INDIA: SpiceJet Overshoots Runway At Shirdi Airport, Taking Two And A Half Hours To Rescue Passengers.

Budget airline SpiceJet operating on the Delhi-Shirdi route, overshot the runway while landing at the Shirdi airport on Monday on April 29.

According to the airline, no harm was caused to either the passengers or the crew.

On 29 April 2019, SpiceJet B737-800 aircraft operated SG 946 from Delhi to Shirdi. While landing at Shirdi, the aircraft overshot the runway. Passengers and crew are safe and are being deplaned normally, the airline said in a statement.

After a few Indian runway incidents late last year, yet another near miss has occurred. A SpiceJet Boeing 737-800 overran the runway while landing at Shirdi airport. The incident occurred earlier today as the flight was arriving from Delhi.

There have been several close calls involving Indian aircraft during takeoff and landing during the past year.

One of these saw an aircraft land on an unfinished runway, while another resulted in a wall being struck during takeoff. Thankfully, none of these incidents have had serious consequences

The incident involved a Boeing 737 registered to SpiceJet as VT-SGJ. The aircraft was originally delivered to Air Berlin in 2005. It spent eight months serving for Blue Air in 2010, before joining the SpiceJet fleet in December 2010. As such, the aircraft is 14 years old.

The aircraft was operating flight SG-946 from Delhi to Shirdi in the South of India. Initial reports suggest that 164 people were on board the aircraft at the time.

The pilots overran the 2,500m runway by around 100 feet, resting the aircraft on soft ground.

While there were no injuries reported, both pilots have been grounded as is customary in these circumstances.

While the incident took place at 1630 local time, the aircraft’s occupants weren’t rescued until two and a half hours later.

It reportedly took two and a half hours to rescue those onboard.

Dhiren Bhosale is the airport’s director said a SpiceJet aircraft shot off the runway by about 50 meters and skidded off. There is no injury to any passenger and the crew, though. Our first priority is to evacuate passengers without compromising their safety.

This single incident is a worrying part of a much bigger problem. SpiceJet is not the only Indian airline which has been affected by takeoff or landing troubles of late.

In September of 2018, an Indian Airlines Boeing 737 landed on an unfinished runway being built at Male in the Maldives. The aircraft got caught in plastic debris on the runway.

A month earlier in August, a Jet Airways Boeing 737 attempted to take off from a taxiway in Mumbai. The aircraft came off the taxiway and got stuck.

Another incident saw an Air India Boeing 737 strike a wall during takeoff.

Interestingly, the pilots didn’t realise the extensive damage until they were warned on the ground. Other incidents have also taken place.


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INDIA: SpiceJet To Commence New Direct Flights From Mumbai to Colombo, Dhaka, Riyadh, Hong Kong and Kathmandu

SpiceJet on Monday announced the launch of non-stop flights from Mumbai to Colombo, Dhaka, Riyadh, Hong Kong and Kathmandu.

The no-frills airline would start the services from the end of May.

In a release, the carrier said it would be the first Indian budget carrier to launch daily direct flights on the Mumbai-Colombo, Mumbai-Dhaka, Mumbai-Riyadh, Mumbai-Hong Kong and Mumbai-Kathmandu sectors.

Boeing 737 NG aircraft would be deployed in the new routes.

We are delighted to connect a large number of popular international destinations from Mumbai, a city that has always been a key and integral part of our network, SpiceJet Chairman and Managing Director Ajay Singh said.

Riyadh and Kathmandu are two upcoming international destinations for the airline.

The airline already operates flights to Colombo from Chennai and Madurai, Dhaka from Kolkata, Dubai from Delhi, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Pune, Kochi, Kozhikode, Mangalore, Amritsar, Jaipur and Madurai, Hong Kong from Delhi and Jeddah from Hyderabad; besides an upcoming flight from Kozhikode, the release said.

SpiceJet is a low-cost airline headquartered in Gurgaon, India. It is the fourth largest airline in the country by number of domestic passengers carried, with a market share of 13.3% as of October 2017.

The airline operates 312 daily flights to 55 destinations, including 47 Indian and 7 international destinations from its hubs at Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai and Hyderabad.

Established as air taxi provider ModiLuft in 1994, the company was acquired by Indian entrepreneur Ajay Singh in 2004 and re-christened as SpiceJet.

The airline operated its first flight in May 2005. Indian media baron Kalanidhi Maran acquired a controlling stake in SpiceJet in June 2010 through Sun Group which was sold back to Ajay Singh in January 2015. The airline operates a fleet of Boeing 737 and Bombardier Dash aircraft.

The origins of SpiceJet can be tracked back to March 1984 when the company was established by Indian industrialist S. K. Modi to provide private air taxi services.

On 17 February 1993, the company was named as MG Express and entered into technical partnership with the German flag carrier Lufthansa. The airline provided passenger and cargo services under the name of Modiluft before ceasing operations in 1996.

SpiceJet is headquartered in Gurgaon, India. Ajay Singh serves as the Managing Director of the airline since January 2015.

The airline's logo consists of 15 dots arranged in three rows of five each in the order of their reducing sizes on a red background.

In June 2015, the airline unveiled its current logo with a new tagline Red. Hot. Spicy. SpiceJet names all its aircraft with the name of an Indian spice.

SpiceJet is listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange

As of April 2019, SpiceJet operates 306 flights daily to 35 Indian and 6 international destinations. It operates hubs at Delhi and Hyderabad, which is the primary base for its fleet of Bombardier Q400 aircraft.

After completing five years of flying, SpiceJet was allowed to commence international flights by Directorate General of Civil Aviation on 7 September 2010.

SpiceJet launched flights from Delhi to Kathmandu and Chennai to Colombo and the first international flight took off on 7 October 2010 from Delhi.

SpiceJet operates the following aircraft:

28 - Boeing 737-800

03 - Boeing 737-700

04 - Boeing 737-900ER

13 - Boeing 737 MAX 8

22 - Bombardier Dash 8 Q400

05 - Bombardier Dash 8 Q400 NG

01 - Boeing 737-700BCF/BDSF

76 Total Operating Aircrafts

SpiceJet has pending orders for the following aircraft:

193 - Boeing 737 MAX 8

045 - Bombardier Dash 8 Q400 NG

019 - Boeing 737-700BCF/BDSF (Cargo Plane)

257 - Total Pending Orders

SpiceJet placed its first firm order for 20 Next-Generation Boeing 737-800s in March 2005, with deliveries scheduled up to 2010.

In November 2010, the airline ordered 30 Boeing 737-800s. On 9 December 2010, Bombardier Aerospace announced that SpiceJet had placed a firm order for fifteen Q400 NextGen turboprop airliners with options for another fifteen. SpiceJet used its fleet of Q400s for short-haul operations.

In March 2014, the airline signed a US$4.4 billion deal with Boeing for the procurement of 42 737 MAX 8 aircraft.

In 2015, SpiceJet was in talks with both Boeing and Airbus for a possible order of more than 100 single aisle aircraft, either Airbus A320neo or the Boeing 737 MAX with the same being confirmed by Managing Director, Ajay Singh, in a conference in Dubai.

In January 2017, the airline placed a firm order for 100 737 MAX 8 aircraft, and revealed itself as the airline behind the 13 MAX 8 aircraft previously attributed to an unidentified customer, taking its total order to 155 MAX 8 aircraft with purchase rights for 50 additional MAX 8 and wide-body aircraft.

The budget carrier plans to grow its operational fleet to 200 airplanes by the end of the decade and expand regionally with the new 737 MAX family of airplanes.

In June 2017, the airline signed a letter of intent with Bombardier at the 2017 Paris Air Show, to purchase up to 50 Q400 aircraft, catering to growth in passenger traffic arising from its participation in the Indian government's UDAN regional connectivity scheme.

It is announced to induct 16 737-800 NG in response to fulfil demands in local and international expansion. It was ordered due to the fleet of 737 max being currently banned and the downfall of Jet Airways.

SpiceJet has moved away from the typical low-cost carrier service model of economy class-only seating.

The airline offers premium services under the name SpiceMax, whereby passengers can obtain additional benefits including pre-assigned seats with extra legroom; meals on board; priority check-in and boarding; and priority baggage handling; at a higher fare.

Otherwise SpiceJet does not provide complimentary meals in any of its flights. It does sell full in-flight meals on some flights. SpiceJet does not operate any frequent-flyer programme and does not provide any in-flight entertainment options.

SpiceJet has partnered with Tripfactory for selling holiday packages on its platform.

SpiceXpress is the air cargo division of SpiceJet. The cargo airline was launched in September 2018 and commenced services on the Delhi-Bengaluru-Delhi route with a Boeing 737-700.

SpiceXpress began services between Guwahati and Hong Kong on 19 January 2019 becoming the first airline to operate freight services between Northeast India and Southeast Asia.


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INDIA: Tatas’ Love For Air India

It’s over four years since India’s Tata group went back into the country’s aviation sector.

In 2013, after staying on the sidelines for over six decades, the salt-to-software conglomerate returned to India’s aviation sector through two joint venture (JV) partnerships with Malaysia-based AirAsia Bhd and Singapore Airlines.

The Tata group had founded Air India (AI), then Tata Airlines, in 1932, which the Indian government took control of in 1953. Ever since, the group had stayed out of the airline business.

Now, it is eyeing a bigger slice of India’s aviation pie. On Oct. 10, chairman N Chandrasekharan said that his group would consider acquiring the beleaguered national carrier Air India.

This isn’t the first time that the Tatas have shown interest in AI, currently India’s fourth-largest airline by market share. In 2000, the group partnered with Singapore Airlines to bid for a 40% stake in the company, but the plan didn’t materialize as Singapore Airlines withdrew.

We will definitely look at it (AI), Chandrasekaran said. We still don’t have all the details. Every business proposal will be very seriously looked at and we will look at that (AI). Definitely.

But currently we don’t have the data there are so many different groups within Air India, and then there is real estate, there is debt, there is liabilities, and we got to look at all of that but we will definitely look at it.

The $103 billion Tata Sons’ interest in AI could have stemmed from the lacklustre showing of AirAsia and Vistara. Together, they have a domestic market share of only 7.6% with a fleet of 29 aircraft. This is significantly lower than market leader IndiGo’s 38% with 138 aircraft.

We need to look at aviation as a whole, Chandrasekaran said. We are subscale. We got two airlines both are subscale. Any decision that we take—Air India or otherwise—we have to have a story because we can’t be operating with 15 aircraft or 20 aircraft.

The Tata group owns 51% of Vistara, with Singapore Airlines in control of the rest. In AirAsia India, it owns 49%, while the rest is held by Malaysia’s AirAsia Bhd.

Over the past few years, both Vistara and AirAsia India have been looking at international operations but have been held up by regulatory hurdles, hampering business and profitability.

India’s aviation norms require an airline to deploy 20 aircraft, or 20% of its fleet, on domestic routes before it can take off on international routes. Vistara and AirAsia India have only 16 and 13 aircraft respectively.

You have got to give them time as far as their investments in AirAsia India and Vistara goes, Mark Martin, founder of Martin Consulting, an aviation consultancy based in Dubai, said about the Tata group’s investments in the aviation sector.

But, if and when Air India is bought out by Tata, it would be one massive and mega monolithic turnaround for the airline because the Tatas are the only people capable of turning around such an airline.

Buying AI will give the Tata group access to a sizeable fleet that can operate both at home and abroad. The government airline flies to nearly 41 international and 72 domestic destinations.

It is also India’s single largest international carrier with a 17% market share of the overseas routes from the country and operates 119 aircraft. But, bogged down by debt following an ill-advised merger in 2007, it has been struggling for survival.

The Tata group’s core strategy currently involves building a strong brand globally. And what better than an airline that flies to every part of the world, particularly the Americas and Africa? That’s the opportunity Air India brings to the table for the Tatas, Martin said.

India is currently the world’s ninth-largest aviation market. Domestic air travel is expected to grow 9.5% annually between 2011 and 2031, according to aircraft maker Airbus. Currently, only about 2% of India’s population uses airlines, providing a massive opportunity to expand the market.

The prospects for Air India’s privatization seem to be going from bad to worse.

Days after India’s largest airline IndiGo declared that it lacks the capability to turn the country’s state-run airline around, the private player’s closest competitor by market share, Jet Airways, pulled out of the race.

We welcome the government move to privatise Air India. It is a bold step. However, considering the terms of offer in the information memorandum and based on our review, we are not participating in the process, Amit Agarwal, Jet Airways’ deputy CEO said

Earlier this year, Ajay Singh, chairman of low-cost carrier SpiceJet, had also told CNBC-TV18 that it is too small to bid for the Maharajah.

With three heavyweights out, few aviation space players remain in the race for Air India. And all eyes are now on the airline’s founder itself: the Tata Group.

Last year, Tata Sons chairman N Chandrasekharan had made his group’s interest known when he said it would definitely look at buying Air India.

I do not think any player in India, apart from the Tata group, has the management ability to turn around an airline like Air India. Tata also has the strategic leadership, financial foresight, and consumer connect to drive traffic, said Mark Martin, head of aviation consultancy firm Martin Consulting.

The group, he said, can either individually bid for Air India, or form a consortium with a foreign airline.

The Tata group, India’s largest diversified conglomerate, had total revenues of around Rs673,350 crore ($100 billion) as of financial year 2017.

It went into aviation in the 1930s with the launch of Tata Airlines, which was later nationalised and rebranded as Air India. In 2014, it partnered with AirAsia Behrad to launch AirAsia India. A year later, its joint venture with Singapore airlines, Vistara, took flight.

If the Tatas, too, opt out, government will have to look for alternatives.

One option could be one or more foreign airlines teaming up with Indian financiers, Martin explained. Airlines like Qatar airways can partner with private equity firms, for instance, and bid for Air India, he said.

A foreign airline can only have up to a 49% stake in Air India, with ownership and effective control of the airline resting with an Indian entity.

However, some experts believe the sale terms need to be overhauled.

The government may have to reconsider separating the domestic operations from the ground-handling services and international operations, Dhiraj Mathur, partner at PwC India said.

Additionally, low-cost players do not necessarily want to enter the full-service airline business, Mathur said. Therefore government will likely have to change the terms if it wants Indian players to participate.

Air India is the flag carrier airline of India headquartered at New Delhi. It is owned by Air India Limited, a government-owned enterprise, and operates a fleet of Airbus and Boeing aircraft serving 94 domestic and international destinations.

The airline has its hub at Indira Gandhi International Airport, New Delhi, alongside several focus cities across India. Air India is the largest international carrier out of India with an 18.6% market share.

Over 60 international destinations are served by Air India across four continents. Additionally, the carrier is the third largest domestic airline in India in terms of passengers carried after IndiGo and Jet Airways with a market share of 13.5% as of July 2017.

The airline became the 27th member of Star Alliance on 11 July 2014.

The airline was founded by J. R. D. Tata as Tata Airlines in 1932; Tata himself flew its first single-engine de Havilland Puss Moth, carrying air mail from Karachi to Bombay's Juhu aerodrome and later continuing to Madras currently Chennai.

After World War II, it became a public limited company and was renamed as Air India. On 21 February 1960, it took delivery of its first Boeing 707 named Gauri Shankar and became the first Asian airline to induct a jet aircraft in its fleet.

In 2000–01, attempts were made to privatise Air India and from 2006 onwards, it suffered losses after its merger with Indian Airlines.

Air India also operates flights to domestic and Asian destinations through its subsidiaries Alliance Air and Air India Express. Air India's mascot is the Maharajah (Emperor) and the logo consists of a flying swan with the wheel of Konark inside it.


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