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

The Indian state of Punjab is making a major stride towards becoming India’s densest civil aviation destination. The latest step came with the clearance of a new greenfield international airport near Ludhiana. This would be the third international airport in Punjab after the ones at Amritsar and Mohali, and the second to come up within a span of just14 months. Disclosing this, Sukhbir Singh Badal, Deputy Chief Minister said that clearance to this dream project “signals the … [Read more...] about INDIA & MIDDLE EAST: New Aerotropolis project for Punjab

Air New Zealand is taking the country’s Commerce Commission to court in a bid to counter its allegations that 13 airlines colluded in fixing prices in theair cargo market there. Air NZ has gone to the High Court to try to force the Commission to disclose any evidence it has against the airline, saying its own internal investigations have failed to uncover wrongdoing and that the Commission’s actions are impacting the carrier on many levels. … [Read more...] about NEW ZEALAND: Air NZ takes Commission to court

All three of Qantas’ new A380 super jumbo jets are up, up and away once more after being grounded for 24 hours to deal with fuel tank and steeringproblems, the carrier said. The aircraft were grounded in London and Sydney to deal with issues the airline described as “teething problems”. Two were out of service due to a fuel tank indication system problem and one experienced a nose wheel ground steering issue and an unrelated fuel leak issue, Qantas said in a statement. … [Read more...] about AUSTRALIA: Qantas A380s back in the air

Another carrier - Australia’s Queensland- based carrier SkyAirWorld – has gone belly-up joining the swelling ranks of small rural aviation service providers downunder that are falling victim to theglobal recession. SkyAirWorld’s troubles could also spill over to East Timor’s upstart national carrier Timor Air which had wet leased one of SkyAirWorld’s 94-seat Embraer aircraft to fly from Dili to Darwin and Bali. The Brisbane carrier also … [Read more...] about AUSTRALIA: Australia’s rural carriers dropping like flies