(MARCH, 2003)

Aviation Sector in for a Slide: Shahnawaz
(March 18, 2003)

          NEW DELHI: India on Tuesday expressed apprehensions that a military action by the United States in Iraq would have cascading effect on its civil aviation sector. "If there is a war on Iraq, Indian civil aviation sector will suffer a lot. Due to the closure of Pakistani airspace, Air India already suffers a total loss of 400 million rupees (8 million dollars) (per year)," Civil aviation minister Syed Shahnawaz Hussain told reporters in the Capital. India suspended overflights rights to Pakistan International Airlines soon after the December, 2001 terrorist raid on Indian parliament and Pakistan retaliated in equal measure.

           Hussain said if war breaks out in Iraq then bulk of Indian air traffic catering to more than three million expatriate Indians working in the Gulf region would have to be suspended. "If the war starts we will have to close the operations in Kuwait, Bahrain and Amman airports because they come in the radius. Also we will have to divert Air India's Europe and America flights. Right now we take the route of 30 nautical miles from Iran but once the war starts, we will have to divert the route.

           The flight timings then will increase by one and a half hours. Because of that the fuel consumption per aircraft will also increase by 1-2 million rupees," Hussain said. Hussain's concerns came a day after US President George W Bush issued an ultimatum to Iraqi President Saddam Hussein to leave the country or face war.

          State-owned Air India, which flies twice a week to Jordan, Turkey and five days a week to Kuwait, all neighbouring Iraq, earns an approximate 80 million dollars per year. The earnings are expected to come down by 15-20 per cent in case of the war. Aviation analysts say the airlines throughout the world ultimately could lose 8 billion dollars every quarter if the war continues. The recession and the fallout from terrorist attacks on New York and Washington 13 months ago have already pushed the industry into absolute chaos.

Lufthansa to Pay Rs 5 Lakh Compensation to Passengers   (Go To Top)
(March 9, 2003)

          KOLKATA: A consumer court here has ordered the Lufthansa Airlines to pay a compensation of Rs 5 lakh to the passengers for serving meals which had many glass pieces. The incident was reported five years ago on a flight from Amsterdam to Frankfurt. The passengers, who had to remain without food for around five hours after the glass pieces were discovered, had asked for a compensation of two million rupees. Announcing the order, the West Bengal State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission said it is strange that an international airlines has no machinery to check the quality of food supplied to the passengers. To calm down the complainants the airlines had offered another trip with a 50 per cent discount, which the former declined to accept. Earlier, the German airlines offered certain coupons for duty free goods worth Rs 1250. But the complainants had refused that too.

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