India
Lift From Ground Up
It is now taken for granted
that the Ground Handling Policy (GHP) will not be implemented. Every
time the government moves to enforce the policy – and it has done
so quite a few times since September 2007 – protests stall it.
The opposition comes mostly from the domestic private carriers since
they are afraid that the GHP would take away control of their airline
to assure a quicker turn-around. The last time, when the government
finally took the call and decided to implement it starting January 1,
2011, the private airlines under their umbrella organization Federation
of Indian Airlines (FIA), whose membership includes all the domestic
carriers, went to Delhi High Court.
The GHP includes handling of baggage,
freight and mail, loading and unloading of aircraft, fuel handling and
catering services. According to official sources, the domestic carriers
had earlier said that they would go along with the new ground-handling
policy. But come January 2011, the airlines chose to challenge the policy
in the court. Their fear: they would lose control over costs, efficiency,
scalability, and management of ground-support activities. The government,
on the other hand, feared that allowing too many personnel on the airport
tarmac and other restricted/technical areas could pose serious security
risks.
Ever since 2007, when the Directorate
General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) announced the GHP, it has experienced
a seesaw battle with the private carriers. The matter was heard in the
Delhi High Court, which finally rejected the writ petition and in the
first week of March 2011 ruled that the new GHP would be implemented
starting April 1, 2011. But the FIA appealed against the order of the
Delhi High Court. The FIA has since received a breather, as the Supreme
Court will be hearing the case in July 2011. Until then, it has asked
the government to maintain status quo, which means no implementation
and allowing airlines to do self-handling.
 Celebi
Holding, which has a presence at the Mumbai airport for ground handling
and at Delhi airport for ground handling and cargo operations, is not
worried about the delay in the implementation of the GHP, although it
provides ground handling services for around 25,000 flights a year for
Lufthansa, Air France, Turkish Airlines, Jet Airways and Kingfisher
Airlines. The company believes that there will be a way out of the dispute
with the FIA and has already pumped in a lot of investments for ground
handling: $17 million in Mumbai and $13.2 million in Delhi. According
to reports, Can Celebioglu, Chairman of Celebi Holding, told a group
of Indian media persons invited to Istanbul to take a look at the company’s
operations.
“Ground handling is not their (airline)
core business. Airlines give their ground handling to third parties
due to efficiencies and economies of scale,” she said.
The company is keen to push its cargo
services and has chalked out plans to invest between $80 and $100 million
in the next two years. It has been operating the Delhi Cargo Terminal
since November 2009 and has plans to improve and upgrade it.
Tirthankar Ghosh |
A
singing CEO at a press conference: This unique occurrence might make
it into the Guinness Book of World Records. After Ken Allen presented
dozens of charts at a Hong Kong-held media briefing by DHL Express,
all of a sudden the CEO of Deutsche Post’s logistics pillar started
intonating: 
There
was a noticeable change at Air Cargo Europe, held in Munich, Germany
during early May 2011.
“Starting
June 1st we are adding new schedules, including three B747 freighters
that will move cargo between our connected hubs at Riyadh and Jeddah.
"We
see great potential in Russia and the success of our Moscow flights
has demonstrated that there is still demand from this market,"
commented His Highness Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Chairman and
Chief Executive, Emirates Airline and Group.
