Flyington Freighters, a cargo airline company promoted by Hyderabad-based publishing group Deccan Chronicle, has signed an agreement for acquiring for six A330-200F aircraft from Airbus Industrie. The listed price for six freighters is estimated at $1.1 billion. Flyington Freighters is the first cargo airline to order the A330-200F, which is the latest freighter from Airbus.

In a bid to speed up the proposed merger of government-owned airlines Air-India and Indian, civil aviation minister Praful Patel has called a meeting of representatives of the employees' unions of both the airlines on January 16. The minister will listen to the views of the representatives and convey it to the empowered group of ministers looking into the mega merger.

Minister of Civil Minister Praful Patel on January 16 lashed out at airlines levying congestion charge of Rs 150 on all sectors while the problem of ATC delays is limited mainly to Delhi and Mumbai. Almost all domestic carriers, except Indian have been levying that fee citing the delays - and financial losses of Rs 2,500 for each minute of hovering - because of congestion at Metros airports.

Government-run carrier Indian has broken all its previous records of passenger carriage in the month of December 2006. The airline has carried 0.84 million passengers on domestic routes in December 2006, surpassing all previous month records. The carrier, which operates mainly on the domestic network, also flies short-haul international routes. Almost 45 per cent of Indian's capacity is deployed on its international network. However, in the months of December and January, Indian supplemented its international capacity by operating flights to carry Haj pilgrims to Jeddah and also to various points within India, a spokesperson for the airline said.

Recent developments in the area of civil aviation in the country draw attention of all concerned about the role of public sector in development of airports. Airports Authority of India (AAI) controls and manages Indian airspace and other functions including provision of communication, navigation and surveillance aids for safe and efficient air traffic; design, development, operation and maintenance of facilities in the areas of apron, terminal building and city side.

India has the potential to be one of the world's great aviation markets. Today, there are only four air domestic journeys per 100 people per year for a total of 50 million passengers a year. With 31 million households earning $5,000 per year, the potential for 150 million travelers is real. International conditions are equally promising. By 2011, we expect 50 per cent more inbound tourists - 6.7 million in total coming to India. And outbound tourism is expected to expand by 75 per cent to 14.8 million.

Delhi International Airport (Private) Ltd. (DIAL)'s plan to bring names like Gucci, Nike and Calvin Klein to duty-free shops at Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) has temporarily run into rough weather. In November 2006, DIAL awarded the Rupees five billion duty-free, three-year shopping contract for the airport to Alpha-Pantaloon Consortium. But now with work on the shops poised to start, DIAL has been hauled up by IGIA's Customs for not taking its clearance.

If an airport is the showcase of a city, the Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) certainly does not leave a good first impression on a visitor. The terminals, especially the domestic ones, are congested and chaotic because of the ever-increasing air traffic Jostling crowds at the terminals, long, tiring queues and flight delays are common. Even its dull interiors do little to lift the mood.

The crash of the ill-fated Adam Air flight two weeks ago off the Sulawesi seas has once again focused attention on the safety of air travel in South-east Asia, where there has been a proliferation of budget carriers over the past five years.

Switzerland's biggest ever economic crime trial began in Zurich on Tuesday when a court heard opening statements in a case against 19 former managers, board members and consultants of failed airline Swissair.

After years of debate over the use of cellphones aboard airplanes in flight, the moment of truth has very nearly arrived. Emirates, the Dubai-based airline, installed satellite-based technology that allows voice calls and text messaging on one of its Boeing 777s late last year and expects to begin offering the service to passengers on an international route, yet to be announced early next month.