Air India in talks with Star Alliance to join group

By Saifur Rahman, Business News Editor

Dubai Air India, the newly merged Indian national carrier, has began negotiating with Star Alliance to join the group, a senior official told Gulf News.

It is mulling more firm orders for its future needs.

"The newly-merged airline has appointed a team to look into future fleet requirements and they are currently talking to both manufacturers," Jitender Bhargava, executive director of Air India's corporate communications, said.

"We have also started talks with Star Alliance for possible membership."

The company is in the process of establishing new routes and will then built on those in the coming years. "The current orderbook is good enough for now. However, we will need more in the coming years," he said.

"There are 330 aircraft currently in operation in India. In five years, it will jump to 1,000. This means we will have to order more to meet future demand.

"The current plans are to develop intercontinental routes from India to the US, via a common hub in Europe. We are looking at cities like Munich, Vienna and Copenhagen to offer those services, where travellers from all major cities could come and change aircraft to board flights to their destinations in the US."

Volumes

Air India carried 4.8 million passengers, while Indian Airlines, which merged with Air India, carried 7.86 million passengers, he said. "The Indian aviation industry is growing at 30 per cent year on year - one of the highest in the world."

The merger will be completed in 12 to 18 months, when flight codes of Air India and Indian Airlines will be unified and booking systems integrated, he said. "Then we will look into route rationalisation and network optimisation. We hope to expand our flights to the Gulf then," he said.

IATA standard paves way for global mobile phone check-in

Α global standard that paves the way for global mobile phone check-in using two-dimensional (2D) bar codes was announced by the International Air Transport Association (IATA). Mobile phone check-in enables airlines to send 2D bar codes directly to a passenger’s mobile phone, personal digital assistant or smart phone.

Passengers simply register their mobile number with their airline at the time of booking to receive a text message with a 2D bar code, or instructions to download it. The bar code becomes the passenger’s boarding pass and it is read directly from the screen of the mobile device, eliminating paper completely from the check-in process.

“Passengers want the convenience of self-service options in a paperless environment. This standard is an important step in getting rid of paper that bogs down processes and drives up costs,” said Giovanni Bisignani, IATA’s Director General and CEO.

Historically, airline global applications for mobile phone technology have been restricted due to differerent regional formats. The IATA standard uses existing codes: Aztec and Datamatrix which are used extensively in Europe and North America; and QR which is widely used in Japan. All three are proven technologies and can be read by a single scanner type that is cost effective and readily available globally.

“The creation of a standard code is only part of the solution,” said Bisignani. “In the next months we will be working with our members to develop standardised processes and guidelines that facilitate global implementation.”

The industry has set a deadline of the end of 2010 to implement 100% bar coded boarding passes (BCBP). Upon full implementation, BCBP will save the industry over US$500 million annually. A 2D standard for paper bar coded passes was established in 2005 and is the basis for web check-in. Both standards (mobile and paper based) can be issued and accepted by airlines worldwide.

The global introduction of BCBP to replace magnetic stripe technology is one of five Simplifying the Business (StB) projects launched by IATA in 2004. The StB goal is to use technology to make travel more convenient while saving US$6.5 billion in costs.

ASTA and ACTA applauds RCCL`s stance against card mills

The American Society of Travel Agents and the Association of Canadian Travel Agencies applauded Royal Caribbean Cruise’s (RCCL) announcement that its brands (Royal Caribbean International, Celebrity Cruises and Azamara Cruises) will begin terminating relationships with businesses it deems to be card-mills.

In a letter to travel agents, RCCL noted that it "has a fundamental concern with the business practices of these companies" and that it is "taking this action in an effort to prevent a growing and troubling trend within the travel industry."

In a letter sent to Lisa Bauer, senior vice president of sales for Royal Caribbean, and Dondra Ritzenthaler, senior vice president of sales for Celebrity Cruises and Azamara Cruises, ASTA said: "We appreciate that [your] actions once again demonstrate the value of the travel agency distribution system as well as the importance of promoting industry integrity. [This] announcement is good news to legitimate travel sellers whose businesses depend upon consumer trust and to consumers who look to their travel agent for expert and professional service."

"ASTA has worked long and hard to educate consumers and travel companies regarding card mills, and we would welcome any opportunity to work together towards this goal. ASTA has long been engaged in the fight to stop the proliferation of card mills and the damage these firms inflict on the reputation of professional travel agents."

"ACTA has long been concerned about the acceptance of such cards by suppliers, as they are sold to non-travel professionals and ACTA certainly welcomed the cruise line’s decision. The association can only wish that many other travel suppliers, and hotel chains in particular, will follow suit and help the industry fight the proliferation of such card mill," commented Christiane Theberge, President and CEO of ACTA.

"This fight to preserve the value and integrity of bona fide travel professionals was also behind the decision ACTA took at the beginning of this year to introduce a new ACTA ID Card recognizing Canadian travel professionals. This card with stringent requirements is already recognized by numerous suppliers who were unanimous to claim that travel professionals carrying the ACTA ID Card are the major sellers of travel products," concluded Theberge.

Ryanair carries more ABC1 passengers than BA survey reveals

Ryanair’s passenger profile for the last 6 months included a greater proportion of ABC1 passengers than British Airways (BA) an independent survey commissioned by in-flight media company InviseoMedia and carried out by iCD Research revealed. Based upon an independent survey of 1000 UK adults, iCD’s research reveals that 59% of Ryanair’s passengers were from the top three social grades compared to just 52% for BA. This research helps challenge the perception that budget carriers such as Ryanair only carry budget passengers. This latest research compliments other quantitative data from respected sources such as TGI, EMS and the Civil Aviation Authority, all of whom confirm Ryanair’s passenger profile as being one of the best in the aviation industry. The research was gathered using iCD’s own panel of 200,000 UK adults, carefully created to be a representative sample of the UK as a whole. Commenting on this research, Dominic Stead CEO of InviseoMedia whose company has an exclusive deal to install its patented airline tray-table media across Ryanair’s fleet said: “This survey dispels the myth that budget carriers such as Ryanair carry just hen parties and football supporters. The research clearly shows that consumers from the highest social groups now regularly fly Ryanair; they clearly appreciate the carrier’s low fares and its record for punctuality.” Paul Dixon, Managing Director of iCD who carried out the research said: “The ‘Chavair’ label given to Ryanair by policy makers and some sections of the media has proven undeserved. Low cost carriers and Ryanair in particular, have proved that passengers with the highest incomes are more than happy to fly frequently and without the frills of full service carriers such as BA.” Social Grade: Ryanair - British Airways ABC1: 59% - 52% C2DE: 41% - 48%

Boeing To Delay Delivery Of 787

Reuters - Boeing on Wednesday pushed back first deliveries of its 787 Dreamliner by at least six months as it struggles to assemble the new lightweight, carbon-composite plane.

The delay is a major embarrassment setback for Boeing, which has for months insisted it would meet its delivery timetable despite production problems, and mirrors delays suffered by rival Airbus on its A380 superjumbo.

"We are disappointed by today's schedule changes and deeply regret the impact these delays will have on our customers," said Boeing Chief Executive Jim McNerney.

Boeing, which has orders for more than 700 of the 787s from 48 airlines and leasing companies -- worth more than USD$100 billion at list prices -- said there would be no "material" impact to earnings and left its forecasts for this year and next unchanged.

The Chicago-based company said 787 deliveries are now slated to begin in late November or December 2008 versus an original target of May 2008.

Chief Financial Officer James Bell said some revenues would slip from 2008 to 2009 as about 30-35 plane deliveries are moved from one year to the next. The company is set to update its financial forecasts alongside its third-quarter earnings report on October 24.

The company said it is still aiming to deliver 109 787s by the end of 2009, only three fewer than originally planned.

The delay is a blow to Japan's All Nippon Airways, the first 787 customer, which was hoping to ferry passengers to next summer's Beijing Olympic Games in the initial planes of its planned 50-strong 787 fleet.

"Many outside Boeing had questioned the feasibility of meeting the first delivery date," Bank of America analyst Robert Stallard said in a note. "Boeing has now bitten the bullet and accepted that the schedule is beyond them. The firm has taken the only sensible move under the circumstances."

Boeing said the delay was due to problems putting together the actual structure of the plane, compounded by the scarcity of some parts.

It said that integrating the plane's flight control software, being produced by Honeywell -- which had contributed to a previous delay in the schedule -- was not the cause of the delivery delay.

The company said it now expects the first test flight of the 787 to take place "around the end of the first quarter" next year, suggesting it could be as late as March or even April 2008.

That is a drastic extension to its original plan to start airborne tests in August 2007. In early September, Boeing rescheduled the first test flight for mid-November to mid-December as it wrestled with software problems and a shortage of bolts.

Boeing said the new schedule restores some margin to deal with unexpected problems that might appear during ground and flight tests. If Boeing sticks to its new schedule, it could have eight months to complete flight testing and certification, as opposed to six months on its previous estimate.

Flight testing and certification on Boeing's last new airliner, the 777, took 11 months.

"We deeply regret the impact these delays will have on our customers, and we are committed to working with them to minimize any disruption to their plans," Scott Carson, chief executive of Boeing's commercial planes unit, said in a statement.

He said the main problems were installing parts of the plane's structure, which had been thrown out of sequence by some suppliers sending incomplete work to Boeing's main Everett, Washington plant, aggravated by a shortage of some small parts.

Boeing, which rolled out a shell of the first 787 model in front of many of its customers in early July, did not say whether it would have to pay any penalties or other compensation to airlines buying the plane, which is standard in the industry when a plane's delivery is delayed.

US Plans October Meeting On Airline Delays

The Bush administration will convene a meeting of airline executives in October aimed at reaching a voluntary agreement on scheduling to reduce delays and congestion at New York area airports, aviation sources said.

The meeting planned for October 23-24 will address scheduling practices of domestic carriers at John F. Kennedy and Newark airports. Airlines were supposed to submit scheduling information for spring and summer 2008 travel to aviation authorities by Thursday.

Carriers expected to participate include: JetBlue Airways, Delta Air Lines, US Airways, American Airlines, and Continental Airlines.

JetBlue is based at JFK and Delta has major operations there. Continental operates a hub at Newark. Both airports have extensive international departures. Delta has already announced some schedule changes at JFK for next summer.

Like the first meeting of its kind in Chicago for O'Hare Airport in 2004, the US Justice Department will oversee the proceedings to ensure that no antitrust rules are violated.

The scheduling meeting seeks to wring a voluntary agreement from airlines to change scheduling by eliminating flights or moving them to less busy times of the day. The FAA could cap flights at either airport, if no agreement is reached.

JFK and Newark are two of the most congested airports in the United States and delays there can impact traffic in other cities as well as international flights.

Ground delays are on a record pace this year, especially those lasting between one and five hours. Chronic and widespread delays during the summer, partly blamed on scheduling, angered consumers and drew the attention of congressional lawmakers and the White House.

President George W Bush ordered deputies in September to devise a plan to shorten delays. Transportation Secretary Mary Peters will submit her recommendations in December. They could include forced schedule cuts, if voluntary efforts fall short, or a plan to charge airlines more to use congested airports at busy periods.

Germany`s hotel market keeps a strong pace

Germany’s hotel market expansion will not stop. In the next five years 179 first-class hotels and 49 luxury hotels with more than 37,000 rooms will be opened in Germany. According to tophotelprojects.com, the on-line databases for international hotel projects, most of the top hotel projects are planned for the major cities of Germany.

In the capital city of Berlin 49 first-class and luxury hotels with over 4,200 rooms are under construction and will be opened until 2013. In Hamburg 14 top hotels (with more than 2,500 rooms) are planned and in Munich 9 top hotels (with 1,700 rooms) are under construction. In Frankfurt the hotel market will welcome 12 new top hotels with more than 2,800 rooms.

A large number of planned top hotels will be managed by international hotel chains and operators, e.g. Hilton, Kempinski, Mandarin Oriental, Marriott and Rezidor. One of the most important top hotel projects this year will be The Charles hotel in Munich, No 3 of the Rocco Forte Collection in Germany (opening is scheduled for end of October 2007).

In Germany more than 12,000 hotels (from business to wellness hotels and boarding houses) and over 33,000 other accommodation facilities are currently under operation. 2,800 hotels are four star rated (first class), 224 are luxury hotels (five star rated). In total, over 4,480 hotels are focused on business travelers. Over 5,900 houses are conference hotels and more than 4,600 hotels are dedicated to leisure guests.

European MPs demand airport masterplan

The European Parliament yesterday published a report warning that the continent will not be able to meet the rising demand for flights simply by optimising existing capacity. It says that such an approach would result in a shortfall of 3.7 million flights a year by 2025.

It has called on the European Commission to develop a European masterplan for airports, including the development of up to 10 major airports and 15 medium-sized airports.

While acknowledging the importance and urgency of boosting existing capacity, notably by improving slot allocation and ground-handling services in airports, the Parliament urges the EU executive to “take a further step” and come up with a “Masterplan for enhanced airport capacity in Europe” before 2009, containing measures to “promote and coordinate any national and cross-border initiatives for building new airport capacities”.

“Airports are so congested that if one flight gets slightly delayed, it affects many other airports. The lack of airport capacity is therefore not just a national problem. It is a European problem,” says Danish Liberal MEP Anne Jensen, who drafted the report.

The report adds that building new capacity would help avert unnecessary air pollution caused by en route or ramp congestion, but says additional measures to limit greenhouse gas emissions and noise, such as including aviation in the EU’s Emissions Trading Scheme, taxing jet fuel or differentiating airport charges according to environmental performance, would be necessary.