In Brief

Star Alliance Woos AI, Jet

Star Alliance, a consortium of international aircraft carriers including Lufthansa, US Airways and Thai Airways, is beginning to woo Indian carriers to join its fold. Reports are that it is trying to rope in Jet Airways and the state-run Air-India, apart from another unnamed private carrier. Industry analysts speculate that this other private carrier could be Air Sahara, although some expect it to join British Airways’ One World alliance after it struck a deal with it. However, details of the Star Alliance negotiations are not known. The prospective alliance is being looked by many as recognition of the Indian aviation boom. This is also indicative of the growing importance the global alliance attaches to the Asia Pacific region.

Indian Airlines’ Gulf Sector Shows Increase

State-run Indian Airlines’ passenger carriage to Gulf sector rose from 1,10,000 to 1,34,000 during the April-June period of the FY 2005-2006 as compared to the same period the previous year. The airline reported that its seat factor recorded a growth of seven per cent from 83 per cent in Q1 2004-2005 to 90 per cent in Q1 2005-2006. It recorded a 22 per cent increase in the overall passenger growth in April-June this year compared to the corresponding period the previous year. Pankaj Srivastava, regional director of Indian Airlines, said that better capacity utilisation was also fuelled by its operations to 15 direct destinations. The increase is also attributed to the introduction of Sharjah-Mumbai daily flights. The UAE sector accounts for more than 60 per cent of Indian Airlines Gulf carriage. The Indian Airlines has reportedly signed a Letter of Intent (LoI) with a European firm for e-ticketing on its entire network, covering 57 Indian destinations and 20 abroad.

Etihad Crystal Cargo Enhances Indian Operations

Etihad Crystal Cargo, the cargo division of Etihad Airways, the national airline of the United Arab Emirates has introduced weekly freighter flights from Abu Dhabi to Delhi. Delhi is Crystal Cargo's third freighter destination in India and the division's seventh global all-cargo destination. The airline's first freight flight to India was launched to Mumbai, in February 2005 followed by Chennai, in June 2005. So far, Etihad Airways has operated three weekly flights to New Delhi on an Airbus A300-200, with payload capacity of approximately 15 tonnes on each flight. With this new regional freighter, Etihad Crystal Cargo adds an additional payload of 39 tonnes. The freighter flight will operate once a week between Abu Dhabi and New Delhi. Commenting on Etihad's Crystal Cargo services to India, Douglas, area manager Etihad Airways said, “The Indian Subcontinent is a very dynamic market for cargo services. Etihad's Abu Dhabi - Mumbai and Abu Dhabi-Chennai route has been a tremendous success, which we are extending into other booming cities in India. The Mumbai route has shown very high payloads and we are extremely confident that the new freighter to Delhi will further enhance our Indian operations.”