New Bangalore airport faces probe by legislators
August 10th, 2008 ICT by IANs

By Vishwanath Karnic

Bangalore, Aug 10 (IANS) The two-month old Bangalore international airport, a Rs. 25-billion ($625-million) greenfield project, faces a probe by a Karnataka legislators’ panel over alleged deviation in design and lack of sufficient facilities for passengers as well as visitors. “The new airport is no better than an ordinary bus stand”, “It is substandard”, “There is no proper seating arrangements for passengers and visitors” - these are the terms in which state legislators and ministers describe the new airport.

A consortium of Unique Zurich Airport, Siemens Project Ventures and Larsen & Toubro (L&T) has built the airport, with the Airports Authority of India (AAI) and the Karnataka government as minority stakeholders.

“There has been deviation from the architecture, style and design. It does not add to the image of Bangalore. There are no proper facilities for passengers and visitors,” Congress legislator D.K. Shivakumar, who raised the issue in the state assembly last week, told IANS.

Legislators from other parties supported him. The Bharatiya Janata Party government agreed to set up a committee of members from both the assembly and the council to probe the lapses. The panel is to be set up soon.

“I have raised the issue based on my personal experience at the airport and also because of complaints I have received from several people,” Shivakumar said.

“As a representative of the people I cannot sit quietly,” he said when asked why the alleged deviation and lack of facilities are being raised now, more than two months after the airport began operations.

“I am a former urban development minister. The design of the airport is different from what was approved,” Shivakumar charged.

When asked if there was any scope to change the design now, he insisted: “There are lots of possibilities to improve. It can be done. The legislators’ panel will decide that.”

On Wednesday Minister for IT and BT, Katta Subramanya Naidu, called the new airport, about 40 km north of the city centre, “a poor cousin to other airports of international standards, including the New Delhi and Hyderabad airports.

“The new airport was expected to enhance Bangalore’s image and also that of Karnataka. But it is nowhere near the expectation one had from it.”

He said if the airport management does not upgrade the facilities to international standards, the state government may invite others to take up the job.

While the management declined comment on the move for a probe by the legislators’ panel and Naidu’s near-threat, the response from industry and trade organisations was lukewarm.

“It is a ticklish question. It is better if we leave these issues to the judgement of users,” said D. Muralidhar, president of the Federation of Karnataka Chambers of Commerce and Industry.

“Personally I think facilities are good. However, scope for improvement is always there,” he said.

“It is a new airport. Some questions (regarding facilities) do get raised when we tend to compare it with other international airports. At the same time we need to understand that facilities are far better than at the old airport,” Muralidhar said.

T. Ramappa, secretary general of the Bangalore Chamber of Industry and Commerce, shared Muralidhar’s views.

“Personally I don’t think it is so bad,” he said.

“I have used it twice and I did not have any problems. Of course there certainly is room for improvement,” Ramappa said.

The airport began operations May 24 after three failed starts in the previous two months. The promoter operator - Bangalore International Airport Ltd (BIAL) — had to settle for a soft launch because the Election Commission’s model code of conduct was in force as assembly elections were on in Karnataka.

Marred by controversies, litigations, protests and cost over-runs, the much-awaited launch was put off thrice (March 28, May 11 and May 23) due to delays in setting up the air traffic control, training operators, government clearances and finally the poll panel’s directive.

With the opening of the new airport, the 50-year-old state-run Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) airport in the city was shut for civilian traffic despite protests by corporate honchos of the new economy against its closure.

However, Naidu said the state government will ensure HAL airport stays as there are a number of cities with two airports. “We will take up the matter with the central government,” he said.

According to the Concession Agreement between BIAL promoters and the Indian government no airport can operate within 150 km of the new Bangalore international airport.

Longest range commercial jetliner will connect Atlanta to one of world’s fastest-growing economies

Boeing 777-200 Long Range aircraft features lie-flat seats in Delta’s BusinessElite class

ATLANTA, Aug. 7, 2008 – Delta Air Lines (NYSE: DAL) today announced a new daily nonstop flight between Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport and Mumbai, India, starting Nov. 1, 2008*. The new flight will connect the world’s largest airport with one of the world’s fastest-growing economies.

Delta’s recently acquired Boeing 777-200 Long Range (LR) aircraft will make the 17-hour, 55-minute westbound nonstop flight possible. The world’s longest range commercial jetliner bolsters Delta’s ability to connect customers and cargo between virtually any two cities around the globe, nonstop.

Delta’s first two 777-200LRs joined the fleet earlier this year as the first of 10 such models to be delivered through 2010. Since April, these aircraft have been serving the New York-JFK-Mumbai route, which will be discontinued with the start of nonstop service between Atlanta and Mumbai.

“The size and scope of Delta’s operations at our Atlanta hub are best suited for the capacity of the 777-200LR in terms of cargo and passenger lift,” said Glen Hauenstein, executive vice president – Network and Revenue Management. “Serving Mumbai from Atlanta will allow us to optimize the route thanks to the approximately 150 U.S. destinations to which Mumbai customers will be able to connect, as well as the more than 30 easy connections available to and from Latin America and the Caribbean.”

With the new service, Delta will offer customers nonstop service to 78 international destinations from Atlanta, including service recently announced or inaugurated between Atlanta and Shanghai, China; London-Heathrow, England; Stockholm, Sweden; and Kuwait City, Kuwait (effective Nov. 7).

Delta’s schedule between Atlanta and Mumbai will be:

Flight	Departs	Arrives	Frequency
DL 184	Atlanta at 7:15 p.m.	Mumbai at 10:35 p.m.**	Daily
DL 185	Mumbai at 1:05 a.m.	Atlanta at 8:30 a.m.	Daily

** arrives the next day

The 777-200LR is the flagship aircraft for Delta’s global product, including fully horizontal personal sleeper suites in BusinessElite®, next-generation, more comfortable seats in coach, and Delta’s on-demand entertainment system on larger screens at every seat.

BusinessElite customers flying on the 777-200LR enjoy:

• Reclining seats that adjust to multiple comfortable positions, including a completely flat 6-foot 3-inch bed;
• Privacy screens incorporating pull-out meal table, fold-out 10.6-inch personal video screen, integrated footrest and personal stowage compartment for bags, shoes or blankets;
• Immediate access to the aisle so customers do not have to disturb another passenger when exiting their seat; and
• USB ports offering charging ability for laptops and MP3 players.

Customers flying BusinessElite on any Delta international aircraft enjoy Delta on Demand featuring first-run and popular classic movies, music, TV programming and video games – all available on demand; a five-course menu offering culinary creations by celebrity chef Michelle Bernstein, including an appetizer, soup or salad, and choice of four entrees (including a vegetarian selection); a reinvented wine program launched in February by Master Sommelier Andrea Robinson featuring wines from around the world; new full-size pillows, duvets; modern and stylish dinnerware; and in-seat power outlets that allow customers to recharge their laptops.

Delta’s 777-200LR aircraft offers customers flying in coach comfortable new, all leather slim-line seats each with on-demand music, movies, games and television on individual 9-inch video monitors. Delta is the first airline to offer the sleek, new, leading-edge seats from Weber Aircraft LP, offering up to 1.5 inches of increased personal space, additional under-seat storage, and ergonomically-designed cushions.

Delta Air Lines operates service to more worldwide destinations than any airline with Delta and Delta Connection flights to 312 destinations in 61 countries. Delta has added more international capacity than any major U.S. airline during the last two years and is the leader across the Atlantic with flights to 44 trans-Atlantic markets. To Latin America and the Caribbean, Delta offers 393 weekly flights to 47 destinations. Delta's marketing alliances also allow customers to earn and redeem SkyMiles on more than 16,000 flights offered by SkyTeam and other partners. Delta is a founding member of SkyTeam, a global airline alliance that provides customers with extensive worldwide destinations, flights and services. Including its SkyTeam and worldwide codeshare partners, Delta offers flights to 500 worldwide destinations in 105 countries. Customers can check in for flights, print boarding passes, check bags and flight status at delta.com.

*Subject to foreign government approval

WINE PRICES IN BANGALORE HEADED INTO THE STRATOSPHERE !

You might be surprised at a wine article in my aviation blog, but wine is a subject close to my heart.

The convoluted alcoholic beverages policy in India, makes each state, akin to another country, each with their own cumbersome taxes and regulations. The recent collapse of the Doha round of trade talks was not the only failure last month. A trade war is growing between the three wine producing states in India, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Goa, and it is going to send prices of Indian wines up by 46% ~ 100%, in Karnataka. Unfortunately, unlike the world which has the World Trade Organisation, India has no mechanism for settling economic wars between states.

Bangaloreans, along with the rest of India, are increasingly taking to wine as their drink of choice. It is more healthy, low impact, goes great with food, and more fashionable. What ever the reason, the market is growing about 20% year on year. In 2007-8, about 56,225 cases of wine were sold in Karnataka, almost all of it in Bangalore. This does not include the Goan Port "Wines". As consumers' wine tastes evolve, they gravitate from the cheap and cheerful variety to the mid-range and higher quality.

Maharashtra is India's California; the leading producer of wines. About 18 "non-Karnataka", Indian wine producers, Sula, Indage, Reveilo, Nine Hills, Mandala Valley, Big Banyan, sell their wines in Karnataka. There are two wine producers in Karnataka, Grover and Naka, and about 27 foreign (Non-Indian) wine producers whose products are available in Bangalore.

(Click on image for a larger image)

A few years ago, the Government of Maharashtra imposed a special tax of 150% on wines “imported” into the state from outside Maharashtra. It was a purely political decision done at the behest of one of India's most influential politicians in India, who has, for long, been reportedly, the major player in the wine-grape farming and wine producing industry in Maharashtra. The 150% tax made non-Maharashtra wines more expensive in the state. The wine producers of Karnataka, found it hard to compete in Mumbai, the capital of Maharashtra, but more importantly, the economic capital of India.

There have been half-hearted attempts by the Karnataka Government to resolve this issue with their Maharashtra counter-parts. The lack of genuine desire, urgency, or sensibility, on both sides, expectedly, has not yielded positive results. While, I will be the first to say, the nasty actions of Maharashtra deserve a response, the recent actions of the Karnataka Government, are equally nasty. Two wrongs do not make a right.

Effective August 1, 2008, the Karnataka government started levying a tax, just as offensive, to the one in Maharashtra, on all wines of Indian origin “imported” into Karnataka. The new levy raises the import fee on wine from outside Karnataka from Rs. 10 to Rs. 300 per bulk litre, an increase of Rs 217.50 per bottle!!!! Add to this other levies and margins that will subsequently accrue, the final retail price to consumers will rise by approx Rs 250~280 per bottle.

55% of all wine sold in Karnataka is currently priced between Rs. 350 - Rs. 550 a bottle. The increase translates to a 46% - 100% increase in final price. Lower priced, entry level, wines like UB's Zinzi will see their prices go up over 100% from Rs. 250 to Rs. 500~530 per bottle. Dr. Mallya’s fledgling Indian wine business (Zinzi) will be hit hard, in his home town of Bangalore, since all his Indian wines are produced in Maharashtra.

(Click on image for a larger image)

The wines produced by Grover's and Naka in Karnataka, will be spared the tax. I wonder how long will they maintain their original price. Like any opportunistic business house, I am sure they will slip in a few price increases since their competition is more expensive by Rs. 250.

Another most unfortunate consequence: as the entry-level wines will rise 100% in prices, many prospective wine drinkers, who were just taking to wine, will decide wine is suddenly too rich for their blood, and give healthy wine-drinking a go-by, reverting back to high impact spirits.

Observing the antics of their fellow Governments in Maharashtra and Karnataka, the Government of Goa is now talking about similar "protection" for its wine producers and growers.

The market place, consumers and producers, determine usage. Government can implement rules of conduct (procedures) but no one, including the self-proclaimed smartest people in the world, often found working in government, can accurately predict a marketplace. The market place determines itself.

The majority of the wine producers in this country are going to take a hit – the emerging wine drinking segment will take a hit – the retailing industry will take a hit. Even the wine producers of Karnataka will be hit. To get around the new levy Maharashtra wine producers will set up wineries in Karnataka state. There is simply not enough wine-grape grown in Karnataka to meet the needs of the state. Existing farmers will be tempted away from their existing contracts with Grovers and Naka to supply the newcomers.

The only “good news” in this sorry saga ? Fearing the wrath of the WTO, the new Karnataka levy does not apply to foreign wines. With the new higher prices of the non-Karnataka wines, many of the Australian, Chilean, South African, Spanish, and Argentinian wines will now look quite attractive. This retrograde step is helping the foreign brands, while sticking a most cruel knife into the heart of the Indian wine business. How many wineries will close, and as a result farmers going bankrupt, as sales drop and mayhem prevails ?

This squabble, in many ways, reminds me of the days of the British Raj. While the Indian states are busy fighting each other, the winners are the foreign wines.

I wonder if Indian wine producers can go to the WTO and beg for protection from their own governments.

Thanks to Stanley Pinto for the inspiration and some of the data.