German carrier Lufthansa has a practice of naming all its aircraft after locations in Germany.
Spiegel has released a photograph of Lufthansa's first Airbus A380-800 superjumbo D-AIMA, and it appears that the German carrier is naming its soon to be inducted aircraft after its home base "Frankfurt am Main".
Two weeks ago, India's Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) issued a circular changed the low visibility take-off (LVTO) minima for Category C aircraft (Airbus A320 family, Boeing 737 family) to 150 metres for all airlines from the New Delhi IGI airport. While the DGCA claims this move would not affect air safety, the circular has sparked an intense debate in aviation circles that this move has been done to benefit one particular domestic airline who is rumoured to be close to the powers that are.
New Delhi's IGI airport has Cat-IIIB ILS capable runways which permit landings in visibility as low as 75 metres, however, the LVTO minima was 200 meters for most airlines with the exception of three airlines, all of which operate the Airbus A320 family aircraft, Air India, IndiGo and Kingfisher, and who have spent millions of rupees on pilot training and aircraft equipment like ParaVisual Indicator (PVI) and Heads-up displays (HUDs) which enabled them to operate with LVTO of only 125 meters under the European norms of JAR-OPS 1. Now in one fell swoop all that additional investment has been laid waste.
The Boeing 737s that fly in India are not certified by the US Federal Aviation Administration for such low take-off minima.
As per the grapevine, on January 14th, a day of particularly bad fog, the passengers of the "well connected" private airline, which incidentally operates an all Boeing 737 fleet, were extremely upset when they saw aircraft of the three 125 meter LVTO airlines taxiing out to take-off, while their aircraft remained stranded due to its higher take-off visibility requirements. A major scuffle ensued between the agitated passengers and the crew.
This airline had applied to the DGCA for approval for it to operate with the 125 meter LVTO minima but the application was denied. It appears that wheels within wheels have been turned and over the weekend, and the DGCA released a circular within one one working day, that essentially overturned the ten year old 80 page Operations Circular No. 6 of 1999.
On what basis the LVTO minima has been made 150 meters for all airlines is unknown. An official, who wishes to remain anonymous, of a private airline that operates an all Boeing fleet informed Bangalore Aviation that prior to the January 17 circular they were operating well above the 150 metre minima since their aircraft and/or pilots were not qualified. Now they are operating at 150 metre minima thanks to the drastic move of DGCA.
This created untold chaos at Delhi airport for the week of January 17th, since Air India, IndiGo, and Kingfisher were forced to remain on the ground when they could have operated their flights.
"Our new circular is based on studies of international aviation practices, safety assessment and we had consulted the airlines in a meeting held on January 12. No where in the world is the LVTO below 150 metres,"
Mr. Zaidi seems to have missed on on the fact that most major European airports have LVTO limits as low as 75 metres as prescribed in JAR-OPS 1. In case of London Heathrow airport the LVTO minimum is decided by the airline dependent on the certified capabilities of the aircraft and pilot in its command.
This week onwards, Lufthansa Cargo has increased its freighter service to Frankfurt ex Bangalore and Chennai to four MD-11F flights a week by adding an additional freighter into its existing network in India.
Reflecting the growth of the Indian economy, Carsten Hernig, Regional Manager India and Middle East of Lufthansa Cargo said
“India is still one the most dynamic markets with high growth potential,” “With this latest addition we can offer our customers a wide spread of main deck capacity offer from the Indian subcontinent.”
Lufthansa Cargo currently serves the India with connections to Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Kolkata and New Delhi. Additional capacity is offered on passenger flights of Lufthansa.
Lufthansa owned, Swiss International Air Lines has connected one of India’s best known leisure destinations, Goa, directly with its Zurich hub by adding its “LX” code to the regular charter flights operated by its subsidiary Edelweiss Air.
The Edelweiss service has traditionally been geared towards incoming tourist groups. The code-share agreement facilitates booking access to these flights for individual customers.
From Zurich, Goa passengers can connect on to the global network of Swiss.
Members of the airline’s frequent flyer program Miles & More will accrue miles on this route and the ground services will be on par with other Swiss stations.
The once a week service is operated under flight number LX8958 with an Airbus A-330 aircraft in a 2-class configuration of 32 business and 275 economy seats. The flight schedule is:
AirAsia X has appointed Lufthansa Technik Philippines (LTP) as its maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) services provider for Malaysian carrier's fleet of eight Airbus aircraft which comprises Airbus A330s and A340s for three years beginning March 2010 at LTP's facility in Manila.
LTP is a subsidiary of Hamburg-based Lufthansa Technik AG, the largest MRO provider in the world and AirAsia X is an affiliate of short-haul carrier AirAsia, Asia’s leading and largest low-cost airline.
LTP will provide for the first year of the contract MRO services including four C-checks and a heavy maintenance check. LTP will also carry out several cabin retrofit tasks to comply with AirAsia X’s new premium and economy seating specifications.
In January 2010, an AirAsia X A340 successfully underwent a 40-hour layover involving a main landing gear seal change at the LTP facility in Manila.
Airbus has successfully completed cold-weather testing of the A330-200F in Iqaluit, Northern Canada. The aircraft was subjected to 'cold-soak' temperatures down to -30 degrees Celsius (-22 deg F) externally and to -27 deg C (-16.6 deg F) internally.
Kingfisher Airlines will launch Kingfisher Xpress, a new Door-to-Door cargo delivery service from tomorrow. Kingfisher Xpress Same Day service will be India’s first and only same day delivery by air service, with a money-back guarantee.
This service will offer a pick up facility in the six metropolitan cities of India -- Bangalore, Chennai, New Delhi, Hyderabad, Kolkata and Mumbai with a guaranteed same day delivery in up to 18 cities of India -- Bagdogra, Bangalore, Chennai, Coimbatore, Delhi, Kochi, Goa, Guwahati, Hyderabad, Indore, Kolkata, Mumbai, Raipur, Ranchi, Lucknow, Nagpur, Pune and Srinagar.
Commenting on the launch of yet another market-first from Kingfisher Airlines, Mr. Prakash Mirpuri, Vice President-Corporate Communications said,
“Kingfisher Xpress has been conceived with a view to serving the unmet needs of users who are looking for a solution which ensures that their shipment reaches the recipient’s doorstep on the very same day. Our confidence in this service reflects in our money back guarantee. Kingfisher Xpress will also offer a next-day delivery service across 20 cities in India”.
Kingfisher Xpress will also offer other shipping options such as:
Door to Airport: Pick-up of shipments from the shipper’s door step and delivery at the destination airport, to the authorized representative of the shipper
Airport to Door: Delivering the shipment at the nearest airport of the shipper’s choice and requesting for a door delivery at the destination across Kingfisher Xpress network.
Counter to Counter: Shipper can deliver their shipments to the nearest Kingfisher Xpress centre in the origin city and arrange for their recipeint representative to pick-up the shipment from the Kingfisher Xpress centre in the destination city.
Kingfisher Xpress’ has a dedicated 24x7 helpline 1800 209 1222. For more details about Kingfisher Xpress, please visit their website.
On February 4th, residents of Bangalore would be embarking upon a green initiative by taking the bus to their work. Leaving behind their personal vehicles like cars and motor-bikes at home, they will be eliminating the stress of sitting in traffic jams. The Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) is campaigning for this day long event with support from the traffic police, Information Technology companies and their employees, and members of Praja.in (a web portal for civic activism).
For the February 4th event, BMTC has selected the two technology corridors of ITPL and Electronics City.
BMTC premium buses route map for ITPL and Electronics City. Click on image for a larger view.
Given the response, BMTC has announced that Bus Day will be observed on every first Thursday of every month.
Praja.in members are looking at the Bus Day event to be an eye opener. It will definitely throw open the demand indicators, gaping holes in BMTC operations, systemic apathy for roadside infrastructure like lack of bus stops at right places, skewed planning and execution of TTMCs, pathetic interchange infrastructure, lack of willingness to spend on smarter IT systems for providing real time info on routes and schedules etc.
From Praja.in perspective, the solution for Bangalore's traffic woes lie in improving public transport, not unnecessary road widening projects. The consensus in Praja community is that most issues of today's traffic jams can be immediately addressed by targeting 'low hanging fruits' for which three organisation need to work in tandem:
BMTC to go back to their drawing boards and start planning to rationalize their current route operations and schedule. Start providing the basic amenities to their customers - commuters.
BBMP to start providing support to BMTC by providing the infrastructure on roads like locating the bus stops at right places, and increase 'walkability' by having the footpaths cleared of hawkers and encroachments etc.
Bangalore Traffic Police to support BMTC by according priority for the BMTC bus movements over cars and bikes on Bangalore Roads. Prohibiting private vehicles in some corridors, dedicated bus lanes and priority for Buses at signals and intersections, flyovers and signal free corridors are some of the suggestions.
