Businessman Vijay Mallya, pursued by Indian authorities over unpaid loans tied to his defunct Kingfisher Airlines, was arrested in London on Tuesday and appeared in court for an extradition hearing. A source close to Mallya said he attended a police station voluntarily and the arrest was a technical procedure. Mallya, 61, was arrested on behalf of the Indian authorities over accusations of fraud and appeared in Westminster Magistrates' Court, British police said. Indian television channels said he was granted bail at the hearing. Mallya, in a message on Twitter, called the news of his arrest "usual Indian media hype". India had asked Britain to extradite Mallya to face trial after the liquor and aviation tycoon fled there last March after banks sued to recover about $1.4b that Indian authorities say Kingfisher owes. Mallya has repeatedly dismissed the charges against him and defended himself in messages on Twitter. On Jan. 28 he said that "not one rupee was misused". A spokesman for India's foreign ministry said "the two governments are in touch" over India's extradition request. India and Britain have a mixed record on extradition, say legal experts. Some cases have collapsed when evidence fell short of the standard of "dual criminality", or actions that amount to a crime in both countries. "The court usually focuses on whether there is sufficient evidence of criminality to extradite someone," said Andrew Smith, a partner at London law firm Corker Binning. "India needs to show a prima facie evidential case against this man."<br/>
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The number of travellers heading from the US to Iran and the Indian subcontinent has dipped since January after Washington imposed restrictions affecting some passengers on US-bound flights, an Emirates executive said Tuesday. Emirates CCO Thierry Antinori did not give figures but said some passengers flying from some US cities were taking longer to decide on travel plans. “We see people waiting, especially (to) Iran,” he said in Dubai. From March 25, the US banned electronic gadgets larger than a mobile phone inside cabins on direct flights to the United States from 10 airports in the Middle East, North Africa and Turkey. Dubai, the Emirates hub, was included. US President Donald Trump’s executive orders, signed in January and March, to bar refugees and nationals of several Muslim-majority country in the Middle East and North Africa from travelling to the United States also disrupted travel plans of some passengers. Iran along with Iraq, Libya, Syria, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen were banned under the January order. Iraq was dropped from the March order. Both bans were blocked by US judges. Emirates said in March that booking rates on US flights fell 35 per cent after January’s ban. Travel analysis company ForwardKeys said US bookings to the Middle East dropped 27% in the four weeks following Trump’s January travel order. In his comments to reporters, Antinori declined to say whether the US restrictions would affect the airline’s expansion plans, but said Emirates could “adapt to the future.” <br/>
Low-cost airline AirAsia has announced plans to open new international routes to India, Japan, Macau and Shenzhen. A Denpasar – Kuala Lumpur – Mumbai route will be opened on May 19, with seven flights a week; a Bali – Narita route will be served four times a week; a Jakarta – Macau service will become available on Aug. 17 this year, followed by a Jakarta – Singapore – Shenzen route on Oct. 17. “AirAsia is number one when it comes to bringing overseas tourists to Indonesia. The airline contributes 25%, while the airline that takes the second spot only contributes half of that,” Tourism Minister Arief Yahya said. “We’re targeting to bring two million overseas tourists to Indonesia […] We’re going to add more flights to every destination, especially China and India. Currently, AirAsia Indonesia has 22 Airbus A320 and two Airbus A330 aircraft, and we’re going to add two more airplanes,” said AirAsia Indonesia CEO Dendy Kurniawan.<br/>
Flybe Group’s CFO is to leave the company, dealing another blow to the struggling regional airline as it grapples with an oversupplied European aviation market. The airline Tuesday announced that Philip de Klerk has resigned to become finance chief at Low & Bonar, a performance materials manufacturer. He will leave Flybe on October 1. The departure of de Klerk comes as Flybe is expected to post a full-year loss. Last month, the airline warned investors that it would fall into the red for the year to March 31, rather than the previously anticipated small profit. The airline is struggling with the effects of an over-optimistic order for 24 regional jets from Brazil’s Embraer placed at the time of its initial public offering in 2010. Flybe has swapped all but four of the jet orders for smaller turboprops — propeller-driven aircraft — but still faces significantly increasing its capacity at a time of overcapacity and weak fares in the European air travel market and competition from train operators. The UK regional airline is attempting to improve its fortunes by reducing capacity and cutting costs. It is also undergoing an IT system upgrade, which it said would reduce profits by GBP5m to GBP10m for the year. The departure of de Klerk comes after a bumpy decade for Flybe. The regional airline was forced to restructure after it became heavily lossmaking following a sharp decline in leisure and regional air travel after the 2008 financial crisis.<br/>