Airlines Deals

An Alliance Air flight from Kolkata to Silchar returned to the airport soon after take off due to a false fire alarm on Saturday.

The ATR-42 plane of Alliance Air, a subsidiary of the Indian airlines, took off at 10.30 am but had to return when a fire indication was noticed, a spokesman of the Indian said.

The aircraft landed at the NSC Bose International Airport with 37 passengers at 10.40 am amidst the emergency drill.

However, after check up, the alarm was found to be false, the spokesman said adding all the passengers were safe.

The incident delayed the flight by about 2.30 hours.

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As many as 12 A-320 aircrafts of state-owned carrier Indian are grounded for major maintenance or want of engines, the Lok Sabha was informed on Thursday.

“The exact loss of revenue is difficult to compute as different aircrafts are under scheduled maintenance or otherwise for different periods of time,” Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel said in reply to a question.

He said normally about six A-320s remain grounded for maintenance, but currently there were 12 aircrafts. The reasons for delay in repairs were not due to shortage of spare parts but for major maintenance, want of engines or scheduled maintenance checks.

In reply to another question, he said while there was no shortage of pilots in Indian, its subsidiary Alliance Air had a shortage of ten pilots each for its Boeing 737 and ATR turboprop aircrafts fleet.

Air India and subsidiary Air India Express have a shortage of 85 and 22 pilots respectively, Patel said.

On modernisation of Kolkata and Chennai airports, he said though modalities for implementing the modernisation plan were yet to be decided, the Airports Authority of India has drawn up plans for construction of a new international departure block with car parking faciility at an estimated cost of Rs 225 crores at Kolkata.

Thereafter, the new arrival block would be constructed, Patel said, adding action to extend runways and construct a new domestic terminal building and 11 additional bays was already being undertaken.

At Chennai, AAI has already taken up expansion and modification of the international terminal block at a cost of Rs 23.47 crores, besides constructing 20 additional parking bays.

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With the tourist season in full swing, Malta has missed the opportunity to increase visitor numbers for this summer.

With official figures showing worrying signs that the number of tourists for 2006 visiting Malta could be stagnant, or perhaps even down from 2005, the opportunity for the island to have low cost flights operating from the UK appears to have slipped by for the all important summer season.

The island’s official airline, Air Malta, reported a drop of over two per cent in the number of passengers it carried in the year from March 2005 to March 2006.

The hope among hoteliers and others involved in Malta’s tourist trade is that at least one of the low cost airlines will start operating from the UK and perhaps other parts of Europe in the near future to boost visitor numbers.

‘With the holiday market vital to the Malta economy,’ comment local travel guide YourMalta.com, ‘potentially millions in lost revenue will be lost this year because of delays in agreeing to allow the low cost airlines to fly into Malta. In today’s world Malta has to compete with new destinations in Europe as well as Spain and her islands. Cheap Malta flights aren’t in themselves enough to sustain tourism at reasonable levels anymore, although this will be welcome, but the trick of sustained tourism is to have repeat business, and unless Malta attracts new first time visitors then repeat business is an impossibility’.

Holidays in Malta and the related tourist sector are a major source of employment in Malta, and with unemployment running at over 8 per cent any fall in tourists could spell long term damage to the island’s economy.

Another sector of the economy that could suffer with the Malta holidays market is real estate.
Malta Property

Real estate in Malta has risen in price in recent years, and 2004 saw Malta achieving the highest increase among the EU countries, with speculators buying property in Malta in the hope that joining the EU would see Malta real estate increase in value in the short and medium term.

Tribune Properties, who specialise in Malta Real Estate, view the potential downgrading of holidays in Malta as a double edged sword.

Managing Director Michael Johnson says that many Malta property buyers do so after visiting the island on holiday, and liking it so much they want to move to the island full time, while others who normally stay in hotels in Malta want to buy a property they can buy for their own and family holidays in Malta, and see buying a property in Malta as an investment for the future that they can enjoy too.

With less people taking holidays in Malta, the number of potential buyers will fall too.

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Standard Chartered Bank in association with MasterCard Worldwide has launched Supervalue Titanium MasterCard credit card that offers a lifetime cash-back at a flat rate of 5% as a permanent feature.

The card offers 5% cash back at all petrol pumps and from telecom service providers in India, 1% cash back on purchases, a lifetime cash-back offer, free airport lounge access at all Clipper lounges across the country. That apart initially there would be a promotional offer of a discount of 15% on full fares on all domestic flights of Indian Airlines and Alliance Air and a discount of 5% on easy fares and super saver tickets from 1st July 2006 to 20th September 2006.

Commenting on the launch Murali Natarajan, Regional Head - Consumer Banking, Standard Chartered Bank, India and Nepal said, “We have ensured a tangible benefit rather than reward points, through the simple value delivery mechanism offered in the ‘Super Value Titanium’ card.”

The Titanium Program targets affluent cardholders and would be launched in Delhi, Kolkatta, Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad and Pune also and would then expand its reach to the rest of India

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An Alliance Air flight from Kolkata to Silchar returned to the airport soon after take off due to a false fire alarm today.

The ATR-42 plane of Alliance Air, a subsidiary of the Indian airlines, took off at 10.30 am but had to return when a fire indication was noticed, a spokesman of the Indian said.

The aircraft landed at the NSC Bose International Airport with 37 passengers at 10.40 am amidst the emergency drill.

However, after check up, the alarm was found to be false, the spokesman said adding all the passengers were safe.

The incident delayed the flight by about 2.30 hours.

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An Alliance Air flight from Kolkata to Silchar returned to the airport soon after take off due to a false fire alarm on Saturday.
The ATR-42 plane of Alliance Air, a subsidiary of the Indian airlines, took off at 10.30 am but had to return when a fire indication was noticed, a spokesman of the Indian said.

The aircraft landed at the NSC Bose International Airport with 37 passengers at 10.40 am amidst the emergency drill.

However, after check up, the alarm was found to be false, the spokesman said adding all the passengers were safe.

The incident delayed the flight by about 2.30 hours.

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Nearly 100 members of a Wisconsin Army National Guard helicopter unit will head to Kosovo to support efforts to stabilize the region.

The members of the Madison-based 1st Battalion, 147th Aviation will mobilize this weekend.

They will take five of the battalion’s UH-60 Blackhawk helicopters when they join National Guard soldiers from several other states.

The Wisconsin battalion has 241 members. The current mission will involve only 92 of them because most of the others already served in Kuwait and Iraq after the unit was mobilized in 2003.

The current mission is expected to last 18 months, with one full year in Kosovo, which is legally part of Serbia.

Kosovo has been run by a United Nations mission and patrolled by NATO peacekeepers since mid-1999, when the alliance’s air war ended Serb forces’ crackdown on the province’s ethnic Albanian majority.

Talks are now under way to settle Kosovo’s future status. Ethnic Albanians want the province to become independent, while Serbian leaders and the province’s Serb minority want it to remain within Serbia’s borders.

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Word Count: 583 | Companies Featured in This Article: Air China, Cathay Pacific Airways, Lufthansa, UAL, AMR , British Airways, Singapore Airlines, China Southern Airlines, Continental Airlines, Air France
HONG KONG — Chinese flag carrier Air China will follow through on its pledge to join the Star Alliance of airlines and doesn’t expect major complications for its newly fortified partnership with Cathay Pacific Airways, a member of the rival oneworld group, a senior Air China executive said.
Air China wants to join Star because the Beijing-based carrier has close ties to two of the alliance’s members, Lufthansa and UAL Corp.’s United Airlines, and says it believes they can help it improve profitability and service on its long-haul flights to Europe and the U.S., Air China Executive Vice President Cai …

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