17. January 2007


Date: 17 Jan. 2007
Kingfisher Airlines has reportedly filed an application with regulatory body in India to start “a no-frills subsidiary.”
According to dnaindia.com, it was reported: “If government sources are to be believed, then the “value” airline — chairman Vijay Mallya likes to call his carrier — is planning to float a no-frills subsidiary. According to sources, the airline has filed an application with regulatory body to start such a carrier. Besides disclosing that Mallya may register his low-cost subsidiary as Kingfisher Express, sources did not reveal anything further.”
The report added: “But Mallya flatly denied such a move to DNA Money.”
“I completely deny it. These are speculative rumours without any basis in fact,” Mallya was reported as saying.
The same report further added: “Industry sources view this as a counter move to competitor Jet Airways’ bid to acquire Air Sahara. As the only serious rival of Jet (analysts do not view third player in the full service airline segment, state-owned Indian, as a threat), the market was expecting Kingfisher to draw up strategy to ensure that Jet did not get monopolistic advantage in the market that would emerge post-Sahara-takeover. Jet’s market share is expected to shoot up from around 40% to over 50% with the Sahara buyout. The acquisition would also afford Jet immense economies of scale. There are also reports that Jet would hive off a part of its operation after merger with Sahara to set up a low cost arm.”
Source: http://www.m-travel.com


Date: 17 Jan. 2007
The promoter stake in budget carrier SpiceJet held by the Kansagara family has come down from 17 to 13 per cent after the recent fund-raising exercise in which the airline raised $67 million (Rs 295 crore) from several high-profile investors.
These includes the Tatas, who have invested $17.5 million (Rs 77 crore) for a 7 per cent stake, private equity firm Isthimar ($25 million), Goldman Sachs ($15 million) BNP Paribas ($5 million) and UK venture capital fund KBC ($2.5 million).
SpiceJet CEO Siddhanta Sharma disclosed the details at a press meet in Mumbai while announcing its new flights out of Mumbai to Bangalore and Hyderabad. "The Kansagaras have never been in the driver's seat or control freaks. It's a board-run company. What they would be more interested is the value of their investment," added Sharma.
The Kansagara had invested around Rs 80 crore, as part of the Rs 100 crore which came up to revive ModiLuft, the value of which has appreciated to roughly Rs 200 crore today, says an industry analyst.
The airline has issued 67 million new shares at Rs 51.36, which has increased its equity base from Rs 185 crore to Rs 242 crore.
As a result of the equity dilution, the stake of director Ajay Singh in the airline has also come down from 13 per cent to 10 per cent. There were some reports that the Tatas may increase its stake to 11 per cent, which the Tatas denied last evening.
Sharma said SpiceJet had got offers from investors for $118.5 million worth of stock in the carrier that included the $30 million bid from Texas Pacific Group, which later withdrew from the sale for being occupied with the Qantas deal.
SpiceJet, which started flying in May 2005, plans to expand its fleet to 18 planes by December 2007 from the current 10. The airline, which had losses of Rs 34 crore on revenues of Rs 324 crore for six months ended November 2006, hopes to close the year (10-months ended March) with losses of Rs 55-60 crore.
Source: http://www.hindustantimes.com


Date: 17 Jan. 2007
As part of a customer relationship development programme, India's Jet Airways, has launched an Interactive Voice Response (IVR) based payment and ticketing service.
This innovative service has been launched through Jet Airways 24x7 call centres wherein customers can now book and pay for their E-Tickets over an exclusively customized and secure IVR system. This latest service will allow customers to complete their reservation with their credit cards through a secure gateway and instantly receive their E-tickets via email, subject to certain terms and conditions.
Owing to its self driven features, the IVR system is capable of handling customers credit card details and processing independently. On confirmation by the customer, the call is transferred to the IVR system, following which the customer has to enter credit card details. Once the verification is complete, the customer will get an automated response and the e-ticket is issued accordingly.
Information exchanged through the IVR system is treated securely and protected by Verisign and Thawte, by using the internationally accepted and industry standard powerful encryption technology. To further enhance credit card data security, credit card details are masked in the PNR / reservation record and are not accessible to the call centre staff.
The IVR system is capable of handling multiple passengers and multiple sectors which can be booked in a single PNR. In the first phase, INR or US$ equivalent INR fares can be booked and ticketed through the IVR system and will be available for all E-ticket eligible sectors within India. This service will be extended for other fares and international sectors in a phased manner and will also allow ticket delivery on cash payment in the future.
Booking and payment through IVR can be made up to two hours prior to the departure time of a flight and ticketing can be done for bookings made at Jet Airways offices in India only. Bookings done by travel agents cannot be used for IVR ticketing.
Tickets purchased through the IVR system can be cancelled and refunded through the call centre. Customers will have to visit the nearest Jet Airways office for any changes that require part refund or additional collections.
As part of another e-ticketing initiative, Jet Airways has also introduced an innovative “Pay Online” service whereby the service allows the passengers to pay for and issue e-ticket against an already created booking. The “Pay Online” service is offered to passengers holding a valid booking created at Jet Airways offices across India only. Transactions can be done in INR equivalent of US$ and this service is also open to passengers wishing to pay online using their credit card. The eligibility criteria and exceptions are similar to those of IVR ticketing.
The IVR payment and ticketing service is available for customers calling the following numbers in India:
022 39893333 – Mumbai
011 39893333 – Delhi
080 39893333 – Bangalore
040 39893333 – Hyderabad
044 39893333 – Chennai
033 39893333 – Kolkata
Source: http://www.asiatraveltips.com