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Aviation History
1993
1993 - 1980.PDF
AIR INDIA MOVE India to expand its route network. Serv ices to South Africa are scheduled to start on 2 October, following the successful conclusion of an air-services agreement which allows the operation of flights to Johannesburg and Durban. "We hope to start by using an [Airbus] A310 with a technical stop en route," says Vaish. "South Africa has one of the largest Indian ethnic populations of any country in the world, with more than 1 million Indians living there." Air India is also looking at starting services to China, South Korea, Spain, In donesia and, possibly, a new destination in the USA, perhaps Chi cago. In 1994, frequen cies to Japan and Canada may also be increased. In a move to ration alise the fleet, Air India's three Airbus A300-B4s will be sold and replaced with three leased A310- 300s, provided that Government approval is received. Air India has usually bought its own aircraft, but this requires lengthy, bureaucratic, Government procedures. J A Shah "We have seen improved yields...passenger yield per kilometre improved 24.7% in Rupee terms." The approval required to lease aircraft is much more simple and can be used to expand the fleet without having to make plans for years ahead. Long-term purchasing will continue: at least eight medium- capacity, long-range aircraft are required for delivery in 1997/8. Air India is evaluating the Airbus A340, Boeing 777 and McDonnell Douglas MD-11 as pos sible contenders. The type chosen would have several roles and would have to fulfil a variety of functions, in cluding ultra-long-haul services to the USA. "If there is a [me dium-capacity] aircraft that can fly non-stop to the USA without a weight penalty, then — yes — we would want that," says Air India's director of operations, Capt D S Mathur. The problems are the high- weight, high-tempera ture take-offs in India during its summer months and the jetstreams experienced during the winter months. Another diffi culty for flights inbound to India is the lack of alternate airports. Although New York-Delhi is 12,500km (6,700nm), the alternate airport, Bombay, is another 800km away. Mathur believes that up to 16h endurance would be required for such services. "When we evaluate the aircraft types, we want to actually try them on these routes [under extreme conditions]," he says. Another role will be to allow Air India to do what it has always wanted to do — de link Delhi and Bom bay — which will require the construc tion of a new mainten ance hanger at Delhi. "It has now become a 'must' to de-link Delhi and Bombay," says Mathur. "Bombay is almost saturated and we want to have a second base in Delhi." Construction of addi tional hangar space, able to accommodate three more aircraft, is planned for Delhi and the site is expected to be operational by the end of 1996. In a bid to reduce the number of cycles for which its larger aircraft will be flown, D S Mathur "We want a medium- capacity aircraft that can fly non-stop to the USA without a weight penalty." Hig Vaish says that Air India intends to operate them on international routes only and to feed these with smaller aircraft. "Air India suffers from the lack of a domestic feeder-network service. We are in the process of cre ating a domestic-feeder network with seamless transfers," he says. Subject to Government approval, these routes will be designated as international, being cleared at the final destination, rather than at the first point of entry. For this service, Vaish says that Air India has evaluated new aircraft types, but that this has now been put on hold. In the meantime, Air India may start its feeder service with leading domestic operator In dian Airlines' under used aircraft, operating as Air India flights. Meanwhile, the car rier continues to address its objective of attracting more high-yield passengers, as laid out in its new corporate plan. A "Maharajah Club" has been set up, which targets the senior-executive frequent flyers from all the major Indian companies. Business-class traffic rose between 1991/2 and 1992/3, but first-class traffic did not show a substantial increase. De spite improvements achieved in staff atti tude and the improved reliability of equipment, Air India's on-time perform ance is still weak. "We are concentrating more on this...we want to improve to the 96-98% level", says Mathur. Computerisation forges ahead and the airline's ageing Univac 2200 passenger computer reservation system (CRS) has been upgraded, to cater for forecast requirements up to 1996, based on an estimated 10% a year passenger increase. A new international CRS, showing Air India and Indian flights, is also planned. The Indian Government's gradual liber alisation of its aviation policy — and its more open economic policies — has led to rumours that both Air India and Indian Airlines could be privatised, at least par tially. Both airlines might well benefit from a degree of privatisation, to give the management more direct control over future planning, it is argued. Senior Air India officials say that they would welcome such a move, but they acknowledge that the privatisation of the national flag-carrier is still a long way from reality, because of parliamentary opposition. fj FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL 11 - 17 August, 1993 39
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