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 The Telegraph 26.11.2020 The central government should change its position and support the Indian airlines and other aviation stakeholders in the face of the Covid-19 crisis, a top official of global airlines body IATA said on Wednesday.  The Indian carriers have laid off employees, cut salaries and posted significant losses during the last few quarters as coronavirus-induced travel restrictions have drastically impacted the aviation sector.  “The Indian government has not come forward in support of airlines and we do urge them to change that position and to assist the airlines and airports and other aviation stakeholders,” Conrad Clifford, IATA regional vice-president for the Asia Pacific region, said.  “This is something we continue to encourage and urge the Indian government to do,” he said at a virtual press meet. The Indian airlines have sought an interest-free credit line of at least $1.5 billion for the sector, civil aviation minister Hardeep Singh Puri had t...

The Telegraph Online July 22, 2020 Jet Airways stock jumps on bid buzz Jet Airways was in the news last month when Vrihis Properties emerged as a successful bidder for its Bandra Kurla Complex and the company 'decided' to accept the offer at Rs 490 crore. Shares of Jet Airways were locked at the upper circuit on Wednesday amid reports that the now defunct airline has received two bids. On the BSE, the Jet Airways share ended 4.89 per cent higher at Rs 27.90. The rally came on news that two consortium had submitted their bids on Tuesday. A Moneycontrol report said that one of the consortium was Flight Simulation Technique Centre Pvt Ltd (FSTC), Big Charter Pvt Ltd and Imperial Capital Investments LLC. Both FSTC and Big Charter are led by entrepreneur Sanjay Mandavia, while Imperial Capital is an investment banking and wealth management company based in Dubai. The second consortium includes London-based financial services firm Kalrock Capital and en...

The Economic Times March 05, 2020 ET Bureau The cabinet allowed non-resident Indians (NRIs) to acquire up to 100% of state-owned Air India and approved 72 changes to the companies law, paving the way for direct overseas listing and decriminalising a host of offences under the act. It also approved the previously announced consolidation of 10 public sector banks into four with effect from April 1. “Today’s decision on Air India is one milestone decision where NRIs who are Indian citizens will get permission to invest 100% in the airline,” information and broadcasting minister Prakash Javadekar told reporters in a briefing. The government has put its entire stake in Air India up for sale. Previously, NRIs could own up to 49% in the carrier. The higher limit could increase participation in the divestment. An attempt to sell as much as 76% of Air India in 2018 had been unsuccessful. In Line with Other Airlines There is no change in the limit for overseas investors in ...

Livemint Struggling Air India might be forced to shut down by June next year unless it finds a buyer as "piecemeal" arrangements cannot be sustained for long, according to a senior airline official. Amid continuing uncertainty over the fate of the national carrier, the official said there is also need for funds to restart operations of 12 grounded narrow-body planes. The airline has a debt burden of around ₹ 60,000 crore and the government is still working on the modalities for the disinvestment. Sounding alarm bells, the official said Air India might well go Jet Airways way if a prospective buyer does not come on board by June next year. With government leaving the debt-ridden airline to fend for itself by refusing to inject funds any more amid its privatisation plans, the airline is "some how" keeping it afloat with peace meal arrangements, which are unlikely to sustain for long, the official said. As per the government, it has infused fu...

Business Line December 03, 2019 Published By: Anonymus A new report found that the Airbus A380 and A350 jetliners continue to be subsidised as a result of past European government loans Appeals dilemma The World Trade Organisation rejected European Union claims that it no longer provides subsidies to planemaker Airbus on Monday, prompting the United States to say it could increase retaliatory tariffs on a wider range of European goods. A new compliance report from the Geneva trade watchdog found that the Airbus A380 and A350 jetliners continue to be subsidized as a result of past European government loans. United States (US) Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said the decision affirmed that European subsidies to Airbus continued to harm the US aerospace industry, and strong action was required to eliminate such market-distorting subsidies. It was the latest salvo in a record transatlantic trade dispute involving mutual claims of illegal aircraft subsidies, wh...

SpiceJet  tumbled up to 7 per cent at Rs 105.8, also its 7-month low, on the BSE on Thursday after the budget carrier's loss widened in the September quarter at Rs 462 crore on the back of higher costs during a seasonally weak quarter. "The net loss of Rs 462.58 crore in the latest September quarter was mainly on account of inflated costs with respect to MAX grounding and a seasonally weak quarter," the airline said in a statement. The figure includes a loss of Rs 180.3 crore on account of accounting standard Ind AS 116, it added. All Boeing Max aircraft have been grounded worldwide since mid-March of this year, following two fatal crashes that killed over 300 people. SpiceJet, which has 13 B737 Max aircraft in its fleet, has claimed compensation from Boeing for the grounding. However, the process hasn’t been started by Boeing yet. The airline had claimed compensation of Rs 114 crore in the previous quarter, and is yet to receive the amount.  READ REPORT HERE T...

Firstpost September 24, 2019 The CBI on Monday filed a charge sheet against corporate lobbyist Deepak Talwar in connection with an aviation scam which allegedly led to losses for Air India. Aviation scam: CBI files chargesheet against corporate lobbyist Deepak Talwar, associates The final report was filed before special judge Anil Kumar Sisodia against Talwar, deported from Dubai in January this year, and others for the offence punishable under Section 8 of Prevention of Corruption Act, besides other offences. The section deals with illegal gratification to influence a public servant. Besides Talwar, who is currently in judicial custody in the case, the charge sheet also names his close aide Yasmeen Kapoor and Maya B Puri, Stone Travel Private Limited, Cedar Travels, Deepak Talwar & Associates and Asia Field Limited. The court is likely to consider the matter on 1 October. The agency had on 26 July taken Talwar into custody inside the courtroom, moments afte...

The Telegraph September 17, 2019 Air India Assets Holdings Ltd (AIAHL), a special purpose vehicle, has raised Rs 7,000 crore through a bond issue, which was subscribed nearly three times. AIAHL had come out with its maiden bond issue for Rs 1,000 crore with an option to retain an additional subscription of up to Rs 6,000 crore. The bonds are fully-backed by the government. The funds, raised at a lower rate of 6.99 per cent, will be used to partly repay the airline’s debt of over Rs 58,000 crore.  The private placement got a good response from institutional investors with AIAHL receiving bids of Rs 20,830 crore. A statement from the BSE said AIAHL successfully raised Rs 7,000 crore by issuing bonds on a private placement basis using the ‘BSE bond’ platform.  It added that the bids of Rs 20,830 crore were the highest ever received for an yield-based bidding. “It is very heartening to note that the entire issue was subscribed at a very attractive rate of ...

The Quint July 13, 2019 By PTI Four senior executives of IndiGo airline were issued show cause notices on Friday, 12 July, by the DGCA after a special audit team of the aviation regulator found safety lapses, according to sources privy to the development. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) carried out the audit at the IndiGo office in Gurgaon on 8 and 9 July, the sources said. "Captain Sanjiv Bhalla, the head of training; Captain Hemant Kumar, the chief of flight safety; Captain Ashim Mitra, the senior vice-president - operations; Captain Rakesh Srivastava, the QA (Quality Assurance) and Ops Safety, have been issued show cause notices today," a source told PTI. The DGCA is conducting special audit of all airlines and airports which are in monsoon-affected areas in the wake of multiple landing incidents across the country. DGCA Gives 15 Days to 4 Officials to Respond The regulator has given 15 days to the four executives to respond t...

First Post July 15, 2019 Bikram Vohra The most profitable carrier in the country, if not the only one, is flying straight into clear-air turbulence (CAT) and could well shake itself up. The thing with CAT is no one sees it coming. A cloudless sky and suddenly everyone is being tossed around. The conflict between Indigo's  two partners, Rahul Bhatia and Rakesh Gangwal, also came as a shock. It has been brewing for the past one year but no one thought it would reach the level of a legal confrontation. While experts feel that the arbitration option, whether through Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) or any other body, is the sanest and safest course and better than the hostile conflict; they also acknowledge that the two partners are not buddies anymore and this schism could rent asunder a perfectly sculpted 13-years of success. The spectre of Jet Airways and its recent demise with no one to pick up the pieces is a scary example of what could be if these tw...

The Firstpost July 10,2019 Differences between the promoters of the country's largest airline IndiGo came into public on Tuesday with Rakesh Gangwal alleging serious governance lapses by co-founder Rahul Bhatia who had earlier termed his demands as unreasonable. With the issues brewing for nearly a year, Gangwal has sought markets regulator SEBI's intervention to address the problems. In a filing to the stock exchanges, InterGlobe Aviation, the parent form of IndiGo, said its board of directors has received a letter from Gangwal and SEBI has also sought a response on the letter. The markets regulator has been probing the matter since reports surfaced about differences between the promoters in May, sources said. "SEBI has in the meantime asked the company to give its response to this letter by 19 July 2019, with which the company will comply," the filing said. Alleging that the company has "started veering off" from the core princi...

The Telegraph June 23, 2019 Insolvency proceedings initiated against Jet Airways The cash-strapped company became the first domestic airliner to go into bankruptcy. Jet Airways owes more than Rs 8,000 crore to banks, and thousands of crores more in arrears to vendors, lessors and employees(Shutterstock). Insolvency proceedings have been initiated against debt-ridden Jet Airways, which formally stopped flying on April 17 and saw lenders voting for bankruptcy earlier this month. The cash-strapped company became the first domestic airliner to go into bankruptcy after the Mumbai bench of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) admitted an insolvency petition filed by SBI (State Bank of India) on behalf of 26 lenders on June 20. "Pursuant to an order dated June 20, 2019 of NCLT Mumbai Bench, Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process (CIRP) has been initiated for Jet Airways (India) as per the provisions of Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016," Jet Airw...

The Business Line April 18, 2019 By ASHWINI PHADNIS How has the Indian aviation sector fared over the last five years? Ashwini Phadnis takes a look at the hits and misses The five years of the Modi government saw a lot of attention focused on the civil aviation space. The period saw the domestic aviation market witnessing double-digit growth for 52 months in a row, there were some big-ticket announcements like the UDAN scheme, and there was the passenger charter meant to give more power to the flying public. On the flip side, aviation infrastructure, especially air traffic management, did not keep pace with air traffic demand and towards the end of Modi’s term, all the private airlines were in the red, with there being uncertainty about Jet Airways’ future. Given these developments, and now that the country is in the process of electing a new government, FlightPlan looks at aviation during the five years of the NDA government. According to Diogenis Papiomy...