20. February 2007


Date: 20. Feb. 2007
Faced with steep rise in pilot salaries over the past couple of years, airlines have asked the finance minister for income-tax sops for expat pilots working in the country. In a pre-budget note to FM, airlines have requested the government not to tax foreign pilots under Indian income-tax laws but treat them as scarce technical manpower. If accepted, this will help the domestic airlines to cut their wage bill for foreign pilots by around one-third.
Currently, airlines bear the tax component that foreign pilots pay on any income earned in India. Airline companies have cited a now-defunct section of the I-T Act, — Sec 10 (6) vii I-T Act 1961 — which gave foreign technicians tax exemption for a period of 36 months from date of arrival in India. “This helped several industries to develop necessary skilled manpower personnel,” airlines said in a note to FM. “
The exemption would help airlines to attract foreign pilots and engineers, till the time adequate pool of local talent is available,” said Air Deccan MD GR Gopinath. Currently, over 550 expat pilots work in various domestic airlines in the country.
As per industry estimates, the country needs over 3,000 pilots over the next three to five years. Given the shortage of pilots in the country, the number of expat pilots is expected to swell in the coming months. In the first three months of the current calendar year alone, Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) is expected allow another 250 foreign pilots to fly in the country.
Airlines, typically, pay anywhere between $8,000-$10,000 per month to expat pilots, which is around 10-15% more than what Indian pilots earn. In addition, airlines also foot the bill for the tax that foreign pilots incur while working in the country, apart from their expenses incurred on travel, boarding and lodging. As per income-tax law, any foreigner who stays and works in the country for more than 182 days in a year is liable to pay income-tax.
With airlines on an fleet expansion spree, the intake of expat pilots is likely to go up drastically. The country produces only around 200 pilots annually against a demand for around 500. Air Deccan, which alone has around 250 expat pilots and 200 foreign engineers, is likely to save around Rs 3 crore per month, if the exemption is granted in the forthcoming Budget.
State carriers Air India and Indian too are ramping up their intake of foreign pilots in the coming months as they take delivery of new aircraft. Indian carriers are slated to add 400 more aircraft into their fleet over the next five years.
Source: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com


Date: 20. Feb. 2007
Air Canada's decision to kill the only direct flight to India in favour of expanding service to China has provoked anger in the Indo-Canadian business community.
The Canadian national airline confirmed Friday it would be discontinuing all direct flights between Toronto and New Delhi in early May - a cost-cutting move, the company said, brought on by declining sales for the route.
The airline currently flies the route every day, the only non-stop flight between Canada and India.
The decision has angered many in the Indo-Canadian business community who claim the move is short-sighted and that empty seats would soon be filled due to India's mushrooming economy.
"This was a big bridge between the two countries that has been snapped," Kim Rathee, president of the Canada-India Business Council told the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC).
Earlier this month, Air Canada announced it would add a second daily flight to Beijing from Vancouver and increase the regularity of its Toronto-Shanghai route for a total of five daily flights between the two countries. The planes for the new flights are being diverted from the Toronto-India route.
Rathee told the Toronto Star daily newspaper that he was puzzled by the decision in light of a recent push by the Canadian government for companies to explore doing business with India.
"It's a lousy decision," he was quoted as saying. "It's a huge setback to the Canada-India business momentum because Air Canada was a very visible symbol of cooperation and business between the two countries."
Source: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com


Date: 20. Feb. 2007
Public and private sector insurance companies are forming alliances to bid for state-run carrier Air-India’s aviation cover worth $3.5 billion.
To counter intense competition and get better rates from reinsurers, public sector insurance majors — New India Assurance, Oriental Insurance, United India Insurance and National Insurance — have decided to float a consortium to bid for Air-India’s cover.
Private insurers are considering a similar alliance which will include Bajaj Allianz and ICICI Lombard.
Air-India has invited technical bids for aviation insurance for its aircraft fleet worth $3.5 billion this year, against $3.2 billion last year. The government-owned airline currently has 48 aircraft, the largest fleet size since its inception.
M Ramadoss, chairman and managing director, Oriental Insurance Company, said the consortium would share the risk equally. “We will be submitting our technical bids shortly, after which we will have to submit quotes for financial bids,” he added.
A senior Bajaj Allianz official said, “We will see the strategy of the public sector companies and then decide. However, we may form a consortium with other private players and submit one bid.”
Ninety per cent of aviation liability policies are reinsured in the London reinsurance market, where the risks are shared by reinsurers. The risk-sharing keeps the market on even keel, an industry expert said.
There are also a few lead reinsurers like Zurich based Swiss Re and US-based Wellington Re with large capacities, technical expertise and the ability to mobilise funds to dictate the terms and conditions, an industry expert said.
The aviation cover consists of aviation hull and spares liability policy, hull war cover, policy deductible cover and war excess liability cover.
Meanwhile, private general insurance company Cholamandalam has bagged the mandate for providing non-aviation insurance to Air-India. The non-aviation cover includes buildings, workshop equipment, infrastructure facilities and other ground support machinery.
The scope of the non-aviation cover is at least 25 per cent more in the context of the airlines’ capacity augmentation programme, but the premium quoted by Cholamandalam was 25 per cent less than the last mandate, a source said.
Last year, the non-aviation mandate went to ICICI Lombard.
Source: http://www.business-standard.com


Date: 20. Feb. 2007
Air Deccan will begin its flights from Mangalore to Mumbai from March 25.
In a press release, company stated that Air Deccan which has made a mark by providing service with minimum fare will begin the flight form Mumbai at 1.15 pm. The plane will reach Mangalore at 2.30 pm and it will leave Mangalore at 3 pm to arrive in Mumbai at 4.15 pm.
Air Deccan is the second biggest Indian low cost airliner and in 2006 it had 19.7 per cent of the market share. It has more than 300 flight movements in a day in 60 airports of the country, the release added.
Source: http://mangalorean.com


Date:20. Feb. 2007
Air Deccan, India's fastest growing airline, obtained dual certification for a Full Flight Trainer(TM) (FFT(TM)) manufactured by Mechtronix Systems, the fastest growing global provider of flight training equipment. The unit was originally acquired by ATR Training Center of Toulouse, France and placed in India for the training of Air Deccan's pilots. The FFT(TM) is re-configurable between ATR 42-500 and 72-500 models and features GNSS, Weather Radar, TCAS, EGPWS, and a SimAuthor debrief station. It is also equipped with a CAE Tropos Visual System.
The certification process was performed by the DGAC, the civil aviation authority of France, who already approved one similar unit for Toulouse-based ATR Training Center. The dual certification obtained is for FNPT II MCC and FTD Level 2 under JAR-STD 3A and JAR-STD 2A respectively.
Mechtronix' FTT(TM) fixed-based simulator supports ATR's new training platform called Advanced Aviation Training. This concept concentrates on intensive use of non-motion training devices and equipment in initial and recurrent training, prior to training in a full motion environment. The unit is a cost effective simulator that meets key standards and allows the execution of pilot training exercises to be conducted at home rather than incurring the cost of sending pilots to far away training hubs which utilize more expensive full flight simulators.
Mechtronix together with ATR Training Center recently launched an upgraded version of this simulator named Ascent® FFT X(TM), featuring collimated visual system, JAR STD 1A level D data package associated with motion cueing.
"With the deployment of this innovative and cost effective training device at our local facilities, we will enjoy many cost savings and efficiencies that will help us meet the immense increase in demand for pilot training," said Capt. G.R. Gopinath, Managing Director of Air Deccan.
"The FFT(TM) allows some pilot training exercises traditionally performed on a FFS to be executed on a more cost-effective training device," said Capt. Jean-Michel Bigarre, Vice-President Training and Flight Operations at ATR Training Centre. "Air Deccan will benefit from a very efficient training tool increasing safety, while simultaneously avoiding additional expenditures."
"Our company is a proud partner with ATR Training Center in the deployment of its new Advanced Aviation Training platform in India," said Xavier Herve, President of Mechtronix Systems Inc. "We like firsts and take pride in establishing the first use of an FFT(TM) in India with a world class user like Air Deccan that will save millions and enjoy even higher pilot yield."
About Air Deccan
Air Deccan is India's second largest airline. Operations began in August 2003 with one aircraft and 4 flights per day. Today it is the country's fastest growing airline flying over 300 flights per day, spanning the length and the breath of India while connecting 61 destinations. Air Deccan has the largest network in India and is presently operating a modern fleet of 40 aircraft. The company provides affordable air travel at very low costs to the common man and its vision is to "empower every Indian to fly". Air Deccan flies to a number of destinations, including unconnected sectors like Hubli, Benglaum, Vijayawada, Nashik, Jabalpur, Gwalior, Kanpur, Dehradun, Tuticorin, Hampi, Kandla, Kullu, Rajahmundry and Pathankot. Air Deccan plans to penetrate extensively into the deeper pockets of the country and provide low cost connectivity to all towns including the ones in the remote interiors.
About ATR
Toulouse, southern France-based regional aircraft manufacturer ATR is the world leader in the 50 to 74-seat turboprop market. ATR is an equal partnership between Alenia Aeronautica (Finmeccanica Group) and EADS. The ATR Training Centre (ATC) provides a modern and centralized facility for training of crews and personnel for the airlines operating ATR aircraft around the world. In 1997, in addition to its training center in Toulouse, ATR opened in partnership with Thales a training center in Bangkok. The Asian ATC is equipped with two Full Flight Simulators (FFS) for the benefit of all the Asia-Pacific regional operators.
About Mechtronix Systems Inc. (MSI)
Born out of the micro-processor revolution in the early 80's, MSI is a privately held company headquartered in Montreal, Canada, one of North America's aerospace clusters. Over the last 20 years, MSI has acquired the resources and capabilities allowing the design of intelligent machines, such as flight simulators. Relying on its unique and economically advantageous fabrication process, MSI is one of the world's fastest growing providers of flight training equipment. Its worldwide customers include major airline companies such as Alitalia, Copa Airlines, CAFUC (China), Japan Airlines, Lufthansa, and Northwest Airlines. MSI's newest addition to the Ascent® series is the FFS X(TM) full flight simulator, including the Non Zero Flight Time (TM) (NZFT(TM)) and the Zero Flight Time(TM) (ZFT(TM)) configurations. The Ascent® offer also including Simulated Aircraft Hardware, FTDs, Full Flight Trainers(TM) is an integral part of the Aerosim-Mechtronix Integrated Training Architecture(TM).
Source: http://biz.yahoo.com