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Emirates plans to strengthen Indian operations
2007-07-14 12:00:00
Dubai based Emirates Airlines plans to increase the frequency of its flights to eight Indian cities from 71 to 85 a week in a bid to strengthen its Indian operations. The airline announced that it would introduce a third-daily service to Mumbai, second-daily service to Chennai and a further three additional flights each to Cochin and Hyderabad beginning October this year. "Customer demand for our services has been steadily building up and we are very pleased to offer greater capacity through frequency increases and aircraft upgrades. "With the introduction of the third- and second-daily services to Mumbai and Chennai respectively, our schedules will be more consistent and our passengers will have greater flexibility in planning their journeys," said Nabil Sultan, Emirates' senior vice-president commercial operations, West Asia and Indian Ocean. Sultan added: "Having fuelled strong economic and trade ties between the Middle East and India since the start of its services in 1985, E...
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Flat tyre delays Jet Airways flight by 6 hours
2007-07-14 11:56:00
A Port Blair-bound Jet Airway s flight 9W 629 was forced to return to Kolkata after airport authorities there refused permission to land with a deflated tyre. The tyre had burst during takeoff from Kolkata. The air traffic control at Kolkata alerted their counterparts in Port Blair after rubber debris were found on the runway by Airports Authority of India staff. The plane hovered over Port Blair for more than an hour, before returning to NSCBI Airport for an emergency landing at 11 am. The 164 passengers on board were back in Kolkata after nearly six hours in air. "The captain noticed a problem in tyre pressure when he activated the landing gear on reaching Port Blair on Friday morning. On informing the Port Blair ATC, he was asked to turn back as the short runway could have posed a threat to the plane?s safety in case it skidded on landing," an airport source said.The captain contacted the airline authorities in Kolkata and appraised them of the situation. After debating the situat...
More About: Flight , Hour , Hours , Delays

Fast food threatening traditional Goan cuisine
2007-07-14 08:58:00
Goan food is as famous as the beaches of the tourist paradise and its love for music and sports. But the unique cuisine of India's smallest state might lose its authentic flavour as the growing tourism and hospitality sector here reshapes it. Since the mid-1980s, Goa has evolved from a laidback state with magnificent beaches to a major tourist destination. This has led to the sprouting of new multi-cuisine restaurants to cater to the varied tastes of tourists. Anjali Rao, chairperson of non-profit organisation Indology-Goa, said: "The growth of tourism and hospitality industry has taken heavy toll on Goan cuisine, which is becoming endangered." She added that hotels serving Goan cuisine were forced to provide junk food because of its growing demand. As a result, traditional food could get "limited to the recipe books". "These days it is difficult to find a authentic Goan cuisine restaurant. These restaurants are on the verge of closure because they are unable to face the competitio...
More About: Food , Fast Food , Cuisine , Fast , Traditional

Fire breaks out at Goa's Dabolim airport
2007-07-14 06:02:00
A major fire broke out on the first floor of civil enclave of the Dabolim airport today. Administrative offices of three domestic airlines, namely GoAir, Indigo and Spice Jet and the executive lounge of Sahara Airlines were totally gutted in the flames. There were no reports of any casualties. According to the information, the fire broke at around 8.55 a.m in the GoAir office located on the first floor of the southern portion of the civilian airport terminal building and close to the apron. The fire then spread to the Spice Jet and Indigo airline offices which were attached to the GoAir office. Thereafter it also spread to the executive lounge of Sahara Airlines. After the naval personnel at the runway and ATC of INS Hansa noticed the thick smoke coming out of the civil airport terminal building, they rushed to the site with three crash fire tenders, two of which belonged to INS Hansa and one was from INS Gomantak. The Vasco police staff and the police personnel attached to the out-...
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Advance Railway ticket reservation period reduced
2007-07-14 05:42:00
The advance booking period of railway tickets has been reduced to 60 days. Earlier, any one could get Railway tickets reserved 90 days prior from the date of journey. The 60-day advance reservation would be in effect from July 15, 2007 according to a statement released by the Railway Ministry today. However, all the bookings done up to July 14, 2007 under the advance reservation period of 90 days will remain intact. While cancellation of bookings made beyond the period of 60 days will be permitted, there will be no change in the limit of 360 days for advance booking period for foreign tourists and 30 days for certain trains like Taj Express, Gomti Express, Shane-Punjab Express and others.
More About: Ticket , Redu , Peri , Tick , Reserva

Fire at two offices within Goa Airport
2007-07-13 14:27:00
A major fire broke out at a godown and two offices within Goa Airport today, the officials said. "We received the call in morning and fire tenders were immediately rushed there... The fire-fighting operation is still on and I am yet to get the report from the site," Ashok Menon, director, fire and emergency services said. The airport situated at the port town of Vasco, 40 kms from here, is under control of Indian Navy. It was immediately not known whether the fire has affected flights.
More About: Fire , Offices

Air Deccan connects Jaipur to Ahmedabad
2007-07-13 13:47:00
Air Deccan has annnounced air connectivity to Jaipur and Jodhpur from Ahmedabad . The company has deployed an Airbus A-320 with 180 seats for the flight. The starting fare for Ahmedabad to Jaipur is Rs 174 plus taxes. By connecting Jaipur and Jodhpur with Ahmedabad, the company is looking to cater to the growing demand for connectivity between major cities in western India. Speaking on the new flight, Air Deccan, CEO, Ramki Sundaram said, ?Trends in the industry indicate that people of Gujarat are avid travellers both on work and leisure alike. Overall, we have witnessed over 80 per cent load factor on all our flights in and out of Ahmedabad.? Air Deccan began its operations in Ahmedabad in 2004 connecting Ahmedabad to Mumbai. It was made the company?s 8th base for Air Deccan in November 2006. It has now added connectivity to six cities in Gujarat including Bhavnagar, Jamnagar, Rajkot, Vadodara and Kandla apart from Ahmedabad. In the last one year, Air Deccan has started its operatio...

India's airport charges second highest in Asia
2007-07-13 13:43:00
Union Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel?s dream to make Indian airports an international aviation hub may have to wait. India?s airport charges are the second highest among Asia n and Gulf airports, after Hong Kong, which is a world-class airport. International flights pay 33 per cent more than domestic flights landing at the same airport in India while airports of other countries do not have differential tariff. According to the International Air Travel Association (IATA), aeronautical charges should be cost-based with charging systems that extract only reasonable profits supported by complete, transparent accounts based on standard business prinicples. ?Though India is the second highest among Asian airport, airlines do not get value for money at Indian airports. Airlines pay more yet receive service levels that are way below those of Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Dubai and Bangkok,? said Albert Tjoeng, Asia spokesperson of IATA. For instance, Kuala Lumpur airport charge about $203 f...
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Air India eyeing partner for ground handling
2007-07-13 13:41:00
Air India is to tie up with international companies to form a joint venture for taking up ground handling activities at airports in India and abroad, the airline Chairman and Managing Director, Mr V. Thulasidas, has said. ?We already have a joint venture with Singapore Air Terminal Services (SATS) for doing ground handling activities at Hyderabad and Bangalore airport. ?The airline will seek expression of interest for similar activities not only at Indian but also international airports. The EoI should be issued either this week or the following week,? Mr Thulasidas said. SATS is a subsidiary of Singapore Airline that provides services including catering, passenger baggage, cargo and ramp handling, aircraft interior cleaning, aircraft security and aircraft linen laundry. Currently, Air India earns more than Rs 550 crore annually from ground handling activities and along with Indian, carry out more than 80 per cent of such activities at airports within the country. The move to find a...
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Indian flight hit by birds in Chennai airport
2007-07-13 13:39:00
An Indian flight was hit by birds while landing at the airport here Friday morning, delaying its departure to Delhi for nearly two hours. The aircraft, however, did not suffer any damage due to the bird hit, airport sources said. The Delhi-Chennai -Delhi flight, hit by two crows, would leave for Delhi two hours behind the schedule of 1010 hours after cleaning and a thorough check, the sources added.
More About: Airport , Birds , Flight

DGCA orders enquiry into Jet Airways landing mishap
2007-07-13 13:36:00
The Director General of Civil Aviation has ordered an inquiry into the skidding of a Jet Airway s flight from Delhi at the Indore Airport runway. 49 passengers were on board that July 1st flight when the accident occurred. A Jet Airways airhostess suffered injuries to her spine and 6 other passengers received minor injuries in the accident. The aircraft had skidded off the runway of Indore's Holkar airport, after its wheels broke while landing during heavy rains in the city. ?We are taking the incident seriously as we don?t want to make any compromise on safety measures,? said officials of the Quality Control and Air Safety departments of Air India, along with the DGCA who are to conduct a detailed probe. Preliminary investigations showed that the aircraft?s wheels and the anti-skid system were fully functional, as it was relatively new with only two years of operation.
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