02. January 2007


Date: 02. Jan. 2007
So far, you knew of fares based on per km rates only in case of cabs and auto rickshaws.
Now, you have the same system of fare calculation for air travel as well. Air Sahara on Tuesday unveiled this new concept of fares based on per km rates, under which passengers can fly Air Sahara at the cost of Rs 2.40 per km.
The Sahara Group promoted airlines, which is believed to be cash-strapped, has been marketing itself aggressively in a bid to garner a greater market share after the failure of buyout talks with Jet Airways. Air Sahara’s market share fell from a peak of 14 per cent last year to a low of 6.68 per cent in September.
Earlier last month, Air Sahara had kicked off a massive price war in the air, offering fares on an average 25 to 30 per cent lower than even budget carriers on key routes. The airlines had announced the re-introduction of its 30-day apex (advance purchase) scheme under which tickets on some sectors are being sold at a discount of up to 91 per cent over the regular fare.
Under this scheme, which will be open for 15 days, a Delhi-Mumbai economy class ticket can be bought for as low as Rs 925 as against a normal fare of Rs 9,515.
Air Sahara had earlier pioneered the concept of per coupon and per day. Under which passengers can enjoy up to 80 per cent discount on normal fares under the new scheme. The traffic on each flight determines the availability of seats under the new scheme.
The advantage is that these fares can be purchased anytime unlike the advance purchase fares where passengers have to purchase the ticket in advance.
Source: http://www.ibnlive.com


Date: 02. Jan. 2007
Air Sahara has launched a new concept of fares based on per kilometre, under which passengers can avail substantial savings on select flights on the Air Sahara network. Passengers can now travel on Air Sahara flights at the cost of Rs 2.40 per kilometre.
The traffic on each flight determines the availability of seats under the new scheme. The advantage with the new scheme is that these fares can be purchased anytime unlike the advance purchase fares (i.e. Steal-A-Seat Scheme) where passengers have to purchase the ticket in advance.
Passengers will have the option of availing the new fares based on per kilometer in addition to the existent Schemes, namely Steal-a-Seat and Solar Fares, as well as Air Sahara Unlimited (which is based on per day concept) and Sixer (which is based on per coupon) concept.
Source: http://cities.expressindia.com


Date: 02. Jan. 2007
Air Force exercises for Republic Day will affect flight operations to and from New Delhi — for a little more than an hour — till January 26. However, there will be no change in flight schedules on January 25 as the Air Force exercise will not be held that day.
The exercises, which kicked off on Saturday, will be held every day till January 24 and on January 26 — between 11 am and 12.15 pm. Civilian aircraft will not be allowed to fly over Delhi air space during the period, leading to rescheduling of some flights.
Though most airlines are yet to change their schedules, Jet Airways has rescheduled some of its flights to avoid passenger inconvenience.
Indian Airlines and Air Deccan spokespersons told HT that they were yet to reschedule any of their flights. Officials of other airlines could not be reached.
Jet Airways flights in several other domestic sectors have also been rescheduled as well as their operations in the Kathmandu and London sectors.
Kingfisher Airlines has also rescheduled a few of its flights connecting Delhi on January 21. Further rescheduling will be announced later.
Source: http://www.hindustantimes.com


Date: 02. Jan. 2007
In lieu with its plans to go international by starting flights to the US and UK, Kingfisher Airlines Limited (KAL) has tied up with Tata Indicom for one more leased line and virtual private network to ensure smooth transfer of data to its shared servers hosted by Sabre in Tulsa, US. Both will be functional from end January, says Samarendra Mohanty, manager - IT infrastructure, Airports, KAL.
KAL's data centers are linked to racks at Dhirubhai Ambani Knowledge City (DAKS) in Navi Mumbai. Reliance and BSNL transfer the data from these racks to Sabre server over leased lines or internet through the international protocol leased circuits (IPLC) via SITA SC. Sabre stores data for KAL on its servers, and also acts as its disaster recovery platform. The two companies use the Multi Protocol Label Switches for data transfer from the airports to the central office in Mumbai.
Mohanty explains that the additional leased line and VPN will balance load, scale operations of the data center, enable faster work and save bandwidth. "We are investing now with an eye on the future. When we expand and the passenger flow increases, the investment will come in handy. Our day to day functioning will not get affected due to want of infrastructure."
KAL is planning to switch over to VoIP in the next two months. Elaborates Mohanty, "We will first install the VoIP facility at major airports. The heads of all departments will be also be connected. The entire installation will be completed in phases."
The company will install direct televisions on the lines of DTH TVs, and internet connections on flights. While the TVs will be installed by the end of first quarter, KAL is in talks with Connexsion for internet connections. The two installations will be done via VSAT.
The airline is also in the process of implementing SAP across its offices. While the installation is in process, the procedure is at a user acceptance test level. Departments such as finance, payroll, human resources and material management will be covered under the first phase. Phase two will cover the other departments. The company uses Oracle for data center. However, it has no plans to replace Oracle with SAP, Mohanty confirms. SAP implementation will take a year to complete.
KAL will install RFID tags at the airports to track cargo movement. It is in talks with Singapore-based Mint for the project. "However, these tags will be installed only once KAL's international flights commence," he adds.
Source: http://www.cxotoday.com


Date: 02. Jan. 2007
Hungama TV is on a flying spree. The past week has done well for the channel in terms of numbers. In a bid to build the brand more, Hungama TV has tied up with Kingfisher Airlines to provide in-flight content.
The channel had recently seen a change in management when Zarina Mehta took over as the programming head in the wake of Purnendu Bose quitting the channel as COO. In terms of content, the channel has seen quite a few changes with the induction of new programmes like 'Full Toss' and 'Gol Gol Ghulam.'
The past six weeks have seen the channel grow in its share. Looking at numbers for the target CS 4-14 in all India market, the channel has moved from a 0.5 per cent in week 12 to a 0.81 in week 16 and 1.31 in week 17. With this, the gap with the number two player POGO has reduced. POGO has delivered a 1.66 in week 17.
The trend remains similar in the Hindi speaking market as well. However if the target CS ABC 4-14 is seen, the channel takes the number two position in the last week with a 2.01 per cent and POGO with a 1.95 per cent. Commenting on the upward trend for the channel, Ronnie Screwvala, CEO, UTV, said, "2005 will be a rather eventful year for Hungama TV on the programming and marketing front. On the marketing front while 'Full Toss' was brought to life through a nationwide cricketing series in April, the much-awaited Hungama TV Captains Hunt, now in its second year, would scan the best of under -14s in India to constitute the coveted board of 20 directors."
The new programmes on the channel include animation shows like Doraemon, Sonic X and Pororo. The channel's content will see some more marketing due to the tie-up with Kingfisher Airlines. Hungama TV would be one of the channels shown there, where in two hours of programming would be created, which would be refurbished.
"For an airline, it makes perfect sense to have a channel like Hungama TV, as a substantial amount of the traffic is family. On the whole, it would be good brand building step for Hungama as well," explained Screwvala
The programming would largely have live action content from the channel.
Source: http://www.exchange4media.com