The Aviation Herald is reporting the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) has issued an updated Emergency Airworthiness Directive (EAD) 2009-0012-E following two incidents involving Qantas Airbus A330 and A340.

These incidents were attributed to Air Data Inertial Reference Unit #1 (ADIRU-1) providing erroneous data. The EAD recognizes additional failure modes, that have been discovered in the meantime.

EAD 2009-0012-E : Navigation – Air Data Inertial Reference Unit (ADIRU) – Operational Procedure, requires flight crews of the Airbus A330 and A340, who experience failures by one of the three ADIRUs on board of their aircraft not to limit their actions to turning off the affected ADIRU off, but to completely de-energize it under all circumstances by selecting the IR mode rotary to OFF.

A first EAD 2008-225-E had been issued on December 18th 2008 following an inflight upset of a Qantas Airbus A330-300 near Learmonth on Oct 7th 2008. During this event a faulty ADIRU-1 had transmitted randomly faulty data producing unjustified stall and overspeed warnings prompting the airplane's systems to pull the airplane into a dive. Disengaging the ADIRU did not stop the faulty ADIRU from transmitting such faulty data. The resulting EAD required the crews to verify, whether the disengagement of the ADIRU was followed by the OFF light to illuminate and in case of this light not appearing to de-energize the ADIRU.

A second incident occured to another Qantas Airbus A330-300 near Perth on December 27th 2008 leading to the disconnection of the autopilot, but without an inflight upset. The emergency directive now suggests, that the crew, following the first version 2008-225-E of the emergency directive received the OFF light for their ADIRU-1, however, the ADIRU-1 still did not disconnect and continued to supply faulty data.

The full Emergency Airworthiness Directive is available here.

A video of the US Airways A320 crash on the Hudson river, New York, from the Coast Guard camera. The plane hits the water around 2 minutes in to the video.

I reproduce the report from Aviation Herald, which I find to be on the best in terms of facts.

A US Airways Airbus A320-200, registration N106US performing flight US-1549 from New York La Guardia, NY to Charlotte, NC with 150 passengers and 5 crew, performed a controlled emergency landing into the Hudson River after losing engine power shortly after takeoff from runway 04 of New York's La Guardia Airport. The airplane had reached a maximum altitude of about 3000 feet. All people on board got out of the airplane. 78 people received injuries and were treated by paramedics, most of them minor injuries. One man suffered broken legs, a number of people had to be treated for hypothermia. Several ships and ferries helped to collect the people which got out to the wings and slides, which served a life rafts.

A New Jersey Coast Guard video shows the last few seconds of slow down and the evacuation of the airplane, covering the time between 3:29pm and 3:39pm local (20:29Z-20:39Z). The camera catches the airplane 2:02 minutes into the recording at the time time stamp of 3:31:02pm (watch the most left middle section of video).

The FAA reported, that the airplane hit a flock of birds (geese) causing both engines to lose power shortly after takeoff. The airplane took off runway 04 and was airborne for about 3 minutes.

Passengers reported, they had barely time to prepare for the ditching from time of impact with birds to impact with water. The airplane was airborne, when one loud bang was heard, the airplane shook, both engines flamed out and emitted smoke.

In radio transmissions to Air Traffic Control the pilot reported bird strikes to both engines and wanted initially to divert to Teterboro,NJ before turning onto the Hudson River.

The NTSB confirmed the registration of the airplane to be N106US and dispatched a go-team consisting of 20 investigators on site. The French BEA joins the investigation with 4 investigators, EASA with one specialist and Airbus Industries with 6 engineers. On Jan 16th the NTSB reported, that one of the airplane's engines is missing but they can't tell yet, which one is missing. (Editor's note: an images of the airplane just before touchdown - see below - shows both engines attached). The airplane has been secured south of Manhattan, attempts are underway to get the airplane fully recovered out of the water. The FAA later added, it is the left engine missing. Again later the NTSB clarified their previous report, that both engines are missing from the airframe and both apparently detached after hitting the water.

In a press conference on Jan 15th the Mayor of New York cautioned, that they only believe everybody got out of the airplane. The number of 155 souls on board is not yet entirely ensured as well. So far they don't have reports of any serious injuries. Only a few were actually delivered to the hospitals. The captain walked the airplane twice after landing to ensure, nobody was left on board.

The radar track by New York's La Guardia Airport has the airplane appear on the radar screen at 20:25:52Z, reaching the highest point at 3400 feet MSL overhead the Bronx Park at 20:27:30Z, entering the left hand turn on 20:27:51Z. A Helicopter (registration N461SA) is at that time tracking north over the Hudson River at 1000 feet MSL. The A320 leaves the turn at 20:28:27Z, reaches the George Washington Bridge at 20:28:53Z at 1300 feet, while the helicopter at that point descends to 800 feet and starts to turn right onto Manhattan, the Airbus also swerves right for a moment. At 20:29:10Z the aircraft are clear of each other. The last radar return of the aircraft is received at 500 feet MSL at 15:29:50Z.

There are large bird sanctuaries underneath the departure path of runway 04 respective approach path runway 22 like Rikers Island, Clason Point Park, Hunts Point Riverside Park or Barretto Point Park.

A marvelous article about the ditching including an extensive statement by Eric Moody, captain of the British Airways Boeing 747-200 flight BA-009 losing all 4 engines while flying into volcanic ashes overhead Indonesia in 1982, has appeared in the regional Scottish newspaper "The Scotsman".

On Sep 15th 1988 an Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737-200 registration ET-AJA collided with a flock of pigeons at about 200 feet AGL while taking off from Ethiopia's airport Bahar Dar. Both engines failed some time later resulting in a belly crash landing. 35 of the 104 occupants lost their lives.

Another very similiar accident happened to Scandinavian Airlines flight 751, a MD-81 registration OY-KHO on December 27th 1991, when during takeoff from Stockholm both engines failed as result of ice coming off the main wings and hitting the engines. All 129 people on board survived, 2 of them with serious injuries and 23 with minor injuries.

At least temporary total power losses (incomplete list):
Dec 28th 1978: United DC68 registration N8082U near Portland,OR (USA), fuel starvation
Jun 24th 1982: British Airways B742 registration G-BDXH over West Java (Indonesia), volcanic ashes
Jul 23rd 1983: Air Canada B762 registration C-GAUN ("Gimli Glider") near Gimli (Canada), fuel starvation
Mar 31st 1986: United B762 registration N609UA near San Francisco,CA (USA), dual flame out
Jun 30th 1987: Delta B762 registration N103DA near Los Angeles,CA (USA), fuel inadvertently turned off
Sep 15th 1988: Ethiopian B732 registration ET-AJA at Bahar Dar (Ethiopia), multiple bird strikes
Sep 03rd 1989: Varig B732 registration PP-VMK over Brazil, wrong heading
Dec 15th 1989: KLM B744 registration PH-BFC near Anchorage,AK (USA), volcanic ashes
Jan 25th 1990: Avianca B703 at New York,NY (USA), fuel starvation
Dec 27th 1991: Scandinavian MD81 registration OY-KHO at Stockholm (Sweden), ice ingestion
Nov 15th 1993: Indian Airlines A30B registration VT-EDV near Tirupati (India), fuel starvation during diversion
Nov 23rd 1996: Ethiopian B762 registration ET-AIZ at Comoros (Union des Comores), hijack
Jan 13th 2000: Avisto SH36 registration HB-AAM at Marsa Brega (Lybia), ice ingestion
May 21st 2000: East Coast J31 registration N16EJ at Wilkes Barre,PA (USA), fuel starvation
Jul 12th 2000: Hapag Lloyd A313 registration D-AHLB near Vienna (Austria), cruise with extended landing gear
Aug 24th 2001: Transat A332 registration C-GITS ("Atlantic Glider") near Azores (Portugal), fuel leak
Aug 16th 2005: Tuninter AT72 registration TS-LBB near Sicily (Italy), wrong fuel gauge
Jan 17th 2008: British Airways B772 registration G-YMMM at Heathrow,EN (UK), yet unexplained engine roll down

It is also suspected, that a Ryanair Boeing 737-800 registration EI-DYG lost all power following multiple bird strikes on approach into Rome Ciampino (Italy) on Nov 10th 2008.

Congratulations to the pilot for a great landing on water.

We all curse the express companies for wrong deliveries, but this story near my home-town in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex, sure had me in stitches. Happy new year!!!!!

UPS delivers, but not always to the right address, a Denton man discovered Monday when he found a lot of green inside a package dropped on his porch by the men in brown.

The man took the package to Denton police later that night, police spokesman Officer Ryan Grelle said. It contained a 30-pound brick of compressed marijuana with a street value of $10,500.

UPS mistakenly delivered it to the Denton house about 8 p.m., Grelle said. The resident was not at home at the time and opened it when he returned.

“He was expecting tools that he had ordered from Sears,” Grelle said. “He opened it up and thought, ‘Oh my.’ He loaded it up and brought it to the police department.”

Grelle said the package, which apparently came from Pharr, Texas and was handled by a UPS branch in McAllen on Jan. 6, wasn’t addressed to the Denton man whose porch it landed. It carried an address in Dallas. But there was no such address in Dallas, so someone at the package delivery service decided it must be meant for a similar address in Denton, the officer said.

The case is still under investigation.

Read the full story here.

Airbus yesterday, commenced construction of the A350 XWB (eXtra Wide Body) Final Assembly Line (FAL), completing the second key milestone towards delivering the aircraft in 2013 to launch customer Qatar Airways.

Last month Airbus froze the design for the jetliner's first family member - the A350-900, allowed Airbus teams to begin component-level work, and preparing for the production of tooling and parts.

Didier Evrard, Airbus' Head of the A350 XWB programme said the A350 XWB is on track for its commercial service entry in 2013.

Final assembly of the A350 is slated to begin in 2011. The 74,000 square metre, €140 million ($184 million) FAL facility will be adjacent to the existing A320 and A330/A340 production lines, and will deliver significant efficiencies to the Airbus' production process when it is delivered in the third quarter of 2010.

The FAL will have a capacity of more than 10 A350s per month. Designed to provide a highly eco-efficient workspace, the building will produce about 55 per cent of its own energy using 22,000 square metres of roof-mounted solar panels, while also applying the maximum use of natural lighting.

Airbus is radically optimising its production process in the new FAL. The new assembly process will reduce the time from the start of final assembly to delivery to around 2.5 months, a 30 per cent reduction compared to the existing A330/A340 process. Airbus will commence the cabin furnishing earlier in the process in parallel with final assembly.

At present production is sequenced so that structural assembly is followed by power-on and then the aircraft moves to another station for interior installation and completion. On the A350, power-on will occur ahead of wing join-up, allowing cabin integration to begin in parallel with the remainder of the assembly process.

Once assembly and initial cabin installation is complete, aircraft will move to the existing A330/A340 furnishing building for the remainder of the cabin equipping process and aircraft testing.

This video animation should give you a better idea.

See the Airbus A350 XWB mini-site for full coverage of the A350 XWB final assembly line's ground-breaking ceremony.

Passengers departing from Bengaluru International Airport can enjoy wireless internet access.

Inside the terminal, using your GSM cell phone, send an SMS "WIFI BIAL" to 56677 and you will receive the wi-fi password on your cellphone. The speed is quite decent.

Alternately in the departure hall, fire up your laptop, switch on your wi-fi, open your browser and follow the on-screen instructions.

There is an FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) page at the airport website.

Aviation Herald is reporting that

Transport Canada, the Canadian Ministry acting as Aviation Authority, have issued Airworthiness Directive (AD) CF-2008-33R1 on Jan 9th 2009, which addresses the issue of frequent flaps problems encountered on Canadair Regionaljets CRJ-100 and CRJ-200. The airworthiness directive was adopted by the European Aviation Safety Agency EASA on January 13th 2009.

The directive states: "An excessive wear condition was identified regarding end-play between the flap actuator and ball screw. Excessive wear of the screw and ball nut could potentially lead to a flap system jam."

The airworthiness directive replaces an earlier directive CF-2008-33, which had been issued on November 5th 2008.

The Aviation Herald had counted 16 incidents involving flaps problems on CRJ-200s during December 2008 and January 2009 (to date), which raised significant concerns, as stuck flaps produce higher landing speeds, increased required landing distances and thus pose additional risks.

The Aviation Herald asked Bombardier for comment on the flaps issue in early January, however received no reply to date.

In India, JetLite (formerly Air Sahara) operates seven CRJ-200.

Singapore Airlines is reducing operations from Singapore to Mumbai and New Delhi, while Dragonair is cutting back on its Hong Kong Bangalore route.

Singapore - Mumbai
SQ422/SQ423, service is reduced from a daily to five a week (Daily except Tuesday and Thrursday) from February 9, 2009. Service operates with a Boeing 777-200.

Overall frequency to Mumbai reduced to 12 weekly from 14 weekly.

Singapore - Delhi
SQ406/SQ407, service reduced from a daily to six a week, operating Daily except Tuesday from February 6, 2009 to March 2, 2009. From March 3, 2009, service will operate Daily except Wednesday. Service operates with a Boeing 777-200

Overall frequency reduced to 13 weekly

Dragonair is reducing its Hong Kong - Bangalore service is reducing from a daily to five a week, operating daily except Thursday and Sunday, between February 9, 2009 and March 7, 2009. Service operates with an Airbus A330-300.

A mere 16 months after launching services with the Airbus A380 superjumbo, Singapore Airlines is expecting to fly its one millionth A380 customer in February 2009.

Singapore Airlines was the first airline in the world to fly the Airbus A380 super-jumbo, the world’s largest passenger aircraft, when it began commercial services between Singapore and Sydney in October 2007. The Airline is expecting to welcome its first millionth customer on-board the A380 within the next six weeks, and is planning to surprise the customer and other customers on the flight with a series of goodies, and what a set of goodies it will be.......

The lucky millionth customer will be greeted with the news upon check-in and a special package. Beyond the enhanced in-flight experience, the winner will get to enjoy a host of prizes at the destination, including a three-night stay at a luxury hotel and a chauffeur-driven limousine ride to the hotel, experiences at top-class restaurants as well as a series of other goodies to take away.

The millionth passenger's fellow travellers will also enjoy the occasion with special Singapore Airlines giveaways, and champagne in all three classes. I am confused by this. First and business class passengers are served champagne on-board already. First Class passengers are served their choice of Krug or Dom Perignon, no less.

Singapore Airlines has six aircraft in fleet now, flying daily between Singapore and Sydney, Singapore and Tokyo, and twice daily between Singapore and London. Since its launch, the A380 has clocked over 20,000 flying hours on more than 2000 commercial flights.

In addition to Singapore Airlines, Emirates has four, and Qantas three. With Qantas launching London Heathrow service very soon, the airport will have the distinction of receiving A380 from all the three A380 operators.

Jet Airways procured ten ultra-luxuriously appointed Boeing 777-300ERs for its ambitious international expansion. It even won awards for its international first class, featuring private suites.

Now those plans are in tatters, and Jet has abandoned its international ambitions, at least for the foreseeable future. Recently TravelBizMonitor reported

Jet Airways, has dropped its expansion plan, especially plans of expanding overseas informed a top official source of the airline. “We have dropped plans for overseas expansion for the time being. Now our focus will be on consolidation. In the domestic markets also, we are reducing capacity. We are also going slow on the acquisition of new aircraft,” said the source. As part of their cost-cutting plan, Jet Airways may also resort to leasing out their fleet.

Jet Airways/Turkish THY/Gulf Air
Boeing 777-300ER seat map.
The "may lease out its fleet" is already an "is leasing out its fleet". Turkish Airlines THY is already reaping the benefit of the three 777s it has leased from Jet. THY has been enjoying unprecedented success with its 777, and a possible fourth Jet 777 is rumoured expected to join THY soon.

Now, Business Traveller and Air Transport Intelligence are reporting, Bahrain based, Gulf Air is expected to lease four Jet Airways Boeing 777-300ERs, which it will introduce on routes including London Heathrow from March.

Gulf Air chief executive Bjorn Naf has said the carrier would take all four 312-seat 777s this year, and lease them for around three years. While Naf declined to identify the source of the aircraft, it is certainly Jet Airways. Gulf Air has already leased two Airbus A330s from Jet Airways, which has also been actively seeking to lease out its 777-300ERs to generate desperately needed cash.

The 777s would potentially serve as a replacement for a few of Gulf Air's current A340-300s.

It is unclear whether the aircraft will be "wet leased" i.e. along with the crew, as in the case of Turkish THY, or a "dry" aircraft only lease.

Jet Airways has seven Boeing 777-300ERs and nine Airbus A330-200s left in its fleet after the first round of leases to Gulf and THY. After this Gulf Air deal, it will have only three 777s left in its fleet. That will surely require some more route and capacity rationalisation by Jet on its existing international operations. Talks with Oman Air for lease of Jet Airways aircraft, are also expected to fructify very soon, and passengers in India can expect to bid adieu to Jet Airways from the international skies.

In a repeat of THY, Gulf Air’s premium passengers are in for a treat, as Jet’s product includes fully flat beds in business class and private suites in first. (View a photo gallery of the premium classes)

After years of watching its rivals Emirates, Etihad and Qatar, expand their fleets with superior cabin aircraft, which forced a further contraction at Gulf Air, the airline will now be able to mount a serious challenge.

In addition to the Bahrain - London Heathrow route, Gulf Air is considering using the 777s on Bahrain - Bangkok and Bahrain - Kuala Lumpur routes. The 777s will also afford Gulf Air the possibility of serving the US east coast.

Incidentally, today is Makar Sankranti, a festival that signifies the beginning of the harvest season for the farmers of Indian Sub-Continent, and the only Hindu festival celebrated by the solar calendar. All other festivals are by the lunar calendar. Happy Sankranti to all Bangalore Aviation readers.

A Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) Boeing 777-300ER, registration AP-BID, performing as flight PK785, from Islamabad (ISB), Pakistan to London Heathrow (LHR), United Kingdom, with 435 passengers on board, had to return back to Islamabad airport, when the captain suffered a cardiac arrest one hour in to the flight, as per reports from Aviation Herald.

The landing was safely performed two hours after take-off. The captain was immediately treated and brought to a hospital, where he is now reported to be, in stable condition.

A replacement crew resumed the flight, which reached London Heathrow with a delay of four hours.

I forwarded my "eureka" moment to Dr. Vijay Mallya about servicing the Kangaroo route via Mumbai, given the imminent withdrawal of Qantas from the Mumbai-Sydney route.

He very kind replied, and my thanks to him.

Dear Mr. Agarwal,

Thank you for your email of 6 January, for your good wishes and compliments on the launch of our international operations. I am pleased to know that you are a member of King Club and that you are frequent traveler with Kingfisher Airlines.

I acknowledge your suggestion that Kingfisher Airlines should operate flights between London Heathrow, Singapore and Sydney via Mumbai and appreciate your insightful inputs. I would like to share with you that the network planning team is indeed looking at establishing the best possible network internationally, by efficiently utilizing our fleet of aircraft, in order to make the convenience and delight of flying Kingfisher Airlines available to our overseas guests.

I thank you once again for your patronage of Kingfisher Airlines and look forward to the continued pleasure of welcoming you on board our flights.

Cheers,

Dr. Vijay Mallya
Chairman & CEO
Kingfisher Airlines
A UB Group Company

But then, I came across this article in the Mint newspaper and my heart sunk.

Kingfisher postpones launch of two flights

The airline, which had started taking Hong Kong and Singapore flight booking in December, is refunding passengers or transferring them to other flights

New Delhi: India’s second largest carrier by passengers flown, Kingfisher Airlines Ltd has postponed plans to start flights to Hong Kong and Singapore from Mumbai this week, and is refunding customers or transferring them to other airlines.

Despite an economic slowdown and slowing passenger demand, the airline run by liquor tycoon Vijay Mallya had planned to launch a daily flight to Hong Kong starting on Monday and to Singapore on Friday, as part of its overseas expansion plan.

“Kingfisher will not start operating at Hong Kong International Airport on 12 January,” said Cathy Cheung, a spokeswoman for the Airport Authority Hong Kong, without giving details. The airline earlier this month pulled the flights off the ticketing system, said an executive at an online travel portal who did not want to be named. “They have postponed them indefinitely without giving any reason,” the executive said.

The airline, which had started taking Hong Kong and Singapore flight booking in December, is refunding passengers or transferring them to other flights. Kingfisher Airlines flies to London from Bangalore and Mumbai using up to three of the five wide-body Airbus SAS-made A330 aircraft that it took delivery of last year. At least two other A330 aircraft grounded at Mumbai and Bangalore airports since late last year would have been put to use with the addition of the two new international routes.

A Kingfisher Airlines executive, who didn’t want to be named, said the airline may finally launch flights on those routes in mid-February after its flights using Airbus A320 planes to Dubai and Colombo take off. One reason for the delay was a glitch in the in-flight entertainment system, this executive said.

Singapore’s Changi Airport said it could not confirm any dates for Kingfisher’s flights yet. “We are always in discussion with prospective airlines,” said Constanze Chia, spokeswoman for the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore, “and we will announce the commencement of new airlines at Changi Airport at the appropriate time when plans are finalized.” Flights from Chennai and Bangalore to Colombo, the Sri Lankan capital, are expected to start on 19 January and the Bangalore-Dubai flight from 8 February, Mint reported earlier. Kingfisher Airlines operates about 442 flights a day with a fleet of 87 aircraft.

Given the high lease rentals for the wide-body A330 aircraft, the airline has little choice but to fly them, said an analyst. Each Airbus A330 costs around $10 million (Rs 48.6 crore) in annual lease rental. “The three aircraft they have on ground will be utilized; perhaps sooner. You cannot afford to keep three A330s on ground,” said Kapil Kaul, India head for the Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation.

Cancelling a much publicised launch due to the in-flight entertainment system ?!?!?!? Naaaahh!!!!!!

I am afraid, Kingfisher is loosing credibility with this on-again, off-again, approach.

Getting passengers on the ultra-competitive Mumbai-Hong Kong and Mumbai-Singapore routes is not easy, even more so, when you are competing head on with Cathay Pacific and Singapore Airlines. While the lease rentals cost $10 million, flying the aircraft with less than break-even passenger loads would be even more expensive. Now that the peak Christmas-New Year rush is over, passenger numbers will dwindle drastically, and could be one of the reasons for the withdrawal.

More than 70 million passengers flew with Lufthansa and Swiss during the year

Lufthansa bucked the down trend in the industry and carried more passengers in 2008 than in the previous year.

In the twelve months from January through December 2008, number of passengers increased by 1.2 per cent over 2007, to about 57 million. Capacity was raised by 4.9 per cent. Revenue passenger-kilometres (RPKs) rose by 3.5 per cent, but passenger load factors declined 1.1 per cent to 78.6 per cent.

Swiss carried 13 million passengers. When combined with parent, Lufthansa adds up to more than 70 million passengers total, an increase of 12.2 per cent. The total number of flights increased by 10.9 per cent to 830,819.

The global economic slowdown had a deep impact on Lufthansa Cargo which transported 1.7 million tonnes or 6 per cent less cargo and mail over the previous year. The cargo load factor also fell by 3.2 per cent to 65.8 per cent.

The financial results of the Lufthansa Group in the 2008 business year will be published on 11 March 2009.

Kingfisher Airlines has announced its alliance with Hilton HHonors, a guest rewards programme for the more than 3000 Hilton Family Hotels worldwide. The new alliance allows members of Kingfisher Airlines’ ‘King Club’ frequent flyer programme to earn both King Miles and HHonors points when they stay at the Hilton Family of hotels. Hilton HHonors is the only guest rewards programme in the world that lets members earn both, hotel points and airline miles for the same stay and redeem points for free nights with No Blackout Dates.

“We are constantly looking for ways to provide our members with options,” said Adam Burke, Senior Vice President - Customer Loyalty, Hilton Hotels Corporation. King Club and Hilton HHonors members can earn Points and Miles in either of the following ways: Points and Variable Miles - earn 10 HHonors points and 1 King Mile for every eligible dollar charged to room at all Hilton Family hotels; Points and Fixed Miles - Members regularly earn 10 HHonors points for every eligible dollar charged to room and 500 King Miles per stay (100 miles at Hampton and Homewood).

Since earning Points and Variable Miles can maximise points and King Miles during longer stays and Points and Fixed Miles may offer more King Miles during shorter stays, HHonors members have the opportunity to change their earnings style with every stay.

In order to start earning King Miles and HHonors points, consumers can enrol in Hilton HHonors at Hilton HHonors.com. Hilton HHonors members need to then sign into their HHonors account and select Kingfisher Airlines as their preferred airline partner and ensure that they present their King Club membership card at the time of check-in.

In addition to earning Points and King Miles, King Club members who are also HHonors members can now convert their HHonors points into King Miles. For every 10000 Hilton HHonors points, King Club members can make an exchange for 1000 King Miles. Every additional or subsequent conversion has to be in multiples of 10000 Hilton HHonors points. In order to complete an exchange, members can contact the Hilton HHonors Customer Service Centre.

Air France-KLM Group, the world's second largest airline, has agreed to pay 323 million euro ($432 million) for a 25 per cent stake of Alitalia SpA.

Alitalia was put into bankruptcy on August 29, after two years of attempts to sell the 49.9 percent state owned airline. On December 12, CAI agreed to buy Alitalia’s main assets and to combine it with smaller rival Air One SpA before bringing in a foreign airline as a minority investor.

From tomorrow, Alitalia will operate as a new company. Air France-KLM will get three out of 19 seats on Alitalia’s board and two out of nine on the executive committee.

The tie-up is expected to deliver 720 million euro in savings and additional revenue over three years.

The press release from Air France-KLM

AIR FRANCE KLM reinforces its co-operation with Alitalia

Air France-KLM and Alitalia have reached an agreement to strengthen their partnership cemented by Air France-KLM taking a minority stake in Alitalia. This agreement will give Air France-KLM greater access to the Italian market thanks to Alitalia which, following its acquisition of Air One, has reinforced its position on the domestic market. It also links Alitalia to the world’s leading air transport group, thereby offering its passengers access to the most powerful network linking Europe to the rest of the world, henceforth organised around a unique combination of hubs from North to Southern Europe.

Jean-Cyril Spinetta, Chairman and Pierre-Henri Gourgeon, Chief Executive Officer of Air France-KLM stated “In view of the numerous challenges facing our sector, cooperation between airlines is becoming increasingly necessary, and this partnership represents an important milestone. We are happy with this reinforced partnership with Alitalia, which represents a compelling development opportunity for both our companies, and is in the interest of our shareholders, our customers and our employees”.

Terms of the operation

Air France-KLM will subscribe to a reserved capital increase for an amount of some 323 million euros. As a result of this operation, Air France-KLM will own 25% of the capital of Alitalia. Alitalia’s other main industrial and financial shareholders include the Riva Group, IMSSI, Banca Intesa and the Benetton group.

A lock-up agreement will be implemented for a period of 4 years up to 12 January 2013., During this time, no Italian shareholder will be able to transfer shares externally to the Alitalia shareholder group or to Air France-KLM. During the fifth year – between 13 January and 28 October 2013 – the transfer of shares to third parties will be possible, but only on condition that the other shareholders have not exercised their pre-emption rights and that the transfer is approved by Board of Directors of Alitalia. The lock-up will cease to apply only in the case of a stock market quotation starting as of the third year.

Air France-KLM’s holding in Alitalia will be accounted under the equity method.

Synergies

Air France-KLM and Alitalia have estimated a level of potential synergies which will feed through progressively. They should derive mainly from the optimization of the networks and revenue management as well as the extension of the JV between Air France and Alitalia and the implementation of a JV between Alitalia and KLM. These JVs will cover all traffic between the three countries.

For Air France-KLM, these synergies are estimated at around 90 million euros per annum by Year 2 or 3 at the EBIT level. Alitalia will generate total synergies of around 280 million euros per annum by Year 2 or 3 on its side, of which Air France-KLM will consolidate 25% by the equity method.

The operation will be earnings accretive for Air France-KLM as early as Year 2. Return on Equity on Air France-KLM’s investment will be in the region of 15% as of Year 3, excluding the positive impact of its own synergies.

Governance

Air France-KLM will be represented on the Alitalia Board by three members out of a total of 19 and on the Executive Committee of the Board by two members out of a total of nine. Elsewhere, a Partnership Manager responsible for implementing the partnership strategy and overseeing the generation of synergies will be appointed for a term of three years, renewable once, and will be appointed on a rotating basis by the two groups. The first such Partnership Manager will be designated by Air France-KLM.

Suspensive conditions

The implementation of this agreement is subject, amongst others, to the approval of the various competition authorities, including the EU, which could be forthcoming before the end of the first quarter of 2009.

On its 15th anniversary, the Airbus A330 is getting a major birthday gift, and from none other, than its major competitor, the Boeing 787 Dreamliner.

Thanks to the 2 year delay on the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, airlines who had previously ordered the aircraft, are rushing to fill the gap with the Airbus A330.

Qantas which has placed firm orders for 65 Dreamliners with options for an additional 50, has leased six A330's for its low cost subsidiary JetStar. Ironically, Qantas is funding the lease with compensation it is receiving from Boeing as liquidated damages towards the delay in delivery.

The story is being repeated by other major Dreamliner customers, like Singapore Airlines and Etihad Airways who are rushing A330s in to their fleets to fill the gap.

Two weeks ago, December 30, marked the 15th anniversay of the first A330 to be delivered. In 1993, Airbus delivered the first A330-300 to Air Inter, registered F-GMDB. The aircraft, construction number 037 test registration F-WWKE, is now with Brussels Airlines as OO-SFN accumulating a total of more than 50,000 flight hours.

There are some 250 A30-300s in service today, with more than 130 firmly-ordered aircraft still to be delivered.

A growing proportion of the A330-300 fleet is now employed on extended-distance regional routes, such as those linking Middle East destinations with European capital cities. Similar flight lengths characterise the segments flown between Australia and Asia or from Europe to North America.

In 2009, Singapore Airlines, Etihad, Gulf Air, Oman Air, Saudi Arabian Airlines, Aeroflot, Finnair and Swiss will receive delivery.

This is the 501st post on Bangalore Aviation. My sincere thanks to all the visitors and supporters.

From today, travellers visiting the United States under the Visa Waiver Program (VWP) risk being detained at airports and sent home if they don't comply with new U.S. immigration rules.

The new Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA) program has been made mandatory from today, January 12, 2009. ESTA replaces the written green I-94W form, previously used by visitors under the VWP, to enter the United States, without a visa.

ESTA requires visitors from the 34 VWP countries must now register their details online at least three days before departure.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has assured travellers that the system can handle last-minute and emergency requests.

Travellers are also advised that ESTA does not guarantee entry into the United States. The final decision rests with the immigration official at the port of entry.

For full details on ESTA, VWP countries, and related links, please read my previous article.

According to a report by DNA, on January 3, 2009, a Kingfisher Airlines Airbus A320, flight IT 335 with 86 passengers on board, landed at New Delhi Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) with just about 20 minutes fuel on-board, a mere 5 minutes short of a "Mayday".

As per standard aviation practice, flights always carry enough fuel for it's planned route to the destination airport, plus some hovering time, and for a diversion to an alternate airport. The flight left Mumbai at 19:45 with enough fuel to reach its scheduled destination of New Delhi by 21:30 and the immediate alternate diversion airports of Jaipur or Lucknow.

Winter fog is a problem for the Delhi area, and normally, airlines in India assign a CAT-III licensed pilot for flights that land in Delhi after 21:00, since these pilots are licensed to land in much poorer visibility, typically 100 meters. (A detailed explanation of CAT is below in this article).

However the pilot on this flight, Tariq Khan was licensed for only CAT-I, i.e. minimum 550 meters of visibility.

Seeds are sown
As per the article, minutes before landing, the air traffic control (ATC) at Delhi airport informed the pilot that visibility had dropped to CAT-III conditions, which meant the pilot would not be able to see beyond 100 metres. The source said Khan sought a landing at Jaipur, but permission was denied due to lack of parking space. Khan then decided to divert the flight to Lucknow as he had already consumed a lot of fuel hovering over Delhi.

When Khan was halfway to Lucknow, which is 55 minutes flying time from Delhi, the Delhi ATC informed him that the fog had lifted and he could return, the source said.

The big risk
The aircraft would have consumed nearly 45% of its additional fuel by this time. Instead of opting to land at Lucknow, refuel, and fly back to Delhi, Khan decided to head back to the capital.

Once he reached Delhi, he was ninth in the landing queue. By now, the plane was dangerously low on fuel with just a few kilolitres left in the tank.

The incident
Other sources indicate that the flight landed with only 940 kilograms of fuel on-board, which translates to about 20 minutes flying time.

When usable fuel remaining is less than 30 minutes endurance, pilots declare a "Pan Pan" or urgency. When fuel remaining is less than 15 minutes endurance, pilot MUST declare "Mayday" or distress/emergency.

A crisis was averted only after the pilot Tarig Khan requested the ATC, and obtained, a "fuel priority" landing, allowing him to jump the other planes ahead in the queue.

What Kingfisher says
Confirming the incident, Kingfisher spokesperson Prakash Mirpuri told DNA on Monday that the pilot did ask for preferential landing at Delhi as he was running low on fuel. The aircraft was in the queue for landing when visibility at Delhi dropped. The captain then requested a diversion to an alternate designated airfield, which was Jaipur. As the parking bays were full, the aircraft was diverted to Lucknow, Mirpuri said.

"En route Lucknow the weather deteriorated. Consequently, the aircraft was turned back to Delhi and the captain requested priority sequencing for landing," Mirpuri said in his written communication to DNA.

Kingfisher's flight safety department summoned captain Khan to seek an explanation on Sunday. Mirpuri termed it a "routine enquiry" by the department whenever there was a deviation from the assigned route.

Your view
Hindsight is always 20-20, but what is your opinion on the pilot's actions ?

Share your thoughts via a comment.

My view

1. While I agree the pilot took some risks, we must consider the following Weather at Delhi was clear when the flight took off from Mumbai
2. 9pm-12mid night is rush hour at Delhi, obviously the flight must have been in a hold. The visibility dropped during this time
3. The pilot has diverted to Lucknow as per procedure. Half way there, he is informed Delhi is back to Cat-I visibility. Was he explicitly informed of the queue ? If yes, he deserves to be hanged, but no commercial pilot I know, is that reckless.
4. So that will imply the pilot was informed about the queue, only when he reached Delhi a second time.
5. At this point he has no choice. As per procedure, he declares a PAN PAN PAN, requests and is given a priority landing. Perfectly as per operating procedures.
   

Explanation of ILS (instrument landing system) CATegories
There are three categories of ILS which support similarly named categories of operation. In each case a suitably equipped aircraft and appropriately qualified crew are required.

• Category I - A precision instrument approach and landing with a decision height not lower than 200 feet (61 m) above touchdown zone elevation and with either a visibility not less than 800 meters (2,625 ft) or a runway visual range not less than 550 meters (1,804 ft).
• Category II - Category II operation: A precision instrument approach and landing with a decision height lower than 200 feet (61 m) above touchdown zone elevation but not lower than 100 feet (30 m), and a runway visual range not less than 350 meters (1,148 ft).
• Category III is further subdivided
• Category III A - A precision instrument approach and landing with:
• a) a decision height lower than 100 feet (30 m) above touchdown zone elevation, or no decision height; and
• b) a runway visual range not less than 200 meters (656ft).
• Category III B - A precision instrument approach and landing with:
• a) a decision height lower than 50 feet (15 m) above touchdown zone elevation, or no decision height; and
• b) a runway visual range less than 200 meters (656 ft) but not less than 50 meters (164 ft).
• Category III C - A precision instrument approach and landing with no decision height and no runway visual range limitations. A Category III C system is capable of using an aircraft's autopilot to land the aircraft and can also provide guidance along the runway surface.

Source: Wikipedia