub in Europe.

Air-India had, in the past, operated flights on the Mumbai-Delhi-Amritsar-Moscow-Birmingham route from January 1982 to October 1984.

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