Amid reports of Indian low-cost carrier SpiceJet talking to to Qatar Airways for a possible fund infusion, the Gulf carrier has announced its intention to acquire a stake in IndiGo, India’s largest market-share leader among no-frills operators. “We are keen to invest in IndiGo, if it is available,” Akbar Al Baker, Chief Executive of state-owned Qatar Airways says, in a growing sign of interests of Gulf-based airlines in the Indian aviation market. Al Baker was addressing the 70th annual general body meeting of IATA in Doha.
DOHA, Qatar — Emirates Airline President Tim Clark is demanding more transparency in the investigation of the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines flight MH370. “We are the largest operator of the Boeing 777 in the world. I need to know how anybody could interdict our systems,” Clark told Aviation Week in an interview on the sidelines of the International Air Transport Association’s (IATA) annual general assembly in Doha, Qatar. “Something is not right here and we need to get to the bottom of it.”
DOHA, Qatar — Air France-KLM Group has started talks with Etihad Airways on a joint venture for operations between Amsterdam and Abu Dhabi Airport and has engaged with China Southern to deepen its current revenue-sharing joint venture, Air France-KLM Chairman and CEO Alexandre de Juniac said.
DOHA, Qatar — Emirates President Tim Clark believes Rolls-Royce is the most likely provider of a new powerplant for a potential reengined Airbus A380. “I’m not sure GE or Pratt have an appetite,” Clark told journalists on the sidelines of the International Air Transport Association’s annual general meeting in Qatar. From his talks with Rolls-Royce and Airbus, Clark concludes Rolls-Royce is nearest to believing sufficient orders for an A380neo could materialize to make the business case work.
India, taking a significant step toward aiding safe takeoffs and landings when faced with extremely low visibility at airports, is developing a runway assessment system called the Drishti Transmissometer.
Jet Airways named aviation specialist Cramer Ball as its new chief executive officer. Jet’s last CEO, Garry Kenneth Toomey, quit in mid-January, barely seven months after taking charge of the airline. Gaurang Shetty, the airline’s director and manager, will continue to lead it “till the requisite approvals are obtained and Ball assumes charge as the CEO,” a Jet Airways spokesman says.
As Air India prepares to be inducted into one of the largest airline alliances in the world, the new Indian government has indicated that it is not averse to the idea of privatizing the money-losing national carrier. “We are examining and trying to formulate our views ... I am not close to any idea,” says new Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju Pusapati, referring to proposals for privatizing the state-run carrier. But there will be no hasty decision on privatization, the minister said after taking office on May 29.
