1 . IndiGo becomes third largest domestic airline
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New Delhi, Jan 18 (IANS) Low-cost carrier (LCC) IndiGo became the third largest domestic passenger airline in the country for the fourth quarter of 2010.
The sector was led by full-fledged carriers Kingfisher and Jet.
Aviation ministry figures showed that in the last calendar year quarter, IndiGo carried 25.89 lakh (2.589 million) passengers, followed by Air India's domestic arm (formerly Indian Airlines) at 25.42 lakh passengers and LCCs like Spice Jet (20.01 lakh), Jet Lite (10.85 lakh) and Go Air (9.79 lakh), a ministry statement said Tuesday.
The market leader in the last calender year quarter Kingfisher carried 27.81 lakh passengers, closely followed by Jet Airways with 27.28 lakh passengers. The entire domestic airline industry carried 14.70 million passengers in the fourth quarter of the last calender year.
'Total domestic passengers carried by the scheduled airlines of India in the fourth quarter of 2010 - October to December, 2010 - was 147.05 lakh,' the ministry said.
The figures also show an upbeat domestic passenger trend with the total domestic passengers carried in the fourth quarter growing by 22.70 percent over the third quarter of July to September, 2010, which stood at 119.84 lakh passengers.
Market share for the last quarter was led by Kingfisher Airlines at 18.9 percent, followed by Jet Airways at 18.6 percent and IndiGo at 17.6 percent.
2.IC-814 hijack: Trio acquitted of looting bank
A sessions court on Wednesday acquitted three men charged with looting a bank and using a part of the loot to fund the December 1999 hijack of Indian Airlines flight IC-814.
The court acquitted Abdul Latif, Bhopalman Yusuf Khan and Mushtaq Ahmed who had been arrested for looting Rs 7 lakh from the Maharashtra State Co-operative Bank in suburban Borivali on October 6, 1999. In 2008, Latif and Khan were sentenced to life imprisonment for their role in the hijack by a CBI court in New Delhi and will hence stay in jail. But Ahmed will walk free based on the acquittal as he was not charged in the CBI’s investigation.
The court pointed out that it took over a year for the prosecution to seek sanction from the Collector as required under the Arms Act. The charges under the Indian Explosive Substances Act, 1908, also could not be proved as a key panch witness failed to identify the location from where AK-56 rifles, hand grenades and rocket launchers were recovered.
3.3.Indian Airlines Show Vitality
NEW DELHI—Just two years ago, India's airline industry was a mess: Its biggest carriers were strapped for cash, crushed by high fuel prices and running empty planes. Now, an historic IndiGo order for 180 Airbus A320 jetliners is a sign that the industry is taking off again.
IndiGo, part of travel conglomerate InterGlobe Enterprises Ltd. and India's largest low-fare carrier, unveiled the order Wednesday with a list price of $15.6 billion. Airbus says the deal is the commercial aviation industry's largest jet order to date in terms of number of planes and one of the biggest by value. It includes 150 A320 NEO planes, an upgraded, fuel-saving variant of the A320 aircraft that competes with Boeing Co.'s 737 family of jets.
"This order is not only a reflection of India's appetite but it is also a reflection of India's growth story," said Kapil Kaul, chief executive for the Indian subcontinent at the Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation, a Sydney-based consultancy. "The order shows IndiGo's long-term commitment to the Indian market and confidence in their business plans."
Aditya Ghosh, IndiGo's president, said the planes were ordered because the company is bullish regarding the Indian market's potential, citing estimates of overall air-traffic growth of about 15% this year compared with 2010. He added that the order will allow IndiGo to offer lower fares and more destinations to travelers. The airline is exploring various financing options for the new orders, which are to be delivered starting in 2016.
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IndiGo is ordering 180 Airbus A320 aircraft with a list price of $15.6 billion. Above, an IndiGo A320 jet lands at New Delhi's international airport.
The order comes at a time when other Indian carriers, such as Kingfisher Airlines Ltd., Jet Airways (India) Ltd., SpiceJet Ltd. and even beleaguered state-run Air India Ltd., are seeing some upswing in fortunes as Indian travelers, after crimping during the economic slowdown of the past few years, are flying in large numbers again.
SpiceJet, another low-cost domestic airline, recently placed an order for 30 Boeing jets and 30 turboprop aircraft from Bombardier Inc.
Domestic air travel from January to November 2010 totaled 46.8 million passengers, up 19% from a year earlier and a sharper rise than in 2009, which followed a 10% drop in traffic in 2008.
Some carriers, such as Kingfisher, still have high levels of debt. But reductions in fuel taxes by some state governments and incentives from the national government also have helped. Jet, for instance, posted a net profit of 124 million rupees ($2.8 million) for the July-September period, from a year-earlier loss of 4.07 billion rupees. Investors have shown their confidence, driving up Jet Airways' shares 37% and SpiceJet's 39% in 2010. Kingfisher's increased 3.3%.
As the industry gathers speed, it is likely to prove a lucrative market for airline makers. Boeing said in its 2010 market outlook that it expects India will need 1,150 commercial jets at a price of as much as $130 billion over the next 20 years—a total that represents more than 4% of the company's world-wide commercial-airplanes forecast. Airbus, a unit of European Aeronautic Defence & Space Co., expects demand for 1,032 commercial aircraft in India in the next two decades.
"Continued success will depend on a judicious balance of supply and demand in the market," said Boeing India President Dinesh Keskar. "Two years ago, there were too many seats chasing too few passengers. Now, fares are at a level where airlines can make a profit."
Indian carriers can add roughly 40 airliners per year for the next five years without flooding the market again, assuming fuel prices don't jump, Mr. Keskar said.
Airbus has aggressively pursued the Indian market, and says that 70% of new airliners currently being delivered to Indian carriers are its planes. "Airbus has been working very closely with Indian customers for a long time," said Kiran Rao, Airbus India's president.
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Mr. Rao said the A320 NEO aircraft leads to 15% savings in fuel costs, benefiting airlines and the environment.
India's giant population and fast-growing economy—gross domestic product is estimated to expand about 8.8% in the year ending March 31—offer rosy prospects for domestic and international airlines seeking to expand here. The country's domestic air traffic is projected to grow to 160 million to 180 million passengers a year by 2020, while international traffic is expected to exceed 80 million passengers. Domestic passengers totaled 45 million for the year ended in March, while international traffic totaled 12 million passengers during the same period.
IndiGo, founded in August 2006, has been something of an outlier in Indian aviation circles. Even as its larger rivals were suffering during the past few years, it managed to maintain its profitability.
Founded by Rahul Bhatia, managing director of InterGlobe, and Rakesh Gangwal, former president of US Airways, IndiGo has dominated low-cost air travel and sought to distinguish itself from others with a high on-time performance record, cost efficiency and a marketing campaign that tries to put some pizzazz in air travel.
The efforts helped IndiGo fill 82.7% of its seats from April to November, ranking third by passengers carried in India, behind Jet Airways and Kingfisher. IndiGo now ranks third in India based on on-time performance as well, also trailing Jet and Kingfisher.
Wednesday's order is a follow-up to the 100 Airbus A320 planes that IndiGo ordered in 2005. Airbus has delivered 34 of those planes, according to the IndiGo website. Airbus's Mr. Rao said the remaining 66 planes from the first order will be delivered to IndiGo by 2014 or in early 2015
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