The civil aviation ministry and the directorate general of civil aviation plan to award the low-cost carriers some key morning and evening peak-time slots (a fixed time for departure or arrival of a particular flight) lying unused with the full-service carriers at metro airports like Delhi and Mumbai. DGCA officials and airline officials confirm that airlines like Jet and Kingfisher are not using around 10 per cent of their slots during the peak periods.
While portals such as makemytrip, cleartrip and ezeego have seen a rise of 30 per cent in advance booking in the first week of January, others such as yatra and travelocity, with a 10-15 per cent surge, are also expecting more bookings in the coming weeks. The cleverly-introduced advanced booking fares have induced passengers to book tickets until as late as November.
The lukewarm response to the proposed real estate development around the Delhi airport has put its Rs 8,940-crore modernisation in a financial bind.
Despite sharp erosion in the net worth of airline companies due to losses in the recent past, banks and financial institutions have decided to sanction loans to some of them including Jet Airways and Kingfisher Airlines, while some of the companies in this sector are still waiting.
Travel agents in the country have had their way with airlines, at least in the domestic sector. National carrier Air India today agreed to pay a 3 per cent commission to travel agents, nearly two weeks after Jet Airways and Kingfisher agreed to do the same.
Several Indian and international aviation and logistics companies such as Air India, Singapore Airport Terminal Services, Menzies, Bobba, Swissport, Bird Group and Worldwide Flight Services have responded, individually or through tie-ups with each other, to two requests for proposals to set up a new cargo facility at Delhi airport and upgrade the existing one. The RFPs were sent by Delhi International Airport Limited, the GMR-led consortium that is modernising the airport.
Delhi-based low-cost carrier SpiceJet is looking at restructuring its core leadership team as part of US investor Wilbur Ross's strategy of turning around the company.
In addition to that, an increasing number of airlines like SpiceJet, national carrier Air India and GoAir are either getting into hedging of aviation turbine fuel or increasing the quantum of ATF hedged on the MCX. Last month, state-run Indian Oil Corporation approached MCX to provide it with a platform to hedge its refinery margins and end products from crude oil.
Move aimed at forcing airlines to revoke decision to withdraw 5 per cent commission.
Inbound travel to the balmy beaches of Goa is expected to drop a significant 60 per cent following large-scale cancellations by charter flights after last week's terror attacks in Mumbai.
Mumbai's unprecedented terror attacks have put airports across the country on a high alert.
The India-Bangkok sector is operated by carriers like Air India, Jet Airways, Thai Air, Cathay Pacific, Singapore Airlines and Malaysian Airlines amongst others and travel companies say it constitutes more than 40 per cent of their business in the south east Asian market. Thousands of protestors have laid siege to Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi airport, the world's 18th largest in terms of passenger traffic, as their latest mark of protest against the elected government.
Full-service carriers Jet Airways, Kingfisher and Air India have told travel agents that they will not levy the transaction fee on air tickets from November 25. This means tickets will be Rs 350 to Rs 10,000 cheaper of bought from the airline office or website. In all, 16 carriers have shifted to the zero-commission mode. The decision of the airlines might leave 1 million people employed with over 2,000 IATA affiliated travel agencies without jobs.
According to top sources, the government is all prepared to lower the prices of diesel, petrol and cooking gas after the polling is over for the last phase of Jammu and Kashmir Assembly elections on December 24. As the global crude prices have dipped to $55 per barrel now, petroleum ministry officials say even a Rs 2 to Rs 3 per litre cut in diesel prices would bring down inflation 60 to 70 basis points (100 basis points is equal to one percentage point).
Indian Oil raised prices of commercial LPG, sold in 19 kg cylinders, to Rs 1,108.5 per cylinder on Nov 1, from Rs 1,095.24 per cylinder on Oct 1. Commercial LPG is not subsidised and oil companies revise their prices in line with international prices on the first of every month. "Commercial LPG prices are expected to go up in December too," said an IO official. But prices of automobile LPG have come down by around 5.34 per cent on Nov 1 compared with prices on Oct 1.
These so-called 'negative crack spreads' have huge implications for India, which imports crude oil and exports petroleum products. Brent crude oil, the international oil benchmark, was trading at $62 a barrel on Thursday.
The decision comes after Australian mining major BHP Billiton said it would not improve the terms of its bid. BHP Billiton, the largest mining company in the world, and new entrant GVK Oil and Gas were the sole bidders for five deepwater blocks and hence the provisional winners after the bidding closed on June 30 this year.
Eighteen candidates from state-owned companies have applied for the post of chairman and managing director of the country's largest gas marketer, GAIL India, nine months before the incumbent retires.
By cutting international flights, Indian firms forefeit market share.
Most travel agents in India have refused to levy the transaction fees of Rs 350-10,000 on air passengers.
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