Hoteliers Protest Against Low-Budget Andaman Tourism

Reuters - Hundreds of tour operators and hotel owners in the Andaman islands protested on Thursday against a scheme to fly budget tourists to the islands, saying it had stopped wealthier travelers from visiting.

India recently allowed all level of government employees to use their leave allowances to fly to the Andaman and Nicobar islands, the remotest part of its territory, as it tried to boost the tourism-dependent economy following the catastrophic tsunami of 2004.

Many low-wage workers jumped at the chance to take their first flight and visit the islands' famed beaches, forests, coral reefs and tribal cultures -- a perk once reserved for only senior state employees.

But islanders working in the tourism industry say crowds of cost-conscious tourists are straining resources without generating much income.

"They visit the Andamans for at most a day and go back hardly spending any money," said G. Bhasker, general secretary of the Andaman Chamber of Commerce and Industries.

"Agents are blocking tickets in bulk, preventing up-market tourists who are genuinely interested in visiting our islands."

Hundreds of protesters chose World Tourism Day to shout slogans outside the tourism directorate in Port Blair, the archipelago's capital, and threatened further protests if the government did not listen.

The island's chief secretary promised to look into their complaints.

Authorities expect more than 150,000 tourists will visit the islands this year, but some estimate that around 80 percent of those are low-wage state employees.

Etihad takes off to Singapore and Brisbane

Dubai: Etihad Airways has launched its new three flights-a-week service to Singapore and Brisbane.

Flight EY470 took off on schedule yesterday morning from Abu Dhabi airport bound for Brisbane via Singapore. Singapore is Etihad's fifth destination in Southeast Asia after Bangkok, Manila, Jakarta and Kuala Lumpur.

Brisbane is the airline's second destination in Australia following the highly successful Sydney route started in March this year.

"Demand has been great for the new flights to Singapore and Brisbane with the seat factor for both destinations approaching 70 per cent in economy class and 65 per cent in business class for the month of October," the airline said.

---

---

James Hogan, Etihad's chief executive, said: "Etihad continues to expand its global flight network offering our customers frequent connections to many of the world's most popular destinations.

"The UAE is building strong commercial and cultural ties with Singapore and the Australian state of Queensland and the new Etihad flights will give these ties a significant boost."

Other new destinations launched in 2007 include Dublin and Milan as well as the southern Indian cities of Kochi and Thiruvananthapuram.

Etihad is operating a two-cabin Airbus A330-200 on the new flights. The aircraft is configured to carry 262 passengers, with 22 in business class and 240 in economy.

Flight EY470 will operate every Friday, Sunday and Wednesday, departing from Abu Dhabi at 10.05am and reaching Singapore at 9.35pm. The flight will depart from Singapore at 10.50pm and arrive in Brisbane at 6.20am the following morning.

Flight EY473 will operate from Brisbane every Saturday, Monday and Thursday departing at 11.25am and arriving in Singapore at 7.05pm. The flight will depart from Singapore at 8.25pm and arrive in Abu Dhabi at 11.59pm.

Engine Fire Forces Jet Back To St Louis

Reuters-A fire in one of two engines on a Chicago-bound American Airlines MD-80 jet forced the plane to return to St. Louis Airport on Friday, officials said.

None of the 137 passengers and five crew members on board was injured, an airline spokesman said.

Flight AA1400, bound for Chicago's O'Hare Airport, took off at 2:12 p.m. EDT, and was back on the ground within 30 minutes, American Airlines spokesman Mary Frances Fagan said.

"It had a left-hand engine fire that occurred after take-off. The aircraft returned to Lambert International safely. No one was hurt, and the passengers were evacuated on stairs," Fagan said.

Firefighters put out a small fire in the engine after the plane landed, Lambert spokesman Jeff Lea said.

Demand for business jets soaring in Middle East

Dubai: The Middle East business aviation market is flush with "active buyers" of business jets, a customer survey by global aerospace giant Honeywell revealed.

The 16th Annual Business Aviation Outlook gave a bullish outlook for the private aviation market and said the region encompassing Asia, the Middle East and Africa "again ranks as the area with the highest purchase expectations".

Industry-wide, Honeywell Aerospace said deliveries of business jets would exceed 1,000 for the first time in 2007, up from 861 in 2006. So far, sales are up more than 12 per cent compared with the same period last year. In 2008, deliveries are expected to top 1,300.

Yesterday, Airbus' corporate jet division reported similar findings. It said it won a 36 corporate jet sales this year, setting a record.

---

---

The Honeywell survey highlights the growing importance of developing markets, while expectations of corporate jet sales in the United States declined slightly,

ICAO Opposes EU Emissions Plan

Reuters - The International Civil Aviation Organization has passed a resolution opposing a European Union plan to include foreign airlines in its emissions trading system, the UN body said on Friday.

"A resolution was adopted which said... that emissions-trading schemes are fine, but they should not be applied to the aircraft of foreign countries without mutual consent," Jeffrey Shane, the undersecretary for policy in the US Department of Transportation told reporters in Montreal.

He said that during recent ICAO meetings, about 42 European governments took "a formal reservation" from that wording.

"They did not want a clause that said, 'ICAO urges states not to apply emissions trading to foreign aircraft without mutual consent'."

The ICAO is a United Nations body created in 1944 to promote the development of civil aviation around the world.

The United States has opposed the plan to include foreign airlines in the EU's emissions trading scheme and pushed the ICAO to let individual countries decide the best way to manage greenhouse gas emissions from their airlines.

The EU Commission plans to include flights into and out of the 27-nation bloc from 2012 in its emissions trading scheme.

Environmentalists say the airline industry must contribute more to reducing greenhouse gases, blamed for global warming.

Shane said that all ICAO member states recognize the importance of emissions trading "as one of many tools for addressing emissions from aircraft."

He also that the ICAO will create a "very high-level group" tasked with coming up with an action plan on reducing the aircraft emissions.