New Bangalore airport to be operational by May-end

New Delhi/Bangalore : The Union Government on Tuesday said that the new Bangalore International Airport would be made operational by the last week of May, while keeping open the option of allowing small aircraft to use the existing HAL Airport.
“We have given them [Bangalore International Airport Limited] various options including allowing aircraft less than 80 seaters to operate out of the existing airport,” Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel told presspersons in New Delhi.
He said that detailed discussions were held with the Bangalore International Airport Limited (BIAL), the operators of the new airport, keeping in mind the advice of the Karnataka High Court regarding renegotiation on user development fee and retaining the HAL Airport for commercial operations.
“There are legal issues, contractual obligations and complexities. We discussed all that. No decision has been taken, but the new Bangalore airport at Devanahalli will be made operational in the last week of May. We will meet again on May 12 to examine various aspects,” Mr. Patel said, after chairing the renegotiation meeting. The meeting was attended by the Karnataka Chief Secretary, senior officials of the Civil Aviation Ministry and Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).
30/04/08 The Hindu

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B’lore’s HAL airport may be used for small aircraft

New Delhi: The old HAL airport in Bangalore may stay open and control some of Banglore’s air traffic. The ministry is said to have suggested to the airport developers, Bangalore International Airport Limited (BIAL), that they should allow aircraft of 80 seats or less to land at the existing HAL airport, in a meeting held on Tuesday between the stakeholders.
The meeting, held by the stakeholders of the new greenfield airport at Devanahalli in Bangalore, was in order to examine the consequences of the High Court’s suggestion to re-examine the concession agreement signed by them. These kind of aircraft including turboprops, ATRs and private and business aircraft constitute around 20% of the aircraft landing at Bangalore and hence a significant amount of revenue that would go to the existing airport rather than the new one.
Last month, minister of civil aviation Praful Patel had said that the existing airport would not be completely shut but would be left open for general aviation.
The decision to leave the airport open was made to appease striking Airports Authority of India (AAI) employees.
30/04/08 Financial Express

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Govt seeks one more year for HAL airport

New Delhi: Following public pressure and the Karnataka high court’s advice that the Union government examine the option of keeping Bangalore’s existing airport open, the civil aviation ministry has asked the builders of a new airport in the southern metropolis to agree to a proposal allowing short-haul flights use of the current city aerodrome for another year. Short-haul flights account for about one-fifth of the air passenger traffic to and from Bangalore, India’s technology hub.
The new Bangalore airport will be permitted to start operations by end-May, civil aviation minister Praful Patel told reporters after a meeting with senior executives of Bangalore International Airport Ltd (Bial), a Seimens AG-led consortium that is the developer of the new airport at the city’s northern outskirts. The meeting was also attended by representatives of the ministry and officials of the Karnataka government. “We asked them to at least consider some of the options to keep it (the old airport open). Maybe for smaller aircraft and regional connectivity,” Patel said.
Bial is likely to present its views, including potential revenue loss as a result of the new proposal, at a subsequent meeting with the Union and state government functionaries on 12 May.
29/04/08 Tarun Shukla/Livemint

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Proposed Airport Regulatory Authority to be in place by October

The proposed Airport Economic Regulatory Authority (AERA) to facilitate development of the airport sector and look into the issues of tariffs and monitor the quality of services at airports is expected to be in place by October this year.
"We are keenly pursuing the setting up of an AERA for Indian airports to ensure a level-playing field for all stakeholders in airport development. The Bill envisaging the creation of the regulatory body is in Parliament," Ashok Chawla, Secretary, Ministry of Civil Aviation said, while inaugurating the two-day International Conference on Indian airports: The Emerging Opportunities, organized by FICCI in association with theMinistry of Civil Aviation.
It provides for laying down the powers and functions of the regulatory authority to determine the tariff structure for aeronautical services, to determine the amount of development fees in respect of major airports, to determine the passenger service fee and to monitor the performance standards relating to quality, continuity and reliability of service. The regulatory authority can impose penalties in case of wilful non-compliance of its orders given under the Act.
30/04/08 Newindpress

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Melbourne cabbies threaten airport blockade

Hundreds of cab drivers have been protesting outside the Flinders Street Station in Melbourne since last night, calling for better protection from violent passengers.
The protest was launched after an Indian driver was stabbed and left for dead in the early hours of Tuesday morning.
A 45-year-old man from the Melbourne suburb of Alphington was arrested overnight and has been has been charged with attempted murder.
This morning many of the protesters ripped off their shirts as tension rose during morning peak hour.
A suggestion that a delegation of drivers go and speak to the Public Transport Minister Lynne Kosky was fiercely rejected, with drivers demanding that Ms Kosky come to them instead.
If their demands are not met, they are threatening to blockade Melbourne Airport.
The Minister says she will not negotiate with the drivers until they end their blockade.
She says the Government is acting in good faith, and the drivers should do the same.
30/04/08 ABC Online, Australia

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Proposed Navi Mumbai airport not to be shifted

New Delhi: The new greenfield airport at Navi Mumbai will come up at the proposed site and not be shifted elsewhere, a top Civil Aviation Ministry official said in New Delhi on Tuesday.
"Since there is no other site suitable for the airport, the proposed greenfield airport will come up at the same proposed location," Ashok Chawla, Secretary, Civil Aviation Ministry, said on the sidelines of the International Seminar 'Indian Airports: the Emerging Opportunities' here.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh has also written to the Civil Aviation Ministry for building the airport at the originally proposed site, he said.
There had been demands to shift the proposed Navi Mumbai airport to a new site due to environmental issues.
On the future of the existing Bangalore airport, Chawla said, "the government is working on the guiding principle, based on consensus for keeping the existing airport open."
29/04/08 Press Trust Of India/Hindustan Times

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Gizmos that will make airports safer

Intruder alarms, perimeter security, boom barriers, turnstile gates, dog squads, DFMDs, prefabricated watch towers... if this sounds like Big Brother watching, you’re right. Only, Big Brother is at the airport. As Indian airports gear up to become world class, security, be it with government agencies such as the CISF or with private companies, is getting a makeover of international standards.
"By 2010, all airports in India will have high-tech gadgets installed. In fact, by next year, metro airports will definitely be of international standards and electronic security gadgets will be the latest," says a top CISF source. "Our responsibility will grow too, as will our workforce at airports by 50% in the coming years. Presently, there are some 11,000 CISF personnel at various airports in India." With terrorists having used aviation infrastructure to carry out nefarious plans, discretion is the better part of valour here.
While the CISF is involved in anti-hijacking and antiintrusion measures, private security agencies are more involved with external security such as baggage and cargo screening, aircraft guarding and patrols. Vital installations such as ATCs, runways, passenger terminal buildings and aerobridges also have to secured.
29/04/08 Economic Times

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3 Kg heroin for China caught in Chennai

Chennai: A gang of Nigerians in Delhi thought a Filipina could beat law enforcement agencies in Chennai and smuggle a consignment of heroin to China. But they were outsmarted by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence sleuths who arrested Raechel Benito, a 31-year-old woman from Philipines, who was found in possession of 3 kg heroin,worth Rs 3 crore in the international market.
DRI officials intercepted Benito at Chennai airport before she could board the Jet Airways flight 9W0032 to Kuala Lumpur. When they checked her American Tourister trolley bag, they found the heroin wrapped in polythene bag and sealed with plastic adhesive tape and concealed under a false bottom.
Raechel Benito was holding her Philippines passport. "She came to Chennai from Delhi by a Jet Airways flight. She landed 10.30 p.m. and was about to leave for Kuala Lumpur by a late night flight. She was planning to fly to China from Kuala Lumpur," P Babu, additional director general of DRI, Chennai, told The Times Of India.
30/04/08 K Praveen Kumar/Times of India

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Essar among potential bidders for Czech airline and Prague airport

Prague: Czech airline CSA and the Prague airport Letiste Praha could both be sold to one investor, said daily E15, citing deputy finance minister Ivan Fuska.
The privatisation of both companies could take place simultaneously, Fuska added, suggesting a more flexible approach to the sales process on the part of the government, after earlier press reports which said the airport would be privatised first.
Czech private equity group Penta Investments as well as Indian industrial conglomerate Essar, in a joint venture with Germany's Hochtief, are among potential bidders in both companies, the daily said.
France's Air France, Russia's Aeroflot, Czech Penta and U.S. investment group Odien Group are reportedly interested in the airline, while Essar, India's GMR Group as well as Changi Airport were named among bidders for the airport, the daily said.
28/04/08 Thomson Financial/Forbes, USA

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Lufthansa seeks government approval to fly in super jumbos

New Delhi: Europe’s largest airline by passengers, Deutsche Lufthansa AG, wants to be the first carrier to fly the “super jumbo” A380 to India in summer 2010 and has asked the civil aviation ministry to permit it to fly the double-decker aircraft to Indian cities.
If the ministry approves, the German carrier will likely beat peers Emirates Airline and Indian firm Kingfisher Airlines Ltd to deploy the world's biggest commercial passenger jet in Indian skies.
The Airbus SAS-made A380 began commercial operations when Singapore Airlines Ltd used it late last year to fly from the island nation to Sydney. Airlines across the world plan to replace their old aircraft with the A380 on high-traffic global routes to address problems of limited airport slots and restricted bilateral agreements between countries.
Lufthansa counts Indian cities among the first of its choices for the A380 routes. “We have shortlisted Delhi and Mumbai,” said Werner Heesen, director of South Asia for Lufthansa, referring to the more than a dozen global routes that the airline is looking to deploy the 15 A380s it is acquiring. “It will be Delhi, then Mumbai,” he said.
29/04/08 Tarun Shukla/Livemint

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Panel to take a call on second airport issue

New Delhi: The civil aviation ministry has said that applications to set up a greenfield airports within 150 km of an existing airport will be considered by a steering committee headed by the civil aviation secretary. “The committee shall consider all relevant facts and circumstances including contractual liabilities, if any... Based on recommendations, the ministry will decide whether approval for the airport project should be granted or not,” an official statement said.
Post-approval, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) would consider granting an airport licence to the applicant, it added. The Cabinet approval would be required for the applications seeking exemption or relaxation from laid down rules and policies.
According to the ministry, setting up of a greenfield airport beyond 150 km of an existing civilian airport would not require prior approval of the central government. “The DGCA would be competent to grant licence for operating of the airport as per existing rules,” it said. The government on Thursday approved the policy for greenfield airports.
28/04/08 Economic Times

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Indian mission denies reports on passports

Dubai: The Indian mission in the UAE has categorically denied an Indian newspaper report (published yesterday) suggesting that nearly 500 blank passports had gone missing from the Indian Consulate in Dubai six months ago.
According to the report, some of these missing passports had allegedly ended up in the hands of the relatives of one of India's most wanted fugitives.
Talmiz Ahmed, Indian Ambassador to the UAE, told Khaleej Times that the report was completely baseless. He said not a single passport had gone missing from the Indian consulate in Dubai. “I categorically deny any such incident to have occurred. The report is completely baseless," said Ahmed. A report published in India's The Telegraph newspaper yesterday claimed that nearly 500 passports were found missing from the Indian Consulate in Dubai around six months ago but the matter has been swept under the carpet as it threatens to open a can of worms involving senior officials.
29/04/08 Riyasbabu/Khaleej Times

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Passport acrobatics

New Delhi: The Telegraph expose on the missing passports from the Indian consulate in Dubai has foreign ministry officials looking for cover and excuses. In the process of “denying” the report, they tied themselves up in knots.
While the Indian ambassador to the UAE, Talmiz Ahmad, and the Dubai consul-general, Venu Rajamony, denied information on the missing passports yesterday, the latter today admitted that “five bags containing 500 passports were missing in March 2007 during transit from the ministry of external affairs to Dubai”.
Rajamony issued a statement in Dubai today, saying an inquiry was under way in Delhi. Ministry officials in Delhi refused to make any statement or comment on the status of the inquiry.
Sources in the ministry, however, confirmed that 500 passports had gone missing. Top intelligence officials also confirmed that some RAW officials and Dubai consul officials were believed to have been involved in the pilferage.
Rajamony did not appear sure where the passports went missing. At one point in the statement, he said they were found missing from Delhi airport.
29/04/08 Bhavana Vij-Aurora/The Telegraph

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No care for injured prof at IGI

New Delhi: The trauma for Berlin-based Sunil Sengupta, a 79-year-old Indian professor, began on April 19 when he arrived in Delhi from Kolkata on an Indian Airlines flight around 11pm. As he was getting down from the airline bus at the arrival terminal, he tripped and fell.
The airline staff arranged for a wheel chair and took him to the medical centre at the airport. "The doctor there checked me and gave me a referral slip for a city hospital, saying I required urgent treatment. He did not say I had suffered a fracture," he said.
By then, it was nearly 2am. "The airline officials who had accompanied me to the unit said it wasn't possible to take me to a hospital then and offered to escort me to a friend's house. When I refused, they said I could be taken to a hospital if I paid Rs 1,000. Since I had only Rs 500 in cash, they said I could spend the night at the shuttle lounge in terminal IA," he said.
Sengupta lay at the lounge till a worker arrived in the morning and helped him recharge his mobile phone. Only then could he contact his friends who took him to a hospital.
29/04/08 Neha Lalchandani/Times of India

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Air India cancels flight to Kathmandu and London

Kolkata: Air India tonight cancelled its flight to Kathmandu following delay in take off from Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport here and night restriction in Nepal, airport sources said.
Air India has also cancelled its flight from Kolkata to London tomorrow because of technical reasons, they said.
An airline source said the flight to Kathmandu will go tomorrow.
Airports sources said earlier the same aircraft had developed snags in tyres before carrying passengers from Agartala to Kolkata.
When the plane was waiting at Agartala airport before taking off, one of the plane's tyres was leaking out air.
The tyre was repaired but the process took a lot of time and the plane reached Kolkata late in the afternoon, resulting in delay and its journey to Kathmandu been postponed for the day.
29/04/08 PTI/Economic Times

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Modernization of Rourkela airstrip delayed

SNS reported that the much awaited expansion and modernization of the existing airstrip at Rourkela to a fully functional airport seems to have been delayed.
The Airport Authority of India showed interest in developing the Rourkela airport to a level where bigger aircraft can land. Last year a team official discussed the project with RSP authorities here. But a year later nothing has moved. Neither the AAI or nor the state government or any agency have sincerely followed the project.
The focus has apparently shifted to neighboring Jharsuguda, district where an airstrip has been lying unused for several decades. Reliable sources say the AAI is not keen to work on two airports in such short distances and hence if Jharsuguda were to be developed the one at Rourkela will be abandoned.
It was set up by TATA Steel as they had interest in this area as they wanted dolomite for their steel unit. This was set for facilitating the movement of its officials in this area during the quarrying days. However, once TATAs stopped their operation the airstrip was handed over to the state government and in due course it came into the possession of RSP and since then it is being maintained by RSP.
28/04/08 SteelGuru

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DoP not to vacate land for Mumbai airport

New Delhi: The private developer of Mumbai airport is at loggerheads with the Department of Posts (DoP) over a piece of land that the airport wants for expansion.
The DoP, which owns 25 acres adjacent to the airport area, has refused to part with the land, saying it is a residential colony of over 800 families of its employees.
"MIAL (Mumbai International Airport Ltd) approached us for the land saying that the 800 families would be redensified (relocated) to another colony in the city. They said they wanted the land to build a cargo complex. However, such a situation is not acceptable to us and we have made that very clear," said a DoP official.
The department has also refused to share with MIAL the land that it owns within the airport area, saying it wants the land to expand its own cargo operations, which would include an expanded aircraft fleet and tie-ups with scheduled carriers. The land within the airport has been leased to the DoP till 2017.
Meanwhile, the civil aviation ministry has advised the DoP to shift its cargo operations to the upcoming airport at Navi Mumbai, according to sources in the ministry.
Also, Air India has refused to share with MIAL around 219 acres that it has taken on lease.
28/04/08 Anirban Chowdhury/Business Standard

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Maternity leave upsets announcements at Kolkata airport

Kolkata: The international airport in Kolkata is facing a unique problem. Its announcement studio has been shut between 8 pm and 8 am with three of the eight women staffers, who announce flights, going on maternity leave at the same time and three others been given promotions.
With only two staffers to make the announcements round-the-clock, the Airports Authority of India has been now forced to keep the studio room at NSC Bose International Airport shut between 8 pm and 8 am, airport sources said.
The sources said the airlines at the airport have been asked to make their own announcements from cubicles in the domestic lounge.
The three women had applied for maternity leave, but it was not realised at the time that their period of leave coincided, the sources said.
27/04/08 PTI/The Hindu

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New Bangalore airport take off likely to be delayed

The flight operations from the new airport in Bangalore are expected to be further delayed as contentious issues like user development fee are yet to be resolved, an aviation official said.
The stakeholders of the Rs 2500 crore - the ministry of civil aviation, the Airports Authority of India (AAI), the Karnataka government and the Bangalore International Airport Ltd (BIAL) - will meet here Tuesday following a Karnataka high court order.
The court asked them to re-look and re-negotiate the concessions agreement signed between the airport developer, BIAL, and the government.
Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel will review the meeting of the stakeholders and look into various issues.
The closure of the existing HAL airport and levy of user development fee by the new Bangalore airport are expected to come up for discussion.
The concession agreement with the aviation ministry allows BIAL to charge the airport user fee of Rs.675 on domestic travelers and Rs.955 on international travelers. User groups have questioned this levy. They have also filed a public interest litigation (PIL) against it in the Karnataka high court.
27/04/08 IANS/Economic Times

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Malaysian authorities prevent Hindraf bailer from flying to India

Kuala Lumpur: K.P. Samy, of Indian origin, who posted bail for the 64 Hindraf supporters charged with causing mischief and participating in an illegal assembly, was yesterday prevented at the KL International Airport from traveling to India.
I was with 60 people traveling to Chennai, and was singled out during the group check-in by an immigration officer, the staronline.com quoted Samy as saying.
He said that when he queried why he was not allowed to travel, the officers told him to go to the Immigration Department headquarters in Putrajaya to find out the reason. Finally, one of them told me that it was an instruction from the police, said Samy.
He added he could not understand why he was blocked from leaving the country as he had no pending police case or insolvency issues.
My taxes are also up to date and I have never been a guarantor for anyone. So, why are they stopping me from leaving the country? asked Samy.
28/04/08 ANI/Thaindian.com, Thailand

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Ketamine worth Rs 1 cr confiscated

It was a beautifully crafted two-and-a-half-feet wooden elephant. And it looked innocuous even for the customs sleuths at the Coimbatore airport. But inside its belly lay 10 kg of ketamine hydrochloride, a veterinary drug widely used in rave parties, and worth Rs 1 crore in the international market.
As "strange reflections" emerged from the elephant's belly during screening, customs department officers swooped down on the passenger with the wooden doll, headed for Kuala Lumpur by Sri Lankan Airlines on Saturday.
Investigations revealed four packets of ketamine weighing 10 kg. Ketamine is a crystallic component used in anaesthetic drugs but is now increasingly smuggled to European countries from India for being used at rave parties for its dope effect.
Though it is not a banned drug, ketamine cannot be carried by any passenger without a ‘no objection' certificate from the Narcotics Commissioner, Gwalior. The ketamine white crystals cost just Rs 35,000 per kilo in the Indian market, but sell for Rs 10 lakh per kg in the international market. "Because of the huge price differential, they are being smuggled across the borders," a customs officer said.
28/04/08 Times of India

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Having to walk 10 steps more could trigger VIP tantrums at Delhi airport

New Delhi: The Delhi International Airport Ltd has shut down the VIP car park in front of the arrival lounge to expand and upgrade the terminal. The new terminal will be ready in three months if deadlines are met. Till then, VIPs flying in to Delhi will not be able to access their cars as easily as they have been doing and will have to take the arrival lounge exit like ordinary people.
“The car park was shut down recently,” a source said. “This could become a big problem as VIPs are touchy and don’t like being put through any sort of discomfort.”
Airport authorities, however, brushed off the matter saying VIPs would be allowed to park anywhere. Asked what that meant, a source said: “People with beacons on their cars don’t listen to anyone, so they have the freedom to park anywhere. Who will have the guts to stop them?”
The source said airport authorities had already had trouble with bureaucrats who “had grumbled” about the bother. Others who will be inconvenienced are chief ministers, governors, cabinet ministers, high court judges and other dignitaries.
27/04/08 Mandira Nayar/The Telegraph

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Chaos at Chennai airport after radar shutdown

Chennai: Though Airports Authority of India (AAI) issued an advance notice to airmen (NOTAM) about the shutdown of radars for maintenance, aircraft operations to and from Chennai airport plunged into chaos after airlines refused to stagger their operations. As arrivals suffered delays ranging from 10 minutes to two hours, visitors thronged the terminals.
Three incoming flights were diverted. Indian Airlines’ Port Blair-Chennai flight was diverted to Bangalore, Deccan’s Kolkata-Chennai to Coimbatore and Jet Airways Kolkata-Chennai to Hyderabad.
The airport could handle only about 100 operations as against the 140 operations it normally does during the forenoon peak hour everyday.
Air traffic controllers worked on a contingency plan to minimise the delays. Amidst rising stress level, they called up pilots of approaching aircraft, got their position and level, plotted the aircraft movement on a chart paper, directed the flights to hover one over the other over Kancheepuram and cleared the ones at the bottom rung to make an approach to land at the Pallavaram end of the primary runway.
27/04/08 V Ayyappan/Times of India

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AAI projects for 4 airports witness cost overruns

Projects run by Airports Authority of India to expand and modernise four major airports have experienced cost overruns of over Rs 126 crore, according to official figures.
The airports where the works have suffered cost overruns are at Gondia, Nagpur, Srinagar and Silchar.
In all cases, the higher costs have occurred due to change in the scope of work and provisions for various infrastructural facilities that were not included in the initial work plan, official sources said. The original cost estimated for Gondia was Rs 49.83 crore, while the revised cost rose to Rs 108 crore. Similarly, the cost projected for the works at Nagpur airport was Rs 43 crore, which has now risen to Rs 79.03 crore.
The expansion and modification of Srinagar airport terminal complex was estimated to cost Rs 77.87 crore, but the amount went up to Rs 101.33 crore. The expenditure on Silchar increased to Rs 41.49 crore from the projected figure of Rs 33 crore.
27/04/08 PTI/Economic Times

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AI plane makes emergency landing

Kozhikode: An Air India Express plane bound for Abu Dhabi made an emergency landing shortly after take off from the Karipur International Airport here on Saturday night, when fumes were detected in the cockpit, airport sources said.
The aircraft, with 160 passengers on board, was brought down safely having made all preparations on the ground to meet any emergency at 10.40 pm, the sources said.
The airline arranged another aircraft for the passengers to resume the journey within an hour, the sources said.
27/04/08 PTI/MSN India

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Five-hour delay for passengers after flight suffers tyre burst

Tiruchirapalli: Passengers waiting to board an Air India Express flight on the Dubai-Tiruchirapalli-Chennai Singapore sector on Friday night suffered a five hour delay in their onward journey following a tyre burst in the aircraft, airport sources said
The flight, which landed at 2330 hours here on Friday night, was scheduled to leave at 0030 hours on Saturday morning. The puncture was noticed while the aircraft was in the parking bay.
Eightysix of the 126 passengers waiting to board the flight left for Singapore at 0430 hours in another aircraft, which flew in from Chennai, they said.
The Air India flight was towed to the hangar here later, they said.
26/04/08 Chennai Online

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Airport services to be graded soon

New Delhi: One may never be able to wish away long queues at airports, but government agencies like customs and immigration will now have to specify the maximum time they will take to clear a passenger at their counters.
In a first, the aviation ministry’s greenfield airport policy approved by the Cabinet on Thursday provides for private airport developers to sign MoUs with five agencies - ATC, security, customs, immigration and the Met department - under which they will have to pledge a certain minimum level of service standards to passengers. The real effect would be felt once the new airports are ready, officials said.
This move could end the uncertainty that currently greets passengers at big Indian airports, as no one knows how long will they have to stand in different queues. Once the MoUs are in place, there will be a maximum time for clearing each counter for "clean" passengers. It will cover the existing privately run airports in Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Bangalore and Kochi, and all the new ones that are built in future.
An airport operator has to guarantee a certain level of services and be rated on a scale of one to five.
27/04/08 Saurabh Sinha/Times of India

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Pilot spots giant wave off TN

New Delhi: The Airports Authority of India (AAI) tipped off the Tamil Nadu government after an Air India Express pilot flying over the Bay of Bengal noticed an "unusually big wave" in the sea at 11.30 am on Thursday (April 24). The pilot, Capt. J. Banda, flying an aircraft from Singapore to Trichy, noticed the wave when the aircraft (Flight IX-681) was 50 nautical miles from the Tamil Nadu coast. The pilot later informed the air traffic control (ATC) authorities in Chennai about what he saw. Air India Express is the low-cost carrier of state-owned airline Air India and operates to nearby overseas destinations such as West Asia, Southeast Asia and Sri Lanka.
According to the pilot, the wave was running in a direction from north to south and parallel to the Tamil Nadu coastline. The pilot made the observation when the aircraft was at an altitude of 16,000 feet.
The Tamil Nadu government was alerted after its chief secretary was informed of the observation by the AAI from Chennai through a written communication. Union civil aviation secretary Ashok Chawla was also informed of the development and the Tamil Nadu government is believed to be keeping a close watch on the situation in view of the devastating tsunami that had struck the state over three years ago.
25/04/08 Sridhar Kumaraswami/Howrah News Service

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Making airports safer

Intruder alarms, perimeter security, boom barriers, turnstile gates, dog squads, DFMDs, prefabricated watch towers... if this sounds like Big Brother watching, you're right. Only, the Big Brother is at the airport. As Indian airports gear up to be world class, security, be it with government agencies such as the CISF, or private companies, is getting a makeover of international standards.
"By 2010, all airports in India will be installed with high-tech gadgets. In fact, by next year, metro airports will definitely be of international standards and electronic security gadgets will be the latest," says a top CISF source.
Airport security is a highly-professional exercise. No wonder companies with worldwide experience are getting into it too. While CISF is involved in anti-hijacking and anti-intrusion measures, private security agencies are more involved with external security such as baggage and cargo screening and aircraft guarding and patrols. Vital installations such as ATC, runway, passenger terminal building and aerobridges too have to secured.
27/04/08 Shobha John/Times of India

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Madurai airport upgrade promised

Madurai: The Tamil Nadu government had given administrative sanction to acquire 614.33 acres of land to expand the Madurai airport, Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi said, laying the foundation stone for a terminal building here on Saturday.
The government had requested the Civil Aviation Ministry to share the cost of Rs 110 crore for the acquisition. Cost-sharing was not a pre-condition, but the government expected the Ministry to extend “50 per cent cooperation for the project.”
Stating that the Sethusamudram Ship Channel Project could have become a reality by last year but for hindrance created by certain forces, the Chief Minister said similar obstacles could crop up for the airport also.
27/04/08 S. Sundar/The Hindu

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Govt to consider Bangalore airport SEZ proposal on May 1

New Delhi: Government is likely to consider this week the proposal of the Bangalore International Airport Ltd (BIAL), developer of the new airport at India's silicon valley, for setting up an airport-based Special Economic Zone.
The business outfits within the SEZ, coming up at an area of 113 hectares at Devenahalli, will enjoy tax benefits guaranteed under the law.
The Rs 2470 crore private international airport will have a business focus on retail for airport travellers. The airport project has almost been completed and is due to open for commercial operations early next month.
The Board of Approval in the Commerce Ministry, which will take up the BIAL proposal for SEZ at its meeting on May 1, has already received a no objection certificate from the Karnataka government for the project, official sources told media.
BIAL has been promoted by Siemens Projects Ventures, Larsen and Toubro and Unique Zurich Airport, which together hold 74 per cent equity, while the remaining capital is owned by the Central and state agencies.
27/04/08 PTI/Economic Times

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British Airways to commence operations from Hyderabad Airport

Hyderabad: British Airways will commence its operations from the GMR Hyderabad International Airport on October 28, 2008 with five flights a week. The flights will operate on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday. The BA 276 flight will depart from Hyderabad at 07:15 and arrive at London Heathrow at 13:00. The BA 277 will depart London Heathrow at 13:30 and arrive at Hyderabad the following morning at 04:25. The Boeing 777 aircraft with an overall seating capacity of 270 will offer economy cabin, ‘World Traveller;’ premier economy cabin, ‘World Traveller Plus’ and business class cabin, ‘Club World’.
The new route will compliment the five routes that British Airways already services in India: Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai and Kolkata. With the addition of Hyderabad, British Airways will now fly from six Indian cities to London.
26/04/08 TravelBizMonitor

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Chennai immigration detains 11 passengers with fake passports

Chennai: Seven air passengers comprising Indian and Sri Lankan nationals were detained at the Chennai International Airport in connection with using forged travel documents and fake passports to travel to Kuala Lumpur over the past three days.
Another four Indians returning to Chennai from Kuala Lumpur using fake passports were also held at the airport.
Bernama understands that it has been an ongoing trend for some Sri Lankans to arrive in Chennai to obtain bogus documents and fly to Malaysia or Singapore, and transit to the United States or Canada.
Last Wednesday night, airport immigration authorities detained three Sri Lankan nationals for swapping their airline boarding passes.
26/04/08 P. Vijian/Bernama/New Straits Times, Malaysia

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NRIs urge Riyadh-Mangalore direct flight

Riyadh: NRIs hailing from coastal Karnataka and northern Kerala have been constantly making relentless efforts to have direct airline connectivity between Mangalore and Saudi Arabia. As part of their continuous efforts in this direction, Jam?iyyatul Falah Riyadh Unit recently submitted a memorandum to External Affair Minister Shri. Pranab Mukarjee during his visit to Riyadh and urged for his assistance to start direct flight from Riyadh to Mangalore.
In the memorandum the unit members have explained the inconveniences caused to thousands of NRIs from Coastal Karnataka and Northern Kerala living in Saudi as they have to fly to Mangalore via Mumbai airport and other points in India. "The introduction of direct flight from Riyadh to Mangalore will help these people in saving time, money and reduce the stress" they said in the memorandum.
Jam'iyyatul Falah had also started a signature campaign and the copy of around 1000 signatures collected so far was submitted to the minister along with the memorandum.
26/04/08 Iftikhar Ahmed/Mangalorean.com

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Militant nabbed from Kolkata airport

Imphal: A hardcore activist of the underground PREPAK was nabbed by the Kolkata police from the Kolkata International Airport for holding a fake Indian passport.
According to a highly placed reliable source, the arrested PREPAK leader was identified as Capt. Boiyai of Moirang Khunou, presently a resident of Langol. He was arrested by a team of Kolkata police from the airport yesterday morning around 11 am while he was trying to board a Jet Airways flight for Bangkok using a passport in the name of one Akash Sharma of Manipur.
A briefcase containing some important files was recovered by the police from him and he has been detained by the Kolkata police for further interrogation.
25/04/08 The Imphal Free Press/KanglaOnline

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Reliance, Birla, Vedanta in queue for private airports

The government's decision to allow private parties to develop airports for public and private use has opened a Pandora's Box.
Two private airport projects —- in Durgapur (West Bengal) and Bokaro (Jharkhand) —- are in the final stages of getting the go-ahead from the civil aviation ministry and the policy announcement last night is a shot in the arm for both.They envisage investment by private developers with no role for the Airports Authority of India (AAI).
Now, all proposals for private airports, airstrips and helipads for private use can be cleared by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) itself and would not require any Cabinet approval.
According to the DGCA website, more than 15 airstrips/airports are currently operational for private use. The approvals to them were given years back when the DGCA was the deciding authority.
Official sources said many private players have already sought permission to set up airports and airstrips for their own use.
"Yes, there are a few proposals with us," said K.Gohain, joint director, DGCA, told DNA Money. He did not elaborate.
Sources said these include the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in New Delhi, the country's largest hospital, and the Aditya Birla Memorial Hospital in Pune.
The Sahara Group's Aamby project near Pune and the Vedanta Aluminium's project in Orissa have also sought to build and operate a private airportairstrip each.
Reliance Industries, which is coming up with a mega special economic zone in Jhajjar, Haryana, has already petitioned the government for permission to set up a cargo airport, which would be used by the company as well as others needing to transport cargo.
26/04/08 Sindhu Bhattacharya & Praveena Sharma/DNA Money/Sify

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Govt agencies to pledge service norms at airports

New Delhi: One may never be able to wish away long queues at airports, but government agencies like customs and immigration will now have to specify the maximum time they will take to clear a passenger at their counters.
In a first, the aviation ministry's greenfield airport policy approved by the Cabinet on Thursday provides for private airport developers to sign MoUs with five agencies — air traffic control, security, customs, immigration and the Met department — under which they will have to pledge a certain minimum level of service standards to passengers. The real effect of the policy would be felt once the new airports are ready, officials said.
This move could end the uncertainty that currently greets passengers at big Indian airports, as no one knows how long will they have to stand in different queues. Once the MoUs are in place, there will be a maximum time for clearing each cousnter for "clean" passengers. It will cover the existing privately run airports in Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Bangalore and Kochi, and all the new ones that are built in future.
An airport operator has to guarantee a certain level of services and be rated on a scale of one to five. In all, there are 34 parameters on the basis of which an airport's rating (level of comfort offered to passenger) is decided.
26/04/08 Saurabh Sinha/Times of India

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Nod for domestic flights from Bathinda

Chandigarh: Bathinda moved a step closer towards a place on the civil aviation map with the Ministry of Defence clearance for operating four civilian commercial flights daily from Air Force Station, Bhisiana.
This makes it the second major civil aviation project to be cleared for Punjab, said a government spokesman here on Friday.
The necessary clearance was conveyed to the Punjab government through a special communication from the MoD earlier this week. Initially, four flights will operate daily between Bathinda and Delhi in either direction.
Keeping in view the requirement of the defence base, these flights would operate between 10.15 am and 3 pm only to avoid civil scheduled operations during low operational flying by fighter aircrafts.
A civil enclave would be constructed at the existing defence airfield to ensure prompt commencement of civil operations. Additional land for this will be acquired by state government for the Airport Authority of India.
26/04/08 Times of India

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Hyderabad, B`lore airports out of 150-km norm

New Delhi: The new greenfield airports policy, which has allowed new airports to come up within 150 kilometres of exisiting airports, will not apply to privately-run Hyderabad and Bangalore airports as well as the proposed facility in Greater Noida.
While the concession agreements for Hyderabad and Bangalore had been signed much before the policy was formulated, proposal for the Greater Noida airport has been passed to an Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoM) by the Union Cabinet.
The policy, which received Cabinet approval yesterday, has empowered the civil aviation ministry and the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) to give single-window clearance for airport projects in the country.
"There is a clause in contracts for both Hyderabad and Bangalore airports which says that no new airport can come up within 150 km of the greenfield airports for 25 years after they start operations. In future, if the private developer objects to the coming up of a second airport in either Bangalore or Hyderabad, the issue will be out of the reach of the greenfield airport policy since the contract was signed much earlier," said an industry expert.
26/04/08 Anirban Chowdhury/Business Standard

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Flight in sight for Taj hub after Centre decision

Lucknow: The new aviation policy of the Central government has improved the chances for the Taj International Aviation Hub — an ambitious project being pushed fervently by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati.
The main hurdle in the path of this airport, proposed at Jewar at Gautam Budh Nagar, was its proximity to the Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi. This site is only 60 kilometres away while a central government rule specifies that a new airport cannot come up within 150 kilometres of an existing airport.
However, the new ‘greenfield policy’ — cleared by the Union Cabinet on April 24 — has included a provision that will examine all proposals for new airports, and check if greenfield airports can be set up within 150 kilometres of an existing airport. The Centre will look at all proposals, case by case.
Principal Secretary of the state’s Aviation department Shailesh Krishna said: “The project might get the green signal as a specific case.” Though Krishna said there is no need to submit a fresh proposal, the government can do so if need be. The state’s argument will remain the same — “The Delhi airport is too congested with virtually no possibility of further expansion”.
The Taj International Airport Hub expects to handle nearly 3.9 million passengers annually by 2012, or roughly one-fifth of the current traffic at the New Delhi airport, according to estimates by the state government. The proposal also seeks to derive a significant share of revenue through shopping malls, hotels, a cargo hub, an aviation academy and residential complexes as part of the airport project. The plan for Jewar airport — first conceptualised in 2001 by the then Mayawati government — requires acquisition of 1,500 hectares of land and an investment of Rs 5,000 crore.
26/04/08 Alka S Pande/Expressindia.com

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Greater Noida greenfield airport to finally see light of the day

Lucknow: With the Union Cabinet giving its nod for a case-by-case approval of greenfield airport projects within 150 km of existing ones, decks for the 5,000-crore greenfield Taj International Aviation Hub (TIAH) in Jewar, near Greater Noida, seem to have cleared.
The biggest hurdle confronting TIAH, one of the most ambitious project of chief minister Mayawati, was that it was within 70 kms of the Indira Gandhi International Airport.
Removing the hurdle, the new greenfield airport policy, cleared by the Union Cabinet on Thursday, has included a provision of examining the proposals for setting up greenfield airports within 150 km of an existing civilian airport, on a case-by-case basis.
Speaking to FE, Shailesh Krishna, principal secretary, civil aviation, UP government, said, “We are now sure that the project will get a green signal as a specific case.” Stating that there was no need for a fresh proposal to be sent to the centre in this regard, he said the government would submit a new proposal only if the need arises.
However, the justification of the state government for seeking clearance for the project would remain the same.
26/04/08 Deepa Jainani/Financial Express

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Radar to shut down at Kolkata for repairs from 30 April

Kolkata: The radar at NSC Bose airport will be shut down from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. for eight days from 30 April to 7 May.
Some of the slots of the radar's antenna need to be repaired. The repair work will start from 30 April and will be completed by 7 May. Airports Authority of India (National Airports Division) officials have issued a notice to airman to communicate the message to the pilots.
The radar was showing ghost images on the radar screen because of the defective antenna service occasionally for the past three years. Split images sometimes gave the impression of two aircraft coming from different directions while there was only one aircraft flying. It became difficult for the Air Traffic Control officers to identify which one was the correct image. They had to use their experience in monitoring flights in such situations because any mistake in giving a pilot directions could be fatal. Therefore repairing the defective antenna became imperative. The matter was taken up by the AAI (NAD) officials who contacted their counterparts of Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) who handle the radar and its components.
25/04/08 The Statesman

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Govt allows private parties to have airports

New Delhi: The Union Cabinet on Thursday cleared the aviation ministry's proposal to allow private airports, airstrips and helipads for exclusive use by those who build them.
Cutting down red tape surrounding such projects, the aviation ministry and the directorate general of civil aviation (DGCA) have been authorized to clear proposals, provided they get security nod from the home ministry. This means, the proposals don't have to be put up before the Cabinet for approval. Private airports will, however, have to meet stringent safety norms set by DGCA.
The Cabinet relaxed the rule that a new airport will not be allowed within 150km of an existing one.
"The ministry will have a single-window clearance for such projects. Only those proposals which have a bearing on contractual obligation of an existing one — like those in Bangalore, Hyderabad or Delhi — will need to go to the Cabinet for clearance. This is a path breaking move," aviation minister Praful Patel said. The new proposals will have to meet all safety and technical parameters, he added.
Under the new simplified policy, a steering committee — headed by the aviation secretary — would be set up to coordinate the clearances required from various agencies for setting up an airport. DGCA will be empowered to clear projects beyond 150km of an existing airport and those which neither have any bearing on contractual obligations nor seek exemption from any rule.
Central agencies will continue to oversee functions like air traffic services, security, customs and immigration.
25/04/08 Times of India

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Cabinet nod needed for new airport within 150 km of existing one

New Delhi: A new airport can be set up within 150 km radius of an existing airport under a new policy cleared by the Union Cabinet today.
But the application will first be considered by a steering committee of the Civil Aviation Ministry and, if recommended, the final decision on the project will be taken by the Union Cabinet.
The new greenfield airport policy cleared today also seeks to do away with the need to ask approval of the Central Government in case it does not fall within the 150-km radius of an existing airport.
All proposals for construction of private airports, airstrips and helipads for private use will now be decided by the Ministry of Civil Aviation and the Directorate-General of Civil Aviation based on the security clearance of the Home Ministry.
However, greenfield airports for public use being set up by Airports Authority of India or an airport company that is in compliance of the guidelines and is beyond 150 km of an existing civilian airport would not require the prior permission of the Centre. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) would be competent to grant licence for operation of such an airport.
Similarly airports for cargo, non-scheduled flights and helicopters need not be submitted for approval of the Ministry of Civil Aviation and these cases may be considered and decided by the DGCA.
Also, if a greenfield airport seeks redemption or relaxation from other existing guidelines, such proposals would be considered by the steering committee of the Civil Aviation Ministry.
24/04/08 Business Line

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Second airports nod on a 'case by case' basis

Seems like the government wants to have its cake and eat it too. Why else would the Union Cabinet propose that no new airport be allowed within a 150 km aerial distance of an existing one, while also asserting that such a project may be allowed "on a case to case basis"?
As of now, the proposed airport at Zevar, Greater Noida, is under discussion by a Group of Ministers since it violates this 150 km cap vis-?-vis the Delhi International Airport Ltd.
So the Cabinet decision would have an immediate bearing on the Greater Noida project.
But, whether the Cabinet has also approved a full-fledged greenfield airport policy remains to be seen. The policy, which has been under discussion for some time, was supposed to provide for a single-window clearance mechanism for greenfield airport projects, doing away with the requirement for every such proposal to go through the Cabinet.
Civil aviation minister Praful Patel had hinted a few days back that the policy would allow for faster and hassle free clearance of new airport projects provided they did not seek any divergence from extant policy and also did not violate the 150 km aerial distance clause.
25/04/08 Sindhu Bhattacharya/DNA MONEY/Sify

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Centre confirms hijack plot

New Delhi: The Ministry of Civil Aviation has confirmed that terrorist outfits planned to hijack an aircraft from North Eastern Region (NER). The admission is significant because Assam Police had a couple of months back claimed to have unearthed a conspiracy to hijack an aircraft from LGBI Airport. An employee of Air Deccan was detained in this connection.
Civil Aviation Minister, Praful Patel in a Lok Sabha reply said that several intelligence inputs have been received by Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) regarding terrorist outfits planning to hijack civilian aircrafts from North Eastern States (NES).
On receipt of intimation about any threat message from intelligence agencies, an alert message is issued by BCAS with a copy to the concerned regional Deputy Commissioner of Security with specific instructions to coordinate with the concerned agencies at the airports and to monitor the security arrangements, Patel added.
An Air Deccan, ground handler, Suman Dutta, was arrested after an ULFA militant spilled the beans about a plan to hijack a plane from Guwahati to Pakistan last year.
Police had claimed he was supposed to give logistic support to ULFA’s hijack plan.
Police claimed that the Air Deccan employee had visited New Delhi in November last year with two ULFA militants to discuss the hijack plan with the outfit’s leadership.
The ULFA man had allgedly confessed that the hijack plot was hatched at a restaurant in Karol Bagh here. He claimed that four top ULFA leaders and a man called Zahid were present at the meeting.
24/04/08 Assam Tribune

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Official agencies yet to submit report on Wahab incident

New Delhi: Two official agencies asked to probe the ordering of Rajya Sabha MP from Kerala P V Abdul Wahab off an Air India flight are yet to submit their reports into the incident to the Civil Aviation Ministry.
Neither the bureau of civil aviation nor the national aviation company of India limited has submitted its report on the incident that took place on April 7 when the pilot of the plane asked Wahab to disembark for allegedly delaying the flight from Kozhikode to Dubai, official sources here said.
Air India also has not given its report to the ministry, they said.
However, Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel had recently told reporters that Wahab did not enter the cockpit. He also disapproved of the lawmaker's description of the pilot as a "glorified driver".
25/04/08 ZeeNews

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Wahab had entered cockpit: Cabin crew

New Delhi: Initial investigations into the controversy generated by an erstwhile Indian Airlines pilot's decision to ground an MP, P V Abdul Wahab, for coming late to the aircraft at Kozhikode on April 7 appear to be in favour of the pilot.
Denying reports that the pilot has been blamed for keeping the cockpit door opened, highly placed sources in the aviation ministry said that the probe being conducted by the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) has not found any fault on that count.
"A pilot is not supposed to lock himself in the cockpit when the plane is still being prepared for a flight on the tarmac. So there's no question of any report blaming Captain Rajat Rana (the pilot) for this," said a senior official.
In fact, some cabin crew members have reportedly told the probe team that during the heated exchange of words between the pilot and MP, the latter had followed Captain Rana towards the cockpit.
Sources in the merged Air India-Indian Airlines entity, National Aviation Company of India Ltd (NACIL), also said that their probe has not found any fault with the pilot. "
NACIL wants this controversy to die down quietly. The new company is finding itself sandwiched between the ICPA on one side and the MP on the other.
25/04/08 Times of India

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Jet Airways to set up MRO unit in Bangalore

Mumbai: Private air-carrier Jet Airways has entered into a land-leasing agreement with Bangalore International Airport Limited to set up a maintenance, repair and overhaul facility in Bangalore.
"Jet Airways has entered into a framework agreement with Bangalore international Airport Limited (BIAL) with regard to sub-leasing land at the new Bangalore International Airport to construct a base maintenance and engineering facility," the company said in a communique to the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) today.
When contacted, a company official declined to divulge details of the project.
It is, however, understood that the facility would be used for both the wide and narrow-bodied aircraft.
24/04/08 PTI/Economic Times

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Changi Airports may pick up stake in Kolkata-based firm

Kolkata: The investment arm of the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore—Changi Airports International Pte. Ltd (CAI) —may take a minority equity interest in Bengal Aerotropolis Projects Ltd (BAPL), a Kolkata-based company looking to build new airports integrated with industrial parks and townships.
CAI might acquire about 18% in BAPL for $26 million, or a tad more than Rs100crore, valuing the firm at almost Rs500 crore, according to an investment banker familiar with the Indian firm’s plans. The deal with CAI should be closed in 15-20 days, he said on condition of anonymity.
When contacted, BAPL chairman Arvind Pande said: “Discussions (with CAI) are at an advanced stage and things are looking positive.”
He, however, refused to quantify the shares that BAPL was looking to sell to CAI, or the price. “Our promoters have put in Rs50 crore up till now. If we do sell shares to Changi, we’ll sell at a premium,” said Pande, who was formerly a secretary with India’s civil aviation ministry.
Ahfisah Rahman, the spokesperson for CAI, also refused to provide information on the plan. “CAI is always exploring appropriate investment opportunities and can share such information only after they crystallize. CAI’s current engagement (with BAPL) is limited to technical consultancy services and training for the proposed ­Durgapur airport (in West ­Bengal),” he said.
24/04/08 Rajdeep Datta Ray/Livemint

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Snag affects airport operations

Nagpur: Over 160 Sharjah-bound passengers of Air Arabia and over 60 Doha-bound passengers of Qatar Airways had a harrowing experience reportedly due to major power failure at Dr Ambedkar International Airport Terminal building on Thursday morning.
Sources said that the air-conditioning system and baggage checking X-ray machines at the international departure lounge developed some problem at 1.30 am.
Qatar Airways official Danial John said, "We start check-in for Doha flight at 1.30 am, three hours before the departure at 4.40 am. Due to some technical problem in the X-ray machines we had to shift the check-in procedure to arrival lounge. However all the 60 passengers did not face any difficulty."
Air India, area manager, IJK Dhas said, "We shifted the process from departure lounge to arrival lounge due to a technical snag in X-ray machine at departure lounge."
25/04/08 Times of India

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BMC razes 400 huts on AAI's Juhu plot

In a demolition drive on Thursday, the BMC razed 400 semi-permanent structures belonging to the Airports Authority of India (AAI), located behind the Juhu police station.
But what was more noticeable was the manner in which the AAI officials waited at the site with their workers to begin their construction work as soon as the land got vacated.
Though the hutment dwellers protested the demolition, alleging that they were being displaced without giving adequate notice, the BMC and AAI officials said that notices had been issued to them well in advance.
Though the demolition began at 10 am, bulldozers and workers started pouring in by 8 am, leaving the slumdwellers with no choice but to move out their belongings. "We are construction workers. Where do we go from here? We have been staying here for many years," said Selvam.
The AAI had been trying for a long time to get the hutments-spread on four acres of land-vacated. Most of the huts are semi-temporary, with cement walls and tinned ceilings.
AAI sources said that the land was earmarked for construction of a hangar. With the ongoing development of airports, both domestic and international, the AAI wants to develop the hangar and carry out other development plans on the plot which is believed to have a market value of over Rs 300 crore.
25/04/08 Times of India

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Radar blip no major security lapse: Patel

Ahmedabad: The radar blip at the Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi on Tuesday, which caused concerns about Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s safety, was due to an Indian Air Force aircraft and could not be considered a major security lapse, Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel said here on Wednesday.
Mr. Patel was here to inaugurate the new domestic arrival building at the Ahmedabad airport.
He said the preliminary reports indicated that the blip was caused by an IAF Dornier plane, which came in the Prime Minister’s flight path. But it was flying behind the Prime Minister’s special plane, much above its flight path and at a safe distance. “There was nothing to worry about from the security point of view.”
Mr. Patel said a thorough probe had been ordered into the incident to avoid its recurrence.
24/04/08 The Hindu

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IAF Dornier caused PM plane scare

Ahmedabad: The radar blip on the flight path of the Prime Minister’s special plane that created a mid-air scare on Tuesday evening was caused by an Indian Air Force aircraft, Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel said on Wednesday. The incident cannot be considered a serious security lapse, Patel added.
“It was not a serious security lapse, and the flight which was spotted on the path of Prime Minister’s plane was of Indian Air Force. The air force plane, a Dornier, was at a reasonable distance from the PM’s plane,” he told reporters.
“Preliminary investigation has revealed that there was some mix up in the signals. But to be sure, we are waiting for the detailed investigation report,” he added.
In New Delhi, officials said a preliminary inquiry had found there was no security breach, and all standard operating procedures (SOPs) were maintained.
“There was also no systemic failure and no breach of any procedure…The security of the Prime Minister’s aircraft was not endangered. The mandatory twenty nautical miles separation was maintained throughout,” they said, adding that “some form of equipment failure localised in the transponder of the IAF Dornier-228 aircraft” had caused the blip on the screens which seemed to be chasing the PM’s plane.
24/04/08 Press Trust Of India/Hindustan Times

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Air force blames airports body for PM security scare

New Delhi: The Indian Air Force (IAF) Wednesday blamed the Airports Authority of India (AAI) for the security scare Tuesday when one of its planes came close to a special aircraft carrying Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. The IAF denied the AAI claim that the transponder (equipment in the aircraft transmitting data about the location of the plane) of the IAF Dornier aircraft was faulty.
“The transponder of the air force plane was not faulty,” a defence official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity. The IAF also said it was not responsible for the movement of the aircraft.
“Every thing flying in Delhi’s skies, except birds, comes under the air traffic controller (ATC). The IAF aircraft came near the PM’s plane because of ATC’s instructions,” the official said.
“We take all our instructions regarding height, direction, speed and even call signs from ATC,” he added.
A mid-air security scare occurred Tuesday when a blip or an “unidentified target” was reported on the radar by the Indira Gandhi International airport ATC even as the special aircraft carrying the prime minister was about to land.
An emergency drill was quickly put in place on the ground while the air traffic controllers asked the pilot of the prime minister’s aircraft to hover over Delhi airport for nearly 16 minutes before finally giving clearance for landing.
23/04/08 IANS/Thaindian.com, Thailand

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Third claim rears head in Ambanis’ fight

Mumbai: At A time when the Ambani brothers are locked in battle to acquire the deed of a plot to construct a hangar at the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport, the GVK-led consortium modernising the airport has said to the Bombay High Court it needs the land in question for a runway.
The Anil Ambani group company Reliance Transport and Travels Private Limited had approached the high court in January, claiming rights to the title of the property at the airport.
It had sought that the Airports Authority of India be restrained from entering into a lease agreement with Reliance Industries of the Mukesh Ambani group to construct the hangar.
On Wednesday counsel for the Mumbai International Airport Limited, the GVK-led consortium that has given the airport a new look, told the court it planned to construct a new runway and was itself in need of the entire plot the Ambanis were fighting over.
In January the high court had granted interim relief to Reliance Transport and Travels, but Justice A.P. Deshpande now did not extend the relief restraining Airports Authority of India from entering into a deed.
24/04/08 Urvi Mahajani/Hindustan Times

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Patel calls meet on April 29 to sort out B’lore airport issues

New Delhi: The opening of the Rs 2,500-crore new greenfield Bangalore airport may be delayed even further after the high court directive that the stakeholders including the Central government via the ministry of civil aviation, the government of Karnataka, the Airports Authority of India (AAI) and the Bangalore International Airport Limited (BIAL) should look at re-negotiating the concessions agreement signed by them.
The stakeholders will meet on April 29 under the chairmanship of the civil aviation minister Praful Patel to review the agreement and see if anything can be done about the two contentious issues. These include closure of the existing HAL airport and levy of user development fee (UDF) by the new airport.
“Based on the court directive we will go through the motions on April 29 and see if anything can be done,” Ashok Chawla, secretary with the civil aviation ministry said.
It will be negotiations of sorts, as the secretary also said that all the parties would have to offer some compromises and depending on those the concessions agreement may be essentially renegotiated.
A clearer picture is likely to at the beginning of next month by when the director general of civil aviation (DGCA) would issue a licence to the airport.
24/04/08 Shauvik Ghosh/Financial Express

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Airport at Garo Hills to be functional soon

Shillong: The Baljek Airport in Garo Hills region of Meghalaya would soon be made functional as its major work was completed, transport minister Nimarson Momin told the Assembly today.
Replying to a question by Congress Opposition member Martin M Danggo during Question Hour, Momin said the airport, construction of which was at the final stage, would be initially used for landing of small aircraft.
"Since the work is almost complete the Airport Authority of India under the Ministry of Civil Aviation has submitted the MoU to be executed between the state and Airport Authority of India," Momin said.
Construction of Baljek Airport started way back in 1995 with a sanction of Rs 12.21 crore.
23/04/08 Press Trust of India /Business Standard

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Modernisation of Rourkela airstrip delayed

Rourkela: The much awaited expansion and modernisation of the existing airstrip at Rourkela to a fully functional airport seems to have been put in cold storage.
The airstrip at Rourkela is maintained and managed by Rourkela Steel Plant (RSP). It was set up by another steel major Tisco. The Tatas had interest in this area as they wanted dolomite for their steel unit. This was set for facilitating the movement of its officials in this area during the quarrying days. However, once Tatas stopped their operation the airstrip was handed over to the state government and in due course it came into the possession of RSP and since then it is being maintained by RSP.
After the grand revival of RSP and simultaneous industrialisation of Sundergarh district gave rise to the need of a fully functional airstrip with regular flight connection to Rourkela. A persistent demand for regular flight connection to Rourkela thus came to the fore. Some private operators also showed interest to start tri weekly flight.
The Airport Authority of India (AAI), showed interest in developing the Rourkela airport to a level where bigger aircraft can land. Last year a team officials discussed the project with RSP authorities here.
But an year later nothing has moved. Neither the AAI or nor the state government or any agency have sincerely followed the project.
23/04/08 The Statesman

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Sudden radar blip causes scare on PM's flight

New Delhi: An unidentified blip on the radar of the Air Traffic Control (ATC) in Delhi caused a scare, leading to a delay in the landing of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s special aircraft at the Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi on Tuesday evening.
The Airport Authority of India (AAI) has begun an enquiry into the incident, which led the ATC officers to ask the pilot of the Prime Minister’s aircraft to hover over the airport for about 15 minutes, sources said.
As the PM’s flight, which was coming from Ranchi neared the Delhi airport, the ATC identified a blip on the radar which appeared to be chasing the PM’s flight. Concerned over this, the ATC directed the flight to hover over for 15 minutes before allowing it to land on Runway 28 at the IGI.
Secretary in Civil Aviation Ministry, Ashok Chawla, said the PM’s aircraft landed safely after sometime and AAI was assessing the situation. sources said that it could be an aircraft carrying a transponder on board which could be connected to the secondary radars on ground. However, the sources said this was not possible as it did not have a call sign, which any aircraft would have.
23/04/08 Sidhartha Roy and agencies/Hindustan Times

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Decision about HAL airport next week

Bangalore/New Delhi: The stakeholders of the Bengaluru International Airport (BIA) will meet next week to examine the possibility of renegotiating the concessions agreement.
This follows the Karnataka High Court's suggestion to the Centre to renegotiate with BIAL on keeping HAL airport open and charging a minimal user development fee (UDF).
Civil aviation secretary Ashok Chawla on Tuesday said: "Representatives of the Airports Authority of India, BIAL and Karnataka government will attend the meeting."
"The meeting will examine the possibility of renegotiating the agreement with BIAL on two issues - closure of the existing airport and charging UDF - in pursuance of the high court order," Chawla said.
On UDF, the ministry has asked BIAL to charge Rs 100 for domestic short-haul flights and Rs 200 for domestic long-haul ones after the initial three-month waiver ends.
But there's an element of gloom too. The take-off of BIA has hit turbulence again. Speculation is rife that the opening of the airport will take place only after May 25 - when counting of votes to the state assembly will be held.
23/04/08 Anshul Dhamija & Saurabh Sinha/Times of India

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CSIA records total of 25.8mn passengers for the year 07-08

Mumbai: Mumbai International Airport Pvt Ltd (MIAL) today announced that the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport (CSIA) had recorded a passenger traffic of 25.8 million (17.88 million domestic and 7.98 million international) for the period April 2007 – March 2008 representing a 16.25% climb over the corresponding period last year.
Commenting on the passenger growth at CSIA, G. V. Sanjay Reddy, Managing Director, MIAL said, “The consistent and healthy year-on-year growth in passenger traffic at CSIA, attributed to the strong demand in air travel reinforces our position as the busiest airport in India and one of the busiest in South Asia as well. Even as we handle these ever increasing numbers, our priority remains to deliver an exceptional and memorable experience to passengers at CSIA. While building CSIA into a world-class airport that Mumbai will be proud of, we at MIAL acknowledge the need to be prepared with not just with an expanded capacity, but effective utilization of our existing facilities as well to meet this ever increasing rise.
22/04/08 Moneycontrol.com

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Woman held at Chennai airport

Chennai: A 19-year old woman from Ahmedabad on her way to Toronto was held at Chennai airport for carrying a fake passport. According to airport sources, Jaya Patil (19), hailing from Tarpura, had come down to Chennai from Ahmedabad. The immigration authorities intercepted her when she was about to leave by a Jet Airways flight to Toronto.
"When the Immigration officers inquired about her name she told them her original name. However, her passport was in the name of Sheik Ninath. Jaya admitted that the passport was a fake one," an airport police source here said.
She told the police that she got the fake passport from Sheru, a broker based in Ahmedabad after paying Rs 5 lakh.
22/04/08 Times of India

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Uncertainty over opening date of new airport in Bangalore

New Delhi/Bangalore: Will the new airport in Bangalore open on May 11 or is there likely to be a further delay? A clear picture is likely to emerge towards the end of the month by when the report of the Director General of Civil Aviation on giving a licence to the airport would have been received and the Minister for Civil Aviation, Mr Praful Patel, would have had a meeting with officials of the Ministry, Airports Authority of India, the Karnataka Government and the Bangalore International Airports Ltd (BIAL).
The meeting has been called in view of the High Court direction to the Union Government to reconsider closure of the HAL airport and also on levy of user development fee. The concession agreement drawn with the promoters of the new airport states that the existing airport will close when the greenfield airport opens.
Officials from private airlines also maintain that the airport is unlikely to be inaugurated till a new government is in place in the State, which is expected by May-end. Ministry of Civil Aviation officials, however, caution that it was premature to say just yet that the airport opening has been pushed back from May 11, the date proposed by the promoters.
22/04/08 Ashwini Phadnis/Madhumathi D.S/Business Line

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L&T to invest in Navi Mumbai project

Mumbai: Larsen & Toubro (L&T) has announced that its property development division will spend Rs 3,500 crore to develop a commercial complex at Seawoods railway station in Navi Mumbai. Spread over 40 acres of land the company will also develop a railway station in the area. over the next three years, the company informed the Bombay Stock Exchange.
L&T and the City and Industrial Development Corporation of Maharashtra (Cidco) signed a development agreement today. The companies plan to complete the devel;opment project over the next 5 years.
Cidco, which is responsible to devlopment of new urban areas, had floated this proposal in mid-2007. L&T was one of the three qualified developers and bagged the project by bidding Rs 1,809 crore.
21/04/08 Business Standard

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Operations to commence at Ahmedabad’s new terminal

Mumbai: Operations of the new domestic arrival terminal at Ahmedabad will commence tomorrow. It will be inaugurated by Praful Patel, Union Minister for Civil Aviation and Narendra Modi, Chief Minister of Gujarat. The Airport Authority of India (AAI) has completed its work for the new domestic arrival block to handle 800 passengers at a cost of Rs 56.94 crores. The work for the new domestic departure block to handle 600 passengers was completed and commissioned in 2005 at a cost of Rs 46.05 crores. Modifications are being done to the existing international terminal building at a cost of Rs five crores.
Construction of the new international terminal building complex with modern facilities to handle 1000 passengers at a time is likely to be completed by March 2009 at a cost of Rs 122.07 crores. Work of the new international terminal building complex with modern facilities is also likely to be completed by March 2009 at a cost of Rs 80 crores. It will be able to handle an additional 600 passenger at a time. Construction of a new apron awarded on January 9, 2007, is likely to be completed by April, 2008 at a cost of Rs 10.97 crores.
22/04/08 TravelBizMonitor

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MIAL passenger traffic hits

Mumbai Passenger traffic at Mumbai International Airport (MIAL) has recorded an all time high of 25.8 million for the year 2007, the highest ever figure across all domestic airports in the country and an increase by 16.25 per cent in comparison to last year’s figures.
This is indeed good news for airliners, especially in the context of forecasts by industry analysts about losses due to increasing fuel prices. G.V Sanjeeva Reddy, Managing Director of MIAL sounded quite optimistic when he attributed the figures to the increasing popularity of air travel. “The consistent and healthy year-on-year growth in passenger traffic at CSIA, because of the strong demand of air travel reinforces our position as the busiest airport in India and one of the busiest in South Asia,” said Reddy in a release.
However, analysts expect the Delhi airport with its twin runways and high passenger traffic to overtake Mumbai in terms of passenger traffic by 2010. In 2006-07, MIAL recorded total passenger movement of 22.25 million against Delhi’s 20.44 million.
22/04/08 Shashank Shekhar/Mumbai Newsline

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BAA in a possible split

A recent report from the Competition Commission, could lead to a multibillion pound split of airports operator BAA.
Ferrovial, the Spanish consortium, bought BAA for £10.3bn in 2006.
Potential buyers from India, the Middle East and also Temasek, the Singapore government's investment vehicle, have already been in discussion about the possible sale.
BAA, owner of Britain's seven biggest airports, has been accused of having a monopoly, especially in the London area.
The commission is expected to support an Office of Fair Trading recommendation for a full investigation, the findings of which will be published in August.
It is believed that Ferrovial should sell Gatwick and possibly Stansted. There have also been suggestions that Glasgow and Edinburgh airports could be part of a larger BAA sell-off.
21/04/08 Business Sale Report, UK

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Mumbai's 2nd airport faces turbulence

Mumbai: The Union environment and forest ministry’s refusal to grant clearance to Mumbai’s second international airport has put a question mark over the project’s ability to meet deadline. In March, the ministry of environment and forests (MoEF) refused permission to Navi Mumbai international airport.
Sources told ET that the efforts made by the civil aviation ministry and Maharashtra government to get the project approved by MoEF have not yielded a positive result. With the infrastructure at the existing international airport under immense pressure to cater to growing air traffic, even a minor delay in getting the new airport commissioned could prove costly for Mumbai, sources said.
If the environmental approval does not come by, the project faces two tough options. City & Industrial Development Corporation (Cidco), the state government arm entrusted with planning and building industrial townships and the nodal agency for the airport project , will either have to shelve the plan or look for an alternative site around Mumbai, informed sources said.
21/04/08 Abhiram Ghadyalpatil/Economic Times

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Patel`s airport repair hub dream smothered

New Delhi: Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel’s plans to make India a maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) hub for aircraft in Asia are set to crash.
China, once again, has left India way behind. While over 300 MRO companies are in operation in China, only three have set up shops in India — Max Aerospace, Airworks and Indamer.
Though the entry of Lufthansa Technik, Boeing and Airbus will double the number of MRO centres in India, the numbers will still fall way short of China. So far, ten companies have shown interest in getting into the business. Not all, experts expressed fear, may see the light of day.
In fact, such has been the growth of China that it now challenges the dominance of Singapore. Boeing has announced a new MRO unit in Shanghai, which will turn the city into an international hub by 2010.
China has around 100 operational special economic zones (SEZs), free trade zones, state-level economic zones and high tech industrial zones, which offer substantial tax incentives. Many of these SEZs have airports, which makes it convenient for an MRO company to set up shop.
In comparison, it seems that only two Indian SEZs will house MRO facilities — Nagpur for Air India-Boeing and Hyderabad for Lufthansa Technik-GMR.
21/04/08 Anirban Chowdhury/Business Standard

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DIAL hopes fresh funding plan will fly with ministry

New Delhi: The GMR Infrastructure Ltd-led Delhi International Airport Ltd (DIAL) consortium, which is modernizing India’s second busiest international airport by traffic here in the Capital, plans to raise about Rs4,500 crore in debt from land lease rights for some 60 acres of airport land through a subsidiary, Delhi Aerotropolis Pvt. Ltd, to fund the airport’s development.
This is the second time DIAL is trying to raise funds through land rights via a subsidiary, after the first plan was abandoned over government objections.
Last year, DIAL had created two new subsidiaries and had sought to develop a hospitality district at the airport on a 45 acre land parcel by taking security deposits from realty developers amounting to about Rs2,835 crore through the same subsidiary.
The deposits were deemed refundable after 30 years while the realty developer was expected to pay a token annual licence fee. But, the plan was abandoned after fierce opposition from the civil aviation ministry, which told the operator to freeze the proposal as the financing model was likely to bypass a revenue-sharing agreement the operator had signed with the government when it secured the rights to develop the airport in 2006.
21/04/08 Tarun Shukla/Livemint

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ATC shortage spells turbulence

The country has 1,500 air traffic controllers (ATCs), the requirement is for 2,100. The Roy Paul Committee, which looked into air traffic management in 2005, reported over 200 ATC vacancies. Three years later, the gap has widened three times. Read On >>

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Plans underway to develop 300 unused airstrips

New Delhi: Aiming to facilitate the burgeoning private jet industry, the government is firming plans to develop over 300 airstrips in the country presently lying idle. A senior official in the Airports Authority of India told IANS that the civil aviation ministry and the AAI are actively considering developing the unused airstrips.
“The development of unused airstrips will be taken up in a phased manner after the expansion and development of 35 non-metro airports has been completed - by the scheduled 2010,” said the official.
The government is also exploring the possibility of starting work on expansion and development of the unused airstrips by June next year. “It will all depend on the funds available for the purpose,” said the official.
A spokesperson of the AAI said development of the unused airstrips would decongest air traffic and reduce the burden on major airports.
Moreover, the ministry is taking initiative to improve facilities for the private aircraft sector away from major air infrastructure centres.
The plan is also to focus on airstrips near major cities as this would relieve the major airports, which are already clogged with the scheduled aviation sector, said officials.
20/04/08 IANS/Thaindian.com, Thailand

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Airline near miss reports 'baseless'

Gulf Air yesterday dismissed as untrue claims that one of its aircraft barely avoided a mid-air crash with an Air India plane over Kerala.
According to the New Indian Express, a Bahrain-bound Gulf Air flight and a Kozhikode-bound Air India flight missed a mid-air collision by just 10 seconds last week.
However, Gulf Air corporate communications acting head Adnan Malek described the report as baseless and said there were no flight records to substantiate the incident.
"Our flight records are up to date and there is no record of any such incident having taken place or any information that can substantiate this incident," he told the GDN.
Air India manager for Bahrain and Jordan D Debesh said he wasn't aware of such an incident either.
"I have no idea of this incident and no information about it," said the official.
"This happened in Indian airspace and we have no information, it is not under my jurisdiction."
Mr Debesh said Air India staff in India would not comment to the Press and referred them to India's Air Traffic Control for more information.
However, Indian Air Traffic Control officials were unavailable for comment yesterday.
20/04/08 Rebecca Torr/Gulf Daily News, Bahrain

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Four global players submit tenders for 26 airports

New Delhi: The aviation sector is set to witness a new influx of foreign players, at least at the ground level.
According to sources in the civil aviation ministry, four international ground handlers, Menzies, Swissport, SATS and Dnata, have submitted tenders for handling ground work at the 26 non-metro airports in the country.
Currently, the government, as part of its privatisation programme, is in the process of modernising over 40 airports in the country.
“These airports will be developed besides the six metro airports. At these airports, the interested companies will have to work in conjunction with the Airports Authority of India (AAI) either through a subsidiary or by forming a joint venture,” the official said.
As per the existing ground handling policy, which becomes effective from January 2009 only three agencies will be allowed take up ground handling services. “The modalities of how the arrangement will work are yet to be sorted out. But it’s clear that companies will have to work with AAI,” the official told SundayET.
20/04/08 Raja Awasthi & Dheeraj Tiwar/Economic Times

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Extended runway ready at Coimbatore Airport

Coimbatore: The Airports Authority of India (AAI) is ready to operationalise the extended runway at the Coimbatore Airport. It now runs to 9,760 feet and is capable of handling wide-bodied and “fat-bellied” aircraft, especially those operating on the international sector.
Airport Director K. Hemalatha told The Hindu that the runway, which was earlier 2,590 metres (8,500 ft) in length, had been extended to 2,990 m (9,760 ft) at a cost of over Rs. 9 crore.
The airport has been growing for the last few years, registering record rates of increase in passenger and aircraft movement. Passenger movement has increased from 8.7 lakh in 2006-07 to 11 to 12 lakh in 2007-08.
Aircraft movement rate has reached an all time high of 29 landings and 29 take-offs. The revenue of the airport has increased from Rs. 22 crore in 2006-07 to Rs. 29 crore in 2007-08.
20/04/08 V.S. Palaniappan/The Hindu

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India to get mobile airports soon

Shillong: Mobile airports will soon take a place in the country's aviation sector, with the Czech Republic planning to introduce its latest innovation in the Northeastern part of the country.
The Czech Republic, located in Central Europe, claims to have expertise in the field and plans to introduce such airports that can be transported in trucks and set up anywhere in 20 minutes in the Northeastern states like Mizoram and Meghalaya.
"The Republic provides integrated airport control and monitoring system and mobile airports that can be carried in trucks and set up within 20 minutes..." the Czech Republic Ambassador Hynek Kmonicek said on Friday.
These portable airports, it is learnt, can take aircraft loads of 26-40 tonnes. Czech aviation companies are providing their services in as many as 27 countries.
The Ambassador, Commercial Counselor Vladimir Jenista, and Third Secretary (Commercial) Jitka Znamenackova, are on a visit to the region. They held a meeting with the Chief Minister, other officials from the power and mining department, Neepco and the Airports Authority of India.
19/04/08 PTI/Economic Times

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Govt upgrading 10 NE airports at Rs 50 crore

The North Eastern Council has entered into an MoU with the Airports Authority of India for funding of 10 airports in the ratio of 60:40, the government said in a report tabled in Parliament.
Works on seven airports has since been completed and is continuing in three other airports. An amount of Rs 50 crore has been earmarked for ongoing upgradation works of airports in the region in the annual plan during 2007-08.
In addition to the upgradation of existing airports, upgradation of non-operational airports is also proposed to be undertaken during 11th Plan, the report said.
NEC has kept provision in its annual plan for supporting Detailed Project Report preparation and the AAI has been requested to prepared the DPRs for the upgradation of five non-operational airports at Kalashar and Kamlapur in Tripura, Pasighat and Tezu in Arunachal Pradesh and Tura in Meghalaya.
The Planning Commission has granted "in principle" approval to the upgradation of airport at Pasighat and Tezu.
18/04/08 PTI/Deccan Herald

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Pvt airports may take wings on ministry signal

New Delhi: In a move to beef up airport infrastructure, the government has finalised the guidelines for construction of private airports. The Cabinet would soon consider guidelines for constructing airports and airstrips for private use, government sources said. The civil aviation ministry has a lot of proposals from corporate houses including Reliance Industries (RIL) to develop airports, airstrips and helipads for captive use.
The proposed policy is expected to give a major fillip to airport development as individual proposals would not require Cabinet clearance. In future, a proposal to build a private airport would be cleared by the civil aviation ministry, subject to security clearance by the home ministry.
“..The move is expected to not only encourage private participation but also reduce burden on airports in metros like Delhi and Mumbai,” a government official said.
“Development of private airports does not involve public funding. This also does not impact adversely the ongoing modernisation work of the existing airports,” he added.
The proposed policy is likely to allow multiple airports within an aerial distance of 150 km.
19/04/08 Nirbhay Kumar/Economic Times

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ATCs in a blame game over air miss

Kochi: About 300 passengers on board two aircraft escaped by the skin of their teeth last week when a Bahrain-bound Gulf Air flight and a Kozhikode-bound Air India flight missed a sure mid-air collision by just 10 seconds over the Kozhikode skies.
And as it turns out the investigating agencies are yet to pinpoint those responsible for it even a week after the incident, with the air traffic control towers in Thiruvananthapuram, Kozhikode and Mangalore indulging in a full-fledged blame game. It is a sad commentary on the state of affairs in the Indian skies that there is even an attempt to brush the incident aside saying “it actually happened over no-man’s land”.
Top sources told this website's newspaper that the Gulf Air flight took off from Cochin International Airport and flew left over Kozhikode to enter the M300 route to the Gulf sector. It was climbing to its cruising altitude and was at 15,700 feet when the Air India flight was descending on the M300 from 16,000 feet to landing altitude. “There was hardly 400 feet between the two aircraft. Considering their speeds it wouldn’t have taken more than five to 10 seconds for them to fly into each other,” top aviation sources told this website's newspaper.
18/04/08 Manoj K Das/Newindpress

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AAI seeks foreign investment in airport development

New Delhi: Airport Authority of India on Friday invited investments from Arab countries in the areas of construction, maintenance and consultancy services.
"There are business opportunities in the field of manufacturing, consultancy and training. We plan to develop 35 non-metro airports by March 2010," said ED-Planning of AAI Mr R C Chitkara at India-Arab Investment Projects Conclave.
He said manufacturers of aircraft equipment as well as consultancy services are needed to prepare detailed project report for the proposed greenfield airports. Besides, opportunities also lie in ground handling, MRO facilities, aircraft maintenance and security equipments, he said, adding that capacity needs to be built in the next two years at the Delhi and Mumbai airports.
About 14 countries participating in the conclave include Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, UAE, Algeria, Sudan, Lebanon, Libya and Qatar.
The authority also plans to expand the existing capacity and upgrade the airports besides, introducing modern technology at the airports.
18/04/08 PTI/Business Line

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Second intenational airport for Chennai likely 9 years before schedule

The city is likely to get a spanking new airport by 2015, nine years before the earlier D-day. The greenfield project will be taken up on 4,822 acres of land near Sriperumbudur, northwest of Chennai, at an estimated cost of Rs 3,500 crore. The dates have been advanced in light of certain trouble — largely relating to land acquisition — that cropped up in the Rs 2,350-crore modernisation and expansion project of Kamaraj International Airport at Meenambakkam.
Unlike Bangalore and Hyderabad, Chennai's old airport will not be shut down when the new one comes up. Rather, the city will have two airports like those planned in Delhi and Mumbai. The search for a private consortium to build the airport will start soon. It will be offered a 74% stake, while the state and central governments will hold 13% each.
Officials told The Times of India that the state government had expressed difficulty in acquiring the 1,069 acres of land required west of the Adyar river for building a parallel runway as part of phase-II of the Meenambakkam expansion plan. It is proving tough to get more than 300 acres of the land identified as the costs are prohibitively high. It's also difficult to clear the entire area of habitation, a state government official said.
19/04/08 K R Sreenivas/Times of India

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