20 staff join duties at AIE headquarters

As part of the Operationalisation of the Air India Express (AIE) headquarters here, 20 staff, including Deputy Chief of Operations, Captain Alok Naik and Deputy Chief of Flight safety Captain R P Singh, joined their duties today.
The Deputy Chief of Operations will ensure availability of pilots in all airports, especially in South India, while Deputy chief of Flight safety will see that all statutory requirements in terms of flight safety as compiled by the DGCA and inhouse instructions are obeyed and executed, AIE officials told reporters here.
In a week's time, AIE will advertise for the post of CEO, who will be based here and will oversee the entire operations of the budget airlines and report directly to the Chairman Air India, they said.
Manager (Marketing) K M Kurien, who also took charge today, will hold discussions with leading travel agents in the Kerala and Mangalore belt and get feedback in terms of timings, schedules and frequencies of flights and accordingly the 2013 summer schedule of AIE will be designed.
31/12/12 Business Standard

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Delhi shivers at season's lowest temp, around 40 flights affected

Delhi shivered at the season's lowest of 5.5 degrees Celsius on Monday under a spell of intense chill and dense fog, which is likely to continue on New Year's day.
Denizens pulled out more woollen from their shelves as both maximum and minimum temperatures dipped to an all-time low this winter.
While the maximum temperature at 13.3 degrees Celsius was seven degree below normal, the minimum at 5.5 degrees Celsius is two degree below normal for this time of the season.
Low temperatures coupled with dense fog made life difficult for people. Around 40 flights operating from the IGI airport were either rescheduled or cancelled due to dense fog enveloping the airstrip.
Overnight around 16 flights were delayed. Around five flights were cancelled either due to operational reasons or due to poor weather, an airport official said.
31/12/12 India Today

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Flying out of Delhi will be cheaper from tomorrow with slashing of development fee

New Delhi: Flying out of Delhi would become cheaper from tomorrow, with the development fee (DF) charged by the operator of IGI airport here being reduced by Rs 100 for domestic and Rs 700 per international passenger.
The decision of GMR-led Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL) to slash the charges followed a directive by Airports Economic Regulatory Authority (AERA) for charging Rs 100 and Rs 600 per embarking domestic and international passenger respectively from January one.
Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh had earlier directed DIAL and Mumbai International Airport Limited (MIAL) to abolish DF at the two airports with effect from tomorrow.
31/12/12 PTI/Economic Times

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Odisha wants international tag for city airport by January end

Kolkata/ Bhubaneswar: After a string of interactions with the Union government, Odisha is all set to send the proposal to the Centre for according international status to the city airport by January end.
“We will move the proposal to Government of India for granting international status to the Biju Patnaik airport probably by January end only after the completion of the new terminal”, said Bijay Kumar Patnaik, the state chief secretary.
Patnaik addressed an interaction session with the top executives of corporate houses and industry representatives organized by the Odisha state council of Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) on problems faced by industries across sectors.
Patnaik said, the government has initiated talks with Indigo Airlines and Singapore based air service provider Silk Air to start international flight services.
01/01/13 Business Standard

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Chennai airport's new terminals set to open by mid-January

Chennai: After a prolonged delay, the new terminals of Chennai airport are all set to be thrown open to the public by mid-January. According to sources, the Airport Authority of India (AAI) has sought a date of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to formally inaugurate the terminals.
Sources said that "the date is more or less finalized. We need to get a final word from the Prime Minister's Office. The inauguration is scheduled to be held either on January 12 or 15," said a senior AAI official in New Delhi. However, Chennai airport authorities or airlines are yet to get any notification about the plan to open the terminals. But sources in Delhi said the date for the opening ceremony was being finalised.
31/12/12 V Ayyappan/Times of India

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Delhi airport development fee halved, GMR welcomes move

The Airports Economic Regulatory Authority's (AERA) has decided to halve Airport Development Fee (ADF) for all passengers departing Delhi airport. This will be effective from January 1. The GMR-led consortium had levied the Development Fee to bridge a funding gap in the airport development project. The levy, now halved, will continue for two more years. Total ADF to be collected till 2016 stands at Rs 1,413 crore.
A similar reduction is now expected at the Mumbai airport which operates on a PPP model with GVK-led consortium.
Now, a domestic departing passenger will pay Rs 100 as development fee instead of Rs 200. Similarly, an international departing passenger's cost towards this fee has reduced from Rs 1300 to Rs 650. Speaking to CNBC-TV18, Sidharath Kapur, chief financial officer-airports, GMR Group said ADF revision will not impact their P&L accounts in the short term.
31/12/12 CNBC-TV18/moneycontrol.com

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Flying out is cheap, but return to cost a bomb

Mumbai: If you are a last-minute traveller wanting to usher in the New Year in Goa, you may still get lucky with a budget ticket. With most revellers having already left on their holiday, one-way fares to Goa and most other popular destinations in India have come crashing down on New Year's Eve. Getting a flight ticket to Goa may cost as little as Rs 4,600. It could, however, be a different story coming back with return fares ranging between Rs 11,000 and Rs 15,000.
According to travel portals and tour operators, a one-way ticket to Goa for December 31 costs anywhere between Rs 4,600-6,000. An air ticket to Kochi costs between Rs 8,000 and Rs 9,000. Mumbai-Jaipur, a hot sector during winter, is priced at Rs 6,500. The fare to Delhi too is Rs 7,000 with discounts of Rs 2,000 if the same airline is chosen for the return trip. Ticket fares to Kolkata range from Rs 9,000 to Rs 12,000.
30/12/12 Chinmayi Shalya/Economic Times

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Why GMR had to bail out of Maldives

In the end it was tiny Maldives which crashlanded the Bangalore-based GMR Group’s international plans.
Earlier this month, the Maldives Government cancelled the group’s contract for modernising the Male Ibrahim Nasir International Airport after a legal battle fought in a Singapore court. The matter is still sub judice and this time the GMR Group is fighting over the compensation amount due to it for cancellation of the contract.
The diversified GMR Group has interests in roads, energy and airports. It is present in Turkey, South Africa, Indonesia and Singapore and operates assets worth about $5 billion (over Rs 22,000 crore). Assets worth about $6 billion are under construction.
The Male International Airport was the group’s second project in modernising an international airport, the first being in Turkey where it modernised Istanbul’s Sabiha Gocken airport. Domestically, the Group has built the Hyderabad airport but is perhaps best known for modernising the Delhi airport’s Terminal 3 in record time.
30/12/12 Ashwini Phadnis & K Giriprkash/Business Line

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Turbulence ahead: ATR pullout will spell trouble for Tripura

Agartala: The Union ministry of civil aviation has decided to withdraw ATR-50 aircrafts from the northeast, raising concerns of a disruption in connectivity between the cities.
The Tripura government had demanded the withdrawal of the aircraft of Alliance Air, a subsidiary of Air India from Northeast, over five years ago.
The latest communique of civil aviation intimated all the state governments in the northeast that the ATR service would be withdrawn from the region from the beginning of 2013. Sources said all airport authorities and security concerns were informed about the ministry's decision.
30/12/12 Times of India

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Kingfisher Airlines should clear Rs 300cr dues before restarting operations: Airports Authority of India

New Delhi: In a major blow to grounded Kingfisher's plans to restart operations, the Airports Authority of India (AAI) has refused to give its nod to the airline to do so without first recovering dues of Rs 300 crore. The AAI conveyed this to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Thursday when the regulator sought its views after getting a new plan from Vijay Mallya's nearly bankrupt airline earlier this week. "AAI chairman V P Agrawal has written to DGCA chief Arun Mishra that Kingfisher can't be allowed to restart operations unless it first clears its dues. Once it does that, Agrawal told the DG, the airline can be allowed to fly on cash-and-carry basis," said sources.
Kingfisher owes about Rs 300 crore to AAI, out of which cheques for Rs 127 crore have bounced. "Lessors of Kingfisher want to repossess four Airbus A-320s. AAI has asked the lessors to cough up Rs 70 crore before they can be allowed to do so," said sources.
29/12/12 Saurabh Sinha/Times of India

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Close shave for Khadse as plane makes emergency landing in Pune

Mumbai: A private aircraft carrying Eknath Khadse, the leader of opposition in the Assembly, and five others made an emergency landing at the Pune airport on Friday after smoke from the engine filled the cabin, sparking a mid-air scare.
 The five-seater aircraft was travelling from Jalgaon to Pune when the pilot reported a glitch at about 3 pm. Though there were no visible flames, the pilot noticed thick smoke coming from the engine. Khadse’s daughter, Rani, and Pune BJP leaders Vikas Mathkari and Shrikant Bharatiya were among others on board.
“We received an emergency call from the pilot and positioned fire engines (near the runway). The aircraft landed safely at 3.30 pm,” said an official from the Pune Air Traffic Control (ATC).
The plane took off from Jalgaon around 2.35 pm, and the pilot realised something was wrong about 25 minutes into the flight.
29/12/12 Mumbai Mirror

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Mid-air scare aboard Khadse chopper; lucky to be safe, says Mathkari

A five-seater chopper flying BJP leaders Eknath Khadse, Vikas Mathkari, and Shrikant Bharatiya from Jalgaon to Pune on Friday faced a technical snag leading to a mid-air scare followed by an emergency landing at the Lohegaon airport in Pune.
“We had a narrow escape,” Mathkari, the Pune city unit chief of the BJP later said.
Khadse, the leader of Opposition in the Assembly, was on his way to a function organised by BJP corporator Yogesh Tilekar in Kondhwa, when smoke started emanating from the chopper hired from the First Future Air Service Pvt Ltd.
Mathkari said the chopper carrying him and Bharatiya reached Jalgaon from Pune at 1.30pm to pick up Khadse. The three BJP leaders and the two pilots had taken off around 2.05pm from Jalgaon. It was around 2.25pm that smoke started emanating from the cockpit and the pilots called ATC for an emergency landing.
29/12/12 Indian Express

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Toddy cat-hit aircraft back in the skies

Kozhikode: An Airbus A-321 aircraft of Air India, which had its engine damaged after a toddy cat got sucked into it, resumed normal service on Thursday. The aircraft which was taken out of service on December 8 after the incident took off from Karipur International airport at 10.15am carrying 140 passengers to Dubai.
However the task of getting the damaged aircraft back in the skies gave the national carrier one of its toughest logistics and operational challenges in recent history.
In a transcontinental operation, an USD 7.5 million (Rs 40 crore) CFM-56 engine was brought from Mumbai on Wednesday in a special cargo flight chartered from Moscow. The remaining engine parts, including fitments and main frame, had to the trucked from Mumbai to Karipur. An 15-member engineering team was brought in to do the repair work, which took 18 days to complete.
An Ilyushin IL- 76 heavy freighter aircraft belonging to Volga Dnepr airlines with nine Russian crew on board brought the engine on Wednesday evening. In an overnight operation, the engineering wing of Air India mounted the new engine by 3am enabling the aircraft to resume normal operations at 10am.
28/12/12 KR Rajeev/Times of India

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Jet flight aborts take-off as another makes 'go-around'

Mumbai: A flight from here had to abort take-off as another aircraft coming in decided to make a go-around at the last minute. Though there was no breach of separation involved, the matter was reported to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).
The Jet airways flight from Mumbai to Riyadh was preparing for take-off at 7.30 pm. Flight 9W 524 was lined on the main runway and was supposed to take-off after an arriving Jet airways flight from Delhi had landed. Airport sources said the flight from Delhi, 9W 362, was on the final approach when the pilot decided to go-around.
DGCA sources said the pilot cited unstable landing and the air traffic control asked for a go-around (notified procedure which can be carried out by aircraft in case of a blockage on the runway, or if the pilot feels unstable about landing). It is routinely carried out to avoid complications in landing.
28/12/12 Times of India

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Jet Airways launches second Delhi-Dubai flight

New Delhi: Jet Airways today announced launch of its second flight to Dubai from the national capital.
The airline would begin the day service between India and the financial hub of United Arab Emirates from January 18.
"This would complement the night flight presently operating between Delhi and Dubai. The introduction of this new flight would strengthen the presence of Jet Airways in the Indo-Gulf sector," an airline spokesperson said.
The airline would be operating the flight with new generation Boeing 737-800 aircraft in twin class configuration of 16 business (Premiere) and 138 economy seats.
28/12/12 PTI/Economic Times

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Directorate General of Civil Aviation team clears plane, trainee pilot

Nagpur: A team of two safety officers from Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) cleared both, the Cessna plane and the trainee pilot for flying, subject to some conditions. The team was here to investigate the skidding of Cessna training plane - Charlie 172 - of the Nagpur Flying Club (NFC).
"The team from Mumbai came on December 24 and on December 26 they gave a written clearance. The condition is that the plane, Cessna 172 R should be inspected by an external engineer and the trainee pilot should be given a clearance after flying under the chief flying inspector (CFI)," said MAH Khan, NFC in-charge.
Both, the aircraft and the trainee pilot were grounded after the skid on November 30. Trainee pilot Captain Rohit Sinha took off for a solo training session at 2.20pm and the incident occurred while he was landing at 3.06pm.
28/12/12 Times of India

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Air India to resume flights from Kolkata to Bhubaneswar, Ranchi

New Delhi: Fulfilling a long-standing demand for connectivity of Kolkata to neighbouring states, Air India has decided to launch its daily services to the capitals of Jharkhand, Bihar and Odisha from January 1.
"Air India will be restarting daily flights to these destinations which will operate on Kolkata-Bhubaneswar-Kolkata and Kolkata-Ranchi-Patna-Ranchi-Kolkata sectors with effect from January 1," an Air India spokesperson said, adding there had been a long standing demand for air services to the neighbouring states from Kolkata.
28/12/12 PTI/Economic Times

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AI flight from Kolkata delayed by five hours; flyers livid

At least 166 passengers on their way to Mumbai from Kolkata were inconvenienced after their Air India (AI) flight was delayed by more thanfive hours. The Kolkata-Mumbai flight AI773 was scheduled to depart at 7.55pm on Tuesday, but landed in Mumbai only at 3.10am on Wednesday. The passengers allege that no announcements were made about when the aircraft would finally depart and no officials answered their queries.
An AI spokesperson confirmed the delay, but said that timely announcements were made.
One of the aggrieved passengers, Darshana Thanawala said, “This was the worst flight I have ever been in. Earlier, I used to stand by the efficiency of our national carrier, but now I know why they are going through such a bad time.” The passengers said that the only announcement that was made was at around 7pm about the flight being delayed to 9.10pm. “Noairline official was present to explain the reason behind the delay either,” Thanawala added.
28/12/12  Shahkar Abidi/Daily News & Analysis

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Senior Airport official dies

Kolkata: A senior official of the Airports Authority of India (AAI) posted at the N S C Bose International Airport here was killed after he slipped and fell from the roof the new terminal building today, airport sources said.
The Joint General Manager (Information Technology) of the N S C Bose International Airport Pravin Khandelwal went to the roof for inspecting the IT work in the building at around 10 am when he slipped and fell, the sources said.
He was immediately rushed to a private hospital where he succumbed to his injuries, the sources added.
28/12/12 Business Standard

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Three held at IGIA for theft

Three people have been arrested for allegedly stealing store items at the Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) here.
The trio, apprehended by the CISF, were allegedly stealing copper based material used for lighting purposes at the terminal facility.
The three have been identified by the security force as Yogesh Kumar, Sunil Kumar and Ashish.
28/12/12 PTI/Business Standard

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Multi-modal hub plan gathers steam

Thiruvananthapuram: The multi-modal hub project for the Trivandrum International Airport is gathering steam as the water resources department and department of coastal shipping and inland navigation has invited water works engineers and Airport Authority of India officials to have a meeting on January 3 to discuss the project.
Union minister of state for civil aviation KC Venugopal announced on Monday that the Kerala Road Fund Board would undertake the feasibility study for the project; the latest meeting initiated by Tom Jose, MD of Kerala Shipping and Inland Navigation Corporation, will discuss funding for the clean-up of the Parvathy Puthanar canal.
Principal secretary, VJ Kurien who was given additional charge of interstate waters in the water recourses department, said that his primary objective would be to find sources of funding for the project. "I have convened a meeting to discuss the multi-modal integration of various transport systems by effective usage of Parvathy Puthanar, with flow adjacent to the new international terminal building.
27/12/12 Sangeetha Nair/Times of India

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Jet to fly Boeing 737-800 on Mangalore-Dubai route

Mangalore: Jet Airways will fly six times a week on the Mangalore-Dubai sector from January 3, 2013.
The airline will deploy a Boeing 737-800 aircraft with 170 economy seats on this route. The flight 9W532 will depart from Mangalore International Airport at 8pm and reach in Dubai at 10.30pm local time there on Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Sundays. On the return, the flight 9W531 will depart from Dubai at 11.30pm (local ) on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Sundays. The flight 9W531 will arrive in
Mangalore at 4.30am (local time) the next day.
27/12/12 Times of India

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Pernem locals will be given first preference for jobs at Mopa airport: CM

Mapusa:  Pernem citizens will be given first preference in job opportunities created by the Greenfield Mopa airport project, chief minister Manohar Parrikar said while addressing the annual day function of a school in Pernem on Tuesday. "The government will keep its word and provide jobs to the people from Pernem taluka on a priority basis in the job opportunities created by the project," Parrikar said, adding, "People will get jobs on flights or at the airport, I can assure you that."
Parrikar had earlier said that the government would invite a global tender for the proposed new international airport at Mopa in North Goa by March next year. Citing environmental clearance as the reason for the delay in initiating the bidding process, Parrikar had said that the government is waiting for the environmental impact assessment (EIA) report.
27/12/12 Times of India

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Chandy misled people on airport project: CPI

Chief Minister Oommen Chandy has deceived and misled the people of Aranmula as well as the State Legislature on the controversial private airport project at Aranmula, C. Divakaran, Legislature party leader of the Communist party of India, has said.
Mr. Divakaran was talking to reporters during his visit to Aranmula leading a 10-member delegation of party MLAs to take stock of the situation there on Wednesday.
The previous Left Democratic Front government had given an in-principle clearance for implementing the project only after complying with various provisions in the prevailing laws of the land.
Mr. Chandy had stated in the Assembly that the notification declaring a vast area of land as industrial area in the three villages of Aranmula, Mallappuzhaserry and Kidangannur, would be cancelled and no paddy land conversion would be permitted in Aranmula in the name of the airport project.
27/12/12 The Hindu

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Airport Express stalled by late safety audit

New Delhi: The Airport Metro Express looks set for yet another delay. Neither the Delhi Metro nor the concessionaire, Reliance Infrastructure, seems interested in getting the required paperwork ready for the safety inspection.
Talking to TOI, commissioner for rail safety RK Kardam said that he had received the application for safety inspection some time ago. "However, there was further documentation required which has not been provided yet," he said. Without this documentation, the safety inspection cannot take place and the Airport Metro Express will not be opened for revenue service.
Interestingly, repair work on the Delhi Airport Metro Express has been complete for some time now.
27/12/12 Rumu Banerjee/Times of India

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CBI team raids Jorhat airport

Jorhat: A team from the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Wednesday carried out a raid at Rowriah Airport in Jorhat and detained a senior manager of the airport on charge of corruption.
The arrested airport official was identified as MP Advani and was the senior manager (civil and engineering) of Rowriah Airport. Director of the airport, Sunil Patkar, confirmed the CBI raid in the airport and the arrest of the officer. He, however, refused to divulge any more information regarding the matter.
27/12/12 Times of India

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AP govt plans 7 greenfield airports in PPP mode

The Andhra Pradesh government is proposing to develop seven greenfield airports in a public-private partnership (PPP) mode, each entailing an investment of between Rs 1,000 crore and Rs 2,000 crore, according to state minister for infrastructure, ports and airport Ganta Srinivasa Rao.
“The Administrative Staff College of India (ASCI) has already submitted its draft report to the government, which will be made available to the public and other stakeholders like air travelers associations, travel agents, CII (Confederation of Indian Industry) and Ficci (Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry), within a month for suggestions,” he told Business Standard.
The new airports, in which the state government will hold some equity, will come up in Tier-II regions like Warangal, Kothagudem, Tadepalligudem, Vizainagaram, Srikakulam, Ongole and Nellore. Besides, the government proposes to upgrade the existing airport at Kadapa, the minister said.
The Andhra Pradesh government had come up with its new civil aviation policy in August 2012, to create better air connectivity for the people of the state and spur industrial growth.
26/12/12 VDS Rama Raju /Business Standard

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Flight operations normal at Delhi airport after days of fog

After three days of dense fog, operations at the Indira Gandhi International Airport here remained largely normal on Wednesday.
Though there was shallow fog in the morning, visibilty remained above 1500 metres and flight operations remained normal with departures and arrivals as per schedule, airport sources said.
Some flights were delayed and some cancelled but they were due to operational reasons, they said.
Flight operations were badly hit at the IGI Airport due to dense fog for past three days leading to delay in schedules of hundreds of aircraft.
26/12/12 PTI/Daily News & Analysis

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Sikh hardliner preacher arrested at Airport

Amritsar: Sikh hardliner Baba Baljit Singh Daduwal was detained Tuesday by immigration staff at Guru Ramdas International Airport here as soon as he landed from UK in connection with a case in Haryana. In the wake of a look-out circular issued by the Sirsa police for Daduwal, the preacher was detained at the airport this morning by the immigration staff, officials said here. The Sikh preacher would be later handed over to the police for further investigation in the case, they said.
26/12/12 Indian Express

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Dense fog hits air, rail travel

New Delhi: Dense fog hit the Capital for the third consecutive day on Tuesday affecting the flights and train movement. Flyers at Indira Gandhi International Airport and Railway passengers faced a harrowing time due to the dense fog that affected the schedules of over 40 flights.
Twenty-nine domestic and international had to be rescheduled and 10 cancelled.
On Monday, over 140 flights were disrupted due to dense fog. Wednesday might again see a foggy morning but a clear sky in the later part of the day.
The fog affected over a hundred trains with as many as 60 running late by four to 24 hours. The New Delhi-bound Patna Rajdhani is running late by 17 hours and the Patna-New Delhi Sampoorn Kranti Express by 24 hours .
For the citizens, it was a cold and foggy Christmas as the temperature dipped to a minimum of 7 degrees Celsius and the maximum hovered around 19 on Tuesday.
26/12/12 The Hindu

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Flight delays may stay till Jan-end

New Delhi:By January-end, delays at IGI airport due to fog may finally come down. The directorate general of civil aviation has asked the Met department to install a third runway visual range machine on the secondary runway that will enable flights to depart from it when visibility falls. The airport has three runways but during dense fog, the new runway invariably cannot be used due to zero visibility and the secondary runway is not equipped to handle any operations. This leaves only the main runway for handling all operations.
Arun Mishra, director general DGCA said that the decision was taken keeping in mind that a single runway was not sufficient to meet the airport's requirement which was leading to unnecessary delays during fog. "We have asked the Met department to install an RVR in the middle of the secondary runway. It already has it on its two ends. With this, flights will be able to take off from it whenever the new runway is rendered unusable in dense fog and reduce the load on the main runway," he said.
26/12/12  Neha Lalchandani/Times of India

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Vizag-Andaman flight likely this New Year

Visakhapatnam:  Vizag may soon get connected with the Andaman and Nicobar Islands as the aviation ministry is reportedly mulling the possibility of direct flights between the port city and the neighbouring islands. This move will benefit tourists and migrant workers of the north coastal districts.
Official sources said the aviation ministry was in a positive mood to allow air service between the two coastal areas along the Bay of Bengal, and the final decision would only be taken once the summer flight schedule reaches Visakhapatnam airport.
"The airport is waiting for the summer flight schedule from its head office. We can officially reveal information on the proposed flight between Vizag and Andaman after going through the schedule," Visakhapatnam airport director Srinivas Rao told TOI.
26/12/12 Times of India

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Zambian woman with party drug worth Rs6 crore arrested at IGI

New Delhi: A  Zambian woman was on Tuesday arrested for allegedly smuggling narcotics worth over Rs six crore at the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) airport here. Acting on intelligence inputs, 32-year-old Emely Chilonga Chibuye was intercepted near the check-in counter of the departure hall and was interrogated, which resulted in the recovery of Ephedrine Pseudoephedrine, a controlled substance under Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act.
"The recovered substance in the form of powder weighed 41.5kg, whose approximate international market price is Rs6.22 crore," an official release said. An anti-depressant, ephedrine pseudoephedrine is a commonly abused as party drug.
25/12/12 PTI/Daily News & Analysis

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IGI airport: Fog affects schedule of over 120 flights, 18 diverted

New Delhi: Operations at the IGI airport here were badly affected for the second consecutive day today as dense fog once again wreck havoc on the schedule of over 120 flights besides forcing diversion of 18 others, including the one carrying a Russian delegation.
The dense fog enveloped the airport around 10.15 PM last night and by the morning, the general visibility dropped to zero. While the runway visibility was less than 25 m on third runway (29/11), it dipped to 150 m on the main runway (28/10).
No operations were going on the third runway as the visibility was far below the required minimum of 50 m for landing and 125 m and 150 m for small and large aircraft respectively to take off, an airport official said. A total of 18 flights, three international and 15 domestic ones, were diverted to Jaipur, Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Mumbai, Lucknow, Bangalore, Hyderabad.
One of the planes, which was carrying a Russian delegation and coming from Sheremetyevo International Airport in Moscow, was diverted to Jaipur after the runway visibility dropped significantly, the official said.
24/12/12 PTI/Deccan Herald

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Aviation Min asks DIAL to cut interest on AI dues

New Delhi: The civil aviation ministry is trying to reap benefits for Air India from the ongoing dispute between the Airports Authority of India (AAI) and the Delhi International Airport Ltd or DIAL over revenue sharing.
The ministry has suggested that DIAL (consortium that runs the Delhi airport) bring down the interest rate charged on Air India’s dues to a rate it pays to its borrowings. But people in the know say that it is easier said than done.
The dispute started with DIAL not sharing the interest charged on Air India’s dues with AAI on the ground that they have borrowed the same amount from banks to fund their working capital requirements. An agreement between AAI and DIAL says the latter is to share 45.66 per cent of its total revenues with AAI and interest on dues is considered as revenues. The state-owned airport operator had reported the matter to an oversight committee — the OMDA Implementation Oversight Committee.
24/12/12 Mihir Mishra/Indian Express

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Airport: BJP fact-finding team visits Aranmula

Pathanamthitta: A two-member delegation of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Rakesh Singh and Uday Singh, MPs, on Sunday visited Aranmula on a fact-finding mission assigned to them by the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj.
The BJP MPs, accompanied by party State president V. Muraleedharan and Thiruvaranmula Paithruka Grama Karma Samithi patron Kummanam Rajashekharan, visited the portion of Aranmula puncha (paddy land) and wetland that had been identified as the site for the proposed greenfield international airport project of a Chennai-based private company.
Ms. Swaraj had sent the delegation to Aranmula on the basis of a memorandum filed by Mr.Rajashekharan two weeks ago.
The MPs visited the illegally-converted paddy land, partially-converted natural stream of Valiayathodu, sacred groves of Thettikkavu, Aringottkavu, and the Scheduled Castes colonies that would be affected if the project was implemented.
The MPs said they were fully convinced of the irregularities in the name of a private airport project.
24/12/12 The Hindu

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Flight operations at Indira Gandhi International airport suspended

New Delhi:  Flight operations at the IGI airport here remained suspended for over an hour after the city witnessed the first dense fog of this winters today.
Around 20 flights were delayed while two were cancelled as the fog enveloped the airport suddenly around 7 AM, sources said.
Operations were normal despite a shallow fog in the morning and the runway visibility was above 200 metres but suddenly around 7 AM dense fog descended at the airport and runway visibility dropped to zero at one end of the runway 29/11 (the third runway), while it was below 50 metres on the other end.
The general visibility on the main runway (28/11 which is the most preferred runway by the airlines during the foggy days) was 50 metres while the runway visibility was 75 metres.
23/12/12 PTI/ Times of India

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AAI gets software to catch pilots blocking runways

New Delhi:  Pilots used to vacating runways at a leisurely pace and then forcing other aircraft supposed to land to take a sharp go-around are now in for trouble.
The AAI ( Airports Authority of India) is getting a software to analyze aircraft movement time on runways, taxiways and the technical area. If a particular pilot is found to be habitually lethargic in clearing runways, then the matter will be reported to his or her airline for corrective training. Similarly, if an airline is found guilty on this count the authority will 'discipline' it.
AAI was forced to take this step as aircraft movement in India is increasing while only Delhi has three runways: two parallel and one merging. Mumbai has a set of cross runways where independent movement is not possible. All other airports in India have only one runway and are now finding it tough to handle the growing aircraft movement unless runway capacity is optimized.
23/12/12 Times of India

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Fog diverts Kolkata flights to Bhubaneswar

Bhubansewar: Thick fog forced a Kolkata-bound aircraft (Indigo-273) to land at the Biju Patnaik airport in Bhubaneswar. The Airbus was coming from Delhi, sources said.
The flight was stranded here for an hour. It took off at 9.46 am after Bhubaneswar air traffic control was told that the fog had cleared and visibility was favourable for landing in Kolkata.
"The flight, which should have reached Kolkata early in the morning, was delayed beyond hours. After we got information of diversion, we put in place all necessary arrangements for flight operation," said H J Parmar, assistant general manager (airport traffic).
He said Bhubaneswar has been made the alternative airport for all Kolkata-bound flights because of fog.
23/12/12 Times of India

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VVIP arrival delays 12 flights

Chennai: At least 12 flights suffered delay in landing or during take off at Chennai airport on Friday as its lone ‘operational’ runway was ‘unofficially’ closed for 30 minutes to enable the police to hold a ceremonial parade for visiting vice-president Hamid Ansari. No flight could land or take off during the parade, airport officials admitted.
They said Ansari’s IAF aircraft landed at the old terminal of Meenambakkam airport at 12.48 pm. Governor K. Rosaiah and chief minister J. Jayalalithaa were present to welcome him along with state ministers and senior officials.
23/12/12 Deccan Chronicle

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AAI terms 54 cases of go-around, near-miss news 'misleading'

New Delhi: As many as 54 incidents reported during the year about aircraft asked to make a go-around or being in a near-miss situation have been found to be "misleading", the Airports Authority of India (AAI) today said.
The state-run airports body, which carries out Air Traffic Control (ATC) operations across the entire country, also termed a recent 'near-miss' incident over the Kolkata- controlled airspace as incorrect.
A probe by Regional Controller of Air Safety (ER & NER), Civil Aviation Department and DGCA, carried out on the basis of the reports found "no such breach of separation" between two Boeing 737--800s last week off the Andhra Pradesh coast.
23/12/12 PTI/Economic Times

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For Rs 4,000, fly to Goa on New Year's eve

Mumbai: For the first time in years, air fares from Mumbai to Goa around Christmas and New Year are not exorbitantly priced. For about Rs 4,000, one can book a one-way ticket to Goa on December 31. But yes, there is a catch: the return fares for flights departing on January 1 and 2 are pretty high at Rs 11,000. However, if one can afford to stay a bit longer in Goa, a return ticket to the beach destination can be had for Rs 8,000. When was the last time that happened?
"When Kingfisher Airlines suspended its flight operations in October, other carriers were ready to exploit the new demand-supply equation to the hilt. But passengers did not respond to the incredibly high Diwali fares. The average passenger load for the month of November was 70%, which is quite low for a Diwali month," said an airline official, requesting anonymity. "It seems that airlines are wary of putting out very high fares."
23/12/12 Manju V/Times of India

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Land acquisition delays may push Navi Mumbai airport take-off to 2017

Mumbai: Due to inordinate delays in land acquisition and securing environment clearance, among others, the second airport in Mumbai, the Navi Mumbai International Airport ( NMIA), may not take off before 2017, according to experts. The first phase of the airport was supposed to be operational by end-2014 or early 2015.
More than the delays, it will be cost escalation that will hurt the project, said industry observers. The first phase of the project is pegged at about Rs 9,000 crore. Any further delays could push up the costs, experts warned.
While the project has got environment clearance — which took a good three years — it is still grappling with issues related to land acquisition.
Land preparation, planning and construction of phase-1 could require about 50 months, according to a report by the Observer Research Foundation, which quoted Ansgar Sickert, former India head of German airport company Fraport.
23/12/12 Aneesh Phadnis/Business Standard

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Poor visibility grounds all flights from Chandigarh

Chandigarh: As thick fog completely engulfed the City Beautiful on Saturday, all flights, operating from the Chandigarh airport, remained cancelled on Saturday because of poor visibility at the runway.
Director Chandigarh Airport, Captain H S Toor, told TOI that visibility at local airport was measured less than 400 metres on Saturday, resulting in cancellation of all civilian flights. He added that the Instrument Landing System (ILS) - a navigation aid required for easy landing of flights in poor visibility conditions - also failed to work. The present category of ILS helps in landing only if the visibility level is 1,200 metres or above.
23/12/12 Times of India

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Current Airport Development Fee to stay intact

Mumbai/Delhi: The government's efforts  to make air travel affordable has received a setback with  the Airport Economic Regulatory Authority (AERA) rejecting the civil aviation ministry's suggestion for a reduced quantum of airport development fee  and increase in tenure.
AERA took this stand while fixing the airport development fee (ADF) for Mumbai airport. AERA has kept the current charge (Rs 100 for domestic) and Rs 600 (for international) intact and set the collection period till April 2021.
GVK-group run Mumbai International Airport Limited had asked approval to collect Rs 200 and Rs 1300 from domestic and international passengers for a period of five years. However AERA rejected AERA proposal.
Ajit Singh, the civil aviation minister, said, "We were facing complaints regarding fares more from Delhi  than Mumbai. More so, already Mumbai passengers will be paying Rs 100 and Rs 600 as ADF against MIAL's demand of Rs 200 and Rs 1300 for domestic and international passengers. With the recovery period being 8 years, I am sure it will be relief  for passengers."
22/12/12 Disha Kanwar/Daily News & Analysis

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Govt approves special package for Karipur airport development

Malappuram: The state government has approved the special package for the development of Karipur International Airport on Saturday. As per the package 137 acres would be acquired for the development works.
The project has been granted approval after considering all the complaints and demands of the people whose land would be acquired for the works. A land acquisition unit comprising 25 officials has been formed for the smooth land acquisition process. Deputy collector, tahsildar, junior superintendent, valuation assistants, revenue superintendent, villageman, peons and clerks would be part of the unit.
Government has sanctioned Rs 116.45 crore for land acquisition and Rs 18 crore for the rehabilitation of families which are to be evicted. Rs 50 lakhs was also sanctioned for other expenses of the official unit.
22/12/12 Times of India

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No DVOR may keep flights away

Ludhiana:  With authorities at the Airport Authority of India waiting for approval from the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), to make the Doppler Very High Frequency Omni Directional Range (DVOR) functional, landing of the lone flight from Delhi will be difficult in the next few days, which are expected to be foggy.
The DVOR is of great significance in the winter as it reduces the visibility requirement for landing of flights from the present 5 kms to 2,500 meters.
According to Sahnewal airport manager VP Jain, "The DVOR has not been made operational as yet and we are awaiting approval for the same from the DGCA. I hope we get approval from DGCA within 20 days so that we can make DVOR fully functional.
22/12/12 Shariq Majeed/Times of India

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Sonam Kapoor caught at BIA without ‘identity’

Bangalore: Bangalore does not know Bollywood stars and Sonam Kapoor faced this bitter truth in the first person last night at BIA. The actress was caught embarrassed outside Gate 2 (Departures) where she was held for more than half an hour by security personnel for the lack of proper identification.
Sonam was accompanied by a female friend, assumed to be her manager, who tried fending off the occasional enquiries about the star’s identity. When DNA tried approaching the duo, enquiring if it was Sonam Kapoor, we were quite sternly told, “No, she isn’t. Does she even look like Sonam Kapoor?”Sonam and her friend were seen making frantic calls for several minutes, after which, eventually, she was escorted into the airport, fuming.
22/12/12 Daily News & Analysis

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Thiruvananthapuram Airport: high-level meet on Monday

Thiruvananthapuram: A high-level meeting will be convened in the capital city on Monday by the Union Ministry of Civil Aviation to discuss and overcome the hurdles being faced in taking up further development of the Thiruvananthapuram International Airport.
The meeting, to be convened at the initiative of Union Minister of State for Civil Aviation K.C. Venugopal, will be attended by Chief Minister Oommen Chandy, Union Minister of State for Human Resource Development Shashi Tharoor, and Airports Authority of India (AAI) chairman V.K. Agarwal.
The delay on the part of the State government in acquiring and handing over land for the proposed domestic terminal and the future of the Thiruvananthapuram Airport Development Society, which has become defunct, will come up at the meeting, a top AAI official told The Hindu.
22/12/12 S Anil Radhakrishnan/The Hindu

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Birsa Munda Airport: high-level meet on Monday

Ranchi:  The new terminal at the Birsa Munda Airport is likely to be inaugurated by Union civil aviation minister Ajit Singh in the second week of January. A team of engineering officials, including the executive director of the engineering wing of the Airports Authority of India (AAI), on Friday visited the new terminal here. The team which arrived in Ranchi on Thursday visited the swanky new airport and inspected its operational efficacy and was satisfied with the system.
Sources from AAI said Singh and Jharkhand chief minister Arjun Munda would inaugurate the new terminal building around January 15. "The dates have not been finalized yet. It would be settled according to the engagements of the aviation minister," said a source. AAI chairman V P Agarwal will be one of the important guests at the occasion.
22/12/12 Sanjay Ojha/Times of India

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No end in sight to wait for Adyar runway

A year after completion of work, the extended secondary runway, a portion of which runs over a bridge across the Adyar, is yet to be functional.
The runway is expected to help meet the increasing air traffic that Chennai airport handles but to date, nobody seems to have a clue when it will be opened.
A note from Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority (CMDA U.O. Note No. R1/1363/2006) circulated among local bodies in 2006 spoke of a land plan schedule for areas to be ‘covered under the proposed airport restructuring and modernisation’ project.
The proposal included, among other things, creation of a new runway parallel to the existing one and diagonal to the secondary runway, and also re-routing a sizeable length of the Adyar river to make way for the same.
22/12/12 K. Manikandan/The Hindu

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Flyer hid Rs 40L jewellery in underpants, arrested

Mumbai: A Dubai-based businessman was arrested early on Friday morning at Mumbai airport for allegedly carrying undeclared diamond jewellery in his underpants. He was later released on bail by the Air Intelligence Unit (AIU).
The businessman, 28-year-old Chirag Vora, landed in Mumbai from Dubai at 4am. Vora is the director of Bafleh Jewellery, a Dubai-based wholesale jewellery company. He is also into real estate.
Like many other passengers, Vora collected his luggage and made for the airport exit. On reaching the customs counter, he opted for the green channel. He was, however, intercepted by an AIU batch led by assistant commissioner Sameer Wankhede who were keeping a watch on passengers. "There was something about his gait that made us suspicious," said an AIU official who was part of the team.
22/12/12 Times of India

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Malaysia raised GMR airport issue: India

During his meeting with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak had raised the matter of the Maldives scrapping an airport deal with GMR, External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid said on Friday.
"The matter (regarding GMR) was mentioned," Khurshid told media persons.
The Malaysian government-owned MAHB holds 23 percent while Indian construction major GMR holds 77 percent stake in the joint venture GMR Male International Airport Pvt Ltd, which was formed to develop the Ibrahim Nasir International Airport in Male.
The Maldives government had scrapped the $500 million deal with GMR on Nov 27, leading to India voicing concern over the step and calling on the Maldives to ensure the safety and security of Indian people and business in the archipelago nation.
21/12/12 IANS/Daily News & Analysis

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Authorities clueless on roads to connect Kannur airport

Kannur: Though the authorities keep on promising that the proposed airport in Mattannur will become a reality before 2016, they still have no idea regarding the roads that need to be developed to connect to the airport. The officials are still in dark as to which would be the main road to the airport from Kannur town -- the existing road from Chovva or the proposed Greenfield Road.
"Since there are differences of opinion among the people about the Greenfield Road, the government has decided to do a satellite survey of the existing road as well as the proposed road to take a decision," said district collector Rathan Kelkar. "The survey is yet to start and this underscores the uncertainty over the issue."
But those who oppose the Greenfield Road say there is no question of uncertainty, and the proposal for the Greenfield Road was the cause of all confusion.
21/12/12 Times of India

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3 new GoAir flights from February

Kolkata: GoAir, that currently operates just two flights out of Kolkata, will introduce three more flights from February as it expands its network in the east next year.
While the airline currently connects Kolkata to Delhi and Port Blair, it will add flights to Ahmedabad, Bagdogra and Guwahati from February 4, 2013. It will operate the brand new sharklet equipped A320 aircraft on these sectors, effecting significant fuel savings.
Flights on the new sectors will have GoBusiness, comprising the first two rows of the aircraft with the middle seat empty and more legroom. GoBusiness is a value driven offer providing hot meals on board, priority boarding privileges and a 40kg baggage allowance.
21/12/12 Times of India

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Mangalore: Special fares from Jet Airways for Dubai sector

Mangalore: Jet Airways has introduced special fares from Mangalore to Dubai to encourage people to take advantage of Dubai shopping festival which begins on January 3, 2013 for a month. The new special promotion fares are on sale with immediate effect and are available with approved travel agents and at all offices of Jet Airways and on its website.
Jet Airways is all set to commence its direct operation from Mangalore to Dubai on January 03, 2013, six times a week except on Saturday due to non availability of landing space at Dubai. The direct flight from Mangalore to Dubai is a boon to the city which will promote business, tourism and will invite more investments from expats from the Middle East, specially into real estate and other businesses.
21/12/12 Bellevision

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No flight between Bhopal and Indore

Bhopal: Air connectivity between Bhopal and Indore barring by air taxi service is suspended since Thursday. The Jet airways changed its route plan for Ahmadabad flight, skipping Indore. In exchange, it has resumed flight from Indore to Lucknow to Patna.
With new flight schedule becoming effective from Thursday, Jet Airways flight from Ahmedabad will land at Bhopal and then take off to Raipur and Kolkata. On its return too it will stick to Kolkata-Raipur-Bhopal-Ahmedabad. Earlier it had a stopover at Indore. Other domestic carriers have also for long stopped operations on Indore-Bhopal route.
21/12/12 Daily Bhaskar

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International airline body slams steep airport charges

Montreal-based International Air Transport Association, the global trade body of airlines, has written to Indian regulators complaining about “unfair” trade practices followed by the authorities of the Mumbai airport.
In a 12-page letter, the association has criticised the GVK-led Mumbai International Airport Ltd’s (MIAL) decision to demand steep landing fees and other charges from airlines in a bid to recoup costs of development projects underway at the airport.
The letter has been sent to the secretary of Airport Economic Regulatory Authority (AERA) of India, Capt Kapil Chaudhary. MIAL has urged AERA to increase landing, parking and navigation charges for domestic and international carriers by a staggering 880 per cent. It has also sought a substantial increase in user development fee paid by passengers.
21/12/12 Aditya Anand/Pune Mirror

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DIAL gets global risk mgmt certification

Mumbai: Delhi International Airport's ( DIAL) IT system has received a certification against IT breaches and security. The certification reaffirms that an organisation is compliant with its software licence agreements.
The airport claims that it is the first airport in the world to secure the BSA (Business Software Alliance) Certification in Standards-based Software Asset Management (SAM) for organisations, a program known as CSS(O).
For a passenger this means that their travel will become more secure through genuine software ensuring timely and accurate display of flight information, smooth baggage checking process, secured wi-fi usage inside the terminal, prevention of malware and pirated software.
21/12/12 Tania Kishore Jaleel/Business Standard

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Airport fire: delay of twenty minutes in alerting fire-fighters

Every minute counts in case of fire accidents. However, investigations into the Monday’s fire accident in the Begumpet airport hangar, reveals that 20 precious minutes were lost before fire-fighters arrived.
A guard on duty at the Begumpet Air Force Station had noticed the fire at around 11.15 p.m. Sources, however, pointed out that the crash fire tenders from fire station inside the airport arrived only after 11.35 p.m. In the interregnum, six trainer aircraft and the chopper were gutted.
Sources said the crash fire tenders arrived after being alerted by a private security guard near the airport premises and not by the on-duty civil guard posted by the Aviation Academy or the two policemen guarding the government chopper.
21/12/12 M. Srinivas/The Hindu

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Air India to bring Agra on its network

Bangalore:  Air India said on Friday it will start flight operations from Delhi connecting Varanasi, Agra and Khajuraho from December 26.
The flight AI 406 will operate on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays on Delhi-Varanasi-Agra-Khajuraho route and the return flight, AI 405, will fly from Khajuraho to Varanasi and terminate at Delhi, it said in a statement.
Flight AI 406 from Delhi to Agra will depart Delhi at 1245 hours and reach Varanasi at 1400 hours, take off from Varanasi at 1435 hours and reach Agra at 1530 hours, leave Agra at 1605 hours to reach Khajuraho at 1645 hours.
21/12/12 PTI/Economic Times

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Aerobridge 1 and 2 at Nagpur functioning properly

Both the aerobridges of Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar International Airport, Nagpur are functioning properly. P Anil Kumar, CEO, Mihan India Limited (MIL), which is responsible for airport management said that since their re-commissioning on December 1 and 7, aerobridges 1 and 2 are functioning without any problem.
But both the aerobridges were not in use on December 9 evening during the take-off of a Jet Lite flight to Mumbai, sources said. "Some airlines use them, while some don't. About 70% aircrafts landing in the airport are using the aerobridges now," said Kumar. A source said that sometimes miscreants give wrong information to malign company's image.
21/12/12 Aparna Nair/Times of India

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Delhi airport secures BSA CSS(O) certification

New Delhi: Delhi International Airport (P) Limited (DIAL), the operator of the country’s busiest and the second best airport in world in its category, has become the first airport in the world to secure BSA (Business Software Alliance) Certification in Standards-based Software Asset Management (SAM) for Organizations, a program known as CSS(O).
The first and only enterprise-level certification, CSS(O) affirms an entity is compliant with its software license agreements and its SAM processes are aligned to the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) SAM standard.
Commenting on the development, I Prabhakara Rao, CEO DIAL, said: “We are extremely excited to mark another milestone by adopting world-class software asset management practices, which helps us improve safety, efficiency and other pertinent parameters for stakeholders.
21/12/12 India Blooms

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Centre suspects foul play in Begumpet airport fire

Hyderabad: Civil aviation ministry officials overseeing investigations into the mysterious fire at the old airport in Hyderabad suspect foul play and said there was virtually no security in place to even prevent anyone from sneaking inside to trigger a possible fire. They also said repeated requests for providing Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) personnel to guard the high-security area was ignored for the past two years.
"It is strange that within 5-10 minutes all the five aircraft were gutted and it is not possible if it was just a case of simple short circuit," a top security official from New Delhi said.
The Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has ordered an independent inquiry into the fire accident and they will take into account aspects such as poor security and breach of security by unknown people, officials said.
"Anything could have happened and anyone could have walked in there. You cannot leave such a high security area from where there is regular chartered flight movement unguarded," another high level source said.
20/12/12 Times of India

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Prompt action by IAF personnel saved two aircraft from fire

Hyderabad: But for the prompt action of Air Force personnel, Monday night's fire at Begumpet Airport here would have gutted another two aircraft.
A state government-owned helicopter meant for the use of the Chief Minister and six training aircraft were destroyed in the blaze.
But, as many as 100 IAF personnel towed away two Avro aircraft which were parked in the IAF hangar, six feet away from A P Aviation Academy's hangar which bore the brunt of the fire, Station Commander Captain E K Prasad of IAF said in a statement today.
The fire is estimated to have caused damage of Rs 100 crore.
Prasad said the involvement of the IAF personnel of Air Force Station, Begumpet helped in controlling the fire and preventing it from spreading to IAF hangar and the office complex of AP Aviation Academy.
20/12/12 PTI/Business Standard

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Ill-fated VIP chopper AgustaWestland logged just 970 hours

Hyderabad: Though the state government had purchased VIP chopper AgustaWestland-139 (Aw-139), which was gutted in the Monday midnight fire accident at the Begumpet airport hangar-3, in 2008, it has logged just 970 flying hours in four years.
"In a span of four years, the VIP chopper logged just 970 hours (approximately). After former chief minister YS Rajasekhara Reddy's death in a chopper crash, his successor K Rosaiah used the helicopter for a few times for his visits in the state. However, he often travelled by train. After Kiran Kumar Reddy took charge, he initially used to fly in private airlines and, of late, had started using the Agust AW-139 for tours in the state," sources in the general administration department (GAD) told TOI.
The late YS Rajasekhara Reddy had logged less than 100 flying hours as the government had purchased the chopper in 2008 and he died in 2009.
20/12/12 Times of India

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Aviation Turbine Fuel at mishap site: CID disputes Andhra Pradesh Aviation Academy claims

Hyderabad: Adding to the suspicion of the Bureau of Civil Aviation that there was foul play in the gutting of six training aircraft and a helicopter at Begumpet airport on Monday night, CID officials on Wednesday disputed the claim of the AP Aviation Academy authorities (APAA) that there were no containers filled with Aviation Turbine Fuel (ATF) lying around in the Nizam-era hangar when the fire took place.
"There were containers inside the hangar but since they caught fire, now it has to be seen whether the containers had fuel in it or not. The experts of forensic science can only confirm this. The eye witnesses noticed the initial spark which spread first to the cabin and subsequently to the entire hangar. The huge sounds of explosion took place only after the fire spread to the aircraft and helicopter,'' additional director general of police (CID) T Krishna Prasad said. The CID chief's assertion was in response to the claim of APAA director SN Reddy that there were no containers in the hangar and that the ATF was only inside the fuel tanks of the aircraft and helicopters.
20/12/12 Times of India

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GMR has done only peripheral work at airport, says Maldives official

Masood Imad, the media Secretary to the President’s Office in Maldives, has been quite blunt about alleged wrongdoings by GMR Infrastructure in bagging the Male International Airport development project and subsequently operating the airport.
GMR, the largest foreign investor in Maldives, was evicted from the airport earlier this month and has now claimed $800 million in damages.
Maldives continues to allege that GMR did little to develop the airport . AFP
But Maldives continues to allege that GMR did little to develop the airport and has also been disputing the $800 million compensation being sought.
20/12/12 Sindhu Bhattacharya/Firstpost

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GoAir to introduce direct return flights to Kolkata

Kolkata: GoAir will operate brand new sharklet equipped A320 for aircraft for direct return flights to Kolkata from Ahmedabad, Bagdogra and Guwahati from February 4 next year.
"Sharklets will allow significant saving of fuel and be consequently be more environment-friendly," airline sources said today.
20/12/12 PTI/Economic Times

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SpiceJet connects Ahmedabad with Dubai

Ahmedabad: Low-cost airline SpiceJet Ltd on Thursday launched its first international direct flight from Ahmedabad connecting Dubai.
Ahmedabad is the fourth destination in India from which the airline operates to Dubai. At present, SpiceJet operates direct daily flights to Dubai from Delhi, Mumbai and Kochi. On this route SpiceJet will deploy Boeing 737 -800 aircraft with a capacity of 189.
20/12/12 Business Line

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Deccan starts Surat-Diu flight service

Surat: Residents in the diamond city need no longer travel nine hours by road to reach the union territory of Diu. The Deccan Charters Limited (DCL) has started shuttle service between Surat and Diu from Wednesday. No official announcement was made by the DCL about the shuttle service between Surat and Diu, but the first flight to Diu was flagged off from Surat airport on Wednesday morning.
The DCL has been operating Surat-Bhavnagar-Surat flight service for the past few months. The Surat-Diu-Surat service is the latest addition.
20/12/12 Times of India

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Kolkata airport upgrade deadline unrealistic, feels project incharge

Kolkata: As work on the new integrated terminal at Kolkata airport - the biggest project undertaken by the Airports Authority of India (AAI) in recent years - nears completion, the management has begun reviewing the processes to identify reasons for the delay and fix them so that it does not recur when the next phase of modernization is taken up in five to six years.
Work on the 30-month Kolkata airport upgrade project began in January 2009 and was to be completed by June 2012 but was deferred first to August, then October, December and now January 2013. Many are apprehensive that while a formal inauguration may be done, full-fledged operations at the new terminal may be held up even longer with all airlines shifting to the new facility only by mid-2013.
20/12/12 Subhro Niyogi/Times of India

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Ajit Singh to unveil his father’s statue at Amausi airport

Lucknow: Union Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh will unveil the statue of his father and former prime minister Chaudhary Charan Singh at Lucknow’s Amausi international airport, which is named after him, on Sunday.
December 23 is the birth anniversary of Chaudhary Charan Singh. Accompanied by his son and Rashtriya Lok Dal general secretary Jayant Chaudhary, Ajit Singh will also address party workers there. Before coming to Lucknow, he will garland the photograph of Chaudhary Charan Singh in the Central Hall of Parliament and attend a prayer meeting at Kisan Ghat in Delhi.
20/12/12 Indian Express

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Mumbai air passengers prefer mobile ticket booking

Mumbai: Mumbai airport apparently has a high percentage of passengers who are active on social media sites as compared to other airports in the world. A global survey carried out across six international airports found that 86% passengers in Mumbai were active on social media sites, despite India having a social media penetration of only 5%.
Other than Mumbai, major hubs in Sao Paulo, Frankfurt, Atlanta, Abu Dhabi and Beijing were included in the survey. "On an average, across these six airports, 62% air passengers were found to be active on social media sites, which is higher than the general population in most regions,'' said the survey. In the case of Sao Paulo, 71% passengers said they were active on social media sites, compared to 28% among the general population of Brazil.
20/12/12 Times of India

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Dnata commences new contract for Air India

Dnata's ground handling teams at London's Heathrow airport have recently commenced provision of passenger services for three daily flights for Air India.
Air India, which recently celebrated its 60th anniversary, operates three flights daily using Boeing 777 aircraft, from Heathrow to Mumbai and Delhi. Under the new contract, Dnata is now providing passenger services to the airline, which include checking in passengers, operation of Air India's ticket counter and Maharaja VIP Lounge and lost luggage staff to assist with queries in the arrivals hall as well as a range of special services.
19/12/12 AMEinfo

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Flyer tries to smuggle Rs 30L to Dubai, held

A passenger, Sheikh Haji Miyaz, was arrested at Mumbai airport while trying to smuggle Indian currency worth Rs 30 lakh to Dubai.
On Tuesday, around 1pm, Miyaz checked in at Jet Airways counter to board a flight to Dubai. However, customs officials intercepted him on suspicion. Officials said Miyaz tried to feign illness when he stopped. "He was asked to hand over his bags. On searching the bags, we found Rs 30 lakh," an official said. A passenger is allowed to carry only Rs 15,000. Miyaz was immediately arrested.
Last week, officials arrested a passenger, Manish Bhavnani, who had arrived from Bangkok and was allegedly trying to smuggle gold worth Rs 48 lakh.
20/12/12 Times of India

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AP orders CID probe into old Hyd airport fire

Chennai/Hyderabad: The Andhra Pradesh government on Tuesday ordered a CID inquiry into the massive fire accident that took place late Monday night at a hangar in old (Begumpet) airport. Five training Cessna aircraft along with state government's Augusta helicopter were gutted in the fire.
While initial reports suggested electric short circuit as the cause, police officials taking part in the investigation said they were looking at all possible angles including sabotage.
The hangar is maintained by the Andhra Pradesh Aviation Academy, which was operating the five training aircraft. Close to a dozen fire fighters were pressed into service to put off the fire that came under control after the day broke, according to reports.
The Air Force staff also assisted in extinguishing the fire, a spokesperson of the Defence forces said. The Air Force also uses the airport for training purpose and has a separate hangar. However, it did not suffer any damage.
19/12/12 Business Standard

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Lack of trained guards caused Begumpet airport fire mishap

Hyderabad:  The CCTV footage of hangar-3 on Monday night suggests that the fire mishap was an accident and availability of trained fire personnel at the hangar could have prevented the mishap.
Analysis of the 16-minute video footage between 11.25pm and 11.41pm reveals that security personnel had at least five minutes time to react and control the fire, provided they were trained in how to use fire extinguishers that were available at the hangar.
Instead of using the three fire portable extinguishers available at the spot, the security guards made a futile attempt to douse the flames using a small quantity of water available there in three buckets.
19/12/12  Mahesh Buddi/Times of India

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Number of air passengers who opt for self check-in on rise

Mumbai:  In the world's busiest airport in the world, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta, the option of self check-in is increasingly getting popular as a survey found that an astounding 85 percent passengers avoided airport counters for check-in. While 39% of passengers used the internet to check-in for flights, the remaining checked-in at self-service kiosks or used mobile phone check-ins. It is an increase of ten percent as compared to last year.
While the survey shows web and kiosk check-in are still growing among users of the airport, there are signs that they are reaching a plateau. ``Mobile check-in is expected to take up the baton and there was a doubling in its usage from 3% of passengers in 2011 to 6% in this year,'' according to the results of the latest SITA/Air Transport World Passenger Self-Service Survey.
19/12/12 Times of India

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Bangalore International Airport handles 50 million passengers in five years

Bangalore: Bangalore International Airport Limited (BIAL) today achieved the milestone of handling its 50 millionth passenger since the opening of the new international airport in May 2008. Within days of this announcement, it would have handled half a million Aircraft Movements and clocked in 1 million metric tonnes of Cargo as well.
To mark the occasion, the BIAL greeted the 50 millionth passenger by giving him a surprise hamper. The management also declared an entire year’s free usage of the F&B offering as a gift to the passenger.
Commenting on the achievement, Sanjay Reddy, Managing Director, BIAL said, “This is a special day for us at Bengaluru International Airport. This achievement comes within five years of operations and is a testimony of our ability to meet the rapid demand and growth of the domestic and international air traffic.”
“Looking ahead, we will set another milestone in 2013 with the phased opening of the expanded terminal. The new terminal will have the capacity to handle 20 million passengers annually,” Reddy said.
19/12/12 Mahesh Kulkarni/Business Standard

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Special Christmas flight to Aizawl on December 22

Aizawl: Additional flight service to Aizawl will be provided on coming December 22, between Kolkata-Aizawl, following the request made by Rajya Sabha MP, Lalhmingliana for the convenience of the large number of Mizo residents who are heading home for Christmas.
Attending the Consultative Committee for Ministry of Civil Aviation on December 17, Rajya Sabha MP Lalhmingliana apprised the Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh regarding the problems faced by large number of Mizo students in cities due to shortage of tickets for Kolkata-Aizawl flight, and made a request that an additional flight may be provided at least one day before Christmas.
Complying with the request, Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh assured that on December 22 an additional flight will be on service from Kolkata to Aizawl.
19/12/12 Mizonews

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Airport entry charges to be hiked

Raipur: The airport authorities have decided to hike the newly entry fee to the newly built swanky Swami Vivekanand Airport terminal building. The visitor entry fee has been increased to Rs 50 from the existing Rs 45.
According to airport officials, from Friday onwards, the entry fee to the airport terminal's visitors' area would be Rs 50. The Rs 5 hike has been proposed to resolve the "change shortage" faced at the counters.
Incidentally, this is the second hike in just over a month as visitors' entry charges were revised at the time of opening of the new terminal building on November 7 last month. When the operations were shifted to the new terminal, the entry fee was raised to Rs 45 from the earlier Rs 30 at the old building.
19/12/12 Anuja Jaiswal/Times of India

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Airport food fails to fly in Chennai

Chennai: Atrociously priced but poor in quality — food sold at the Chennai airport is far from satisfactory, say air passengers.
Sheila Narayan (49), who frequently flies from Chennai to New Delhi, said she refrains from buying food at the airport. “Once my husband bought a veg. sandwich for Rs. 100 from one of the outlets inside the terminal and it was spoilt. We had a protracted argument with an employee but he refused to refund the money.”
Airport sources say that the outlets charge exorbitant rates because the rental imposed by the Airport Authority of India (AAI) is very high. At present, they pay Rs. 1050 per sq. m as the rent, plus 25 per cent for facility charges like water, electricity etc.
19/12/12 Sunitha Sekar/The Hindu

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Kochi CBI arrests retired customs officer in city

Bangalore: In an operation that was shrouded in secrecy, a team from the Kochi unit of the CBI visited the city on Monday and arrested K.S. Chandrasekhar, former Deputy Commissioner of Customs, in connection with a misappropriation case.
Mr. Chandrasekhar, along with two other former colleagues, had been booked for forging documents and making off with a plasma TV, a home theatre system and other electronic goods that had been impounded at the Kochi International Airport in 2008-09.
19/12/12 The Hindu

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Centre keen to develop 7 new airports, state ‘not responding’

Lucknow: The Union Civil Aviation Ministry is eager to develop as many as seven new civilian airports in Uttar Pradesh — at Agra, Meerut, Jhansi, Faizabad, Gorakhpur, Moradabad and Allahabad — but is getting a lukewarm response from the state government.
Union Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh said he himself and the Airports Authority of India(AAI) had sent several letters regarding the development of these airports, but the state government has not given any “positive response” yet.
Singh first wrote to the state government for taking the necessary measures to provide land in Meerut, Agra and Jhansi for the development of civilian airports. In April, AAI Chairman V P Agrawal wrote to Chief Secretary Jawed Usmani, requesting him to hand over
Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar Airfield at Partapur in Meerut, belonging to the state, for development of an airport. The letter was sent along with the concept master plan of the airport. Agrawal requested the government to acquire 433 acres of additional land and hand it over to the AAI “free of cost and free from all encumbrances”.
18/12/12 Ramendra Singh/Indian Express

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Andhra CM's chopper, 5 other aircraft destroyed in Begumpet airport fire

Hyderabad/Visakhapatnam: In a major fire mishap, a chopper of the Andhra Pradesh government, meant for the use of Chief Minister, and five other aircraft parked in a hangar of the old airport at Begumpet here were destroyed.
The fire broke out around last midnight and it soon engulfed the hangar resulting in complete collapse of the shed, state fire department sources said.
Residents of the nearby locality claimed explosions were also heard.
According to sources, 10 fire tenders from the state fire department and some other fire engines of the air force station at Hakimpet managed to bring the blaze under control after about three hours.
"The Augusta (Westland) helicopter of the state government and five other small aircraft of the aviation academy were destroyed in the fire. We will conduct a high-level inquiry by a senior official like (state) Home Secretary to find out the reasons for the fire and whether there is any sabotage angle etc," Ganta Srinivasa Rao, Andhra Pradesh Minister for Infrastructure and Ports told reporters in Visakhapatnam.
18/12/12 PTI/Indian Express

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Maldives govt to seek compensation for losses in "illegal" awarding of airport

Attorney General (AG) Aishath Azima Shakoor Monday said the Maldives government would also seek compensation through arbitration for any losses incurred by the "illegal" awarding of Ibrahim Nasir International Airport (INIA) to India's GMR Infrastructure Limited.
Maldives government had prematurely terminated the Indian infrastructure giant’s 25 year contract to develop and operate INIA on November 27 signed during the administration of former President Mohamed Nasheed.
Maldives Airports Company Limited (MACL) took over operations from GMR on December 7, after the Singapore Supreme Court ruled that the Maldives government has the authority to expropriate the airport from GMR.
During a press conference at the AG’s office Azima revealed that a person from the Singapore National University has been appointed to act as the arbitrator of the MACL. GMR would have 30 days to appoint an arbitrator and the entire process could take up to a year, according to the AG.
17/12/12 Ali yoosuf/Haveeru Online

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Malaysia to persist with GMR despite Maldives setback

Malaysia will press ahead with its alliance with the GMR group despite the setback to the joint venture Ibrahim Nasir International Airport (INIA) project in Maldives, Malaysia's industry minister said.
Mustapa Mohamad told reporters on Saturday that Malaysia is "pleased" with its partnership with GMR in developing two airports in India (Delhi and Hyderabad)) and the Sabiha Gokcen International Airport in Istanbul, Turkey, Economic Times (ET) reported.
Many countries in Central Asia have ambitious plans to expand their airports and Malaysia will actively pursue these opportunities with GMR, he said.
"We are very disappointed that the (airport) contract was terminated by Male. We hope this is not going to prevent Malaysian Airports and GMR to go to other countries in future."
18/12/12 haveeru online

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Mechanism to deal with fog trouble in place, says Jet Airways

Mumbai: Private carrier Jet Airways on Tuesday said it has put in place several measures including deployment of additional planes and cancellation and rescheduling of some flights to deal with the problem of fog. In the event of flight disruption due to fog, the airline plans to deploy additional aircraft for relief/additional flights wherever possible, it said.
Also, in the case of flight diversions, operations out of alternate airports have been planned, while certain existing scheduled services will be re-routed. Certain Jet Airways and JetKonnect flights have been rescheduled, effective December 15 to January 15.
In the case of anticipated flight elays/cancellations, passengers need to check the status of their flights before leaving for the airport by calling the airline's call centres and its toll-free numbers, Jet statement said. Delhi-Gorakhpur-Delhi flight will remain cancelled till January 15, the statement said.
18/12/12 PTI/IBN Live

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Lack of quarantine facilities threat to biodiversity

Kochi: Lack of plant quarantine facility in airports in the state is posing a threat to the state biodiversity as there is no proper monitoring of the kinds of plants and seeds entering the state. This is despite the state having three international airports and Keralites over the years becoming big time collectors and owners of ornamental plants.
"We are seeing a new disease in the orchids that were brought in from Thailand recently. All the buds in plant are turning yellow and falling off before they turn into flowers," said Mercy, who had brought a new set of imported orchids recently. "I have been maintaining plants for several years now. This is a new disease and it is destroying the plants. I am afraid it will affect the rest of my plants also."
18/12/12 Times of India

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Scanners at Airports

The scanners installed at major airports have not failed in explosives detection. Some tests were conducted by the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) together with some intelligence agencies at a few airports. But in the absence of the testing protocols no definite conclusions could be drawn.
BCAS have approached European Civil Aviation Conference (ECAC), who lay down specifications for various civil aviation related security-gadgets including scanners, in the mater. BCAS intend to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with ECAC for sharing information and testing protocols. Conclusive testing of scanners at our airports can be done only after testing protocols become available with BCAS. This information was given by the Minister of State for Civil Aviation Shri K.C. Venugopal in a written reply to a question in Lok Sabha today.
18/12/12 Press Information Bureau

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India detains Israeli caught with rifle bullets

An Israeli man was detained in Mumbai, India last week after he was found carrying two rifle bullets in his backpack, Yedioth Ahronoth reported Tuesday. Israel is working to secure his release.
 The man, in his 20s, was on a post-army trip to the Far East and had apparently forgotten the bullets in his backpack during his service in a combat military unit.
Last Thursday, he landed in Mumbai where he was meant to board a flight to another destination.
 At the airport, security guards found the bullets in his backpack and took him for questioning. He explained that the bullets were left there from his military service but failed to convince the Indian authorities which held him for two days before releasing him to house arrest.
 India is now pursuing legal action against the Israeli and has banned him from leaving the country. It remains unclear whether he will be indicted.
18/12/12 Ynet News.com

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Sena alleges graft in Akola airport

Nagpur: Shiv Sena MLC Diwakar Raote on Monday alleged corruption in Akola airport project which is yet to begin operations five years after its inauguration and pointed fingers at former union aviation minister and NCP stalwart Praful Patel. The opposition members staged a walkout after on minister of state Fouzia Khan's reply terming it "unsatisfactory".
Raote was speaking in the Council on calling attention motion by Gopikisan Bajoriya, Anil Parab and other members. The members accused the government of misleading the house by giving different answers on the Akola airport issue every time it was raised. "Patel had inaugurated the airport on which Rs25 crores of public money was spent. Sadly, not a single aircraft flies from it. How much are the kickbacks, the government must explain," Raote said.
Other members stated the issue had come up for the discussion as many as seven times in different sessions. However, the government failed to provide satisfactory reply.
18/12/12 Times of India

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Load factor: Flights skip Karipur

Kozhikode: The vital domestic air connectivity from Kozhikode to key cities across the country has been severely hit with various airlines pulling out from the routes citing profitability and operational bottlenecks.
The lack of enough flights in the domestic sector has hit the business and could blight the Information Technology ambitions of the city.
Airline industry sources said it is the low load factor in the domestic routes that has made many schedules from Karipur unviable.
"Deploying wide-bodied aircrafts on domestic routes is not viable due to the decreased load factor. The economics of the domestic sector demands both the right kind of aircraft and the right kind of fare. However, people have not been that eager to lap up the seats if the fares reflect our actual costs," a senior airline official said.
18/12/12  K R Rajeev/Times of India

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Govt proposes to build more low-cost airports to promote greater air connectivity in remote areas

New Delhi: Aiming to promote greater air connectivity in remote areas, the government proposes to build more low-cost airports across the country, identifying the low-cost business model in domestic aviation as a "key trend".
A "key trend" in the business model of domestic operations by Indian carriers was the "rapid shift" towards the low-cost carrier model, Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh told the Parliamentary Consultative Committee attached to his Ministry here today.
The priority areas of his ministry included providing greater connectivity to smaller and remote parts of the country and development of low-cost airports, he was quoted as saying in an official release.
During the discussion that followed, MPs too sought improving connectivity to smaller towns by increasing number of flights and setting up airports there.
The members of the Committee also voiced serious concern over increasing air fares.
17/12/2012 PTI/Economic Times

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Kerala probing human trafficking through airports

Thiruvananthapuram: A probe has been ordered into reports that human trafficking was taking place from three international airports of Kerala, from where passengers flew to Middle East without proper travel documents, Chief Minister Oomen Chandy said Monday.
Chandy informed the state assembly that an inquiry has been initiated into such reports where agents were running the racket by allegedly greasing the palms of unscrupulous police officials, who mann the emigration department.
"The state police will inquire into what happened when they were looking after the airport emigration and today all the emigration work is being done by the Intelligence Bureau (IB) and we will ask them to conduct an inquiry since theny took over," said Chandy.
17/12/12 ZeeNews

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Not enough land for solar projects? Set them up inside airports

Chennai: One of the problems often cited by solar power developers in executing a large project, is availability of land. But here is one easy option: Airports.
Think of solar panels in the vast spaces that surround runways, you instinctively feel that it is not a good idea. Would the light reflecting off the panels affect landings?
But apparently, it is a done thing. A German company called Enerparc, a specialist in putting up solar projects in airports, has done over 240 MW of solar installations in active airports. “The largest solar plant we have installed is in the Neuhardenberg airport, which is a 70 MW plant,” Stefan Mueller, Chief Operating Officer, Enerparc, told Business Line.
All it takes is a ‘glare analysis’ to find out where the panels should not be put up.
Enerparc, now getting active in India, has mooted the idea of solar projects at airports. India has 136 airports. Some of these are spread over vast pieces of land. For example, the Hyderabad international airport is spread over 5,400 acres. Chennai sits on over 4,000 acres.
16/12/12 M. Ramesh/Business Line

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Navi Mumbai Airport: Land losers not enthused with Centre's amended Bill

Those affected by land takeover for the proposed Navi Mumbai airport do not expect the Centre’s amended draft of the land acquisition legislation to change things much on their core demands.
The Project Affected Persons (PAPs) stand to lose 450 hectares for the project and, in return, want 35-40 per cent returned as developed land. They say they were not ready to accept the state government’s proposal of 12.5 per cent or up to 15 per cent developed land, plus monetary compensation of Rs 10 lakh a hectare.
This comes just after Union agriculture minister Sharad Pawar, who headed the group of ministers which suggested amendments to the core Bill, said in Navi Mumbai yesterday that the PAPs would now be entitled for compensation at four times the market rates.
17/12/12 Sanjay Jog/Business Standard

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Mohali airport: With sand, gravel back, work picks up pace

Chandigarh: Halted due to the high price of gravel in Punjab, the construction work at the international airport in Mohali has finally gained some pace with sand and gravel being made available.
“A few months back, the Punjab and Haryana governments had banned mining in the states due to which the material was not available for construction and work had to be stalled,’’ said an official working at the site on condition of anonymity.
Sources said the Airport Authority of India (AAI) had allotted the work for laying the apron and taxiways at the international airport to Vishal Infrastructures Limited, a Bangalore-based company, at a cost of Rs 30 crore after bids were invited. The company was given 15 months’ time to finish constructing the apron and taxiways. But due to shortage of gravel and sand, the company left the work. Now L&T is expected to lay the apron and taxiways. While only pre-mix is to be laid, the other basic work has already been done.
17/12/12 Harpreet Bajwa/Indian Express

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New terminal at CIAL soon

Kochi: A modern international terminal at the Cochin International Airport Ltd (CIAL) will soon become a reality. The Rs 450-crore terminal will be able to handle about 4,000 incoming and outgoing passengers during peak hours.
The State Excise Minister, K. Babu, unveiled the new terminal’s design based on Kerala’s temple architecture at a function at the airport.
Speaking to reporters, V.J. Kurien, Managing Director, CIAL, said the tendering process for the facility would commence in January. The facility will have a built up area of over 15 lakh square feet to handle about 10 million passengers each year.
16/12/12 Business Line

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‘Bird-hit’ forces Air Mauritius flight to land at IGI airport

An Air Mauritius flight, with 287 passengers on board, was forced to land at Indira Gandhi International Airport under emergency condition allegedly due to a bird-hit on Sunday.
Flight MK 745 (Delhi-Mauritius) took off around 8.30 am and had reached a height of 400 metres when the pilot requested emergency landing. A few blades of one of the engine propellers were found broken, but there was no damage to the engine.
Airport officials said six to seven blades of one of the engine propellers broke, after which the pilot made an announcement alerting the passengers on board. Emergency procedure was observed and fire service team, ambulances, Central Industrial Security Force QRT and doctors at the airport were alerted and put on stand by.
17/12/12 Shalini Narayan/Indian Express

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Another expressway to Rajiv Gandhi International Airport in the offing

Hyderabad:  With the PVNR Elevated Expressway improving connectivity to Rajiv Gandhi International Airport in Shamshabad from Masab Tank, the GHMC has decided to build another expressway on the Owaisi Hospital -Aramgarh stretch to reduce commute time to the airport. The Owaisi Hospital Crossroads-Aramgarh Crossroads stretch of the Inner Ring Road would be developed as an expressway. Generally, expressways are 150-feet-wide with good service roads, cement concrete kerb separators, footpaths and storm water drains on either side.
The road stretch was partially expanded by R&B department four years ago. Though the original proposal was to widen the road to 150 feet, it has not yet been expanded at some places as construction of the central median, storm water drain and footpaths were not completed by the R&B department.
17/12/12 Times of India

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Delhi-like law against airport touts need of hour

Mumbai: Concerned about the safety of passengers, especially foreign travellers arriving at the airport, the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) stepped up security and arrested 127 touts in the past six months. They were laterhanded over to the police.
Passengers are often harassed by touts who try and force them to take up their suggested accommodation, sightseeing options and transportation.
SP Melvian, DIG, CISF (Western region), said, “Most touts were held after passengers complained about them. CISF personnel also keep an eye on such touts.”
17/12/12 Shankar Abidi/Daily News & Analysis

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CISF personnel learn to be flyer-friendly

Mumbai: ollowing DNA’s report in October on dancer-actress Sudha Chandran being harassed and made to remove her artifical leg for security scanning by the CISF personnel at the Mumbai airport, the authorities seem to be trying to become passenger-friendly.
CISF personnelare being trained on how to deal with passengers in a “more gentle way”, especially the disabled. The workshops are being held in groups from the top to lower rank, sources said.
Around 3,000 CISF officials are posted at the city airport.
“There have been several instances of flyers complaining about rude CISF personnel. Hence, we are taking this effort to make the CISF personnel more gentle in their dealings with passengers without compromising on security,” said an airport official.
17/12/12 Daily News & Analysis

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GMR seeks over $ 800 mn; Maldives insists on forensic audit

Male: Indian infrastructure firm GMR will seek a compensation of over $800 million from Maldives for the termination of its airport deal here but Male is insisting on a “forensic audit” as it feels the actual amount would be less than half.
“We have sent a letter to the Maldivian government indicating a number of more than $800 million as compensation amount. This is our initial estimate. The final figure would be based upon various calculations, loss of profit among others,” GMR (Airports) CFO Sidharath Kapur said.
The Maldivian government, however, debunked the calculations and insisted on getting a forensic audit done through an international firm.
“We will go in for a forensic audit as we want to see how much money has poured in to GMR coffers through the Male International Airport and how much actual money has been spent here. As per our information, GMR has cashed in only $150 million of the about $350 loan it had bagged through a bank,” Maldives President Mohamed Waheed’s press secretary Masood Imad said.
Asked if GMR is open to a forensic audit, Mr. Kapur told PTI, “Our books are transparent. The concession agreement signed with Maldives government did not have the clause of forensic audit. Having said that, I must add that we don’t have any objection to an audit but it has to come through proper legal process”.
16/12/12 PTI/The Hindu

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GMR Maldives spat: Malaysia to discuss issue with PM Manmohan Singh

Hyderabad:  Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak, who is scheduled to visit New Delhi for India-Asean meet between December 20-21, is likely to discuss with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh the issue of GMR's now scrapped Male Airport project in which MAHB holds 23 per cent stake.
"The heads of the governments (Malaysia and India) are going to meet in New Delhi next week. There may be some discussion (on Male airport issue). There will be sideline meetings in Delhi," Malaysia's Consul General in Chennai Citra Devi Ramiyah told reporters here. Malaysian government owned MAHB holds 23 per cent, while GMRBSE 0.27 % holds 77 per cent stake in GMR Male International Airport Pvt Ltd, a joint venture formed for developing Ibrahim Nasir International Airport in Maldives.
Ramiyah said the Malaysian government has not yet initiated any move towards claiming compensation form the Maldivian Government for abruptly terminating airport.
16/12/12 PTI/Economic Times

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AAI officials fudged ‘near-miss’ data

Mumbai: Civil aviation minister Ajit Singh recently announced that 65 'airprox' incidents — situations where two or more moving aircraft come in proximity of each other -- took place over Indian skies in the past three years. But airprox statistics from Mumbai airport alone are enough to show that the minister's statement has no proximity to truth.
Data collected from air traffic records shows that in 2011 itself, 54 airprox incidents took place at Mumbai airport, involving aircraft that were landing.
Because of error on part of the air traffic controller or the pilots, these aircraft came in proximity with other aircraft and so had to abort the descent and do a climb (go-around, in aviation parlance) to return for a second attempt at landing. In India, air traffic management is handled by the Airports Authority of India (AAI), a public sector undertaking.
16/12/12 Times of India

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State-of-the-art terminal at CIAL soon

Kochi: The state-of-the-art new international terminal at the Cochin International Airport Ltd (CIAL) in Nedumbassery here will soon become a reality.
The unveiling of the new terminal’s design, which is based on Kerala temple architecture, was done by Excise Minister K. Babu on Saturday.
The facility, with a built up area of more than 15 lakh sq ft, will be able to handle around 10 million international passengers per annum and will cater to the traffic demand up to 2025, according to the airport authorities.
V.J. Kurian, Managing Director of CIAL, said the approximate cost of the new terminal would be Rs. 450 crore. “CIAL is fully confident of raising necessary finances on its own to fund the project. The project has already been submitted to the Airports Economic Regulatory Authority and its clearance is expected soon,” he said.
16/12/12 The Hindu

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Global air transport body flays Delhi airport privatisation

Geneva: The Indian Government’s decision to privatise Delhi airport that has seen airport charges rise manifold has been criticised by the International Air Transport Association (IATA).
Calling on Governments to ensure that privatisation should be well regulated, IATA Director-General Tony Tyler said that tax receipts from the economic activity generated through aviation-enabled connectivity far outweighs the short-term economic gains of misguided privatisation.
“India, for example, developed Delhi into a first class hub airport with the participation of private partners. The facilities are great. But the structure of the concession agreement requires the concessionaire to return 46 per cent of top line revenue to the government,” Tyler said.
A consortium led by the Bangalore-based GMR group won the contract for modernising the Delhi airport.
14/12/12 Aneesh Phadnis/Business Line

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