Biman chief asked to show cause
for 'false' statements

Holiday Report

The long simmering dispute over the lease of Nigeria's Cabo Airlines' aircraft came out in the open with the Ministry of Civil Aviation and Tourism serving show cause notice on Biman Chairman Air Marshal (Retd) Jamal Uddin recently for making 'false' and 'indecent' statements against the Minister for Civil Aviation and Tourism and the ministry.
   The show notice stated that Air Marshal (Retd) Jamal Uddin gave 'false' and 'insulting' statements against the Minister and Secretary of the Ministry at a press conference in the city on August 18. The Biman Chairman was asked to explain as to why he made those statements.
   It was also mentioned in the show cause notice that the statements of the Biman Chairman hurt the image of the Ministry and were tantamount to acts of indiscipline. He was warned not to make such statements in the future. In that press conference the Biman Chairman said Cabo Airlines' aircraft was hired for Haj flights following the decision of the Minister. He also commented that there were differences between the Minister and Secretary of the ministry.
   In the press conference the Biman Chairman dismissed allegations of lack of transparency and accountability in Biman. On allegations of corruption, Jamal Uddin said, "There is corruption in whole of Bangladesh. It's not right to insult people like this. If there is corruption in Biman, isn't there a government in this country? There are many departments of the government to look into it. Does he have any proof of corruption? There are no cash memos for kickbacks and corruption."
   The Biman Chairman said, "The Minister's statement of lack of transparency and accountability in the activities of Biman is not true. The minutes of every meeting of the Biman board are sent to the Ministry. The Ministry is informed of every decision. I personally have met the Minister at least six times in the last one and a half years. Whenever I look for my Managing Director, I am informed that he has gone to the Ministry. The Secretary of the Ministry is a Member of Biman board. He is present in every meeting. If there are differences between the Minister and the Secretary, should I be blamed for those?"
   Meanwhile, the Jatiya Sangsad Committee on the Ministry of Civil Aviation and Tourism brought allegations against Minister GM Quader. The allegations came in the background of open differences between the Jatiya Sangsad Committee and the ministry over the lease of 130 acres of land near Hazrat Shah Jalal International Airport and not allowing Cabo Airlines' aircraft to fly.
   In this regard, Minister GM Quader told a daily, "They are saying all these as I have not acted as per their wishes."
   Mosharraf Hossain, president of Jatiya Sangsad Committee told a press conference at the Sangsad Bhaban following a meeting of Jatiya Sangsad Committee on the Ministry, "I had given 15 to 20 days' notice for this meeting. But neither Minister GM Quader, nor the Secretary nor the Biman Managing Director joined the meeting. The Ministry informed through a letter that they would not be able to attend. The matter goes against parliamentary practices. Through this the Minister has insulted the Jatiya Sangsad Committee. The Committee has decided to inform the Ministry that this is not correct. The Prime Minister will also be informed at the same time."
   Regarding this the Minister said, "I telephoned the president (of Jatiya Sangsad Committee) 10 to 12 times to request rescheduling of today's meeting after a day or two. Bit he did not pick up the phone. So I contacted and intimated his office that I would not be able to attend the Jatiya Sangsad Committee meeting due to an emergency meeting on Haj. At the same time I sent a letter requesting to reschedule the meeting after one or two days. But they did not listen."
   The Minister also said, "I was a Member of the Jatiya Sangsad Committee before becoming a Minister. According to parliamentary practices the Jatiya Sangsad Committee are held after consultations with the Minister. But it is regrettable that the Jatiya Sangsad Committee did not keep my request."

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Japan's tightly regulated skies have been seeing some changes in recent years, with a wave of low-cost carriers from Asia entering the market and domestic budget airlines rising to intensify the competition. The most recent was China's Spring Airlins.
   Observers are looking carefully at the impact on the Japanese airline industry, especially what it means for All Nippon Airways Co. and Japan Airlines Corp.
   When JAL filed for protection from its creditors in January, transport minister Seiji Maehara said he would take a close look at whether Japan will need two megacarriers in the future, when competition will only grow more intense.
   Experts are split on the degree of the low-cost carriers' impact on ANA and JAL, but pretty much all agree the best outcome for consumers would be that both survive and maintain a healthy competition.
   "I think the impact is quite big," said Hajime Tozaki, an economics professor at Waseda University and former JAL employee. "Under the ongoing deflation, (JAL and ANA) will lose customers to budget carriers and will be forced to keep carrying out unhealthy cost-cutting."
   Compared with Japanese airlines, which spend more on employment and have to pay expensive aviation-related taxes and public dues such as airport fees and fuel taxes, budget Asian carriers are almost free of regulation and have lower employment costs, Tozaki explained.
   Low-cost carriers' fares can be 20 to 70 per cent less than those of major airlines. The tickets can be offered at reasonable prices because their operational focus is on carrying customers place to place for short to midrange distances.
   For instance, budget airlines commonly cut in-flight meals and charge extra for checked baggage. Also, to maximize passenger numbers, seating configurations are often as cramped as possible.
   "The cost structure is fundamentally different (from Japanese airlines)," Tozaki said.
   But considering that budget airlines don't focus on luxury services, Makoto Murayama, a senior analyst at Nomura Securities, said their primary customers differ from those who fly Japan's big carriers, so the direct impact on ANA and JAL is subtle.
   Japan's airline market is notoriously conservative due to tight regulations, including strict safety guidelines and restrictions on foreign investment. The bar was set too high for new firms to enter the market, resulting in limited competition.
   The recent entry of no-frills carriers from Asia is partly due to the need of struggling airports to attract more fliers.

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Holiday Report

This Ramadan, Dhaka Regency is offering numerous options to its food lovers to experience a traditional and festive iftar. Alongside platters of Bangladeshi items such as chola, piaju, beguni, aloo dum, and shahi haleem, Dhaka Regency will be also highlighting the delicacies of the Middle East, Be it shwarmas, sambuseks, hummus, mandi or kabsa, Dhaka Regency is pulling out all the stops.
   When it comes to Iftars, there are pre-plated set menus, takeaways, buffets and buffet dinners, while a special banquet menu has also been prepared for those who really want to make a statement this Ramadan.
   But the real highlight of the season is the "Sahan-al-Iftar", which is a premium iftar package that includes a whole lamb roasted in an Arabian clay oven, two whole-roast chicken, special Middle Eastern rice dishes, sambuseks, hummus, mutaubel, baklavas, bala-e-shams, basboussas - the list goes on. The package is good for 12-15 persons and is a real insight into how the people of West Asia enjoy their Iftars.

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The country's largest private carrier GMG Airlines will operate scheduled flights from Dhaka to Jeddah during the upcoming Hajj period. However, any passenger wishing to perform holy Hajj can avail GMG's scheduled flights to Jeddah in this regard, says a press release.
   GMG Airlines will operate six flights from Dhaka to Jeddah in every week. The airline has deployed Boeing 767-300 ER Long Range aircraft with seating capacity of 264 in its Dhaka-Jeddah route for carrying passengers.
   It will very soon start flight operation from Dhaka to Riyadh. The airline has already got necessary permission from the respective civil aviation authorities.

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While airlines in Malaysia are seeing strong forward bookings for the second half of 2010, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) has warned that growth in the aviation sector will slow as consumer demand remains weak.
   The association released its monthly statistics for July recently showing a growth from a year ago for international passenger traffic of 9.2 per cent and air freight 22.7 per cent.
   These figures were, however, lower than that recorded a month earlier with international passenger traffic at 11.9 per cent and air freight at 26.5 per cent.
   "The recovery in demand has been faster than anticipated, but as we look toward the end of the year the pace of the recovery will likely slow.
   "The jobless economic recovery is keeping consumer confidence fragile, particularly in North America and Europe. This affects the leisure markets and cargo traffic," IATA director general and chief executive Giovanni Bisignani said in a statement.
   But the four Asian airlines are not so worried about the second half. Their forward bookings are strong, at least that was what the bosses are saying.
   AirAsia Bhd group chief executive officer Datuk Seri Tony Fernandes said the second-half bookings for this year were ahead of last year. For 2009 the airline load factor was 83 per cent.
   "The second half is very strong. In fact, our traffic for Ramadan is the best ever in our 9-year history. This goes to show globalisation of the AirAsia business that does not rely on the domestic market. We carry traffic from all over be it China, Europe and other markets.
   "All our brand and network building efforts are also paying off. Even in a recession we record growth, so in good and bad times we will still benefit," Fernandes said.
   But IATA said Asian carriers outperformed the industry average with a 10.9 per cent growth for July. The Asian carriers are slated to lead the industry's recovery and IATA has predicted that the Asian carriers would report US$2.2 billion in profit this year.
   The Association of Asia Pacific Airlines (AAPA) also released its numbers saying that the Asia Pacific-based airlines carried a record 17.2 million international passengers in July, 20.4per cent up from the same month last year.
   The better loads were boosted by particularly strong demand on busy regional routes.
   Even AAPA was cautious over the outlook of the sector. It said the very high growth rates recorded in recent months, as a result of the surprisingly sharp V-shaped recovery, would obviously taper off as the economy stabilises and reverts to a more normal pattern of growth.
   "Asia Pacific airlines are generally well placed to benefit from the improving business environment, and are making some measured additions to capacity and selective expansion of their route networks, although continuing uncertainties about the prospects for further growth in North America and Europe suggest a measure of caution," its director-general Andrew Herdman said.
   AirAsia X CEO Azran Osman-Rani said the long haul low cost carriers' forward bookings for second half were also "much better than the first half." In 2009, AirAsia X's average load factor was 77 per cent.
   "Bookings for Melbourne, Perth and Taipei are strong, London is picking up and we are seeing strong sales for Seoul even though we are launching the route only in November. Loads to Tehran which only has twice weekly flights are about 80per cent," Azran said.
   Firefly managing director Datuk Eddy Leong said the airline's forward booking were typically very short due to the nature of the routes they fly and passengers they care.
   "So far the trend is very postiive and upwards even during Ramadan,'' Leong said.
   MAS senior general manager sales and marketing Datuk Bernard Francis said forward bookings for the second half had improved by 10 per cent-15 per cent from a year ago.
   MAS' average seat factor for the third and fourth quarters in 2009 was 76.7 per cent and 76.5per cent respectively.

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A second Hong Kong airline, Hong Kong Airlines, will begin regular flights between Hong Kong and Naha starting in September.
   Hong Kong Airlines will make four round-trip night flights using a Boeing B737 aircraft on Mondays, Tuesdays, Fridays and Saturdays. The airline joins its sister company, Hong Kong Express, which already flies round trips to Naha on a daily basis. Okinawa's Vice Governor, Yoshiyuki Uehara, has been in China discussing increased aviation business with that country. Uehara's discussions included creating new business companies to provide aircraft maintenance as well as beefing up overseas tourism. He met with aviation officials, including those from Hong Kong Express and Hong Kong Airline, to increase flights frequency and inaugurate new services.
   Okinawa Prefecture's looking into ways to provide aviation and aircraft services directly to foreign airlines. Airport operations, to include check-in counters and baggage services, fuel supplies, aircraft cleaning and maintenance are currently accomplished by Japan Air Line companies. JAL, now working to emerge from bankruptcy, is reducing the numbers of its workers, and is unable to handle increased service requirements new charter or commercial scheduled flights would entail. The new company, Uehara says, will be best, and adds Okinawa Prefecture will invest in the new company, which it plans to ask All Nippon Airways to manage.
   -Agencies

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