Indian (airline)
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| Indian | ||
|---|---|---|
| IATA IC |
ICAO IAC |
Callsign INDAIR |
| Founded | 1953 | |
| Hubs | Chatrapati Shivaji International Airport Indira Gandhi International Airport Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport Chennai International Airport |
|
| Focus cities / secondary hubs | HAL Airport | |
| Frequent flyer program | Flying Returns | |
| Fleet size | 59 (+ 43 ordered) | |
| Destinations | 56 | |
| Parent company | Indian | |
| Headquarters | New Delhi | |
| Key people | ||
| Website: http://www.indian-airlines.nic.in http://www.indianairlines.uk.com | ||
Indian (Hindi: इंडियन) (formerly Indian Airlines Hindi: इंडियन एयरलाइन्स) is India's state owned primarily domestic airline, under the federal Union Ministry of Civil Aviation and based in New Delhi. Its main bases are Chennai International Airport, Chatrapati Shivaji International Airport, Mumbai, Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport, Kolkata and Indira Gandhi International Airport, New Delhi.
The company was formerly known as Indian Airlines. On December 7, 2005 The company was rebranded as Indian as a part of a program to revamp the company image in preparation for an IPO.[1] The airline operates closely with Air India, India's national flag carrier. Alliance Air is a fully owned subsidiary of Indian.
Contents |
[edit] History
The airline was set up under Air Corporations Act, 1953 with an initial capital of Rs.32 million and started operations on 1 August 1953. It was established after legislation came into force to nationalise the entire airline industry in India. Two new national airlines were to be formed along the same lines as happened in the United Kingdom with BOAC and BEA. Air India took over international routes and Indian Airlines Corporation (IAC) took over the domestic and regional routes.
Seven former independent domestic airlines: Deccan Airways, Airways-India, Bharat Airways, Himalayan Aviation, Kalinga Air Lines, Indian National Airways, Air Services of India, were merged to form the new domestic national carrier. Indian Corporation inherited a fleet of 99 aircraft including 74 Douglas DC-3 Dakotas, 12 Vickers Vikings, 3 Douglas DC-4s and various smaller types from the seven airlines that made it up.
Vickers Viscounts were introduced in 1957 with Fokker F-27 Friendships being delivered from 1961.The 1960s also saw Hawker Siddeley 748s, manufactured in India.
The jet age began for IAC with the introduction of the pure-jet Sud Aviation Caravelle airliner in 1964, followed by Boeing 737-200s in the early 70s. April 1976 saw the first three Airbus A300 wide-body jets being introduced. By 1990, Airbus A320s were introduced.
The economic liberalisation process initiated by the Government of India in the early 1990s ended Indian Airlines' dominance of India's domestic air transport industry. Indian Airlines faced tough competition from Jet Airways, Air Sahara, East-West Airlines and ModiLuft. As of 2005, Indian Airlines was the second largest airline in India after Jet Airways while Air Sahara controlled 17% of the Indian aviation industry.
East-West Airlines and ModiLuft discontinued flight operations but the entry of several low-cost airlines in India like Air Deccan, Kingfisher Airlines and SpiceJet continues to give competition in its market, forcing Indian to cut down air-fares. However, as of 2006, Indian Airlines is still a profit making airline.
In the face of increasing domestic competition, the airline is about to undergo restructuring of its organisation, management and finances, with a view to issuing an initial public offering in 2006. It has recently been renamed to 'Indian'. The airlines new logo is said to be contemporary graphic representation wheel of Sun temple at Konark in Orissa State.
Indian Civil Aviation Minister, Praful Patel, announced Government of India's plan to merge Air India and Indian into one giant airline consisting of 130-140 aircraft. This could take place anytime from the end of 2006 to the middle of 2007. If these airlines merge then they will be in direct competition with other air giants like British Airways, Air France, Air Canada, Lufthansa, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, Japan Airlines, Thai Airways International, United Airlines, American Airlines and Qantas.
[edit] Services
- Further information: Indian Airlines destinations
Indian flies to 64 domestic and 16 international destinations offering 35,000 seats per day and is India's second largest airline. It operates the following services (at January 2005):
It is fully owned by the Government of India and employs around 19,600 employees (at January 2005). Its annual turn-over, together with that of its subsidiary Alliance Air, is well over Rs.4000 crores (around US$ 1 billion). Together with its subsidiary Alliance Air, Indian carries a total of over 7.5 million passengers annually.
Indian serving its customers through Inbound Call Centers based at Delhi and Outbound Call Centers at Major Metros. Accesible through Toll Free Number(1800 180 1407) from all parts of the country, Arrival-Departure information,Reservations,Promtional Schemes,Tele Check-in, Telephonic booking(Dial-a-Ticket) are few services rendered to fliers and Travel Agents.
[edit] Fleet
The Indian fleet includes the following aircraft (as of August 2006) [2][3] [4]:
- 3 Airbus A300B4
- 48 Airbus A320-200 (plus 4 on order)
- 5 Airbus A319-100 (plus 21 on order)
- 6 Dornier 228-200
- On order: 20 Airbus A321-200
The average Indian fleet age is 15.8 years old as of 2006.[5] Indian has recently ordered 43 Airbus jets[1] comprising of:
- 19 Airbus A319
- 4 Airbus A320
- 20 Airbus A321
These orders will start arriving from the middle of 2006 and will go until 2007. Indian has planned many new destinations to increase its market. The ageing Boeing fleet will be converted to freighters. The airline is also planning to spruce up for competition in the Persian Gulf Arab States sector, which accounts for 12% of its revenues. It is in the process of negotiations for 12 widebody aircraft with Airbus and Boeing. It also plans to introduce flights to Europe and the USA.
Indian Airlines management has now finalised the lease of two wide body A330-200 jets but hasn't planned as to which routes will it be deployed. The top choices of the airline are Australia, South Africa and Hong Kong. Although United Kingdom stands in the list, it has not been given much consideration.
As part of plans to augment capacity and mount flights to newer domestic and international destinations, the board of directors of Indian decided to dry lease 11 new jets — including six 70-seater regional jets on 22nd October 2006. The regional jets would be inducted and operated by Indian's feeder subsidiary Alliance Air, which is being converted into a new low-cost airline. By By April, they expect the new aircraft to start joining the fleet.
Indian is the only airline using Airbus A320 aircraft with double gear bogeys to enable airports with rougher and smaller airfields within the country to be accessed.
[edit] Livery
The aircraft livery used while the company was called Indian Airlines was one of the longest in terms of time. Its aircraft were mainly white. The belly was in light metallic grey. Above the windows, "Indian Airlines" was written in English on one side and Hindi on other. The tail was bright orange in color with its logo in white. In most of the aircraft, the logo was also painted on the engines over its bare metal color. Also when the company was under the title of Indian airlines, to celebrate its 50th year of service the airline put the slogan "50 years of flying" in gold on many of their aircraft.
After the name change to Indian, the company's aircraft are sporting a new look inspired by the Sun Temple at Konark in Orissa. The tail of their aircraft have a partial blue wheel since practically 3/4 of the remainder is cut off. The wheel is over an orange backround with the carrier's name "Indian" written in English on one side and in Hindi on the other on the fulsege
[edit] Incidents and accidents
- There have been at least 12 fatal events in the history of Indian Airlines and Indian. [1]
- 29 August 1970; Indian Airlines F27; near Silchar, India: The aircraft crashed into high ground shortly after takeoff. All five crew members and 34 passengers were killed.
- 9 December 1971; Indian Airlines HS748; near Chinnamanur, India: The aircraft was on descent into Madurai when it crashed into high ground about 50 miles (80 km) from the airport. The event occurred in daylight and reduced visibility. All four crew members and 17 passengers were killed.
- 11 August 1972; Indian Airlines F27; New Delhi, India: The aircraft lost altitude and crashed after abandoning a landing attempt. All four crew members and 14 passengers were killed.
- 31 May 1973; Indian Airlines 737-200; near New Delhi, India: The aircraft crashed and caught fire during landing. The crash killed five of the seven crew members and 43 of the 58 passengers.
- 12 October 1976; Indian Airlines Caravelle; Bombay, India: The right engine caught fire shortly after takeoff and the crew elected to return. Fuel flow to the engine was not stopped and the fire spread through the fuselage and led to hydraulic system failure and a loss of aircraft control shortly before landing. All six crew members and 89 passengers were killed.
- 4 August 1979; Indian Airlines HS748; near Bombay, India: The aircraft was approaching the airport at night and in poor weather when it collided with high ground about six miles (10 km) from the airport All four crew members and 41 passengers were killed.
- 10 May 1980; Indian Airlines 737-200; near Rampur Hat, India: The aircraft experienced severe en route turbulence. Two of the 132 passengers were killed.
- 29 September 1986; Indian Airlines Airbus A300B2-1C; Chennai Airport (MAA); The crew aborted a take-off and the plane overshot the runway as a result; all 185 passengers and 11 crew members escaped unhurt. The aircraft was written off.
- 19 October 1988; Indian Airlines 737-200; Ahmedabad, India: The aircraft hit an electric mast five miles (eight km)out on approach in poor visibility. All six crew members and 124 of 129 passengers were killed.
- 14 February 1990; Indian Airlines A320; Bangalore, India: Controlled flight into terrain during approach. Aircraft hit about 400 meters short of the runway. Four of the seven crew members and 88 of the 139 passengers were killed.
- 16 August 1991; Indian Airlines 737-200; near Imphal, India: The aircraft hit high ground during descent about 30 km from the airport. All six crew members and 63 passengers were killed.
- 26 April 1993; Indian Airlines 737-200; Aurangabad, India: The flight crew initiated their liftoff late and the aircraft struck a large vehicle on a road just outside the airport. The vehicle strike damaged one engine and the aircraft later hit power lines and crashed. Four of the six crew members and 52 of the 112 passengers were killed. The administrators of the airport were also cited for failing to regulate traffic on that same road.
- On Christmas Eve, 24 December 1999: Indian Airlines Flight 814, which had just taken off from Kathmandu, Nepal to Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi, India was hijacked. The plane flew around different points in South Asia and Southwest Asia as officials of the government of India and the Taliban negotiated. One passenger was killed and some were released. On December 31, 1999, the rest of the hostages on Flight 814 were freed.
- On 17 July 2000; Alliance Air (wholly-owned subsidiary of Indian Airlines) Flight 7412, 737-200; Patna, India: The aircraft was on a domestic flight from Calcutta to Patna and was making a second approach when the aircraft crashed into a residential area about 2 km (1.25 miles) from the airport. All six crew members and 45 of the 52 passengers were killed. Five people on the ground were also killed.
- On 18 January 2006; Indian Flight IC-809, Patna, India: The right rear wheel tires of a Boeing 737-200 plane from Delhi to Patna, burst at 1530 hours while landing at Jayaprakash Narayan International Airport, Patna. All 56 passengers and 7 crew members escaped unhurt.
- On 12 March 2006; Indian Flight IC-955 from Chennai to Kuala Lumpur had to return to Chennai after engine problems. The problem was fixed and the flight departed again at 5:30 am. All 130 passengers and crew were unhurt.
- On 3 June 2006; Indian Flight IC-860, an Airbus 320 en route Singapore-Delhi was forced to make an emergency landing at Biju Patnaik because of a mechanical problem.
- On 5th August 2006;Flight IC 976, an Airbus 320 was declared grounded following a fatal attempt to take off at Sharjah International Airport.The flight was scheduled for departure to Chennai via Kochi-Coimbatore.
- On 4 December 2006; Flight IC-402 an airbus a320 from Kolkata to Delhi with 124 passengers and six crew on the board, experienced a hydraulic snag on approach to Delhi airport around 11 pm. While the aircraft made a clean landing, it skidded a few feet off the runway after the speed slowed down. The hydraulic snag had made it difficult for the pilot to manuver the nose-wheel of the plane. All the passengers and crew were safely offloaded within 15 minutes
[edit] Financials
Given below is a chart of trend of profitability of Indian Airlines as published in the 2004 annual report by Ministry of Civil Aviation with figures in millions of Indian Rupees.
| Year | Operating Revenues | Operating Profit/(Loss) |
|---|---|---|
| 2002 | 41,015 | (1,347) |
| 2003 | 46,498 | 1,251 |
[edit] External links
[edit] References
- ^ a b Indian Airlines to be called 'Indian' now -- Rediff.com
- ^ Fleet listing from Airfleets.net
- ^ Details and Fleet History from Planespotters.net
- ^ Flight International, 3-9 October 2006
- ^ Fleet age from Airfleets.net
