Non-refundable ticket cancellation: Airlines to return money

Inside a big relief to air travellers, domestic airlines have agreed to refund passengers all prices barring the base fare if a non-refundable ticket is cancelled.

However, passengers can avail this facility only if they cancel their tickets two hours previous to the flight departure.

"At a working group meeting held recently, the airlines have agreed to refund passengers for non-refundable ticket as well.

"The civil aviation secretary has already sent instructions to all of the airlines in this regard,"Air Passenger Association of India (APAI) President D Sudhakar Reddy said.

The decision, that would offer succour towards passengers, was taken at a meeting of the working group of the Civil Aviation Economic Advisory Council which is heading into problems relating to bringing transparency in fixing of airfares and protect buyer interests.

Reddy, a member of the group representing passengers' interests, mentioned the airlines have also been told to appoint a nodal officer to especially deal with this sort of issues.

Apart inside the base fares, fuel surcharge, passenger support fee, user or airport development fee and taxes are another components that an airline charges inside the passengers.

As per the decision, all these components would be refunded in case of cancellation of the ticket.

The decision was taken at a meeting of the six-member Working Group, which comprises all stake holders— airlines, DGCA, buyer groups, market experts, of the Aviation Economic Advisory Council held on January 18 in New Delhi.

Besides passengers, the group comprises representatives of travel agents, Air India ane no-frill carrier IndiGo.

"After discussions, the DGCA gave a presentation towards Council as well as the Working Group on a problem right after which airlines agreed towards proposal," Reddy said.

Reddy mentioned that APAI has also demanded inside the government that it must do away of the support tax on tickets which it introduced inside the last budget.

"We have asked the government to abolish the support tax on air tickets because it is against the International Civil Aviation Organisation norms and not in line with international practice," Reddy said.
Source: DNA India
Author: Yatra.com International

Airlines to Hire 5,000 as Aviation Boom Returns

MUMBAI | NEW DELHI: Indian carriers will hire at least 5,000 professionals across categories this year — pilots, cabin crew and airport ground staff — buoyed by the recent boom during the aviation sector which saw high attrition and retrenchment following the onset of the downturn in 2008.

“Airlines had pulled out at least 20% ability during the industry during the downturn. That ability was restored last year and we see airlines adding another 20% ability this year and would be hiring 4,500-5,000 individuals this year,” said Kapil Kaul, CEO of aviation consultancy company Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation, South Asia.

The Indian aviation sector will grow by 18-20% this year, said aviation industry experts. Among airlines, national carrier Air India Airlines and low-cost airlines IndiGo and SpiceJet will add more than 1,000 this year. “Our flights will go up to 350 flights per day from 221 currently. We are during the technique of hiring 200 pilots, 400-500 cabin crew and as many airport ground staff this year at IndiGo,” said Aditya Ghosh, president, IndiGo.

Demand for pilots is rising because of the dearth of professionals. Airlines are chasing expats as the aviation regulator has allowed foreign nationals being employed as pilots till December 13, 2013.

“The fact these days is that all airlines in India are asking for foreign pilots and no single agency can supply those people many numbers. Airlines in India have asked all agencies that these pilots needs to be recruited on an urgent basis,” said somebody directly involved with hiring of expats, requesting anonymity.

In all, airlines are looking for about 230 commanders on an immediate basis , based on recruitment agencies. “We are searching to hire 500-600 pilots to meet the demand,” Jet’s chairman Naresh Goyal had said recently. Jet, which seems to add 49 aircraft, need 100 commanders alone to meet its international expansion plans. Jet Airways , during the downturn, had fired 1,800 flight attendants only to re-hire them following protests and political intervention. It also slashed salaries by up to 25% at greater levels.

GoAir, which plans to add 20 aircraft by 2014, will hire 250 individuals this year with 100 every for cabin crew and ground staff and 50 pilots. The only airline that doesn't look being on an expanding spree stands out as the Vijay Mallya-promoted Kingfisher Airlines . The airline pulled ability by 22% during the downturn, losing pilots to competitive airlines.

Aviation experts, however, feel that the modern-day hiring spree usually do not translate into greater salaries because of inflation and other costs. “Salaries will only go up by 15-20% on an average,” said an expert.

The staffing agencies are conservative in their demand projections. “2010 was a recovery year, which saw world-wide-web addition of 1,500 people, but 2011 is a boom year and we’ll see world-wide-web addition of 3,000 individuals or more,” said Kamal Karanth, MD, Kelly Services India, a global staffing company. Out of these 3,000, two-thirds are going to be cabin crew as well as the sleep are going to be a mix of engineers and pilots. More than the following 5 years, the growth in hiring are going to be among 100% and 200%.”

Source: India Times

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Flight from Delhi cancelled, several others delayed

LUCKNOW: Dense fog enveloping the Amausi airport continued to disrupt flight movement on Saturday. Even though one domestic flight from Delhi remained cancelled, an international flight from Dubai was diverted to Jaipur.

According to reports, a GoAir flight, G8 351 with a scheduled arrival at 6.30 am remained cancelled. A Jet Airways Konnect flight 9W 2637 with a scheduled arrival at 6.45 am arrived virtually seven hours late even as visibility problems plummeted to near zero. The flight from Delhi arrived at 1.50 pm and departed only by 2.37 pm.

Likewise, a Kingfisher flights with a scheduled arrival at 8.30 am arrived at 12.30 pm and departed at 12.54. One more Kingfisher flight IT 3169 from Mumbai to Lucknow with a scheduled arrival at 8.55 am arrived only by 11.50 am.

Meanwhile, a Fly Dubai flight was diverted to Jaipur. The flight was scheduled to arrive at Amausi airport at around 7.45 am. However, the flight was diverted to Jaipur. The flight finally landed at Amausi airport at 3.40 pm and went back to Dubai at 7.30 pm.

Airport officials stated that even though visibility situation eased from the afternoon, it was back to haunt flight movement late on Saturday evening. In fact, some of the flights which have been scheduled to arrive in late evening had already started arriving late.

International reporting time for domestic flyers?

NEW DELHI: With airlines flying record loads since the Christmas weekend and the rush peaking now, airlines have advised passengers to verify in earlier than usual at crowded airports. SpiceJet passengers flying out of Kolkata this weekend got text messages to report three hours ahead of departure time — the reporting time for international flights! Jet Airways has asked flyers to achieve airports 2 hours ahead of departure time.

"In view of enhanced security at all airports by the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security, Jet has requested all its guests to verify in early to avoid congestion at airports and also allow flights to depart on time. Guests have been advised to report 2 hours ahead of departure time," said a Jet spokesperson. Airline sources say that domestic site visitors is growing incredibly sharply and airports that have not seen expansion are merely unable to cope from the site visitors figures. "In smaller airports like Goa, the security verify line for outbound passengers beings from arrival terminal itself. Kolkata is also choked. Airport expansion plans are taking off at a incredibly slow pace," complained a senior pilot.

While airlines find it difficult to hold on time performance with passengers stuck in serpentine security queues even when it's flight departure time, flyers are suffering too because of poor infrastructure.

Source: India Times