Excitement has surrounded the launch of J.W.Rinzler’s new book, The Making Of: The Empire Strikes Back. For months, fan websites and blogs have been ablaze with activity as Star Wars fans and cinephiles across the world eagerly anticipated the sequel to Rinzler’s critically acclaimed The Making Of: Star Wars. Fortunately, they have not been disappointed. With its exclusive access to the Lucasfilm archives, The Making Of: The Empire Strikes Back offers a treasure trove of never-before published photos, design sketches, paintings, production notes, interviews, anecdotes, and scripts, to offer a complete behind-the-scenes look at the production of an iconic film.

On Saturday fans celebrated the launch of The Making Of: The Empire Strikes Back at Bristol’s Forbidden Planet with an Empire Strikes Back themed extravaganza. Complete with costumes and lightsabers, fans from all generations enjoyed celebrating both the movie and the launch of this highly anticipated book. Similar celebrations have been planned at Southampton’s Forbidden Planet for this Saturday (23/10/10).




The Making of The Empire Strikes Back is available to buy online here.

• The follow up to last Christmas’ Best Seller AM I ALONE IN THINKING..?

• Another hilarious collection of letters

• Over 70,000 copies sold of its predecessor

• #1 Independent bookshops’ Christmas bestseller

'SIR – My first thought on seeing your headline, "Pupils to be taught about sex at seven" was "What, in the morning?"'

‘SIR- If anyone is unsure or not to vote for David Milliband, I would draw their attention to the photo of him in The Daily Telegraph wearing a two-buttoned suit with both buttons done up.’

'SIR – Having seen some pictures of Tiger Woods’ acquaintances, I’m thinking of taking up golf.'

In 2009 a small volume of unpublished letters to The Daily Telegraph, Am I Alone in Thinking….? captured the public imagination and became a Christmas bestseller. But to those who compile the newspaper’s daily Letters page the book’s huge appeal was no surprise. While they can publish no more than 20 letters each day, another 600 will have gone to waste and for every serious contribution there are many more that are simply very funny, and, alas, there’s never enough room to include them all.

Here then is the eagerly-awaited sequel chronicling yet another year through the whimsical preoccupations and hobbyhorses of the Telegraph’s wonderfully waggish readers. Chris Evans’ supplanting of Sir Terry Wogan on Radio 2; Tiger Woods’ peccadilloes; Gordon Brown’s long farewell – such are among the issues that exercised 2010 epistolarians.

Iain Hollingshead was deputy Letters editor of the Daily Telegraph and is now one of the paper's feature writers. He lives in London.

I Could Go On... is available to purchase online here.

Leonard Rossiter:
Character Driven
The Untold Story of a Comic Genius

Affectionate, honest and long overdue, Character Driven is the first biography of one of Britain’s greatest, but least-known character actors. Whether playing seedy landlord Rupert Rigsby in Rising Damp or frustrated suburban dreamer Reggie Perrin, Rossiter’s performances were iconic and utterly memorable. Like Peter Sellers or Ronnie Barker, his characters loom larger in our national consciousness than the actor who played them. Until now, Rossiter himself has remained a mystery.

Via exhaustive research and in-depth interviews with those who knew and worked with Rossiter, Guy Adams reveals the man behind the threadbare cardigan and manic grimace.

Leonard Rossiter: Character Driven will finally shed light on the personality of one of the greatest comic actors of the twentieth century, and reveal why he was able to give such epoch-defining performances.

Guy Adams worked as an actor for twelve years before becoming a writer, specialising in TV and entertainment. He is the author of the official guide to Life on Mars and the bestselling humour book based on the series, The Rules of Modern Policing: 1973 Edition. He also wrote the Torchwood novel The House That Jack Built.

Leonard Rossiter: Character Driven is available to purchase here.

Fifth Avenue, 5.A.M.
Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast at Tiffany’s

by Sam Wasson

‘A brilliant chronicle of the creation of Breakfast at Tiffany's… This is a memorable achievement’
Peter Bogdanovich

‘A sparkling time capsule of old Hollywood magic and mythmaking… as infectious as Mancini’s score’
Kirkus

Before Breakfast at Tiffany’s Audrey Hepburn was still a little-known actress with few film roles to speak of; after it – indeed, because of it - she was one of the world’s most famous fashion, style and screen icons. Truman Capote’s original novel is itself a modern classic, its high-living author of perennial interest.

Now, this little book - the first about Audrey Hepburn’s greatest screen role - tells the story of how it all happened: how Audrey got the role (for which at first she wasn't considered, and which she at first didn’t want); how long it took to get the script right; how she came to wear the little black dress; and how Henry Mancini’s soundtrack with its memorable signature tune ‘Moon River’ completed the irresistible package.

Sam Wasson is also the author of a biography of Blake Edwards.

Fifth Avenue, 5.A.M. Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast at Tiffany's is available to purchase here.

BBC VFX
The History of the BBC Visual Effects Department

By Mat Irvine and Mike Tucker

• The definitive history of the world’s first, largest and longest-running dedicated TV effects department.

• Covers fifty classic BBC shows in every genre.

• Series featured include Doctor Who, Blake's 7, Monty Python, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, The Goodies, Are You Being Served and many more.

• Filled with anecdotes and insights into how the effects were created.

• Illustrated throughout with fascinating production photos and sketches, most of which have never been published.

The BBC Visual Effects Department closed its doors in 2003. For almost fifty years it had been responsible for some of television’s most iconic images – from exploding newsreaders on Monty Python’s Flying Circus to Blake’s 7’s majestic Liberator sailing through outer space.

Using interviews with the effects designers, together with concept drawings, production photographs and stills from completed programmes, this book tells the story of the VFX Department and celebrates the work of a group of craftsmen who lived by the mantra, ‘If it can be imagined, it can be made…’

Working largely before the age of CGI, the Department was responsible for every kind of visual effect, from physical effects such as rain and explosions, to miniatures and models, to sculpture and animatronics.

Filled with fascinating insights, wonderful stories and numerous photographs and artworks which have never been published, this is an essential book for FX fans and anyone who loves television

Mat Irvine and Mike Tucker worked for many years in the BBC Visual Effects Department. Mat left the BBC in 1993 and has been pursuing other projects as writer, producer and director. Mike now runs The Model Unit at Ealing Studios. Both, individually, are writers, Mat having written twelve books on scientific and hobby subjects while Mike is the author of several original novels and Doctor Who novelisations.

BBC VFX: The History of the BBC Visual Effects Department is available to purchase here

The Classical Country House
From the Archives of Country Life
David Watkin

The Classical Country House takes a fresh, innovative look at the traditional British country house, revealing the major influence of Classicism from the seventeenth century to the present day.

Written in five parts, the book first examines the birth of English Classicism, then the flowering of Classical design, before recounting how eighteenth-century austerity gave way to the richer styles of the nineteenth century’s Italian Renaissance Revival. The final chapters look to the last century and beyond, and at how the Classical language of design is expressed in houses as diverse as Nashdom, Gledstone and the British Embassy in Washington D.C.

David Watkin has selected over 150 of the finest images from the Country Life archive to illustrate an incisive study of twenty-six important houses and their architects in what is a major addition to architectural history.

David Watkin is an Emeritus Fellow of Peterhouse and Emeritus Professor of the History of Architecture at the University of Cambridge. He is the author of over twenty books, including Morality and Architecture, A History of Western Architecture, and Roman Forum. He is a leading authority on Classicism and its successive renewals.

The Classical Country House is available to purchase here.

Lost Victorian Britain
A Vanished World of Nineteenth-Century Architecture
Gavin Stamp

"This is a book which no member of the Victorian Society should be without" The Victorian

"This is an important book. It tells the story of the loss of so much grace and beauty in the English architectural landscape. It should be on the desk of every architect and every town planner.” The Northern Echo

Aurum’s series of large-format, lavishly-illustrated architecture titles has in recent years hit a rich seam with its chronicles of lost architecture. The books cover the magnificent and grand buildings from previous centuries that for a variety of reasons – but above all cavalier demolition by twentieth-century planners devoted to the cause of modernism – are now no more, and exist only in heartbreakingly poignant photographs. Gavin Stamp’s own Britain’s Lost Cities was the most recent.

Now, Stamp follows with another superb book, chronicling an astonishing and depressing array of the finest Victorian architecture – all sacrificed to the wrecking ball. From public baths to hotels, town houses, factories and banks; photographs are all we have left. Gavin Stamp’s indignant and scholarly text looks back at the circumstances of their loss, and analyses the twentieth-century mindset that could hold so many magnificent buildings in such little regard.

Gavin Stamp is one of Britain’s most eminent architectural historians and writers. His other books for Aurum are Lutyens Houses and the acclaimed Britain’s Lost Cities. For many years he was Chairman of the Twentieth Century Society.

Lost Victorian Britain is available to purchase here.

To The Last Round
The Epic British Stand on the Imjin River, Korea 1951
by Andrew Salmon

On the eve of Remembrance Day 2010, a book on Britain's bloodiest - but almost completely unknown - post-1945 battle won the inaugural Hampshire Libraries (Special Collections) Award for the Best Military Book of 2009 from a field of 60 key military titles.

“In a list of very strong military books, this is an excellent book," said renowned broadcaster and bestselling historian Professor Richard Holmes, the patron of the award. "It well-deserves the winning award."

"A neglected battle that in fact deserves to join the first rank of British military actions, To the Last Round is a book that does its subject proud," added Librarian Andrew Dalziel. "This is easily one of the best books I have read on a military subject in recent years: truly inspiring."

The inaugural award is designed to highlight the three "armed services" collections - aviation, naval and military - in Hampshire Libraries. The military collection alone boasts 18, 000 titles.

Salmon, a Seoul-based reporter, sent an acceptance speech filmed on the Imjn battleground, where the 1951 British positions remain fortified to this day against the North Korean threat.

"I'd like to thank the award panel for recognizing an unknown author writing about a forgotten war," Salmon said. "Though Korea remains the biggest, bloodiest and most brutal conflict fought by British soldiers since World War II, it is almost completely unknown in the UK; I hope this award will bring veterans some long-overdue recognition."

Salmon and film makers Dan Gordon and Howard Reid are hoping to create a documentary on the book. The author is currently finalizing a prequel, Scorched Earth, Black Snow which tells the story of the Australian and British soldiers in North Korea in winter 1950, the most dramatic, but most terrible months of the war, in the words of the men who came home. It will be published by Aurum in early 2011.


Richard Holmes handing the award to Sam Mercer (representing the author), a veteran of the Gloster battalion annihilated on the Imjin, and a survivor of the grim North Korean POW camps. A chance meeting with Mercer, who lost a leg and an eye in the fighting, provided Salmon with the inspiration for his book. Richard Sullivan of Osprey Publishing (the award sponsors) stands between them.


Graham Eames was there on behalf of Aurum Press and Andrew Salmon

Ashes 2011 by Gideon Haigh

England's stunning victory over Astralia in the Ahses series galvanised the nation. Now, Gideon Haigh, aclaimed as the 'finest living cricket writer', has written the first book about this remarkable sporting feat. Following each Test day by day, mixing vivid reportage with erudite wit, Haigh's chronicle is no 'instant bok' but rather a characteristically considered and memorable work.

Coming: February 2011
Format: Hardback, 256pp w./ 8pp colour plates
Price: £12.99



The Sport of Kings, Queens and Four-Legged Athletes Edited by Martin Smith

Horse racing is a massive commercial industry with a multi-million pound turnover in betting, breeding and prizemoney. But it is also a fun day out. The Sport of Kings... relives racing's greatest moments through the passion and authority of the sports pages' true thoroughbreds inclusing John Oaksey, Brough Scott and J.A. McGrath.

Coming: February 2011
Format: Hardback, 384pp
Price: £20



Mile by Mile on Britain's Railways by S.N. Pike

Back in 1947 someone called S.N. Pike - we know almost nothing about him - published three pamphlets which mapped in forensic detail one of Britain's mainline rail routes. Today, Aurum reissues those three - adding a fourth in the same style - in this single volume. Full of period interst, this delightful book reminds us of what once could be seen at leisure on a long railway journey.

Coming: March 2011
Format: Hardback, 160pp w./ line drawings throughout
Price: £12.99



The Cheltenham Festival by Robin Oakley

The Cheltenham Festival is nowadays the biggest event in the racing year in visitor numbers and 2011 marks a hundred years since the birth of the Festival. A work of both hisory and celebration, Oakley's book is a must have for both the committed festival-goer and the armchair racing fan.

Coming: March 2011
Format: Hardback, 304pp
Price: £20




Subdued Magic : Raymond Chandler a Life by Tom Williams

A majour new biography of one of the twentieth century's most popular, influential and enduring literary figures. Tom Williams' fascinating book covers everything from Chandler's isolated upbringing to his growing alcohol problems, pointing out the origins of his prose, characters and style along the way.

Coming: April 2011
Format: Hardback, 400pp w./ 16pp B&W plates
Price: £20




The Man Who Invented The Daleks by Alwym W. Turner

Terry Nation was one of the most successful and prolific writers for television and radio that Britain ever produced, and his most famous creations, the daleks, ensured the success of Doctor Who. This is the first serious, mainstream account of Terry Nation's life and tremendous contribution to British television.

Coming: May 2011
Format: Hardback, 356pp
Price: £20


The VW Camper Van: a biography by Mike Harding

The Volkswagen Camper van has long escaped its military origins and become the embodiment of freedom and the open road. Combining his endless curiosity flair for stand up comedy, Harding has created a wonderful social history of the postwar yearsthrough the prism of a single transport icon.

Coming: April 2011
Format: Hardback, 256pp
Price: £16.99

Whitney Port, MTV reality star turned clothing designer, now launches her new lifestyle guide, True Whit; a personal and honest template for ‘designing a life of style, beauty, and fun’. Through a range of chapters on everything from career advice and relationship issues to fashion tips, fitness plans and even decorating ideas, Whitney shares the secrets to an independent and glamorous world.

Now, Aurum Press, in association with Lookfantastic, are offering you the chance to quiz the girl herself and receive some individual advice and ‘Whittyisms’ on any element of creating a fabulous and stylish life of your own. All you have to do is send your question to the Lookfantastic Twitter page and, on 19th May 2011, Whitney will be personally responding to a selection of submissions. For full details about the competition and how to enter, follow this link: http://blog.lookfantastic.com/?p=3563.

Whitney Port, True Whit is available to buy now: http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/184513673X/ref=s9_simh_gw_p14_d0_i1?pf_rd_m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&pf_rd_s=center-2&pf_rd_r=1A1GA14XN229ZJ1NQEFE&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=467128533&pf_rd_i=468294

You can see cosmopolitan.co.uk’s feature on the book here: http://www.cosmopolitan.co.uk/campus/student-careers/interview-tips

‘Intimate and honest, this book provides tips on everything from dating to decorating’- Heat Magazine.

Stephen Brook, MW, The Finest Wines of California
This guide, the fourth in the acclaimed Finest Wines series, from Hugh Johnson’s award-winning team, casts a whole new light on the California region. Authoritative, bang up-to-date, and brimming with fascinating information, this essential guide is required reading for all wine lovers.

‘This book is exceptional. It is well-written. It is informative. It is readable and entertaining’- Winesights, Toronto, Canada.

Available here: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Finest-Wines-California-Stephen-Brook/dp/184513611X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1305286695&sr=1-1

Professor Gary Sheffield, The Chief: Douglas Haig and the British Army

A radical reassessment of the most controversial general in British history

In 1918, after the armies he commanded had helped to win the First World War, Douglas Haig was feted as the saviour of his country. On his death in 1928 he was mourned as a national hero. But within ten years his reputation was in ruins, and it has never fully recovered.

In this scholarly yet accessible biography, Professor Gary Sheffield reassesses Haig’s reputation. Using extensive research into primary sources, he shows how Haig’s experiences on the Western Front not only made him a highly effective commander but helped him transform the shambolic amateur force of the Somme in 1916 to the victorious army of 1918. He also reveals how, after the war, Haig used his influence as a leader of ex-servicemen to help secure the peace.

This is a powerful rehabilitation of Haig’s reputation as a military commander which offers original insights into his achievements and his place in British history.

Available here: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Chief-Douglas-Haig-British-Army/dp/1845136918/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1312879197&sr=8-1

Greg King, Wallis: The Uncommon Life of the Duchess of Windsor

The first unbiased account of the fascinating and outrageous life of Wallis Simpson, the commoner who bewitched the King of England …

It was the love story of the century. In December 1936, King Edward VIII abdicated the throne to marry ‘the woman I love’, Wallis Warfield Simpson. American and twice-divorced, Wallis was hardly the sort of woman the Royal Family would have chosen for their future Queen. Their ostracism of her, coupled with a thinly veiled animosity in the British press tainted her reputation for the rest of her life.

In his acclaimed biography Greg King sifts through the decades of rumour and accusation to reveal the woman behind the legend. Wild speculation about her past affairs, her domination of the Duke and her tragic, lonely end are answered. Using previously untapped sources, conducting hundreds of interviews with survivors and expertly marshalling a huge array of documentation, King presents a definitive and sympathetic portrait of the woman who was punished for falling in love.


Available here: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Wallis-Uncommon-Life-Duchess-Windsor/dp/1845136942/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1312802028&sr=8-1

We're two weeks into the New Year, so if you haven't quite got round to joining the gym or learning a language yet, why not make it your resolution to read one of these great new books from Aurum:

The Austerity Olympics by Janie Hampton

It can't possibly have escaped anyone's notice that London's Olympic year has finally arrived. But while we're getting caught up in this summer's excitement, 2012 will also be a time to look back to when Britain last hosted the Games.

The London Olympics of 1948 were a vastly different occasion to this year's extravaganza. With the Blitz fresh in the city's memory and rationing still in force, the Games were organised for less than one hundredth of a per cent of 2012's massive budget. Janie Hampton's The Austerity Olympics is a vivid account of the Olympic Games of the past. With tales of athletes being ferried to events on double-decker buses and sewing their own kit in makeshift accommodation, the book depicts a world that is far removed from the Games of 2012. It will be a fascinating read for Olympic fanatics and sceptics alike.

Interviews with some of the athletes who competed in 1948 can be read in Kate Youde's fascinating article for the Independent here.

"[Hampton] has an illuminating sense of detail, and her book tells a story that goes beyond that of a sporting event - a story of innocence, hope and pride." The Daily Telegraph

"Hampton's excellent book should be compulsory reading for everyone involved in the 2012 London Olympics." Daily Mail Critics' Choice

Re-issued: April 2012
Format: Paperback, 368 pages
Price: £8.99

The previous edition of The Austerity Olympics is available to buy here.


Banksy: The Man Behind the Wall by Will Ellsworth-Jones

From his home city of Bristol to Los Angeles, New York and London, Banksy's exhibitions have attracted huge audiences. New works of graffiti go viral almost instantly, and such is the commercial value of his work that people have hacked whole walls from buildings because they bear his trademark stencilled designs.

But how much do we really know about this notoriously secretive artist? How has he become the phenomenal success that he is today, and how does he protect his anonymity under the glare of worldwide fame? In Banksy: The Man Behind the Wall, Will Ellsworth-Jones pieces together his subject's life and builds a picture of the world in which he operates. Incorporating interviews with friends and enemies, those who knew him in his early, unnoticed days and those who have watched him come to terms with his new-found fame, this is a book that gets to the very heart of who Banksy is and what his life's work adds up to.

Banksy: The Man Behind the Wall is released in March. In the meantime, you can see a few of his best works at his official website.

Coming: March 2012
Format: Hardback, 320pp
Price: £20


Just Boris: The Irresistible Rise of a Political Celebrity by Sonia Purnell

In May, Londoners will go to the polls to choose their next mayor. The question on the minds of many will be whether the capital keeps Boris Johnson or ends his four-year spell at City Hall. Speculation that he has one eye on Downing Street continues to bubble to the surface, but one thing remains certain: Johnson is Britain's most recognisable and comically self-deprecating politician. He has become notorious for his gaffes and attracted controversy with his candid manner, but has climbed to one of Britain's highest political offices nonetheless.

As a former colleague of Johnson's at the Daily Telegraph, Sonia Purnell holds a unique vantage point over the Mayor of London's remarkable career. In Just Boris, she examines how the archetypal old Etonian came to be a Man of the People capable of charming London; how a shy young boy from a broken home became one of our most distinctive political figures; and how the Johnson family has built a media and political dynasty.

The first comprehensive account of his life and career, Just Boris unravels a political enigma and asks whether the man who has made his mark on London has what it takes to be Prime Minister.

You can read Carole Cadwalladr's review of Just Boris for the Guardian here.

"Sonia Purnell must have had huge fun writing this wonderful book. The only person who won't be amused is Boris himself." Michael Crick

"Future biographers will always be in her debt. Purnell has accumulated a wealth of previously unknown detail." Andrew Grimson, The Spectator

Coming: March 2012
Format: Paperback, 464 pages
Price: £8.99

Just Boris is available to buy in hardback here.

Ray Harryhausen's Fantasy Scrapbook by Ray Harryhausen and Tony Dalton

November saw the release of Ray Harryhausen's Fantasy Scrapbook, a compendium of models, storyboards and concept drawings from the legendary pioneer of stop-motion animation. This new book is compiled from a wide range of never-before-seen artefacts from Ray's life and career, many of them only recently discovered in a Los Angeles garage. Through his original sketches, scripts and letters, it offers fascinating insights into the mind of one of Hollywood's great animators.

With informative introductions to each film and detailed captions for every image, this illuminating volume is a must for all film fans. Harryhausen's seminal work on Jason and the Argonauts, The 7th Joyage of Sinbad and Clash of the Titans remains hugely influential and Ray Harryhausen's Fantasy Scrapbook does his creativity and imagination justice.

"Thoroughly engrossing, whether you’re a Harryhausen fan or just a film fan in general. It’s an absolute delight to browse through and, crucially, captures the character of the man behind the monsters" sfx.co.uk

"This collection truly is a thing of beauty ... A must buy for Ray's fans" Starburst Magazine

Ray Harryhausen's Fantasy Scrapbook is available to buy here.


If the Fantasy Scrapbook has animated your interest and you're looking for more stop-motion history, then look no further. Aurum have published three more books by Ray Harryhausen and Tony Dalton:

The Art of Ray Harryhausen by Ray Harryhuasen and Tony Dalton, with a foreword by Peter Jackson

"A splendid volume... fabulous illustrations" Jonathan Ross

Available in paperback here.






Ray Harryhausen: An Animated Life by Ray Harryhausen and Tony Dalton, with an foreword by Ray Bradbury

"A sumptuous account of the veteran animator's life on celluloid" The Independent

Available in paperback here.




A Century of Model Animation: From Méliès to Aardman by Ray Harryhausen and Tony Dalton

"A work full of love for the subject" SFX Magazine

Available in hardback here.

Over the past 30 years, Prince Rogers Nelson has been one of the most original and charismatic figures in music. Known for seminal hits such as 'Kiss', 'Little Red Corvette' and 'Let's Go Crazy', his restless creativity has made a profound mark on the music industry and popular culture. Even more remarkable, perhaps, is the scale and longevity of his success; at the height of his fame, his album Purple Rain sold a million copies a week in the US, and just four years ago his sell-out London concerts attracted over 350,000 fans.

Prince: Inside the Music and the Masks is the most intimate and authoritative biography ever to be written about this fascinating artist, and Aurum are delighted to be releasing it this February. Acclaimed music journalist Ronin Ro lays bare the life of one of one of the most extraordinary musicians of our time, chronicling Prince's journey from teenage obscurity to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Through unrivalled access to producers, bandmates and close friends, he peels away the masks to tell the story of a true modern icon.

You can read an exclusive excerpt from Prince: Inside the Music and the Masks at the Vanity Fair website.

Coming: February 2012
Format: Hardback, 384 pages
Price: £20

Despite numerous logistical challenges due to the lockdown, BLR Airport, backed with cutting-edge tech-assets for cargo processing, ensured that products reach their destination, while still offering the same freshness, quality and appeal.

IATA has already sought a ‘rescue package’, including direct financial support and a host of other one-time concessions, from GoI to mitigate revenue losses. Every passenger lost by an airline is a corresponding passenger loss — and consequent revenue loss — to airports.

The move paves the way for these consortia, which include ones floated by budget airline SpiceJet, Nandan Nilekani-backed ShopX, Google-backed Dunzo and drone maker Throttle Aerospace, to pilot the use of drones to transport goods, once approved.

Spicejet on Wednesday informed pilots that they will be paid only a small percentage of their salaries for the period that the airline has to ground services due to lockdown.

The first flight for evacuating Indians, mostly Keralites, stranded in Abu Dhabi departed from Cochin International Airport Limited (CIAL) at 12.30 pm on Thursday, official sources said .

For all flights between India and the USA under the Vande Bharat mission, Air India is charging a fixed fare of Rs 1 lakh per passenger. For flights between India and Singapore, the charge is Rs 18,000-20,000 per passenger, and it is Rs 50,000 per person for India-UK flights.

Many airlines have already started undertaking salary cuts for their employees, including leave without pay and laying off pilots and crew members to cut costs. However, until the cash inflows resume, the airlines would require funding support to meet their expenses, it said in a report.

Puri suggested that airlines should encourage contact-less checkin and customers should take precautions like wearing masks and protective gear while they travel. He said the Indian airlines have a short-term problem of paying loans to their debtors but could revive quickly as India has a wide customer base.

“While we had paid employee salaries in full for the months of March and April, I am afraid that we are left with no option but to implement the originally announced pay-cuts from the month of May 2020,” CEO Ronojoy Dutta told staff in a letter. Dutta said the leave would range from 1.5 to 5 days and would’t impact level A or the bottom rung of employees.

Air India's pilot unions IPG and ICPA has urged Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri to "urgently" provide financial support to the national carrier amid private airlines' cry for a bailout package in the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak.

The flight was part of the Vande Bharat mission which started on Thursday to bring back stranded Indian nationals home amid the novel coronavirus-induced lockdown.

Air India employee unions have moved the Bombay High Court against the airline's decision to slash allowances, which form a major part of salary, by ten per cent because of the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

The airports located in North East are quick connecting links between the states and the people living here and during the nation-wide lock down, the AAI has been providing air navigational and on ground services for the- Life Line Udan flights enabling smooth and timely flow of medical goods and supporting items to the states.

Passengers will be tested for temperature, one of the symptoms of COVID-19, before boarding and only those showing no symptoms would be able to make the journey.

Quality of forecasts as meteorological information from aeroplanes has fallen up to 90%.