After 7 years, Mr. Albert Brunner will not be extending his contract with Bengaluru International Airport Ltd. (BIAL) which comes to an end in early 2009, and will step down as Chief Executive Officer.

Mr. Brunner who joined BIAL as CEO in 2002 is synonymous with the new Bengaluru International Airport. He is expected to take up another overseas assignment with the Unique Airports organisation, which operates Zurich airport, and is a partner in the BIAL consortium.

BIAL Chief Operating Officer Marcel Hungerbühler, will take over as CEO on February 1, 2009.

Marcel Hungerbühler has been the Chief Operations Officer of BIAL over the last two years and was instrumental in the start-up process and the operations of the airport. He brings with him 38 years of experience from the aviation industry and has held various high level management positions with Swissair and Swissport prior to joining BIAL.

Despite my differences with Mr. Brunner, about HAL airport, knowing him for over 4 years, he is a person, I have tremendous respect and admiration for. At a Rotary club meeting I was attending, a member asked Mr. Brunner, "What has your India experience taught you ?"; after some thought, came the answer -- "Patience"

With true grit, tenacity, and patience, over the last 7 years, Albert Brunner has guided the new airport project to a reality called Bengaluru International Airport. BIAL will miss his leadership. I wish him continued success and achievements.

Marcel Hungerbühler is an equally wonderful person. Very practical, empathetic, pragmatic, cooperative, and totally down to earth; but, I caution anyone, who would think Marcel is a pushover. He is tough as they come.

Albert has built the airport, Marcel is the perfect successor to run it. Congratulations Marcel. God bless with all the success.

Logistics majors, DHL Express and Blue Dart Aviation inaugurated a $25 million integrated terminal at the Bangalore International Airport. The 220,757 sq. ft facility will integrate the South Indian domestic and international businesses of both companies.

The facility, which was expected to bring synergies in operations, was said to improve services by reducing throughput time by 60 minutes.

Malcolm Monteiro, senior vice president and area director South Asia, DHL Express Asia Pacific, said that the Bangalore facility, would be followed up by similar facilities in the near future.

“Every time we have an opportunity like this, we will use it. Hyderabad is the next one in line. We are also looking at Mumbai, Delhi and Kolkata within a short period of time. The kind of investments that will go into these facilities will depend on the airports and the throughput in these areas,” said Monteiro.

In reference to the market slowdown, Monteiro said, that the express industry, which had grown at the rate of 19% last year, was expecting a growth of 10% - 12% this fiscal. The company, however, he said, was growing above the market due to the choice of its investments.

The company, which had increased market share by 1% to 2% last year, was expecting similar figures this year, said Monteiro.

The company, which had an employee base of 10,000 employees in India, was likely to experience a slowdown in recruitment but was not looking to cut jobs. “We will continue to recruit, but at a slower pace,” he said.

In a shocking development, Alex McWhirter of Business Traveller reports that Jet Airways has decided to stop flying between Brussels and Bangalore, a route commenced just a few weeks ago.

Raja Segran, the carrier’s VP for Europe and the Americas, confirmed to Business Traveller that Jet will cease flights by January 12, 2009.

Along with Bangalore - Brussels, Jet will cut two unprofitable routes linking India with Europe and the US within the next two months.

First for the chop is London-Amritsar, which is used mainly by low-revenue leisure travellers. It will end on December 1.

After Bangalore-Brussels on January 12, Shanghai-San Francisco, will follow, which will be dropped the following day on January 13.

This last route is a surprise, seeing as Jet Airways is thought to be the best option, as it’s the only carrier to fly non-stop from Shanghai to San Francisco. The Mumbai - Shanghai sector will remain, however.

It means that from early next year Bangalore will be left with only four direct air services from Europe: British Airways and Kingfisher from London Heathrow, Lufthansa from Frankfurt and Air France from Paris Charles De Gaulle. The Kingfisher flights are performing very poorly, and even that flight is suspect.

“Right now all Indian airlines are losing money,” says Raja Segran, “so we are not immune. However we are probably doing better [than the others] and we are having to take measures [such as dropping the two above-mentioned routes] to come out of the financial crisis.”

Jet’s existing services from Brussels, to Mumbai, Delhi, New York and Toronto, will continue as before.

The Deccan Chronicle reports, the 21-member Joint House Committee (JHC) headed by BJP MLA Hemachandra Sagar, to look into perceived lapses by Bengaluru International Airport Ltd. (BIAL) wants a complete makeover for Bengaluru International Airport. But BIAL has baulked at the idea, particularly as the bill for the face-lift touches Rs 1,000 crore.

“The committee is of the opinion that the airport is functional but looks as if it was built in a hurry,” an official said. The members, who visited the airport recently, said they found it inferior compared to other airports in India and abroad. “The changes they suggested would cost around Rs 1,000 crore. With the BIAL partners already concerned over revenue loss and expansion plans on hold, BIAL is unwilling to spend,” the officer said.

BIAL comes under the Central list and it is the ministry of civil aviation (MoCA) which has the final say. Despite the fact that the state is a partner in the BIA with a 13 per cent stake, it has little say in the board. “BIAL partners are sitting pretty with the concession agreement which gives them all the powers to decide what has to be done with the airport. Therefore, BIAL has an upper hand in the tussle with the government. Though, the state requested BIAL to build a second terminal immediately, it was turned down, the officer said.

“The state, which has already given BIAL land free of cost and a loan of Rs 350 crore payable at the end of 10 years of operations at low interest rates, has to release additional funds if the image of the airport has to be lifted.” he added. The state has one option. It can petition MoCA to step in and set right the anomalies. “BIAL’s refusal to give the airport a new look may also lead to the state taking the extreme step of handing over the project to an interested consortium through global tenders.”

But insiders said MoCA which has not yet given BIAL permission for UDF collection may force it to go for a terminal expansion. However, there are limitations. Adding another floor to the existing terminal will be difficult as the design and roofing does not allow it, an officer said.

According to a press-statement issued by the German Embassy, “Germany will be the first country to have its consulate general in the Information Technology (IT) capital of India. There are already more than 120 German companies or Indo-German joint ventures in Bangalore.”

German Foreign Minister Frank Walter Steinmeier, will fly to Bangalore today, to open the first consulate general in the city, the statement said.

While news reports indicate, the Bangalore consulate general will issue both German and Schengen visas, the official website of the consulate general, indicated otherwise, as of the time of this article. The website continues to direct all consular services to the German consulate general in Chennai.

Full contact details of the Bangalore consulate general of Germany can be found here.

Germany has a long presence in Bangalore with large companies like auto component major Bosch (formerly MICO). Lufthansa was one of the first airlines to operate to Bangalore. The consulate general in Bangalore is long overdue, and will provide a boost to Germany's efforts to obtain investments in Germany by technology companies, who are already being wooed, strongly, by Belgium.

As the United States, the largest market for the IT majors, is being buffeted by economic turmoil, they are expected to focus more on Europe. Germany’s IT services market is worth $40~45 billion, second in Europe after the United Kingdom.