Delhi: 40 flights diverted, 57 trains delayed due to fog

New Delhi: After dense fog in the capital today morning affected air and railway traffic, operations in both have resumed effectively.

More that 90 flight schedules were affected and 40 were diverted from the Delhi airport due to poor visibility. According to an airport official, both landing and take-off of flights had been stopped since 7.30 am.

Earlier in the morning, 10 flights were diverted from the airport. The fog-induced low visibility affected the railway traffic in the morning, with 15 trains cancelled, 57 delayed and 18 rescheduled in several parts of northern India.
31/12/17 Ashna Kumar/India Today

Read More

Delhi smog causes unprecedented flight delays

Smog level in Delhi is close to hazardous and on some days it is more than apocalyptic. 2017 has literally been the defining year for climate calamity and absolutely nothing is able to control it, especially in India. With the order of Chief Minister, they fired anti-smog guns in the atmosphere but it seems to have backfired or certainly didn’t help. Level of mercury is rising on alarm rates inside the body of people who live in Delhi-NCR region. Climate authorities have given their reports about uncontrollable atmospheric changes which have gone random enough to not be predicted anymore. If this continues than soon enough scientists won’t be able to issue pre-alerts regarding cyclones and Tsunami which will result in unfathomable loss of life.

In the spell-binding conditions of this catastrophe airport authorities were forced to cancel some of domestic and international flights as the visibility distance above Delhi airport is close to nothing now. Time of peak winters is going on and Delhi already faces enough fog every year for flights to get suspended and mixed smoke with it has made it almost impossible t fly during early morning hours. Morning hours is the time when the smog is at it’s maximum and it became quite a task to clear the visibility on the runway itself and flying was clearly not an option.
31/12/17 By Shubham Dwivedi/NewsFolo

Read More

Low visibility halt operations at IGI airport; 90 flights affected

New Delhi: Over 90 flights were affected this morning as visibility dropped to 50 metres due to dense fog at the Indira Gandhi International Airport here, the heaviest this year. While 54 domestic flights were delayed and 17 diverted to other airports, eleven international flights were delayed and 8 were diverted due to the dense fog, according to flight information available on the airport’s website. So far there have been 4 cancellations, including three domestic and one international flight, according to the information. RK Jenamani, Director, IMD, Delhi area and IGI airport said, “Runway visibility since 5.30 am has been between 50-75 metres. This is so far the worst fog we have experienced this year.”

Delhi airport has advanced technology for low-visibility landings, called CAT IIIB. As a result landings can take place with a visibility of 50 metres. However, for take-offs a minimum visibility of 125 metres is required.
31/12/17 PTI/Financial Express

Read More

10 flights from Patna airport cancelled due to foggy weather

Patna: Flight operations at Jayaprakash Narayan International Airport at Patna remained paralysed on the third consecutive day on Saturday as 10 outbound flights were cancelled and another six inbound flights were diverted due to foggy weather.
Patna airport director Rajendra Singh Lahauria informed that five out of the 10 cancelled flights were of IndiGo airlines, three of Jet Airways and one each of SpiceJet and GoAir.
IndiGo also announced cancellation of four of its flights from Patna airport on Sunday as well, including G8 902 (Patna- Bengaluru), G8 508 (Patna- Delhi), G8 342 (Patna- Kolkata) and G8 633 (Patna- Lucknow).
While five flights grounded at the airport on Friday due to poor visibility were allowed take- off from 12:30 in the afternoon on Saturday under low - visibility take- off procedures but landing of inbound flights could start only from around 2:30pm.
With frequent cancellation and hours of delay of flights, Patna airport has literally turned into a railway station or bus stand from past two days. Tens of hundreds of passengers are seen waiting at the "small" airport at any given point of time. Over 1000 passengers are seen inside the terminal at any given time, which has the capacity to accommodate only 600 people.
31/12/17 Piyush Tripathi/Times of India

Read More

Passengers made to wait in flights for hours after landing. Here’s why

Patna: Travellers in two flights at Patna airport were made to wait for more than an hour before they were allowed to de-board after landing. And the reason for the same was lack of parking space for the aircraft, reported Prabhat Khabar.

The incident happened on Saturday when GoAir flight 140 landed at the Jay Prakash Narayan Airport in Patna after two IndiGo flights, which were parked in slot 1 and 5.

Slot number 4 was already occupied by an IndiGo flight since Friday night, which was not allowed to fly as the pilot had completed the permissible time limit for flying an aircraft.

The aircraft parked at slot number 4 had also occupied the space of slot number 3, hence no flight could be moved there.

Because of these factors, the GoAir flight had to remain stranded for around 1 hour 40 minutes.

The IndiGo flight parked at slot number five took off at around 5 pm, following which the GoAir could get a parking space, and the passengers could be de-boarded.

Air India flight 407 also remained stranded with passengers inside because of the same reason. The passengers inside the Air India flight were made to wait for 1 hour 10 minutes before they could get off the flight.
31/12/17 Zee News

Read More

Most disruptive day ever at KIA: 102 flights delayed, 8 cancelled

Bengaluru: In what has turned out to be the worst week ever for morning operations at the Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) here, 281 flights were delayed and 25 others cancelled during peak hours owing to fog.
On Saturday, the airport faced arguably its worst delay ever, as 102 flights were delayed and eight others cancelled as the operations were suspended from 4.58 am until 8.23 am.

Out of the eight cancelled flights - all of the low-cost airline IndiGo - four were arrivals and as many departures. Out of the 102 delayed flights, there were 44 arrivals and 58 departures.

International operations were also affected. Out of the four flights that were forced to take a diversion, two international flights - one of British Airways and another of Oman Air - were diverted to Chennai. A domestic flight of IndiGo was diverted to Hyderabad while a cargo flight of Bluedart was diverted to Chennai.
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has set up visibility requirements for landings and take-offs. The runway visual range (RVR) should be 400 metres for take-offs and 550 metres for landings.
31/12/17 Furquan Moharkan/Deccan Herald

Read More

Alliance Air tweaks its Lucknow-Bhopal flight timings

Bhopal: Air India's regional arm Alliance Air has decided to reschedule the timings of its flight on Lucknow-Bhopal route to afternoon from morning for entire January, to pre-empt any weather-related impact on the services during the period.

The daily flight will now take off at 2.05 pm from Lucknow and land at Raja Bhoj Airport in Bhopal at 3.45 pm.

The flight, in its return leg, will depart from Bhopal at 4.15 pm and reach Lucknow at 5.55 pm, Alliance Air said in a statement.
31/12/17 PTI

Read More

Flight to Bangkok gets costlier

City residents are making a beeline for Bangkok for the New Year celebrations with the recently launched Air India Chandigarh-Bangkok flight booked to full capacity.
Ringing the New Year in the popular tourist destination though comes at a price since fare for the 5-hour direct flight has almost doubled.
The economy class fare for a return flight to Bangkok on January 1 is Rs 30,500. When the flight was announced, the introductory fare was Rs 16,000 for a return flight ticket.
RK Negi, local station manager, Air India, said: “The response of the flight has been encouraging. For January 1 flight, 150 economy seats have been booked and only a few business class seats are vacant, which are expected to be booked in the next two days.”
31/12/17 Tribune

Read More

Baby dies falling on escalator

Calcutta: A six-month-old girl died after slipping off the arms of her mother, who had the baby in one hand and a bag in the other, on an escalator in Calcutta airport on Saturday.

Khushi Soni, who banged her head on the steel floor of the escalator, suffered a broken neck bone and head injuries and was bleeding from the ear. She died in hospital a few hours later.

Khushi and parents Dinesh and Sangeeta were about to board a 6.20am SpiceJet flight to Silchar where Dinesh, a CRPF jawan from Rajasthan, is posted.
31/12/17 Telegraph

Read More

Space crunch: Chennai airport misses new int’l links

Chennai: Chennai airport will lose out on foreign connections, as international carriers are not able to launch flights due to lack of peak-hour slots.
While Korean Air is looking at starting services to capitalise on business connections but is yet to apply for slots, Garuda Indonesia will start operations from Mumbai, which contributes 30% of Indians visting Bali, comapred to Chennai's 20%.
Garuda Indonesia will start Mumbai-Bali service on March 12, while Kuwait-based Jazeera Airways has sought slots for Mumbai-Kuwait flights. The airline recently started flights from Hyderabad. VietJet will start services from Delhi to Ho Chi Minh City next year. However, Chennai is yet to receive new applications.
A senior official of Airports Authority of India (AAI) said, "We do not have slots for peak hour, but we can accommodate the airlines. However, they have not applied to us yet." Peak hour slots are full in Chennai and adding more flights may delay turnaround time of planes.
30/12/17 Times of India

Read More

It’s no smooth take-off for international cargo facility

Madurai: The international cargo operations that commenced at the Madurai international airport recently may have brought joy to exporters in southern Tamil Nadu. But the excitement seems to be fading fast thanks to multiple issues. Exporters and traders say the terminal is bogged down by unfriendly environment, unprofessional outsourced workers and absence of permanent plant quarantine officer.
The much-awaited facility was thrown open on December 15, a couple of weeks after the terminal building was inaugurated. It had taken a long time and sustained efforts from traders, exporters, aviation enthusiasts and of course officials of Airports Authority of India for the cargo facility to materialise after the notification for the facility came way back in 2014.
The first few days after the opening had witnessed a spirited export of consignments largely consisting of flowers, seafood and vegetables. But due to the hiccups, traders and exporters have gone back to other airports like Trichy, where they have been doing the business for long. As a result only a meagre quantity of cargo was lifted from the terminal in the past 10 days.
Narrating a bitter experience, president of Tamil Nadu Chamber of Commerce and Industries, N Jegatheesan, said a jasmine flower consignment which he sent recently to Dubai was not cleared by the officials there. The reason they cited was the scanned certificate issues by the plant quarantine officials in the Madurai airport. "In the absence of permanent plant quarantine officer, the certificate is issued by officials in Chennai based on the recommendation of the assistant plant quarantine officer here. While the officials from other countries require a document with seal and signature, what is issued here is a scanned copy of the certificate issued in Chennai," he said.
Moreover, the officials wanted the consignment to be in three to four hours before the flight departure, which was not possible in the case of flowers. He had shifted from Madurai airport back to Trichy, where there were no such hassles, he said.
30/12/17 Times of India

Read More

GMR awaits Centre’s security nod to pick sub-contractor

Panaji: GMR Goa International Airport Limited (GGIAL), which will develop and operate the Greenfield airport at Mopa, has forwarded the names of three companies to the union government for security clearance before finalising the sub-contractor to construct the airport.
GGIAL has forwarded the names of L&T (India), Linak of Turkey and Megawide of Philippines to the home ministry. A top officer from GGIAL told TOI that all these three companies have pre-qualified for the bid. He also said that the sub-contractor for the project would be selected based on the security clearance from the union government and the techno-commercial competitiveness.
"We are expecting to get all clearances in January," he said.
In June 2017, GGIAL had invited tenders from global contractors for engineering, procurement and construction works of the new airport. Three companies have qualified for the sub-contract.
30/12/17 Murari Shetye/Times of India

Read More

2nd runway, new terminals violate clearances: Centre

Chennai: Airports Authority of India (AAI) built the city airport's new terminals and the bridge for its second runway across the Adyar in violation of environmental clearances issued for the project, says a compliance report prepared by ministry of environment and forests and climate change (MoEF&CC).
The report vindicates the stand of activists and residents of localities in the vicinity of the airport who have argued that the bridge AAI built to extend the second airstrip infringes upon various rules and causes the river to flood residential areas in Manapakkam in heavy rain.
"AAI has deviated from the original dimensions of the bridge as approved by MoEF&CC," says a certified compliance report the ministry filed, based on inspections of the terminals and the bridge for the runway on November 14. "In addition, the Adyar river [over which AAI has built the bridge] appears to fall within the Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ). In view of this, CRZ classification of this area and the status of land may be sought from the competent authority. Thereafter, an appropriate view may be taken by the MoEF&CC."
AAI, it says, has built a bridge with a span of 200mx462.84m on RCC columns of 0.87m diameter on the Adyar; the ministry, it notes, had given approval for a bridge with a span of 200mx415m on RCC columns of 1.2m diameter, and 1.4m above the river's high flood line. It says AAI also deviated in the total height of the bridge: The ministry approved a bridge of a height of 11.15m but the agency built a bridge only 10.50m high.
The report says there are deviations in construction of the new terminals, too, which AAI inaugurated in 2013. The ministry approved of a total built-up area of 1,28,000sqm but AAI established a built-up area of 2,14,041sqm without obtaining prior approval and necessary consents.
"The report vindicates my stand," former pilot and air safety expert Captain Mohan Ranganathan said. "AAI has built the bridge in violation of all norms, which [contributed] to the floods of 2015. It should be demolished.
30/12/17 V Ayyappan/Times of India

Read More

Chandigarh international airport launches 'chat thela'

Mohali: In a new and innovative move, the Chandigarh International Airport has come up with 'Chai Wala' outlet to lure passengers by offering  tea and hot gulab jamun on arrival.

The outlet was inaugurated by Chairman CHIAL (Chandigarh International Airport Limited) and Member Planning, Airport Authority of India Sudhir Raheja in the presence of Regional Executive Director, Northern Region, Rakesh Kalra.

Commuters relished hot chai during the chilly winters. The moving thela also serves Gulab jamun, much to the delight of the passengers  while waiting for their luggage. The chai thela offered complimentary chai and Gulab jamun to all the passengers who arrived on Friday. It will be on chargeable basis from Saturday onwards.

Chairman CHIAL also inaugurated the newly opened outlet 'Subway' in the domestic side and The Crambar and Coffee2go on the domestic side and awarded a few of the employees for their service.

Sarabjeet Singh, an employee of Aroon Aviation Service (a housekeeping agency) was awarded for his honesty as he had returned an amount of Rs 44000 of a passenger to the CHIAL authority.
30/12/17 Daily Pioneer

Read More

A runway to nowhere: Where AAI failed

Rattled by a strong report of non-compliance from the Union ministry of environment over the second runway and the new terminals at Chennai airport, the Airports Authority of India plans to study and prepare a proper response. The project would not have proceeded had there been deviations, a senior official said.
"The report will be studied before a response is given, he said, adding that a decision would be taken based on the response.
As per information provided to the environment ministry, the second runway was to handle wide-body planes like B747s or A380s. But the runway is being used only for narrow body ATRs and A320s because of absence of safety buffer zone on either end, defeating the purpose of runway extension. The AAI sought more land on the extended end, but the state was not able to give it leadiong to the runway not being better than before.
The bridge across the Adyar to extend the second runway to equip the short runway to handle B747s and A380s seems to have been poorly planned. The runway was extended, but there was not enough land for a safety buffer. The runway lies in an incline with a dip in the centre as the level of extended end was raised to prevent flooding. Airlines are hesitant to use it as AAI attempted cross-runway operations using both runways simultaneously twice and failed.
30/12/17 Times of India

Read More

Construction of boundary wall at Bihta airbase soon

Patna: Construction of boundary wall for development of a proposed civil enclave at Bihta airbase is expected to commence soon as Patna district administration has acquired around 108 acres of land near the airbase and asked the Airports Authority of India (AAI) to take its possession.
"We are ready to give possession of the land required by AAI to construct the civil enclave at Bihta airbase. The AAI should commence the construction of boundary wall so that the site becomes free from encroachments," Patna DM Sanjay Kumar Agrawal said on Friday.
The state cabinet headed by chief minister Nitish Kumar had on November 15 last year sanctioned Rs 260.74 crore for acquisition of 120 acres of land near Bihta airbase. Of the 120 acres, 108 acres is proposed to be utilised for development of civil enclave and the remaining 18 acres would be used by state government for development of amenities for including a VIP lounge, a hotel and a hangar. The AAI has targeted to ready the first block of the proposed civil enclave by mid-2019 utilising Rs 500 crore.
30/12/17 Piyush Tripathi/Times of India

Read More

Jewar airport construction to start in December 2018

New Delhi: The construction work on Jewar airport in Greater Noida will commence in December next year - earlier than the Uttar Pradesh government's scheduled plan and well ahead of 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
In line with the advanced target, Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority (YEIDA) on Friday selected professional services firm EY (formerly Ernst & Young) to prepare a techno-economic feasibility report (TEFR) for the proposed airport.
"EY has been awarded the mandate to conduct TEFR for the project and the report is to be submitted by April 2018," Prabhat Kumar, chairman of YEIDA, told ET. "We are targeting to call for bids in July and lay the foundation stone of the project in December," he said.
While KPMG came second in the bids for TEFR for the airport called by YEIDA, Deloitte came third. "EY will also help us get the environmental clearance for the project," Kumar said.
30/12/17 Mihir Mishra/Economic Times

Read More

Bhubaneswar To Have 2nd Airport Soon: Dharmendra Pradhan

While inaugurating several passenger amenities at the Bhubaneswar Railway Station, including a second entry point and ticket facilities at Platform No. 6, Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan revealed that Bhubaneswar will have a second Airport soon.

“As part of PM Narendra Modi’s development agenda for Eastern part of India, several measures have been taken for developing railways, national highways and air services. Several review meetings held in recent months for the above projects in Odisha,” he said.
“There will be two more ring roads for Bhubaneswar on the National Highways. A second Airport will come up in the smart city. In addition, the PNG/CNG facilities by the Petroleum Ministry, will make things easier for people of Bhubaneswar”, the Minister said.

“Modi Government has provided enough funds for railway projects in Odisha in just 3.5 years, which the state did not get even in the last 30 years. I urge both Railways as well as the State Government to utilise the funds properly,” Dharmendra said.
30/12/17 Sagar Satpathy/Odisha News Insight

Read More

IndiGo moves court against Delhi Airport

Delhi Airport's proposed infrastructure of the domestic terminal upgrade faces a major roadblock as has moved court against the direction to partially shift its operations to Terminal 2. DIAL-operator of had asked the airline to shift its flights to Mumbai, Kolkata and Bangalore by January 4.
In its petition filed before Delhi High Court, has asked for a stay on the shifting order challenging the airport operator’s authority to decide the course of action regarding shifting of operation. 
"the restrictions sought to be imposed by DIAL could destroy IndiGo’s business, the reputation of which has been built up over last 11 years. DIAL's directions are completely arbitrary and do not have any nexus with the object sought to be achieved- decongestion," said.
has also made Ministry of Civil Aviation, Airport Authority of India (AAI) and Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) a party to the case.
Multiple rounds of negotiations between the airport operator and the airlines failed after the airport operator had asked the airlines to shift. According to the plan, IndiGo, and were asked to shift one-third of their flights to Terminal-2, by October 29. which operates 306 daily flight services including 86 to Mumbai, Kolkata and Bangalore refused to shift saying that it will lead to loss of business as October was a peak traffic season and shifting would lead to inconvenience for passengers. A maximum number of passengers that can travel to Delhi by are from these three sectors, this will lead to widespread confusion among our passengers,” said. 
29/12/17 Oakwood Herald

Read More

Flights suspended at IGIA after drone spotted

Once again, reports of an unidentified flying object near the Indira Gandhi International airport led to disruption in flight operations and affected as many as 15 departures and arrivals. Security officials, however, could not find anything suspicious when they rushed a Quick Response Team (QRT) to the spot.

It was around 7 am on Thursday when the pilot of a Chennai-Delhi Indigo flight spotted a suspicious object and reported the matter to the Air Traffic Control (ATC). The message was further conveyed to Airport Operations Control Centre and the Delhi Police. A team of CISF QRT was also rushed to the spot but nothing could be found, an official said. As a precautionary measure, some departures were put on hold while a few arrivals were delayed at the airport.

Delhi Police has registered the matter and is now trying to spot the origination of the flying object. This, however, is not a rare incident where a UFO was spotted by a pilot. Earlier this month, in a close shave, a drone-like UFO and an Air India flight, landing at the IGI airport almost had a face-off. Seconds later, another flight to Leh that took off from another runway, also reported spotting the flying object.

The incident also affected some departures and landings at the airport. However, the officers said that no such flying object could be found within the airport periphery.

The menace of the drone-like UFO sightings, however, is not something new at the IGI airport and is known for leaving the security and intelligence sleuths at the airport rattled. In October this year, a Jet Airways Singapore-Delhi flight, while preparing to land on runway 29 of the IGI airport, reported a drone flying in the proximity, about 300-400 meters above the ground.
29/12/17 DNA

Read More

Virtual towers to manage smaller airports in TN?

Chennai: The Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS) introduced by Civil Aviation Ministry may have made air travel cheaper, but with it comes the challenges of ensuring safe, efficient and economical air navigation services by installing air traffic control towers at these airports.

As the cost of constructing air traffic control towers is costlier, the Airports Authority of India (AAI) is looking at introducing remote and virtual tower (RVT), a new concept where air traffic service (ATS) at an airport is performed elsewhere than in the local control tower or to go in for air traffic control towers mounted on vehicles.

S Sreekumar, regional executive director, southern region, AAI, said the authority will be implementing a trailer mounted air traffic control tower as a pilot in Vellore where the RCS scheme is to be launched next year. Already mobile air traffic control tower is being taken up on a experimental basis in Surat, he said. Many airports under RCS scheme doesn’t have ATC tower. Construction of a new ATC tower infrastructure would lead to increase in cost, defeating the purpose of RCS, which aims to provide flight services at a low price, said Sreekumar.

It is learnt that AAI, instead of constructing a new ATC tower at every airport, is set to procure mobile ATC towers to manage flight operations at different airports initially. Trailer mounted mobile tower is fitted with hydraulically operated lifts, enabling the tower cabin to rise up to a height of not less than eight metres from ground level to roof-top of tower.

It provides a 360 degree view for the controllers who can perform all visual air traffic service and control functions. But Sreekumar is betting big on RVT. “It will be managed through a satellite station and we are planning to have it in Chennai,” said Sreekumar. Currently, AAI is looking at the pilot project in Ahmedabad.
29/12/17 C Shivakumar/New Indian Express

Read More

Pongal rush pushes air fare up three times

Chennai: Those who planned a last-minute vacation for New Year and Pongal are paying through the nose. With trains running full, air ticket prices have gone up considerably to popular destinations such as Port Blair, Madurai, Trichy, Kochi and Tuticorin.

Government employees have for four closed days for the harvest festival that begins on January 12. One-way fare to Port Blair, one of the most popular destinations of these people during the season, has crossed Rs11,000. For the other short flights, tickets cost between Rs3,500 and Rs5000. Airlines sources said fares are bound to increase. There is demand for travel to southern towns. A one-way ticket to Madurai is priced in the range of Rs3,159 to Rs10,000 as against the usual weekday fare of Rs1,200 to Rs3000.
Basheer Ahmed of Metro Travels said, "The festive rush has pushed up air fares. The lower fare slab gets booked fast, leading to an increase. The fare in the bottom range like Rs1,500 to 2,000 are either over or only one or two seats are left at that price. This is a seasonal trend. Air fare is cheaper for the weekend before Pongal and also after Pongal."
As Pongal holidays fall on an extended weekend (the festival begins on Friday and ends on Monday) several people travel home to southern districts to visit friends and relatives and also for a short leisure getaway. Traffic from Chennai to southern towns is high because several people have migrated to Chennai for work and education. This pushes up the fare during Diwali and Pongal every year.
29/12/17 Times of India

Read More

SpiceJet May Launch Seaplane Service in Varanasi

If a new plan by SpiceJet goes well, one of the oldest cities in India may be host to the newest mode of transport in the country. Varanasi, the resiliant city that has thrived by the holy Ganga River for centuries, may be the first destination to get a regular seaplane service in India. Ajay Singh, the chairman of SpiceJet, told TOI of the budget airline’s aim to begin seaplane services in 2018, and how the historic city could be the launchpad, connecting it to other nearby cities like Lucknow.

SpiceJet already demonstrated the seaplane in Mumbai on December 9, 2017, flying it from the city airport and landing it in Girgaum Chowpatty. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, whose constituency includes Varanasi city, also flew on the aircraft three days later in Ahmedabad. Come 2018, the seaplane that can land on water and smaller aerodromes across India may start flying routes once the aviation ministry forms its rules.

Singh talked a little more about his plan, saying, “Scale is very important for launching seaplane service in a viable manner and we are working on that project. Each seaplane costs about USD 5 million and I am looking at placing an order for at least 100 planes. If the rules of amphibian planes are put in place, we can start getting the seaplanes from 2018 and begin service. A number of state governments are approaching us for having this service in their states.”
29/12/17 Anoop Menon/India.com

Read More

SATS wins Mumbai Airport international cargo concession

SATS, in a joint bid with Cargo Service Center India (CSC), has won a cargo handling concession contract in Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport in Mumbai, India.

The concession will start in April 2018 and run for 18 years.

SATS has subscribed for a 49 per cent stake in CSC's subsidiary, Mumbai Cargo Service Center Airport, which will be responsible for operating the concession and managing the international cargo facilities at the airport.

CSC offers air cargo services in Mumbai, Delhi, Ahmedabad and Chennai.
29/12/17 Business Times

Read More

Highs and Lows of Chandigarh International Airport Expansion Plan

Since the inauguration of the new terminal at Chandigarh International Airport in 2015 by Mr. Narendra Modi, it has been in headlines. Recently, the news of remodeling the runway hit the newsstand encouraging several changes in the flight schedule and airport. Where at one end expansion of the International Airport welcomed the most awaited Chandigarh – Bangkok international flight there, the problems with the expansion of the runway spiked.
After the inauguration of the new terminal at Chandigarh International Airport, the flight schedule disrupted and many flights got canceled. With the best interest of expanding the runway and implementing the latest technology, the Airport authorities have announced the closing of the airport for half a month of February 2018.

This closing of the airport has disrupted the flight schedule and has disappointed many of the travelers. The time of operation of the Airport has been changed to 5:00 AM to 4:00 PM.  These are some lows that have been encountered after the process of expanding the runway began. Coming to the highs, finally, Air India has begun the flight connecting Chandigarh to Bangkok directly in December 2017. Along with the direct flight to Bangkok, Chandigarh Airport authorities also introduced Gold Seizures.
After the work on the runway is complete the Airlines will be able to connect Chandigarh’s International Airport with the long distance flights. These new flights will connect Cannada, UK, and Europe. It already has initiated the flight between Chandigarh and Bangkok. After the work on the runway is complete you will be able to fly to the prominent international destinations directly from UT.
Recently the announcement has been made stating that the Chandigarh International Airport will remain closed for 15 days in February 2018. This closing of the Airport is going to be on account of progressing the work on the runway at Chandigarh International Airport. Although the completion of the expansion is expected to be complete by the end of the 2018 year. So, let us hope that the work completes quickly and there are no more delays.
29/12/17 Vaishali Sonik/Chandigarh Metro

Read More

Mysuru, Ballari off to a flying start

The airports in the state which recently started operations under the Ude Desh ka Aam Naagrik (UDAN) or the Regional Air Connectivity scheme has received a good response. Under the UDAN scheme, two airports — Mysuru and Vidyanagar (Ballari) — commenced operations in September.

The Mysuru airport, which was not operating commercial flights for the last few years, restarted its operations with the commencement of flights between Mysuru and Chennai in September. Trujet started operations on the route during Dasara festivities and as per the DGCA’s city-wise domestic traffic statistics during September, 597 passengers travelled from Chennai and 591 passengers boarded the flight from Mysuru. In October, 1,290 passengers travelled from Chennai and 1,382 passengers boarded the flight from Mysuru.

In November, there was a dip in the number of passengers who used the flight services as only 984 passengers travelled from Chennai and 993 passengers boarded the flight from Mysuru. On the Vidyanagar-Hyderabad route during October and November, a total of 2,068 and 1,587 passengers travelled via air. In March, the state government signed a MoU with the civil aviation ministry for the development of the proposed airports at Chikkamagaluru, Kushalnagar, Karwar, Harihar, Ammasandra, Koppal, Bengaluru, Ballari, Bidar, Ginigera (Hospet), Hassan, Jakkur, Kolar, Mysuru, Raichur, Shahbad, Vidyanagar, Yadgiri, Yelahanka . Three airports — Mysuru, Vidyanagar and Bidar airport — were selected in the first phase of bidding for the UDAAN scheme.

While Mysuru and Vidyanagar have started operations, authorities will have to get permission from the GMR-run Rajiv Gandhi International Airport in Hyderabad to operate to operate commercial flights from Bidar. As per DGCA statistics another new route (between Belgaum and Chennai), though not under the UDAAN scheme, has also got a good response as a total 3,161 passengers travelled on the route. The Belagavi airport was upgraded recently.
29/12/17 Bangalore Mirror

Read More

Mumbai-Kabul air freight corridor opens

Mumbai: In a milestone development, an aircraft carrying perishable items arrived from Kabul at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport here, marking the launch of a dedicated air freight corridor between India and Afghanistan, an official said on Thursday.

The initiative was planned during the visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Afghanistan when he met Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani in September 2016.

The connectivity was subsequently implemented by Maharashtra Governor CV Rao and Afghanistan Vice President Danish Sarwar, providing the landlocked country (Afghanistan) greater access to markets in this state (Maharashtra).

“It will permit Afghan businessmen to leverage economic growth, enhance trade networks and offer their farmers direct connection to the markets in western India for their perishable goods,” a CSMIA spokesperson said.

The flight, carrying 40 tonne fresh apples, arrived here on Wednesday from Kabul and returned on Thursday with a cargo of 20 tonne bananas and 20 tonne fresh tomatoes from Mumbai.

The current trade volume between the two countries stands at roughly $350 million with a goal to increase it to around $1 billion in the next three years.

While India exports man-made filaments, apparel and clothing accessories, pharmaceuticals, cereals, man-made staple fibres, dairy and poultry products, spices, Afghanistan sends fresh fruits, dried fruits and nuts, vegetables, oil seeds, precious and semi-precious stones among others.
28/12/17 Indileak

Read More

Fog effect continues: 10 flights delayed, 5 trains arrive late

Mohali: Morning Shatabdi Express (12011) chugged into the city station around one hour 19 minutes late on Thursday due to fog. Evening Shatabdi Express (12005) was also late by 37 minutes. Five trains arrived late at Chandigarh station on Thursday.
The fog affect continue to haunt the airline operators as 10 flights had delayed arrival. Also, an equal number of flights had delayed departure from Chandigarh International Airport.
Air India Express Sharjah flight (IX-188) landed one hour 23 minutes late at the airport. The officials of Air India said the flight departed late from Sharjah because of which it landed late here. The same flight also departed late from Chandigarh by one hour 15 minutes.
Five flights from Delhi had delayed arrival and departure at Chandigarh International Airport. Flights from Mumbai and Srinagar were also running behind schedule. Air Asia flight from Bengaluru arrived on time. According to an official, it had delayed departure by 20 minutes because other flights were running late. Jet Airways flight from Mumbai arrived 20 minutes late and departed 29 minutes late from the airport. Spice Jet flight from Srinagar also arrived late by 23 minutes at the airport.
29/12/17 Times of India

Read More

Dense fog hits operations at Patna airport

New Delhi: Flight operations at the Patna airport were affected today as dense fog engulfed the aerodrome and visibility dropped below the required limit.

As many as four flights have been held up since evening, a source said tonight.

Of the four flights, three are of IndiGo and one of Air India, he said.

"Four flights are awaiting ATC clearance at the Patna airport for departure to various destinations due to dense fog which has enveloped the operations area," the source told PTI over phone from Patna.
29/12/17 PTI

Read More

Over 1,000 incidents of planes colliding with animals in 2017: Government

New Delhi: There were more than 1,000 incidents of bird strikes as well as animals colliding with planes at various airports in the country this year, the Centre informed parliament today.

The figures indicate a 50 per cent increase in such cases since 2014, which witnessed 719 bird/animal hits, it said.

There were 81 instances of animals straying into the paths of planes this year. Such incidents have doubled in the past three years with 40 such incidents reported in 2014, Minister of State for Civil Aviation Jayant Sinha said in Lok Sabha.

The minister attributed the rise in incidents involving the wildlife to an "increase in (flight) operations and effective reporting of incidents".

The central government also said that there had been only one fatal incident, which occurred in November, 2015 at Katra due to a bird strike.
28/12/17 PTI/New Indian Express

Read More

Bengaluru Airport strengthens management after change in ownership

New Delhi: With Prem Watsa’s Fairfax assuming control of the Bengaluru International Airport Limited (BIAL), the airport has geared up to strengthen its management structure by bringing in talents from across the world.

Sources said that the new owners have decided to bring in people who had experience in running airports. “Many of our former executives have come back as the new owners are strengthening the management looking at the massive expansion project,” said a BIAL executive. In June, the erstwhile owner GVK group exited the project selling its remaining stake to Fairfax.

Among the many who have joined the airline’s core management team is Javed Malik as the Chief Operating Officer. Malik had left BIAL in 2016 to join Jet Airways as Vice President, Global Airport Services. Similarly, Kenth Guldbjerg has been roped in as Chief Commercial Officer. Guldbjerg worked in the airport division of erstwhile owners GVK and has global experience as he has previously worked with Copenhagen Airports and Newcastle Airport.

Among the other talents with experience of managing global airports who have joined BIAL recently is Tom Shimmin who has joined as Chief Projects Officer. Shimmin, who used to look after upgradation of Nasir International Airport in the Maldives, will be responsible for the major upgradation work that BIAL is currently undergoing.

Expansion work includes the construction of the second runway and a new terminal building (T2) to handle 45 million additional passengers by 2027-28.The expansion was fast-tracked due to the rapid growth in air traffic, which has put a strain on airport infrastructure. Bengaluru's airport traffic has grown over seven times to 22 million passengers in the past fifteen year. Bhskar Anand Rao has joined as Chief Financial Officer from Dubai-based Al Rashideen Group. Rao had earlier worked as CFO of GMR Infrastructure which owns the Delhi and Hyderabad Airport.
28/12/17 Arindam Majumder/Business Standard

Read More

Nine years on, Delhi Airport runway still waiting for Shiv statue to move

Authorities at Delhi International Airport have been waiting for nearly nine years for a religious trust to lower the height of a statue to make full use of one of Asia’s longest runways.

It was in 1989 that the Airport Authority had given permission to Jaya Shree Charity Trust to build a Shiva statue with a maximum height of 252.1 meters above sea-level.

The statue was completed in 1994.

At the time, runway 29 — whose operation is impacted by the statue — was not in existence.

However, due to increasing traffic, airport authorities soon decided to create a new 1.5km runway, which was completed in August 2008.

However, they soon realized that the statue would pose a threat to planes landing and taking off.

A measurement of the elevation of the statue found that the top of the structure was located at a height of 263.67 meters above sea-level, or about 11.5 meters higher than what was allowed in the permit.

In the months that followed, Delhi Airport Authorities issued a legal notice to fix the height by digging the statue down.
28/12/17 Trisha Thomas/Ultra

Read More

Indigo denies fuel leak in flight, says 'overflow' is common

New Delhi: Denying any "fuel leak" on its Delhi-Trivandrum flight, Indigo Airlines on Wednesday said the flight in question on the previous day had a "fuel tank overflow" on the right wing, following which the engines were shut off and the aircraft was towed back to bay at Delhi's Indira Gandhi Airport.

An Indigo statement here said that the fuel overflow on flight 6E-945 from Delhi to Trivandrum on December 26 was detected by on-board computers.

"On the 26th of December, 6E-945 (Delhi-Trivandrum) flight crew were alerted by on-board computers about 'Fuel Right Wing Tank Overflow'. Flight crew carried out their required procedure as per Airbus checklist and the overflow was confirmed by the ground staff," it said.

"As a safety precaution, engines were shut down and aircraft was towed back to bay. 6E-945 operated with an alternate aircraft to avoid any inconvenience to passengers," it said.

"This is a common occurrence and must not to be confused with a 'fuel leak'. Such overflows can occasionally be noticed during aircraft turns on ground with the fuel tanks full.
28/12/17 IANS/India.com

Read More

Passengers on Saudi Airlines flight escapes narrowly, as pilot averts major accident in Lucknow airport

New Delhi: A pilot of Saudi Airlines flight today averted a major accident by applying emergency brakes at the Lucknow airport. According to an airport official, the nose wheel of the airline –number SV895– developed a technical snag during the take-off. The aircraft, carrying 300 passengers, was scheduled for Riyadh. The aircraft developed the technical problem on the runway, as a result of which, the runway was blocked and all arrivals and departures had to be rescheduled, the official added said. The arrivals of six flights from various airports were diverted to IGI airport Delhi, while three scheduled departures were held up.

Earlier in November, a small aircraft was crashed during take-off in north-west Nepal’s mountainous Humla district, injuring at least 16 people, including thirteen police personnel who were on election duty. The accident at Simikot Airport happened when the aircraft of Tara Air, flying to Surkhet, attempted to take-off from the runway but failed after its tyre burst, police chief AIG Rana Bahadur Chand had said. The accident took place at around 9 am. The 9N-ABM aircraft was hurtling down the runway for take-off when the tyre burst. The aircraft finally came to rest at the northern part of the runway. The front part of the aircraft had suffered severe damages, Chand said.

Last year, a mid-air mishap was averted after an automatically generated warning alerted the pilots of two Air India planes which came dangerously close to each other allegedly due to a mistake from the air traffic controller. The incidentally apparently occurred due to the mixing up of call signs, assigned to the two flights –AI 142 (Paris-Delhi) and AI 154 (Vienna-Delhi)– by the Air Traffic Controller (ATC), sources said, adding the aircraft were just 700 feet apart when the vertical separation should be 1,000 feet. The controller has been taken off duty and the aviation authorities have initiated a probe to ascertain the exact cause of the incident, they had added. “The two Air India aircraft were in approach control at that time and were to land in Delhi. However, the ATC mistook the call sign of one aircraft for another, leading to the breach of separation,” the source had said.

The pilots are supposed to ensure a vertical separation of 1,000 feet between the two aircraft at a flight level of 29,000 feet. A call sign is the airline code and the flight number. During communications between the ATC and the pilot onboard a flight, phonetic versions for alphabets are used worldwide.
27/12/17 Financial Express

Read More

Saudi aircraft snag affects 26 flights at Lucknow airport

Lucknow A snag in the front wheel of Saudi Arabian Airline around 1800 hrs on Wednesday threw air traffic out of gear at Chaudhary Charan Singh International Airport here, affecting 26 flights.

The traffic at the airport was resumed after almost five and a half hours after the plane was towed away to the workshop area.
The Lucknow-Riyadh flight SVA 894 was hit by a glitch in the front wheel due to which it had to be aborted even though it had already taxied on to the runway.
Passengers had to be deplaned on the tarmac and transported to the terminal building.
28/12/17 UNI

Read More

Airport expansion plans fail to take off

Mohali: The Chandigarh International Airport, which has courted controversy since the new terminal was inaugurated by PM Narendra Modi in 2015, continued to make headlines in 2017.
While the much-awaited Chandigarh-Bangkok international flight finally took-off, the airport remained mired in problems related to runway repair, gold seizures, lack of an instrument landing system and amenities for passengers.
Runway repair foils expansion plans
The expansion plans went into a tailspin as curtailment of watch hours at the airport disrupted operations due to runway upgradation. Over 10-11 flights were cancelled in the schedule due to change in watch hours, reducing the number of flights operating at the airport to 26. The runway repair work includes re-carpeting and increasing the runway length from 9,000 to 11,400 feet to accommodate wide bodied aircrafts that would connect Chandigarh to long distance flights to destinations like Canada, UK and Europe.
Passengers were hassled as the airport remained partially operational (5 am to 4 pm) six days of the week and no flight operated for civil operations on Sunday. The consequence has been a 15-20 per cent drop in footfall and the situation is likely to continue next year.
Airport Authority has already announced closure of airport for a 15-day period in February 2018. The Punjab and Haryana High Court has sought a reply from Northern Railways on whether it could press into service more trains in view of closure of airport.
The passengers may have to make alternate travel plans as runway repair work is expected to be complete by the end of 2018. The main challenge would be to make the airport operational for 24 hours like in Tier 1 cities.
28/12/17 Tribune

Read More

Second airport to get delayed further

Chennai: A second airport for Chennai may take longer to get built as the state government is yet to decide on the land for constructing the facility.

The state government had assured Airports Authority of India (AAI) a month ago that a location will be identified by December-end after the Sriperumbudur plan was dropped.
A senior official of AAI said the state government was yet to inform about a choice. "It would be ideal to have a location as ground work needs to be started as early as possible. It may take five years to build a new airport. The deadline to identify the land was fixed a month ago after senior officials met the state government officials in Chennai for discussing issues in connection with land acquisition for airports in the state," the official said.
Two alternative locations are being looked at after the plan for an airport at Sriperumbudur was scrapped citing high land acquisition cost. State government officials hinted to the AAI in November that it would take time to identify a location because they would prefer a site where there was minimal need to displace people but which was not too far from the city.
28/12/17 Times of India

Read More

Kannur joins UDAN list

Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala, Union Ministry of Civil Aviation, and the Airports Authority of India (AAI) on Wednesday signed a tripartite agreement to commence domestic flight services from the upcoming Kannur International Airport (KIAL) under the Union government’s UDAN (Ude Desh ka Aam Naagrik) scheme, an endeavour to make regional connectivity easy.

With this, the Kannur International Airport is set for commencing UDAN services from 2018. Services under the scheme will link small towns. The government aims at making flying affordable by capping fares at Rs. 2,500 a seat an hour.

The pact was signed for the State by Principal Secretary, General Administration, who is also holding charge of the Civil Aviation, Biswanath Sinha; Joint Secretary, Union Ministry of Civil Aviation, Usha Padheee; and Chairman, AAI Guruprasad Mahopatra for the AAI. Mr. Sinha also called on Union Civil Aviation Secretary Rajiv Nayan Choubey and held discussions with him.

Viability Gap Funding (VGF) will be used to bridge the gap between the cost of airline operations and expected revenue. The State is expected to compensate for the loss with a VGF of about 20% and the rest will be borne by the Centre.
28/12/17 The Hindu

Read More

Drone-like object halts operations at Delhi airport for 20 mins

Flight operations were suspended for around twenty minutes at the Delhi airport here today after a “drone-like object” was spotted at nearby area of the runways.

“The pilot spotted the object around 4 nautical miles away from the high-security Indira Gandhi International (IGI) airport while landing at around 7.30am and reported the matter to the authorities,” said an official of the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), which looks after the airport security across the country.

Officials said that as precautionary measures, all three runways in the airport were closed until 7.50am. A team of the CISF, the Delhi Police and the aviation security had rushed to the spot. Flight operations resumed only after the authorities finished inspecting the area around the airport and no such object was found.
28/12/17 New Delhi Times

Read More

Surveillance stepped up at Tiruchi airport

Tiruchi: Security and surveillance have been stepped up at the Tiruchi international airport in the wake of an alert from the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) for extra vigil during the holiday period till New Year.

Checking of passenger belongings and frisking of travellers have been intensified at the Tiruchi airport.

The CISF, entrusted with the task of providing round-the-security at the airport, has also intensified surveillance at the city side of the airport.
28/12/17 The Hindu

Read More

Maha CM approves extension of Akola airport runway

Mumbai: Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis today directed extension of the runway of Akola airport in east Maharashtra.

He also ordered setting up of a Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS) cell in the Maharashtra Airport Development Company Ltd (MADC).

MADC is a Special Purpose Company (SPC) constituted in 2002 by the state government to play a lead role in the planning and implementation of the Multi-modal International Cargo Hub and Airport at Nagpur (MIHAN) project.

MADC is also supposed to take up development of other airports in the state not managed by the Airports Authority of India (AAI) and Indian Air Force (IAF) in order to provide air connectivity between district headquarters and state Capital, Mumbai.

The decisions to extend the Akola airport runway and setting up the RCS cell were taken by the chief minister at the 62nd meeting of the board of directors of the MADC here.
28/12/17 TI/India.com

Read More

Chandigarh-Bangkok Flight Fare Hike By 53 Percent

After the recent launch of the flight connecting Chandigarh and Bangkok, this Tuesday the flight was accounted to be full. Gaining this much of success was not all, according to the sources the bookings are also hand in hand with the number of seats. The flight dedicated to fly between Chandigarh and Bangkok contains 150 economy seats and 7 business class seats making in total the capacity to 157 seats. After administering the success of the flight, Air India has now raised the fare of the tickets by 53%. This price hike for the Bangkok flight departing from Chandigarh International Airport was on account of increasing bookings and success of the flight.
Since the beginning of the Air India Flight connecting Chandigarh and Bangkok, the flight bookings have been great. With the increasing popularity, Air India has now announced the fare hike for the flight by 53% that is the economy class ticket that was earlier selling at Rs. 17,000 is now flamed directly to Rs. 26,000 and the return fare for the business class are disclosed to be Rs. 36,000.

Following up the announcement of the fare hike, the manager of Air India also announced the possibility of changing the flight schedule and operate the flight on daily basis. Introduced on 11th December, the flight connecting Chandigarh to Bangkok has marked a different peak of success.
After the announcement for increasing the fare hike of Chandigarh-Bangkok flight, now it is to see that how the passengers will react to this. Where this Air India flight is gaining huge popularity amongst the travelers, there this price hike in the Air ticket might become a concerning issue for its growth. Till date, the flight bookings are enormous, but with the announcement of the fare hike, will the bookings go on at the same pace?
28/12/17 Vaishali Sonik/Chadigarh Metro

Read More

MP Aujla demands restoration of international AI flights from Amritsar

New Delhi: Congress MP from Amritsar Gurjeet Singh Aujla on Thursday raised the issue of discontinuation of Air India international flights from the holy city to London, Toronto and Singapore in Lok Sabha and demanded that the same should be restored noting that thousands of tourists and pilgrims come there every day to pay obeisance.
Responding to the Congress member’s demand, Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju made an assurance to the House saying: “The honourable member has made a suggestion. We can put it to Air India and motivate them.”
Raising the issue during Question Hour Aujala said, “My question pertains to Shri Guru Ram Das ji International Airport in Amritsar. Thousands of tourists and pilgrims visit the Golden Temple to pay obeisance. Sometimes, the figure of tourists runs into lakhs. A recent assessment has put the number of arriving passengers at the airport at about two lakh.”
The Amritsar MP then went on to add that international flights from “Amritsar to Toronto, Amritsar to London and Amritsar to Singapore” were cancelled earlier. “I would urge upon the government to re-start international flights of Air India from Amritsar.”
28/12/17 Tribune

Read More

Indore: 2 passengers fall victim to airlines, CISF apathy

Indore : Two city passengers fell victim to apathetic attitude of the CISF and airlines personnel. A lady passenger lost her costly shawl passenger during regular checking while a girl student faced harassment due to fault of airlines authority, which swapped her luggage.

Lalima Tiwari wife of Sharad Tiwari, a resident of the city, was surprised when she came to know that somebody had stolen her shawl. Her husband said that the incident took place on December 5 and the CISF failed to recover it. He said on the fateful day, his wife was scheduled to return from Raipur by Indigo’s flight 6E-708. Around 4.30, when she was passing through the security check at Swami Vivekanand airport in Raipur, the security personnel frisked her mobile phone, purse and a pashmina shawl in two different trays for X-ray check. After the checking, only three items reached her. When she complained about the missing shawl, the CISF personnel were found uncooperative.

On her repeated plea, the security personnel checked movement of goods in the CCTV recording, where they found a woman stealing her shawl but she could not be traced.

Tiwari further said his wife lodged a written complaint with the airport authority in this regard but in vain.

The second case happened with Sania Jeswani, daughter of Seema Jeswani. Seema said that after attending a cultural event at Mood Indigo Fest in IIT Bombay, her daughter was returning to Indore from Bombay via Indigo’s flight at 5.25 pm. Indigo airlines staff mistakenly stapled a sticker meant for her luggage to another passenger’s luggage.

Jeswani said when her daughter landed at Indore airport, she was given a different luggage. After 24 hours of complaint, Sania’s got her luggage back.
28/12/17 Free Press Journal

Read More

Breast pumps baffle airport staff

To most people, leaving baby at home for a solo trip abroad sounds like a dream. But is it easy to travel as a breastfeeding mum?

Women often use pumps to get milk from the breasts – if you don‘t breastfeed regularly, it can cause problems with milk supply and can even stop milk altogether. Also, not breastfeeding can lead to very engorged and painful breasts.

After reporting the story of mum who said she had to squeeze her breast in front of Frankfurt Airport security officials to prove that she was lactating, we asked women for their stories.

‘I stood in the disabled toilet to pump‘
Anisha Turner breastfeeds her one year old daughter Ayrianna but in December 2016 she travelled without her from London to India to scatter her mother‘s ashes.

“It is tricky to travel as breastfeeding mum so I went to India for just a couple of days and I brought my electric breast pump with me.

“I knew it would be very painful to travel on a long-haul flight without expressing milk – and if you do not pump it can lead to (breast tissue inflammation).

“I planned to express milk where I could and I was hoping to find a mum and baby room in Heathrow to plug in the pump.

“I could not find a room with a socket – I asked a security guard who was unhelpful but in the end I found an official who understood how uncomfortable it would be for me to fly without pumping.

“In the end I had to buy a universal socket in the airport and I stood in the disabled toilet to pump.

“Later when we transferred at Mumbai airport, there were mum and baby rooms and loads of facilities to accommodate me.

“I was so surprised – I thought that I would have problems in Mumbai but in fact it was Heathrow Airport that had no facilities at all.

“Breastfeeding mums are not really thought about – the difficulties that we encounter are not understood – and you would think that an airport could accommodate us.”
27/12/17 Jackson Observer

Read More

Delhi Family Returns Model's Missing Bag With Valuables Amounting To Rs 4 Lakh

Five days ago, model Anupam Shukla arrived in the city from the national Capital with a bag full of jewellery, expensive perfumes, designer clothes, watches and valuables amounting to Rs 4 lakh. She reached the conveyor belt to pick up her bag, but found herself waiting long after the last person from her flight had left with their luggage. When she realised that her bag was missing, she immediately alerted the airport authorities. Three days later, she filed a missing report with the Sahar police. On Monday, Shukla finally received the call she had been waiting for as a family contacted the model to return her bag that they had mistaken as theirs.
Speaking to mid-day, Shukla said, "The airlines had, initially, assured me that I would get my bag back within 24 hours, but obviously, that did not happen. So, I approached the Sahar police and filed a missing bag report."Shukla said that the family had contacted her over the telephone. "They were a Delhi-based family, who were visiting Mumbai. They admitted that they had mistaken my black and golden bag as theirs. They have managed to trace their own bag, too. I checked the bag to find all my valuables intact."
A Sahar police officer said, "We had filed an FIR under section 379 of the IPC for theft after Shukla's bag went missing. We were investigating the case when this family contacted her. The family came to our police station to hand over the bag to Shukla."
28/12/17 Asif Rizvi/Mid Day

Read More

Faster check-in, smoother ops to take off at airport

Kolkata: Inadequate baggage trolleys; queues at registered baggage X-ray counters; flight delays due to fog; confusion due to lack of proper signage; traffic snarl at the exit gate: these are factors that irk passengers, who travel from Kolkata airport. In the months ahead all of them will be addressed, say airport authorities, promising a more joyous experience for passengers and a better environment for everyone in 2018. Baggage trolley is the only issue the airport operator is still unsure about how to tackle the problem.
Speaking to TOI, Kolkata airport director Atul Dikshit said each issue had been analysed and deadlines to resolve them had been set. "I expect the issues will be taken care of by mid-2018. It will enhance passenger satisfaction," he said.
Dikshit and other senior officials are hoping tenders for both purchase of new trolleys and appointment of a new trolley management firm are completed by March so that trolley trouble is over by June. But with the service still dependant on the heavily unionised contractual staff, officials are keeping their fingers crossed and hoping their work culture will improve.
The first project that will be completed in 2018 is the advanced instrument landing system, which will enable flights to operate even in low visibility. While aircrafts can currently land only when minimum visibility is 350 metre, commissioning of CAT III-B ILS on January 4 will enable pilots to touch down even when visibility dips to 50 metre.
A new registered in-line baggage X-ray system is expected to be commissioned in the domestic wing by June. This will do away with the need to first get checked-in luggage Xrayed before they are dropped at the check-in desk. Fliers will simply have to drop the bags at the check-in desk and the X-ray scan will automatically happen as it moves along the conveyor belt, reducing passenger hassle by 3-10 minutes.
28/12/17 Subhro Niyogi/Times of India

Read More

IndiGo flight hit by fuel leak at Delhi airport; horrific ordeal for passengers

IndiGo Delhi to Thiruvananthapuram flight suffered a fuel leak at Delhi Airport, on Tuesday (December 26). As many as 173 passengers onboard were made to disembark after detection of the leak just before take-off. The fire services were called in to take care of the situation. Reportedly, the mishap was taken care off and no passenger or crew was hurt. The fuel leak instance isn’t a standalone instance of Indigo being in trouble. Earlier, too a Delhi-bound IndiGo airlines plane from Mumbai with around 160 passengers on board on Saturday returned to the Mumbai airport 20 minutes after take-off due to another fuel leak. Leakage in the fuel system of the aircraft forced the pilot to take back the flight to the city. Also, in yet another incident, IndiGo flight between Hyderabad and Dubai took off with less than required fuel, last year, and had to be diverted to Mumbai for refueling prompting a Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) inquiry into the issue.
27/12/17 Financial Express

Read More

Flights from Odisha's Jharsuguda to start in February

Bhubaneswar: Flight operations, under a regional connectivity scheme, will start from Odisha's Jharsuguda airport by the first week of February next year, said an official on Wednesday.

The air service will connect Jharsuguda, Raipur and Jagdalpur under the Central government's subsidised Ude Desh Ka Aam Nagrik (UDAN) scheme.

It was discussed at the state-level Coordination and Monitoring Committee meeting held under the chairmanship of Chief Secretary Aditya Prasad Padhi here.

Pointing out that the infrastructure of the airstrip at Rourkela is ready for flight operations, the Chief Secretary directed that the process for finalisation of operational details for Rourkela airstrip be expedited.

Padhi also directed that Utkela and Jeypore airstrips be readied by March 2018.

The flight operator company informed the government that regional connectivity from Kolkata to Rourkela has been scheduled to be started from January 23.
Director General of Police Rajendra Prasad Sharma apprised the meeting that a total of 135 police and 27 fire personnel from Odisha government have already been trained for providing security and fire services in the regional airports.

Available data shows that five airstrips of Odisha, including Biju Patnaik International Airport, have been selected for Phase-I of Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS)-UDAN. The other four airstrips are Rourkela, Jharsuguda, Utkela (Kalahandi) and Jeypore (Koraput).

The Biju Patnaik International Airport will serve as mentor airport for RCS, said the official.

The Jharsuguda airport has been developed under the joint aegis of Airport Authority of India and Odisha government.

The Rourkela airstrip will be operated by AAI with security and fire personnel support from the state government. The other airstrips at Jeypore and Utkela are being developed with funding from both the state government and AAI.

Notably, the Odisha government is providing both the manpower and financial support to make the regional connectivity scheme viable during initial periods.

The state government has decided to reduce Value Added Tax from five per cent to one per cent on Aviation Turbine Fuel and provide 20 per cent of the Viable Gap Funding. Electricity and water would also be provided at a minimum rate.

It is expected that such subsidies and financial assistance will keep the ticket cost at an affordable level.
27/12/17 IANS/Business Standard

Read More

Aviation, allied units to come up at Bhogapuram

Vizianagaram: Union Minister for Civil Aviation P Ashok Gajapathi Raju said that establishing an airport only to transport the passengers will not benefit society.

Unless the allied industries like a repairing centre, maintenance of aircraft, other infrastructure were established here, only an airport cannot provide jobs to the youth, he added Participating in the various programmes held here on Tuesday, the Minister said that the aviation industry was spending thousands of crores of rupees annually on maintenance and repairing of aircraft.

However, he said that those facilities are only at Dubai, Singapore and Sri Lanka and the Indian aviation sector is forced to go those places for these services. Now we are thinking to provide those facilities and infrastructure at Bhogapuram airport and trying to gain more income and provide jobs for the youth of this area.
Even cargo aviation is also one of major job provider and such services to be started from here," the Minister added. He said that provision of increasing of Assembly seats was mentioned in AP State Bifurcation Bill and again we need not send any resolution to the union government.
27/12/17 Hans India

Read More

Flight inaugural function at Jalgaon Airport under RCS

New Delhi : Air Deccan flight DKN181/182 Type/B190 with 19 seating c capacity  landed at Jalgaon at 1600 IST and departed at 1651 IST, on Tuesday. The chief guest was Chandrakant  Patil, the  Guardian Minister of Maharashtra, who was on board also.

A function was organised successfully with the guidance of AAI, RHQ and CHQ. The function was organized by District administration. It was attended by local industrialists including tourism and hotel industry of Jalgaon.

The function was attended by Member of Parliament A.T. Nana Patil, Gulab Rao Patil, Minister of State of Maharashtra, local MLAs and the Mayor.
The chief guest has given a brief speech in which he has given thanks to aviation ministry to fulfill the dream of Prime Minister Modi to provide cheaper air connectivity to AAM AADAMI under UDAAN scheme. He has also thanked Air Deccan in fulfilling the dream. He congratulated the Airports Authority of India and District administration, Jalgaon for arranging an excellent inaugural function in such a short span of time.
27/12/17 Free Press Journal

Read More

96 flight schedules disrupted at KIA

Bengaluru: Dense fog continued to disrupt air travellers’ plans, with 96 flight schedules at the Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) impacted on Tuesday.

Flights were suspended between 4.37 a.m. and 7.49 a.m., leading to four diversions to Chennai, and delays in 28 arrivals and 55 departures. Five departures and four arrivals had to be cancelled.

To minimise hardship to passengers, the airport was not closed on Tuesday for runway maintenance, to “facilitate aircraft operations and ensure that passengers are impacted to the least extent possible.” The KIA statement said this was a one-time measure.

The airport is closed for operations every Tuesday between 12.30 p.m. and 3 p.m.

On Sunday, 110 flight schedules were disrupted as visibility dipped to 250 m in the morning. Flight operations were suspended from 6.05 a.m. to 9 a.m., leading to diversion of five flights, all to Chennai, delay in 70 departures and 26 arrivals apart from cancellations of nine flights.

Low visibility, owing to dense fog, has been wreaking havoc over the last few days, with disruption in 206 flights in the past three days alone.
27/12/17 The Hindu

Read More

Poor visibility, fog delay flights

Mohali: Flight operations were disrupted at the Chandigarh international airport today due to poor visibility and fog.
SpiceJet's flight to Delhi departed at 10.10 am, 90 minutes past its scheduled departure time. Air Asia's flight to Bengaluru was delayed by one hour and 15 minutes due to bad weather at the Bengaluru airport. Jet Airways flight to Delhi was late by one hour and 10 minutes and Air India's Mumbai-Chandigarh-Pune flight departed half an hour late. The Lucknow-Chandigarh-Bengaluru flight, which was supposed to start operations from December 12, landed two hours late due to bad weather.
26/12/17 Tribune

Read More

CISF to Reward Personnel Who Help Spot Criminal Activity at Delhi Airport

They have caught gold smugglers, human trafficking agents, passengers hiding suspicious items and even alleged molesters. The intelligence staff of Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), who, in plainclothes, keep a watch on passengers through their movements, will now be rewarded for every breakthrough.

The personnel are trained in profiling. And by the kind of luggage a passenger carries or the clothes they wear, the intelligence staff are able to shortlist suspicious passengers.

Travelling without luggage might land you in the suspicious passenger category and cause extra checking at Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA). To improve the security standards, the CISF is now getting trained in profiling suspicious passengers by experts from Israel.

Recently, the Delhi airport, a CISF personnel noticed a passenger waiting at gate number 15 from where an Air Canada flight to Toronto was scheduled to depart. At the same time, Air India was looking for a passenger, who took the boarding pass but did not board the flight.
26/12/17 Faizan Haidar/Mcclatchy/AviationPros

Read More

Runway upkeep cancelled as fog delays flights again

Bengaluru: Dense fog had an unlikely fallout on Tuesday: the airport had to cancel runway maintenance to clear its flight traffic backlog.

Visibility fell below the stipulated level for the second time in three days, and as a result, airport operations were suspended in the early hours.

Nine flights were cancelled and 83 delayed. The delays had a cascading effect, with dozens of planes queuing up for take-off well into the day.

The airport pauses operations every Tuesday between 12.30 and 3 pm for what it calls 'deep runway maintenance'.

An airport spokesperson said everyday maintenance would take care of the runway, and the cancellation of deep maintenance was no cause for worry.

"We wanted to ensure passengers were affected to the least extent possible," he told DH.

Fog engulfed the airport at 4.37 am. Operations were suspended for close to three hours, till 7.45 am.

A hundred flights were disrupted. Five departures and four arrivals were cancelled. Four passenger flights, including two international ones, were diverted to Chennai.
27/12/17 Furquan Moharkan/Deccan Herald

Read More

Maiden flight from Adampur airport fails to take off this year despite tall talk

Jalandhar: Despite repeated claims and promises that much awaited domestic flights from Adampur airport will start this year, 2017 ends with people from Doaba, the NRI belt of Punjab, still waiting for the ‘maiden flight’ from Adampur to take off. A domestic terminal has already been built adjacent to the Adampur Airforce station.

In past four months even the dates for maiden flight were announced and changed thrice and now after missing the last day there is no word from authorities about a fresh date. With the starting of this flight people from region will reach Delhi in merely 45 minutes. The first date announced for maiden flight was September 26 which was later postponed to Diwali festival in October and then to December 1.

Earlier, even the Union Minister for State Vijay Sampla had said that ticket booking will be started by SpiceJet from November 1. Now, after missing December 1 deadline, there is no word from the minister about the new date. Sources at the Airport Authority of India (AAI) said that no air company is interested to operate here following the directions from AAI that the air service provider companies to operate from Terminal -2 of the Indira Gandhi International Airport Delhi for Adampur while the companies are interested from operating from terminal-1 of IGI.

Talks are on between the AAI and air companies over the issue, said sources. When contacted, Sampla said that he was busy in a meeting. Earlier, Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had participated in “bhoomi poojan” ceremony for domestic airport on December 16 in 2016. Punjab government got constructed an approach road to Adampur airport at the cost of over Rs 16 crore.
26/12/17 Anju Agnihotri Chaba/Indian Express

Read More

Dabolim airport offers musical experience to passengers

Vasco: The Dabolim airport on the occasion of Christmas launched unique facility ‘Goa Airport Radio’, which is one-of-its-kind facility available at any of the airports managed by Airports Authority of India (AAI).

The radio was launched at the hands of airport director Bhupesh Chand Hans Negi in the presence of chief executive officer Radio Indigo Satyanarayana Murthy, chief revenue officer Radio Indigo Naveen Saxena, programming director Radio Indigo Kiran Sreedhar and others.

The AAI and Indigo 91.9 FM, India’s first and longest-running international radio station, announced their partnership on Monday with the launch of the radio the airport.

Through the tie-up, Indigo 91.9 FM will now play specially curated music for the passengers at the airport.

In addition, Goa Airport Radio shall have its exclusive jockey who would enthrall the passengers by interacting with them, announcing the utility and flight related information together with playing passengers’ favourite music.
26/12/17 Navhind Times

Read More

Flyers furious with stale food at airport

Pune:  Akhil Sinha bit into the sandwich he had bought for Rs 200 at the airport, and immediately regretted his decision.
The smell churned his stomach. Karan Doshi's wife had it worse. Consuming a sandwich bought at the Pune airport gave her severe stomach upset and she had to visit the doctor. Unfortunately, these are not isolated cases. With many similar complaints being raised, the authorities at the Pune airport have now decided to increase the frequency of checks on the food outlets to monitor the quality.
"I had worked the whole morning and had to rush to the airport to catch a flight to Kolkata in the afternoon. As I was very hungry, I bought a sandwich, but it smelt foul. the shopkeeper had the strangest excuse. He said the sandwich was smelly as the chicken was boiled. Now I have had many sandwiches in my life but I have never come across anything like this. I am sure the food was spoilt," said Sinha adding that he had to throw away the overpriced, yet stale sandwich.
The premium pricing for such poor quality of food is another big issue. One passenger's experience showed how the food outlets are openly fleecing the customers. In October, the said passenger had paid Rs 300 for a vegetable burger at the airport's lone restaurant. However, he caught one of the restaurant employees sneaking in the burger, wrapped in a newspaper, from outside. On being questioned, the man allegedly said the restaurant was out of burgers and hence it was brought from outside. Though the restaurant denied the allegations, not everyone was convinced.
26/12/17 Joy Sengupta/Times of India

Read More

Regional airports gear up for UDAN

Pune-based Surface Instrumentation (SI) division of the India Meteorology Department (IMD) has been roped in to supply instruments to nearly 52 airports across the country under the Udan scheme. UDAN (Ude Desh ka Aam Naagrik) is an initiative of the government aimed at development of regional airports.

The maiden flight under the scheme took off between Jalgaon and Mumbai on December 22. The Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) had recently approved nearly 100 new routes to be covered under the scheme, which are expected to gather pace by February next year.

The IMD operates 57 aeronautical meteorological stations, along with 17 aerodrome meteorological offices in the country.

A senior officer from the SI division, IMD, Pune, said, “Along with standard airport instruments, many of these airports would have restricted flying schedules… and would require installation of specific instruments.”

In Maharashtra, installation work is in progress at Aurangabad and Kolhapur airports. Installations were recently completed at Jalgaon and Shirdi airports, after which trial flights were carried out from the temple town two months ago. Currently, the department is working on procuring and calibrating airport instruments required for day to day operations, including temperature, wind speed, humidity and sunshine recorders, at these airports.

Drishti, a transmissometre that aides in improving the runway visibility, is the latest addition to the airport instruments being ingenuously developed by IMD.

An official said, “At present, a total of 26 airports are equipped with Drishti and installation is in progress at 13 others. Proposals of installations at seven new airports are in the pipeline. We hope to reach the 50 mark by the end of 2018.”
The instrument is exclusively supplied for airports located close to hilly terrains, along with those in the northern parts of the country, where flight operations are often hit by heavy fogging.
26/12/17 Anjali Marar/Indian Express
--------------------------

Read More

Land blow to new airport

Calcutta: The Bengal government has told Delhi it cannot provide the required 4,000 acres for the proposed second airport in Calcutta, for which the Airports Authority of India had requested it to arrange the land.

The state has urged the Centre to develop the Andal airport as an "alternative" instead, although the Centre had rejected such a request earlier saying the two airports were too far apart at 190km.

"It's not possible to arrange for 4,000 acres in Calcutta's neighbourhood. If the requirement were 1,500 acres, we could have tried to find the land in Bhangar," a state official said.

Nabanna sources said the state government's policy against forced acquisition was a factor too.

They said senior bureaucrats had met AAI officials and told them they cannot find the land, and revived the Andal proposal.
"Developing the Andal airport is the only way to manage the growing pressure on Calcutta airport. If the Centre has problems declaring Andal a second airport for Calcutta, it should consider it a standalone, alternative airport," an official said.

AAI chairman Guruprasad Mohapatra said in Delhi recently that each of the four metros needs two airports.

"Sites have been identified for Delhi and Mumbai. Tamil Nadu will finalise the site (for Chennai) shortly. Bengal is yet to do that for Calcutta," he had said.
26/12/17 Pranesh Sarkar/Telegraph

Read More

Airports on high alert in wake of terror attack intel

 New Delhi:  Be prepared for intensive frisking and baggage security checks at airports this festive season and New Year. The Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) has sent an alert to all airports operators and airlines to maintain highest level of vigil in wake of feared terror attacks.
"New Year celebration functions are being held throughout the country. This is a vulnerable period. Number of instances have occurred in the past also when this period has been chosen by terrorists/antinational elements to perpetrate act of terrorism," says the alert sent by BCAS to aviation stakeholders and state police chiefs.
"During the year, Pak-based terrorist outfits have already shown their intentions to carry out attacks in the country. During 2017, IS inspired individuals have carried out gruesome attacks in other countries, targeting innocent civilians as well as police personnel. Perpetrators have initiated attacks by suicide bombing, using improvised explosive device-laden vehicle, stabbing, ramming vehicle into crowd and indiscriminate firing in crowded areas," the note issued with approval of BCAS chief Rajesh Kumar Chandra says.
With this alert, the BCAS has asked all agencies to "maintain maximum vigil in the run-up to/during the New Year celebration
26/12/17 Saurabh Sinha/Times of India

Read More

Christmas tourist arrivals in Goa have dropped by 30%, says local body as GST and high airfares make holidaying costlier

Panaji: Tourists usually throng Goa during Christmas but this year seem to have given the coastal state a miss, as both foreign and domestic tourist arrivals have dropped 30 percent, a local industry association said on Sunday.

Goa is known for its night-long parties which begin from Christmas (25 December) and continue till 31 December midnight.
"As far as Christmas is concerned, there has been a drop in foreign and domestic tourist arrival by almost 30 percent compared to last year," Savio Messiah, president, Travel and Tourism Association of Goa (TTAG), told PTI.

Messiah claimed that the factors "like GST" have affected the high-end tourists while many have refused to come because of the "high air-fares" and "high cost of holiday" in the state.

Messiah said the situation will hopefully improve during the New Year celebrations with more people arriving in the state.

However, Goa tourism department claims the tourists have just begun arriving and the number would go up during the coming week.

"The tourists have already begun arriving in the state. We expect more footfall this week. You can see yourself how streets are abuzz with the guests," the state's Tourism Director Menino D'Souza said.
24/12/17 PTI/First Post

Read More

International cargo facility receives lukewarm response from exporters

It's been around six months since the international cargo facility at Pune Airport took off amid much fanfare. However, the response from the exporters as well as airlines has so far been lukewarm. Information obtained from airport officials shows that an average of 430 kg cargo is exported everyday from Pune Airport against the expected movement of 20,000 kg (20 tonne) per day. Of the four airlines which have international flights, only one — SpiceJet — is using the international cargo facility. The airport is yet to get the import facility. Support services such as cold storages are yet to be erected which, observers feel, may be behind the less than expected response.

International cargo facility, which was delayed due to several issues, was finally inaugurated on June 27 by Pune MP Anil Shirole. Airport officials had expected the cargo volume to touch 40,000 tonne per annum, starting at an average of 20,000 kg per day. The actual numbers of cargo movements, however, have been dismal.

“Currently, only SpiceJet is operating international cargo. At present, 430 kg per day cargo is being exported on an average. Apart from SpiceJet, Jet Airways has also obtained the customs bond for export of cargo and application by Air India is under process. The decision to enhance the capacity will only be taken up after reaching the expected turnover of 20,000 kg per day,” said a senior official of the Airport Authority of India (AAI).

The official said that the AAI is optimistic about the response the facility will get due to the potential in the city with a large industrial and agricultural presence. “It will pick up as more operators will join and we will get more direct flights,” said the official.
25/12/17 Atikh Rashid/Indian Express

Read More

Kannur international airport to be operational by September 2018

Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala's fourth international airport, at Kannur, that is expected to serve more than 1.5 million passengers annually, is set to begin trial flight operations in January and become fully operational by September 2018. With the opening of Kannur International Airport Ltd (KIAL), Kerala will be the only state in the country to have four international airports with the others at Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi and Kozhikode. The Rs 1,892 crore-airport, located at Mattanur, over 2,000 acres, will be the fastest completed airport in the country, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan's office said.
The airport has constructed a runway suitable for operating Code E aircraft, like Boeing B-777 and Airbus A-330. It will be extended later for operation of Code F aircraft, like Airbus A-380.
While the Kerala government has 35 per cent stake in KIAL, 25 per cent is by public sector undertakings, 10 per cent is with the Airports Authority of India and the remaining 30 per cent with cooperatives, banks and individual shareholders.
The first trial operation took place in February 2016 when an Indian Air Force aircraft landed for the first time on the airport and was received by then Chief Minister Oommen Chandy.
25/12/17 IANS/Sify.com

Read More

Madurai airport flying high, nets 10L fliers in 10 months

2017 may well end as the year to remember for Madurai international airport, with development happening on various fronts, be it amenities, passenger growth, frequency of flights or the introduction of new routes. But what has excited officials as well as aviation enthusiasts is the airport handling 10 lakh passengers in a calendar year for the first time.
According to the data released by the Airport Authority of India (AAI), Madurai airport had achieved the magical number by October itself. Compared to the 9.69 lakh passengers handled by the airport for the whole of 2016, this is an impressive figure. "In my opinion, the number may easily cross 13 lakh this year," said Madurai airport director VV Rao.
The airport also netted one lakh passengers a month for the first time in April this year and since then the growth trend had been continuing every month . According to the data, only 81.63 lakh passengers were handled up to October last year, as against the 10.33 lakh this year, an increase of about 26.62 per cent. Airport authorities say that to cope with the development, departments like Air Traffic Control and CISF, which provides security, were augmenting their strength. "While there are already 214 CISF personnel available, 24 more people are now available on tour basis. Similarly, ATC has been strengthened on deputation basis until transfers or fresh recruitments are undertaken to increase the strength," said an official.
25/12/17 Times of India

Read More

Model Anupam Shukla’s bag goes missing from airport

Mumbai: Model Anupam Shukla (30) registered an FIR at Sahar police station on December 24 after her bag containing expensive diamond-studded wrist watches, jewellery and designer clothes, collectively worth over Rs 4 lakh went missing from conveyer belt number 1 at Mumbai airport.

Shukla’s copper gold colour bag contained diamond-studded watch worth Rs 2.50 lakh, two wrist watches worth Rs. 1.05 lakh, expensive clothes 15 gram gold chain worth Rs. 45,000, etc. After intense search when she did not get her luggage, Shukla tweeted on December 22 at 4:48am: “Lost my baggage at jet airways 9w354 Delhi to Mumbai domastic flight in the International Sahar airport.”

“I boarded Jet Airways flight number 9W 354 from Delhi on December 21. After reaching Mumbai, I kept waiting for my luggage at the conveyer belt number 1, but I did not get it. I informed Jet Airways immediately and was assured that I would get it within 24 hours. But till now I have not received my luggage. All my expensive clothes, shoes, jewellery, wrist watches, etc are in that bag,” she told Free Press Journal.
25/12/17 Diwakar Sharma/Free Press Journal

Read More

More flights planned

Puducherry: Chief Minister Narayanasamy has said that SpiceJet had sought permission to run another flight service to Hyderabad from Puducherry.

“We have received requests from Indigo and Air Odisha as well. Though the Air Odisha has not sent a formal request to us directly but to the Central government, we would discuss this with the Union Ministers when we are visiting Delhi in the coming week,” he said.

He added that during the south Indian Chief Ministers’ meet held recently, he had requested the Tamil Nadu government to provide them land for the airport. “We have also sent letter to the Tamil Nadu government but we have not received any reply,” said the Chief Minister.
25/12/17 The Hindu

Read More

All-cargo direct flight opens, linking Kunming, Bangalore

Kunming: A cargo flight loaded with 42 tonnes of electronic products departed from the southwestern Chinese city of Kunming for Bangalore, India, on Monday, the first all-cargo direct China-Bangalore route.

The new route, served by Airbus A300-600, will fly twice a week before increasing to five weekly, according to the Uni-Top Airlines.

The flight will carry high-end electronic products, mobile phone parts and communication equipment components made in Shanghai, Chengdu and Shenzhen.

Bangalore is one of world's leading information and technology centers.
25/12/17 Xinhua

Read More

Government for big overhaul of Airports with UDAN

The Government of India plans to revive 50 unserved and underserved airports under Regional Connectivity Scheme– UDAN. An efficient network of airports shall reduce barriers for development in the country, bringing opportunities to the hinterland. Guruprasad Mohapatra, Chairman, Airports Authority of India (AAI) shares this and much more in conversation with Shivani Tyagi of Elets News Network (ENN).

What role does AAI play in strengthening the aviation sector in the country?
The civil aviation is a sunrise sector of growth backed by favourable demographics, a rising middle-class population, high disposable incomes, and faster economic growth. Domestic air traffic in India is growing at about 20 per cent annually and international traffic at 10 per cent, providing huge employment. India is world’s seventh largest aviation market presently and is poised to be the third largest within a few years.
AAI, under the aegis of Ministry of Civil Aviation, has been actively involved for strengthening the aviation sector. The focus of AAI has been to develop airport infrastructure at par with the world standards. Consequently, AAI has completed modernisation of 61 airports in the country including two metro airports at Chennai and Kolkata. For a holistic growth of aviation in India, AAI is committed to develop airport infrastructure in all corners of the country including Tier-II and Tier-III cities. The aviation sector has further been boosted with unveiling of National Civil Aviation Policy and UDAN scheme to extend air transport to the masses at a reasonable price.

To provide requisite infrastructure, AAI has embarked upon infrastructure development plan with the outlay of Rs 20,500 crore in next five years which includes upgradation and expansion of existing airports, revival of non-operational airports, upgradation of Airport Navigation System (ANS) and the telecommunication infrastructure. Further, AAI will provide logistical and technical support to the State Governments for bringing up Greenfield Airports and operationalisation of their airports.

How has technology contributed to bring improvement in Airport Authority of India (AAI)?
Construction of modern state-of-the-art terminal buildings has been taken up with the provision of commonly used IT infrastructure with Common Use Terminal Equipment (CUTE), Common Use Self-Service Kiosks (CUSS) and overall integration of all systems through establishment of Airport Operational Control Centres (AOCC) at airports. Baggage Reconciliation System (BRS) for facilitating faster baggage handling and reconciliation at all major airports of AAI. Sensor controlled elevators, escalators, Passengers Boarding Bridges (PBBs) with Advanced Visual Docking Guidance System (AVDGS) and walkalators have been provided in the new terminal buildings to ease the passenger movement.
BMS controlled Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC) system is being adopted in the terminal building to have better temperature control for comfort of passengers and for energy efficiency. In the recent past, we have implemented various state-of-the-art technology for CNS-ATM systems and advance ATM procedures to enhance safety, efficiency and reduce congestion in airspace across various airports and the entire Indian airspace.
Air traffic flow management has been introduced to balance the demand vis-à-vis the capacity so that the airport operates at optimum capacity throughout. India has become only the seventh country in the world to have this capability.
24/12/17 egov

Read More

Airfare to Jaisalmer increases as tourists flock city

Jaisalmer: Tourists are flocking to Jaisalmer to celebrate Christmas and New Year. For the next 8-10, there are no rooms available in city hotels. There is a boom in the tourism industry, especially after Jaisalmer was connected to other destinations by air.
Looking at the high demand for Jaisalmer, the private airline operating flights between Jodhpur and Delhi from Jaisalmer has increased the fare to Rs 18,000 between Jaisalmer and Delhi and Rs 10,000 from Jaisalmer to Jodhpur. There are so many tourists that now the 12th century city looks too small to accommodate the crowd.
The hotels have been decorated and all the trains coming to Jaisalmer are full due to large number of tourists, forcing many to reach the city by their own vehicles. The roads of the city appear small due to large number of vehicles.
The hotels have been decorated beautifully to welcome Christmas and New Year. Beautifully decorated Christmas trees have been put up in hotels. Many delicious Chinese and continental menus are being prepared.
25/12/17 Times of India

Read More