After budget carriers, the Indian skies will soon see the first low-cost charter service. Charter operator Club One Air is going to launch its domestic low-cost operations next year at prices 50 per cent below those currently charged by charters. Thus a Delhi-Kullu chartered flight, which costs Rs 60,000 per person at present, would cost Rs 30,000 once Club One Air starts flying.
This holiday season air travellers will not get rock-bottom prices like Re 1 or Rs 99. In all likelihood, they will have to fork out 10 per cent more for tickets than last year. SpiceJet executives said the fare war was over and average fares across the country would now go up
Private airport developers in Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad and Bangalore, say landing and parking fees account for a significant proportion of revenues, so offering these services free would be unviable.
What is more, the training period in the US academies is six months, while it can take up to two and a half years in India. According to norms laid down by the DGCA, one can get a license only after completing 200 hours of flying.
Despite adequate capacity, the India-Gulf market has been growing at a steady pace. Traffic from India to the Gulf increased by 30 per cent last year, while international traffic growth average was 15 per cent.
Information technology (IT) solutions provider Amadeus, in a recent study, found that 60 per cent of the companies used low-cost carriers (LCCs) to fly their executives. Around 100 companies were surveyed.
Air India comes last among Indian full-service carriers in selling tickets through the Internet. According to the International Air Transport Association, the carrier sells 7 per cent of its tickets through the Internet.
The North-East is finally set to have its own exclusive private airline with daily flights to Guwahati, Agartala, Lilabari, Dibrugarh, Dimapur, Aizawl and Silchar among others.
This would be a key function of the Airport Economic Regulatory Authority, to be set up to regulate tariffs, said a civil aviation ministry official.
The end of the monopoly of oil PSUs on selling jet fuel at Delhi and Mumbai airports is expected to bring competition and more transparent pricing.
The Group of Ministers constituted to review the new civil aviation policy will take up among other things, allowing of private Indian carriers, with three-years experience in the domestic sector, to fly abroad.
The civil aviation ministry is considering three proposals to set up privately-owned, or merchant, airports in Gwalior (Madhya Pradesh), Durgapur (West Bengal) and Jhhajjar (Haryana).
No major price skirmishes expected; Passengers seem to prefer flights with a short stop-over.
Air Cargo Express, with its dedicated fleet of ATRs, is also supposed to start operations this year. Reliance Retail is also considering starting a cargo airline for its supply chain.
After filing their objections against the Air India-Indian Airlines merger with the corporate affairs ministry on August 31, the unions of Indian Airlines are now planning to take the matter to court.
Cashing in on the closure of Pune Airport for over 16 hours for repairs, several helicopter companies are offering travellers a ride on the Pune-Mumbai route, which is becoming a hot destination for many chopper services.
Though neither Hyderabad nor Bangalore have come out with their ground handling plans or charges yet, their space rental charges are indicative of what is to come.
"Though the management has agreed to pay the pending arrears to ACEU, the other unions have not been paid yet," said a union member.
Starting this October, Air India Express will fly Cochin-Chennai, Cochin-Hyderabad, Cochin-Bangalore, Bangalore-Chennai, Chennai-Kolkata, Hyderabad-Kolkata and Kolkata-Agartala.
Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel hopes to introduce GAGAN in a limited way next year and the full system by 2010.
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