Airlines Deals

The Civil Aviation Ministry today ruled out any immediate possibility of floating the IPO for Air India, saying its first priority was to successfully merge the foreign carrier with Indian Airlines.

‘’The IPO can come later. This is not the best time to enter the market,'’ Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel told newspersons after inauguration of the country’s first multi-modal transport system at Netaji Subhash international airport here.

Patel said his ministry’s first priority was the merger of Air India and Indian Airlines. ‘’This is because we need bigger and stronger carriers. Over the last two years, there has been 50 per cent increase in traffic than that over the past 50 years.'’

Stating that the merger would enable the two strong carriers to leverage their strengths, he said the synergie would provide a strong entity for Air India. ‘’We need a strong entity before we can go to the market.'’

In reply to a question, Patel said that his Ministry has adopted the public-private partnership model for modernisation of airports.

Funds for the modernisation would be raised by Airports Authority of India through debt markets and bonds. ‘’There is no need to go elsewhere right now. Our internal accruals are good.'’

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A man who was once a prime suspect in the Air India bombing has won the right to limited participation in a public inquiry into the tragedy that killed 331 people in June 1985.

Ripudaman Singh Malik was granted intervenor status Tuesday by former Supreme Court judge John Major, the head of the inquiry.

In a brief written ruling, Major cautioned that Malik’s interventions will be limited to challenging “any evidence that directly and adversely affects his reputation.”

Any submissions by Malik or his lawyers will have to be made in writing, at least to start. They will have to apply for leave if they want to go further and participate in oral statements and examination of witnesses.

Malik and Ajaib Singh Bagri were acquitted last year — after an 18-month trial — of criminal charges stemming from the downing of Air India Flight 182 by a bomb off the coast of Ireland in 1985.

The bombing, believed to be work of Sikh extremists campaigning for a separate homeland in northern India, took the lives of 329 passengers, most of them Canadian citizens of Indian origin or descent.

It was the worst terrorist attack ever mounted from Canadian soil, and the worst involving civil aviation anywhere in the world until the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in the United States.

In a separate incident, a second bomb went off as Air India luggage was being transferred at Japan’s Narita airport, killing two baggage handlers.

Lawyers concerned character may be ‘impugned’

Malik’s lawyers had argued, in a written brief last week, that their client needed legal standing at the inquiry to protect his reputation and respond to any evidence that “may impugn his character.”

They also warned that Malik may want to ask for some evidence to be heard behind closed doors “where he anticipates prejudice to his reputation or other intimate matters.”

Major is required, under the inquiry’s terms of reference, to hear some evidence in private if it endangers national security as defined by the federal government.

He can consider other requests to hold closed hearings, but commission counsel Mark Freiman has noted it would be unusual to do so.

Seven given full standing at inquiry

Major has granted full standing at the inquiry to seven organizations and individuals, including the federal government, Air India and a number of family members who lost loved ones in the bombing.

Another nine groups and individuals, including Malik, will be permitted to play more limited roles.

Among them are a number of organizations with no direct link to the Air India tragedy, but that want to have a say on more general questions of anti-terrorist policy.

They include the Canadian Jewish Congress, B’nai Brith, the Canadian Council on American Islamic Relations and the Canadian Muslim Civil Liberties Association.

Major will examine a range of issues, including investigative turf wars between the RCMP and CSIS, airline security, better protection of witnesses in terrorist cases, and the possibility of holding high-profile trials before a three-judge panel rather than a single jurist.

Testimony is to begin in September and run through next April. A report is due in September 2007.

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The Civil Aviation ministry on Saturday ruled out any immediate possibility of floating the IPO for Air India, saying its first priority was to successfully merge the foreign carrier with the Indian Airlines.

“The IPO can come later. This is not the best time to enter the market,” Civil Aviation Minister, Praful Patel, told newspersons after inauguration of the country’s first multi-modal transport system at Netaji Subhas International Airport here.

Patel said his ministry’s first priority was the merger of Air India and Indian Airlines.

“This is because we need bigger and stronger carriers. Over the last two years, there has been 50 per cent increase in traffic than that over the past 50 years.”

Stating that the merger would enable the two strong carriers to leverage their strengths, he said the synergie would provide a strong entity for Air India. “We need a strong entity before we can go to the market,” he added.

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A man once a prime suspect in the Air India bombing has won the right to limited participation in a public inquiry into the tragedy.

Ripudaman Singh Malik was granted intervener status yesterday by former Supreme Court judge John Major, the head of the inquiry.

In a brief written ruling, Major cautioned that Malik’s interventions will be limited to challenging “any evidence that directly and adversely affects his reputation.”

Any submissions by Malik or his lawyers will have to be made in writing, at least to start. They will have to apply for leave if they want to go further and participate in oral statements and examination of witnesses.

Malik and Ajaib Singh Bagri were acquitted last year — after an 18-month trial — of criminal charges stemming from the downing of Air India Flight 182 by a terrorist bomb off the coast of Ireland in 1985.

The bombing, believed to be the work of Sikh extremists campaigning for a separate homeland in northern India, took the lives of 329 passengers, most of them Canadian citizens of Indian origin or descent.

It was the worst terrorist attack ever mounted from Canadian soil, and the worst involving civil aviation anywhere in the world until the 9/11 attacks in the United States in 2001.

Malik’s lawyers had argued, in a written brief last week, that their client needed legal standing at the inquiry to protect his reputation and respond to any evidence that “may impugn his character.”

They also warned that Malik may want to ask for some evidence to be heard behind closed doors “where he anticipates prejudice to his reputation or other intimate matters.”

Major is required, under the inquiry’s terms of reference, to hear some evidence in private if it endangers national security as defined by the federal government.

He can consider other requests to hold closed hearings, but commission counsel Mark Freiman has noted it would be unusual to do so.

Major has granted full standing at the inquiry to seven organizations and individuals, including the federal government, Air India and a number of family members who lost loved ones in the bombing.

Another nine groups and individuals, including Malik, will be permitted to play more limited roles, Major has ruled.

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The state-owned maharaja is heading back to the aircraft market. In a bid to meet its immediate fleet requirements and replace older planes, Air India is now planning to wet-lease nine wide-bodied jets.

These planes, sources said, would replace jets that were earlier taken on dry lease and their lease period are nearing an end. These aircraft will be used to operate on most of its existing routes, including to US, UK, Canada, Middle East, Japan and South Korea.

“Instead of taking planes on dry lease for three or more years, we decided to wet lease aircraft to meet our requirements,” a source added.

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The man acquitted of the Air India bombing has won the right to limited participation in the public inquiry into the terrorist attack.

Justice John Major has granted intervenor status to Ripudaman Singh Malik

In a brief written ruling, Major cautioned that Malik’s interventions will be limited to challenging “any evidence that directly and adversely affects his reputation.”

Malik and Ajaib Singh Bagri were acquitted last year of criminal charges stemming from the downing of Air India Flight 182 by a terrorist bomb off the coast of Ireland in 1985.

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India has launched a large-scale air and naval evacuation operation pulling out over 700 Indians and nationals of some other countries from trouble-torn Lebanon. The evacuees were ferried to Larnaca in Cyprus by Indian Navy’s INS Mumbai, as part of the mission — ‘Operation Sukoon’. Air India then mounted two special flights of Boeing 747-400s, with a total capacity of about 850, to bring home the stranded.

This is part of one of the largest civilian evacuation operations overseas.

The two special flights would be operated on every alternate day depending on the requirements at Larnaca, AI sources said.

The 608 people, including 23 women and four children, were evacuated by the Indian warship which also ferried 13 people from other countries including Nepal and Sri Lanka. Among those rescued were Lebanese Indians and Indian Americans.

With requests for evacuation being received from hundreds of other Indians amid escalation of fighting, another warship INS Brahmaputra reached Beirut port to rescue more people.

Two more warships — INS Shakti and INS Betwa - are near the Beirut port and will enter the harbor one by one to rescue about 12,000 Indians living in Lebanon.

The second batch of 423 Indians, who were evacuated from Lebanon, arrived in Chennai by a special Air India flight.

The evacuees, mostly from Tamil Nadu and Punjab, were received at the airport by Tamil Nadu Forest Minister N Selvaraj, Dairy Development Minister U Mathivannan and Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs Malay Mishra.

Out of those who arrived, 269 were from Tamil Nadu, 139 from Punjab, nine from Kerala, three from Goa and one each from Mumbai, Hyderabad and Bangalore.

Indian Embassy in Beirut continues to receive requests for evacuation from Indian nationals and is processing these in consultation with the local authorities, External Affairs Ministry spokesman Navtej Sarna said at a joint briefing with Assistant Chief of Naval Staff Rear Admiral Pradeep Chauhan here.

“The evacuation operation will continue in the coming days as required,” Sarna said.

The four warships can take 1,000-1,200 people altogether, Admiral Chauhan said. If the number of requests exceeds 1,000, the four ships will undertake a “shuttle” service to Larnaca.

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Air India website which was down for last more than 18 hours is now operational. The website www.airindia.com was down because of some programming bug. Around noon when Gujaratglobal contacted local area manager office it pleaded ignorance about the problem.

Within couple of hours the web service of India’s national carrier has been restored.

For news in Hindi see our Hindi daily Chaupal Chronicle

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Cargojet Income Fund (the “Fund”) (TSX: CJT.UN)
- announced today Air India Cargo and Cargojet are entering into a strategic
marketing and operational alliance for the Canadian market, effective
August 1, 2006.
Through this alliance Cargojet will provide sales, marketing and
operational support to Air India Cargo in Western and Atlantic Canada.
Cargojet will receive cargo sales, marketing and interline support from Air
India Cargo who currently serve over 44 destinations in more than 23
countries.
All Air India Cargo originating from, or destined to Western and Atlantic
Canada will connect with Cargojet’s premium domestic overnight service
flights. This partnership will enable both carriers to share and benefit from
one other’s expertise in the marketplace and extend their global networks.
Both organizations and their customers will now receive seamless air
cargo service from anywhere in the world to all destinations into and out of
Canada.
“Both companies will benefit mutually, as Cargojet can now assist Air
India Cargo in servicing the complete Canadian marketplace. Cargojet and its
customers will also benefit with the expertise Air India Cargo has developed
over the years in terms of sales and marketing, handling and information
technology,” said Ajay Virmani, President and CEO of Cargojet.
“Air India is pleased to enter a Strategic Alliance with Cargojet in
Canada, as this will enhance the movement of cargo between Canada and India.
With Air India’s vast domestic network within India, complimented by
Cargojet’s strong presence in Canada serving 13 cities, this arrangement will
ease the flow of cargo to interior points in both countries,” says Mr. R.B.
Chopra, Manager Canada for Air India.
With a buoyant Indian economy coupled with increased trade Ex India to
all countries including Canada, substantial growth in cargo movement is
anticipated, on this route.
The tie up between the two airlines will see promotion of cargo to Europe
over Birmingham, as well as, to destinations beyond India on the carriers. Air
India presently operates five direct flights a week from Toronto to New Delhi,
via Birmingham and Amritsar.

Cargojet is Canada’s leading provider of time sensitive overnight air
cargo service. Cargojet operates its network from coast to coast transporting
over 500,000 pounds (226.8 tonnes) of volumetric time sensitive air cargo to
thirteen major cities in Canada each business night.

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A Vancouver businessman acquitted of bombing Air-India Flight 182 has been granted intervenor status at the upcoming commission of inquiry, but he will not receive public funding to attend.

Ripudaman Singh Malik had sought full standing, which would make him a full party to all proceedings and enable him to apply for taxpayers’ assistance.

But the inquiry commissioner, retired Supreme Court of Canada judge John Major, limited Mr. Malik’s involvement to responding to evidence that directly and adversely affects his reputation. Mr. Malik may also ask for permission to make a 10-minute opening statement when the hearings begin in September.

The families of the crash victims, the Air-India Cabin Crew Association, Air-India and the Canadian government will be the only full participants, according to a decision posted on the commission website yesterday. They can apply for government funding.

Mr. Major requested that two groups representing families of the crash victims and three individuals work together in the hearings.

In addition to Mr. Malik, intervenor status was granted to civil-liberties groups, Jewish, Muslim and Sikh groups, and groups representing victims of crime and terror. In total, 16 of the 19 applicants were granted full or partial standing.

Mr. Major will examine a range of issues, including investigative turf wars between the RCMP and CSIS, airline security, better protection of witnesses in terrorist cases, and the possibility of holding high-profile trials before a three-judge panel rather than a single jurist.

Mr. Major is required, under the inquiry’s terms of reference, to hear some evidence in private if it endangers national security as defined by the federal government.

Testimony is to begin in September and run through next April. A report is due in September, 2007.

Air-India Flight 182 originated in Toronto and stopped in Montreal en route to London and New Delhi, but crashed off the coast of Ireland on the morning of June 23, 1985, killing all 307 passengers and 22 crew on board. The crash has been blamed on a bomb allegedly planted by Sikh terrorists. Two baggage handlers in Narita, Japan, were killed about an hour earlier by a bomb believed to be linked.

The public outcry after the acquittal of Mr. Malik and his co-accused, Ajaib Singh Bagri, helped drive formation of the inquiry.

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