Copter
service begins for Kedarnath
Dehra
Dun, May 28: The Uttaranchal government has
started Pawan Hans helicopter service for about
two lakh pilgrims visiting the Kedarnath shrine
annually. The helicopter service became operational
from May 16 after successful test flights for ten
days. Daily Pawan Hans services are available from
6:30 am to 11:30 am. The five seater helicopter
fares are Rs 4000 one way and Rs 8001 to and fro,
inclusive of darshan. "Earlier attempts were made
to start a flight but could not be successful because
of the exorbitant fares. Augustmuni is the nearest
and the most convenient spot to start flights. The
facility has been started keeping in view the hassles
faced by pilgrims whose health doesn't allow them
to walk up to Kedarnath. And if it turns out successful
the possibility of lowering the fares could be possible
with the introduction of more helicopters," said
the state tourism minister.
Air-India
lowers domestic fare (Go
To Top)
Mumbai,
May 27: Air-India has announced special fares
for the domestic sector with immediate effect. The
special fares for the flights departing between
8 am and 8 pm would be five per cent lower than
the apex fares being offered by carriers like Indian
Airlines, Jet Airways and Sahara. An AI release
said on Tuesday the night fares would be further
lowered by 10 per cent when compared to the special
day fares offered by it and 15 per cent lower than
the apex fares. The new fares will not have any
advance purchase conditions and the number of seats
allocated is nearly 80 per cent of the capacity
and are not restricted as in the case of the domestic
carrier. The cancellation charges have been kept
for the special night fares at Rs 100, the release
added.
Rudy promises
transparency in civil aviation work (Go
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New
Delhi, May 26: The newly appointed Minister
of Civil Aviation Rajiv Pratap Rudy took charge
of his office on Monday. He replaced Shahnawaz Hussain
as minister with independent charge in Saturday's
Cabinet reshuffle. Hussain, the only Muslim minister
in the NDA government, has been shunted to Textiles
Ministry. Rudy, a former junior Commerce Minister,
said he would bring transparency in the working
of the civil aviation ministry. "We will definitely
like to have a lot of transparency in the work in
this department and with the set of the team and
officers we have. And a word for my predecessor
Shahnawaz Hussain, who did a great job here," he
said while taking on the new mantle.
During
Hussain's tenure, the Cabinet Committee on Disinvestment
abandoned the sale of India's state-run domestic
and international carriers, both of which have accumulated
cumulative losses over the years. The long-delayed
disinvestment of Indian Airlines and Air India was
seen as key to the government's divestment targets.
Both airlines were taken off the hammer on the grounds
that they planned to invest billions of dollars
in new acquisitions of Medium Capacity Long Range
(MCLR) aircraft. Political influence in airlines'
decision making and wrangles over ministerial interference
in operations of flights also marred Hussain's tenure
at the helm of the Civil Aviation Ministry.
Foreign
airlines ordered to compensate Indian passengers
(Go
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New
Delhi, May 16: A local consumer court has ordered
two foreign-based airlines to compensate two passengers
for providing deficient services. The two airlines
are Air France and KLM Dutch Airlines. While the
former lost a baggage belonging to an Indian passenger,
the latter delivered a baggage in damaged condition.
While announcing the award in favour of the two
Indian passengers, the court found the airlines
guilty of deficiency in service.
In
the first case, complainant G.D. Sharma - Secretary
to University Grants Commission - alleged that Air
France did not hand over his baggage after he arrived
at New Delhi by its flight in August 1998. He claimed
a compensation of Rs 88,700. The lost baggage reportedly
weighed 20 kgs. The court directed the airlines
to pay Sharma at the rate of 20 dollars per kg.
As the international carrier had already paid Rs
10,230, the court asked the airline to pay the remaining
amount along with litigation cost of Rs 5000.
In
the other case, complainant Alok Agarwal, a resident
of Maharani Bagh in South Delhi, alleged that KLM
Dutch Airlines delivered his baggage after a delay
of over 40 days on March 13, 1997 and that too in
a damaged condition. The consumer court, which held
the Dutch Airlines guilty of deficiency in service,
directed it to pay 75 dollars along with Rs 5000
for the delay. Besides, the court asked the airlines
to pay litigation cost of Rs 5000 to the complainant.
IA not
selling assets to meet expenses, says Shahnawaz
(Go To Top)
New
Delhi, May 5: Civil Aviation Minister Shahnawaz
Hussain said here on Monday that Indian Airlines
has no plans to sell its assets in order to meet
its daily expenses or has sold any for the purpose.
"Indian Airlines has not sold any assets to meet
its day-to-day expenses. There's no proposal from
IA to sell its assets to meet such expenses," the
minister said during Question Hour in Lok Sabha.
He also said that most of the losses of the airline
could be attributed to rise in input costs like
aviation turbine fuel, insurance, landing and navigational
charges which were beyond IA's control.
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