At Dabolim, six hours of preps for each rescue flight

Panaji: Goa International Airport is used to handling chartered flights filled with tourists coming to enjoy the sunny shores of Goa. But ever since the novel coronavirus pandemic gripped the world, Goa’s lone airport at Dabolim has become accustomed to handling a different kind of chartered flights.
The naval-controlled airport has become the focal point for foreigners to be rescued by their respective nations.
Hours and often days before a flight can land at Goa International Airport, private agencies and government departments have to coordinate to ensure all systems run smoothly and to minimise the risk of infection.

“At a time when the airport is not fully operational, each repatriation flight takes five to six hours of preparation,” said Goa Airport director Gagan Malik. He adds that the airport is functioning at just 30% strength.

Till date, 33 rescue flights have been chartered by 12 different nations, with some more flights planned over the next few days. According to the nodal officer for repatriation of foreigners, of the approximately 58,000 foreigners who have left the country, 6,447 foreigners flew out from Goa. Of these, British tourists formed a major chunk at 42%, while three other countries namely Russia, Germany and Finland accounted for 80% of those who were repatriated.

Given that some airlines do not have a credit facility with the Airports Authority of India, AAI has allowed some countries to operate rescue flights on a cash-and-carry basis. This, explained Malik, means that the Captain of the flight has to pay all the charges with a credit card before being allowed to take-off.
01/04/20 Times of India

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Air India flight with 101 US nationals leaves Hyderabad

Hyderabad: Continuing the repatriation of citizens of the United States from here, 101 US nationals were sent home from the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport here on Thursday.

The US nationals were repatriated in a special passenger relief flight of national carrier Air India. A domestic flight of Air India arrived from Mumbai at 2.46 pm and departed with the US nationals to Mumbai at 3.52 pm. They will be further airlifted by the Delta Airlines from Mumbai to the US.
All these passengers were serviced through the fully-sanitized main terminal building of the domestic departures of the airport, which was kept ready for evacuation operations. With the support and collaboration of the US Consulate, Hyderabad and the State government, the US citizens started arriving at the airport from 12 noon to 2 pm in buses from various parts of the city.

Special screening and safety measures were in place during the flight’s handling as part of Covid 19 precautionary steps that included thermal screening, mandatory social distancing enforced through special queuing arrangements at all passenger processing points.
30/04/20 Telangana Today

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263 stranded people leave for Heathrow from Amritsar

Chandigarh: A total of 263 stranded people, mainly Britons, on Friday left for their destinations in a special flight from the international airport in Amritsar in Punjab, officials said.

Qatar Airways flight with 221 Britons and 42 Indians departed from Sri Guru Ram Das Ji International Airport to Heathrow via Doha, Special Chief Secretary K.B.S. Sidhu, who is in-charge to monitor statewide coronavirus cases, informed in a tweet.

The British government on Thursday announced seven further charter flights to bring over 2,000 stranded British travellers home from India.

Once these flights are completed, over 15,000 British travellers will have been brought back from India on 59 flights chartered by the government, it said in a statement.

It said the Amritsar to Heathrow flights will ply on seven days consecutively from May 5.
Minister of State for South Asia and the Commonwealth, Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon, said: "Our charter programme has already helped more than 10,000 British travellers return home from India by ensuring flights to the UK have run every day since 8 April, with thousands more due to depart in the coming days."
30/04/20 daijiworld

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Lengpui Airport upgradation in full swing during lockdown: Mizoram CM Zoramthanga

Aizawl: Mizoram Chief Minister Zoramthanga has said that upgradation of Lengpui Airport is in full swing during the lockdown imposed to contain the coronavirus outbreak.

The resurfacing of the runway and repairing of the road between the landing area and the terminal building is in progress, he said, after inspecting the renovation of the airport on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, officials of the Airports Authority of India (AAI) handed over Rs 10 lakh to Zoramthanga as a contribution to the Chief Minister's Relief Fund (CMRF) to fight COVID-19.

Around 300 employees of the State Bank of India (SBI) and the Mizoram Horticulture Officers and Staff Welfare Association also donated Rs 7 lakh and Rs 8.3 lakh respectively to the CMRF.

Earlier, each member of the Mizoram Horticulture Officers and Staff Welfare Association had donated their one day's salary, amounting to a total of Rs 2.5 lakh, to the CMRF to fight the novel coronavirus outbreak.
30/04/20 PTI/New Indian Express

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Navi Mumbai airport construction to be little delayed amid coronavirus pandemic

Mumbai: The construction of the international airport at Navi Mumbai will be little delayed due to the situation arising out of  the coronavirus pandemic, GVK Group Vice Chairman Sanjay Reddy said on Thursday.

He is also the Managing Director of Navi Mumbai International Airport Ltd (NMIAL). The Rs 16,000-crore aerodrome is being built by a consortium led by GVK Power & Infrastructure.

A release issued by industry body CII quoted Reddy as saying that the construction and starting of Navi Mumbai airport, is expected to be a little delayed due to the current situation in the wake of the pandemic.

The airport would be using the most advanced technologies and artificial intelligence, he said.

Reddy was addressing  a session on the future of travel amidst the COVID-19 situation, organised by the Young Indians (Yi) Mumbai Chapter of the CII, as per the release.
30/04/20 PTI/Outlook

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Airports prepare to handle 30% flights in first phase of ops after lockdown

Mumbai: Indian airports are preparing to handle only 30 per cent of the normal flight schedule, in the first phase of operations, after lifting of the lockdown.
Airlines and airports are devising their own standard operating procedures, with a limited number of flights being planned to enable social distancing on ground and inside aircraft. Flight operations have been suspended since March 23, with the date for resumption yet to be announced.
“Once the lockdown is lifted, airports shall be facilitating limited domestic/ international flights in phases,” Airport Authority of India (AAI) said in its internal guidelines on resumption of operations. To begin with, this could mean around 30 per cent of flights, it said.
Pre-lockdown, airports in India were handling close to 7,800 scheduled domestic and international flights every day, with half of them being handled by airports controlled by Airports Authority of India.
Now, airlines and airports are planning for fewer flights, even as they finalise new service procedures and protocols. Passenger footfall will be less and travel demand will depend on public confidence as well as ticket prices. For instance, GoAir is preparing to resume with a fleet of 8-10 aircraft.
In CY19, airports in India handled 349 million passengers. The Airport Council International (ACI) estimates that owing to the pandemic, footfall will reduce by 40 per cent in CY20 across Asian airports.
29/04/20 Aneesh Phadnis/Business Standard

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Airports Authority Of India Issues Guidelines For Post-Lockdown Operations

New Delhi: Airports Authority of India (AAI) has issued detailed guidelines to its airports for managing post-lockdown operations that imposes several restrictions, including on the number of terminals as well as on retail outlets providing food and beverages.
"Initially, it is presumed that airline operations will be limited to tier-I cities i.e. metros and some of the state capitals and major Tier-II cities," said the AAI guidelines, a copy of which is accessed by news agency Press Trust of Inida.         

The AAI, which manages more than 100 airports across India, said if an airport has multiple terminals, then only one terminal should be used initially in the post-lockdown period. Also if the airport has multiple baggage carousels, alternate ones must be used so as to maintain social distancing, it added.

"Limited food and beverages and retail outlets to be made available to the passengers till operations of airlines gradually increases. Initially, they should serve tea/coffee etc. with take away snacks in boxes," it said and added that alcoholic beverages will not be permitted at bars or restaurants in airports unless the city or state administration permits it.

Airports in Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru and Hyderabad are managed by private companies and not by the AAI.

Last week, both the GMR group-led DIAL, which manages the Delhi airport, and the GVK group-led MIAL, which manages the Mumbai airport, said they would be implementing rigorous measures to deal with COVID-19, like putting markings to ensure 1.5 mtrs distance between passengers in queues and establishing temporary quarantine centres in terminals
29/04/20 PTI/NDTV

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Airports Authority of India issues guidelines for flight operations

The aviation regulatory body has announced detailed guidelines to its airports for managing operations once the lockdown is lifted in India.

Airports Authority of India (AAI), which manages over 100 airports in the country has stated that they should prepare to handle only 30 per cent of the normal flight schedule, in the first phase of operations, after restrictions are eased.
Previously, Business Traveller India reported on the privately owned-airports such as Delhi, Mumbai, and Hyderabad announcing post-lockdown measures.

According to the AAI guidelines shared with Press Trust of India, “Initially, it is presumed that airline operations will be limited to Tier I cities i.e. metros and some of the state capitals and major Tier II cities.”

The set guidelines also mentioned, to begin with, Indian airports operating multiple terminals will have to operate with only one terminal.

Different parking stands and baggage belts will be allocated for aircraft arriving from Covid-19 hotspots.
29/04/20 Business Traveller

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22 flights, 17 destinations: Bengaluru facilitates transit for 3,000 foreigners

Bengaluru: As thousands of international passengers remain stranded across the world due to the lockdown, Bengaluru’s Kempegowda International Airport claims to have facilitated the transit of nearly 3,000 foreign nationals to 17 destinations across the globe.

According to Bengaluru International Airport Limited (BIAL) officials, as many as 22 flights carrying foreign nationals took off from the airport in the last month.
While the first evacuation from Bengaluru airport was to Frankfurt with Air India operating a flight on March 31, Tokyo emerged as the destination with the largest number of passengers, with JAL operating three flights over three consecutive days.

The other destinations to which passengers flew from Bengaluru include Incheon (South Korea), Azerbaijan, Baghdad, Cairo, Colombo, Doha, Frankfurt, London, Male, Muscat, Paris, Paro (Bhutan), Riyadh, Rome, Stockholm and Tbilisi (Georgia).

According to BIAL officials, this was the first time Bengaluru airport facilitated flights to eight new cities – Baku (Azerbaijan), Baghdad, Cairo, Incheon, Paro (Bhutan), Rome and Stockholm and Tbilisi (Georgia).
“These flights were coordinated between governments to help foreign nationals, stranded in Bengaluru and across south India due to the nation-wide lockdown, return home,” a BIAL spokesperson told Indianexpress.com.

Officials further added that the BIAL staff and Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) personnel at the airport worked with Immigration and Airline staff to ensure passengers maintained social distance and had access to hand sanitisers and masks.
29/04/20  Ralph Alex Arakal/Indian Express

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AAI prepares guidelines for flight resumption; expects to start with 30% domestic flights

New Delhi: The Airports Authority of India (AAI) has finalised its standard operating procedure for restoring schedule commercial flights as soon as the go-ahead for the game comes from the government. The state-run authority, which handles air traffic control services across India, expects 30% scheduled flights to get operational in the beginning between big cities and then the same will gradually be scaled up. To begin with, flights could operate within a certain time with the same getting increased as things unfold.

“lnitially it is presumed airline operations will be limited to tier-l cities, metros, and some of the state capitals & major tier-ll cities. Flight schedule may be cleared on a city-pair basis so that the origin and destination airports are open… At airports with more than one terminal, initially only one terminal shall be used and larger terminal can be scaled down to reduce cleaning area considering limited availability of material resources,” the SOP says.

On screening of passengers, it says sufficient number of doctors and paramedics should be available for screening bth arriving and departing passengers. “Sufficient number of health declaration forms shall be made available for all the departing and arriving passengers at the departure and arrivar gates in coordination with airlines along with facilities such as writing desks with writing instruments. Arrangements should be made for inflight announcements and distribution of health declaration forms on board the aircraft to avoid delay due to fillrng up on arrival.”

“A dedicated triage area/isolation area needs to be setup with primary medical facility at both aniving and departing terminal for confirmed or suspected corona patients. Dedicated medicated staff should also be there to provide basic health care.”

International operations are also expected to restart in a similar phased manner like domestic whenever permitted by the government.

“Alternate check-in counters may be used to avoid congestion near counters. Queue at counters shall be managed by airlines staff to manage sufficient distance among passengers. Also, check-in counters may be opened well in advance to stagger the crowd,” the SOP says.

Retail and food & beverage outlets will also open with time as flights increase. “lnitially they should serve tea/coffee with take away snacks in boxes. As part of this limited restaurant facilities to be permitted inside security hold area, as take away facilities and gradually as sit out facilities with social distancing norms. At bar cum restaurant facilities, alcoholic beverages should not be permitted unless it is permitted by the local administration of associated city/state,” it says.
29/04/20 Saurabh Sinha/Times of India

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How RGIA is now a ‘big bird nest’

Hyderabad: The skies are silent. The big steel birds, which used to soar high with that deafening sound, are now resting, having turned the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport into a gigantic bird nest.

But the airport, which used to witness a daily air traffic movement of about 550 before the lockdown, is still a beehive of activity. And that is because all the steel birds, ranging from the A320s to the Boeing 737s and the ATRs, require more maintenance while they are on the ground than when they are flying.
According to RGIA officials, there are over 50 aircraft that are grounded at the RGIA, belonging to different airlines, from Air India to Spice Jet to Indigo and so on.

And each of these aircraft have teams attending to them so that they are ready for take-off as soon as the lockdown is lifted.

While the airport does charge a parking fee, the rest of the affairs are taken care of by the airlines and the original equipment manufacturers as per a strict protocol. And this, each of the aircraft being multi-crore machines, is adhered to the hilt to ensure there are no damages at all when the machines are grounded.
According to YS Rao, Station Head and GM (Engineering), Air India Engineering Services Limited, there are engineering teams working in shifts even during the lockdown to make sure that the airworthiness of the aircraft is intact. There are checklists, he says, for one month and if the grounded period extends beyond one month, another one too. The second checklist, since the lockdown has gone beyond one month, is being followed now.

The preservation checklist, as it is called, lists all that has to be done, from checking the wheels, brakes, systems, starting the engine every 15 days, regular fuel sampling and so on.
29/04/20 Dennis Marcus Mathew/Telangana Today

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Airport Authority of India, Guwahati distributes relief materials to needy people

Guwahati: The Airport Authority of India, Guwahati, on Tuesday, distributed rice and masks to the villagers of New Project and DVOR site of Garal village. The items were distributed in presence of Airport Director  Ramesh Kumar, General Manager (Project)  JT Radhakrishna, Regional Secretary Pabitra Das along with other employees.
29/04/20 Sentinel

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AAI staff of Begumpet Airport distributes Rs 2 lakh worth essentials

Hyderabad: Employees of the Airports Authority of India (AAI) posted at the Begumpet airport distributed food and essential commodities worth Rs 2 lakh to two orphanages and 400 sanitary workers of the GHMC and Secunderabad Cantonment Board (SCB).
Packets, each containing rice and pulses along with edible oil, were donated to two orphanages — Valmiki Foundation in Hasmathpet and Asha Kuteer in Uppal. Similar packets were given to 400 poor families, including sanitary workers of the GHMC and the SCB.
The employees had formed into a group and contributed money for the initiative. Airport Director C Pattabhi, who distributed the essential commodities, appreciated the initiative taken by the employees.
29/04/20 Telangana Today

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Vijayawada Airport’s Women Employees Ramp Up Production Of Face Masks

One of the most important essentials—face masks are the need of the hour during the COVID-19 crisis. However, their shortage, especially among the marginalised and underprivileged during the pandemic has left many exposed to the dangers of this invisible entity that has afflicted people around the globe.
To provide personal protective equipment to its employees, the Vijayawada Airport has stepped up its act and has set a target to produce 2,000 reusable face masks for its staff by May 3.
According to Airport director G Madhusudhana Rao, the women employees volunteered to begin mass production of reusable face masks on April 19. Their act stemmed from concern regarding the spike in COVID-19 cases across the country.
However, procuring fine quality cloth and sewing machines for the purpose when the lockdown is in place has made the task more challenging, he admitted. “Some staff who own sewing machines have proved to be of great help,” a news portal quoted.
“At present, we are using the cloth meant for the police. Altogether, the strength of the airport staff, including airlines and security personnel, is around 600. Each employee will be given two masks and will be taught how to use them properly. The masks will be sterilised before distribution. They can be washed and reused,” Madhusudhana Rao further elaborated in his statement.
29/04/20 Aishwarya Sati/Femina

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‘Screening at all airports to test Indian evacuees returning home’: Kerala CM

With the Centre giving a nod for the evacuation of Indian nationals abroad, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said that screening facilities will be set up at all four of the state’s international airports to check those flying into the state.

Everyone flying in, including asymptomatic people, will be asked to observe a mandatory 14-day quarantine. The state government will also set up additional quarantine centres for those who do not have facilities to quarantine themselves at home, according to the CM’s press release. This information was relayed to a representative of the Malayali NRI community via video conferencing.

According to a report in NDTV, which cites government sources, the Centre has started planning for the evacuation of Indian nationals stranded in other countries. The Ministry of External Affairs in coordination with the Civil Aviation Ministry, Air India, state governments and Indian missions abroad will carry out the evacuation.

Pinarayi added that it is impossible to bring back all Indian nationals at once and that whoever has to return to the country urgently has to be given priority. The evacuation will be carried out in phases. Those currently in foreign countries who wish to return home can register themselves at the Kerala government’s NORKA roots website www.norkaroots.org

Kerala has also stated that priority should be given to those with expired visas, the elderly, pregnant women, children and critically ill patients while screening applications.
The state government has also banned family and friends from welcoming those returning home at the airports.

If a personal vehicle for transport has been arranged, then it must only have the driver. Further, the evacuee must go home directly and not make house visits of friends and family or go anywhere else.

Those evacuees exhibiting COVID-19 symptoms will be subjected to further tests after which they will be admitted to quarantine centres. Their luggage will also be taken care of by the respective department.

The state government has also appealed to the Centre to allow Indian nationals to return home via ships. It has appealed to the Centre to utilise the Indian Community Welfare Fund for rehabilitating those NRIs who have lost their jobs.
27/04/20 News Minute

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New Flights to have Crew in PPE, Less Meals and Tight Screening

Kolkata: Airline companies with business operations in India are setting up their domestic flights for a complete overhaul. These remediations will include rigorous screenings and crews utilising protective personal equipment (PPE). Moreover, airlines are sparing no effort to ensure that the passengers’ flight experiences are as contact-free as possible.

India is currently going through a 40-day nationwide lockdown, from March 25, to curb the spread of COVID-19. Consequentially, Airlines had to suspend all flights that were set to depart in this duration. On Saturday, private-sector airline companies re-opened advanced bookings for flights departing from May 16. This new decision came after DGCA ban to book tickets for flights, starting May 4.

Now, industry insiders are saying that airlines are trimming down the warmth and hospitality that is usually expected in-flight, to align with social-distancing and hygiene norms.

For instance, during a medium haul flight, interactions between business class passengers and cabin crew members will drop down from about 14-15 interactions to about three to four interactions. Moreover, all passengers will be expected to report 120 minutes before flight, compared to the 60-minute norm, earlier. The meals served and in-flight snacks options will also be severely limited.

Senior airline officials claims that carriers may be be forced to pool-in flights, with low passenger count. If that’s the case, the airlines may have to lure in more passengers by offering discounts and price-cuts.

Although, analysts were expecting prices to increase by more 50% as a result of the extra precautions that might be taken. But, for instance, officials are now explaining, if a Mumbai-Delhi flight has a 25% load factor (passenger count), they may all be pooled into one flight. Unlike experts’ predictions, they are saying that it would be economically unfeasible to fly only a third or fourth of the total capacity of an aircraft. So, Airlines will be against keeping middle seats empty.

Earlier this month, IndiGo airline’s CEO Ronojoy Dutta stated that they will gradually ramp up operations and discontinue on-board meal services for a brief period after resuming services, in an internal communication.

In a mail to IndiGo employees, Dutta declared the airline will “run its coaches (bus coaches that take passengers to aircraft from terminal) at a maximum load of 50% capacity”, adding that the airline is looking to change many operating procedures to minimize costs. “We will be coming out with the new set of operating procedures soon,”he assured.

Airline passengers should also expect lengthier security checks aside from minimum contact between them and the crew, even in the terminals.

27/04/20 Saunak Chowdhury/Indian Wire

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Completion of Mopa airport may be delayed

Panaji: Work on the Mopa international airport has recommenced after the Centre allowed construction activities during the extended lockdown. However, its completion may be slightly delayed due to the initial lockdown phase.
Director of civil aviation Suresh Shanbhogue told TOI that work began on April 20. He said that when the first lockdown was announced, there were 750 workers at the site, so, when construction activity was allowed, getting labour was not an issue.“Nearly 1,000 labourers have started working on the airport, but there may be a slight delay in its completion.” A senior government official said that work on the airport was delayed by around 20 months after social activists approached the courts. He said that the initial deadline for getting the airport operational was September 2020, but due to the cases, it won’t be met. As per the new schedule, he said, infrastructure will be finished by December 2021, and operations will start by May 2022. However, this deadline, too, is likely to be broken, an official said.
An official said that it takes around six months to secure permissions and clearances from all authorities to start operations.
27/04/30 Times of India

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Jaipur airport facilitates chartered flights for emergency needs; DGCA permits movement

Jaipur: With no regular flights, many people in case of emergencies have opted for the chartered flight services to reach Jaipur and to fly to other cities from here.
Apart from smooth operations of the cargo flights, the Airports Authority of India (AAI) and its air traffic control also worked to ensure smooth landings and take-off of these chartered flights. At least a dozen people opted for chartered flights to attend to medical emergencies and in other cases. After prior permissions from the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), Jaipur airport since lockdown has facilitated 12 flights so far.

On Sunday, the Chief Justice of Orissa high court Mohammad Rafiq, who is former acting chief justice of Rajasthan high court, took a chartered flight and flew to Odisha.

“People who are in emergency and need to travel from one city to another need to apply before the DGCA and operators providing chartered planes, too, are doing so. DGCA has been considerate in cases such as medical emergency or in cases where a person’s travel is inevitable,” said Jaideep Singh Balhara, director, Jaipur Airport, on Sunday.

He said earlier a non-resident Indian woman from Switzerland, who came prior to lockdown and got stuck in Jaipur, too, was permitted to fly back to Switzerland.

“We also received Assam police personnel who came to Jaipur while they had to visit Kota to see the arrangements of the students of their state who were to be taken back to Assam,” said a senior officer of air traffic control.
27/04/20 Ashish Mehta/Times of India

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Back, finally: Bodies of Indians return from UAE days after being sent back from Delhi airport

Three days after India Today reported on how the Bureau of Immigration refused to off-load mortal remains of three Indian nationals who died of reasons other than Covid-19, the Ministry of Home Affairs issued fresh guidelines for importation of human remains related with coronavirus.

Following these fresh orders specific to coronavirus, it was clear that non-Covid deaths of Indian nationals on foreign soil would be treated as was done in the past, while strict regulations and procedures have to be followed for Covid-19 deaths.

After new guidelines were issued, the mortal remains of the three returned to India and were handed over to the respective families on Monday.

“It was only last evening [Sunday] after fresh orders from the MHA that procedures were carried out for the bodies to be sent back last night and handed over this morning to the relatives,” said a source.

Speaking to India Today from Abu Dhabi, Indian ambassador to UAE Pavan Kapoor said, “I am just very relieved that the mortal remains have finally been handed over to the grieving families.”

The mortal remains of Kamlesh Bhatt (25) and two others were sent back from the Delhi airport on Friday following some confusion, sources had said. The bodies were flown back to UAE without any intimation to the Indian mission or the authorities.
27/04/20 Geeta Mohan/India Today

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Cial prepares to receive evacuated passengers

Kochi: As the central government plans to airlift Indians stranded in other countries, Cochin International Airport Limited (Cial) has started taking measures to ensure social distancing and implement Covid-19 health protocol within the airport premises. Though the official decision is yet to be out regarding evacuation operations, Cial has already started implementing a slew of measures to smoothen the process in association with the state health department and district administration.
Officials have started painting temporary markings (black dots within yellow round) to ensure 1metre distance at all counters. As the cushioned-seats in the terminals cannot be sanitised frequently, Cial is buying separate plastic chairs for arriving passengers. Also, PPE kits will be provided to all personnel who would be in direct contact with passengers. A standard operation procedure to handle the passengers, right from deboarding the aircraft to leaving the airport premises, is under formulation.

“The official decision has to be taken by the central government on evacuation of Indians stranded abroad. But the airport has to be prepared if the restrictions are removed post lockdown. Terminals will be split into operational and non-operational, and handling capacity of the terminals will be reduced to one-third of normal capacity to avoid crowding. Health screening will be mandatory for all passengers and those symptomatic will be directly shifted to hospitals in special ambulances,” said a Cial spokesperson.
27/04/20 Times of India

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3 bodies of UAE expats returned from Delhi airport

Abu Dhabi:The mortal remains of three Indians repatriated from Abu Dhabi on Thursday evening were returned from New Delhi early on Friday for lack of approvals. Separately, two bodies flown out early on Thursday from Dubai and held at Chennai airport were handed over to families on Friday.

Khaleej Times has learnt that by Thursday evening, immigration check posts across Indian airports were closed except for crew members of cargo and evacuation flights. The new order meant suspension of clearance for mortal remains.

On Thursday evening, bodies of Jagsir Singh, Sanjeev Kumar and Kamlesh Bhatt, who died of non-Covid reasons, were flown out from Abu Dhabi International Airport. But with a new order being implemented in India, the bodies were denied clearance and returned from Indira Gandhi International Airport. As per the new order, additional approvals are needed from the Indian Ministry of Home Affairs for repatriation of bodies. Till Thursday, there were no restrictions and bodies of deceased indians were flown back from the UAE to India.
The Indian Embassy in Abu Dhabi said officials are working closely with Indian authorities to sort out the issue.

"Two bodies were bound for Punjab and one for Uttarakhand. All three bodies were returned to Abu Dhabi. We are actively working with the Ministry of Home Affairs in India and other authorities. A new procedure is being worked out," an official from the embassy said.
Colleagues and friends of the deceased are hopeful that bodies will be flown back to families in India. "We had all necessary clearances. But New Delhi airport said additional approvals are needed. It's clear from the death certificate that cause of death was accident," said a colleague of Jagsir Singh. Other two expats reportedly died due to natural causes.
"For sake of humanity, bodies should not have been returned. If there is any documentation issue it could have been cleared but sending back is insulting," Harjinder Singh and Jaswant Singh of Abu Dhabi gurudwara said.
25/04/20 Ashwani Kumar/Khaleej Times

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Mumbai airport gears up to restart operations with safety measures in place

Mumbai: In the wake of COVID-19 crisis, GVK MIAL managing Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA) has put together measures to curb the spread of coronavirus.
The airport has formulated standard operating procedures for post-lockdown safety of the passengers, which include social distancing, stringent thermal screening, positioning temporary quarantine centres and also continues to sanitise and disinfect the airport to ensure safety and well-being of the passengers when operations resume.
"To enable safety precautions at the airport, CSMIA plans to maintain social distancing through distinctive markings at both the terminals, maintaining 1.5 metres distance between each passenger," GVK MIAL said in a statement on Saturday.
The special markings will be spread across the entry gate, check-in counters, self-check-in kiosks, security checkpoints, food courts, lounge area and the boarding area among others. Furthermore, the seating arrangements at the food court as well as in the terminal building are reshuffled in a manner that promotes social distancing.Besides, CSMIA has also created quarantine centres at both the terminals of the airport in case any passenger shows symptoms of the deadly virus during screening which will be conducted before entering the terminal building.
The airport will be assigning their personnel to assist travellers at the self-check-in kiosks to help with the boarding copy and other details along with stationing hand sanitisers at all the touchpoints. CSMIA said it puts special emphasis on the need for passengers to wear masks and gloves during the entire course of their travel. It encourages passengers to check-in online from the comfort of their home or office the use of card payment transaction and contactless payment at the airport restaurants and retail stores.
25/04/20 ANI/Economic Times

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Ethiopian Airlines to operate B777-300 from Hyderabad starting April 26

Effective April 26, Ethiopian Airlines will be operating its B777-300 passenger freighter from Hyderabad, India. As of now, it will be a weekly flight and the frequency is expected to go up to two in the near future. Both cabin and belly will be used to carry the pharma shipments which accounts to a total of 70 tonnes.

Since the outbreak of Covid-19, Ethiopian Airlines has been flying cargo-only passenger aircraft and freighters around the world carrying essentials supplies. The first flight using a B777F took off on March 22 from Guangzhou, China to Addis Ababa carried 108 tonnes, which included 1.1 million testing kits, 6 million masks, face shields, and 60,000 protective suits.

Recently, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) has selected Addis Ababa as a humanitarian shipment hub for Africa to distribute medical supplies with Ethiopian Cargo. The hub is part of a UN initiative move to scale up procurement and distribution of protective equipment and medical supplies for the Covid-19 response.

On the other hand, the Kenyan government has inked a deal with Ethiopian Airlines to operate passenger planes grounded due to the coronavirus for shipment of cargo between the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA), Nairobi to Europe and Asia. The deal allows Ethiopian Airlines to fly cargo using six of its passenger planes from Mombasa to Nairobi and Asia and Europe, posing a threat to the Kenya Airways (KQ) cargo business. Ethiopian Airlines is expected to ship fresh vegetables, fruits, flowers and meat which are currently scarce in Europe.
25/04/20 Shalini Nair/Logistics Update Africa

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Mumbai airport ready for flights, passengers

Mumbai: While there is no word from the government yet on resumption of airline flights, airports have been putting in place measures to ensure social distancing of passengers and disinfection of areas around terminal buildings. The Mumbai airport on Saturday issued a statement saying that it was ready to handle flights and passengers post the lockdown.

Following the lockdown, which began on March 24, all international and domestic airline passenger flights have been banned in India. The current lockdown is in place till May 3, but there is no announcement on whether domestic flights will resume next month. The government had said that flight operations will restart in a staggered manner, with domestic flights. But no flights operations will begin till the coronavirus cases are under control. But when the government finally lifts the ban on passenger flights, the metro airports, it seems, will be ready to handle passengers with the new social distancing norms in place.

"The Mumbai airport plans to maintain social distancing through distinctive markings at both the terminals, maintaining 1.5 meters distance between each passenger," said a statement issued by the Mumbai International Airport Ltd (MIAL).

The special markings will be spread across the entry gate, check-in counters, self-check-in kiosks, security checkpoints, food courts, lounge area and the boarding area amongst others. Furthermore, the seating arrangements at the food court as well as in the terminal building are reshuffled in a manner that promotes social distancing, said MIAL.
25/04/20 Manu V/Times of India

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IGIA's T3 to eventually open up for full fledged passenger ops; T-1 , T-2 may temporarily shut-down

New Delhi: As it awaits clear health safety guidelines from the Centre, the national capitals IGI Airport is preparing Terminal-3 to eventually open up for full fledged flight operations.

Accordingly, DIAL, which manages and operates IGIA may temporarily shut-down Terminal-2 and the T-1D.

"DIAL is assessing the quantum of domestic demand along with the Airlines, once the suspension of operations is lifted," DIAL's Chief Executive Videh Kumar Jaipuriar told IANS.

"Various options, including the potential of consolidating terminal operations, are being evaluated depending on the airline requirements as well as government notifications that maybe issued for time to time."

At present, T2 is exclusively being used by budget airlines such as SpiceJet, IndiGo and GoAir.

On the other hand, construction work was getting underway at T1 to further develop the termonal into an integrated domestic cum international gateway.

"Even during the ongoing suspension of commercial operations due to the lockdown, Delhi Airport continues to handle 25-30 operations per day - primarily cargo and evacuation flights. Also, as of now, there are no immediate plans to defer any ongoing expansion works," Jaipuriar said.

Meanwhile, the firm has initiated various steps to prepare the terminals buildings and internal layout for the eventual restart of operations.

According to the company, it plans to encourage compliance of social distancing norms at the airport by deploying additional queue managers at kerb side (city side), check-in halls, security check areas and boarding gates, with social distancing markers.
25/04/20  Rohit Vaid/daijiworld

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Indian airports gear up to face new realities in a post-lockdown world

New Delhi/Mumbai: Indian airports are preparing to resume business in a scenario where they know business will be unusual. While counting their losses and strategising on how to protect revenue, India’s major private airports and state-owned Airport Authority of India (AAI) are ramping up sanitisation. They are also implementing procedures to comply with social distancing measures which will become a norm when air travel resumes in a controlled manner after lockdown.

Airports expect passenger footfall to drastically reduce fr the entire year. This will harm the revenue of airports and the vast retail ecosystem that serves their customers at airports.
But fewer footfalls will make it easier to prevent crowding in the immediate days after travel begins. The Airport Council International (ACI) a group of world’s largest airport estimates that due to the pandemic, footfall to reduce by 40 percent in 2020 at Asian airports.

“Several airports have already started marking various contact points for making zones for social distancing,” AAI Chairman Arvind Singh said.
25/04/20 Arindam Majumder & Aneesh Phadnis/Business Standard

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Begumpet airport gets busy with Covid service

Hyderabad: Even as the city lies silent, courtesy the first-of-its-kind lockdown, there is a flurry of activity at the Begumpet airport these days with the movement of helicopters, air ambulances and aircraft of the Indian Air Force (IAF).
While the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport (RGIA) at Shamshabad is operating relief and evacuation flights to take foreigners to their countries, the Begumpet airport is playing a key role in shifting patients from the city to their native places.
A patient was already shifted to his native place in Indore on Wednesday in an air ambulance while arrangements were made to airlift one more patient to Bhopal on Thursday. The body of a person was shifted to Kolkata from the city in an air ambulance a week ago.

Choppers regularly used by the government are also being operated from Begumpet along with chartered flights of VIPs and politicians. The IAF is utilising the airport for training its cadets. Cadets go for a sortie from the airport as part of their training in the IAF.

Airport Director C Pattabhi said they were taking necessary precautionary measures while operating services. “We are allowing air ambulances from the airport after getting clearances from the Health and Police departments for shifting a patient or a body,” he said.
25/04/20  AuthorSrinivas M/Telangana Today

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IGI Airport's T3 to eventually open up for full fledged passenger operations

Accordingly, DIAL, which manages and operates IGIA may temporarily shut-down Terminal-2 and the T-1D.

"DIAL is assessing the quantum of domestic demand along with the Airlines, once the suspension of operations is lifted," DIAL's Chief Executive Videh Kumar Jaipuriar told IANS.

"Various options, including the potential of consolidating terminal operations, are being evaluated depending on the airline requirements as well as government notifications that maybe issued for time to time."

At present, T2 is exclusively being used by budget airlines such as SpiceJet, IndiGo and GoAir.

On the other hand, construction work was getting underway at T1 to further develop the termonal into an integrated domestic cum international gateway.

"Even during the ongoing suspension of commercial operations due to the lockdown, Delhi Airport continues to handle 25-30 operations per day - primarily cargo and evacuation flights. Also, as of now, there are no immediate plans to defer any ongoing expansion works," Jaipuriar said.
25/04/20 IANS/Free Press Journal

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Delhi airport gears up to handle post-lockdown challenges

New Delhi: Authorities at the Delhi airport are working round the clock to devise strategies on how they would handle passengers once the airport becomes operational after the lockdown ends.

The Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL) and GMR Group that run the Indira Gandhi International Airport say they are planning to deploy additional queue managers at kerb side (city side), check-in halls, security check areas and boarding gates. The idea is to maintain social distancing norms, they said.

Besides this, DIAL will also install auto-dispensing sanitisers at terminals.

"The Delhi airport is conducting training and assessments of key service personnel, run checks on major facilities, and performing risk evaluations to prepare for resuming operations," said Videh Kumar Jaipuriar, CEO, DIAL.

For the past few weeks, the airport operator has been conducting deep cleaning every day and a team of 500 professionals has been deployed to carry out frequent disinfection drive in the premises after every hour.

While domestic and international scheduled passenger flights have been suspended since the start of the lockdown in March, the Delhi airport has been operational. Every day several cargo flights and flights evacuating foreign nationals operate out of the airport. This has meant regular movement of people (though considerably less in number) at the airport.

Keeping this in mind, the Delhi airport has been conducting regular sanitisation of high contact surfaces such as desks, chairs, elevators, railings, CUSS, trolleys, handles, trays and baggage belts inside the terminals.

DIAL said this practice will continue even after the airport reopens. Apart from these, washrooms will be closed after every hour to sanitise all surfaces.
24/04/20 Poulomi Saha/India Today 

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72 hours of CCTV footage at 3 airports under scanner to check if Prashant Kishor took cargo flight to Kolkata

New Delhi: The government is probing if political analyst Prashant Kishor violated the lockdown and travelled to Kolkata in a cargo flight on the invitation of West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee, by violating the coronavirus lockdown. 72 hours of CCTV footages at three airports are under the scanner to check if Prashant Kishor took the cargo flight to Kolkata.

According to agency reports, the aviation authorities have sought footage from three airports Delhi, Kolkata and Guwahati to ascertain if Kishor indeed travelled to Kolkata.

"Air India, SpiceJet and BlueDart because in the last three days a total of nine cargo flights have operated from Delhi to Kolkata," news agency ANI quoted sources as saying.

The probe was initiated after reports emerged that Kishor had travelled to Kolkata after being summoned by Banerjee to develop a strategy to counter the central government-sent Inter-Ministerial Central Team (IMCT).

The IMCT was sent to Kolkata, Howrah, Medinipur East, 24 Parganas North, Darjeeling, Kalimpong, and Jalpaiguri districts to review the situation at ground zero in light of coronavirus.

"Political strategist Prashant Kishor has arrived in Kolkata via cargo flight after West Bengal CM has summoned him to counter the Central government's IMCT team. Prashant Kishore denies the report that he took a cargo flight to Kolkata to assist West Bengal government in creating counter-narrative to Bengal's poor handling of COVID-19 situation," a media report had cited.
24/04/20 Times Now

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Airports ground handling industry seeks stimulus to mitigate COVID-19 impact

Mumbai: Struggling in the face of the coronavirus outbreak, the domestic ground handling industry has sought stimulus package, including a moratorium on interest on borrowings, waivers on certain fixed costs and deferment of statutory taxes.

The Rs 4,000-4,500 crore ground handling industry, which heavily depends on airline operations, has lost as much as 90 percent of the business amid suspension of all commercial air passenger services due to the lockdown to tackle the coronavirus pandemic.

However, cargo and special flights have been kept out from the lockdown.
"I think it is also important for the government to have a very structured approach to such kind of situations. It has to be a balanced economic stimulus to everybody. We haven't got any stimulus except for advisory from the RBI to the banks to help us on a three-month moratorium, which is not enough.
"For a business which is already impacted over a year, we need at least a one-year moratorium on our cost to the banks," Celebi Aviation-India CEO Murali Ramachandran told PTI in an interaction.

Celebi, which commands 25 percent market share of the domestic industry, has the mandate to carry out ground handling business at Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Cochin, Ahmedabad and Kannur airports.
Pointing out that not many businesses can continue paying to their employees with no revenue coming in, Ramachandran said at a point of time it becomes imperative to have some sort of stimulus.
24/04/20 PTI/First Post

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CISF constable posted at Delhi airport tests positive for coronavirus

New Delhi: A Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) constable posted at Delhi's IGI Airport has tested positive for COVID-19, sources in the force said on Friday.

According to CISF sources, the patient has been shifted to an isolation ward in Jhajjar, Haryana.

According to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, so far Delhi as reported 2,376 positive cases including 808 cured or discharged cases and 50 deaths
24/04/20 New Indian Express

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Over 4500 foreigners in 25 relief flights departed from Goa Airport so far

Goa: Some 25 relief flights carrying more than 4,700 stranded citizens from various countries have departed from the Dabolim International Airport so far, Goa Airport Director Gagan Malik said.

"Team GOA takes pride in sending more than 4,700 passengers around world. It is a dedicated and selfless service of the AAI staff and other stakeholders," Malik told ANI over phone on Saturday.
The official stated that a B777-300 relief flight carrying 406 passengers on board departed from the Goa Airport yesterday night. "It was the 25th relief flight that took off from Goa Airport," he said.

Strict thermal screening and social distancing measures, undertaken to contain the coronavirus spread was maintained at every checking, pre-security and immigration post at the airport, the airport director said.

Hand sanitisers are made available at all key touchpoints on the ground and in the aircraft. Necessary arrangements including food and water are also provided for the passengers who mostly arrive early due to required protocols, the official said.
To contain the spread of the deadly contagion, which has infected more than 14000 people across the country, the Centre has restricted all national and international flights from operating in India. As a result, thousands of foreigners, mostly on a visit to India, remained stranded at various locations within the country. Domestic airlines, along with a few international relief flights, have evacuated most of them so far.
18/04/20 New Indian Express

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125 Bahrain nationals board special flight at Pune Airport

One hundred and twenty five Bahrain nationals from Pune and Mumbai boarded a special chartered flight to return to their home country from Pune Airport on Saturday afternoon, Pune Airport Director Kuldeep Singh said. However, one Bahrain national was detained in Pune and sent to a government hospital for screening as he showed a high temperature at the time of boarding.

The flight came to Pune Airport from Bahrain Saturday morning, took the passengers at the airport following screening by medical teams and then left for Chennai, where more passengers boarded the flight. The Gulf Air flight then left for Bahrain from Chennai International Airport, Singh said.
It was a special operation undertaken by the Ministry of Civil Aviation after obtaining the requisite approval from the Ministry of Home Affairs following a request from the Kingdom of Bahrain to the central government.

“These were people from Pune, Mumbai, Goa, Mangalore, Ahmedabad and other areas and included male and female students, tourists, those who came for medical treatment and others who were visiting India for business but were stuck after the lockdown. The flight took off from Pune Airport at 4.30 pm,” said Singh.

After the flight left for Chennai, the terminal building was sanitised, Singh said. The passengers were handled by personnel of the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), Department of Customs and Immigration authorities at the airport before boarding the special flight GF7753, A321.
18/04/20 Atikh Rashid/Indian Express

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Lockdown hits movement of air and sea cargo via Kochi, exporters lose Rs 4000 crore

Kochi: The COVID-19 outbreak and subsequent lockdown have severely hit the movement of cargo, especially via air. While the transport of cargo via Kochi airport has shrunk by nearly 70 per cent, the port too has reported lower movement of containers.

“We are doing only 15-20 per cent of normal air cargo operations now,” said A C K Nair, director of Cochin International Airport Ltd (CIAL). “Before the lockdown, around 200 tonnes of cargo moved via the airport daily. Following the lockdown and the closure of passenger airlines due to fear of contagion, air cargo operations plummeted to 30-40 tonnes,” Nair said.
Export of vegetables and other perishables, mostly to Gulf countries, account for the bulk of outgoing air cargo from the airport. The incoming cargo comprises medicines, kits and the like. With passenger services halted, cargo movement has been hit as more than half of the global air cargo volume is carried in passenger airlines. Flights carrying cargo to and from Kochi airport include Emirates, Fly Dubai, Qatar Airways and Spicejet.

At Cochin port, the movement of containers is normal, said Jimmy George, senior deputy traffic manager at the port.

“On Thursday, the Vallparpadam terminal saw a movement of 1,100 containers, against the normal figure of 1,300 containers. As far as the port is concerned, the cargo movements are normal,” he said.

“Of course, there are days when container movement is as low as 400. This happened during Easter and the Vishu days too,” he said.
Seafood, coir products and spices are among the major exports via the port, which, George said, receives goods from China.

“It takes a vessel 14 days to reach Kochi. Hence, there's no need to fear that they could bring the coronavirus with them,” George said, referring to the 14-day incubation period of the virus.
17/04/20  Rajesh Abraham/New Indian Express

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AAI distributes rice to people near Hollongi Airport at Arunachal Pradesh

Guwahati: The Airports Authority of India (AAI) under its corporate social responsibility (CSR) distributed about 7.2 tonnes of rice to the community heads of Chakma, Karbi and Niyishi people living near the Hollongi Airport at Arunachal Pradesh in the presence of Doimukh MLA Tana Hali Tara and Tasso Gambo, ADC, Balijan, Arunachal Pradesh on Saturday, stated a press release.

The CSR programme of AAI is focused on underprivileged families and the AAI is continuously working in this effort apart from developing aviation infrastructure in the northeastern region.

The AAI has taken a call to eradicate hunger in and around the area of Hollongi Airport and other stations/airports, especially during the nationwide lockdown. Supporting the district administration in the fight against COVID-19, funds provided by AAI will be utilised to procure rice and distribution to the public in and around Hollongi Airport, Arunachal Pradesh.
18/04/20 Sentinel

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GVK MIAL-managed Mumbai airport handles 8,500 tonnes cargo

Hyderabad: GVK Group-operated MIAL continues to relentlessly operate its cargo handling activities to cater to the greater need of mobilising and supplying essential commodities. Since March 23, CSMIA air cargo exported 5,200 tonnes of medicines, medical equipment, vaccines, diagnostic reagents, dangerous goods, engineering goods and chemicals while 3,324 tonnes of freight including high volumes of commodities such as pharmaceuticals, dangerous goods, engineering goods and chemicals, imported.

On an average, the airport witnesses 8 to 9 cargo flights per day and the export flights majorly operate to countries such as USA, Germany, South Africa, France and the UK. Also, scheduled freighters and ad-hoc cargo charters continue to remain operational. Furthermore, CSMIA air cargo has traded a total of 3,788 tonnes of pharma products within India and globally.
17/04/20 Telangana Today

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Mumbai airport handles 8,524-tonne cargo

Chandigarh: Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA), Mumbai, has exported 5,200 tonnes of medicines, medical equipment, vaccines, diagnostic reagents, dangerous goods, engineering goods and chemicals during the period of lockdown imposed to mitigate the threat of Covid-19.

At the same time, 3,324 tonnes of freight, including high volumes of commodities such as pharmaceuticals, dangerous goods, engineering goods and chemicals, have been imported through this airport. The airport has handled 8,524 tonnes of cargo during the lockdown period so far.

The export flights majorly operate to countries such as the USA, Germany, South Africa, France and the UK. Also, scheduled freighters and ad hoc cargo charters continue to remain operational. Furthermore, the CSMIA air cargo has traded 3,788 tonnes of pharma products within India and globally.
17/04/20 Tribune

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DIAL help needy people by distributing food among migrant workers

New Delhi: Besides handling cargo and special passenger flight operations, GMR-led Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL) has come forward with active support from Delhi Police to help needy people in the National Capital by distributing food among migrant workers.

Noting that migrant workers are most affected during the lockdown period, as survival is a big issue they are facing, the CEO of DIAL Video Kumar Jaipuriar said: “Keeping alive the spirit of Social Responsibility in these trying times, we have taken the initiative of distributing freshly cooked food among these workers and will continue till the end of the lockdown.” 

Officials of the company said, with effect from April 02, DIAL in coordination with GMR Varalakshmi Foundation (GMRVF) – the CSR wing of GMR Group, and the Delhi Police has started distributing food packets among migrant workers.

GMRVF and the Delhi police are ensuring the preparation and seamless supply of meal packets to these individuals spread across the national capital.
17/04/20 Tribune

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Ahmedabad: Two relief flights for US citizens depart from SVPI Airport

Ahmedabad: State-owned carrier, Air India, on Wednesday operated two relief flights from Ahmedabad to Mumbai to facilitate travel for American citizens, who were stranded in Gujarat. The airline facilitated the travel of some 161 US citizens along with five infants via two flights from Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International (SVPI) airport in Ahmedabad.

Air India flight AI-1632 departed at 4.30pm from the city airport and ferried some 71 passengers and two infants. On the other hand, AI-1634 departed from the city airport at 4.45pm and transported 90 passengers and three infants. Sources confirmed that these passengers will be connected to Atlanta, USA, via a special aircraft by Delta Air, which will depart from Mumbai.

These two flights are in addition to the relief flight of British Airways, BA-0117C, which also departed from the city airport around 3.30pm on Wednesday, to transport at least 240 British citizens from Ahmedabad to London.

16/04/20 Kapil Dave/Times of India

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Airports to close check-in early, boarding will occur row-wise

Mumbai: Airport check-in counters will now close an hour before departure, while boarding is to be carried out row by row from May 4 so that social distancing can be maintained and aircraft and passenger baggage can be sanitised thoroughly.

Airlines have till now followed a gate close time of 45 minutes before departure and ensure quick turnaround of aircraft, which will change to more time on ground for deep cleaning and sanitisation.

On Wednesday, GoAir said it would open check-in counters three hours before departure time and close them one hour prior. Boarding would be row-wise with middle seats kept vacant.
“These measures fully incorporate the recommendations of the DGCA along with some additional measures that the airline is proactively taking,” it said.

The airline announced a slew of measures as it prepares to launch flights from May 4. IndiGo too has officially announced a staggered resumption of flights from May 4. Air India, SpiceJet, Air Asia and Vistara too have opened bookings from May 4.

Strict social distancing would be enforced during check-in and boarding, and on aerobridges and buses.

Ground time between flights will be increased to allow cleaning and disinfection of all surfaces in the cabin, galley and restrooms of the aircraft which come in contact with crew or passengers.
16/04/20 Aditya Anand/The Hindu

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540 stranded Brits leave Amritsar in 2nd flight

Chandigarh: As many as 271 stranded British nationals left Amritsar for London in a chartered British Airways flight from Sri Guru Ram Das International Airport on Thursday.
On Monday, total 269 British nationals had flown out of Amritsar in a similar flight. The UK government has arranged five such flights from Amritsar airport to fly back stranded Britons. The remaining three flights are scheduled to take off from Amritsar on April 17, 18 and 19.
The over 1,000 Britons stranded in various districts of Punjab, had been complaining of poor or nil communication by UK authorities and overcharging by airlines.

Jan Thompson, acting British high commissioner to India, tweeted on Thursday: “Brits stranded in India: I will be announcing a further round of flights home shortly. Apologies again for not being able to respond to you all directly -@UKinIndia colleagues are helping to answer your queries on my behalf.”

Samina Sharma, 45, a senior housing liaison officer from west London, was elated as she found out on 14 April she and her husband had got a seat on the flight from Amritsar on Thursday. This happened after she made a formal complaint to the British high commission. She has been stuck in Amritsar with her husband since 12 March.

Sohila Kaur Rayarel’s father, Sorabjit Singh, 68, flew back from Amritsar on Thursday. He has diabetes and had been staying in ancestral village alone. Rayarel, who is in Watford, had been frantic with worry as he was unwell and running out of medicine.
16/04/20 Times of India

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Delhi International Airport to distribute food to migrant labourers during lockdown

GMR-led Delhi International Airport will distribute food to migrant labourers till the end of lockdown period, its CEO said on Wednesday. The company has come forward to help migrant labourers by distributing freshly cooked food among them.

"Keeping alive the spirit of Social Responsibility in these trying times, DIAL has taken the initiative of distributing freshly cooked food among these workers and will continue till the end of the lockdown," CEO,DIAL Videh Kumar Jaipuriar was quoted as saying in a statement. In addition, about 342 ration kits have been distributed over the last week with a target of serving to 1,000 migrant workers.

"These kits consists of atta (10 Kg), Oil (1 litre), Pulses (2 kg), Masala Packet (300 gms), Sugar (2 kg), and Salt (1 kg)," the statement said.
With 941 new cases the total number of confirmed cases of novel coronavirus in India mounted to 12,380 stated the data published by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Thursday.

Of these, 10,477 are active cases of COVID-19, 1,488 individuals have recovered and discharged from the hospital, one person migrated to another country and 414 people succumbed to the disease.
16/04/20 ZeeBiz

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Cargo operations resume at Calicut airport

Kozhikode: After a gap, several airline companies have resumed their freight operations from Calicut International Airport.

Airport Director K. Srinivasa Rao said that both domestic and international cargo operations are going to be in full swing in the coming days. Vegetables, fruits and medicines are being transported to Dubai and Muscat and other Gulf destinations.

Several airline companies such as flydubai have started operating cargo services to the United Arab Emirates. SpiceJet is also operating domestic flights to Mumbai and Chennai as well, Mr. Rao said.
The nationwide lockdown had abruptly grounded the operation of passenger flights at the airport from March 22. Freight from the airport had also remained suspended though the lockdown curbs were not applicable to cargo flights. However, Indigo and Air India conducted cargo services to Delhi and Mumbai till March 24.

Five passenger aircraft have been parked at the airport. “We are fully prepared to operate any flight for medical relief or evacuation,” Mr. Rao said.

Calicut airport, which is the seventh top international airport in the country, has an average monthly cargo movement of 2,360 tonne. Of this, 2,320 tonne is in the international sector.
15/04/20 The Hindu

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Over 3,700 stranded foreign national sent back through Mumbai airport: MIAL

AAI-GVK group-run Mumbai airport on Wednesday said it has helped transport more than 3,700 foreign nationals back to their respective countries, who were stranded due to the suspension of all commercial air passenger services amid the lockdown, with 20 repatriation flights in the last three weeks. Besides, during the same time the airport has also maintained seamless cargo operations and conducted close to 240 cargo services as well, Mumbai International Airport Ltd (MIAL) said in a statement.

Working in tandem with the stakeholders in the aviation industry and the respective embassies, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA) has facilitated the operation of flights carrying the stranded passengers from Mumbai to London, Atlanta, Frankfurt, Singapore, Paris and Tokyo among others, it said.


Following the directive issued by the Central Government to combat the coronavirus outbreak, all commercial passenger flights suspended in a bid to stop the spread of the global pandemic, the private airport operator said.

Furthermore, the Mumbai airport has recorded the highest number of exports and import delivery of cargo in a single day in India, MIAL said without sharing any specific numbers.
15/04/20 PTI/moneycontrol.com

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Indian Navy ensures the joint-user airfield at Vizag remains open 24/7

The nationwide lockdown, to prevent the spread of virus during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, has now been extended. As announced by the Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi, the lockdown is now in force till 3 May, 2020. The Indian Navy is also providing full support to the government’s preventive initiative by operating the airfield at Vizag. INS Dega, of the Eastern Naval Command (ENC), has ensured that the joint-user airfield at Vizag remains open round the clock. The manning of the airfield has been modified to ensure that all requisite safety services, and airfield facilities, continue to be available. This ensured that all special flights, as well as the cargo flight of SpiceJet, continued its operations unhindered. So far, 15 sorties of the cargo flights have operated since the lockdown has been enforced.
Further, the Indian Navy continued to maintain its operational vigil carrying out regular Maritime Surveillance missions by day and night in Vizag. The Dornier Squadron of the ENC, INAS 311, operating from the air station, has been undertaking regular maritime surveillance missions. Additionally, all other air assets have been kept mission-ready and prepared for immediate deployment should the need arise.

Meanwhile, the total number of coronavirus cases in Andhra Pradesh has soared to 502. As per the AP Health, Medical, and Family Welfare Department, a total of 19 new COVID-19 cases have been reported as on Tuesday morning. Out of the 502 positive cases, 475 are active cases undergoing treatment.16 patients have been discharged so far while the death toll in the state rose to 11.
15/04/20 Yo! Vizag

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CSMIA Facilitates The Evacuation Of Over 3700 Passengers Over 21 Days

To help stranded foreigners return to their home countries during these challenging times, GVK-MIAL’s Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA) evacuated over 3700 passengers with 20 repatriation flights between 25th March – 14th April 2020.

Working side-by-side with the aviation community and the respective embassies, CSMIA has facilitated the operation of flights carrying the stranded passengers from Mumbai to London, Atlanta, Frankfurt, Singapore, Paris and Tokyo amongst other international destinations.

CSMIA has taken all the precautionary measures to ensure passenger safety while boarding and arriving at the airport. The airport has put up a stringent screening process right from the time passengers enter the airport to the time they board their flight, and the same process has been implemented for the arriving passengers as well. Post the government announcing the lockdown in India following the coronavirus outbreak and suspension of commercial passenger flight, the airport has been operating with a curtailed staff and working endlessly to handle cargo flights, charter flights, military aircraft and freighter services.
15/04/20 T3

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PPE suits for CISF personnel deployed at airport

New Delhi: All Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) security personnel who frisk passengers at airports will be provided personal protective equipment (PPE) suits once commercial flight operations resume in the country, a senior official said.

The force has procured about 500 pieces and is in the process of obtaining more.

Attempts are also being made to "improvise" raincoats with the help of medical experts so that security personnel deployed for other tasks in and around the terminal area can use them to prevent coronavirus.

"All our security personnel who frisk passengers at airports will wear PPE suits. We have about 500 pieces of them at present and more will be procured," CISF Special Director General (SDG) and head of airports security M A Ganapathy told PTI.

Other force officials present in the security hold area will have adequate number of personal masks, hand sanitisers and shoe covers, he said.
15/04/20 Outlook

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Reach 2 hours early with masks and gloves, vacant seats: CISF plans new airport rules post lockdown

New Delhi: Amid the coronavirus pandemic in India and the subsequent lockdown forcing the airlines to remain grounded, the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) has suggested a new set of rules for air passengers post lockdown.

In the new plan submitted to the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA), CISF said that when flight operation resumes "passengers reaching timing at the airport two hours before their flight timing with proper protective gear eg; mask, gloves, and sanitisers."

CISF also urged the civil aviation ministry that sanitiser bottles can be also placed at every exit and entry gates of the airports for passengers and employees.

Flying with a seat vacant between every two people could be the 'new norms' for air passengers when schedule commercial flights resume, CISF said in the new plan.

According to the officials, the plan is under consideration and the idea behind it is to seek staggering flights to avoid crowding at airports at any time.

"We have proposed a new plan incorporating necessary precaution in view of the change of circumstances due to COVID-19. This has been sent to the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) for consideration," GA Ganapathy, Special Director (Airport) of CISF, told ANI.
Further, CISF advised all the airlines that, airlines make it clear for the passengers to whom so ever booking tickets they should give details of their home/self-quarantine history.

If any passengers flying after quarantine history, CISF will screening them in isolation checking point where CISF officers are covered full personal protective equipment (PPE) suit. Airlines crew will offer sanitisers to every onboard passenger, as per the plan.
14/04/20 Jagran

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GMR gets letter of award for Bhogapuram airport

Hyderabad: Infrastructure major GMR on Monday said its subsidiary GMR Airports Limited (GAL) has received the letter of award (LoA) from the AP government for the development and operations of the greenfield international airport at Bhogapuram. The first phase capacity of the airport is slated to be six million passengers per annum.

GAL had emerged as the highest bidder for the public private partnership (PPP) project in February 2019 with a fee of Rs 303 per passenger offered as a share of revenue to the government. The other two bidders — Doit Smart Infrastructure India Pvt Ltd and GVK group — had offered Rs 261 and Rs 207 per passenger, respectively.

The PPP project involves design, build, finance, construction, development, upgradation, modernization, operation and maintenance of the greenfield international airport at Bhogapuram for a period of 40 years, which is extendable by an additional 20 years through international competitive bidding process, with GMR having RoFR (right of first refusal) of 10%.

The first phase of the project is slated to be completed in 36 months after commencement of work at a cost of around Rs 2,300 crore, as per estimates. Though initially the airport was to be developed on nearly 2,700 acres of land, the AP government in March this year decided that it will give GMR group only 2,200 acres for the project, with the remaining land to be developed by the state government.

In calendar year 2019, the existing civil enclave at Vishakapatnam Naval Airfield handled 2.78 million passengers and 4,400 tonnes of cargo. Over the past five years the passenger traffic at Vizag airport has grown at a rate of 21%, while it ranks fifth among the custom airports in India in terms of cargo traffic, GMR said.
14/04/20 Times of India

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Surat airport expansion works continue amid lockdown

Surat: Even though the domestic and international flight operations have been suspended due to the lockdown, it has not deterred the Surat airport authorities from completing the critical infrastructure project related to the expansion of the existing terminal building.

Engineers and team of more than 50 construction workers are working under the guidance of the senior airport officials to ensure that the foundation work of the terminal expansion project is completed before the monsoon season.

“Completing the foundation work for the terminal expansion project before monsoon is crucial. After the lockdown was announced, we consulted our engineers and they showed their willingness to complete the work in the time bound manner,” said airport director, Aman Saini.

“We are taking utmost care of the construction workers and the engineers who are working at the site. The construction workers have been given shelter in the airport premises and they are regularly screened and provided with medical assistance on regular basis. The social distancing guidelines and safety measure are being strictly followed at the site,” he added.

The expansion of the terminal building at the cost of Rs 350 crore was approved by the Airport Authority of India (AAI) following the growth in the passenger traffic from Surat airport over the last two years. Against the present capacity of the existing terminal building to handle 500 peak hour passengers, the passenger traffic has crossed 4,000 per day.

14/04/20 Times of India

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511 Bhutanese, Brits fly home from Amritsar, Chandigarh

Amritsar/Mohali: Bhutan and the United Kingdom evacuated their stranded nationals in Punjab in separate flights for Paro and Heathrow from Amritsar's Guru Ram Das International Airport and Chandigarh International Airport on Monday.
Amrirsar airport director Manoj Chansoria said a Drukair flight with 134 Bhutanese nationals left for Paro at 12pm. Later, British Airway's flight carrying 269 British nationals left for Heathrow at 3.39pm. On April 7, 300 NRIs from the Unites States and Canada were evacuated by their respective nations in two special flights from Amritsar.
Meanwhile, a chartered plane of Drukair took off from Chandigarh International Airport for Paro with 108 Bhutanese nationals, mostly students.
The evacuation plan was operationalised according to the standard operating procedures and by taking all necessary precautions for handling passengers. CISF, IAF, Immigration authorities Air India and Punjab police provided required support for smooth operation of flight.
14/04/20 Times of India

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Lockdown hits new terminal building work at Tiruchi airport

The nation-wide lockdown clamped to check the spread of COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the construction work of the new integrated passenger terminal building at Tiruchi international airport.

Civil works, which had been proceeding on a brisk pace until the lockdown was announced late last month, were suspended following the enforcement of the prohibitory orders.

Airports Authority of India officials here said the construction works had been suspended at the project site adjoining the existing terminal building barring some skeletal ones.

About 600 labourers from north-Indian States such as Bihar and Jharkhand were deployed for the construction of the new two-level modular integrated passenger terminal building. The workers were housed close to the project site.

The Airports Authority of India had allocated ₹ 950 crore for the mega project that also included construction of an apron and a technical block-cum-air traffic control tower. The officials said the works had to be suspended as a precautionary measure in the wake of the lockdown announced to check the spread of COVID-19 pandemic.

The mega project which commenced in late 2018 following sanction of funds and upon obtaining all clearances was being carried out under the supervision of the Airports Authority of India.

The new terminal building is coming up on over 60,000 square metres near the existing terminal building. Officials exude hope that the suspension of the works in view of the current lockdown could be made up once it was lifted. The project was scheduled for completion in October 2021. However, they feel that if the lockdown was extended, it could impact the completion time.
14/04/20 The Hindu

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Delhi Airport's Effort to Transport Medical Supplies, Foreigners Amid Coronavirus Lockdown is Praiseworthy

At a time when the national lockdown has paralysed the transport industry, the national capital's IGI Airport has emerged as a vital tool in the country's efforts to restock key medical supplies across the country and to repatriate foreigners.

The 21-day-long national lockdown which has been deemed necessary to curb the spread of COVID-19 has dealt a heavy blow to commerce, leading to a temporary closure of shopping malls, dine-in restaurants, grounding of aircraft, shutting down of factories and deserted market places.


Nevertheless, IGI Airport has been a busy place, as employees are unhindered to make the key infrastructure facility functional, thereby, allowing repatriation of stranded passengers and to connect India with the global supply chains via cargo ops.

Currently, commercial domestic and international flights are banned since March 25, 2020.

According to Delhi International Airport's CEO Videh Kumar Jaipuriar: "At present, Delhi Airport is handling cargo and evacuation flights, operated by various countries."

"DIAL employees from operations, housekeeping, ARFF, apron control, etc. along with CISF, ATC among others are working round-the-clock to keep the airport operational in this hour of crisis," Jaipuriar told IANS.

The Delhi International Airport Limited is the company which operates and runs IGI Airport, which is a hub of major domestic airlines such as Air India, IndiGo, Vistara and SpiceJet.

In terms of numbers, the Delhi Airport from March 25 to April 10 and counting has handled over 68 evacuation flights allowing over 12,383 stranded foreign nationals in reaching their homes.

These flights were to be operated by countries like US, UK, Canada, Japan, Norway, Germany, Afghanistan, Poland, Russia, France to repatriate their nationals stranded in India due to lockdown.

National passenger carrier Air India repatriated foreigners from here and Mumbai.

The airline has also opened an air bridge between India and China from IGIA.

However, it is the cargo section of the airport which has seen massive action lately.

The cargo terminal and associated facilities at IGIA have been operating in full swing to support the Centre in handling and processing essential commodities, especially healthcare and medical supplies.

At present, Delhi Airport is handling 20-22 cargo flights per day including non-scheduled operations, with freighters arriving from destinations like Doha, Paris, Hong Kong, Shenzhen, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Incheon.

This operation has enabled the import of essential supplies like Masks, Medicines, Medical equipment, Test kits, Reagents and other supplies and the numbers are staggering.

Since the lockdown came into force, more than 19 lakh pieces of Face Masks, two lakh bottles of Sanitizers, 1.5 lakh PPE Kits and 50,000 other medical equipment have been channelized across India till date.

In addition to the international cargo flights, Delhi Airport has witnessed 3-4 chartered aircraft movements per day for handling medical equipment and relief material to and from Patna, Varanasi, Guwahati, Nagpur and Vadodra.
13/04/20 PTI/News18.com

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Two more AI flights evacuate US citizens

Hyderabad International Airport handled two more special passenger charter relief flights of Air India to evacuate 165 US nationals from here on Sunday.

The first special flight of Air India, an Airbus A 320 aircraft landed at 2.13 p.m. from Mumbai and departed with 82 US-bound passengers (81 adults and one infant) at 3.15 p.m. to Mumbai. The second special flight of Air India, also an Airbus A 320 aircraft landed at 2.54 p.m. from Mumbai and departed with 83 US-bound passengers (82 adults and one infant) at 3.51 p.m. to Mumbai.

Both operated as domestic flights and passengers were serviced from the main terminal building. As per the itinerary, passengers were to be further connected with Delta Airlines from Mumbai to their final destination. The evacuation was done by the US Consulate in coordination with the TS government.
Special screening and safety measures were in place during the flight’s handling to protect against the COVID-19 threat including thermal screening prior to terminal entry, mandatory social distancing enforced through special queuing arrangements at all passenger processing points, said an official spokesman. A select group of airport personnel drawn from the operations, air traffic control, CISF, ground handlers and others were available to ensure safe and seamless departure of the passengers.
12/04/20 The Hindu

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RGIA handles two special flights to evacuate 165 US nationals

Hyderabad: The Hyderabad International Airport on Sunday handled two special passenger charter relief flights of the national carrier-Air India, to evacuate 165 US nationals from the city.

As per the itinerary, the first special flight of Air India, an airbus A 320 aircraft landed today at Hyderabad International Airport at 2.13 pm from Mumbai and departed with 82 US-bound passengers including an infant, at 3.15 pm to Mumbai. The second special flight of Air India landed here at 2.54 pm from Mumbai and departed with 83 US-bound passengers including an infant, at 3.51 pm to Mumbai.

Both the flights operated as domestic and passengers were serviced from the main Passenger Terminal Building of GMR Hyderabad International Airport. As per the flight itinerary, the passengers were to be further connected with Delta Airlines from Mumbai to their final destination in the US.

In coordination with the US Consulate and the Telangana government, the US-bound passengers started to reach Hyderabad International Airport between 12 noon and 2 pm from various parts of the city. All these passengers were serviced through the fully-sanitized main passenger terminal building, which has been kept ready for evacuation operations.

Special screening and safety measures were in place during the flight’s handling to protect against the Covid-19 threat including thermal screening prior to terminal entry, mandatory social distancing enforced through special queuing arrangements at all passenger processing points, a press release said.
12/04/20 Telangana Today

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Rethinking The Airline Hub

The Corona pandemic continues to wreak havoc across the aviation industry. Demand has evaporated overnight and is expected halve, entire countries have closed their skies, and governments are considering a host of measures when the skies are reopened. The situation is grave and the aviation industry is bracing for impact. There are tectonic shifts that will become the new normal post the pandemic. Chief amongst these is the obsolescence of the airline hub concept.
Read how >>

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Hyderabad Airport wears a deserted look

Hyderabad:  The usual hustle-bustle of passengers and screaming noise of landing and taking-off aircraft is missing for more than 15 days at Rajiv Gandhi International Airport, one of the busiest airports in the country which has now turned into a virtual parking lot for the flying machines.
About 50 aircraft belonging to various airlines can be seen parked at parking bays near the main runway, which remains operational to handle evacuation and cargo flights.
Aircraft of Air India, IndiGo, Vistara, GoAir and a couple of international airlines are seen parked in several rows.
The swanky airport, located at Shamshabad, about 30 km from the city, was handling 550 air traffic movements and about 60,000 passengers daily before COVID-19 induced lockdown came into effect last month.

Billed as the world’s third fastest-growing airport in the category of 15 million passengers in the world, it is also the best-connected airport in the south and central India, connecting 55 non-stop domestic destinations.
Airport sources told IANS that ever since the lockdown came into effect, all activity related to passenger operations came to a halt. However, the skeletal workforce continued to report for duties every day for essential services like maintenance of ACs, data server, security and sanitation.
“We can’t shut the airport. We have to maintain certain systems so that they don’t collapse and remain ready whenever the flight operations resume,” they said.
Air Traffic Control (ATC) and Air Navigation staff are also attending the duties as the airport continues to handle evacuation and cargo flights. “Employees are passing through thermal screening and all safety measures are being taken,” they said.
11/04/20 Siasat

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Delhi Airport now a hub for movement of healthcare, medical supplies across India

Amid the lockdown imposed to help contain the spread of coronavirus, the cargo terminal and associated facilities at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) have been operating in full swing to support the Government of India in handling and processing essential commodities, especially healthcare and medical supplies.

While passenger flight movements have been suspended with effect from 25th March 2020, cargo freighters continue to operate in and out of the Delhi Airport to date.

Delhi Airport is handling 20-22 cargo flights per day (including non-scheduled operations), with freighters arriving from destinations like Doha, Paris, Hongkong, Shenzhen, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Incheon.

Delhi’s Air Cargo supply chain has geared up during this lockdown period for handling a significant number of cargo freighters that are bringing essential supplies like Masks, Medicines, Medical equipment, Test kits, Reagents, and other supplies. This also includes adequate staff from Cargo Terminal Operators, CISF, Customs, Ground Handling, Airlines, and DIAL coming to the Cargo Terminal Offices and Processing Centre to ensure seamless operations round the clock.

Ever since the lockdown came into force, around 19 lakh pieces of face masks, two lakh bottles of sanitizers, 1.5 lakh PPE Kits and 50,000 other medical equipment have been channelized across India to date.

The distribution of essential cargo across India has been possible in conjunction with freight flights of Air India and Indian Air Force LifeLine, who have connected even to far-flung areas of the northeast like Dimapur in Nagaland and Imphal in Manipur, as well as other cities like Mumbai, Bangalore, Vijayawada, Cochin, Hyderabad, etc.

In addition to the Cargo Flights, Delhi Airport has witnessed ~3-4 Chartered Aircraft movements/day for handling medical equipment & relief material to and from Patna, Varanasi, Guwahati, Nagpur, and Vadodra. This number is expected to increase to 8-10 flights per day, basis necessary approvals obtained by the respective operators.
Additional warehouse space of ~5,000 square meters is being created at the airport for holding import cargo.

With two state-of-the-art integrated cargo terminals and the Transhipment Excellence Centre at the airside that helps in the smooth and efficient movement of cargo, Delhi airport is emerging as a transshipment hub for India’s neighbours.
11/04/20 Nivriti Mohan/DNA

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Chennai International Airport facilitates smooth customs clearance for two relief, evacuation flights

Chennai: Chennai International Airport on Friday facilitated smooth customs clearance for two relief/evacuation flights.

"On 10.4.2020 Friday Customs at Chennai International Airport facilitated smooth customs clearance for two relief/evacuation flights. Scoot Tiger Airlines flight TR-0579 carrying 248 passengers to Singapore left Chennai Airport at 01.20 hrs early morning," according to a release by Rajan Chaudhary, Commissioner of Customs, Chennai International Airport.

"DRUK AIR- Royal Bhutan Airlines flight KB603 which was handled by Air India, carrying 80 passengers to Paro (Bhutan) left Chennai Airport at 1310 hrs," the release said.

Chaudhary said that Customs had earlier facilitated eight special relief/evacuation flights, carrying 1304 foreign nationals to Kuala Lumpur, Paris, Frankfurt and Muscat during COVID -19 lockdown while taking care to follow all precautions.
11/04/20 New Kerala

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AAI donates Rs 10 lakh each to all northeastern states

Guwahati: The AirportS Authority of India (AAI) under its CSR scheme has donated Rs 10 lakh each to every state government in the northeast, said Sanjeev Jindal, the regional executive director of northeast region.
"This fund will be utilized to procure PPEs, protective kits and equipment for health workers and hospitals in the states. As these bravehearts are fighting against the virus, we are always with them and will continue to help them in whatever manner we can," Jindal said.

He added that AAI in the northeast region has identified 10 airports where 500 families from a poor background who live near these airports will be provided 5 kg of rice each. "We are equally worried for the anganwadi workers and will be contributing Rs 25 lakh for Manipur and Rs 20 lakh for Rani block in Assam with the help of UNDP-UNICEF. AAI in total has donated Rs 15 crore under CSR funds and out of this, Rs 3 crore is for the northeast region," Jindal said.

The employees of AAI have contributed their - ranging from a minimum of three days' to one month - to the PM Cares Fund. All the airports in northeast are prepared to fly commercial flights from April 15, Jindal said.

"Regarding resumption of commercial flight services from April 15, the final decision is yet to be taken by the Centre and by the ministry of civil aviation. But our airports in northeast are ready to cater to all the services as per normal practice with all the precautions in place and sanitization of airport premises, including the passenger terminal building," he said.

07/04/20 Times of India

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500 unsung heroes keep Delhi's IGI safe

New Delhi: With no domestic or international flight operations due to the 21-day lockdown, the Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) is wearing a deserted look, probably for the first time since it has become operational. However, almost 500 personnel are staying on the premises and still on duty every day to sanitise and disinfect each item inside the airport.
Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL), which manages the airport, said that though commercial operations had been halted, special flights — ferrying stranded citizens of various countries — were still functioning, making it essential to sanitise every item in the area after each operation.
“When almost everyone is in the safe environs of home following the nationwide lockdown due to Covid-19, some unsung heroes are working round the clock,” said the DIAL spokesperson.

They are in a way leading a “quarantined life as they are not even going back home to meet their families,” he added.

The team functioning 24x7 includes staff dealing with trolleys, sanitisation, security, airport rescue and firefighting, airside operations, inline baggage and landside management.

DIAL is, meanwhile, also preparing for resumption of commercial operations with social-distancing lines being drawn inside and near counters. “They have been marked with yellow colour,” said an airport official.

After international flights were suspended on March 22, domestic operations came to a grinding halt on March 24 at 11:59pm. While more than 10 evacuation flights have been operated during this period by India to ferry its stranded citizens abroad, it also handled 29 flights (between March 25, 2020 and April 2, 2020) in which about 5,751 stranded foreign nationals flew to their country of origin from the IGI airport. The biggest aircraft used was an Airbus 380 by Lufthansa, which flew around 500 Germans to Frankfurt.
07/04/20 Jasjeev Gandhiok/Times of India

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Delhi Airport handles over 50 evacuation flights in past 14 days; remains operation despite lockdown

New Delhi: The AAI-GMR group joint venture-run Delhi Airport on Tuesday said it has handled over 50 evacuation flights, transporting over 10,000 stranded foreign nationals to their respective countries, till date since the implementation of 21-days lockdown.
Since the suspension of all commercial passenger aircraft operations, Delhi Airport has been operational 24x7 despite suspension of commercial operations, due to the 21-day lockdown following the coronavirus outbreak, said Delhi International Airport Ltd (DIAL) CEO, Videh Kumar Jaipuriar said.

In the last 14 days, the airport has remained functional to handle cargo and evacuation flights, operated by countries like Japan, Norway, Germany, Afghanistan, Poland, Russia and France to repatriate their nationals stranded in India due to lockdown, DIAL said.

“At present, Delhi Airport is handling cargo and evacuation flights, operated by various countries. We have handled around 56 evacuation flights and helped over 10,600 stranded foreign nationals in reaching their homes in the last 14 days since the lockdown has come into force," he stated.
07/04/20 PTI/Outlook

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Cargo Plane With COVID-19 Essentials Lands At Mysore Airport

Mysuru: The outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent nation-wide lockdown has stalled domestic and commercial flights. Still the skies are buzzing with regular cargo flights to transport critical medical equipment and supplies.
Several small airports in India including the Mysore Airport at Mandakalli have been earmarked as Lifeline UDAN Airports that will facilitate transport of medical cargo and other essential supplies across India at the time of the Covid-19 crisis. These small airports that were operating flights under Ude Desh ka Aam Nagarik (UDAN) scheme have become a hub of medical transport in a war-like situation.

According to a press communiqué released by Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) yesterday, as many as 116 flights and choppers have already been operated by Air India, Alliance Air, IAF, Pawan Hans and private carriers under Lifeline UDAN.

As per plan, one Air India Dornier plane landed at Mysore Airport at 11.45 am today and carried medical cargo. However, the details of the cargo and the shipping location have not been disclosed by the Airport authorities. The aircraft left Mysuru at 1 pm.
06/04/20 Star of Mysore

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500 unsung heroes keep Delhi's IGI safe

New Delhi: With no domestic or international flight operations due to the 21-day lockdown, the Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) is wearing a deserted look, probably for the first time since it has become operational. However, almost 500 personnel are staying on the premises and still on duty every day to sanitise and disinfect each item inside the airport.
Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL), which manages the airport, said that though commercial operations had been halted, special flights — ferrying stranded citizens of various countries — were still functioning, making it essential to sanitise every item in the area after each operation.

“When almost everyone is in the safe environs of home following the nationwide lockdown due to Covid-19, some unsung heroes are working round the clock,” said the DIAL spokesperson.

They are in a way leading a “quarantined life as they are not even going back home to meet their families,” he added.

The team functioning 24x7 includes staff dealing with trolleys, sanitisation, security, airport rescue and firefighting, airside operations, inline baggage and landside management.

DIAL is, meanwhile, also preparing for resumption of commercial operations with social-distancing lines being drawn inside and near counters. “They have been marked with yellow colour,” said an airport official.
After international flights were suspended on March 22, domestic operations came to a grinding halt on March 24 at 11:59pm. While more than 10 evacuation flights have been operated during this period by India to ferry its stranded citizens abroad, it also handled 29 flights (between March 25, 2020 and April 2, 2020) in which about 5,751 stranded foreign nationals flew to their country of origin from the IGI airport. The biggest aircraft used was an Airbus 380 by Lufthansa, which flew around 500 Germans to Frankfurt.
07/04/20 Jasjeev Gandhiok/Times of India

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