Air ticket cess to fund small airport revamp

Mumbai: With the central government planning to fund the development of 35 non-metro airports through internal accruals, rather than taking the private funding route, some airline operators believe the government may consider its earlier decision of levying cess on air tickets.
The cess could be anything between Rs 50-100 per ticket. The estimated cost to fund the development of the non-metro airports is approximately Rs 4,662 crore.
Around 25.5 million domestic passengers and 22.4 million international passengers will be charged an additional cess every year if the proposal is sanctioned by the government.
Maintaining that the funds for the purpose will be raised through internal sources, a civil aviation ministry source explained that even China had imposed a cess for a temporary period for modernising it airports. “It is an international practice,” said the official.
Says GR Gopinath, managing director, Air Deccan, “I don’t espouse the government taxing air travellers for operating uneconomic airports. It’s an infrastructure-related issue and should be addressed through public-private participation.”
He added that uneconomic airports should be developed as low cost airport terminals and built along with industrial and information technology (IT) parks in the vicinity.
29/04/07 Shaheen Mansuri/Financial Express

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Finally, test flight touches down in Surat

Surat: After the inaugural flight of A-319 jet from Surat to Delhi, which was supposed to be on May 1, was grounded, the airbus of the Indian touched down at the Surat airport at 11 am on Sunday, making it the first commercial passenger aircraft to land in Surat.
This test flight, which had no passengers on board but Airports Authority of India officials and a flight crew, primarily aimed at testing radar and landing systems at airport. As reported earlier, the inaugural flight of jet from Surat was grounded due to operational and flight safety issues at airport as cited by Director General of Civil Aviation authorities. The ongoing construction activity on runway and at the passenger terminal was temporarily suspended for facilitating landing and take off. Airport Authority officials from Delhi took rounds of control tower and passenger terminal at Surat airport before re-embarking on the flight at 1.30 pm.
29/04/07 Ahmedabad Newsline

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GMR plans aviation SEZ in Hyderabad

Mumbai: Infrastructure developer GMR Group plans to set up an airport-based special economic zone (SEZ) near the new Hyderabad International Airport, which it has the mandate to develop. Planned on the lines of free trade zones in Hamburg and Dubai, the SEZ will house aircraft component manufacturing industries and also see high-end aircraft engineering support activities. Besides, the SEZ will have high-end electrical and auto-component manufacturing facilities and software units.
The group also has plans to set up high-precision and pharmaceutical equipment-manufacturing to cash in on international air connectivity.
Confirming the plan, a senior GMR executive said the company has already acquired about 240 acres for the airport SEZ. He added that the Andhra Pradesh government had approved the project and the company was awaiting central government approval.
On rehabilitating former owners of the land, which has proved a problem for many SEZs, the executive said the issue did not arise. The land was acquired in 2003.
GMR Hyderabad International Airport (GHAIL), the company that is implementing the greenfield international airport project, will also be setting up a cargo hub and special bonded warehouses within the airport to tie in with the SEZ.
30/04/07 P R Sanjai/Business Standard

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Lockheed Martin offers to showcase latest navigation system

New Delhi: With Indian airspace getting crowded due to the boom in aviation sector, Lockheed Martin -- the US maker of the famous F-16 fighter jets -- has offered to operate its latest navigation system in Mumbai on experimental basis to showcase its technological prowess in the country.
"We are offering an adaptation of Advanced Technologies and Oceanic Procedures (ATOP) system for implementation in Mumbai in the next six months," Judy Marks, President of Lockheed Martin's Transportation and Security Solution Division, told PTI in an interview here.
The satellite-based ATOP became operational only in March at Anchorage Air Route Traffic Control Center in Alaska. It provides safe separation of aircraft in oceans and other areas that are outside radar coverage or radio communication.
The system also detects conflicts between aircraft, provides satellite data link communication and information to air traffic controllers (ATCs), providing them the flexibility to provide direct fuel-efficient air tracks over long oceanic routes as well as large land mass.
29/04/07 PTI/The Hindu

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AAI ties up with US body to ease congestion

New Delhi: In a bid to ease massive air traffic congestion at Delhi and Mumbai, the Airports Authority of India (AAI) has tied up with US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to develop satellite-based navigation system for managing the ever-growing traffic in these places.
The new system, which will be implemented in a year, is expected to lead to significant increase in capacity — and if all goes as planned, even lower flying time to these cities.
"Currently, planes are directed by ground-based navigational aids. So they go from one tower to other and after reaching the next tower, they are told the route they have to take. This leads to a rather circuitous path. On the other hand, Global Positioning System (GPS) navigation will lead to the path being defined on take off itself and that would lead to a slight reduction in flying time," said an official.
AAI chairman K Ramalingam's decision to have satellite-based navigation with FAA's help comes close on the heels of an Indo-US Aviation Partnership Summit that ended here this week. 29/04/07 Saurabh Sinha/Times of India

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Decks cleared for IGI airport radio taxi tender

New Delhi: The Commonwealth Games may also see healthy competition among major players running efficient, metered, air-conditioned radio taxi services to ferry passengers from the Capital’s commercial airport terminals.
Delhi High Court has thrown out the challenge by an association of taxi operators against an “arbitrary” tender initiated by the Delhi International Airport Private Limited (DIAPL), a subsidiary of the Airport Authority of India, for plying radio taxi services at the Indira Gandhi International Airport. The tender had been floated as part of the move to upgrade the airport and its terminals to international standards for the 2010 Games.
Radio taxis, available on telephone across Delhi, are air-conditioned cabs equipped with electronic fare meters .
Appearing before a Division Bench headed by Justice Manmohan Sarin, the taxi operators, who were exclusively plying from the IGI airport, contended that the tender would bring in major private operators who would charge higher rates, much against public interest.
30/04/07 Krishnadas Rajagopal/Delhi Newsline

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Indian caught with guns, ammo at Ninoy Aquino Airport

Police arrested a 38-year-old Indian national at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Sunday morning after he was found to be carrying guns in his luggage.
Raj Singh, who was supposed to board a 7 a.m. flight to Singapore and then proceed to India, was collared at the initial security check section of Terminal 1. His suitcase yielded two .38 caliber revolvers with six live bullets and two empty shells.
Chief Inspector Jonathan Galang, 1st Police Center for Aviation Security (PCAS) Terminal 1 Station head, said the guns were discovered and were immediately seized.
"He was arrested and identified through his travel documents," he told The STAR in an interview, noting that Singh is now detained at the PNP-ASG detention cell.
Singh, who gave a Mabini Extension, Cabanatuan City as his Philippine address and Punjab, VPO Madhek, Republic of India as his home country residence, will face at least two criminal charges before the Pasay City Prosecutor’s Office.
In a report to Morada, 1st PCAS chief Senior Superintendent Efren Labiang said Singh tried to hide his guns by wrapping them in a black garbage bag.
The revolvers, a Smith and Wesson and one with a defaced serial number, were also wrapped in carbon paper in an apparent effort to avoid detection.
30/04/07 Michael Punongbayan/The Philippine Star/ABS CBN News, Philippines

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Emigration scam: 3 officials shifted

New Delhi: Three immigration officials have been shifted to their parent departments by the Bureau of Immigration in connection with the human trafficking case involving suspended BJP MP Babubhai Katara.
The officials, including a Delhi Police official, were shifted to their parent departments after an internal inquiry by the Bureau found them responsible for the ''smooth'' passage of Katara on three occasions, sources said.
Katara was arrested on April 18 at the international airport here while allegedly trying to smuggle out a woman and a teenaged boy to Canada on his wife and son's passports.
The trio had cleared the BJP MP through immigration check on three occasions when he had traveled abroad and the internal probe had held them responsible, they said.
Katara was caught accidentally after Air India officials, who were checking the passports after a traveler misplaced her travel documents, found that the photo in the passport carried by the woman accompanying the MP did not match.
29/04/07 Press Trust of India/NDTV.com

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Snag forces plane to return to Delhi

New Delhi: A Toronto-bound Air India flight AI-187 returned to Delhi on Saturday after it developed a technical snag.
According to a senior Air India official, the pilot noticed a technical snag while touching down at Amritsar airport and decided to return to Delhi.
The aircraft had left Mumbai for Toronto in the morning. All passengers were disembarked at Amritsar and the aircraft returned to Delhi where it made an emergency landing at 4-30 p.m.
The official said that some spare-parts were being flown in from Mumbai to repair the aircraft. He said adequate arrangements had been made for the passengers stranded at Amritsar.
29/04/07 The Hindu

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At airport Minister fights for VVIP status

New Delhi: Officials of the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) had to face the rage of a Union minister last week when he was told to follow procedures as a regular passenger and undergo immigration and security checks.
The CISF Director General, R K Das, has written to the Cabinet Secretariat, Home Ministry and Civil Aviation Ministry detailing the sequence of events and asking the authorities to “suitably inform” the Minister of State for External Affairs Anand Sharma that he does not fall in any of the categories accorded ceremonial facilities and exemption from pre-embarkation checks.
Sharma was to take the Air-India flight to London on the night of April 20. The MEA, which handles protocol at IGIA’s ceremonial lounge, arranged for Sharma’s access even though he is not officially entitled to use this facility.
The problem started when the CISF personnel posted there insisted that he undergo pre-embarkation—immigration and security—checks just like any other passenger and reach the boarding gate through the normal channel.
Sharma is said to have insisted on using the special passage meant for VVIPs on the list of 23 persons/categories exempt from such checks. Frustrated by repeated denials, the DG’s letter states, the Minister “flew into a rage” and spoke to the CISF Director General over the phone well past midnight.
The CISF letter claims that the door leading to the boarding area from the ceremonial lounge was opened for Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee, who was returning from Cyprus, and, at that moment, Sharma also walked through the gate “without pre-embarkation security check”.
29/04/07 Pranab Dhal Samanta/Indian Express

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IAF fumes at civil aviation authority

New Delhi: The IAF HQ dashed off a strongly-worded letter to the civil aviation ministry on Friday, holding that "misinformation" being spread by its officials about IAF was just not done. The last straw for IAF was the recent US-India Aviation Partnership Summit, held on April 23-24, during which Airports Authority of India (AAI) chairperson K Ramalingam and others blamed IAF for not sharing enough airspace to ease civilian air traffic congestion in the country.
"Commenting adversely on IAF in an international seminar, in presence of a large number of foreign delegates and that too in the absence of IAF representatives, who could have clarified the matters, was in bad taste. It cannot be taken lightly," says the letter, written by Air Vice-Marshal D C Kumaria of IAF HQ to the civil aviation ministry.
IAF already allows civil flights from 19 of its airfields, ranging from Chandigarh, Jammu and Srinagar to Allahabad, Gwalior and Tezpur. So do the naval and Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd airfields in Goa, Visakhapatnam, Port Blair, Bangalore and Ozhar.
"We have also given a lot of airspace to these guys (civil aviation). But they just keep on carping. It's just that they cannot handle the air traffic properly," said a top IAF officer.
"Despite the boom in civil aviation, they also do not have the proper infrastructure in place like parallel runways, rapid exit tracks, properly-trained air traffic controllers and the like," he added.
28/04/07 Rajat Pandit/Times of India

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A380 inaugural flight to touch Delhi on May 6

Airbus and Kingfisher Airlines have announced that the A 380, world’s biggest aircraft would arrive in Delhi on May 6, in the run up to Kingfisher’s second anniversary celebrations. HT first reported about it on Thursday.
Airbus is bringing A 380 to India to demonstrate its full compatibility with major airports and its many qualities that would attract passengers towards it.
After being demonstrated in Delhi for two days, the aircraft will proceed to Mumbai on May 9 where it will join the anniversary celebrations of the Vijay Mallya controlled airline. It is scheduled to fly back to its base in Toulouse, France on May 10.
Airport officials said that the A 380 is scheduled to arrive in Mumbai at 4 pm and get parked at very close to the Kingfisher anniversary celebrations venue at the Air India hanger near the 2C international terminal. This is the same venue from where Mallya launched the airline two years ago amidst much fanfare.
A 380’s airport compatibility tests in India will be done in cooperation with the Airport Authority of India, Delhi and Mumbai airports and Kingfisher Airlines.
27/04/07 Lalatendu Mishra/Hindustan Times

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Regulatory authority for airports in the offing

New Delhi: The Centre will shortly come up with a bill to set up an Airport Economic Regulatory Authority (AERA). The bill is likely to be finalised by the Cabinet and passed by Parliament in this session itself.
It will ensure a level-playing field in major airports and bring about the spirit of competition between them. It will also have the power to determine tariffs such as airport charges – landing, navigation and parking charges – in these airports.
AERA will monitor pre-set performance standards at airports and oversee and deal with natural monopoly and common user/carrier segments.
The draft bill also proposes the setting up of an Appellate Tribunal with the power to slap hefty fines on defaulting individuals, airlines and companies. The bill empowers the tribunal to punish a defaulter with a fine of up to Rs 1 lakh.
The fine could be doubled in case of a second or subsequent offense. For repeat offenses, the defaulter could be additionally fined as high as Rs 2 lakh for every day the default continues.
The AERA would consist of one chairperson and two other members, who will be selected by the Centre from among people with adequate knowledge and professional experience in aviation, economics, commerce or consumer affairs.
28/04/07 BS Arun/Deccan Herald

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Surat-Delhi flight grounded till May 6

Surat: The much-awaited A-319 jet of Indian to Delhi that was supposed to embark from Surat remains grounded until May 6. Reason? Airport authorities have cited operational and flight safety issues Airport Authority of India is facing at Surat airport.
According to officials from the Indian Airlines’ Mumbai corporate office, the airline is going to “make surface transport arrangements for passengers from Surat to Vadodara airport”.
So far work on passenger amenities at Surat airport is underway while the runway lighting systems to enable night landing at airport are also being worked on. Airport officials claimed that work on the radar and landing systems have been completed. Runway testing vehicles and the fire station are also complete.
06/04/07 Soumik Dey/Expressindia.com

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Indore to have air connectivity with 3 more cities

Indore: Madhya Pradesh's commercial capital will now have flights for Nagpur, Hyderabad and Ahmedabad courtesy Kingfisher Airlines.
''Recently, Kingfisher started an Indore-Mumbai flight that has received tremendous response. It also plans to commence flights to Kolkata, Jaipur and Raipur later this year,'' the local authorised agency Frequent Travels Director Jaswinder Walia said here today.
The local Devi Ahilya Airport Director R K Singh said that approval has been given to the Ahmedabad-Indore-Nagpur flight and hoped that Indore would soon have connectivity with a few more cities as formalities were in the pipeline. Indore enjoys connectivity with New Delhi, Mumbai, Bhopal and Gwalior.
27/04/07 UNI/NewKerala.com

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Air attack scare: Sri Lanka diverts flights to India

Colombo: Sri Lankan troops fired anti-aircraft weapons, evacuated passengers and briefly shut the international airport here yesterday night fearing a Tamil Tiger air raid, officials said.
Airport officials said they were asked to shut down the runway and all incoming flights were diverted to neighbouring India following reports rebel attack planes were approaching.
Two Sri Lankan Airlines flights were re-directed to Chennai in southern India, officials said. The airline said there would be delays following the scare.
A military helicopter gunship sent to check the reports was forced to make a crash landing due to a technical problem, but the pilots managed to bail out, official sources said.
Air force spokesman Ajantha Silva said the air defence system had been activated after unidentified aircraft were spotted north of the airport.
27/04/07 AFP/Peninsula On-line, Qatar

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Dnata in race for Indian airports bid

Dubai: Dnata will submit proposals for strategic partnership with the Airports Authority of India to offer ground handling solutions for India's airports as the government is looking at privatising its airports, a top Emirates official said.
The deadline for submission is April 30, 2007.
"We are going to submit proposals to Indian authorities for ground handling projects in four days as the April 30 deadline is very close," Gary Chapman, President of Group Services and Dnata, told Gulf News.
Dnata, the ground handling, ticketing and reservation arm of Emirates Group, has, ground handling operations in nine international airports including Dubai, Singapore Changi, Guangzhou, Iran, Karachi among others.
Dnata, which has a strong airport ground handling operations as well ticketing and reservation business, recorded a solid performance with revenue growth of 16.5 per cent to Dh2.1 billion ($565 million) compared with Dh1.8 billion ($485 million). Dnata's profits of Dh360 million ($98 million) represent an increase of 11 per cent compared to last year’s Dh324 million ($88 million).
26/04/07 Saifur Rahman/Gulf News, United Arab Emirates

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Bihar government decides to develop 21 airfields

With an eye on tapping tourism and also to improve air connectivity for VIPs within the state, the state government has decided to develop 21 airfields under its jurisdiction.
Though no navigational or meteorological support is available at any of these 21 airfields, the government has agreed in principle to convert all airfields having kutcha runway into metalled ones and also construct boundary wall and rest rooms, apart from refurbishing the existing infrastructure at aerodromes under it. The development of ‘smaller aerodromes’ would be done in a phase-wise manner over the next four years.
Capt Karmsheel said the Building Construction Department had been entrusted the job of developing these airfields. Among the airfields having kutcha runways are Rohtas, Bhabua, Munger, Bettiah and Begusarai. Nine other airfields in Jehanabad, Biharsharif, Jamui, Samastipur, Sitamarhi, Motihari, Ara, Buxar and Katihar, not only have kutcha runway but have also been classified as ‘abandoned airports’.
As for those few airfields under the state government having metalled runways are Bhagalpur, Birpur, Chapra, Madhubani and Saharsa. The better ones — Patna and Gaya are civilian aerodromes under the Airports Authority of India, while the Indian Air Force controls the air and ground space at Bihta, Darbhanga and Purnia.
26/04/07 Ruchir Kumar/Hindustan Times

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London Mayor brands airport staff 'racist'

Ken Livingstone has launched a scathing attack on immigration staff at Heathrow Airport after accusing them of treating foreign travellers in a racist manner. The Mayor of London branded the treatment of travellers from China and India a disgrace. Union leaders said his comments were completely unacceptable and would be greeted with alarm by workers.
Mr Livingstone was addressing an economic conference discussing the need to embrace new business from abroad.
Mr Livingstone said: "Whenever I'm in India or China meeting business people or diplomats, again and again their complaint is that they have big business people coming through the airport being treated as though they are going to sneak off and do a bit of cockle picking or something."
He added: "We should stop treating them as though they're potentially all illegal immigrants."
Immigration staff at Heathrow work for the Home Office and the union that represents them says the mayor's comments will be viewed poorly by its members.
26/04/07 BBC News, UK

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Freewheelers face a bumpy ride at airports

Kolkata: Better late than never. This must be the resolution for the airline companies before charging passengers for misusing the wheelchair facility meant for the sick and the physically-challenged at airports.
Airline companies have for a long time complained of passengers unnecessarily occupying wheelchairs at airports when they don’t need them. There are reports of passengers faking ill-health to take advantage of the service and the number of such cases is high during any security alert or flight delay.
“Women often pretend that they have undergone abdominal surgeries, and have someone else carry their cabin luggage,” said an official from a domestic carrier. Reasons for availing of the advantage are many. First, wheelchair passengers do not have to stand in long queues for security checks. Second, they don’t have to undertake the long, tedious walk in the lounge area. Third, they are helped on board before other passengers and are spared from carrying their cabin luggage.
Air-India charges Rs 500 per leg of a journey to specifically ward off the misuse of such services. Air Deccan has started charging Rs 200 per leg to curb the practice.
27/04/07 Madhumita Mookerji/Daily News & Analysis

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Police say Katara had sent 15 more abroad

New Delhi: The Delhi Police have found that BJP MP Babubhai Katarta and his associates had illegally sent 15 people abroad.
The Gujarat politician was personally involved in six of these cases. The police have approached the embassies in the US, UK and Canada through the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) for details about the people who had been sent abroad and Katara’s travel itinerary. They have also sought information about Katara’s travel schedule from some airlines.
“The embassies and airlines can provide us with vital information about the human trafficking racket. We have issued notices to them through the MEA,” said a senior officer investigating the case.
The officer added that though the police had got certain details about Katara’s travel itinerary, they wanted to confirm the information through other sources.
The police on Thursday said they were also trying to trace Katara’s wife Sharadaben and his three children, who had gone missing since the scandal broke out on April 18.
The police have so far found that Katara and six travel agents were involved in human trafficking. Three travel agents are from Punjab, one from Hyderabad and two from Delhi. The police said the agents used to identify people who could pay up to Rs 30 lakh to travel abroad.
27/04/07 Gyan Varma/Daily News & Analysis

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Trafficking: Airlines asked for travel information about MPs

New Delhi: The Delhi Police Thursday sent notices to five airlines including three international airlines to disclose travel information about the MPs allegedly involved in an international human trafficking racket, a senior official said.
Notices were sent to Indian Airlines, Air India, Austrian Airlines, British Airways and Northwest Airlines asking them to provide all information pertaining to five parliamentarians' domestic and international journeys during the past few years.
Information was sought on Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) MPs from Uttar Pradesh - Mohammed Tahir Khan (Sultanpur), Mitrasen Yadav (Faizabad) and Ashok Rawat (Misrikh) - and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MPs Ramswaroop Koli (Bayana, Rajasthan) and Babubhai Katara (Dahod, Gujarat).
Sunder Lal Yadav, a travel agent arrested Saturday with Rajendra Kumar Gampa and their female accomplice Kiran Dhar, alleged in a city court that Khan and Koli were the central figures in a racket involving smuggling people abroad on diplomatic passports of MPs' family members or forged documents.
26/04/07 Indo-Asian News Service/Monsters and Critics.com, UK

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Trafficking racket gets murkier - from Delhi to Andhra

New Delhi: A flourishing human trafficking racket involving India's political class is becoming murkier as the police disclosed Wednesday that at least 12 people had been smuggled out on diplomatic passports and more politicians were linked to the scandal.
The Delhi Police, which is at the heart of the investigation sparked by the April 18 arrest of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Babubhai Katara, said it had discovered that a dozen people appear to have flown out of India using passports of politicians' families to the US and Britain over the past three years.
Six of them, a police officer told IANS, had travelled with Katara. He said the US embassy and the high commissions of Britain and Canada had provided the information to the external affairs ministry.
Katara is being interrogated every day at the Crime Branch office but officials are tightlipped.
The Delhi Police have summoned the other BJP and BSP MPs but they are yet to present themselves.
25/04/07 IANS/Andhra Cafe

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39 deported youths go missing after questioning in Delhi

Chandigarh: Thirty-nine youths deported from Dubai for not having valid documents, who were also questioned at New Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport, have now gone missing. While the maximum number of deported youths are from Naraingarh tehsil and Ambala district, a few also came from the Kurukshetra, Amritsar, Jalandhar and Patiala districts of Punjab.
Newsline tracked down the addresses of 32 persons, who had purchased tickets for Rs. 20,000 each from Sandal Travels, Sector 34, Chandigarh.
Families of some youths contacted by Newsline today are not only in a state of shock, but are also confused. Two such families had different stories to tell.
Mangal Singh (21), resident of Raiwali Village failed his matriculation exams. A number of his friends from his village are at present working in Iraq. He had always dreamt of going abroad and persuaded his father to send him abroad. “ He only asked for Rs. 50,000, which I gave him. He did not disclose which company was he enrolled to work with. I am surprised to know that he was deported. He called me last night and told me he was safe. We have not received any call from him after that,” Jeet Singh said.
A similar state of confusion prevails at Satwinder Singh’s home, another school dropout.
26/04/07 Varinder Bhatia/Ludhiana Newsline

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A380 to fly to India next month

Mumbai: The Airbus A380 superjumbo aircraft will arrive in Indian skies next month on a promotional flight for Kingfisher Airlines, the carrier said on Thursday.
The A380, plagued by delays, is scheduled to visit Mumbai and New Delhi from May 7 to May 10 for Kingfisher's second anniversary celebrations, according to a statement.
Kingfisher, owned by India's UB Group which controls the top brewer and spirits maker, has placed a firm order for five A380 aircraft and has an option for five more.
India's main airports are bursting at the seams with newly-launched airlines and a sharp surge in passenger and freight traffic in a booming economy, but a spokesman for the Mumbai airport said the financial hub could handle the aircraft.
"The airport is perfectly capable of handling the A380 now," said a spokesman for Mumbai International Airport Pvt. Ltd.
26/04/07 Reuters/NDTV.com

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Intl airlines dodge Indian airports on high user charges

Mumbai: Airport user charges, including landing, parking, terminal navigation and passenger service fee, at Indian airports are nearly 25% higher than similar charges in other international airports, resulting in international airlines dodging Mumbai, Delhi and other metros as stopover points for long haul flights.
For instance, Singapore Airlines has a long haul flight from Singapore to the US sector and has a stopover in China, since the airport fee at Beijing International airport or Pudong airport in Shanghai amounts to not more than 90 yuan ($111).
And if it were to consider Mumbai airport for a stopover, the airline would have to pay 'terminal navigational landing charges' of Rs 989 ($23) for 10,000 kg and Rs 5,951 ($143) for 10,000 kg and above.
Landing charges for over 50,000 kg would be Rs 12,400 ($298) + Rs 376 ($9) per every excess 1,000 kg, apart from a service fee of Rs 200 per passenger. These charges are subject to a service tax of 12%. Charges at Delhi, Kolkata and Bangalore, all managed by the Airport Authority of India (AAI) at present, are on the higher side.
Similar is the case with British Airways. It has long haul flights of over 21 hours from London to Sydney with Changi airport in Singapore as a stopover.
26/04/07 Shaheen Mansuri/Financial Express

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Tulihal airport upgradation AAI officials in town, eyes Intl standard

Imphal: As a step towards implementing the assurance given by Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh during his last visit to the State for upgrading Tulihal Airport to international standard with all the works including facility for night landing, officials of the Committee on Officers of the Airport Authority of India (AAI) have inspected the condition of the airport.
The Committee is learnt to have conveyed to the State Government that providing necessary infrastructures for night landing would not be a problem at all, but the only essentiality is regular power supply.
Disclosing this to The Sangai Express, a reliable source informed that the four-member team of the Committee of Officers of the Airport Authority of India came to Imphal on April 23 to inspect the present condition of the Tulihal Airport in accordance with the assurance given by Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh during his last visit to the State for upgrading the airport at par with airports in other metropolitan cities of the country.
25/04/07 The Sangai Express/E-Pao.net

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NCP asks Centre to name Jammu airport after Mata Vaishno Devi

Jammu: The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) today asked Union Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel to rename the Jammu airport after Mata Vaishno Devi.
"We urge the Government of India to rename Jammu airport after Mata Vaishno Devi. Vaishnodevi shrine is biggest milestone in Jammu, which is called city of temples," NCP`S state Unit Chief Thakur Randhir Singh told reporters here on Wednesday
He said that he has already submitted a memorandum to Patel for constructing a modern international airport in Ismailpur-Bari Bodahri area on the outskirts of Jammu where thousands acres of barren land is available. "Other suitable place is on the National Highway between Samba and Jammu." The existing airport at Jammu is very small and there is no scope for any expansion and upgradation as an international airport of world standards, which is the need of the hour, he said.
25/04/07 Zee News

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MIAL eyeing 26 acres of private land

Mumbai: Exploring all avenues for development, the land-locked Mumbai airport finds itself in a critical dilemma. If the week began with the civil aviation ministry putting in a request to the Empowered Group of Ministers to release 200 acres of saltpan land to rehabilitate encroaching slums, MIAL is now eyeing 26 acres of private land skirting the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport (CSIA) for aviation related development.
Faced with an acute land crunch at the country’s busiest airport, the Mumbai International Airport Private Limited, the consortium headed by GVK, is finding 1964 acres of real estate—276 of which is encroached upon by tightly packed slum colonies—cramping its expansion plans.
Consider this: Delhi airport boasts a 5,160-acre sprawl, while the new Greenfield airports coming up at Bangalore and Hyderabad have 4,050 acres and 5,500 acres respectively. And so MIAL is not sitting tight.
The acquisition of private property is a long-drawn process and would take at least 18 months -that too if there is no opposition from existing landowners.
25/04/07 Lekha Agarwal/Mumbai Newsline

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Development of non-metro airports gathers tailwind

New Delhi: The government is planning to fund the Rs 4,662 crore development of 35 non-metro airports through internal resources, rather than taking the private-sector funding route.
The development and modernisation of all the 35 non-metro airports will be undertaken simultaneously by Airports Authority of India (AAI) and will be completed by March 2010. In these airports, wholly owned subsidiaries of AAI will be created for their development and operation.
AAI will develop all civil enclaves and airports at Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh. A memorandum of understanding has already been signed between Maharashtra Airport Development Company (MADC) and AAI for the development of Nagpur airport.
The AAI has already awarded works for terminal building in 13 airports and airside development, which include runway, taxiway, apron, fire station, control tower and isolation bay, in 19 airports. Tenders have been invited for modernizing and developing terminal buildings in 10 airports and airside development in five airports.
Airside works are expected to be completed in 17 airports including Pune, Nagpur, Udaipur, Agra, Imphal, Agartala during the current fiscal. Airside development will be completed in 12 airports by 2008-09 and the works in remaining six airports will be finished by 2009-10.
26/04/07 Oineetom Ojah/Financial Express

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Mystery plane in close shave

A mystery plane on a collision course with a KLM flight over the Bay of Bengal threw the city airport authorities into a tizzy on Sunday morning.
The aircraft, which has still not been identified, was not following a flight path. It stayed in the area under the Calcutta Air Traffic Control (ATC)’s surveillance for three hours. But the pilot did not establish contact with the city ATC, said officials.
The plane came within three nautical miles of a KLM Royal Dutch flight from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur near Bhubaneswar, which is around 200 nautical miles from Calcutta.
According to air safety norms, two aircraft should be separated by at least 10 nautical miles if they are under radar surveillance.
When there is no radar surveillance, the stipulated distance between two aircraft is 80 nautical miles or more.
“We froze as the KLM pilot told us that he could see an aircraft but could not identify its type,” said an ATC official.
The mystery plane’s altitude could not be gauged, as the pilot had switched off a transponder.
The aircraft abruptly changed direction and flew away from the KLM flight.
“All other the flights (that took the same route) were alerted about the mystery plane’s presence,” said the official. None of the pilots, however, saw it.
The Indian Air Force (IAF) tried to track the mystery plane on its radar at Kalaikunda and Chennai. “The officers did not tell us whether they were successful,” stated another airport official.
The mystery aircraft first appeared on the Calcutta ATC’s radar around 10 am. It was moving south. Around 1 pm, the aircraft disappeared from the radar as mysteriously as it had appeared.
25/04/07 Sanjay Mandal/The Telegraph

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Armed forces must share airspace: AAI

New Delhi: Civil aviation authorities made a strong case of a need for the military to 'spare' more airspace to ease civilian air traffic congestion in India.
"Right now about 35 per cent of the country's airspace is used for military activities. In Delhi the total military (air)space is 70 per cent. That space can be shared between the civil and military operators," said K Ramalingam, the chairman of Airport Authority of India (AAI), at the US-India Aviation Partnership Summit in New Delhi today. The three-day meet will conclude tomorrow.
A working committee, which includes representatives from the Indian Air Force, the Ministry of Civil Aviation and the AAI, is already in place. "What needs to be done is a proper demarcation between scheduled civilian and military aircraft," said an AAI official.
The AAI also said that it is planning to use high-tech "performance-based navigation (PBN)" to improve air-traffic management in India.
Discussing the key issues related to air traffic management, officials from Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) of the US and the AAI pointed out the need of better monitoring and alerting systems.
25/04/07 Business Standard

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Punjab travel agents raided, MPs avoid Delhi Police

New Delhi/Jalandhar: Police probing the global human trafficking racket involving Indian MPs Tuesday raided homes and offices of travel agents in Punjab as four other MPs linked to the saga failed to turn up for questioning at the Delhi Police headquarters.
The latest developments that followed the dramatic arrest of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Babubhai Katara came even as authorities in Dubai deported 36 men from Punjab and Haryana for traveling on fake documents.
Delhi Police arrested Harbhajan Singh, a travel agent from Maqsoodan area of Jalandhar, and recovered 34 passports from him besides fake visas of some countries, letterheads of central government ministries and also fake stamps.
The police, who were following the leads provided by aides of the arrested MP, seized computers, scanners and other equipment used to prepare fake visas and other travel documents.
With Katara, who has been suspended by the BJP from its parliamentary wing, in police custody, Delhi Police's Crime Branch asked four other MPs -- Mohammed Tahir Khan, Ashok Rawat and Mitra Sen Yadav (all BSP) and BJP's Ram Swarup Koli - to appear before them. All four failed to show up for questioning.
Replying to the police notice, Khan and Rawat said they were presently engaged in campaigning for the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections and could join the probe only after May 8 when the month-long balloting ends.
24/04/07 IANS/Monsters and Critics.com, UK

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US, UK, Canada embassies contacted in human trafficking probe

New Delhi: Delhi Police Tuesday contacted the embassies of the US and Canada as well as the British high commission here to find out details on those who have travelled abroad through the international human trafficking racket allegedly involving several MPs.
'We have contacted the embassies and high commissions of these countries through the ministry of external affairs to extend the probe further,' Delhi Police spokesman Rajan Bhagat said.
'Efforts are on to ascertain the identities of the persons who travelled to foreign countries through this racket,' he added.
The racket came to light Wednesday when police arrested Babubhai Katara, a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP from Gujarat, when he was trying to smuggle out a woman and a teenager boy to Toronto.
Police suspected that apart from Katara, the four MPs named by his associates who were arrested Saturday, could also have taken many people abroad by using the diplomatic passport issued to them.
24/04/07 IANS/India eNews.com

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New aircraft parking facility at Vadodara airport

Vadodara: The Vadodara airport is all set to put in place a night parking base.
According to Airport Authority of India (AAI), parking facilities will be provided for eight airlines here. The parking will be meant especially for aircraft landing at night.
While Vadodara airport does not have any scheduled flight at night, flights with diversion can make a halt here once the night parking base is set up.
“There is a lot of congestion in Mumbai airport due to which it was felt that a night parking facility was needed here,” said Vadodara’s AAI director Amit Bajpayee.
This means that Vadodara airport will be operating 24 hours.
The facility will help particularly in times when Mumbai or Delhi bound planes have to divert their flight at night.
25/04/07 Times of India

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3 snag-hit flights return to base

New Delhi: Sunday night proved to be an action-packed one at the IGI airport with three aircraft developing snags one after the other.
Pilots of all three aircraft — two of Indian Airlines (A 320s) and one of Air India (Boeing 767) — detected the snag soon after the flights started moving and had to return to base. While Indian had the troubles sorted out fast, the Maharaja seems to be saddled with yet another snag-prone aircraft. The same Boeing 767 has been developing snags time and again in the past few weeks. While on Sunday night it failed to take off, it had earlier this month developed a suspected snag because of which it could land only on second attempt.
Since the plane is on a wet lease from a UK-based company that is responsible for providing the pilots as also maintaining the aircraft, AI has asked the firm to act fast. ‘‘This plane has been developing snags in past few weeks. We have told the Euro Atlantic, from whom the plane’s been leased for a year as an interim move. They are now flying out the plane to Middle East for a thorough check,’’ said S Venkat, AI’s executive director (PR).
24/04/07 Saurabh Sinha/Times of India

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Government may call bids for new Mumbai airport by year-end

New Delhi: The government expects to invite bids for a greenfield airport in Mumbai by the end of the year, Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel said on Monday.
"The land issues have been resolved. The government will now proceed for cabinet approval on bidding," Patel told reporters on the sidelines of the U.S.-India Aviation Partnership Summit.
The Navi Mumbai International Airport is to be built at a cost of 42.35 billion rupees on public-private partnership by forming a special purpose company.
Maharashtra's City and Industrial Development Corp. and the state-run Airport Authority of India will hold equity to the extent of 26 percent and the rest will be held by a private developer.
Air travel demand for Mumbai is expected to grow to 91 million passengers per year by 2030/31 from 20 million passengers per year in 2006/07, according to government figures.
The Mumbai airport is expected to become saturated by 2013, which has necessitated the demand for a new airport.
23/04/07 Reuters India

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AAI plans to extend runway at Jammu airport

New Delhi: The Airport Authority of India has drawn up plans to extend the runway at Jammu airport from 6000 ft. to about 9000 ft. to cater to operations of AB-320/B-737-800 type of aircraft, a PIB handout said.
This, according to the statement, was revealed today at a meeting between chief minister Ghulam Nabi Azad with the union minister of civil aviation, Praful Patel.
It was revealed in the meeting that Jammu has seen an unprecedented growth in aircraft movement which has gone up from 36 per week in 2004-05 to the current figure of 168 per week. This growth has made it necessary to expand the terminal building to cope with the traffic growth, expand the Apron to accommodate more aircraft and to extend the runway to cater to bigger aircraft, the statement said.
AAI in coordination with BCAS has also approved plans for modification of car park area at civil enclave.
23/04/07 GreaterKashmir.com (press release)

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AAI Not to shift Flight Ops to Awantipora

New Delhi: Chief Minister Mr. Ghulam Nabi Azad has impressed upon the Union Civil Aviation Ministery to continue the operation of flights from Srinagar airport itself and simultaneously carry on the execution of works during the night hours.
Chief Minister had a meeting with the Union Civil Aviation Minister Mr. Praful Patel here today to convey his governments reservation to the Civil Aviation ministry's decision to shift flight operations from Srinagar to Awantipora for next six months to speed up the upgradation work of Srinagar airport.
“This is necessitated to avoid inconvenience to people in general and domestic and international tourists in particular who intend to visit the valley during the summer”, CM said. The Union Minister has agreed to this proposal.
The meeting was among others attended by the Air Chief Marshal Mr. Fali Homi Major, Chairman Airport Authority of India Dr. K. Ramalingam, Jammu and Kashmir Minister for Health and Medical Education Mr. Mangat Ram Sharma and senior officers of Ministry of Civil Aviation and Airport Authority of India.
23/04/07 Kashmir Observer

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New taxiway mooted to ease Coimbatore airport congestion

Coimbatore: The local unit of the Airports Authority of India has put forward a proposal for a Rs. 30-crore parallel taxiway to ease peak-hour runway congestion. There was a steep growth in passenger and aircraft movement during 2006-07. Two more airlines have expressed an interest to operate from Coimbatore.
Airport Director K. Hemalatha told The Hindu that a parallel taxiway would solve the problem of peak-hour runway congestion. Once a flight touches down, it takes 10 to 12 minutes to taxi its way to the apron and to come to a "full stop halt."
During this time, another landing or takeoff is not possible. With a parallel taxiway, on touching down the aircraft could leave the runway free for a waiting aircraft. There are seven parking bays available. With a parallel taxiway, pilots need not hover over Coimbatore.
The number of passengers increased to 8.9 lakh during 2006-07 from 5.74 lakh in 2005-06: a growth of over 56 per cent. Similarly, aircraft movement increased from 9,311 in 2005-06 to 12,750 in 2006-07. The number of landings and take-offs has touched 56 a day. Thanks to the entry of a number of low-cost, no-frills airliners, aircraft and passenger movement has grown.
24/04/07 V.S. Palaniappan/The Hindu

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Civil Aviation ministry seeks salt pan lands to rehabilitate slums near airport

New Delhi/Mumbai: In a bid to clear some of the encroached land at Mumbai airport, the Civil Aviation Ministry today asked the Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoM) led by Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar to get 200 acres of salt pan lands released to rehabilitate slums encroaching upon the airport.
“The Group of Ministers, in turn, has decided to ask the Maharashtra Government and the Central agencies to identify atleast 70 hectares of land that is free from encumbrances and may only require a change of land use,” a Civil Aviation Ministry official told The Indian Express. Sources said while the salt pan lands were owned by the Central Government, there were certain issues relating to ownership and possession which needed to be addressed. “The ministry is of the view that those lands where only a change of land use is needed can be released for rehabilitation purposes sooner,” the official said.
Faced with a severe land crunch at the Chhatrapati Shivaji International airport at Mumbai, Mumbai International Airport Ltd (MIAL) has been struggling to execute modernisation and restructuring works.
24/04/07 Mumbai Newsline

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Now, free Wi-Fi connectivity at Mumbai airport

Mumbai: Next time you are at the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport (CSIA) in Mumbai, four easy steps will help you surf the Internet free of cost on your Wi-Fi enabled laptop or your smart phone.
On Monday, Mumbai International Airport Private Limited (MIAL)— the joint venture between the GVK-SA consortium and Airports Authority of India that is modernising CSIA—went live with an enterprise-class Wi-Fi service throughout the domestic (IA and IB) and international (2A and 2C) terminals, becoming the first international airport in India to launch free wireless network.
Mobile service provider Bharti Airtel Limited is powering the service, with wall-to-wall accessibility throughout the airport’s four terminals. That means only bonafide passengers inside the terminal building will be able to take advantage of the facility. Also, to prevent potential misuse, each session would be valid for about four hours.
The facility is also available on other hand-held devices such as pocket PCs, smart phones, mobile phones, gaming devices and PDAs.“Currently, the speed will vary between 64 kbps and 128 kbps, depending on the number of simultaneous users. However, it will never fall below 64 kbps,” said a spokesperson for MIAL.
23/04/07 Lekha Agarwal/Mumbai Newsline

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12 Wing to get radar system for air traffic

Chandigarh: The 12 Wing Air Force Station is one of the Indian Air Force (IAF) stations in India that is in line to get radar systems for the Air Traffic Control (ATC). The station, which also caters to civilian air traffic, does not have a radar yet for air traffic management. Though the Air Force Station has a defence radar cover, air traffic is maintained with the help of procedural controls between the pilots and the ATC.
With an increase in air traffic and keeping in mind future requirements, both civilian and defence, the need for radar systems has been realised at the highest level of decision making in the IAF, an official said. The acquisition process for the new radar, however, is likely to take a year, he added. All IAF fighter plane bases have the air traffic control radar.
The 12 Wing is primarily a transport aircraft base and is responsible for the maintenance of Ladakh region, transporting men and material. It also operates emergency flights between Jammu and Srinagar during winters when the road connecting the two cities is blocked.
The ATC at the air force station is also responsible for managing civilian air traffic. On an average there are five civilian flights at the station, said Suneel Dutta, Chandigarh Airport Controller.
23/04/07 Munieshwer A Sagar/Chandigarh Newsline

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A queue conundrum ails the airport

Shortage of space, lack of X-ray machines for security check and registered luggage scan, narrow entrances to the check-in lounge and dearth of check-in counters have translated to interminable waits for fliers at the airport. The infrastructure crunch has been exposed by the increase in air traffic — from about 130 daily last year to about 210 daily now.
“During peak hours, it takes nearly 90 minutes for a passenger to complete the formalities before boarding a flight,” complained ghazal singer Aruna Kundanani, a frequent flier.
According to airport officials, four domestic flights and two international flights can be handled every hour at the airport with the existing infrastructure. “But in the mornings and evenings, eight to 10 domestic flights and three to four international flights take off and land per hour,” they said.
The Airports Authority of India has taken up a Rs 10-crore project to expand the domestic terminal and add facilities. Airport director V.K. Monga also said the airport’s capacity is being boosted. The results are not showing yet.
24/04/07 Sanjay Mandal/The Telegraph

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More flights for Tripura

Agartala: Tripura is awaiting a bonanza in air service for internal and external connectivity.
Air Deccan and Jet Airways have been operating daily flights to and from Agartala at an affordable cost.
But the list of private airlines is swelling with the arrival of Indigo Airlines that has sought permission from the state government for launching services between Agartala and Guwahati and other capitals of northeastern states. The 180-seater aircraft operated by Indigo is expected to land at Agartala airport on May 2.
However, transport minister Manik Dey said, “I am not aware of the date but they met me with the proposal and we have already cleared it.”
Air travellers as well as the state government are also awaiting the arrival of Surya Airlines.
23/04/07 The Telegraph

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Weathermen to sharpen skills for airports, marine services

Pune: The weather forecasters at Pune’s India Meteorology Department (IMD) and Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM) along with Noida-based National Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasting (NCMRWF), will be groomed for greater synergy and meeting expectations in operational areas like airports and marine services.
“The weather officials will be groomed in all operational jobs of the IMD including services to coastal states, airports, marine services and the Bombay High,” said S K Prasad, deputy director general of meteorology and head of the Central Training Institute of IMD.
“Wherever, people expect accurate forecasts,” said Prasad, adding that the recommendations put forth by key members of the Ministry of Earth Sciences, who were in the city recently, had emphasised greater interaction between the IMD, IITM and NCMRWF.
The recommendations, which were received by Prasad last week following a review of the existing content and syllabus of the training centres at the three institutes, include updating of the training programme imparted to officials.
22/04/07 Nisha Nambiar/Pune Newsline

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How safe is our national carrier?

At 7:40 pm yesterday at the Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi an already-delayed IC-833 got ready for take off. Five minutes later, passengers breathed a collective sigh of relief as the plane started taxiing towards the runway. But a couple of minutes later, they felt a sudden jolt as the plane came to a screeching halt, slipping and sliding, and everyone was thrown forward in their seats.
Minutes later, the pilot's voice crackled on the overhead speaker informing passengers of “a technical snag”. The pilot had been forced to abort take off after problems in the nose wheel while taxiing to the runway.
“He said we were saved, he had managed to stop the plane before it hit the mud. We were on the verge of hitting the mud and the concrete,” a passenger on the flight, Vishesh Agarwal, told TIMES NOW.
The Civil Aviation Ministry has taken serious note of the incident and shot off a letter to Indian, directing it to take urgent steps to revamp its engineering network.
Just a day earlier on Saturday, an Indian Airlines flight on its way from Sharjah to Lucknow made an emergency landing at Delhi airport due some hydraulic problems.
Air India, too, hasn't had a smooth ride of late – one may recall an incident with Air India incident less than a fortnight ago, on April 9, when within a span of few hours, two Air India flights landed under emergency conditions.
23/04/07 Times Now.tv

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Congestion down, but problems remain: Airlines

New Delhi: Airlines are divided over the civil aviation ministry’s claim that its recent steps have reduced congestion in metro airports.
While budget airlines like SpiceJet and Air Deccan say the airborne waiting time has come down by up to half, others like Kingfisher say there has been no change.
Many airlines say they are not being given priority over chartered carriers, which is adding to the congestion problem.
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation had recently taken a number of steps to reduce congestion during peak hours. The maximum number of flights during peak hours has been capped at 35 per hour in Delhi Airport and 30 per hour in Mumbai Airport. Also, in the case of Delhi Airport, the period when both the runways are open has been extended by one hour.
Airline companies have been facing huge losses due to congestion as long waits for landing consumes a lot of fuel.
Most airlines agree that there is still a long way to go. Delays in takeoffs and getting parking slots continue.
Industry experts say there could be many reasons for the delay and rescheduling of flights is not the only answer.
22/04/07 Anirban Chowdhury/Business Standard

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AAI faces hurdles for Chandigarh airport modernisation

New Delhi: Airports across India may be going through a modernisation spree, but the Airports Authority of India (AAI) continues to face impediments. One such hurdle comes from the Punjab government which has expressed its inability to acquire 300 acres of land for expansion of Chandigarh Airport. It has asked the AAI to purchase land directly from the farmers if they intend to go ahead with the project.
Senior AAI officials told The Statesman that since the airport would also help Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Chandigarh, the Punjab government feels it is not wise for them to bear the cost alone.
The AAI has taken up the matter with the civil aviation ministry and asked it to suggest some broad guidelines to tackle such cases. AAI officials also blamed the Centre for its failure to come out with a clear-cut civil aviation policy, which has been hanging fire for years.
Earlier, the Punjab government had provided land for Amritsar and Sahnewal airport projects. The AAI officials said they cannot afford to buy land worth Rs 400 crore and then put in another Rs 300 crore for the project.
21/04/07 Sanjay Singh/The Statesman

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Commotion at Bagdogra airport

Siliguri: Trouble broke out at Bagdogra airport today after some passengers, who were scheduled to avail of the Air Deccan flight to Delhi, allegedly reported late and were denied access to the check-in lounge.
Alleging that they had reported on time and were deprived of their right to fly despite holding the tickets, the angry passengers created a commotion at the airport.
According to Airports Authority of India officials, one of the passengers smashed a window of the airport. Security personnel and the alleged offender was escorted out.
21/04/07 The Statesman

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Air link with small towns

Calcutta: Low-cost carrier Air Deccan on Friday announced plans to start operations to a number of towns not covered by air services. Steel towns Jamshedpur and Rourkela and Bodh Gaya, popular with Buddhist pilgrims, are among the destinations.
“The airline will launch services to the new destinations by the end of the year,” said G.R. Gopinath, managing director, Air Deccan.
The airline, which now flies to 19 destinations from the city, will start Calcutta-Jamshedpur-Calcutta operations in three months. Flights to Jorhat, Bodh Gaya, Cooch Behar and Rourkela from the city will be started later.
Air Deccan has recently launched operations to Imphal and Dimapur from Calcutta.
The airline is also planning to make Calcutta a major operational hub. The Airports Authority of India (AAI) has allotted it a hangar at the city airport. Air Deccan was using the hangars of Indian and Jet Airways.
20/04/07 The Telegraph

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ITDC, Aldeasa form joint venture

New Delhi: State-owned India Tourism Development Corporation (ITDC) is forging a 50:50 joint venture with Spanish company Aldeasa for setting up a duty-free retail chain at airports in India and overseas. The move follows similar tie-ups by Pantaloon Retail and Shoppers.
The proposed joint venture will be initially capitalised with Rs 31.5 crore. The proposal has been submitted to the Union Cabinet and the Foreign Investment Promotion Board for approval. "We expect the approvals to be given shortly. We will then move full steam ahead on the project," ITDC officials said.
Official sources said the proposed ITDC-Aldeasa JV will bid for duty-free retail opportunities in India select business opportunities outside India especially in the Saarc region and countries where there is a large Indian presence, besides souvenir shops at Indian heritage sites and museums.
21/04/07 Nayantara Rai & Siddharth Zarabi/Business Standard

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Freeze on flights to check air congestion

The Ministry of Civil Aviation, among other measures, has decided to cap the number of flights to and from the Delhi and Mumbai airports, in its latest bid to address congestion at the airports. The ministry on Friday said in a statement that no new flight has been cleared from both the airports during the summer schedule.
Congestion is high at both metro airports, particularly during the peak holiday summer season — which begins by the end of March — when airlines add more flights and sectors, said a senior Indian (Airlines) official.
The number of flights currently operating per day from Indira Gandhi International (IGI) airport stands at 670, a Delhi airport source said.
The simultaneous use of both runways at IGI airport has been extended from the existing nine hours by an hour. Besides this, the hourly movement at IGI airport has been frozen at 35 aircraft during dual use of runways, and 30 during single use. At Mumbai airport it has been frozen at 30.
20/04/07 Sidhartha Roy/Hindustan Times

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Clearing the ground for takeoff at Mumbai airport

In a move to decongest the Mumbai airport, the Airports Authority of India (AAI) is mulling over regulating the air traffic movement (ATM) by implementing the air traffic flow management system (ATFMS). Simply put the ATFMS is designed to meter traffic to taxed capacity resources, in this case the congested metro airports of Mumbai and Delhi.
For understanding, the ATFMS involves two principal processes, one involving the air traffic control for the purposes of tactical safety separations and the other, of the traffic flow management, a process that meters arrival at the capacity constrained airports.
To achieve this, the air traffic control will assign slots to the airlines through separation assurance and would regulate that separation for the prevention of collisions. Speed control for an aircraft would be a vital component and that would be assigned by the ATC.
There are a whole lot of other elements involved in the system that need to be aligned like the air navigation facilities, equipment and services, technical information and real time information or the current information on weather forecasts, congestion delays and the like.
21/04/07 Manisha Singhal/Daily News & Analysis

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SC notice to Jet & Thomas Cook on AAI plea

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday issued notices to Jet Airways, Flemingo Duty Free Shops and Thomas Cook India on a plea filed by Airports Authority of India (AAI) seeking transfer of petitions related to the imposition of service tax on airport services to the Delhi High Court.
These companies had challenged levy of service tax in the high courts of Delhi, Bombay, Madras, Karnataka, Kerala and Andhra Pradesh. The high courts had stayed the recovery notices issued by the Authority.
A bench comprising Justice B N Agrawal and Justice PP Naolekar issued notice to various parties including Jet, Flemingo, Thomas Cook, Siddhi Vinayak Enterprises among others asking them to explain why the petitions should not be transferred to Delhi High Court.
According to the petition, airport services were brought under the ambit of service tax from September 2004 by the Finance Act 2004. AAI was the only medium which collected service tax and deposited it with service tax department.
21/04/07 Economic Times

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Ivory seized from Guwahati airport cargo centre

Guwahati: Police confiscated a consignment of ivory from the cargo collection centre of Jet Airways near Lokapriya Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport today.
Additional superintendent of police (city) Rajen Singh said elephant tusk weighing 1.8 kg was found inside a carton booked on a Calcutta-bound Jet Airways flight this morning.
The police have apprehended two persons in connection with the heist.
The accused were identified as Bikram Das and Mahabir Sharma. Sharma is the manager of Good Luck Courier Service while Das is an employee of Maruti Cargo Forwarder.
The office of Good Luck Courier is located on A.T. Road in Athgaon and that of Maruti Cargo Forwarder is in Paltan Bazar.
Police said the parcel containing ivory was routed from Tinsukia to Guwahati through these two couriers. From here, it was supposed to be flown to Calcutta.
20/04/07 The Telegraph

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BJP MP had smuggled people abroad earlier: police

Delhi: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Babubhai Katara, who was arrested a day earlier at the airport when trying to smuggle out a woman and a teenager to Canada, had successfully smuggled people out of the country on two earlier occasions, the police revealed Thursday.
'Our initial investigations indicate that Katara had used a similar modus operandi to smuggle some people to London and the US in the last two years. We are trying to ascertain the financial transactions involved in these cases,' said Neeraj Thakur, Deputy Commissioner of Police, (Crime). 'On all these visits, Katara travelled on a tourist visa. We are trying to find out how long these visits lasted and the persons who accompanied him.'

_____________________________
More MPs in human trafficking scam?
In more murky developments in the Gujarat
BJP MP Babubhai Katara case, sources in the
Delhi Police have said that the Regional
Passport Office has warned of other MPs
involved in human trafficking. Regional
Passport Office has warned the Lok Sabha
Speaker Somnath Chatterjee about MPs
misusing their wives’ diplomatic passports.
Sources say police suspect other MPs of being
involved in a possible human trafficking racket.
19/04/07 Times Now.tv
_____________________________

Also being investigated is the role of immigration officials and if there was any collusion to facilitate Katara's foreign jaunts, he said.
Thakur also pointed out that two travel agencies based in Punjab and Gujarat were under the scanner and police teams had fanned out to nab the agents who had meticulously planned the travel arrangements. A police team has also been sent to Hyderabad to probe possible links of the human trafficking racket.
19/04/07 India eNews.com

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`New runway will reduce congestion, cut delays'

Kolkata: Airlines are hopeful that the Kolkata airport modernisation project will kick off following the Government's approval of the proposal.
Capt G.R. Gopinath, Managing Director, Air Deccan welcomed the idea of a new runway. "A new runway will help a lot to reduce the congestion and ensure that flights are not delayed," he said.
There is a need for more airports in West Bengal, especially in the northern part of the State, he added.
"We really hope that the work will start soon. There are problems relating to congestion of airlines and currently what we need is another runway. We would prefer separate runways for arrival and departure of flights," said an official of a leading airlines which uses Kolkata airport.
He said there was also a need increase the number of aerobridges, security checkpoints and restaurants and resting places to bring Kolkata airport at par with the international airports.
20/04/07 Somasroy Chakraborty/Hindu Business Line

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Airports facing 50% ATC shortfall

India's two largest airports - Delhi and Mumbai - have just 100 air traffic controllers guiding 500 planes daily, nearly 40-50 per cent short of the requirement. The 87 domestic airports have just 1,000 air traffic controllers, grossly inadequate for the booming aviation sector. At 2,500 flights per day, India needs a minimum of 2,500 ATCs. Yet, an official from the Airport Authority India (AAI) admitted that no ATCs have been recruited in the last five years.
ATCs co-ordinate movements of aircraft, keep them at safe distances from each other and direct them during take-off and landing, thereby ensuring smooth traffic flow with minimal delays. The shortfall not only compromises air traffic safety but also poses a question mark over future expansion plans of domestic carriers.
With the domestic airlines asking the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) for permission to operate 40 per cent additional flights this summer, taking the daily total to 3,500, up from 2,500 in the summer of 2006, this shortage is set to become acute. Additional flights would add to the work pressure of the existing ATCs, since there would be 600 flights each day over Mumbai and Delhi airports this summer.
19/04/07 Shaheen Mansuri/Express TravelWorld

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Uncertainty looms over weather-warning system

Mumbai: Two years after the 26/7 deluge crippled Mumbai, the plan to install the Doppler radar — a state-of-the-art weather warning system that can predict torrential rains and cyclones — has yet to take off only due to lack of space.
Worse still, Mumbai’s wait for the sophisticated system may be longer than expected. The plan, thus far, remains on paper with the Airport Authority of India (AAI) denying the permission to install Doppler on its plot of land at Juhu, a western suburb.
“The AAI denied the permission due to a technical problem that it would face if Doppler were installed in their premises,” said Dr C.V.V. Bhadram, Deputy Director General of the Metrological department. While Doppler needs unobstructed view for accurate prediction, the highrise structures dotting the city can impede choice of a site for installation of the system, he explained.
With AAI refusing permission, two new sites have been short listed for installing the Doppler. While one is at Andheri West, the other is at Navy Nagar in Colaba.
Besides selection of site, there are other stumbling blocks in installing the Doppler radar. After selection of the venue, the Central government will need to kickstart the process for procuring the radar as an order needs to be placed for importing the system.
19/04/07 Sanjeev Shivadekar/Hindustan Times

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AI, Boeing plan to make city simulator training hub

Mumbai: The developers of the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport, Mumbai International Airport (MIAL), could hold the keys to turning Mumbai into a flight simulator training centre.
Flag carrier Air India recently sent a proposal to MIAL requesting permission to construct a new building that would house the training centre. "We are keen on setting up the new facility at the Air India complex in the old airport (Santacruz) and therefore need MIAL's clearance, since all construction clearance on airport land needs to be given by them," said an Air India official.
"Initial estimates suggest we would require in excess of 2,000 sq ft and the building would be configured in a ground-plus-two structure, since there is a height restriction around the airport", the official added.
The plan is to ultimately station six simulators here. While three models have been idenified - once each for the Boeing 737-800, 777 and 787 - the rest will be decided on later, depending on demand projections.
The training centre would be a joint venture (JV) between Air India and Alteon - a wholly owned subsidiary of The Boeing Company.
19/04/07 Lekha Agarwal/Express TravelWorld

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Indian plans MRO unit

Hyderabad: Indian will set up a maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) facility in the upcoming Rajiv Gandhi International Airport at Shamshabad near here.
The company has signed a lease agreement with GMR Hyderabad International Airport Ltd (GHIAL), which is taking up the international airport project.
Indian will create an MRO facility at Shamshabad by transferring its existing operations at the Begumpet Airport. It would commence operations around the time the new airport goes operational in March next.
The present facility in Begumpet airport handles the initial maintenance checks including C-Checks on Indian Airlines'Airbus-320 aircraft. The Indian Airlines will render similar service to its aircraft as well as those belonging to Air India at the new facility, a press release said.
20/04/07 Hindu Business LIne

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Up, up and away! Bareilly hits a high note

Bareillietes are sure flying high this season. And the reason is simple enough -- if things go as planned, they could be boarding flights from the city itself in a span of two to three years, instead of either taking the railway route or even driving to the nearest town that did have an airport. The file had been languishing since 1994 despite the Defence ministry giving its approval for the usage of the Air Force runway by civil aircraft. It was dusted out at the insistence of the Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav on his recent trip to the city, which naturally prompted the city's administration into sending the report and fund requirement to the state government.
Talking about the project, DM Bhuvnesh Kumar explained, "We will use the runway of air force for which permission had already been granted. To build the terminal and the hanger we have to acquire some land from forest department and from some farmers. The extension will be done towards Mayur Van Chetna Kendra park adjoining Air Force base. The state civil aviation department is fully funding this project. At least three to five crores will be needed for the construction of hanger, maintenance centre and an air-traffic control tower, among other things."
According to Kumar security considerations too were taken into account, with the Air Force asking for the arrangement of an electronic gate between the civil air terminal and the Air Force runway, the control of which will rest with the Air Force authorities. On whether the cityfolks could have a separate airport in the coming years, Kumar stated that the government saw little point in investing in a separate one since Bareilly was just a place of business.
20/04/07 Mohammad Saif/Times of India

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Left has its way on Kolkata airport

New Delhi: Bowing to pressure from the left, the committee on infrastructure (CoI) constituted by the Prime Minister has decided to give the Airports Authority of India exclusive rights to modernise Kolkata airport. The Left was against private developers rebuilding and developing infrastructure for the airport.
The CoI, which met here today under the chairmanship of Dr Manmohan Singh, has allocated Rs 1542 crore for the first phase of development of the airport. Once complete, the airport would have four times more traffic than the present five lakh passengers.
Modernisation of Delhi and Mumbai airports, on the other hand, is in the hands of consortiums, including AAI and private developers. The CoI put on hold a decision on Chennai airport till 31 May as the AAI found the land offered by the Tamil Nadu government not worthy enough.
18/04/07 The Statesman

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Intelligent cameras’ may take over security at airports

New Delhi: Expecting a three-fold rise in passenger movement at the Delhi international airport by the start of 2010 Commonwealth Games, security agencies guarding the airports are busy planning a complete makeover to provide better security cover.
A step in this direction is the installation of “intelligent cameras” which have the capability of grasping communication between two people at the airport. The security men are also building new terminals in such a way that they can have in-built facilities to fight any eventuality.
A recent study by the airport officials revealed that the passenger flow by 2010 Commonwealth Games would reach 3.7 crore whereas the present figure stood at 1 crore in a year.
“It will be impossible to handle passengers if we do not start taking steps to improve the security at the airports,” said a senior official handling airport security in the capital.
He added that they are also installing cameras which can detect unclaimed luggage, suspicious movement of people and these cameras can also listen to the communication between two people.
“This camera might affect private communication between two people but it is important to listen to them in order to identify terrorists and suspicious people,” added the officer.
18/04/07 Gyan Varma/Daily News and Analysis

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Plane from India suffers tyre burst at Chiang Mai airport

Chiang Mai : Chiang Mai International Airport was closed for four hours yesterday after a minor accident in which a Hong Kong-bound airplane's tyre burst on take-off. There were no injuries in the accident which happened about 1pm.
The right tyre of a Cessna 525 Citation two-seat private aircraft, operated by US-based John Mills Aviation Service Co, burst. The plane was piloted by its owner, John Mills, and his co-pilot.
The blow-out caused the pilot to briefly lose control and the plane then blocked the runway.
The charter aircraft had flown from Kolkata in India and had made a stop-over in Chiang Mai to refuel. Its final destination was Hong Kong.
Officials from Wing 41 airbase in Chiang Mai and Thai Airways technicians managed to move the aircraft from the runway at 3pm. The airport was temporarily closed to allow this.
Airport director Wing Commander Suthara Huangsuwan said up to 11 flights were delayed for around four hours before the airport resumed operations at 4.30pm.
19/04/07 Cheewin Sattha & Subin Khuenkaew/Bangkok Post, Thailand

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Bajpe Airport Earns Profit for First Time

Mangalore: Bajpe (Mangalore) airport of the Airports Authority of India (AAI) for the first time earned a profit of Rs. 83 lakh (provisional) during 2006-07, according to M.R. Vasudeva, director of the airport.
Speaking to The Hindu he said that the airport earned Rs. 11.02 crore (provisional) in revenue during the period. The expenditure during the same period stood at Rs. 10.19 crore (provisional). "These are provisional figures subject to audit," he clarified. All these years the airport was under loss.
He attributed the profit mainly to increase in air traffic in the last financial year. Hence, the traffic revenue, which mainly came from route navigation, landing and parking charges, went up. Three international flight services were started in the last financial year.
There was an increase in non-traffic revenue too. Revenue earned from renting out its terminal building premises to airline operators, from hoardings and display advertisements, snack bar, car park, travel requisite stall, restaurant and the like constituted non-traffic revenue.
19/04/07 The Hindu/Daijiworld.com

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Ascendas joints hands with MADC

Singapore: Business space developer Ascendas is growing its presence in India.
It has announced plans for two new major business parks in the state of Maharashtra.
Ascendas said it expected to invest some S$570 million to develop the parks in phases over the next five to seven years.
The two parks are expected to create a total of 7 million square feet of top-end IT space when completed.
Both projects are joint ventures with government agencies in Maharashtra.
The project in Pune is a joint venture with the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation.
The second tie-up in Nagpur is with the Maharashtra Airport Development Company.
18/04/07 Loh Kim Chin/Channel News Asia

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Birsa Munda: Facelift plan awaits takeoff

Ranchi: Local officials at the Airport Authority of India candidly admitted that Birsa Munda Airport basic infrastructure is not up to the mark to handle a heavy flow of passengers.
MDLR Airlines, that is scheduled to start operations in the city soon, is estimated to add 150 passengers on a daily average, taking the tally up to 500.
Sample this: between 5.30 and 6.30 each evening, three flights — two of Air Deccan and one of Indian — leave the airport carrying about 205 passengers to various cities like Calcutta, Delhi, Patna and Bhubneshwar. Around 50-odd visitors come to see off these passengers.
“The departure wing of the terminal is absolutely packed with people in that one hour. Given the space crunch in that wing, passengers literally have to jostle for space as they undergo mandatory checks at various counters,” pointed out a senior functionary of an airline.
“The airport has about 140 seats — 50 in the waiting lounge and about 80 in the departure lounge. On many occasions passengers don’t get any seats because of inadequate arrangements,” claimed a source at the airport.
To add to their woes, the conveyor belt — that occupies over 300 sq feet of space — is placed right at the centre of the departure wing hampering easy movement.
Apparently irked by poor infrastructure facilities at the airport, the Federation of Jharkhand Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FJCCI) recently met with AAI officials demanding an immediate facelift.
19/04/07 Ranjan Dasgupta/The Telegraph

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BJP may expel Katara from parliamentary party soon

Hoping to cut its losses, an embarrassed Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is likely to move early to expel its Gujarat MP Babubhai Katara from the parliamentary party.
A day after the MP from Dahod was arrested for trying to smuggle a woman and her son on his wife and son's passports to Toronto, party leaders admitted on Thursday that the episode could be damaging to the party that has always tried to take the high moral ground.
The Katara episode is a jolt to the BJP, more so as it has taken place amid the ongoing elections in Uttar Pradesh.
According to airport sources, Katara and Paramjit were just "a chance catch". A woman, Simran, had misplaced her passport and officials began investigating. When questioned, Paramjit blurted out her own name instead of saying Shardaben.
19/04/07 Indo-Asian News Service/Hindustan Times

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Woman alleges losing passport at hands of AI employee

A woman on Wednesday claimed to have lost her passport at the hands of an Air India employee as she was preparing to board a plane to Canada, the same flight that BJP MP Babubhai Katara was to take before he was arrested.
"The lady at the Air India counter asked for my passport for clearance. She then said she wanted a copy of the passport and took it away while I was getting myself checked. When I later asked for the documents, she said she had lost it," alleged Simran, who works at a Delhi-based call centre and was supposed to go to Toronto on a leisure trip.
"I have asked Air India to issue a written apology to enable me to retrieve the passport. I have also registered an FIR with the police," Simran said.
She was to board the flight AI 187, the same that Katara, a BJP MP from Gujarat, was to take before he was arrested at the international airport here after he allegedly tried to take a woman to Canada on his wife's diplomatic passport.
18/04/07 PTI/Hindustan Times

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BJP MP, woman detained at Delhi airport

In a shocking development, a BJP Member of Parliament from Gujarat, Babubhai Katara, was detained today at the Delhi international airport by Immigration authorities, for trying to take a woman abroad on his wife’s passport. Katara was due to board Air India flight 187 from Delhi to Torronto, but was stopped by authorities inside the airport.
Initially Katara claimed that he was travelling with his wife, but broke down upon insistent questioning and later said the woman was not his spouse. Further investigation revealed that Katara’s companion, a woman in her mid twenties by the name of Parminder, was travelling on his wife’s passport and had had her photograph affixed on top of the original of Katara’s wife.

__________________________
The woman paid Katara
Rs 30,00,000

Unconfirmed sources said that this
could be more than a case of
impersonation, hinting at human
trafficking. Sources said Paramjit had
paid Katara Rs 30,00,000 to be taken
to Toronto. There was reportedly a
14-year-old boy also traveling with
them. While Katara and the boy had
valid passports, Paramjit was travelling
on Katara’s wife’s passport. Katara and
Paramjit were scheduled to board the
Air-India flight 187 to Toronto.
The BJP said on Wednesday
afternoon that if the charges against
Katara were proven, action would be
taken against him.
18/04/07 CNN-IBN
__________________________

Authorities made some inquiries and found that Katara’s wife was still in Gujarat. While Katara cited the excuse of not knowing the rules, Parminder admitted that she knew Katara but was unable to explain why she was travelling with him to Torronto.
At 2:00 pm today Katara and Parminder were still being interrogated by Immigration and Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) officials, but sources said the two would soon be handed over to the Delhi police for arrest and further questioning, after an official complaint was registered with them.
The sources also said a team of intelligence bureau officers arriving shortly at the airport to question Katara on whether the diplomatic passport issued to the MP was also genuine, whether he had made similar attempts in the past, or if this is part of a larger human trafficking racket.
18/04/07 Times Now.tv

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Congestion surcharge to dip, but fuel cost to nullify benefit

New Delhi: With a marked decline in the average time they spent hovering in the skies, private sector airlines are planning to reduce the congestion surcharge by Rs 50 to Rs 100. But there’s little cheer for passengers since fuel prices have seen a continuous increase over the previous quarter. As a result fuel surcharge is likely to go up again by Rs 100, nullifying the correction in congestion at the airports.
According to a highly placed industry source, in the last meeting of the airlines with the Directorate General of Civil Aviation on March 9, Jet Airways, Indian Airlines, Air Sahara (now acquired by Jet), Spicejet and Indigo, agreed that there has been considerable decrease in the hovering time over Delhi and Mumbai airports from 40 minutes to 20 minutes.
At the same time, the airlines are contemplating an increase in the fuel surcharge if prices again register an increase in April end, industry sources said. In January, March and April this year fuel prices have seen an average increase of 5%, 2% and 5% respectively across the metros. However the aviation turbine fuel price registered an average decline of 9%. Jet fuel prices currently average Rs 38,678 per kilolitre.
18/04/07 Atreyee Dev Roy/Financial Express

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CII wants expansion of Chennai airport

Chennai: The Confederation of Indian Industry-Tamil Nadu today called for expansion of the Chennai airport and setting up of satellite townships in the state.
Addressing mediapersons here today, Gopal Srinivasan, Chairman, CII-Tamil Nadu, said a second runway at the existing airport was necessary.
"Two airports make a lot of sense in the long term. Many countries in the Asian region have two airports. Tokyo has two airports...Many others have two airports," he said.
"A satellite city is mandatory. Without a satellite city, we cannot address many fundamental programmes," he said adding already three satellite cities were emerging without actually creating them. "Old Mahabalipuram Road, Sriperumbudur and Maraimalai Nagar have become satellite cities," he said.
17/04/07 Chennai Online

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Don’t undermine AAI role in airport modernisation: Left

New Delhi: The Left Front government in West Bengal may be wooing private players for industrialization projects in the state, but when it comes to the Centre, the CPI(M) and its trade union arm, Citu are still raising hackles of the government by continuing to oppose their entry in projects aimed at modernising airports.
In a letter to the Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh on Tuesday, both the Citu chief MK Pandhe and CPI(M) politburo member Sitaram Yechury opposed the entry of private players in modernisation projects of airports. The letters have been sent on the eve of a Cabinet committee meet on infrastructure, expected to be held on Wednesday.
Claiming that the step was also in violation of the common minimum programme, Pandhe said the involvement of private players in the modernisation programme of 35 non-metro airports would “undermine the role of AAI, a profit-making government organisation.”
The Citu president opposed the commission’s directive to the Airports Authority of India to “modernise Kolkata airport through joint venture route and Chennai airport through public-private partnership route. “
18/04/07 Financial Express

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Calcutta airport on PM tarmac

New Delhi: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will tomorrow vet a Rs 1,542-crore proposal to turn Calcutta airport into a swanky 50-ft tall steel-and-glass structure capable of handling up to 20 million air travellers a year.
The Airports Authority of India, which has drafted the proposal with help from Aeroport de Paris, will make a presentation before Singh and his infrastructure committee.
If cleared, the project will take off some time this year. It is likely to be completed in 30 months.
Under the project, two new terminals will be built — one with the capacity to handle 15 million domestic travellers (up from 4.06 million) and another that can handle 5 million international passengers (up from 8.2 lakh).
These will be built at a cost of Rs 700 crore and Rs 600 crore respectively. The second runway will be extended from 2,339 metres to 3,239 metres, work on which has begun.
There will be 48 parking bays for large aircraft (up from 28 now) and six to eight aerobridges that work simultaneously.
This airport will, however, be able to handle the growing air traffic only till 2016. After that, a second, larger airport will have to be built to handle a projected 80 million passengers by 2025.
Singh and his power team will tomorrow decide who the Calcutta airport modernisation job should go to: the state-run AAI or a subsidiary firm that the AAI will set up in which the government could later bring in a joint venture partner.
17/04/07 Jayanta Roy Chowdhury/Calcutta Telegraph

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High Rise Tower near Bajpe Airport Poses Trouble to Pilots

Mangalore: A telecom tower has come up at Kaikamba, about 2.5 k.m. away from Bajpe airport posing problems to pilots. The tower has not been approved by the Airports Authority of India (AAI). Sources in the AAI said 45-metre tower could pose threat to aircraft movements as it was under the approach surface of the old runway.
Sources said that pilots had complained to AAI that the tower was coming in the way of approach of the old runway. Moreover, if it was commissioned signals could disturb air traffic services. AAI had not permitted any agency to build such a tall tower near the airport. The Ganjimath Gram Panchayat had been asked to get the tower removed immediately.
According to sources, any tower could not exceed 15 metres in height. Here the tower had been built under the limits of Ganjimath Gram Panchayat without brining it to the notice of the AAI.
When contacted, gram panchayat vice-president Sunil told that the panchayat did not permit any telecom service provider to erect the tower. In fact, it came to his notice only when some AAI officials contacted him.
Sources in Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd. (BSNL) said that the tower did not belong to BSNL.
17/04/07 konkaniworld, United Arab Emirates

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