Showing posts with label Airports Dec 2008. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Airports Dec 2008. Show all posts

Tuesday, December 30, 2008

BIAL soars towards greater heights

India is on the verge of witnessing a sustained investment in infrastructure build up. The strong population growth in India and its active economy are generating enormous pressures to modernise and expand the country’s infrastructure.
The opening of the Bengaluru International Airport in May this year represented a new start in Indian aviation with regard to the experience of the passenger on the ground.
Despite the challenge of the redesign process taking place after half the construction was complete, the project was well on track and was ready for operation within its deadline of a record 33 months.
The airport takes pride in the fact that today it acts as a key influencer of the city’s changing landscape in multiple ways that are both apparent in terms of the passenger experience as well as to the states economy. Various segments of the airport viz. cargo, airlines, employees and concessionaires are all impacted by the presence of the airport and largely benefiting from its functioning.
The airport today employs over 5000 people proving to be one of the fastest growing employers in the city. Of this number, the airport operator, BIAL itself has employed over 700 employees. Over half of these are locals while the remaining are aviation experts and veterans from across the country.
31/12/08 ExpressBuzz

New terminal building proposed for Port Blair airport

Port Blair: A new integrated passenger terminal building will come up adjacent to the existing terminal of the Veer Savarkar Airport here to handle both International and domestic flights, a senior official said.
The proposed modern and spacious new terminal to be developed by the Airport Authority of India would have the capacity to handle one thousand passengers per hour, Airport Controller, R.S.D. Cruz said.
The total project cost of the proposed terminal is estimated to be about Rs 322 crore, Cruz added.
30/12/08 PTI/The Hindu

Aerotropolis: WBIDC wants coal study

Kolkata: The West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation has instituted an independent study by Tata Engineers to see whether the coal reserves in the area earmarked for the proposed airport city in Andal can be mined. According to state commerce and industries secretary, Mr Sabysachi Sen, the land for the airstrip is not “negotiable but there can be discussions with Coal India on relocating the rest of the township including real estate". The state government has recently issued Section 4 notice for acquiring 2,700 acres of land of the total 3,500 acres required for the project. Coal India has been raising objections against the project on grounds that the area has vast coal reserves.
29/12/08 The Statesman

Fog disrupts flights at Bengaluru Airport

Bangalore: The thick blanket of fog in Delhi has disrupted flight operations at the Bengaluru International Airport (BIA) for the second consecutive day.
Five fights on the Bangalore Delhi route were delayed on Tuesday for about oneand- a-half hours, while three flights belonging to Indian Airlines, Kingfisher and Jet Airways were cancelled, said BIA officials.
On Monday, 21 flights on the Delhi-Bangalore route bound for the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) airport, at New Delhi got affected. However, flights were normal after 8.30 am.
Officials said that in the next few days, the fog across North India can put flights in disarray, upsetting the travel schedule of air travellers on New Year eve.
Important fog-related information Som e q u i c k FA Q s answered When is fog anticipated at the BIA? Fog is anticipated from November 15 to February 15, between 03.00 and 08.30 IST.
What type of fog occurs at the BIA? The fog most likely to occur at the BIA is known as “radiation fog”. It is formed on clear, still nights when the ground loses heat by radiation and cools down. The ground, in turn, cools the nearby air to saturation point, forming in fog. Ideal conditions for the formation of radiation fog are light winds, clear skies, low temperature and presence of adequate humidity.
31/12/08 ExpressBuzz

Fog in Delhi clogs up

Mumbai: Heavy fog cover over New Delhi since early Monday morning led to 14 flight diversions even as many other flights got delayed by several hours.
Till 5 pm on Tuesday, 14 flights headed for the capital’s Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGI) had been diverted. Six of these were diverted to the Mumbai airport.
Among the Delhi-bound flights from the city’s Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport (CSIA), there was an average flight delay of four hours.
Delhi-bound flights that were diverted to Mumbai include British Airways flight BA143 that landed on Mumbai’s runway at 4:16 am on Tuesday. Other flights include two Jet flights (9W547 & 9W581), a Go Air G8375, a Swiss Air SU533 from Moscow and an Aeroflot flight 533 from Muscat that landed in Mumbai at 3 am.
According to a spokesperson of the Mumbai International Airport Limited, six Delhi-bound flights had to be diverted to Mumbai because of dense fog over Delhi. Because of this, the airport had to operate under low visibility procedures (LVP) for over 13 hours. The Delhi-bound Go Air flight G8375, that was supposed to take off from Mumbai at 2.09 pm, had to be diverted back to the CSIA because of fog over the national capital.
31/12/08 Shashank Shekhar/Indian Express

No job cuts under new ground handling policy

New Delhi: It is a good news for about 8,000 airport staff handling jobs of baggage movement, other than taxiing, refuelling and cleaning of the aircraft. The civil aviation ministry will instruct new ground-handling service providers to absorb the existing staff while recruiting new set of people. The staff, working with various airlines, feared a job loss following the implementation of a new policy that barred private carriers to engage in the ground-handling due to security reasons.
“We have discussed the issue of job loss with the airline sector. We will ensure that existing staff of private carriers would be absorbed by the three ground-handling operators, as proposed in the policy,” a senior official in the civil aviation ministry, who wished not to be named, said. Fearing that multiple agency undertaking ground-handling services may pose a security threat, the ministry of civil aviation framed a new ground-handling policy that bars private airlines such as Jet Airways, Kingfisher and IndiGo from this job. The proposed policy allows only three agencies in one airport — the national carrier Air India, the airport operator (such as Airports Authority of India, GMR and GVK), and one private agency selected through bidding.
The ministry is expecting that re-deployment of the ground-handling staff may see only 10% job cut. Meanwhile, the government has postponed the implementation of the new ground-handling policy. The new system will be in place after March, instead of the original schedule of January 2009. Association of airline companies, Federation of Indian Airlines (FIA), had said that policy could not be implemented immediately without retrenching about 8,000 staff.
30/12/08 Nirbhay Kumar/Economic Times

HC grounds airlines employees’ hopes

The hopes of at least 50,000 airline employees came crashing down on Monday, after Bombay High Court refused to grant a stay on the September 2007 circular, issued by the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), asking airlines to choose one ground handling agency through competitive bidding by the airport operator.
Employees’ unions of Gulf Air, British Airways and Saudi Arabian Airlines had moved court, challenging the government policy of outsourcing such services to third parties on a revenue-sharing basis. On Monday, their counsel DD Madon argued that ground realities would also have to be considered prior to the implementation of this circular as the livelihood of thousands was at stake. Out of 50,000 foreign airline employees, 17,000 are employed at the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport.
The vacation bench of Justice Roshan Dalvi and Justice RP Sondurbaldota were of the view that it was a question of national security, and the DGCA had the right to take every necessary step to ensure that.
“When they (airline employees) got their livelihood, somebody might have lost theirs. These are contractual requirements,” Justice Dalvi said. The court said that the staff could continue with their job until the DGCA was in a position to take complete charge of ground-handling operations. Asking the Mumbai International Airport Limited and other respondents in the case to file their replies, the court adjourned the hearing till February 2.
30/12/08 Mayura Janwalkar/Daily News & Analysis

200 flights hit by airport fog

New Delhi: Air-travellers stranded at the Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) got their first real taste of the season’s nightmare - fog-related delays - with airport visibility reduced to less than 10 metres.
Nearly 200 flights, domestic and international, were delayed by several hours. For five hours there were no take-offs and only two landings.
At least 19 flights were cancelled and eight (three domestic and five international) had to be diverted to other destinations - Mumbai, Jaipur, Lucknow and Ahmedabad.
At least 50 flights had to be rescheduled.
There’s more bad news. The IGI Met Department has predicted almost identical similar weather conditions for Tuesday.
Fog started enveloping the airport by 7 pm on Monday. “Visibility was down to 600 metres and the Runway Visual Range (RVR) to 1300 metres. With dense fog over large parts of North India, winds in Delhi are still weak. Category-III fog will is expected from 2 am to 11 am on Tuesday, again disrupting flights,” R K Jenamani, Director in-charge, IGI Met department, said.
On Monday, normal visibility dipped to below 50 metres and the the RVR went below 100 metres for at least 11 hours (from 1.15 am to 12 noon). During this period, only CAT III- compatible aircraft could operate.
Between 6 and 11 am, a Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL) spokesperson said, all flight operations, barring two arrivals, were suspended as runway visibility was down to zero.
30/12/08 Expressindia.com

AAI appoints Rites to conduct feasibility study of 32 non-operational airports

The Airport Authority of India (AAI) has appointed M/s Rites as consultant to carry out the feasibility study for AAI’s 32 non-operational airports. The airports included in the study are: Akola, Hadapsar and Kolhapur in Maharashtra; Asanol, Balurghat, Behala and Malda in West Bengal; Chakulia in Jharkhand; Khandwa, Satna and Panna in Madhya Pradesh; Cuddapah, Donakonda, Vellore and Warangal in Andhra Pradesh; Deesa in Gujarat; Jogbani, Muzaffarpur and Raxaul in Bihar; Jhansi and Lalitpur in Uttar Pradesh; Bilaspur in Chhattisgarh; Khowai, Ksilasahar and Kamalpur in Tripura; Passighat in Arunachal Pradesh; Rupsi and Shella in Assam; Jharsuguda in Orissa; Turial (Aizwal) in Mizoram and Mysore and Hassan in Karnataka.
AAI has also worked out a master plan for the development of Jharsuguda Airport in Orissa. It plans to develop the project in different phases and has requested the Orissa state government to allocate 815 acres of land for the development of the airport.
29/12/08 Anish V Punnackattu/TravelBizMonitor

Flyers vent ire on airline staff

New Delhi: With delays as long as eight hours and no information from airlines to bank on, passengers at the IGI Airport were a harassed lot.
Most vented their ire by screaming at airline staff but passengers of a Spice Jet flight to Jammu simply refused to get off the aircraft after their flight was cancelled.
SG851 from Mumbai to Jammu and Srinagar was supposed to land in Delhi at 8 am but due to the fog, the aircraft first waited in Mumbai and later was diverted to Jaipur. When the flight landed in Delhi from Jaipur at 1.15 pm, its onward journey to Jammu was cancelled due to bad weather over the region. Of the 20 passengers who were headed for Jammu, some of them refused to get down from the aircraft and stayed inside for over an hour, demanding to be sent to their destination. They finally left only on being assured that the airline would provide them with hotel accommodation.
It wasn't only in Delhi that passengers spent 2-8 hours sitting in the aircraft. With the airport almost non-operational for close to five hours, several flights coming in from other cities also had to wait for almost 2-3 hours before they got clearance from the ATC. Sunil Singh, who landed in Delhi from Lucknow at 1.30 pm, said his flight was to land in Delhi at 11.30 am but since the aircraft from Delhi did not reach Lucknow, another aircraft that was flying from Bangalore to Delhi was diverted to Lucknow from where all passengers were brought to the Capital. Another couple who were to reach Delhi at 8 am, finally landed from Mumbai at 1.30 pm. Some flights that were scheduled to take off in the morning were delayed till the evening. Many who were waiting at the airport since morning complained that the airlines only informed them about cancellations after they had spent several hours at the airport.
30/12/08 Times of India

CM launches Kolkata airport upgrade project

Kolkata: The CM, Mr Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, today said that after industry, infrastructure development was the state's main thrust area. He was laying the foundation stone of development and modernisation of NSC Bose International Airport this afternoon.
The “Look East Policy” will be frustrated if there is no infrastructure development. He said: “Investments from Japan, China, Singapore and Indonesia are coming and good infrastructure is a must for sustainable development. Roads should be widened and we want a deep sea port for the industrial growth of the state,” he said. The pressure on Dum Dum Airport has been increasing and its modernisation has been a long standing demand of the state. He thanked Union minister for state for civil aviation Mr Patel and the external affairs minister, Mr Pranab Mukherjee, for taking up the issue with the Centre.
The chief minister maintained that the state government had started acquiring land for an airport in Andal. He urged Mr Patel to take initiative for an airport in Cooch Behar. He regretted that no company had shown any interest till now and said that there should be two flights per week to Cooch Behar to start with and the number of which can be increased depending on the demands of passengers. Mr Bhattacharjee said no one knew when the global recession would end “but we cannot sit idle and we must carry on with the development of infrastructure.
29/12/08 The Statesman

Three years on, airport visibility instrument awaits implementation

New Delhi: It's been three years since Delhi airport installed CAT III B — an instrumental landing system that enables flights to land even when visibility is down to 100 metres. But it hardly serves any purpose because most airlines have not bothered to train their pilots or equip their aircraft to make use of it.
Air India is the only exception. It has trained pilots and equipped planes. But most private airlines have been avoiding an expenditure of Rs 12 lakh per pilot as fee to make their fleet fog-worthy as most international airlines are.
Two airlines, Jetlite and Spicejet, have no trained pilots at all. And untrained pilots isn't the only problem. India's largest private airline, Jet Airways, can't operate domestic flights in CAT III B conditions because its Boeing 737-family aircraft used within the country are only CAT III A compliant, which means they can land or take off with a trained pilot only when visibility is at least 200 metres.
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has made it an annual ritual at fog time to issue stern warnings to airlines that if they don't train their pilots by next winter they will not be allowed to fly to Delhi, where fog in winter is the most severe. Yet it has never followed up its threat with action.
Airlines claim it costs a lot ^ both monetarily (Rs 12 lakh) and in terms of taking the pilot off from regular duty for the training ^ to prepare him or her for CAT III B.
30/12/08 Saurabh Sinha & Neha Lalchandani/Times of India

Fog swamps IGI for 6 hours

New Delhi: The season's thickest fog hit Delhi late on Sunday night, throwing air schedules haywire and once again exposing the aviation ministry's hollow claims of being prepared for the yearly mess. The Delhi airport was virtually closed from 5.30am to 11am as visibility was hovering below 100 metres.
This had a cascading effect all day long — and possibly will extend on Tuesday too — with 19 flights being cancelled and almost all 650-odd flights that operate from IGI daily being delayed by anywhere from one to eight hours.
Train schedules were hit badly too with around 96 trains running late while 13 were either cancelled partially or entirely. While 11 trains left late from New Delhi railway station, six Rajdhanis were running late by 4-5 hours.
The worst part, however, is yet to come. The Met department has predicted a similar fog situation for Tuesday. With fog setting in by 8pm on Monday, there was a possibility that flights that had left the city during the day might not be able to return due to low visibility problems.
Secondly, with almost 80-90% of the pilots who flew on Monday having spent most of their working hours sitting in the cockpit, waiting for clearance to take-off, they exhausted their flight duty limitations. On Tuesday, therefore, airlines were worried about the non-availability of pilots, especially the CAT III trained ones.
Meanwhile, from 5.30am to 11am on Monday, only eight flights — six international and two domestic — could land using the highly sophisticated CAT III B system that allows planes to land when visibility is between 75 and 100 metres.
Low visibility procedures were in place for 11 hours and 35 minutes — from 1.10am to 12.45pm, making it the longest-ever single stretch of dense fog in the past two years. While visibility started improving after 11am, the huge backlog with a majority of flights not being CAT III B compliant meant a massive problem for passengers.
30/12/08 Times of India

Dhoni stranded for hours at Sanganer

Jaipur: Indian cricket skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni was stranded for hours at the Sanganer airport when his Jet Airlines flight enroute to Delhi got delayed due to bad weather on Monday. Dhoni was scheduled to board the Jet flight No. 373 at 2.15 in the afternoon. However, the flight was delayed for three hours due to a dense fog cover before it arrived at 5.15 pm. Meanwhile, he had changed his travel plans and booked a ticket on Spice Jet to Kolkatta.
"Dhoni was scheduled to fly for his home town Ranchi tomorrow morning from Delhi. However, when he learnt that fog may interrupt flights from Delhi on Tuesday. He decided to fly to Kolkatta so that he could reach his home on time," said an airport official. During his stay at the airport he was surrounded by his fans requesting for his autograph.
Meanwhile, half a dozen other flights got delayed for hours leaving hundreds of passengers stranded leading to chaos at the airport. "Most of the flights to Delhi got delayed due to bad weather. Some flights didn't take-off for the capital due to the low visibility," an airport official said.
Most of the passengers stranded at the airport were tourists. They alleged that airlines were not informing the passengers on the status of flights. This caused great inconvenience for them. Interestingly, the airport at Jaipur can accommodate only 300 passengers at a time. It was not prepared to handle any additional passengers traffic.
30/12/08 Times of India

Jet's Delhi flight cancelled

Patna: The poor visibility in Delhi had its impact on flight operations in Patna on Monday. Jet Airways had to cancel its Patna-Delhi flight.
"We had to cancel the flight due to bad weather in Delhi," a Jet official said and added that the flight would not operate on January 1 as well due to operational reasons.
Air India's two flights between Patna and Delhi too got affected due to foggy conditions in Delhi and both these flights reached here over three hours behind schedule.
Even the Kingfisher flight between Patna and Delhi got delayed and according to information available at the time of filing this report, the flight was expected to reach here three hours behind schedule.
30/12/08 Times of India

Ban PIA flights at Mumbai airport, demand protestors

Mumbai: The residents of Sahar Village along with the members of Mitra Mandal, a non-governmental organisation, staged a protest against the recent terror strike on Mumbai at the Chhattrapati Shivaji International Airport in the city on Monday.
The protestors urged the airport authorities to ban all aircraft of the Pakistan International Airlines from taking off or landing at the airport. It also urged airport workers to refuse to undertake any work such as loading, unloading, ground handling and catering of PIA flights.
29/12/08 Rediff.com

Monday, December 29, 2008

Alert pilot averts collision

Chennai: Nearly 150 people on Kingfisher Airlines Airbus IT 212 had a narrow escape on Sunday after another aircraft crossed its path while it was taxiing on the runway before takeoff at the IG domestic airport in New Delhi, said a passenger.
“The Delhi-Bangalore flight, scheduled at 3.10 pm was delayed by 30 minutes and began taxiing around 3.40 pm. Minutes later, as we watched from the window, another aircraft crawled across the runway in front of our plane, barely 50 metres away,” said Avinash Kumar, manager, Bosch.
“The pilot probably applied the brakes and prevented a collision. Screaming air hostesses told us to keep our heads down,” Kumar told Express.The IT 212 was brought back to base and the thoroughly shaken up passengers got down.
The plane finally left Delhi at 5 pm and reached Bangalore two hours later, said Kumar.
There was no official word on the aircraft that had crossed the IT 212’s path.
29/12/08 Shobha Mathur/ExpressBuzz

Flight operations at IGI airport come to a standstill

New Delhi: Flight operations at the Indira Gandhi international airport here came to standstill this morning as heavy fog enveloped the national capital with about 35 flights being delayed, three cancelled and two diverted to Mumbai.
Train services in and out of railway stations here as also road traffic within Delhi were also affected due to the heavy blanket of fog surrounding the capital.
The general visibility at the IGI airport fell below 100 metres and runway visibility range (RVR) dipped to less than 50 metres, below the required minimum of 100 metres for flight operations.
This led to disruption in arrival and departure of flights, airport sources said, adding that the delayed flights included four on international routes.
Heavy fog enveloped the IGI airport at around 04.00 am forcing the authorities to divert two international flights -- Royal Jordanian Airlines from Amman and Jet Airways' Dubai-Delhi -- to Mumbai, they said.
Two Jet Airways' and one GoAir domestic flights were cancelled.
29/12/08 Press Trust of India

Aerotropolis: CM, Praful meet on Monday

Durgapur: The fate of the proposed Aerotropolis project at Andal will be decided at a meeting between chief minister Mr Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and Union civil aviation minister Mr Praful Patel on Monday.
Mr Patel's meeting with Mr Bhattacharjee has become more significant after the Union coal ministry's fresh suggestion to shift the project to a non-coal bearing zone. Union minister of state for coal, Mr Santosh Bagrodia, in a letter on 19 December to Mr Patel stated: “It would be prudent to ensure the availability of such energy source (coal) by not constructing infrastructure facility on coal bearing areas and to take steps to develop these on the adjacent non-coal bearing zones. Intervention in the matter of proposed location of the aero-complex at Andal is to be reviewed, keeping in the view the enormous demand for domestic superior grade coal and thermal coal from Raniganj Coalfields for various industries and proposed power plants mainly in West Bengal.”
The state power minister, Mr Mrinal Banerjee, however seemed unperturbed with the fresh letter from the coal ministry. He said: “Our plants are forced to run with acute coal shortage throughout the year. But there must be several alternatives to tackle the situation. This entire industrial hub has immense underground coal reserves. Then would it be worthy to remove the factories, colonies and localities to help Coal India to extract coal? As far as my knowledge goes, the CIL didn't have plans to mine the proposed Aerotropolis site. They have started debating only after the Aerotropolis project was given clearance.”
28/12/08 Kanchan Siddiqui/The Statesman

Aerobridge accident victim operated on

New Delhi: Eight-year-old Varunabh Bhatnagar, who injured himself after falling from an aerobridge at the IGI Airport on Thursday, underwent surgery late on Saturday night in a private hospital in South Delhi. As per sources at the hospital, Varunabh had responded well to the neurosurgery. The boy had been crossing over the aircraft onto the aerobridge when the accident occurred and had developed a clot in his brain after the fall. He had been admitted to the hospital on Friday.
Meanwhile, Etihad Airways, the airline on which the boy and his family had travelled back to Delhi, clarified the aerobridge had been fixed properly to the aircraft and efforts were on to determine what had caused the fall. They also added the duty manager and two ground handling staff members were present at the site when the incident occurred. However, unable to explain the reason for the accident, they said investigations were on.
29/12/08 Times of India

Sunday, December 28, 2008

Hijack threat: CISF steps up security at all airports

New Delhi: With the Centre receiving intelligence inputs about terrorists' plan to hijack a plane or take control of non-functional airports or abandoned airstrips for aerial attack, the CISF has further heightened security at all airports where its personnel are posted. It has also held consultations with state police to beef up the perimeter security.
The civil aviation ministry has also alerted states and UTs over proper security of non-functional airports. CISF, in turn, on Friday briefed home ministry officials about the measures being taken by it.
CISF, an official said, had been on high alert ever since it received intelligence inputs earlier this month suggesting terrorists' gameplan of using the air route. "The civil aviation ministry has circulated some instructions to all the airports," home minister P Chidambaram told reporters after the Cabinet meeting on Friday. He, however, did not elaborate.
All airports across the country have been on a state of high alert with civil aviation secretary M Madhavan Nambiar writing to states and UTs to secure all airports and airstrips under their jurisdiction. There are about 340 airports and airstrips in the country, many of them non-functional. A large number of these airstrips are of World War II vintage.
Besides securing the airports, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) and the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) have also issued instructions for additional layers of personal and hand-baggage checking before a passenger boards an aircraft. They have also given directions that the strength of sky marshals be increased and they should be put on more flights, rather than on the already identified sectors like those in Jammu and Kashmir and the North-East.
With Lok Sabha elections nearing and the use of helicopters increasing, the DGCA will soon issue a new set of security guidelines for helicopter operators to report mandatorily to the local police before making landings at any unscheduled place.
28/12/08 Times of India

Boy falls from aerobridge, severely hurt

New Delhi: In yet another case of gross negligence at IGI Airport, an eight-year-old sustained severe head injuries after he reportedly fell off the aerobridge - a height of about 11 feet - while trying to cross on to it from the aircraft on Thursday.
The victim, being treated at a private hospital in south Delhi, has been diagnosed with a clot in his brain and is scheduled to undergo surgery soon.
According to sources, Varunabh Bhatnagar had arrived in Delhi from Abu Dhabi with his parents on an Etihad Airways flight, EY-218. At 8.04pm, when he was exiting the aircraft, an Airbus-320, he fell through the gap on the side of the aerobridge. Sources said that the aerobridge may not have been properly attached to the aircraft or the door of the aircraft had not been opened properly. No airline staff was present to assist passengers.
Neerja Bhatia, country manager India and Sri Lanka, Etihad Airways, said: ‘‘We are working closely with the airport authority to establish the exact cause of the unfortunate incident. We are talking to the family and have offered our support.’’
The boy was rescued by the maintenance personnel of a private ground handling agency and rushed to the medical unit at IGI Airport. There were no external injury and he was discharged.
A CT scan of the boy revealed that he had a clot in his brain for which he required immediate surgery. The hospital confirmed to TOI that the boy had sustained the clot due to the accident and required neurosurgery.
28/12/08 Neha Lalchandani/Times of India

More to flight delays than fog

New Delhi: Fog on December 24 and 25 saw as many as 310 delays in departing flights from the IGI airport. However, contrary to popular belief, not all of them were due to air traffic congestion or the fog. As many as 39 flights were delayed on these two days due to technical snags and operational issues, compared to 15 fog-related delays.
According to Delhi International Airport (P) Ltd (DIAL) sources, several of these delays were due to reasons like a prolonged flight inspection, cleaning of the aircraft, late arrival of the food trays etc. "In the 310 delays on these two days, the majority were due to unknown reasons. However, from reasons that have been analysed, late arrival of aircraft from origin station saw the maximum delays, followed by technical delays and airline operational issues and then by fog-related causes. A major reason for operational delays also could be the non-availability of stand-by crew in case the flight duty hours of one set of crew expired,'' said sources. On Christmas eve, seven flights were delayed by 15-30 minutes due to technical reasons while eight flights were delayed by half an hour to 45 minutes due to the same causes. Three flights were delayed by up to an hour due to operational issues.
On Christmas, of the 19 flights delayed due to technical reasons, 11 were delayed by 15-30 minutes, five by 30 minutes to 45 minutes and one each by an hour and an hour and 15 minutes.
Airlines accepted that flights were delayed due to several reasons, fog being just one of them.
28/12/08 Times of India

Navy delayed Dabolim airport expansion: Panel

Panjim: A parliamentary committee headed by Syed Shahnawaz Hussain has faulted the Navy for delay in the renovation and expansion of Goa’s Dabolim airport, according to a report in Deccan Herald.
In its report, the parliamentary committee on petitions said that it is “anguished to note that the expansion of the Dabolim airport was delayed owing to the non-transfer of a piece of land measuring 2.52 acres by the Navy, since they claimed that the land handed over earlier by the State government to the Airports Authority of India (AAI) belonged to them.”
As per the instructions of the State Chief Secretary, a detailed inquiry by the director of transport had concluded that the Navy’s claim could not be supported by the available revenue records and therefore, they should immediately transfer the land to the AAI. The parliamentary committee endorsed this in its report.
The Ministry of Civil Aviation had granted Rs 500 crore for upgradation of the airport, but the work was delayed due to this dispute. The Dabolim airport is located in INS Hansa, the naval air base and, except for the civilian terminal, most of its facilities belong to the Navy.
The AAI maintains a civil enclave of 26 acres of land. The Navy is entrusted with traffic control. Based on a request from the AAI, the State government gave them the land, but the dispute followed.
28/12/08 Herald

Saturday, December 27, 2008

Tirupati airport put on high alert

Tirupati: With escalating tension at the Line of Control and likelihood of war between India and Pakistan, every security apparatus has been put on alert, more so at the airports in the country.
Tirupati airport, located at Renigunta, 15 km from here, has a strategic importance, owing to its close proximity to SHAR at Sriharikota (Nellore), NARL (National Atmospheric Research Laboratory) and above all Lord Venkateswara Temple in Tirumala.
Every day, several VIPs visit the holy shrine and the quickest access is air service. On average 350 passengers arrive and depart from the airport and it will be 50 to 100 more during festival occasions.
Currently, only 4 flight services are being operated with cancellation of two services by Kingfisher Airlines recently.
Security at the airport, which falls under purview of CISF is tight and has been intensified after Mumbai terror episode. A strong contingent of CISF is stationed at the airport, which falls under Category II security.
It was after Alipiri bomb blast, that he category of security status has been increased from II to II.
Security aspects of the airports are generally looked after by the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security and in times of war, an office from IAF station in Arakonam is deputed at the station.
Tirpuati falls under purview of Air Defence Identification Zone of Arakonam.
27/12/08 ExpressBuzz

Gulf Airways flight makes emergency landing at Kolkata airport

Kolkata: A Bahrain-Dhaka flight of Gulf Airways made an emergency landing at the NSC Bose International airport in Kolkata on Friday due to fog in Bangladesh capital.
The pilot of the flight (GF41) with 284 passengers on board sought permission for unscheduled landing in Kolkata at 3 am due to dense fog at Dhaka airport, airport sources said.
The plane would fly to Dhaka at 8.30 am on Saturday. Officials said the pilot decided to stay put as the situation at Dhaka airport did not improve till later in the day.
One flight each of Air India Express and Jet Airways too were delayed by two and three hours respectively to fly from Kolkata to Dhaka on Friday.
26/12/08 PTI/Times of India

New software set to improve flight safety

New Delhi: When dozens of airplanes jostle for space over the busy skies of Delhi and Mumbai, there are bound to be flight delays.
Factor in weather conditions and the situation can often become quite tense for both pilots and the air traffic controllers who guide their movement. A momentary lapse of concentration can prove fatal.
At any given point in time, air traffic controllers at busy airports like Delhi and Mumbai handle close to 40 flights. But despite stress and workload, existing radars and navigational software to assist the controllers is far from being the best.
"To err is human is a phrase that's not applicable to air traffic management," said D K Behera, General Secretary, ATC Guild of India.
A new air traffic management software currently tested in Mumbai and Delhi promises to change the scenario.
"We have procured the new software from Raytheon," said D K Behera.
The new system to be installed by next March won't be able to reduce air traffic congestion delays but it will greatly improve flight safety.
26/12/08 Sandeep Phukan/NDTV.com

Cases against woman for possessing bullets

Coimbatore: A case has been registered against a woman from Meerut in Uttar Pradesh for possessing two bullets in her baggage, while travelling to Delhi, police said today.
According to police, bullets, used in pistol, were found in the baggage of one Vandana Bansal, while it was being checked at the city airport yesterday.
Vandana, who was to travel by a Jetlite flight to Delhi, is said to have told the police that her husband was possessing a pistol licence and the bullets might have been placed inadvertently in the luggage. Police also confirmed with the husband, who faxed the copy of the licence,the sources said.
After verifying, she was allowed to continue her journey, police said. However, a case has been registered.
26/12/08 Chennai Online

Couple caught using fake passports

Bangalore: A couple from Gujarat trying to travel to Canada on fake passports were detained on Thursday morning at Bengaluru International Airport.
Ashish Patel (30) and his wife Sonal Patel (29) arrived in Bangalore on Thursday morning and wanted to board Jet Airways flight 9W 132 for Toronto. During immigration clearance, they were caught by officials. The passports were issued in the name of Riyaz Sultan Ali Gilani and his wife Mosina Riyaz Gilani. They were handed over to BIA police station and remanded to judicial custody.
The foreign section officials in the city police commissionerate detected a Malaysian national, who illegally overstayed in the city after her visa expired. Luy Yan Ting was produced before the magistrate, given one day simple imprisonment and fined Rs 10,000. She was deported to Malaysia.
27/12/08 Times of India

Kolkata airport to get new wings

Kolkata: After a prolonged delay over the execution of the Kolkata airport modernisation project, Civil Aviation minister Praful Patel will visit Kolkata to lay the foundation of the project on December 29.
“The project is finally on track after a few delays,” said SPS Bakshi, Executive Director (Project), Airports Authority of India (AAI). CPM sources said the project had been witnessing hurdles after the party withdrew its support to the UPA government. Bhoomi pujan of the project was supposed to take place during Durga Puja but got delayed.
Dum Dum MP Amitava Nandi had met AAI member (planning) V K Agarwal earlier this week to discuss the project and upgrade the infrastructure of the surrounding areas. Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee had also taken initiative for early implementation of the project.
Earlier, the civil aviation minister had said the project was delayed due to constant objections from the Planning Commission.
Developer of the project, an Italian-Thai infrastructure development company, has already begun mobilising equipment at the airport. The project includes construction of a 1,80,000 sq m integrated terminal to accommodate 24 million passengers by 2010, extension of the secondary runway, construction of rapid exit taxiways and aprons etc.
27/12/08 Indian Express

Report charts out airport's flight path

Mohali: The city's dream of flying high is getting down to brass tacks now. PricewaterhouseCoopers, the firm appointed to provide consultation for Mohali's international airport project, submitted its preliminary report to the civil aviation ministry last week. The report recommends that other than passenger flights, the airport should also be used for cargo planes transporting flowers, agro products and garments. It mentions that the project will be completed in two phases by 2012 and Airport Authority of India (AAI) will bear the cost of construction as the other two partners in the venture - states of Punjab and Haryana - have already paid for the land.
Taking the security aspect into consideration, no private players will be involved in the project. The report also defines the roles of three partners - Haryana, AAI and Punjab's nodal agency for the project Greater Mohali Area Development Authority (GMADA).
It states that around Rs 500 crore will be spent on construction activity.
The report mentions that while agro-products and garments will be exported from Punjab, goods from Haryana too can be transported from the airport, adding this will necessitate the creation of adequate parking space for trucks at the proposed site.
It also recommends making provisions for sewage treatment, water and electricity. The report points towards the need for Punjab and Haryana laying a road network linking to the airport at the earliest.
Sources say the report talks of taking special security measures for the airport.
27/12/08 Anand Bodh/Times of India

Delhi airport battles fog

New Delhi: Extreme weather like fog and rain often play spoilsport with flight schedules especially at Delhi and Mumbai, the country's busiest airports. In such conditions most passengers are lucky if they make it on time. But most end up with delays, or worse, cancelled flights.
But for Air Traffic Controllers responsible for guiding planes across the sky, adverse weather can be one of the biggest challenges.
"Every morning the ATC looks up at the sky and makes up his mind if it is going to be a tough day ahead," said D K Behra, General Secretary, ATC Guild of India.
Most aircraft require a minimum of 800 meters of visibility to make a safe landing. That would mean shutting down Delhi airport for several hours during foggy days when visibility falls below that.
But recently, the Capital got the advanced CAT3b landing system that allows planes to land even when visibility is just 50 meters.
Till recently, only Air India, Kingfisher and Indigo had the Cat 3b system and plilots were trained to use it. Recently, Jet airways also equipped some of its planes. But most planes flying in and out of the Capital still cannot use the system, which means a scramble when the weather clears.
27/12/08 Sidharth Pandey/NDTV.com

Fliers protest as heavy fog delays flights

Mumbai: Thick fog at Sharjah on Thursday upset the travel plans of passengers who were to fly there from Mumbai airport. Two Air Arabia flights, which were to take-off from the city were delayed, as the aircrafts arrived late.
The flight scheduled at 9.45 pm on Thursday was delayed by almost six hours. The other took-off at 6.45 pm on Friday instead of 4.35 am. "The passengers were stranded inside the airport till the time they were intimated that the flight won't take off for at least six to seven hours,'' said a security officer.
According to security officers, while most passengers went to accommodation provided by the airline, 38 stayed inside the terminal. Some even tried to prevent other passengers from boarding Air Arabia flights to other destinations, they added.
However, many passengers were subsequently accommodated on other airlines' flights to Sharjah.
Air Arabia confirmed the delays.
27/12/08 Chinmayi Shalya/Times of India

Friday, December 26, 2008

States told to secure 350 airports

New Delhi: In an unprecedented exercise to secure Indian airspace, the Government has ordered that all possible security loopholes be plugged at every airport and airstrip, many of them located in remote corners and little known places across the country.
The exercise, launched in the wake of the slide in ties with Pakistan after the Mumbai Terror attacks, is intended to thwart any attempt by terrorist groups to hijack these facilities for carrying out aerial strikes.
A detailed list of 326 unmanned, abandoned or mostly unused airports and airstrips has been sent by the Civil Aviation Ministry to all state governments with the instruction that district administrations be directed to “closely monitor and regularly check all such airstrips in their respective jurisdiction”. A separate list of 32 airports, managed by the Airports Authority of India but not operational, has also been circulated.
The Centre has cautioned the states that the list is not exhaustive. “District authorities may also be directed to undertake thorough verification of all such airstrips in their jurisdiction including those not mentioned in the two lists,” states the letter sent by Civil Aviation Secretary M Madhavan Nambiar to all chief secretaries.
All state governments have been asked to submit an action taken report by the end of January.
Intelligence inputs after the Mumbai terror attacks warned of the possible use of unused airstrips by terrorist organisations, prompting a review at the “highest level” of the security set-up in airports across the country. On the table were measures to prevent any intrusion into Indian airspace and any misuse of airstrips by terrorists or subversive elements. Defence Minister A K Antony also held consultations with chiefs of all the armed forces to take stock of the preparedness to thwart possible misuse of airspace.
Many of these airports lie in strategic areas in Jammu and Kashmir, Rajasthan and North-Eastern states while others are located in little-known places like Iradatganj in UP, Panga in West Bengal, Nagda in Madhya Pradesh, Parsoli in Gujarat and Phaltan in Maharashtra.
Included in the list of abandoned or unused airstrips are those owned by IIT Kanpur, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, Banaras Hindu University and the Sri Sathya Sai Trust of Puttaparthi.
26/12/08 Amitabh Sinha/Indian Express

Foreign airlines’ staff challenge new ground handling policy

Mumbai: Employee Unions of Gulf Air, British Airways and Saudi Arabian Airlines have challenged a notification issued by the Airports Authority of India (AAI) and Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) disallowing foreign airlines’ employees from handling ground services at any of its airports from January 1, 2009. This would lead to job losses for over 50,000 workers, the unions fear.
According to the petitioner unions, the DGCA’s circular dated September 28, 2007, and the AAI notification dated October 18, 2007 — to be effective January 1, 2009 — lays down that airlines cannot employ their own staff for ground handling, or cannot engage outside agency at the six major airports (Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai, Hyderabad, Banglore). Simultaneously, it also makes it clear that only domestic airlines can handle the ground services at the other airports. Consequently, the foreign airlines ground handling staff working at Indian airports will be rendered jobless from January 2009, petitioners have said.
The unions have challenged the circular before the Bombay High Court as it prohibits self-handling system, wherein airlines employ their own staff for ground handling tasks. Ground-handling work involves passenger check-in, cleaning, aircraft handling, fuelling, baggage handling, boarding and passengers disembarkment.
The DGCA, however, has said in its affidavit before the HC that the decision was taken by the government after deliberations “to provide ground-handling services of international standards in a competitive environment, balanced by the paramount considerations of aviation safety and security.”
26/12/08 Economic Times

Five-day drill to foil hijack

Calcutta: A team of elite National Security Guard (NSG) commandos has been conducting counter-hijacking operations at the Calcutta airport as part of a security overhaul to foil any terror strike.
Civil aviation ministry sources said the drill by the 176 commandos started on Tuesday and will continue till Saturday.
“The commandos are here to get a feel of the topography of the airport and the various types of aircraft that operate from there. It’s part of a nation-wide exercise that includes the four metros,” an official in the civil aviation ministry said today.
The official, however, clarified that the mock exercise at Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport was not linked to the Centre’s plan to set up an NSG base in each metro following the Mumbai siege.
Of the commandos involved in the anti-hijacking operations, 50 are permanently stationed in Calcutta and the rest arrived on a special aircraft on December 23.
“These 50 commandos will move to some other location and a new set will come in,” said an airport official.
Sources said the drill involving various types of aircraft is being held in the evening at hangar 14.
“An empty aircraft is being moved out of the hangar to the bay, where the commandos are playing out various tactics to neutralise hijackers. A crucial component of the operation is entering the aircraft unnoticed,” said an official.
26/12/08 The Telegraph

MADC gets environment clearance for Nagpur power plant

New Delhi: Maharashtra Airport Development Company Ltd (MADC) has obtained the environment clearance for its proposed power plant at Nagpur.
Maharashtra government-owned MIDC would invest Rs 349.20 crore to build the coal-based captive power unit. The company is dealing with Airports Authority of India (AAI) is developing the country's first multi-modal international cargo hub and airport in Nagpur.
"Due to the letter of comfort given by the Maharashtra government that coal shall be met from the coal allocation made by the coal ministry, the environment clearance is being issued as a special case to the proposed power plant. This may not be quoted as a precedence for other projects as ministry by and large doesn't issue environmental clearance without firm coal linkage," an environment and forest ministry official said.
The proposed power plant of 100 megawatt by MIDC has so far no direct coal linkage. The plant will get coal from Wardha Valley Coalfields and will have a maximum sulphur content of 0.45% and ash content upto 40%. The proposed multi-modal air cargo hub aims at taking advantage of the central location of Nagpur. The project consists of two parts namely international airport to act as a cargo hub and a special economic zone with residential zone covering a total area of 40.25 square kilometre.
26/12/08 Nirbhay Kumar/Economic Times

Badal seeks PM’s help for Central nod to aerotropolis

New Delhi: Punjab chief minister Prakash Singh Badal has sought Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s help to secure the Centre’s approval for setting up an aerotropolis, or an airport city, near Ludhiana. The project is estimated to cost about Rs 25,000 crore. An aerotropolis is a city developed around an airport — like Changi airport in Singapore and Beijing capital international airport in China — focused on aviation-related businesses.
“Bengal Aerotropolis Project (BAPL), who is the promoter of this project, had made a presentation to me, subsequent to which a memorandum of understanding has been signed with Punjab State Industrial Development Corp (PSIDC) on May 23 for the development of this aerotropolis,” Mr Badal told the prime minister in a letter.
BAPL has already submitted its proposal to the civil aviation ministry for approval. “Through this letter, I place before you the request of Punjab state for an expeditious clearance of this project,” the letter says. According to the Centre’s new greenfield airport policy, the ministry of civil aviation is the nodal agency for giving clearances for construction of any aerotropolis project.
“As the proposed site for the airport city is in close proximity to the armed force base, the proposal is currently under consideration of the defence ministry,” a civil aviation ministry official, who did not wish to be named, said.
26/12/08 Nirbhay Kumar & Rajeev Jayaswal/Economic Times

Four fliers held for breach of security

Mumbai: Four passengers, who were on their way to Dubai, were arrested on Thursday at the international airport for breach of security. They had allegedly put fake check-in security stamps on their registered luggage.
Two of the accused, Mohammed Abdul Majid (43), Jaan Mohammed Wahab (49) were to board an Air India flight while the other two, Bayar Mohammed Ashraf (47) and Ibrahim Mohammed Ismail (40) were to travel by an Emirates Flight.
"The passengers somehow managed to obtain the airline tape and sealed their check in luggage themselves. The airline security personnel suspected foul play as most bags are sealed using machines,'' said senior inspector of Sahar police station, Dilip Patil. The police seized 1,300 Nokia batteries and more than 1000 chargers from one of the bags. The police also found 15,000 betel leaves in one of the bags.
All the four were handed over to the police by the airport security and have been booked under various sections of IPC.
26/12/08 Times of India

Thursday, December 25, 2008

Are Air Traffic Controllers overworked?

They perform a vital role in ensuring our flights are safe. Away from the public eye, the air traffic controllers work round the clock to ensure the safety of a flight.
The ATCs are crucial to ensure planes travel safely. Without getting in each other's way, these men and women are constantly on line with the pilots directing them where to go.
But has India got enough of these air traffic cops to handle the growing amount of flights?
With a quantum jump in the number of aircrafts, Delhi and Mumbai are among the biggest airports in the country handling anything between 600-800 aircraft everyday.
From a 125 flights a day eight years ago, Delhi and Mumbai have seen a 600 per cent jump in air traffic. And there simply aren't enough ATCs.
The hiring has now begun but it will take a good five years of on-the-job training to become a proficient controller.
The problem is compounded by a growing rate of attrition. In Delhi, recently four experienced air traffic controllers have quit for better paying prospects abroad.
25/12/08 Sidharth Pandey/NDTV.com

Pilots not trained to land in Delhi's fog

Winter is here and so is the fog situation that adds to every traveller's worries year after year. Delhi is the worst-hit, despite crores of rupees spent on installing state-of-the-art CAT 3 system. Ironically Delhi is the only city in India with CAT 3 compliant systems that allow pilots to land in near zero visibility.
But it's not the fog alone that is to be blamed. Airlines facing a severe cash crunch can't afford to spend lakhs on training pilots on the new CAT 3 system.
Flights are being delayed, connections missed and airlines are even cancelling their destinations.
"This is completely wrong. The airlines should at least inform us," said Madhur, a passenger.
So, why is the same story repeated year after year?
It costs between Rs 8 to 10 lakhs to train each pilot on CAT 3. It's no surprise then that despite directives from the civil aviation ministry, airlines are resisting the move. With only 1,163 trained pilots in the country the numbers are simply not enough.
"The aviation sector has collapsed. Private airlines are in a catch-22 situation. They are in deep trouble and training of pilots means more money. They are already in loss," said Rajiv Pratap Rudy, former civil aviation minister.
But not all airlines are willing to take responsibility.
24/12/08 Prenra Suri, Sandeep Phukan/NDTV.com

Air Force airlifts stranded passengers

Srinagar/Jammu: Hundreds of passengers stranded in various parts of the Valley due to heavy snowfall were on Wednesday airlifted to their homes by the Indian Air Force, who arranged special helicopter sorties for the purpose.
58 residents of the border town of Gurez, who had been stranded in Bandipore were airlifted to their homes, an official spokesman said.
The residents had been stranded due to heavy snowfall, blocking the highway from Bandipore to Gurez over the Rajdhani Pass.
Similarly, 78 stranded passengers were airlifted from Bandipora to Gurez in MI-17 planes of the Air Force, the spokesman said.
Gurez, situated near the Line of Control, is cut off from rest of the state by road due to recent snowfall in the area.
Meanwhile, Air Force Courier Service for airlifting passengers from Jammu to Kargil would commence from December 27 to redress the grievances of the stranded Kargil-bound passengers.
24/12/08 ZeeNews

Facing runway crunch, future bleak for BIA

Bangalore: The Airports Authority of India (AAI), which recently said that the passenger handling capacity of Bangalore International Airport (BIA), will reach saturation level and is below international standards, came out with more damning evidence against BIA’s future operations.
According to AAI, the runway capacity of BIA is going to get saturated by 2011 and the aircraft parking bays are just sufficient for current level of operations.
The technical committee of AAI in its report to the State High Court on December 19, 2009, has focused on terminals, runway capacity, aircraft parking bays, car parking and cargo capacities of BIA.
The peak per hour runway capacity at BIA is 30 to 32 movements of aircraft as against the current peak hour demand of 25 movements per hour, so the runway will be found wanting in 2011, the AAI report says.
“The existing number of aircraft parking bays are 42 as against the current demand of 41. Therefore, the existing parking bays are just sufficient for the current level of operations.
Thirty additional parking bays are under construction and with this addition, the available parking bays will meet the demand for the next four to five years,” the report observes.
25/12/08 B Aravinda Shetty/ExpressBuzz

Airlines owe Rs 1,101 cr to AAI

New Delhi: The developers of public and private airports are not getting their dues from the airlines on time because some of the carriers are not settling their dues, the Minister for Civil Aviation, Mr Praful Patel, informed Parliament on Tuesday.
The airlines owe Airports Authority of India (AAI) Rs 1101.97 crore, including Rs 739.50 crore by Air India and Rs 286.62 crore by Air Deccan and Kingfisher. Similarly, Jet Airways and Jetlite together owe Rs 32.78 crore, Spicejet ( Rs 15.76 crore), Paramount Airways ( Rs 12.50 crore), Interglobe Aviation (Rs 6 crore) and Go Air (Rs 8.81 crore).
Airlines owe Mumbai International Airport Ltd more than Rs 85.76 crore, while Hyderabad International Airport Ltd (HIAL) dues from airlines stand at Rs 48.75 crore as on date and Bangalore International Airport Ltd (BIAL) has outstanding dues of Rs 41 crore from the airlines, the Minister said.
In the case of Mumbai airport, Air India owes Rs 52.90 crore, Kingfisher Airlines (Rs 9.05 crore) Jet Airways (Rs 6.80 crore), Kingfisher/Air Deccan (Rs 5.06 crore), Go Air (Rs. 2.29 crore) Air India Charters Ltd (Rs 0.80 crore), Lufthansa (Rs 0.80 crore), Jetlite (Rs 0.71crore), Malaysia Airlines (Rs 0.63 crore), Emirates (Rs. 0.61 crore).
The Minister said that the Government has given instructions to AAI to take all possible steps, including legal action, if warranted against the defaulting airlines.
24/12/08 Business Line

Army lay siege of Srinagar airport

Srinagar: The people in and around Sheikh-ul-Alam International Airport, Srinagar were frightened with the surprise siege laid down by the Rashtriya Rifles and Air Force Personnel' around 2: 15 pm on Tuesday suspecting a war emergency, as the tension between India and Pakistan has escalated after the 26/11 terror attacks on Mumbai.
All the telecommunication services operational in the valley were blocked and atmosphere of fear of war loomed at large. Army frisked the passengers and nobody among the civilian were allowed to move towards the Srinagar Airport. The scheduled flights to arrive at the airport except the Hajj flights were diverted and made to make emergency landed at Jammu airport.
Sources told this newspaper that the troopers of Rashtriya Rifles and Air Force Personnel cordoned off the Airport in the afternoon and signaled red alert.
"The war planes were brought onto runway and the Hajj flight which reached in afternoon were evacuated quickly from the airport," sources said.
Sources further said that the shopkeepers and other businessmen around the airport were directed to close their shops and vacate the place.
"Tension gripped the air passengers stranded at the airport after the red alert," sources said.
Col. Uma Maheshwari, defense spokesperson,when contacted denied any action taken by the Army and said that there had been no incident of any such nature.
25/12/08 Abid Gani Wani/Etalaat

Operators in the dock as dues from airlines mount

Bangalore: Troubled times are in the air. Apart from reduction in flights and dip in passenger flow, airports across the country are facing yet another problem. They are deprived of their dues by the airlines using them.
Airports Authority of India (AAI) and several private airport operators witnessed a shortfall in revenue to the tune of Rs 228 crore between April and September 2008, when compared to the corresponding period in 2007.
Among the private operators, the promoters of Delhi, Hyderabad and the Bangalore airports have been incurring losses. The private operators, including the Bengaluru International Airport (BIA), are not getting their dues from a few airlines on time.
If the Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL) has total dues of Rs 84.50 crore, BIA has outstanding dues of Rs 41 crore from the airlines.
Recently, BIA had said that the airport is incurring a monthly loss of Rs 22 crore and Rs 130 crore in the first six months of its operations.
According to the Ministry of Civil Aviation, in the case of AAI, topping the list of defaulting airlines is National Aviation Company of India Limited (NACIL)-Air India, with Rs 739.50 crore, followed by Air Deccan-Kingfisher with Rs 286.62 crore, Jet airways-Jetlite with Rs 32.78 crore and Spicejet with Rs 15.76 crore.
25/12/08 Hemanth C S/Express Buzz

Wednesday, December 24, 2008

AI ground-handlers threaten to go on flash strike on Dec 31

New Delhi: Protesting the implementation of new ground-handling policy, the Civil Aviation Joint Action Front (CAJAF) today threatened to go on flash strike on December 31 and on mass casual leave from January 9 if the government fails to revoke the policy.
Members of CAJAF, an umbrella organisation of Air India employee unions comprising employees from the Air Corporation Employees Union (ACEU) and Aviation Industry Employees Guild (AIEG), today held demonstration at the Rajiv Gandhi Bhawan here.
"We will go on a flash strike on December 31 if we do not receive any reply from the government, and proceed on mass casual leave from January 9," said Vijay Deka, CAJAF general secretary.
He said that under new ground-handling policy four foreign joint venture firms MENZIES-CAMBATA, CELEBI-NAS, Air India-SATS and BIRD-Worldwide have been awarded the job for Delhi and Mumbai airports. Presently, ground-handling is done by the respective airlines.
"This may pose 'security threat' as these are lesser known firms and they will engage several foreign nationals, including those from Bangladesh. In such a case, it will be almost impossible to verify the antecedents of those employed," he said.
It is unfortunate that the government has decided to form a joint venture with an European ground-handling company, Menzies, whose license has been withdrawn by the UK's Department of Transport for security lapses, he alleged.
24/12/08 Zee News

Midnight flight will keep security men on their toes

Pune: The Pune-Dubai service by low cost carrier Air India Express, commencing on January 14, 2009 will also bring with it a slew of security concerns. Air India has made a special request to the airport director to increase vigilance as the thrice-a-week flight lands around midnight. The Air India station manager has suggested that a registry be kept to keep a tab on passengers at the exit gates of the airport. Post-26/11, security concerns are high as at least 100 passengers from Dubai are expected to fly into Pune every Wednesday, Friday and Sunday, the full capacity being 145. “As traffic increases in the night and especially foreign passengers are expected in large numbers, a special registry at the exit gates is a must,” said Dhairyasheel Vandekar, station manager, Air India. Vandekar has written to the airport director in this regard on December 12. “It is better to record passenger names and registration numbers of taxis/autorickshaws in which they commute. Airport administration can take the help of the police in this regard,” says the Vandekar's letter.
Pune airport director G Chandramouli said the authorities were taking all precautions to ensure sufficient security cover for passengers. “We have been handling an international flight operated by Lufthansa, that lands at midnight, for the last 10 months. To that extent, we are ready,” he said.
Chandramouli said there were elaborate guidelines of Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) and the Airports Authority of India (AAI) was following them.
24/12/08 SiddharthKelkar/Expressindia

Air travel from Mumbai likely to cost more

New Delhi: Air travellers boarding at Mumbai may have to pay more soon. The civil aviation ministry has sent a letter to GVK-backed Mumbai
International Airport (MIAL), allowing the airport operator to increase aeronautical charges by 10%, which would in turn be passed on to the passenger. Aeronautical charges comprise passenger service fee (PSF) and aircraft landing and parking charges.
“The civil aviation ministry has allowed MIAL to increase aeronautical charges by 10% effective January 1, 2009. Due to this, landing, parking and passenger service fee at Mumbai airport would go up next year,” a person close to the development told ET. MIAL has already issued a circular in this regard to airlines, he added. A 10% increase in airport charges would add about Rs 35 crore to the airport’s total annual revenue.
Confirming that the airline has received the circular from MIAL, a Kingfisher Airlines spokesperson said: “We have received the circular. So it would be to early to assess any impact of this on the air ticket. As air ticket is not just the reflection of aeronautical charges, it would take some time to conclude anything.”
According to an industry estimate, landing, parking and navigational charges contribute to about 6% of the total operating cost of an airline. Reacting to the development, an airline official, who did not wish to be identified, said that the airline company would have to pass on the additional financial burden to customers.
24/12/08 Nirbhay Kumar/Economic Times

Airport developers not getting dues from airlines

The Minister for Civil Aviation, Shri Praful Patel informed the Parliament today that airport developers both in public and private sectors are not getting their dues from the airlines on time because some of the airlines have not been settling their dues in the requisite time period.
In respect of Airports Authority of India’s (AAI), the defaulting airlines are (Rs. in crores) NACIL - Air India - 739.50; Air Deccan -Kingfisher - 286.62; Jet airways / Jetlite - 32.78;Spicejet-15.76; Paramount Airways - 12.50; Interglobe Aviation - 6.00; Go Air - 8.81. Mumbai International Airport’s dues are as follows: NACIL-52.90; Kingfisher Airlines - 9.05; Jet Airways - 6.80; Kingfisher / AirDeccan - 5.06; Go Airlines - 2.29; Air Indian Charters Ltd - 0.80; Lufthansa Airlines - 0.80; JetLite (India) Pvt Ltd - 0.71; Malaysia Airlines - 0.63; Emirates - 0.61; Indigo Airlines - 0.57 Spice Jet Ltd - 0.55; Singapore Airlines - 0.42; British Airways - 0.30; Kuwait Airways - 0.27; Dutch Airlines - 0.26; Airlines Allied Services - 0.25; Kenya Airways - 0.25; Elal Israel Airlines Ltd - 0.23; Qatar Airways - 0.21; Saudi Arabian Airlines - 0.20; Ethiopian Airlines - 0.20; Other airlines - 3.18. Airlines owe Hyderabad International Airport Limited (HIAL) 48.75 crores as on date. The total dues of airlines as on 15.12.2008 on Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL) is Rs.84.50 crores. Bangalore International Airport Limited (BIAL) has an outstanding dues of Rs.41 crore from the airlines. Cochin International Airport Limited (CIAL) have also informed that there are some dues from National Carriers as well as from the private airlines and they are constantly following up with these airlines for early settlement of the same.
Government has given instructions to AAI to take all possible steps including legal action, if warranted against the defaulting airlines.
Due to reduction in flights and passenger flow , there is reduction in the revenue on account of airport charges for AAI and other private airport operators. AAI has a decrease in revenue to the tune of Rs.228 crores during April to September 2008 as compared to the corresponding period in 2007. MIAL's aeronautical revenue has been on a lower side, for the period April, 2008 to November, 2008 by about Rs.79.83 crores. HIAL has seen a total revenue decline by 15%. DIAL has indicated reduction in revenue of Rs.50 crore (Approx.) for the year 2008-09. BIAL has also an impact to a certain extent. However, there is no major impact on CIAL due to the reduction in number of flights and passengers.
23/12/08 Press Information Bureau

Funds for Modernisation of Small Airports

The Minister for Civil Aviation, Shri Praful Patel informed the Parliament today that upgradation and modernisation of 35 Non-metro Airports is on way by Airports Authority of India (AAI) by 2009-2010. In addition, 13 more airports have been taken up for upgradation by AAI. Modernisation of Kolkata and Chennai airports has also been taken up by the AAI. Besides, Delhi and Mumbai Airports have been taken up for upgradation through joint venture route.
AAI proposes to spend an amount of Rs.12434.34 crores, during the 11th Five Year Plan (2007-08 to 2011-12) for development of airport infrastructure in the country which includes Metro airports as well as non-metro airports. An expenditure of Rs. 6443.53 crores has been proposed for development of Non-metro airports whereas an expenditure of Rs. 5990.81 crores has been proposed for development of Metro and other private/ Greenfield airports.
Details of funds allocated in this regard airport-wise are as under: [name of airport and allocated funds (in Rs. crores) in respective orders
In Northern Region- Ajmer (15), Chandigarh (78), Dehradun(63), Delhi (60), Jaipur (116), Jaisalmer (15), Jammu (39), Khajuraho (78), Kullu (19), Leh (41), Lucknow (69.50),Ludhiana (23), Mount Abu (3), Pantnagar (63), Srinagar (30),Udaipur (58), Varanasi (89.18), Amritsar (109.10) and Miscellaneous works (274.48).
In Eastern Region- Behala (15), Bhubaneswar (72.95), Cooch Behar (15), Gaya (25), Jharsuguda (5), Malda (5), Muzaffarpur (5), Port Blair(Civil Enclave) (41.14), Ranchi (110) and Miscellaneous works (148.33).
In North Eastern Region- Agartala (10), Barapani (Shillong) (7), Dibrugarh (25), Guwahati (58), Imphal (15), Itanagar (Proposed airport) (21), Jorhat (10), Pakyong (Proposed airport)(25), Kohima (Proposed airport)(25.32), Passighat (10), Silchar (17.44) and Miscellaneous works (135.84).
In Western Region- Ahmedabad (224), Akola (10), Aurangabad (112), Baramati (30), Belgaum (23.41), Bhavnagar (30), Bhopal (25), Goa (40.10), Gondia (30), Indore (52), Jamnagar (3), Juhu (13), Mumbai (46), Nagpur (57), Pune (37), Rajkot (10), Vadodara (15), Surat (51.08) and Miscellaneous works (255.15).
In Southern Region- Agatti (30), Calicut (35), Coimbatore (62), Cuddapah (5), Hassan (5), Hubli (25), Mysore (55), Madurai (66), Mangalore (150), Puducherry (13), Rajahmundry (12.10), Trichy (83.32), Tirupati (52), Tuticorin (10), Vishakhapatnam (75), Vijayawada (34.27) and Miscellaneous works (309.29). Besides the above, Delhi International Airport Limited plans to spend Rs.8975 crores on first phase of development of IGI, Airport, New Delhi and Mumbai International Airport Limited plans to spend Rs.9802 crores on development of CSI Airport, Mumbai.
The planned expenditure is adequate for modernisation/ upgradation of airports. The expenditure can be adjusted subject to review depending upon the progress of individual projects. In Himachal Pradesh, the works for construction of new terminal building, apron and fire station at a cost of Rs. 14.63 crores at Kullu airport and construction of terminal building, extension and strengthening of runway, apron and other allied works with a cost of Rs. 12 crores at Kangra (Gaggal) airport have been completed.
23/12/08 Press Information Bureau

Just Rs 40 cr allotted for Dabolim

New Delhi: Goa’s Dabolim airport will get just Rs 40 crore for upgradation, Minister for Civil Aviation Praful Patel informed the Rajya Sabha today. He said upgradation and modernisation of the 35 non-metro airports is underway by the Airports Authority of India (AAI) by 2009-2010.
In addition, 13 more airports have been taken up for upgradation by AAI, for a total amount of Rs12,434.34 crore, during the 11th Five Year Plan (2007-08 to 2011-12). Totally, an expenditure of Rs 6,443.53 crore has been proposed for development of non-metro airports, and Rs 5,990.81 crore for metro and other private / greenfield airports.
Chandigarh (78), Dehradun (63), Delhi (60), Jaipur (116), Khajuraho (78), Leh (41), Lucknow (69.50), Udaipur (58), Varanasi (89.18), Amritsar (109.10), Bhubaneswar (72.95), Port Blair (41.14), Ranchi (110), Guwahati (58), Ahmedabad (224), Aurangabad (112), Indore (52), Mumbai (46), Nagpur (57), Surat (51.08), Coimbatore (62), Mysore (55), Madurai (66), Mangalore (150), Trichy (83.32), Tirupati (52) and Vishakhapatnam (75), all get more money than Goa (40.10).
23/12/08 Herald Publications

Adhere to guidelines on pilots for Delhi's fog, airlines told

New Delhi: India's aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) Tuesday asked airlines to adhere to its guidelines while flying in low visibility conditions at Delhi's Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport.
The DGCA had earlier asked the airlines to keep it informed routinely about the deployment of CAT II and CAT III pilots - trained to fly in low visibility conditions.
But the DGCA Tuesday said the airlines were not adhering to these guidelines.
The Delhi airport witnesses heavy fog during winters and needs the services of the Cat II and Cat III pilots to avoid flight disruptions.
The DGCA said it has decided to send two officials to Delhi airport every day from Tuesday to coordinate with airlines and airport officials. The officials will also oversee rostering of Cat II and Cat III pilots for the next day.
23/12/08 India PR Wire

AAI, MADC to sign share holding agreement for developing Nagpur Airport

Nagpur: The Airports Authority of India (AAI) and Maharashtra Airport Development Corporation (MADC) have reached a consensus over the shareholding pattern of the company that will develop the upcoming international airport in Nagpur, said a recent Projects Today report. AAI and MADC will shortly sign an agreement in this regard. The Union Cabinet had given the go-ahead to the AAI for handing over the airport to the SPV (Special Purpose Vehicle) in February this year. AAI will be given 49 per cent stake for bringing existing airport infrastructure and around 400 hectare, while the MADC will get 51 per cent for the additional land it will bring for the project.
The airport will be part of Multi Nodal International Cargo Hub at Nagpur and will be spread over 1,364 hectare. The cost of the project is now pegged at around Rs 4,500 crore, from the earlier estimate of Rs 2,500 crore. As part of the project, the existing runway will be upgraded from 3,200x45 metres to 3,600x45 metres to meet international standards. Besides, there will be a parallel runway of 4000x60 metres. The airport will have parking space for 50 aircraft at the terminal and 50 in the remote, apart from a semi-circular terminal building with an area of three million sq ft. Once operational, the airport is expected to attract around 14 million passengers and 0.87 million tonne cargo annually. A private player is likely to be roped in to carry out these developments.
23/12/08 TravelBizMonitor

Tuesday, December 23, 2008

Police takes drunk Jet Airways pilot away at Heathrow

Gun cops swooped on a Heathrow airliner because the pilot reeked of booze as he prepared to take off with 300 passengers.
Dad-of-two Michael Harr, 62 — who had been to a Christmas party the night before — was breath-tested and hauled out of the cockpit of the Boeing 777.
He was marched off the flight to Mumbai in India as colleagues preparing for the 4,400-mile, nine-hour trip watched in horror.
Police were tipped off when airport staff smelt alcohol on the veteran flier as he passed through routine security.
Former US marine Harr — the jet’s first officer — was taken to Heathrow police station for a blood test and bailed until next year.
Passengers on Sunday’s Jet Airways flight — which was delayed until a replacement pilot was found — included relatives of people killed and injured in the Mumbai massacre last month.
“Security were immediately suspicious about him and deemed that he wasn’t fit to fly.
“He was arrested and now faces losing his job. He is only a couple of years away from retirement and has blown everything.
“Apparently, he and some of his younger colleagues had been out on Saturday night and the drinking got out of hand.
“He thought he could keep up with the youngsters.” Airline pilots are meant to avoid alcohol for eight hours before flying.
A spokesman for Indian-based Jet Airways said of the drama on Flight 9W119: “The first pilot was replaced and passengers were only delayed by ten minutes.”
The scandal comes two months after Heathrow police held a fellow American aged 44 on suspicion of being over the limit minutes before he was due to fly a United Airlines jet to San Francisco.
23/12/08 Anthony France/Lynsey Haywood/The Sun, UK

GoI revises policy to modernise 35 non-metro and metro airports in the country

New Delhi: Government of India (GoI) has revised the policy to modernise both non-metro and metro airports in the country. Minister for Civil Aviation, Praful Patel reasoned that the decision was taken after concern was expressed by few parliamentarians over the delay in the modernisation process of the 35 non-metro airports and Kolkata Airport. The decision was taken recently at a parliamentary session in New Delhi. The modernisation work of the 35 airports is expected to be complete by March-end 2010.
While confirming that work on all the 35 non-metro projects is already underway, Patel added, “The Airport Authority of India (AAI) will develop the terminal building and air side infrastructure of these 35 non-metro airports in a time bound manner. The city side development of select 24 non-metro airports will be done under the Public-Private-Partnership model.
Elaborating on the decision Patel said that Committee of Infrastructure (CoI) has given approval for developing 35 non-metro airports. The CoI is headed by Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh. These airports are: Amritsar, Agra, Agatti, Ahmedabad, Aurangabad, Bhopal, Bhubaneshwar, Chandigarh, Dehradun, Indore, Jaipur, Jammu, Khajuraho, Lucknow, Madurai, Mangalore, Nagpur, Pune, Ranchi, Trichy, Trivandrum, Udaipur, Varanasi, Visakhapatnam, Agartala, Coimbatore, Dimapur, Goa, Guwahati, Imphal, Patna, Port Blair, Raipur, Rajkot and Vadodara.
23/12/08 Anish V Punnackattu/TravelBizMonitor

Govt may go for airport development fee

New Delhi: Passengers flying out of Delhi may soon have to pay an additional charge to fund the IGI modernisation plan that has hit a revenue roadblock. The government has asked the law ministry to have a relook at airport development fee (ADF) proposal, sought by the GMR-backed Delhi International Airport Pvt Ltd (DIAL).
Earlier, the ministry has decided against levying any such fee. But the government has sent the proposal for reconsideration as the modernisation plan is facing a funding shortfall of around Rs 3,000 crore.
DIAL had sought to levy an ADF of Rs 200-300 and Rs 1,000 on each outgoing domestic and international passenger respectively from January 1. "Among the other options to fill the gap was by putting in more equity. But the Airports Authority of India, 26% stakeholder in DIAL, expressed inability in doing so as it had made a hefty down payment for the Kolkata and Chennai modernisation plans," said an official.
The GMR-backed consortia has warned the government that it had arranged nearly Rs 4,800 crore for the Rs 8,900-crore modernisation plan and this money will exhaust in 45 days. It gave options like ADF or long-term soft loan from government as the two ways of bridging the gap.
An ADF in Delhi could set a precedence for other airports. If GMR is allowed an ADF, GVK-backed MIAL may also demand a similar fee for Mumbai airport modernisation, aviation experts said.
Phase-one of Delhi airport's modernisation plan has a tight deadline of getting ready in time for the 2010 Commonwealth Games. DIAL's warning that its work would come to a standstill in 45 days if further funding is not arranged for has sent alarm bells ringing in the government.
23/12/08 Saurabh Sinha/Times of India

Top hotels stay away from DIAL plot auction

New Delhi: Delhi International Airport (DIAL), the consortium which is modernising the Delhi international airport, has received little interest in the auction of 12 plots that include 9 sites for hotel development.
Most top names have stayed away and some plots have not received any expression of interest at all. A mix of luxury, mid-market, budget and convention hotels, as well as three other commercial plots are expected to be built on a total area of 45 acres.
An executive close to the development said the interest level for the plots was “fair”. As many as 17 companies put in 30 bids for the plots. The executive added there were at least two private equity majors that have submitted expression of interest. The bidding closed on December 15.
When the consortium originally floated the plan to auction plots, it had expected to raise over Rs 2,700 crore. However, realty experts now expect the amount to be much smaller.
An executive with a hotel company that has submitted a bid said: “The number of bids submitted could look decent at the outset but most bidders have submitted expression of interest for plots for mid-market and budget hotels. Several plots like the ones set aside to build five-star hotels have received little interest.”
23/12/08 Meenakshi Verma Ambwani & Chanchal Pal Chauhan/Economic Times

Deadline to clear Birsa Munda airport skyline

Ranchi: Concerned over aircraft touchdown perils, the district administration has decided to crack down on buildings flouting the vertical limit set for high-rises around Birsa Munda Airport.
In a public notice today, it asked 56 high-rises, found violating the Aircraft Act of 1934, to reduce height. Owners have been given a December 30 deadline. Sources said the administration has asked all buildings to bring down their height to 35ft. In case a building fails to adhere to the guideline, the administration not only plans to demolish the extra floors but also make the owners bear the expenses.
The list of violators is not just long, but also intimidating because it includes several influential leaders and businessmen of the capital. It includes luxury hotels, big business establishments as well as former rural development minister Anosh Ekka the private residence at Hinoo.
While some humble buildings such as Shanti Cloth Store, Kishore Shoe House and Smart Furniture — all situated at Birsa Chowk — may face the demolition drive, a handful of high-rises have been excused for reasons unknown.
Though the airport act is in force for all buildings within a 20km radius, the list issued by the district administration names only those situated in and around Birsa and Hinoo Chowk, which are within a kilometre. Some important buildings named as violators are Hotel Crown Plaza (near Hinoo Chowk), Sri Olex Apartment (Airport Road), New Construction (near Eylex theatre in Hinoo), Eylex and Reliance Fresh buildings among others.
23/12/08 The Telegraph

Cash-starved DIAL may get govt lifeline

New Delhi: The Centre may extend a lifeline to GMR group-led Delhi International Airport, the cash-starved operator that handles the modernisation work at New Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport.
Cabinet secretary KM Chandrasekhar will on Tuesday preside over a meeting of officials of the ministries of civil aviation and finance to find ways to help Delhi International Airport Ltd (DIAL), led by Bangalore-based GMR group, to raise funds.
Some of the options before the government — such as levying of airport development fees (ADF) and user development fees (UDF) from passengers and increasing the aeronautical charges by 10% — are expected to make air travel from Delhi airport costlier. DIAL has proposed to levy an ADF of up to Rs 300 from outbound domestic travellers and Rs 1,000 from international passengers.
Financial problems of the operator threaten to delay the prestigious project. “The matter is very serious now. The airport developer will exhaust all funds in the next few months. If something is not worked out soon, the project would be delayed and the prestige of the country would be at stake,” said a civil aviation ministry official who asked not to be named.
DIAL’s problems started when banks showed reluctance to lend quoting a liquidity crunch in the market. The operator has estimated a fund deficit of about Rs 2,500 crore that may cause delays ahead of the Commonwealth Games in 2010.
GMR group chairman GM Rao had earlier sought help from the government to raise funds from banks. Mr Rao had also met civil aviation minister Praful Patel some time back to discuss the financial problems.
23/12/08 Nirbhay Kumar/Economic Times

Haze cripples flight schedules

New Delhi: More than 50 flights were delayed and at least 8 international flights had to be diverted on Sunday due to dense fog over the Indira Gandhi International Airport for nearly 12 hours.
IGI Met Department said the lowest visibility recorded this morning was 75 metres. There was Category III fog from 1 am to 9 am.
The weatherman also predicted dense fog after midnight, as general visibility started dipping below 800 metres from 8 pm.
Airport authorities had to enforce Low Visibility Procedure (LVP) on the two runways, 28 and 29 from 9 pm on Saturday evening to around 11 am. Runway visibility dropped to 75 metres forcing some airlines to divert flights to Jaipur and Mumbai.
Two Kingfisher flights were cancelled due to fog while Air India's Delhi-Kabul flight was cancelled due to bad weather conditions at Kabul airport.
“At least 10 outbound flights from Delhi were delayed by up to two hours, and three inbound flights were also delayed,” a Kingfisher Airlines spokesperson said.
An airport official said, “MDLR flight 9H171 from Chandigarh was delayed by four hours, and a Jetlite S26138 from Lucknow was also delayed.”
Moderate to very dense fog has been enveloping the IGIA for over 28 hours now. “There was fog since 6.30 am on Saturday to about 10.30 am today. Runway 29 experienced Category III fog at least an hour earlier than Runway 28, as it is surrounded by open fields,” R K Jenamani, Director, IGI Met department, said.
23/12/08 ANI/Thaindian.com, Thailand

Jet may buy stake in MRO facility at Hyderabad airport

Mumbai: The country’s largest private carrier Jet Airways is looking at buying a stake in the maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) facility at the new Hyderabad international airport, according to a source close to the development.
A senior Jet Airways official declined to comment on the ongoing negotiations, but agreed there was a proposal to buy a stake in the MRO facility. No further details are available at this stage.
German carrier Lufthansa pulled out of a joint venture with Hyderabad International Airport. The airport, nevertheless, has signed an agreement with Malaysian Airlines. The MRO centre is promoted by the GMR group, which also operates the airport. It will handle all types of aircraft, including the A380s.
Jet is considering the stake buy at a time when airlines spend as much as $100 million towards maintenance expenses. Moreover, it has narrow and wide body aircraft, which are sent to overseas MRO providers for maintenance. It makes sense for Jet to pick up a stake in the MRO facility and thereby reduce maintenance costs, said an analyst with domestic brokerage firm.
Jet Airways operates a fleet of 85 aircraft, sourced from Boeing and Airbus, as well as turboprops. Its wholly owned subsidiary JetLite has a fleet of 24 aircraft, including 17 Boeing 737 series and seven Canadian Regional Jets 200 Series.
The shares of Jet Airways ended at Rs 178.65 on Monday, down 4.36%, on the BSE. Aircraft were traditionally sent to MRO providers overseas for maintenance purposes. Most airlines outsource maintenance. GoAir, for instance, opted for MRO services provided by Air France Engineering for its aircraft. Indian aviation companies are now starting their own MRO facilities to save costs.
23/12/08 Mithun Roy/Economic Times

Monday, December 22, 2008

Biggies stay out from GMR's hotel project

New Delhi: The GMR-backed Delhi International Airport Pvt Ltd's (DIAL) funding problem for the proposed hotel district is getting bigger. The
request for proposal (RFP) for building hotels across all segments, from super luxury to budget, closed last week. DIAL got only 15 proposals for 13 plots, with the big three hospitality players ITC, Taj and Oberoi staying away from the bidding process.
"The response is not encouraging at all. The hotel district was originally estimated to raise Rs 2,750 `crore for the Rs 8,900-crore IGI modernisation plan but now the realised amount will be much, much less," said a senior DIAL official. The consortia is, however, unlikely to go in for a fresh bidding at this stage to get a better response due to not-so-good market conditions.
The bidding for hotel district was supposed to happen over a year back before the real estate crash but got delayed due to a controversy over sharing security deposit from successful bidders with the Airports Authority of India. Then booming realty would have made the target amount possible as Delhi faces a huge shortage of hotel rooms. But by the time the process got the go-ahead the market conditions had changed.
Initially the project had elicited good interest among hospitality majors. "The RFP's last date was extended as both Taj and Oberoi were hit by the tragedy in Mumbai and we wanted to give them time to participate. But then the bid had to be closed last week as we now need to award the plots without any further delay. If construction work begins in a couple of months, we may still have a few properties ready in time with the opening of new airport before Commonwealth Games 2010," said the official.
22/12/08 Saurabh Sinha/Times of India

Cold wave grips Jammu, fog disrupts air-rail traffic

Jammu: Jammuites today wake up with a dense fog cover surrounding the city and its outskirts leading to low visibility, sudden fall in the temperature and intensification of the cold wave in the entire region. Infact it was for the first time today this year when the people felt the `heat’ of the cold.
Most parts of the Jammu region especially the plain ones remain gripped with the fog and it was only in the late afternoon hours the situation was improved.
The train and airline services also disrupted due to the poor visibility and many trains and flights were running late comparing to their normal timings adding to the inconvenience to the passengers especially the pilgrims at Jammu Railway Station, official sources told News Agency of Kashmir.
The traffic on roads including the national highway went on a snails speed during the morning hours resulting to jams and difficulties to the daily commuters.
Official sources said that the visibility during the wee hours was less than fifty feet. However, the things improved at around 10 AM.
It was reliably learnt that all the five flights between Jammu to Srinagar and Delhi to Srinagar operating in the fore-noon were delayed due to the poor visibility. “All the five flights were delayed due to the low visibility”, official sources said adding, “The last flight to take off from Jammu airport was Spice Jet from Jammu to Delhi at 4:30 PM instead of its schedule departure of 12:30 AM”, sources said.
22/12/08 News Agency of Kashmir

GMR’s fund gap could hit Delhi airport

New Delhi: Delhi International Airport Pvt. Ltd (DIAL), the operator of India’s flagship airport, New Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport, has quietly warned the civil aviation ministry that work on the modernization of the country’s second-busiest airport may come to a halt in the next 45 days if the consortium is unable to raise funds, according to a senior ministry official.
This is the first time that DIAL, a GMR Infrastructure Ltd-led consortium managing the airport modernization since the summer of 2006, has warned of a financial crunch that could affect the Rs8,890 crore project.
GMR group chairman G. Mallikarjuna Rao told the ministry at a meeting last fortnight that DIAL has not been able to raise the required funds that it had expected to by leveraging real estate, and the problem has worsened with banks backing off from releasing agreed-to amounts as indicators such as passenger traffic, on which the loan was based, have changed drastically.
Amid a significant economic downturn, between July and November alone, the Delhi airport has seen a drop of 16% in domestic passenger traffic coupled with a 2% drop in international traffic.
Detailed questions sent on Friday to DIAL remained unanswered until late Sunday even though a spokesman had said Mint will get a reply on Saturday.
“It’s in a bad shape,” the same aviation ministry official said of the project, asking not to be named because he is not authorized to discuss internal matters with the media. This official added that GMR has told the ministry that the firm has some Rs200 crore for the project that “will last about 45 days”. The worst-case scenario GMR laid out, this official said, was that the project may come to a halt if government support doesn’t come through.
21/12/08 Tarun Shukla/Livemint

Global, domestic logistics majors queue for Delhi cargo airport

New Delhi: Several Indian and international aviation and logistics companies such as Air India, Singapore Airport Terminal Services (SATS), Menzies, Bobba, Swissport, Bird Group and Worldwide Flight Services (WFS) have responded, individually or through tie-ups with each other, to two requests for proposals (RFPs) to set up a new cargo facility at Delhi airport and upgrade the existing one.
The RFPs were sent by Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL), the GMR-led consortium that is modernising and operating Delhi airport. The last date to submit the bids is February 16.
Delhi accounts for around 25 per cent of total air cargo transported in the country.
An executive close to the development said Air India has tied up with SATS, Bird Group has tied up with WFS and Menzies with Bobba to bid for the cargo project.
All the joint ventures that have submitted RFPs have ground-handling contracts for major Indian airports.
AI-SATS is the ground-handling service provider for the new Bangalore airport and Menzies-Bobba for the new Hyderabad airport. Bird Group-WFS recently won the ground-handling contract for Delhi airport.
The scope of the cargo project includes building, financing, and operating a 70,000 square metre greenfield cargo terminal as a twin facility to the existing one which will also be upgraded and redesigned, making for a combined area of 150,000 square metres.
Sources said features like enhanced facilities for express cargo and perishable goods will be part of the project. According to an official statement from DIAL, the upgraded cargo facility will have a capacity to handle 1 million tonnes of cargo a year. The facility currently has six stands for parking freighter aircraft which will go up to around 16.
23/12/08 Anirban Chowdhury/Business Standard