21. February 2007


Date: 21. Feb. 2007
India's largest private airline company Jet Airways will make a stopover in Brussels for its flights between Mumbai and New York in the US, according to local media reports.
The service that is due to start this August will provide the first direct air link between Belgium and India, says INEP.
At present travellers to India from Belgium have to take connecting flights from other cities including Paris, Frankfurt and Amsterdam.
Next to the link Mumbai-Brussels-New York, Jet Airways also intends to start a connection between New Delhi and Toronto before 2007-end.
This connection will also have a stop over in Brussels, 'Flandernews.com' reported.
However, in the Jet Airways office in Brussels there was nobody to confirm the report as the management was in a meeting.
The tourism minister from the Flanders region of Belgium, Geert Bourgeois, currently visiting India, met Indian tourism minister Ambika Soni and the management of Jet Airways in Mumbai.
Since 2002, the number of outbound Indian tourists has annually grown by 12 percent. It is estimated that by 2010, some 11.5 million Indians will take a holiday abroad.
The northern Belgium region of Flanders hopes to get a piece of the large Indian pie. Figures show that between 2001 and 2005, the number of Indian tourists to Flanders region has risen by over 30 percent.
Bourgeois believes the new air link may well prove to be a strong incentive for Indian tourism towards Flanders.
The minister said that in order to promote the new link, he would encourage cooperation between Tourism Flanders and Jet Airways.
In this respect, Bourgeois suggested the opening of a Tourism Flanders office in India might be appropriate, Flandernews said.
'I am deeply convinced we can tempt the Indian tourist with our unique range of art cities on such a small surface,' he said.
Bourgeois further aims to highlight Flanders as a destination for war and peace tourism from 2014 onwards. The year 2014 marks the centenary of the start of World War I. There are many World War graves in the area.
Source: http://story.malaysiasun.com


Date: 21. Feb. 2007
Air India will be saving $150 million over 15 years by mounting advanced General Electric (GE) engines GE90-115B on its 27 Boeing 777-300ERs aircraft. The Ecomagination range of engines allow better fuel efficiency and lower operating costs.
V Thulasidas, CMD, Air India said: “We are spending large amounts on aviation turbine fuel (ATF), which accounts for over 35 per cent of our operating costs. We have bought the best airframes and new generation engines to become one of the most efficient airline with lowest operating costs.”
Thulasidas also signed a memorandum of understanding with GE for a broad-based environment-friendly initiative for the entire operations of the airline.
Its headquarters at Nariman Point, Mumbai, will be turned into a Green Building and its maintenance and repair operations will also be bought under GE’s Ecomagination programme.
“We plan to go for world standards in our utility services such as power distribution, lighting, water treatment security and sensing equipment in Air India House, in Mumbai. In the long run, our entire operations will be made eco-friendly and that will allow us to earn carbon credits and improve our profitability,” Thulasidas added.
Air India has re-scheduled its direct Mumbai-New York flight by two month owing to delayed delivery of its aircraft from Boeing. The scheduled flight will now start from April this year.
On the issue of merger with Indian Airlines, Thulasidas said: “A decision will probably be taken by the end of March, to create one of Asia’s top 10 carriers by fleet. All manpower issues have been resolved and to maintain parity of scale in the merger, a one-time cost of Rs 150 crore is expected to be incurred before the merger.”
The merged airline will have a fleet of more than 110 planes with an additional 111 on order. After the merger is finished, the combined entity will decide on the issue of joining the Star Alliance or any other global airline consortium to leverage better operational efficiency in international and domestic operations.
Source: http://www.business-standard.com


Date: 21. Feb. 2007
With the fate of the Jet Airways advertising account appear to be still hanging in balance (though industry sources seem clear among themselves that the business has gone to the Delhi-based M&C Saatchi), the media AOR has a clear winner, Starcom.
Part of the Publicis group, Starcom has been appointed Jet Airways' global media agency; the business will be handled out of the Mumbai office. A global account director will oversee the co-ordination between Starcom's international offices across the globe in developing a strategy for Jet Airways.
Starcom IP, will handle the global digital part of the business. According to Gaurang Shetty, Vice President-Marketing, Jet Airways said, "As we expand our operations internationally, we were looking for a media partner who can guide us through complex and evolving media situations around the world and offer us a true through-the-line solution. In Starcom, we found our partner. We are looking forward to working with them to in achieving our goals."
Manish Porwal, managing director, India-West & South, Starcom Worldwide says, "We really liked the way Jet Airways conducted the pitch with professionalism and transparency. They did not ask us to make a speculative pitch, which invariably forces agencies to over-promise. Instead, we showcased our work that has built other client's businesses and that is how they chose us."
Source: http://www.agencyfaqs.com