Albert Brunner to step down as CEO of BIAL

After 7 years, Mr. Albert Brunner will not be extending his contract with Bengaluru International Airport Ltd. (BIAL) which comes to an end in early 2009, and will step down as Chief Executive Officer.

Mr. Brunner who joined BIAL as CEO in 2002 is synonymous with the new Bengaluru International Airport. He is expected to take up another overseas assignment with the Unique Airports organisation, which operates Zurich airport, and is a partner in the BIAL consortium.

BIAL Chief Operating Officer Marcel Hungerbühler, will take over as CEO on February 1, 2009.

Marcel Hungerbühler has been the Chief Operations Officer of BIAL over the last two years and was instrumental in the start-up process and the operations of the airport. He brings with him 38 years of experience from the aviation industry and has held various high level management positions with Swissair and Swissport prior to joining BIAL.

Despite my differences with Mr. Brunner, about HAL airport, knowing him for over 4 years, he is a person, I have tremendous respect and admiration for. At a Rotary club meeting I was attending, a member asked Mr. Brunner, "What has your India experience taught you ?"; after some thought, came the answer -- "Patience"

With true grit, tenacity, and patience, over the last 7 years, Albert Brunner has guided the new airport project to a reality called Bengaluru International Airport. BIAL will miss his leadership. I wish him continued success and achievements.

Marcel Hungerbühler is an equally wonderful person. Very practical, empathetic, pragmatic, cooperative, and totally down to earth; but, I caution anyone, who would think Marcel is a pushover. He is tough as they come.

Albert has built the airport, Marcel is the perfect successor to run it. Congratulations Marcel. God bless with all the success.

DHL and Blue Dart open integrated terminal at Bangalore airport

Logistics majors, DHL Express and Blue Dart Aviation inaugurated a $25 million integrated terminal at the Bangalore International Airport. The 220,757 sq. ft facility will integrate the South Indian domestic and international businesses of both companies.

The facility, which was expected to bring synergies in operations, was said to improve services by reducing throughput time by 60 minutes.

Malcolm Monteiro, senior vice president and area director South Asia, DHL Express Asia Pacific, said that the Bangalore facility, would be followed up by similar facilities in the near future.

“Every time we have an opportunity like this, we will use it. Hyderabad is the next one in line. We are also looking at Mumbai, Delhi and Kolkata within a short period of time. The kind of investments that will go into these facilities will depend on the airports and the throughput in these areas,” said Monteiro.

In reference to the market slowdown, Monteiro said, that the express industry, which had grown at the rate of 19% last year, was expecting a growth of 10% - 12% this fiscal. The company, however, he said, was growing above the market due to the choice of its investments.

The company, which had increased market share by 1% to 2% last year, was expecting similar figures this year, said Monteiro.

The company, which had an employee base of 10,000 employees in India, was likely to experience a slowdown in recruitment but was not looking to cut jobs. “We will continue to recruit, but at a slower pace,” he said.

Jet Airways to stop Bangalore - Brussels service

In a shocking development, Alex McWhirter of Business Traveller reports that Jet Airways has decided to stop flying between Brussels and Bangalore, a route commenced just a few weeks ago.

Raja Segran, the carrier’s VP for Europe and the Americas, confirmed to Business Traveller that Jet will cease flights by January 12, 2009.

Along with Bangalore - Brussels, Jet will cut two unprofitable routes linking India with Europe and the US within the next two months.

First for the chop is London-Amritsar, which is used mainly by low-revenue leisure travellers. It will end on December 1.

After Bangalore-Brussels on January 12, Shanghai-San Francisco, will follow, which will be dropped the following day on January 13.

This last route is a surprise, seeing as Jet Airways is thought to be the best option, as it’s the only carrier to fly non-stop from Shanghai to San Francisco. The Mumbai - Shanghai sector will remain, however.

It means that from early next year Bangalore will be left with only four direct air services from Europe: British Airways and Kingfisher from London Heathrow, Lufthansa from Frankfurt and Air France from Paris Charles De Gaulle. The Kingfisher flights are performing very poorly, and even that flight is suspect.

“Right now all Indian airlines are losing money,” says Raja Segran, “so we are not immune. However we are probably doing better [than the others] and we are having to take measures [such as dropping the two above-mentioned routes] to come out of the financial crisis.”

Jet’s existing services from Brussels, to Mumbai, Delhi, New York and Toronto, will continue as before.

Committee pressure for Bengaluru International Airport face-lift

The Deccan Chronicle reports, the 21-member Joint House Committee (JHC) headed by BJP MLA Hemachandra Sagar, to look into perceived lapses by Bengaluru International Airport Ltd. (BIAL) wants a complete makeover for Bengaluru International Airport. But BIAL has baulked at the idea, particularly as the bill for the face-lift touches Rs 1,000 crore.

“The committee is of the opinion that the airport is functional but looks as if it was built in a hurry,” an official said. The members, who visited the airport recently, said they found it inferior compared to other airports in India and abroad. “The changes they suggested would cost around Rs 1,000 crore. With the BIAL partners already concerned over revenue loss and expansion plans on hold, BIAL is unwilling to spend,” the officer said.

BIAL comes under the Central list and it is the ministry of civil aviation (MoCA) which has the final say. Despite the fact that the state is a partner in the BIA with a 13 per cent stake, it has little say in the board. “BIAL partners are sitting pretty with the concession agreement which gives them all the powers to decide what has to be done with the airport. Therefore, BIAL has an upper hand in the tussle with the government. Though, the state requested BIAL to build a second terminal immediately, it was turned down, the officer said.

“The state, which has already given BIAL land free of cost and a loan of Rs 350 crore payable at the end of 10 years of operations at low interest rates, has to release additional funds if the image of the airport has to be lifted.” he added. The state has one option. It can petition MoCA to step in and set right the anomalies. “BIAL’s refusal to give the airport a new look may also lead to the state taking the extreme step of handing over the project to an interested consortium through global tenders.”

But insiders said MoCA which has not yet given BIAL permission for UDF collection may force it to go for a terminal expansion. However, there are limitations. Adding another floor to the existing terminal will be difficult as the design and roofing does not allow it, an officer said.

Germany first country to open consulate general in Bangalore

According to a press-statement issued by the German Embassy, “Germany will be the first country to have its consulate general in the Information Technology (IT) capital of India. There are already more than 120 German companies or Indo-German joint ventures in Bangalore.”

German Foreign Minister Frank Walter Steinmeier, will fly to Bangalore today, to open the first consulate general in the city, the statement said.

While news reports indicate, the Bangalore consulate general will issue both German and Schengen visas, the official website of the consulate general, indicated otherwise, as of the time of this article. The website continues to direct all consular services to the German consulate general in Chennai.

Full contact details of the Bangalore consulate general of Germany can be found here.

Germany has a long presence in Bangalore with large companies like auto component major Bosch (formerly MICO). Lufthansa was one of the first airlines to operate to Bangalore. The consulate general in Bangalore is long overdue, and will provide a boost to Germany's efforts to obtain investments in Germany by technology companies, who are already being wooed, strongly, by Belgium.

As the United States, the largest market for the IT majors, is being buffeted by economic turmoil, they are expected to focus more on Europe. Germany’s IT services market is worth $40~45 billion, second in Europe after the United Kingdom.

ISRO to roll out a rival to Google Earth

From the Times in London

Rhys Blakely in Bombay

Emboldened by its first mission to the Moon, India is to take on a target closer to Earth: Google.

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), which is based in Bangalore, the Silicon Valley of the sub-continent, will roll-out a rival to Google Earth, the hugely popular online satellite imagery service, by the end of the month.

The project, dubbed Bhuvan (Sanskrit for Earth), will allow users to zoom into areas as small as 10 metres wide, compared to the 200 metre wide zoom limit on Google Earth.

It comes as India redoubles its efforts to reap profits from its 45-year-old space programme, long criticised as a drain on a country where 700 million people live on $2 (£1) a day or less. It also follows in the slipstream of the country's first Moon probe, Chandrayaan-1, which reached the lunar surface successfully on Friday.

Bhuvan will use a network of satellites to create a high-resolution, bird's-eye view of India – and later, possibly, the rest of the world – that will be accessible at no cost online and will compete with Google Earth. If a pilot version passes muster, Bhuvan will be fully operational by the spring. There are also plans to incorporate a global positioning system (GPS) into the online tool.

The data gleaned by the state-sponsored project will be available to the Indian Civil Service to help with urban planning, traffic management and water and crop monitoring. G Madhavan Nair, the Isro chairman, said: "This will not be a mere browser, but the mechanism for providing satellite images and thematic maps for developmental planning."

There could also be commercial spin-offs. Experts say that Google Earth is being built as a platform for advertising that could be worth billions, and that Bhuvan will also address one of the issues taxing the web's biggest companies: how to engage users amid the mass of digital detritus that has accumulated on the internet.

Alex Burmaster, of Nielsen, the web analysts, said: "The amount of time that people spend online is reaching a plateau and websites are battling furiously for attention. Anything that relates to where a person is, saves a user time, and makes the web more relevant — especially geographically — is big news."

Isro officials say Bhuvan will provide images of far greater resolution than are currently available online — particularly of the sub-continent, a region where large areas remain virtually unmapped.

There are plans to charge fees for the most detailed information.

The agency intends to refresh its images every year — a feature that would give it an edge over its biggest rival and help keep track of the frenetic pace at which Indian cities are growing. A recent report by Gartner, the technology analysts, gave warning of the risk of relying on the "outdated information" used by Google Earth, which is now four years old and has been downloaded some 400 million times.

About 2.5 million people used Google Earth in Britain last month, according to Neilsen, making it the web's seventh most popular application behind tools such as Apple's iTunes (fourth with 5.7 million users) and Windows Live Messenger (first with 14.8 million).

Indian scientists will be mindful, however, that theirs is not the first country to take on the might of Google. In 2005, a French plan to create a Eurocentric search engine to defend against the "Anglo-American domination of the net", part of a €2 billion (£1.7 billion) raft of technological grand projets, fizzled without trace. Undeterred, a year later France unveiled Géoportail, its own answer to Google Earth.

At the time, Jacques Chirac, then the President of France, said: "We're engaged in a global competition for technological supremacy . . . It's time to go on the offensive." Bloggers quickly labelled the venture "another mind-numbingly stupid boondoggle".

Child Play Area opened at New Delhi IGI airport

DIAL has dedicated a "Child Play Area" at the Security Hold Area (SHA) of Terminal 1A of Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA).

IGIA is perhaps the first Airport in India to open a Child Play Area, which is free of cost.

The Child Play Area has been professionally designed with safe climbing structures, swings, balls, and other play equipment. Children can use simple, movable gear to play a variety of games. Airport related themes are displayed in the flooring & carpets. The theme of Child Play Area will keep changing from time to time to keep the interest of children alive.

As per DIAL, the Child Play Area is being appreciated by passengers traveling with small children, and positive feedback has been received.

One of the passengers of Air India, Ms. Neharika Singh, was pleasantly surprised to see the Child Play Area open at the terminal . “The play area is providing exciting and safe play equipment for kids. I have twins. My little daughter was delighted to see the soft toys at the child care lounge and my little son was delighted to see the play equipment here”, said Ms. Singh.

Earlier, DIAL had set up child care lounges at the Check-in areas of terminals 1A and IB. Child friendly equipment, such as a cupboard full of soft toys, baby cots, highchairs and sofas have been placed at the lounges. In addition nappy changing counters have been provided with the application of joyful, coloured cartoon characters in the surroundings.

Jet re-introduces Bangalore Mangalore, adds Pune Bangalore flights

Jet Airways, will reintroduce daily service on the Bengaluru – Mangalore sector, effective December 01, 2008, using an ATR-72 aircraft.

Jet is trying to target business passenger with a same day return facility. 9W 3561 will depart daily from Bengaluru at 0855 hrs in the morning, and arrive at Mangalore at 0955 hrs. On the return leg, 9W 3562 will leave Mangalore at 1025 hrs and arrive back at Bengaluru at 1125 hrs.

In the evening, 9W 3563 will depart Bengaluru at 1730 hrs and arrive in Mangalore at 1830 hrs. 9W 3564 will leave Mangalore at 1900 hrs and arrive back into Bengaluru at 2000 hrs.

Also effective 1st December'08, Jet Airways will further enhance its services to and from India’s the IT hubs Pune and Bengaluru. 9W 3559 will depart Pune daily at 0620 hrs and arrive in Bengaluru at 0820 hrs. 9W 3560 will then depart Bengaluru 2030 hrs and arrive in Pune at 2250 hrs. This is in addition to Jet Airways’ existing services operated by 9W 445/9W 446 using a Boeing 737 on this sector.

Image courtesy Jet Airways

Jet Airways first Indian airline approved to undertake Peformance Based Navigation

Jet Airways, has become the first airline in India, to have obtained regulatory approval for the use of RNAV1 (Area Navigation) across its entire jet aircraft fleet. This is subsequent to the recently introduced Performance Based Navigation (PBN) procedures in India.

Additionally, Jet Airways has also become the first airline in India to have obtained regulatory approval for the conduct of RNP 0.3 approaches at applicable airfields.

With this advanced technology, a very high level of navigational accuracy is achieved, thus enabling better airspace utilisation through stringent accuracy requirements. This method allows aircraft to operate on any station referenced navigation aids or self contained aids or both, thus enabling optimization of airspace, reducing dependency on routes based on ground navigation aids and permitting reduced separation between two airborne aircrafts, without compromising safety standards.

Accordingly, Jet Airways has trained its jet fleet pilots to operate these procedures.

Sanity Check: A Namma Metro link to Bengaluru International Airport

About 40 days ago, I had raised the issue of a "Sanity Check" on the proposed High Speed Rail Link (HSRL) to Bengaluru International Airport.

The issues I raised were :

• Sanity Check 1: Who is the target customer of the HSRL ?
• Sanity Check 2: Convenience
• Sanity Check 3: Close integration with Namma Metro and BMTC
• Sanity Check 4: Affordability
• Sanity Check 5: Financial Viability

In parallel, I began pondering, if there are indeed any alternate solutions.

One of the solutions I have come up with is using the Namma Metro itself.

The Metro depot at Bayapanahalli depot near the old NGEF factory, will be the first depot implemented. Expected completion date is 2010. At the same time, the Cabinet has approved, in principle, the expansion of the Metro Phase 2, which includes extensions to the IT centric hubs of Electronics City, and Whitefield.

My proposal is detailed below, and I welcome comments.

The route will commence from the Bayapanahalli depot or Indiranagar station which will the interchange point for the Whitefield extension. Proceed east till the Outer Ring Road (ORR). Go north/northwest on the ORR along the median, since there is no space on the sides. At HBR 4th block, head north towards Kannur and Bagalur, passing Bangalore International School. From Bagalur, a straight trip to Bengaluru International Airport.
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View Larger Map

The strength of my proposal. My own sanity check.

1. Utilises existing road or upcoming Metro infrastructure to reduce costs.

• The route will commence from the Bayapanahalli depot or Indiranagar station which will the interchange point for the Phase 2 Whitefield extension.
• Proceed along existing roads, so acquisition of land is minimised.
• There is an existing BMTC depot at the Hennur Road - ORR junction which will aid in the integration of mass transport systems.
• Opens up an alternate route along North East Bangalore, instead of duplicating existing route via Mekhri Circle, Hebbal, NH7.

2. Will be fast
While not as fast as the HSRL, the distance of 32 km, can be covered in about 40 minutes. The metro can operate up to 80kmph speed. Beyond HBR layout, with the number of stations reducing, the average speed picks up.

3. Integrates with the city
The HSRL is designed as a dedicated airport link and meant only for passengers. Without bringing non-passenger airport workers (employees, business visitors like importers, exporters, cargo agents, customs agents, etc.) on board, there is insufficient volume to justify the expense of the HSRL.

The Metro increases the catchment and will additionally bring in passengers beyond passengers, including cross town commuters, who will use the metro till HBR layout, and beyond.

The Phase 2 link from Electronics City to Yelanhanka, via city centre, Fraser town, Nagavara, Sanjivini Nagar will come though the centre of Bangalore, and can join up with the airport link at HBR Layout.

Use of the Metro will also accommodate the needs of the people at "airport-city" when it comes up.

A metro based airport line will also integrate with other surface transport mechanisms like bus and inter-city rail.

4. Decongests the city centre
BMRC has a lot of land available at Bayapanahalli, and by integrating with the existing Metro Phase 1, the airport traveler can travel on rail all the way from the fringes of the city where he/she resides or works, instead of coming to an already congested city centre in a car or a bus.

5. What about special coaches for passengers
Yes very possible. While the normal "in-city" phase 1 trains will commence with 3 coaches, the metro has a capacity of 6 coaches. 2 Coaches out of 6 can be modified with luggage racks.

6. City check-in (air) terminal (CAT)
While it is very much possible, but the question I pose ..... is it really needed ? Most passengers today travel light, not carrying more than 1 small piece of luggage in addition to a briefcase or laptop bag. International passengers, and those with multiple pieces of heavy bags, will in any case take a direct service like their own car or a cab.

In mainland Europe, the CAT system is prevalent only because there is an extensive long distance railway network. Even London does not have a CAT on its "Heathrow Express"

7. Are there proven models of my proposal
Yes. MRTs of Singapore, New Delhi, and London .

Despite having passenger numbers, the SMRT is essentially geared towards transporting airport workers, and those passengers with less baggage, for these two groups constitute about 80% of the airport traffic on a daily basis.

New Delhi is planning a dedicated airport link, in addition to integration of the Dwarka line. Delhi can afford having two links. One primarily targeting passengers, the other for the rest of airport travelers. Being the seat of government and host to the Commonwealth games 2010, brings its own largess, and Delhi has the passenger numbers, to financially justify spending Rs. 3,800 Cr. on a dedicated rail link. Bangalore does not have the numbers, nor the largess.

7. Other benefits
The line opens up a new avenue instead of duplicating existing connectivity. A successful train system is one that does not have buses running parallel to it, but rather, running to it, in a clover leaf pattern.

Currently the entire land between Hoskote, Kannur, Bagalur and Devanahalli, is lying unused. Much of it is barren and not conducive to agriculture.

By installing a Metro, it enables development of this entire segment, bounded on the west by the Metro, and on the east by NH207 which will ultimately become part of the Peripheral Ring Road/Satellite Town Ring Road (which ever comes up first).

Companies are looking to Bangalore, but cannot afford the high cost of real estate now prevalent in most of the industrial areas of Bangalore, enabling decongestion of the city centre, and moving Bangalore towards its stated goal of creating self-sufficient satellite towns.

8. Finances
I estimate my proposal for an over-ground airport link, will be in region of Rs. 3,500 - 4,000 Cr, significantly less than the HSRL.

Higher ridership with ensure better financial returns than HSRL, since the line will cater to more than just passengers, or even airport travelers, which in turn will keep the ticket prices affordable.

9. Weakness
My plan has one major assumption that presumes the cooperation and willingness of BMRC to do this link. As dynamic a person Mr. Sivasailam is, BMRC, might say that Metro should follow development, rather than precede it. The persuasion I offer is that the start and end points are already developed and so is quite a bit of the route. For areas near Kannur and Bagalur, the stations can be provisioned and constructed later when development commences.

Ultimately it is the chicken and egg story. Which will come first ? In that remote area, development will not come without some form of transportation.

The other weakness is Utopian ideals. I am assuming that the politicians will not "interfere". In case of the HSRL, being a separate entity, "interference" is far easier, than in an existing project like Namma Metro.

ATF prices cut to 14 month low, airlines pocket savings

State run oil marketing companies (OMCs) have reduced Aviation Turbine Fuel (ATF) prices by Rs. 5,580 per kilolitre (KL) in line with global reductions in crude prices.

This is the fifth cut in ATF prices since August 2008, when rates rose to an all time high of Rs 71,028.26 per KL. ATF prices have reduced by more than 30% during the month of November itself.

As of today, prices are at par with September 2007 prices, at Rs 38,163.23 per KL.

The reduction is part of the government's response to pleas by airlines for help. The government had instructed the OMCs, to adjust prices on a fortnightly basis instead of the previous monthly basis.

Airlines, especially full service carriers, however, remained non-committal, preferring to pocket the savings, rather than passing on the benefit to passengers.

They said they would watch the situation for a little longer before deciding on cutting fares.

A giant leap backwards for all mankind -- 5 years on

Between October 24th and November 26th, the five year anniversary of an event will pass; an event which Jeremy Clarkson described as "a giant leap backwards for all mankind".

For the first time in our history, we went backwards in aviation, retiring a plane, which had no replacement then, has no replacement even today, and has no replacement appearing on the horizon in the next 10 years.

Concorde.

Concorde was a supersonic passenger airliner or supersonic transport (SST); a product of the combined manufacturing efforts of Aérospatiale of France, and British Aircraft Corporation, with only 20 aircraft ultimately built.

At the time of her introduction, Concorde was heavily criticised. Environmentalists, the U.S. Senate and faceless bureaucrats -- highly intelligent people, so often found working in government, calling her a Golden Albatross.

The tens of thousands of people who flew her, over her 27 year history, have proved them completely wrong, giving Concorde a place in aviation history unmatched by any other aircraft.

Concorde G-BOAF.

When we see any other aircraft, we may say "there is A Boeing 747" or "A Triple-7" (Boeing 777), or even "AN Airbus 380 superjumbo", but not Concorde. For she was and still is, just that ... Concorde.

Flown by British Overseas Airways Corporation BOAC (later British Airways), Air France, and for some time by Singapore Airlines (painted half in BA livery and half in SQ livery), and Braniff International Airways, Concorde remains an icon of aviation history, known as "Concorde" rather than "the Concorde" or "a Concorde".

Whether standing at an airport, taking off, flying supersonic, or landing, Concorde was poetry, even giving a sense of supersonic motion when standing still; a majestic, supremely elegant bird. The drooped nose, delta wings, and undercarriage, uncannily resembling an eagle, whether soaring up towards, or in, the skies, or looking to grip the runway, while landing.

On the evening of 23 October 2003, the Queen consented to the illumination of Windsor Castle as Concorde's last west-bound commercial flight departed London and flew overhead, an honour normally reserved for major state events and visiting dignitaries.

British Airways retired its aircraft the next day, 24 October, 2003. G-BOAG left New York to a fanfare similar to that given for Air France's "F-BTSD", while two more made round trips, G-BOAF over the Bay of Biscay, carrying VIP guests including many former Concorde pilots, and G-BOAE to Edinburgh. The three aircraft then circled over London, having received special permission to fly at low altitude, before landing in sequence at Heathrow. The two round-trip aircraft landed at 4:01 and 4:03 p.m. BST, followed at 4:05 by the one from New York. All three aircraft then spent 45 minutes taxiing around the airport before finally disembarking the last supersonic fare-paying passengers. The captain of the New York to London flight was Mike Bannister.

For 27 years Concorde truly represented the radio call sign of all British Airways flights -- Speedbird. She was "Speedbird ONE heavy" from London to New York, and "Speedbird TWO heavy" on her return.

October 24th, was a poignant moment for me, along with the rest of world, who stopped and watched, this graceful bird take off from Runway 31L. Even today, my heart races, and then I sigh, with tears in my eyes, when I remember that I will never see Concorde in flight again, except in videos.

In tribute, the tower at JFK airport, had the same air traffic controller who issued the first landing clearance to her back in 1977, issue the final take-off clearance to Concorde.

The very final flight of Concorde was Concorde G-BOAF as flight 216 on November 26, 2003, when she returned home to Filton airport in Bristol, UK, where she was built.

As an American, I was very happy and proud that Concorde G-BOAD, which is Concorde with the most flight hours at 23,397, was to be displayed at the Intrepid Sea-Air-Space Museum in New York City.

© 2004 Metropolitan Transportation Authority

But I was ashamed to read on NYCAviation Forum, that my fellow Americans, in New York, could not look after her well. The image below, from the forum, is shockingly disturbing.


Write to the managers of the Intrepid Museum, and sign the petition to bring back Concorde.

For now, please enjoy some video's of Concorde's last day of commercial flight. If you would like to know more about Concorde, please visit www.ConcordeSST.com.

And to the bean-counters who cite economics, I give them a reason to have Concorde back .....

It is unmatched inspiration for the soul.

Images courtesy Wikipedia