Indian warehousing and logistics firm Gati has said it has discontinued an agreement with Air India for using five Boeing 737-200 aircraft under an earlierwet lease agreement. Gati, in a statement to the Bombay Stock Exchange, said that “the arrangement under wet lease agreement with Air India for five B737-200 has been discontinued with immediate effect”. Consequently, the freighters leased by Air India have also been withdrawn with immediate effect, it added. However, the … [Read more...] about INDIA & MIDDLE EAST: Gati ends B737 leases with Air India

India’s civil aviation ministry is upset with German carrier Lufthansa for its apparent backing of Jet Airways for inclusion into Star Alliance while state-run Air India (AI) is still waiting in the wings, according to a government official, The Economic Times of India reported. AI has operated codesharing flights with Lufthansa between Germany and India since 2004 and was a key backer for AI joining thealliance. Following instructions from the civil aviation ministry, the Indian … [Read more...] about INDIA & MIDDLE EAST: Support for Jet’s Star entry upsets govt

Three international airports in India’s southern state of Kerala – Kochi, Thiruvananthapuram and Kozhikode – have stepped up security after a 21 March threat of attacks by Sri Lankan rebel group, the Liberation Tigers ofTamil Eelam (LTTE). Last month, two light aircraft of the LTTE bombed Sri Lanka’s main Revenue Department building near its Air Force headquarters killing at least two persons before the aircraft were brought down by the military. … [Read more...] about INDIA & MIDDLE EAST: Security stepped up Indian airports

Air India has restructured its operations to the US and Europe and made Frankfurt its European hub, Dow Jonesreported. “To begin with, Chicago and New York would offer more convenient connections to originating traffic from a larger geographical area in India, with the Chicago flight now set to operate from Delhi,” Air India southern region executive director EPA Varghese said. … [Read more...] about INDIA & MIDDLE EAST: Air India restructures operations

Defying the global air cargo slowdown, GR Gopinath, founder of budget carrier Air Deccan, is planning to start operations of his cargo airline in May. His company, Deccan Cargo Express Logistics (DCEL), will take delivery of three Airbus 310 freighters from thefirst week of April onwards. With plans to offer end-to-end logistics solutions, DCEL’s freighters will begin to fly with a Dubai–Mumbai– Delhi–Hong Kong route. Eventually the all-freighter … [Read more...] about INDIA & MIDDLE EAST: India’s newest cargo carrier to take off in May