AVIATION

India’s Kingfisher airline penalised for tax dues

Tax authorities in India have initiated steps to penalise and charge Kingfisher airline for its failure to pay $ 49 million (£ 31 million) in taxes, the government says.

The airline deducted taxes from salaries, but did not deposit it with the government, junior Finance Minister SS Palanimanickam told the parliament.

The cash-strapped airline owes money to airports, tax authorities, lenders and its own staff. An airline spokesperson refused to respond to the report.

"A survey.was conducted at the business premises of the company andsubsequently a tax demand (including interest) amounting to 3.72 billion rupees ($ 68 million; £ 43 million) was raised," Press Trust of India quoted the minister as saying in a statement in the parliament.

"Action for recovery has been undertaken and a total of 1.03 billion rupees($ 18.8 million, £ 12 million) has already been recovered," he said.

The airline has been struggling to maintain its day-to-day operations inrecent months after banks refused to lend more money to the debt-ladencarrier.

The airline has never made a profit since its launch in 2005.

Cathay offers promotions to Hong Kong, Seoul, Osaka and Beijing

Cathay Pacific Airways has launched specail Getaway Surprise packages to the exotic destinations Hong Kong, Seoul, Osaka and Beijing during May and June.

Travellers and adventure seekers have a valuable opportunity to experience these exciting getaways with special Economy Class fares.

With the operation of daily flights from their hub Hong Kong, Cathay Pacific ensures that their customers have the ease of planning a convenient flight itinerary, enjoy special fares and experience the airlines award-winning services notes Ruhan Abbas, Sales and Marketing Manager for Cathay Pacific Airways, Colombo.

Tickets can be purchased until 30 June, and the travel period for the promotion is until 30 June.

Cathay Pacific Airways is represented by Finlays Colombo PLC as General Sales Agent.

More details could be obtained from Cathay Pacific Colombo office or from travel agents.

Air Asia entrepreneur to make Irish investments

Wealthy Malaysian entrepreneur Tony Fernandes is considering making a number of investments in Ireland via his interests in sports cars, aviation and hotels.

Fernandes said he intends to explore the possibility of some aspects of his Caterham Company’s business being carried out by Dublin Aerospace, an aircraft maintenance company in which he has a 22 per cent stake.

Caterham, which runs a Formula One grand prix team, is working on developing lightweight components for aircraft and two new sportscar models.

“There are many synergies that I see happening and there’s a lot of things that could be done here in terms of servicing and in terms of making items,” he said. “We can put investment into Ireland.”

Fernandes said his Tune budget hotel group has also placed a bid on a site in Dublin.

“It’s somewhere in the middle of Dublin. We have bid on one. We have 10 hotels in London already.”

Fernandes runs low cost carriers Air Asia and Air AsiaX. Dublin Aerospace founder Conor McCarthy is a shareholder in the airline. The Irish company does a small amount of landing gear maintenance for them and Fernandes would like this to increase.

“We might as well,” he said. “It would create jobs here.

Rather than send it to a faceless shop. I know the guys here will put in an extra effort.” He would also like to establish a direct flight to Ireland. “I would love one day when we have the right aircraft to fly to Dublin from Kuala Lumpur,” he said. “When the Airbus A350 comes [in 2016] maybe we can look at that.” Would there be demand? “Oh definitely. We have a big network into Australia and China. A lot of students come here. It’s not for today but it’s in our plan.

Nearly 500 expat pilots working in India : Government

Nearly 500 foreign pilots are currently working in various Indian aviation companies with Jet Airways topping the list of recruiters, the government said.

These details were given by Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh in response to a question in Lok Sabha.

The government had allowed airlines to hire foreign aircrew to meet the shortage of pilots, Singh said.

Of the 497 pilots working with Indian companies, 183 work for Jet Airways, followed by Indigo Airlines 90. Spice Jet employs 88 expat pilots while Kingfisher employs 15 and Air India 14. Blue Dart and Alliance Air employ 7 foreign pilots each while 3 more are working for Go Airlines, Ajit Singh said.

India to curb official foreign trips in austerity push

India has outlined plans to curb government foreign trips as part of an austerity drive and says it is “vigorously” committed to curtailing ballooning spending.

The statement late Friday came as India’s currency slumped to a new record low against the dollar with investor risk-aversion amplifying pressure on the rupee, already hit by worries about a slowing domestic economy.

“The government is committed to carry on the process of fiscal consolidation vigorously,” junior finance minister Namo Narain Meena told parliament in a written statement.

Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said earlier in the week he would introduce “austerity measures” to “convey a signal we are responding to the situation.” Along with the travel restrictions, the government also aims to ban purchases of new cars, except by the military, clamp down on holding conferences at five-star hotels and impose “strict discipline” on hiring consultants.

Other measures are expected to be announced later, government officials said.

The finance minister has ascribed many of India’s economic problems to the crisis in the eurozone which has hit exports and prompted foreign investors to pile out of India into the perceived safe haven of US assets.

But the government has also come under attack for its management of the economy with business confidence hit by the sluggish economy, controversial tax rulings, economic reform paralysis and worries over rising welfare subsidies. India’s growth fell to 6.9 percent in 2011-2012 from 8.4 percent the previous year with the unruly coalition government unable to agree on steps to further open up the economy to spur expansion. Even as the government announced the austerity plans, Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh invited journalists to travel with government officials to the United States to take delivery of state-run Air India’s new long-range Boeing jets.

AFP

South African Airways seeks aid for new fleet :Minister

Beleaguered national carrier South African Airways (SAA) is looking for additional state aid to buy a new fleet of aircraft, a minister said Wednesday.

“Shareholder support for SAA to procure a more modern and fuel-efficient fleet is vital if it is to remain competitive,” minister of public enterprises Malusi Gigaba told parliament. The state-owned company has a long history of turning to the Treasury for financial aid. The opposition Democratic Alliance said Tuesday that about 18 billion rand ($2.1 billion, 1.7 billion euros) had been spent on SAA bail-outs since 2004.

But Gigaba denied that the new purchases amounted to a bail-out.

“SAA has not come to us and said ‘we are in the red, please help us out with money’,” the minister told reporters.

He said the government was driving a new African Aviation Strategy “aimed at focusing the state-owned airlines on opportunities in the continent and on promoting regional integration”.

“The fact is that Africa must constitute the primary market and route for the future South African Airways,” Gigaba said.

The minister would not discuss the cost of the project or indicate the size of the new fleet.

AFP