PM to perform 'Bhoomi Puja' at Noida Airport on November 25

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will perform the groundbreaking ceremony for the Noida International Airport near Delhi on November 25, the local MLA said on Monday, November 8.

BJP leader and Jewar MLA Dhirendra Singh said Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath will also attend the 'Bhoomi Puja' at the greenfield project site at Jewar in district Gautam Buddh Nagar.

PM Narendra Modi with CM of UP Yogi Adityanath (Image Courtesy - India Today)

The Noida International Airport is being developed in public-private partnership (PPP) mode and is touted to be the biggest airport in India upon completion. It will be developed in four phases, with the entire project estimated to cost around INR 30,000 crore, according to officials.

The airport is being developed by Yamuna International Airport Private Limited (YIAPL), a 100% subsidiary of Zurich International Airport AG, the Swiss concessionaire of the project.

"Speculation was rife for several months about the Bhoomi puja for the Noida International Airport. Prime Minister Modi's visit to Jewar was expected for a long time but finally, it has been decided for November 25 when the Bhoomi puja will happen," the Jewar MLA said in a statement.

On Monday, November 8, District Magistrate Suhas L Yathiraj, Police Commissioner Alok Singh, Joint Commissioner Love Kumar, YIAPL CEO Christoph Schnellmann, Yamuna Expressway Authority CEO Arun Vir Singh, airport project in charge Shailendra Bhatia, among others, held a meeting to discuss arrangements for the programme in.

Two locations have been shortlisted for the ceremony, which is close to Ranhera and Rohi villages in Jewar, the MLA said, adding that the final decision on the venue would be taken in a day or two.

He said the airport project was among the priorities of the Adityanath government since it came to power in Uttar Pradesh in 2017 and credited the chief minister with expediting work on it.

(Image Courtesy - Construction Week Online India)

Earlier, Jewar and the nearby region was counted among less developed areas but is now growing leaps and bounds, with the airport and a film city in the offing, he added.

Singh also expressed gratitude to the villagers who agreed to the acquisition of their land by the government for the mega greenfield project.

Recently, Christoph Schnellmann, CEO, Yamuna International Airport Private Limited (YIAPL) said if COVID-19 pandemic recovery continues, the first phase of Noida International Airport (NIA), near Delhi, would be completed by September 2024 with one runway and capacity to handle 12 million passengers annually.

Global transportation company UPS said on Monday, November 8 that it has directly connected Europe and India for the first time by starting a Cologne-Delhi-Cologne cargo flight that will operate five times a week. Cologne in Germany is the UPS's largest international hub, the company said in a statement.

UPS Boeing 747 (Image Courtesy - FLUG REVUE)

A UPS 747 flight is now connecting India directly to Europe and connecting UPS customers to North and Latin American markets five days per week. That doubles the company's previous capacity to and from India for small and medium-sized business customers looking to grow their revenue base. UPS's first direct flight from India will connect Delhi to its largest international hub at Cologne, Germany.

Customers have been diversifying their supply chains as they respond to pandemic disruptions. And cargo space in the belly of passenger aircraft - normally reliable and cost-effective - has been significantly reduced. Now, buoyed by market demand and with an eye on business continuity, Indian entrepreneurs are looking for reliable alternatives to import and export products.

Cargo Hub, Cologne Bonn Airport, Germany (Image Courtesy - Cologne Bonn Cargo)

What UPS brings to the table:

A smart global logistics network connecting buyers and sellers with speed, precision and ease, regardless of the distance that separates them.A mission to make doing business across international borders just as easy as doing business across town.More capacity with the Boeing 747 (payload of 307,000 pounds), which translates to lower cost for customers and lower emissions with fewer flights needed.

"When business demand is increasing and volumes globally are being challenged, what you need is a smart logistics network that can respond to what customers are asking for, in an altered business environment. The agility to connect major economies to India via a direct flight for exports and imports is an example of UPS's better, not bigger strategy and will provide reliability and expanded capacity to UPS's customers."Rachid Fergati, Managing Director Middle East, Central Asia, and the Indian Subcontinent, UPS

The direct flight between India and Europe will keep supply chains moving, provide better connectivity, and increase predictability for UPS customers.

UPS (NYSE: UPS) is one of the world's largest companies, with a 2020 revenue of $84.6 billion, and provides a broad range of integrated logistics solutions for customers in more than 220 countries and territories.

"India is an integral part of our international growth strategy. It's why we opened a dedicated express terminal at the Delhi airport last year.The past months have been an inflexion point for international supply chains. But we were ready. We've been in business for more than a century, far longer than any of our competitors. If there's one thing we know how to do, it's how to turn challenges into opportunities."Deepak Shrivastava, Country Manager, UPS Express India

UPS is a major global freight carrier headquartered at UPS Worldport in Louisville, Kentucky, USA. The company is part of Georgia, USA-based United Parcel Service, Inc. UPS integrates small packages and heavy freight in its daily network of more than 500 aircraft and over 2,200 daily movements that reach more than 700 destinations in over 220 countries and territories worldwide.

UPS' extensive air system includes international air hubs in Cologne, Germany; Shanghai, China; Miami, USA, an intra-Asia hub in China; and UPS Worldport in Louisville, Kentucky.

SpiceJet on Monday, November 8 launched a new scheme under which passengers will be able to pay for tickets in three, six or 12 instalments.

"As part of the launch offer, customers will be able to enjoy three months EMI option at no additional cost (no interest)," the airline said in a press release.

The airline has introduced a 'Pay Later' or 'Cardless EMI' scheme that allows greater flexibility, affordability and convenience for passengers, who can now book an airline ticket online and pay in three, six, nine or 12 instalments.

The payments product called 'Walnut 369' is powered by Capital Float and will be available on the payment page of the SpiceJet website.

To avail the EMI scheme, passengers need to provide basic details like PAN number, Aadhar number or VID and verify it with a one-time password, it mentioned.

Customers will have to make payment of the first EMI by providing their UPI ID and subsequent EMIs would be deducted from the same UPI ID, it noted.

Passengers do not have to provide any credit card or debit card details to avail the EMI scheme, it said.

"Our latest initiative aims to add more convenience and allow passengers to pay in easy instalments as per their budget.Moreover, in case a customer wishes to end the loan before the chosen EMI period, they can do the same and no foreclosure charge will be levied."Shilpa Bhatia, Chief Commercial Officer, SpiceJet

At present, the airline operates a fleet of Boeing 737s, Q-400s and freighters. It is the largest regional player operating 63 daily flights under the UDAN regional connectivity scheme.

Full-service carrier Vistara has commenced non-stop flight services to Paris from Delhi under the air bubble agreement between India and Europe.

The airline operated its inaugural direct flight to Charles de Gaulle Airport, Paris from Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport on Sunday, November 7, a company release said on Monday, November 8.

Vistara's Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner

Under the pact, Vistara will fly twice a week between the two cities – on Wednesday and Sunday — with Boeing 787-9 (Dreamliner) aircraft, it said.

Paris is the seventh overseas airport for the Tata Sons-Singapore Airlines joint venture, where it currently operates its flight's services under the air bubble agreement.

"We are delighted to expand our global footprint as we bring India’s finest airline to Paris.Paris is one of the most popular destinations in Europe and Charles de Gaulle is an important airport for any airline intending to serve the region.Given the strong economic and cultural ties there is a high demand for direct connectivity between India and France, and therefore Paris fits our network very well."Leslie Thng, Chief Executive Officer, Vistara

London, Frankfurt, Dubai, Doha, Sharjah, and Male are the other international destinations besides the newly-launched Paris.

Bookings for the flights are open on all channels, including on the airline’s website, mobile app, and through travel agents, Vistara said.

https://twitter.com/airvistara/status/1457408771961987075

Vistara has a fleet of 50 aircraft comprising Airbus A320, Airbus A321neo, Boeing 737-800NG, and Boeing 787-9 planes.

A top official told ET that Adani Group has paid the Airports Authority of India (AAI) a one-time payment of INR 2,440 crore for the six airports that the state-owned airport operator has transferred to the Ahmedabad-based company after it won bids for six airports.

"The payment has been made against capital work in progress and investments in regulated assets," AAI chairman Sanjeev Kumar said. He said AAI has also repaid some working capital loans it had taken last year to pay salaries from this one-time payment.

As a result of the impact of Covid on its earnings, the state-owned airport operator had to borrow to pay employee salaries and took loans from the SBI totalling around INR 1,500 crore in various tranches to meet its working capital requirements in 2020-21. Kumar stated his opinion.

It had posted a record loss of INR 1,962 crore in 2020-21. AAI has already repaid about INR 600 crore of these working capital loans - INR 500 crore in April-May and INR 100 crore in July 2021.

"As of date, AAI has availed INR 850 crore and limits available with AAI is INR 650 crore," Kumar said, adding that the repayment was also from a one-time payment the authority received from Adani Group.

Adani Group won airports in Ahmedabad, Lucknow, Mangaluru, Jaipur, Guwahati and Thiruvananthapuram through a competitive bid announced in 2019. It operates its airports business under Adani Airports Holding Limited (AAHL) and also operates Mumbai airport that it bought from GVK Group.

It now holds 74% in the airport company and the remaining 26% is with AAI.

An industry expert said the focus of the group is to create a business around these airport assets that are beyond aviation to complement the business from air passengers.

"With the current strategy in place and travel restrictions across the globe, the company is focused on capitalising on airports acting as a nucleus through which the company can catalyse aviation-linked business, including urban developments that offer entertainment facilities, e-commerce and logistics capabilities, aviation-dependent industries, smart city developments, and other innovative business concepts," said the person who did not want to be identified.

(With Inputs from The Economic Times)

Due to air bubble restrictions, Air France-KLM's Indian services are limited, but the airline is hopeful that the Indian government will allow it to increase its flights to meet rising demand, according to a senior executive of the carrier.

India has allowed limited special international flights with passenger restrictions under air bubbles formed with approximately 28 countries, including France and the Netherlands, since July 2020.

Since March 23, 2020, scheduled international flights have been suspended in India.

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, the airline operated 38 weekly flights from three Indian cities -- Bengaluru, Delhi and Mumbai -- to Paris and Amsterdam, Jean-Noel Rault, General Manager (Indian Sub-continent), Air France-KLM, told PTI in an interview.

Currently, Air France-KLM is operating 17 weekly flights from four Indian cities -- Bengaluru, Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai -- to Paris and Amsterdam as per the air bubbles formed between India and France in July 2020 and India and The Netherlands in November 2020.

When asked if he sees the demand rising on Indian flights, Rault stated, "India has a very strong VFR (visiting friends and relatives) market. This in my opinion is one of the key factors to drive demand."

"We have also seen the student segment develop favourably thanks to the convenient connections we offer and have received a positive response to the ChennaiParis direct operations launched in June by Air France.The airline's expectation was business and corporate travel will progressively grow in the second half of 2022.However, the carrier's scope was still limited in terms of frequency and destinations under the air bubble restrictions.We are hopeful with the progressive opening of borders we will be allowed to increase our frequency to meet the evolving demand.Air France-KLM in the current specific circumstances in India has been operating services intending to cover the variable costs of each flight operation.In trends, the variation has been high in load factors in the past 12 months...On a positive note, for the first time since the pandemic we see load factors moving up for flights to India."Jean-Noel Rault, General Manager (Indian Sub-continent), Air France-KLM

Air France-KLM believes that an increase in flights' frequencies should be considered with the progressive opening of international borders and growing demand, he said.

"We continue to interact with relevant authorities along with the French embassy and The Netherlands embassy in India. Together with our embassies, we continue to explore opportunities with the Indian authorities to expand the number of flights from India," Rault noted.

When asked if he thinks India should open scheduled international flights now, he replied it could be prudent for India to consider moving towards "a normal world with the progressive reopening of international commercial operations" as the country is doing very well with the vaccination drive and the COVID-19 situation improving globally.

(Image Courtesy - Bloomberg.com)

"This would be instrumental in facilitating travel to and from India, boost incoming tourism to India, which is much needed to help the economy and local operators who have been impacted severely due to the pandemic," Rault added.

Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia had in September said that the Centre has to look to put in place certain systems to boost long-haul international flights of Indian carriers to places such as Europe and South America.

Lufthansa Group CEO Carsten Spohr had last month said that restricting air traffic between India and Germany is hurting both the economies and the airline group was eagerly waiting for the Indian government to allow more flights between the two countries.

Cover Image - Skift