AVIATION

Air Force makes local UAVs

Air Force Chief Roshan Gunethilake inspecting the first locally assembled Unmanned Aerial vehicle (UAv) at the Katunayake Air Force base.

The Sri Lanka Air Force has embarked on an ambitious Research and Development program to develop an indigenous aviation technology in collaboration with the Moratuwa University.

The project is progressing rapidly under the direct supervision of Air Chief Marshal Roshan Gunethilake and the UoM Vice Chancellor Prof Malik Ranasinghe on the advices of the Secretary of Defence.

Recently, Air Force published some photographs of their latest Unmanned Aerial vehicle (UAV) produced in SLAF on their web.

This is another land mark achievement of the nation in the technological front.

Japan Airlines rehabilitation plan approved by court

Struggling Japan Airlines (JAL) on Tuesday said it had won approval from the Tokyo district court for a rehabilitation plan that will see thousands of job cuts, route closures and a debt waiver.

"The court today formally approved the restructuring plan," said Hideo Seto, president of the Enterprise Turnaround Initiative Corp. (ETIC), which is charged with leading the restructuring process.

"With the approval of the plan, we have built the foundation to create a new Japan Airlines," he told a press conference.

In January the flagship carrier went under owing US$26 billion in one of Japan's biggest-ever corporate failures, but has continued flying while it goes through a painful state-led restructuring process.

It delisted from Tokyo's stock exchange in February and submitted in August to the Tokyo court its rehabilitation plan, including a debt waiver worth 521.5 billion Yen (US$6.2 billion) and the loss of more than 16,000 positions.

The court's decision came after major banks and creditors of the ailing carrier approved the plan.

"I am grateful that we were allowed to continue to operate and were given this opportunity to rebuild ourselves," JAL president Masaru Onishi said, apologising to shareholders and the public. "We promise we will be born again," he said.

The court's approval clears the way for ETIC to inject 350 billion Yen into the JAL group.

But the airline faces a serious task ahead in improving its overall financial standing, rebuilding business relationships with banks, training new managers, and dealing with worker unions.

In August the carrier said it would cut loss-making international and domestic routes by the end of fiscal 2012 while looking into the possibility of launching a low-cost carrier.

JAL said it would achieve personnel cuts by encouraging early retirement and selling subsidiaries, reducing staffing numbers to 32,600 at the end of fiscal 2010 from 48,714 at the end of fiscal 2009.

"There is a surplus of personnel. We have decided to reduce it. The approval of the court came based on that plan," said JAL chairman Kazuo Inamori, suggesting forced layoffs are also expected. The Government earlier this year asked charismatic entrepreneur Inamori, founder of high-tech company Kyocera and an ordained Buddhist monk, to turn around the former state-run company.

"We must be lean and muscular," he added of the restructuring. "It will cause great pain, but we have to ask employees for their understanding."

However, the carrier's restructuring efforts could be hampered by plans to terminate the employment contracts of around 200 pilots and cabin attendants, which have drawn criticism from labour unions who may take strike action. AFP

Dubai Airport sees four million passengers

Passenger numbers at the Dubai International surpassed the four million mark for the second time in the airport's 50 year history in October and that monthly total will soon become the norm, according to traffic results and projections released by Dubai Airports.

Dubai Airports' traffic statistics for October show that Dubai International handled a total of 4,013,127 passengers up 14.8 percent from the 3,496,366 recorded during October last year. Year to date passenger numbers total 38,851,488 compared to the 33,565,105 recorded in the corresponding period in 2009, an increase of 15.7 percent.

The largest increases in total passenger numbers during October were recorded on routes to and from Western Europe (+103,695 passengers), Indian subcontinent (+96,611 passengers), Asia (+74,322) and AGCC (+69,007).

The largest percentage passenger traffic growth* was seen on routes to and from Eastern Europe (306 percent), Russia (28 percent) and Asia (28 percent).

October air freight volumes rose 9.2 percent to 202,984 tonnes compared to 185,868 tonnes recorded during the same period last year. Year to date cargo volumes total 1,888,619 tonnes up 21.6 percent from the 1,552,748 tonnes recorded during the corresponding period in 2009.

Dubai Airports today also released its 2011 traffic forecast for Dubai International that projects passenger numbers will reach 52.2 million next year, up 13.1 percent from the 46.1 million passengers expected to pass through the airport in 2010.

Growth will be driven by a projected 10 percent increase in Emirates passenger numbers and an anticipated doubling of flydubai traffic in 2011 as both airlines continue to expand their respective fleets and networks.

"Our vision to manage the world's top international airport is coming into focus," said Dubai Airports CEO Paul Griffiths said. "Over the past 50 years Dubai International has seen passenger numbers increase by an average 15.5 percent annually.

"By the end of 2011 passenger numbers will have almost quadrupled in ten years from 13.5 million in 2001 to over 52 million. Before the end of the decade passenger numbers will approach 90 million making Dubai International the busiest airport in the world in terms of international passenger traffic," he said.

"Dubai's aviation industry is thriving due to its liberal aviation policies, tax free environment, geo-centric location as well as its willingness to invest in top-flight infrastructure," Griffiths said. "It is a formula that clearly works. Today we have more than 130 carriers serving 220 destinations on six continents and we are home to arguably the world's most profitable airline.

The challenge going forward is to ensure we have ample capacity in place to accommodate traffic growth."

EU to toughen rules on air freight

The European Commission plans to toughen security controls for air freight in the wake of last month's parcel bombs scare, its chief transport official said recently.

"We need new rules on security controls of cargo and mail from third countries, so I intend to propose legislation early next year on transfer cargo originating outside the EU," said Transport Commissioner Siim Kallas.

"We must also move more quickly to tighten EU requirements for supply chain security. We must expand inspection programmes to ensure that these requirements are implemented properly," the Estonian said. Other recommendations included better information sharing and international cooperation, Kallas said. Security personnel in Britain and Dubai on October 29 discovered two packages originating from Yemen containing explosives on cargo planes. They were addressed to a Jewish centre in Chicago. AFP

Russia overflight fees to end with WTO accession

Russia's "discriminatory charges" levied on European airlines for their right to fly over Siberia will be dropped after the country joins the WTO, an European Union official said Monday.

"Last week, after the negotiations, it was decided to abolish the discriminatory charges paid by the EU carriers," said Fernando Valenzuela, head of the European Union delegation to Russia, referring to the EU-Russia summit in Brussels scheduled for December 7. "The charges will be cancelled after Russia becomes a member of the WTO," he added. Russia is the last major economy that is not part of the Geneva-based global trade body. It first opened its bid to join in 1993. Russia last week said that it had resolved all outstanding economic disputes with the European Union, with President Dmitry Medvedev expected to finalise a formal membership agreement during the Brussels talks.

Airlines have to pay Russia overflight royalties for non-stop Asia-bound flights over Siberia. The fees were introduced in Soviet times and have been paid in recent years to state-controlled carrier Aeroflot.

Analysts have estimated annual overflight royalties to amount up to 400 million dollars. European carriers have long complained about the fees while EU authorities have said they defy European antitrust regulations. Russia agreed in 2006 to start reducing the fees in 2010 and completely end them in 2013.

The summit in Brussels will also pave the way to easing the visa regime between Russia an Europe, said Valenzuela.

"We will need to move toward easing the visa regime in order to make it simpler and cheaper both for EU citizens and the Russians," he said. AFP