AAI to Sign Concession Agreement for Three State-Run Airports in January 2021

After the receipt of security clearance, the state-run Airport Authority of India will sign the concession agreement for Jaipur, Guwahati, Trivandrum airports with a private player. According to Airport Authority of India (AAI) Chairman Arvind Singh, the security clearances have been received and the concession agreement will be signed in January.

A presentation by the Civil Aviation Ministry said that the concession agreement to be signed on or before January 25 for the three airports, subject to completion of other formalities and outcome of litigations.

The Kerala High Court had upheld the bidding process for PPP of the Trivandrum Airport.

Besides, AAI is in the process of finalising six more airports that can be given out in public-private partnership model. The AAI will seek the government's go ahead and may start the process in the first quarter of 2021, Singh said in a press conference on Tuesday.

The Ministry is also proposing leasing of six more airports under Public Private Partnership -- Varanasi, Amritsar, Bhubaneswar, Raipur, Indore and Trichy and the modalities are being finalised.

31/12/20 IANS/News18

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How India's busiest airport is preparing to handle COVID-19 vaccines

India being such a vast country, with a population of more than 135 crore and with more than 10 million coronavirus cases, the biggest headache in the coming days will be the distribution of the vaccine.

However, India's busiest airport - IGI Delhi is well prepared to handle COVID-19 vaccines. This was informed by the CEO of Delhi International Airport Ltd. Videh Kumar Jaipuriar. But he also added saying, "One of the key challenges will be the availability of cold chain across India."

Not just that, he reiterated the fact that there could be issues elsewhere, considering more remote areas may not be equipped with sufficient equipment and containers.

Indira Gandhi International airport will be a main handling point and has facilities to store 2.7 million vials of vaccine at 2 to 8 degrees Celsius. It also has cooling chambers that can keep temperatures as low as - 20 degrees Celsius, Jaipuriar said.

"As soon as we get an indication on what's going to be the flow, we will do the final tune up and then we will be ready to go," Jaipuriar said in an interview with Bloomberg News. He said there was also capacity to potentially export vaccines to nearby countries.

India is relying largely on two domestically made vaccines from Bharat Biotech International Ltd. and the Serum Institute of India Ltd., which has partnered with AstraZeneca Plc to produce at least one billion doses. Ultra-cold storage requirements for Pfizer Inc. shot make it an unlikely choice for widespread use.

Delhi and Hyderabad airports' air cargo services are all set to play a pivotal role in its distribution through state-of-the-art time and temperature-sensitive distribution systems.

Notably, in the recent past, the Delhi airport had acted as a hub to distribute millions of PPE kits across the country.

"Delhi Airport is fully prepared and geared up for the phase-2 fight against this pandemic to facilitate handling and distribution of COVID-19 vaccines as soon as it is launched," IANS quoted Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL) CEO Videh Kumar Jaipuriar as saying.

31/12/20 DNA

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South runway of Bangalore airport becomes CAT-III B compliant

Mumbai: The Kempegowda International Airport at Bengaluru (KIB) has become compliant for CAT-IIIB operations, which will allow the airlines to land aircraft at a runway visual range of as low as 50 metres besides take-offs at 125 metres, a release said on Thursday.

The mechanism is functional at the south runway of the airport since 05.30 am on Thursday. Until now, the permissible visual range was 550 metres and 300 metres, for landing and take-off, respectively, it said.

This makes Bangalore airport  the only aerodrome in South India and sixth in the country with CAT III B runway.

Fog-related flight delays in Bengaluru have traditionally caused delays and diversions, inconveniencing passengers, as well as resulting in financial losses for the aviation industry, Bangalore International Airport Ltd (BIAL) said.

KIB has installed advanced Instrument Landing System (ILS), Airfield Ground Lights (AGL), meteorological equipment such as Transmissometre, Automatic Weather Observation Station (AWOS), Surface Movement Radar (SMR) and other navigational aids, it said.

These navigational aids will help in smooth operations  during low visibility due to inclement weather and foggy conditions at the Bangalore airport, BIAL said in a release.

With this upgrade, the south runway can facilitate aircraft landing with a runway visual range of as low as 50 metres and take-offs at 125 metres.

The north runway at Bangalore airport is closed for operations since  June 22 for a period of six months for upgradation and rehabilitation, which includes strengthening and resurfacing of the runway as well as installation of LED runway centre llne lights and runway edge lights.

These enhancements will offer flexibility to operate in low visibility and adverse weather conditions, BIAL said in the release.

31/12/20 PTI/Outlook

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HC stays AI-arm taking over at Chennai, Kolkata airports

The Madras High Court has ordered interim stay on Air India Airport Services from taking over ground handling services in Chennai and Kolkata airports from Friday.

So far, Bhadra was the Ground Handling Agency (GHA) in Chennai airport and Kolkata (Nova Consortium is also an GHA in Kolkata).

On December 22 the Airports Authority of India Cargo Logistics & Allied Services, a 100 per cent subsidiary of Airports Authority of India (AAI), had announced that AIASL will start providing ground handling services at the two airports from January 1 as an interim arrangement. This followed the conclusion of the ten-year contract for GHAs on September 22 and the two GHAs had continued so far.

Justice J Senthilkumar Ramamoorthy in his order said: “there shall be an order of interim stay of the impugned communication dated 22.12.2020 for a period of two weeks in respect of the Chennai and Kolkata airports.”

He was hearing two petitions - one filed by Bhadra and another on behalf of an employee union of Bhadra.

The Court also directed the two airports to provide or facilitate the provision of security passes and any other requirements to enable Bhadra to continue to provide the cargo and ground handling services as per the licence agreement for the two weeks.

31/12/20 TE Raja Simhan/Business Line

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Fog blankets Chandigarh, Bengaluru flight cancelled, 17 others delayed

Chandigarh: The poor visibility due to dense fog at the Chandigarh International Airport affected 18 flights with eight flights arriving late and nine departing late on Wednesday. A GoAir from Begaluru was also cancelled.

“The foggy conditions prevailed since early morning and the flight operators felt the need of CAT-III-ILS at the airport as the visibility factor dropped as low as 150 metres in the morning, which improved by afternoon,” said the airport officials.

According to the information, flights from Kulu, Leh, Dharamshala and Srinagar were the most affected, whereas flight from other destinations like Ahmedabad and Bengaluru were also delayed.

Air India flights from Leh (AI-3415) arrived late by1.32 hours at 11.47 am, against the scheduled arrival of 10.15 am and subsequently the flight (AI-3416) departed late for Leh by 1.22 hours i.e. at 12.17 pm, against the scheduled departure of 10.55 am.

Similarly, Air India flight (AI-9713) from Dharamshala arrived late by 2.11 hours at 3.31 pm, against the scheduled arrival of 1.20 pm and the flight (AI-9714) departed late for Dharamshala by 2 hours at 4.04 pm, against the scheduled departure of 2.04 pm

31/12/20 Times of India

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Bengaluru: Suburban trains to KIA from Monday

Bengaluru: Flyers and airport employees can travel by suburban trains to and from Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) in less than a week.

South Western Railway (SWR) has decided to increase the number of Demu/Memu trains from existing six pairs (12 trains) to 15 pairs (30 trains) from January 4 (Monday). This includes two trains, which will pass through the KIA halt station. However, some of the existing suburban trains will be either merged or cancelled and detailed list of trains and their timings will be released in a day or two.

The 06279 Yeshwantpur-Bangarpet Demu train which leaves Yeshwantpur at 8:30am, will reach KIA halt at 9.16am. In the return trip, 06280 Bangarpet-KSR Bengaluru City Demu train will leave Bangarpet at 4pm, arrive at KIA halt at 6.42pm and reach KSR Bengaluru City at 8.20pm. Another train — 06269 Bengaluru Cantonment-Bangarpet Demu — will leave from Bengaluru Cantonment at 5.55pm and reach KIA halt at 6.50pm. Likewise, 06270 Bangarpet-Yeswantpur Demu will leave from Bangarpet at 5.30pm and reach KIA halt at 8.25pm and Yeshwantpur at 9.25pm.

According to sources, there is a possibility of operating trains to the airport even before January 4. SWR sources said they are planning to open the KIA halt station on Thursday or the first week of January. “Inauguration of the halt station was postponed due to the model code of conduct in place because of gram panchayat elections. We were planning to start services from December 31, 2020 or the first week of January. We are waiting for a green signal from the state government as the railway board has already given the nod. The inauguration will be either on January 4 or before,” said a source from SWR.

31/12/20 Times of India

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9 flights cancelled as fog reduces visibility at Jammu airport for 2nd day

Jammu: Nine flights to and from Jammu Airport were cancelled on Wednesday as a dense fog cover enveloped the region for a second day, officials said, while the prevailing cold wave condition tightened its grip after the recent snowfall in the high altitude areas.

Jammu Airport Director Pravat Ranjan Beuria said so far nine flights have been cancelled due to poor visibility caused by the foggy conditions.

This was the second day that the flight operations at the Jammu airport have been hit by poor visibility. As many as 17 flights were cancelled Tuesday and just one could land.

Talking about the visibility on Wednesday, Beuria told PTI, It was just 600 meters at 1 pm, thus not allowing the start of flight operationsFive more flights have been delayed (apart from the nine already cancelled).

A dense fog returned to Jammu city amid a drop in the night temperature which settled at 2.9 degrees Celsius, 4.5 notches below normal during this part of the season.

However, the sun came out around noon provided some relief from the bone-chilling cold and improvement in the visibility in some areas.

Bhaderwah in Doda district, which experienced heavy snowfall last week, was the coldest recorded place in Jammu region with a low of minus 3.8 degrees Celsius, a spokesman of the MET department said.

30/12/20 PTI/Business Standard

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Coimbatore: Man who flew into city via London from Spain tests positive for Covid-19

Coimbatore: A 27-year-old man who flew into the city via London from Spain on December 26 has tested positive for Covid-19. He had a 10-hour layover at Heathrow Airport.

Since he is asymptomatic, he has been quarantined in a separate ward at ESI Hospital. On Wednesday, a fresh nasal swab was taken to confirm whether he has been infected by the new UK strain. The nasal swab has been sent to the state public health laboratory at Teynampet, Chennai.

The man, a navigation engineer by profession, flew from Gibraltar in Spain to Dubai via London on December 22. In London, he had a 10-hour layover at Heathrow airport. He stayed in Dubai for two days and flew to Mumbai on December 25 and from there reached Coimbatore on December 26.

“The nasal swab taken by us at the airport on December 26 returned positive on December 28. Since then, he has been admitted in a separate ward at ESI Hospital,” deputy director of public health G Ramesh Kumar said. “He is asymptomatic so far,” he added.

Officials immediately tested his three family members who stayed with him from December 26 to 28, but all tested negative. They are trying to trace the cab driver who drove him home from the airport. “The state government has asked us to send a fresh nasal swab to Chennai to confirm whether it is the new strain,” an official said.

The arrvial of this passenger points to loopholes in our system, despite banning flights from the UK. “They come to Dubai and book a fresh ticket to India and fly in. With so many stamps on some passports, it is hard to spot a recent UK stamp on it,” an official said.

30/12/20 Pratiksha Ramkumar/Times of India

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Noida airport will get sufficient passengers: officials to UP aviation minister

Noida: The Noida International Airport will get sufficient passengers as and when it begins operations, Uttar Pradesh''s Civil Aviation Minister Nand Gopal Gupta was told on Wednesday. The minister was given the optimistic assessment by officials during a meeting to review the ongoing work for the mega greenfield project. The minister held the meeting after inspecting the airport site in the Jewar area of Gautam Buddh Nagar. 

During the meeting, attended by officials of Noida International Airport Limited (NIAL), Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority, Gautam Buddh Nagar administration and developer Zurich Airport International AG, Nandi directed for expeditious execution of the ambitious project. 

“During the meeting, Civil Aviation Director Surendra Singh gave a detailed presentation to the minister about the progress made in the development of Jewar Airport between 2017 and 2020,” an official statement said. The presentation made it clear that the airport will have a sufficient number of passengers when it starts its operation, the statement added. NIAL CEO Arun Vir Singh, YEIDA Additional CEO Shailendra Bhatia, District Magistrate Suhas L Y, Zurich Airport officials, among others, attended the meeting chaired by Nandi.

“The minister directed the officials to expedite work and ensure that the Irrigation Department, Public Works Department, BSNL and the Power Department meet the timelines for the project so that the airport could come up as per schedule,” according to the statement. Work is underway for the first phase of the Noida International Airport, spread over 5,000 hectares and being billed as India''s biggest airport upon completion, said officials. 

30/12/20 PTI/Outlook

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Mangaluru: Toy helicopter inside airport - Needle of suspicion on staff

Mangaluru: At around midnight on Saturday, a suspicious looking object flew into the airport area and got lodged near the old runway there. Many suspect that the airport employees might have been involved in this incident.

The airport has a high compound wall and multi layered security system. The area is off limits for video, photography and flying. Although there are houses and apartment complexes near the old airport, such toy objects may not be able to cover such long distances to reach where the toy helicopter fell.

The CISF officials admit that this is not a normal toy but is powered by improved technology. Therefore, many believe that someone would have flown the object from inside the airport. More than the object itself, this incident is being projected as a challenge posed to the security system at the airport.

As the place where the toy was found does not have proper lighting the police have asked the authorities to arrange for proper lighting and CCTV cameras around the entire airport area. This will enable the concerned to detect if some object flies into the airport area. They also want a better beat system at the airport, sources said.

30/12/20 Daijiworld

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Lack of infrastructure: SpiceJet unable to use seaplanes for Andaman and Nicobar routes

Low-cost carrier SpiceJet on December 28 expressed its inability to use amphibian planes for Andaman and Nicobar routes, sources told CNBC-TV18.

The airline, led by CMD Ajay Singh, has requested the Airport Authority of India to set up the infrastructure for water-to-water flight operations. The AAI, which has planned for a water aerodrome at Port Blair, has not set up the infrastructure for the purpose as of yet.

To set up a water aerodrome, approvals from various authorities, including the ministries of defence, home, environment and forests, and shipping are required. The water aerodrome licence would be valid for two years.

The rule says that a formal application has to be submitted at least 90 days before the date of intended operations. Apart from this, the water aerodrome cannot be used for scheduled air transport services unless there is a licence.

In October 2019, SpiceJet had laid out plans to purchase over 100 amphibian planes that were estimated to cost $400 million. Following this, the budget carrier also inked an agreement with the Japanese seaplane manufacturer, Setouchi Holdings. Also, the firm approached the Odisha government evincing interest to operate amphibian planes from the Chilika Lake.

28/12/20 Moneycontrol.com

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Maldivian seaplane lands in Minicoy, a historic first

A seaplane of the country's national carrier, Maldivian, landed in Minicoy island as part of Spice Jet's efforts to establish a seaplane travel service in neighbouring India.

Maldivian Aero revealed via twitter that one of its seaplanes had travelled to Maliku islands as part of a chartered flight to Ahmedabad on Monday.

Noting that this was a historic moment, Maldivian Aero said that this is the first record of a local airline making a trip to Minicoy.

Maldivian Aero also revealed that Spice Jet had chartered their seaplane for the duration of one month, and that six of their seaplane crew had also travelled to India onboard the flight.

India launched its first seaplane operations with assistance from Maldives' national carrier, back in October.

Mohamed Rizvee, Managing Director of Island Aviation Pvt. Ltd., which runs Maldivian Aero, said that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi choosing to charter a Maldivian seaplane for special diplomatic trips was exclusive proof of the deep mutual respect between the two countries.

Rizvee also highlighted that aside from these charters by Spice Jet, Maldivian had committed technical and logistics assistance in establishing seaplane services in India and that relevant parties were already meeting to host discussions and share their expertise.

29/12/20 K Male/Raajje.mv

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Come January, fly from Adampur to Delhi every day

Jalandhar: SpiceJet has reportedly announced to operate the Adampur-Delhi flight throughout the week from the next month. Till now, the flight used to operate for three days (Friday, Saturday and Sunday) in a week. The new development in the flight’s schedule will come as a relief to area residents, who prefer to travel to the national capital by air. While there is only one flight for the route, no changes have been made in the time table of the flight.

The 90-seater SpiceJet flight was resumed for regular travel last month after a gap of six months. As per the information, the booking for the Delhi-Adampur-Delhi route would be opened shortly. Owing to cold weather and fog, the Delhi-bound flight was also cancelled for five days last week and it was arriving late here.

As the flight services to Mumbai have also resumed, the Mumbai-bound flight arrived late at Adampur airport by three hours. Usually, the flight leaves Mumbai Airport at 6.40 am and lands at Adampur airport at 10 am, however, on Sunday, the flight took off at 9.32 am from Mumbai and reached Adampur airport around 12.30 pm.

28/12/20 Tribune

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Dense fog disrupts flight operations in Jammu

Jammu: Four flights to and from the Jammu airport were cancelled and seven more delayed as dense fog engulfed the region on Tuesday, a day after high-altitude areas, including the Vaishno Devi shrine, received the season's first heavy snowfall, officials said.

Jammu Airport Director Pravat Ranjan Beuria said flight operations were yet to begin due to "poor visibility" caused by foggy conditions.

"Four morning flights -- three scheduled to operate on Srinagar-Jammu-Srinagar route and one on Jammu-Srinagar-Jammu -- have been cancelled, while seven other flights are delayed," Beuria told PTI.

He said visibility was zero at the airport at 9 am, and it improved to 500 metres at 1 pm.

"We are waiting for the visibility to improve to the required level (1,000 to 1,200 metres) to restart the flight operations," the director said.

Normal life was been hit across the Jammu plains by the dense fog and chilly weather, the officials said.

The fog cleared in most parts by noon, providing some sort of relief to the people, they added.

29/12/20 Tribune

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Govt plans to turn Goa into logistics hub of India: Prabhu

Vasco: Stating that part of the G-20 Summit will be held in Goa, former union minister for railways Suresh Prabhu on Monday said the government plans to turn the State into a logistics hub of India. 

Speaking to reporters at the Dabolim Airport, Prabhu said he will be meeting Chief Minister Dr Pramod Sawant and some delegations to discuss the issues pertaining to mining, fisheries, tourism etc. 

“I am going to request the Chief Minister of Goa to pursue the programme which was started sometime back to make Goa a logistics hub". 

Prabhu said, “Goa needs something "Green" which will not damage its environment and at the same time the State needs something that can create jobs and a logistic hub has the potential to create employment without damaging the environment. I will request the Chief Minister to do that.” 

He said, “An NGO in the Konkan area has made over a lakh women self-employed. We are planning to undertake similar activities in Goa too.”

29/12/20 Herald

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As Bokaro airport nears completion, AAI asks BSL to clear decks for flight ops

Bokaro: The Airports Authority of India (AAI) on Monday directed Bokaro Steel Plant (BSL) — which owns and maintains Bokaro airport — to initiate the process for obtaining an aerodrome license from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) in order to commence commercial flight operations from March since AAI’s ongoing developmental work at the airport is expected to be done by then, officials said on Monday. As per DGCA rules, if flight operations are to begin from March, then the application for obtaining an aerodrome license needs to be submitted at least three months in advance.

Nearly 90% of AAI’s work in the airport is done and the rest is expected to be completed by March next year. On Monday, AAI’s Ranchi officials and BSL’s aviation department in-charge Laxmi Das, among others, held a meeting in the state capital to discuss on expediting the remaining construction work. Ranchi airport director Vinod Sharma, who was also part of the meeting, said, “The only tasks remaining now are constructing a boundary wall and cutting trees, which are already underway.” He added, “The work was delayed owing to the Covid-induced lockdown, otherwise the airport would have been ready by this December. We were already in the process of constructing the boundary wall and the forest department had even started felling the trees when the pandemic struck.”

29/12/20 Times of India

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J’suguda airport now has ILS

The Instrumental Landing System (ILS) has been completed at the VSS Airport here after three years. The base work, house and other construction works had been undertaken last year.

During the lockdown period, the ILS had come from Delhi by a trawler. The engineers from Delhi took up the installation work of the ILS. On completion of the ILS, on Sunday, a plane of the Airport Authority of India had done trial run, flight in sky  and landing formalities.

On necessary approval by DGCA, flights can take up and land in opposite weather conditions in Jharsuguda airport with the help of ILS. The approval may take at least two months, said  Director of the Airport Kishore Kumar Senapati. This ILS has been procured from overseas and  established in the Airport at a cost of Rs 26 crore.

Earlier, the planes could not land or take off in the airport in simple fog or rain due to non-availability of ILS in Jharsuguda airport. Hence, many flights were cancelled  or diverted to Bhubaneswar or Kolkata for landing leaving the passengers in great trouble. The setting up of the ILS within only 3 years of opening of VSS Airport is a matter of pride for airport, said Senapati.

29/12/20 Raj Kumar Sharma/Daily Pioneer

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Mangaluru: Security breach? Toy helicopter lands inside airport compound

Mangaluru: The airport areas are beyond the limits for videography, photography and flying objects. The airport here has a multi-layered security system to ensure this. However, at around midnight on Saturday, an object got airborne, flew into the airport territory and suddenly landed near the old runway. This incident gave rise to tense moments in the airport for some time.

In February this year, some drone-mounted cameras had flown around the MRPL economic zone area without permission. Now, there was apprehension in the air as a person named Aditya Rao had planted a live bomb near the main gate of the airport sometime back. This had exposed lapses in the security at the airport.

The Central Industrial Security Force personnel carefully approached the thing and prima facie it looked like a toy helicopter that can be controlled with a remote. It is surprising that the children were playing at midnight under dark conditions. The airport officials have filed complaint at Bajpe police station.

The theory the officials put forth is that the toy, as per enquires made, came from the direction of houses and residential complexes located near the old airport. But how can the toy helicopter fly such a long distance is a question that remains unanswered.

29/12/20 daijiworld

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Taluka for proposed Pune int’l airport termed ‘critical’ after 91% groundwater found extracted

Pune: Groundwater extraction at some villages in Purandar taluka of Pune district, which has been designated for the proposed Pune international airport, has reached ‘critical’ levels. Some villages here have been termed ‘unfit’ for further groundwater extraction, a report released by the Groundwater Survey and Development Agency (GSDA) has stated.

The GSDA has prepared hydrogeological reports under the Atal Bhujal Yojana for select districts and talukas of Maharashtra. Also known as Atal Jal, this Rs 6,000 crore scheme is partly funded by the World Bank.

The scheme was implemented last year in Maharashtra, Gujarat, Karnataka, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh. These states were chosen in the pilot phase after it was found that the groundwater table in these states were fast depleting in recent years. Atal Jal will be implemented over the next five years and is expected to benefit about 8,350 gram panchayats in 78 districts across India.

The GSDA has studied Indapur, Baramati and Purandar talukas from Pune district. These three talukas are among the most water stressed regions in western Maharashtra and were selected for special monitoring on the basis of their past groundwater extraction viz-a-viz the annual rainfall, cropping and irrigation pattern and natural geography.

While Baramati and Indapur talukas remain under the ‘semi-critical’ category, Purandar has already extracted about 91 per cent of its total extractable groundwater. This leaves the taluka with only 1,946.14 hectare metre of groundwater remaining for its future use. Purandar is also where the proposed international airport for Pune is proposed to come up, a site survey for which is currently underway.

28/12/20 Anjali Marar/Indian Express

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Chennai: Airport employee, passenger from Dubai held for gold smuggling

 Chennai: A software engineer working at the Chennai airport and a passenger who arrived from Dubai were apprehended on Monday for allegedly smuggling gold bars worth Rs 1.5 crore, the CISF said.

They said the security personnel found that the passenger, Niyamatullah Hadi, was behaving in a suspicious manner as he entered a bathroom located in the airport terminal soon after 8 AM.

The passenger had landed from Dubai on an Emirates flight.

Security personnel intercepted Nizhal Ravi, a software engineer working with a company called Infosoft Digital Design & Services Pvt Ltd at the airport, after he exited the washroom "in a doubtful manner", the CISF said in a statement.

Two gold bars weighing 3.2 kgs, taped onto the waist, were recovered from the employee when he was frisked, they said.

He told the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) personnel that the gold was "handed over to him" by the passenger who arrived from Dubai. 

The passenger (Hadi) was soon identified after CCTV footage was scanned, it said.

28/12/20 PTI/Outlook

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Next Round of Airport Privatisation to Begin in 1st Quarter of 2021: AAI Chairman

New Delhi: The next round of airport privatisation will be beginning in the first quarter of 2021 after all government approvals are received, said Airports Authority of India (AAI) Chairman as quoted by news agency PTI. Also Read - Alia Bhatt Says 'Don’t Kill My Vibe' in a Green Joggers, Bomber Jacket And Bustier Worth Rs 16K

Addressing a media briefing, AAI Chairman Arvind Singh said that the government is planning to hold the next round of privatisation of airports in the first half of 2021. “As far as the next round of airports’ privatisation is concerned, we are at the final stages of obtaining government approvals. Once the approvals are received, I think we will start the process of bidding in the first quarter of 2021,” he said. 

Earlier in September, the AAI had recommended the Centre to privatise airports at Amritsar, Varanasi, Bhubaneswar, Indore, Raipur and Trichy. 

In the first round of airports’ privatisation under the Narendra Modi government, the Adani Group in February bagged contracts for six airports — Lucknow, Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Mangaluru, Thiruvananthapuram, and Guwahati — winning the bids by huge margins.

After signing the concession agreements for three airports — Lucknow, Ahmedabad and Mangaluru — the AAI handed them over to the Adani group earlier this year.

29/12/20 India.com

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AAI to hand over Jaipur, Guwahati & Thiruvananthapuram airports to Adani Group in January

New Delhi: The Airports Authority of India (AAI) will hand over Jaipur, Guwahati and Thiruvananthapuram airports to the Adani Group next month.

Apart from the above three, the group had won bids to operate three more AAI airports including Mangaluru, Lucknow and Ahmedabad for 50 years on PPP basis. While it has taken over Mangaluru, Lucknow and Ahmedabad, AAI will hand over the other three airports by mid-January.

The Union government's decision to run Thiruvananthapuram airport PPP way had been challenged legally. "That decision has come in our favour as the process was done in a very open and transparent manner. The security clearance has also come for (handing over the remaining three airports to Adani Group)," aviation secretary P S Kharola said on Tuesday.

AAI chairman Arvind Singh said: "The process will be completed by mid January. We are now working on operating six more airports the PPP way."

The Adani Group is soon going to take over Mumbai International Airport Ltd (MIAL), and the upcoming Navi Mumbai Airport, where it is acquiring a controlling stake from outgoing promoter GVK Group.

With seven functional airports and a greenfield one (at Navi Mumbai) under its belt, the Adani Group will be the biggest private airport operator in India in terms of number of airports handled.

29/12/20 Saurabh Sinha/Times of India

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Chartered flights avoid Mumbai airport to bypass Maha govt's COVID-19 quarantine rules

The chartered flights coming from abroad are packed with foreigners arriving for X-mas and New Year holidays, but they are avoiding Mumbai and disembarking at airports in other states to evade the mandatory quarantine conditions imposed by the Maharashtra government.

The travel agencies which are handling the Indian leg of their travel plans say they are flooded with requests by chartered flight operators seeking connecting domestic flights for their passengers who wanted to reach Mumbai.

The top destinations of these chartered flights are Goa, Dubai and Maldives.

In light of the new coronavirus disease (COVID-19) strain that has been detected in the United Kingdom (UK), the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maharashtra state government has issued an order to include Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for international passengers arriving from Europe, South Africa, and the Middle East.

According to the new order, asymptomatic passengers who have arrived in the aforementioned flights will not be required to immediately undergo an RT-PCR test. Instead, they will now be taken to a "paid institutional quarantine facility (hotel)".

However, RT-PCR test will be conducted between the fifth to the seventh day at the hotels, the cost of which will have to be borne by the quarantined passengers, the order states.

These include mandatory 15 days institutional quarantine for passengers coming in from Europe and Middle East. Passengers coming from other international destinations other than Europe and the Middle East will have to undergo home quarantine.

28/12/20 FreePressJournal

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India Coronavirus Dispatch: Delhi airport prepares for vaccine rollout

New Delhi: As India inches closer towards an unprecedented vaccine rollout, the spotlight now turns to the airports that will play a critical role in the storage and distribution of the inoculants. This report in The Quint provides a glimpse into the preparations underway at the Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi, the country's largest.

The big questions are if the cargo terminal has enough storage capacity and how is the airport planning to handle the temperature requirements for the vaccine? The cargo terminal can handle 1.5 lakh million ton of cargo a year. The terminals are likely to function 24*7. Both of Delhi's cargo terminals have set up temperature-controlled zones and cool chambers. 'Cool Dollies' will be at play to ensure that temperature remains intact as the vaccines go from terminal to aircraft and vice-versa, according to the report.

A new study has found that known Covid-19 risk factors are not expected to have a significant impact on mortality rates in a lower-middle-income country like India, compared to a higher income country such as the UK, according to a report in ThePrint.

The study was published in BMJ journal and carried out by researchers from Stanford University, Johns Hopkins University, Dartmouth College, among others. Respiratory disease and high "uncontrolled diabetes" are risk factors that make Covid mortality worse in India, but low rates of other diseases, especially obesity, make up the difference in the UK, according to the study.

“Known Covid-19 health risk factors are not expected to have a large effect on mortality or its age distribution in India relative to England. The high share of Covid-19 deaths from people under age 60 in low and middle-income countries (LMICs) remains unexplained,” the study said. 

28/12/20 Bharath Manjesh/Business Standard

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No flights - Many people from coastal Karnataka stranded abroad

Mangaluru: A number of people from the twin districts of Dakshina Kannada and Udupi are stranded at various points abroad as international flight services have been suspended due to the scare created by the new strain of coronavirus. At present, flights to Dubai, Qatar and Bahrain are operational. Therefore Kannadigas from Saudi Arabia and other countries are finding it impossible to return to their hometowns even if there is an emergency.

Speaking to a Kannada daily, former vice president of NRI Forum Karnataka, Arathi Krishna, said that she has information about a number of people who are finding it hard either to go to India or to return to their work because of absence flights to Saudi Arabia and other countries.

Flights to Saudi Arabia had been suspended a few weeks ago. People holding work visas were in the past, travelling to UAE, complete 14 days quarantine there and then travel to Saudi Arabia. Many therefore are compelled to stay put in the UAE hotels awaiting resumption of flights to Saudi, said Hidayat Addoor, convener of Kannadigas Federation.

At present, Air India flights to Dubai operate on a daily basis under the 'Vande Bharat' initiative from Mangaluru while SpiceJet and Indigo too have flights to Dubai on certain days. However, in the light of the recent developments, there is apprehension that these flights also might get suspended anytime now.

29/12/20 daijiworld

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Flying to US and Canada becomes expensive for Chennai passengers

Chenaai: Flying to the US and Canada has become expensive as passengers from Chennai have to transit via Dubai or Abu Dhabi, the only two international hubs that are operating flights after flights were suspended to Europe and to the UK.

As options are fewer, fares are up by almost 50%. Travellers are forced to shell out close to Rs 1 lakh for oneway tickets from Chennai because choice of flights is fewer. The ticket cost is usually around Rs50,000 to 65,000.

Passengers from Chennai have to depend on flights via Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Doha for economical tickets with a good baggage allowance. However, these routes from Chennai to the Middle East are full because of travellers heading to Dubai and Abu Dhabi for the New Year weekend.

Basheer Ahmed, of Travel Agents Federation of India (TAFI), said: “The only option is to fly via Delhi by direct flights operated by Air India. But the number of seats is fewer on these flights. This is causing inconvenience to the passengers who are headed to the US before New Year.”

He also said that airlines like Emirates have reduced the frequency after the ban of flights to Europe and the UK. “The airlines have cancelled a few flights from December 29 onwards. This is also a reason for reduction in the number of seats from Chennai to the Middle East and onwards towards the US or Canada.”

Though demand for travel is high, the airlines are not able to accommodate all passengers on the flights. “The airlines are using big planes but they carry only around 60 passengers per flight. This is a drawback. This also leads to a hike in air fare,” he added.

The Air India flights from Delhi may not be able to handle the demand from other cities of the country. Nevertheless, passengers can fly down by Hong Kong also.

28/12/20 Times of India

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New international flight from KIA to Dubai

While 2020 turned one of the worst years for civil aviation, there is something to cheer about. From Sunday, a new international airline will be operated to the Kempegowda International Airport (KIA), making it one of the first to start services in the Covdi-19 era.

Flydubai, the UAE government-owned budget carrier, has started daily flights services between Dubai and Bengaluru. The inaugural flight took off from the Dubai International Airport at 7 am and arrived at KIA at 12.30 pm, on return the flight left Bengaluru at 1.30 pm. Flight services between India and Dubai, like with other nations, were suspended since March 23, however, from July onwards, India has been allowing flight operations between the two countries under the air bubble arrangement. Among the air bubble flights, India operated the maximum number of flights to the UAE.

Apart from that, Dubai is also the most travelled destination from Bengaluru. Before shutting down of the international flights in March, data shows that passengers from Bengaluru travelled to UAE more than any other country.

In 2020, many new airlines and new routes were scheduled to commence services on the international sector, however, they were delayed or postponed due to the ongoing pandemic. Among them were the daily flights between Bengaluru and Narita (Tokyo) scheduled to commence on March 29, along with direct flights between Bengaluru-Munich and between Bengaluru and Seattle, operated by Lufthansa and American Airlinesrespectively. All three have been postponed to next year.

28/12/20 Hemanth CS/Bangalore Mirror

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Mumbai-Dubai, Delhi-Dubai now among busiest international routes

Mumbai: Mumbai-Dubai and Delhi-Dubai have now emerged among the busiest international routes in the pandemic world. According to the UK-based air consultancy firm OAG, Delhi-Dubai is the fifth and Mumbai-Dubai 10th busiest air route this month in terms of seat capacity deployment by airlines operating on various routes.

The busiest international route is Dubai-London Heathrow (1.7 lakh seats) followed by Orlando-San Juan (1.6 lakh seats) and Cairo-Jeddah (1.4 lakh). Delhi-Dubai has 1.1 lakh and Mumbai-Dubai over a lakh seats this month, according to OAG.

While scheduled international flights remain suspended, foreign travel by eligible categories of people is currently happening to and from countries with which India has created air bubbles and on Vande Bharat Mission flights.

Domestic air traffic, on the other hand, is reviving steadily albeit with the pandemic leading to new travel trends. Christmas saw a higher number of domestic flyers at over 2.5 lakh, since scheduled flights within the country were allowed to resume on May 25.

In a statement, online travel firm Cleartrip said: "The uncertainty caused by the pandemic has resulted in travellers preferring to book their travel close to the travel date. In (pre-pandemic) January-March, 51% of the trips were booked within two weeks of the travel date. However, trips booked within two weeks before travel increased to about 81% in April-September. We have seen this trend reverse to an extent in Q4 (67%)."

Similarly, in January-March, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Goa, Kolkata and Hyderabad as the top booked cities by travellers from Delhi. The lockdown months of April-June saw Patna at the top spot followed by Kolkata, Srinagar, Ranchi and Bengaluru. This trend was due to people returning to their home cities once domestic air travel was allowed to resume, Cleartrip data shows.In July-September, the top five cities booked to travel to from Delhi were: Mumbai, Patna, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Kolkata. And in October-December, the five cities were: Mumbai, Goa, Bengaluru, Patna and Kolkata.

28/12/20 Times of India

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No infra at Pune airport to store vaccine: Bapat

Pune: MP Girish Bapat, who heads the city airport advisory committee, has said that Airports Authority of India (AAI) will not be creating its own vaccine storage facility at the airport but private parties willing to set up such a facility can approach the AAI.

“Last week, I sent a reminder letter to senior AAI officials and the ministry of defence (MoD) requesting them to act fast and initiate the land transfer process. As far as building infrastructure to store the vaccine being developed by Pune-based Serum Institute of India is concerned, the AAI will not do that. However, if any private organization wants to have a vaccine storage facility at the airport, they can approach the AAI and enter into a deal to create proper infrastructure,” Bapat told TOI.

Serum Institute of India (SII) has entered into a partnership with AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford to manufacture the Covishield vaccine.

Explaining further, Bapat said that the authorities have been trying to shift the existing cargo facility since a year. “Shifting the cargo hold area is important as the existing building near the airport arrival area has to be dismantled for the construction of the new terminal building. The new place will help many businessmen as well as the SII or they would use either the Mumbai or Hyderabad airports,” Bapat added.

28/12/20 Joy Sengupta/Times of India

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Passenger from Kolkata reaches Andaman without RT-PCR negative test report; Sent back from Airport

Port Blair: A passenger from Kolkata reached Veer Savarkar International Airport Sunday morning in Air India flight, without a negative RT-PCR test report, following which he was sent back to Kolkata and was not allowed to enter Andaman, following precaution being taken by the Andaman and Nicobar Administration from the new variant of COVID-19 virus. 

Taking advance precaution against from the new variant of COVID-19, Andaman and Nicobar Administration has already made it mandatory for all incoming passengers arriving at Veer Savarkar International Airport of Port Blair to mandatorily carry RT-PCR negative test report issued from a ICMR recognized lab, from 26th December 2020 onwards. 

 As per the new guideline the RT-PCR test should have been taken by every incoming passenger within 48 hours prior to commencement of the journey. “The decision was taken after consultation of all stakeholders in Andaman and even airlines staffs. We had issued necessary directions on 24 December 2020 giving almost 48 hours prior notice and hence the guidelines must be followed by all incoming passengers, to avoid any inconvenience in future,” 

 Mr. Suneel Anchipaka, the Deputy Commissioner of South Andaman told UNI Sunday. He added that such steps are necessary to make Andaman and Nicobar Islands COVID-19 free and once this happens there would not no requirement for conducting frequent Rapid Antigen Test tests locally for people before travelling from one place to another.

27/12/20 UNI 

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Direct flight between Dimapur and Delhi takes off

Dimapur: Seamless connectivity between Nagaland and New Delhi became a reality on December 26 with the arrival of first direct flight to Dimapur Airport from New Delhi. 

The Indigo 6E 2433 arriving from Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGI) with 149 passengers on board was welcomed with traditional water cannon salutes by spraying arcs of water over the flight.

“Very good response to the newly introduced flight,” the Dimapur Airport Director Mughavi Zhimo informed The Morung Express.

The arrival flight had 149 passengers while 139 were on board the departing flight 6E 2434 from Dimapur, he added. 

The ribbon cutting for the Dimapur-New Delhi flight was performed by first reporting passenger at Dimapur Airport. 

Earlier, The Morung Express had reported that Nagaland’s sole airport in Dimapur is all set to get non-stop connectivity with the national capital, courtesy of Indigo Airlines, starting December 26. 

27/12/20 Morung Express

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One More Mysuru-Hyderabad Daily Flight From Tomorrow

Mysore/Mysuru: Here is some good news for people moving from Mysuru to Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. Indigo Airlines will recommence their earlier route of Mysuru-Hyderabad from Dec. 28 (tomorrow). 

The flight will be launched under Ude Desh ka Aam Naagrik (UDAN) Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS) of the Narendra Modi Government.

The Indigo flight that will begin tomorrow is in addition to the existing Alliance Air, a fully owned subsidiary of Air India that is operating daily flights to the City of Pearls. 

The Indigo flight too will operate daily between Mysuru and Hyderabad. Flight No. 6E7955 will depart Hyderabad at 8.35 am and arrive at Mysore Airport in Mandakalli at 10.25 am. In the return direction, Flight No. 6E7956 will leave Mysuru at 10.50 am and reach Hyderabad at 12.50 pm. 

The existing Alliance Air is operating Flight No. AI 9881 that leaves Hyderabad at 2.35 pm and arrives in Mysuru at 3.30 pm.

In the return journey, AI 9882 leaves Mysuru at 8 pm and arrives at Hyderabad at 10 pm. 

27/12/20 Star of Mysore

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RT-PCR test report mandatory for passengers at Mangaluru International Airport

Mangaluru: The health department in Dakshina Kannada has made RT-PCR test mandatory for all passengers arriving at the Mangaluru International Airport (MIA) and the New Mangalore Port (NMP).

District health and family welfare officer Dr Ramachandra Bairy said a decision to make tests mandatory for all passengers at the MIA and NMP was taken as a precaution against spread of coronavirus variants in the second wave. “All passengers arriving at the MIA and the NMP should produce Covid-19 negative certificates obtained about 72 hours prior to their arrival. If a passenger does not possess a valid Covid-19 negative certificate, he/she will have to undergo RT-PCR test at the MIA, where a test centre has been opened. Such passengers should remain in home quarantine till they receive a negative report,” the DHO said and requested all passengers to cooperate with the government to prevent the possibilities of a second wave of virus infection.

27/12/20 Vinobha KT/Times of India

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UK-returnee from Nashik tests positive for Covid-19

Nashik: A 25-year-old resident of Nashik city, who had tested negative at the Mumbai airport after returning from the United Kingdom on December 13, has now tested positive for Covid-19.

Avesh Palod, the nodal officer of the Nashik Municipal Corporation (NMC), said: “The RT-PCR test result of the UK returnee came back positive on Saturday. However, it is not clear whether he was infected before his return to India or after, as the test conducted at the Mumbai airport was negative.”

The man has been under home quarantine as per the standard protocol. On Wednesday, his mother was tested for Covid-19 as she was feeling uneasy and the report on Friday found her Covid-19 positive. The woman was admitted to a private hospital and the Covid-19 test of the UK returnee was also conducted again as he fell in the high-risk category (HRC). His test reports came on Saturday.

“I have asked the private hospital concerned to ensure separate wards for both the mother and the son. Their swab samples have been sent to the Pune-based National Institute of Virology (NIV) for further tests,” said Palod.

NIV-Pune will figure out if the infection has traces of the new strain of the virus that has been reported in the UK.

“It is not clear as to who was infected first — the mother or the son. The tests could throw some light on the same. It is possible that the mother got the infected first and passed it on to the son or the vice-versa,” the officer said.

27/12/20 ABhilash Botekar/Times of India

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Anti-hijack mock drill conducted

Amritsar: In an effort to test the efficacy of contingency plans and procedures to deal with hijacking threats, an anti-hijack mock drill was conducted at Sri Guru Ram Dass Jee International Airport recently.

In the course of the exercise, a mock situation was created, which involved actions by various agencies like the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), the Airports Authority of India (AAI) and other state government agencies. Upon completion of the exercise, a de-briefing was held and the standard operating procedures were revalidated.

VK Seth, Director of the airport, said: “The anti-hijack mock drill is conducted at every Indian airport annually as mandated by the national civil aviation security programme to test the efficiency of the airport’s contingency plan and to familiarise all agencies about their respective responsibilities in a hijack situation.”

26/12/20 Tribune

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14 UK returnees to Karnataka test Covid positive, samples sent to NIMHANS

Karnataka Health Minister K Sudhakar on Saturday said 14 people who have come to the state from the UK so far have tested positive for COVID-19 and their samples have been sent for genetic sequencing to find whether it is a new strain of virus that has infected them.

"A total of 2,500 people have come (from the UK), of them 1,638 have been tested. According to information I received last night 14 of them have tested positive. All the 14 (samples) have been sent to NIMHANS for (genetic sequencing)," he said.

Speaking to reporters here, he said, the Central government has notified ten designated labs in the country for genetic sequencing, out of them two are in Bengaluru- NIMHANS and National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS).

"The 14 samples are undergoing genetic squening. The second variant of virus in the UK is said to have undergone 17 mutations, the genetic sequencing will test in detail about mutations, which may require 48 hours, probably it (report) will come tomorrow," he said.

A total of 2,500 people have come to the state from the UK from November 25 till December 22 in two flights-Air India and British Airways- that operate, and efforts were on to trace, monitor their health and subject them to tests.

The Minister however, said information regarding the genetic sequencing test reports as per the Prime Minister's Office message will be sent to Indian Council of Medical Research which is likely to share the information to the public in a day or two.

26/12/20 PTI/Business Standard

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Mumbai-Gaya flight becomes operational

Gaya: The Mumbai-Gaya inaugural flight of IndiGo airlines, Airbus 320 landed at the runway of Gaya airport at 12.28 pm on Friday. Gaya airport director (APD) Dilip Kumar said, “The inaugural flight had 62 passengers on board, who flew to Gaya from Mumbai. On return, the Gaya-Mumbai flight had 160 passengers on board, who flew to Mumbai from Gaya.”

On arrival, the passengers were given water salute. In this welcoming ritual, also known as a shower of affection, two fire engines parked on either side of the runway use their water cannons to create a giant arc above a plane as it taxies to its gate.

The airport director along with Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) deputy commandant BK Singh and IndiGo Gaya airport station manager Quresh Husain inaugurated the check-in process of the passengers. The direct flight service connecting Gaya and Mumbai will operate four days a week—i.e. Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday.

26/12/20 Times of India

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Traveller from UK tests +ve at Guwahati airport, isolated

Guwahati: Assam health minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Friday said one traveller from the United Kingdom (UK) has tested positive for Covid-19 and was isolated at the airport here.

However, Sarma clarified that there is no cause for panic simply on speculations that the person might be infected with the new mutant variety of the novel coronavirus.

“An alert has been raised in India after a new variant of Covid-19 was reported in the UK. A person, who returned from Britain, was found positive on arrival here. The sample of the patient has been sent to National Institute of Virology in Pune for verification,” Sarma said.

He added, “The person has been isolated immediately so that there is no spread of the virus. We are waiting for the confirmatory report from Pune as to whether the person is infected with the new variety of the virus.”

Asking people to not pay heed to rumours, the health minister said, “Speculations will not only put pressure on the person’s family, but will also create unnecessary fear in the minds of the people. We do not want that at this moment when we have decided to resume normal life from January 1.”

When asked as to whether there would be any further lockdowns in view of this new variety of the virus, the minister categorically ruled it out.

26/12/20 Prabin Kalita/Times of India

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489 Passengers Out of 970 Quarantined at Mumbai International Airport Amid Alarm Over New UK Virus Strain

As many as 970 passengers landed at the Mumbai international airport from different parts of the world including Europe and the Middle-East on Friday, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) said. Of them, 489 were quarantined in the city.

The passengers arrived by eight international flights during the day. Since the detection of a new variant of coronavirus in the UK, institutional quarantine has been made mandatory for all arrivals from Europe and the Middle-East.

Three out of eight flights arrived from Europe and Middle East countries, carrying a total of 120 passengers. Of them, 32 were kept in institutional quarantine in Mumbai. Six passengers were exempted, said municipal commissioner Iqbal Singh Chahal.

"Two people were above 80 years of age, two were pregnant ladies and two others were exempted on account of medical emergency," he said. The rest were allowed to travel to other states. Flights from the UK have already been suspended.

26/12/20 PTI/News18.com

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AAI seeks 2.5 acres in Pune; airports and airlines prepare to be hubs for vaccine distribution

The Airports Authority of India (AAI) is close to finalising an arrangement with the Indian Air Force to receive 2.5 acres of land adjacent to Pune airport, to be utilised for the transport of vaccines from the facilities of vaccine manufacturer Serum Institute of India nearby.

“The transfer of the land, which is currently owned by the IAF, to Pune airport has been a longstanding demand of the AAI. They have asked for a land exchange, and AAI has finalised the plan for this,” a senior government official said.

“The airport management is also constantly in discussions with Serum Institute to understand the requirements, because a significant amount of freight is expected to go out from Pune,” the official said.

Pune-based Serum, the world’s largest maker of vaccines by number of doses, has been licensed by Oxford-AstraZeneca to test, manufacture, and distribute its vaccine against the novel coronavirus in India.

As the country moves closer to rolling out its Covid-19 vaccination programme, airports and logistics players are working to ensure it happens seamlessly — by expanding cold chain facilities and setting up computerised trucking slots for more efficient redistribution from airports. Officials said they believed vaccination could begin next month.

While Pune will be one of the hubs for the distribution of domestically-manufactured vaccines, the bulk of the vaccine consignment will be imported through major international airports including Delhi, Mumbai, and Hyderabad. Delhi, the country’s largest aiport, has launched “Project Sanjivani” to equip cargo terminals with special cooling chambers. The airport has the capacity to handle 54 lakh vials of the vaccine a day with two complete rotations.

26/12/20 Pranav Mukul/Indian Express

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Nilgais still posing a threat to operations at Bihar's Darbhanga airport

Patna: Despite earnest efforts, Nilgais (Blue Bulls) are still a threat to the planes operating from Darbhanga airport in Bihar. The district administration has proposed a comprehensive plan to deal with this menace but is yet to implement it.

Darbhanga District Magistrate (DM) Thiyagrajan S.M. told IANS that the "Departments concerned are on the job and the matter will be sorted out soon."

On December 23, a meeting chaired by a Joint Secretary level official of the Civil Aviation Ministry held a virtual meeting in which the Darbhanga DM, Darbhanga Divisional Forest Officer (DFO), Director of Darbhanga Airport and a senior Indian Air Force official had participated. The officials had discussed the action plan to prevent the Nilgais from coming on to the runways and the airport premises.

The forest official explained about tranquilising the Nilgais followed by their relocation to a safer place.

Sources said the Bihar government had allocated Rs 35 lakh for the 'Blue Bulls' project in October this year but required more funds for the purpose.

Darbhanga airport is facing the threat of the Nilgais due to the low height of the boundary wall. At present, the boundary wall is just five feet high and the authorities have proposed to increase it to 12 feet with wire fencing over it.

26/12/20 PTI/India TV

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Nilgais still posing a threat to operations at Bihar’s Darbhanga airport

Patna: Despite earnest efforts, Nilgais (Blue Bulls) are still a threat to the planes operating from Darbhanga airport in Bihar.

The district administration has proposed a comprehensive plan to deal with this menace but is yet to implement it.

Darbhanga District Magistrate (DM) Thiyagrajan S.M. told IANS that the “Departments concerned are on the job and the matter will be sorted out soon.”

On December 23, a meeting chaired by a Joint Secretary level official of the Civil Aviation Ministry held a virtual meeting in which the Darbhanga DM, Darbhanga Divisional Forest Officer (DFO), Director of Darbhanga Airport and a senior Indian Air Force official had participated. The officials had discussed the action plan to prevent the Nilgais from coming on to the runways and the airport premises.

The forest official explained about tranquilising the Nilgais followed by their relocation to a safer place.

Sources said the Bihar government had allocated Rs 35 lakh for the ‘Blue Bulls’ project in October this year but required more funds for the purpose.

Darbhanga airport is facing the threat of the Nilgais due to the low height of the boundary wall. At present, the boundary wall is just five feet high and the authorities have proposed to increase it to 12 feet with wire fencing over it.

The official also pointed out that there is a low-lying area adjoining the airport where water accumulates which needs to be addressed. Overall, the entire process would take about two months.

As a temporary measure, 20 Home Guards have been deployed around the airport to prevent the animals from coming inside the airport premises.

26/12/20 IANS/Telangana Today

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Patronage slowly improving at airports across Karnataka but not even 50% of pre-covid levels

Bengaluru: The Kempegowda International Airport, (KIA) in Bengaluru has recorded nearly 13 lakh flyers, both domestic and international, in November. This is in line with the Month on Month increase in patronage recorded at airports across the country.

Statistics from the Airports Authority of India (AAI) reveal that a total of 1,35,67,808 air passengers flew from airports across the country, which marks a dip of 56.5% over the number that flew in November 2019. However, there is reason for optimism when compared to the previous month (October 2020) figure of 1,11,70,366 flyers as it shows an increase of over 24,000 passengers. 

The figures are expected to show a much better increase in December as the Directorate General of Civil Aviation has permitted airlines to operate upto 80% of their fleet which existed before COVID struck the country. The Festive season is also expected to give a boost to travel. 

The data reveals that Bengaluru had 12,99,444 passengers, an increase of nearly 1.5 lakh as compared to 11,46,474 passengers the previous month. However, when compared to the corresponding period last year, it has gone down by 55.1%. In November 2019, KIA had 28,93,291 people flying out of it. 

All the 7 airports across Karnataka have shown a minor growth over the previous month. Of them, Hubballi and Mangaluru airports stand out as they have a 50% improvement (see box). Mangaluru International airport recorded 78,484 passengers in November as compared to 53,566 in October while Hubballi had 13,702 passengers compared to 8,615 last month.

Belagavi airport is the only one of all the airports that is set to near its pre-COVID level passengers, reveals AAI figures. It had 29,568 passengers in November this year, compared to 29,640 flyers in November last year.   

25/12/20 S Lalitha/New Indian Express

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Fog delays 12 flights at Patna airport

Patna: About 12 flights were delayed because of low visibility caused by fog at the Jayaprakash Narayan International Airport here on Thursday, making hundreds of flyers jittery as they remained stuck at the overcrowded terminal building for up to two hours.

The flight operations were disrupted due to poor visibility between 7.35am and 9.30am. The first flight of SpiceJet from Ahmedabad (SG-8719) arrived at 9.30am, instead of its scheduled time of 7.35am. The delay of morning flights impacted other flights in the afternoon as well.

The SpiceJet flight (SG- 8722) between Patna and Delhi was delayed by more than two-and-a-half hours due to poor visibility at Delhi airport. Around six flights were delayed for more than an hour, including four of SpiceJet and one each of IndiGo and GoAir, as per the information provided by the officials at Patna airport.

“All morning flights were delayed due to poor visibility. It led to consequential delays which resulted in bunching of flights in afternoon and evening,” an airport official said.

25/12/20 Faryal Rumi/Times of India

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Nitish Kumar Appeals Aviation Ministry to Enable Night Operations at Darbhanga Airport

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has appealed to Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri to enable night operations at the newly-opened Darbhanga airport. Darbhanga airport, which began operations on November 8, does not have facilities for night landing and take-off.

In a letter to Puri, a copy of which is with IANS, Nitish Kumar said that the deficiency bars operations at night as well as during fog in the winter season.

"This problem needs to be addressed on a priority basis by installation of necessary equipment at the airport," he wrote.

Due to low visibility in winter, many flights are either delayed or cancelled or diverted to Patna airport, and many passengers claim that they are not informed in advance.

Ramesh Jha, a resident of adjoining Madhubani district, was one such sufferer.

"I had to take a flight to Delhi a week ago. At the last moment, the flight was diverted to Patna and the airline did not inform me, when I and my wife reached Darbhanga airport," he said.

K.N.P. Sinha, the former president of the Divisional Chamber of Commerce and Industries, Darbhanga, told IANS: "At present, only one airline company (SpiceJet) is operating from the Darbhanga airport. We are also receiving several complaints about the airline not informing passengers about cancellation or diversions of flights in advance."

"Besides, unavailability of night landing facility, this airport also does not have a parking facility. Darbhanga airport is having area adjoining the Indian Air Force base. The authority has earmarked 31 acres for parking but the land has not been acquired yet. As a result, several passengers have to park their vehicles on the adjoining road to go inside the terminal building," he said.

25/12/20 News18

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Find out which flight services are resuming from Hubballi in January

Hubballi: A series of flights will connect Hubballi with Ahmedabad, Tirupati, Bengaluru, Kochi, Goa, Hyderabad and New Delhi from New Year. Three airlines - Indigo, Star Air and True Jet - will help thousands of passengers get to other cities from Hubballi. 

See details >>

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10 UK Returnees Test COVID-19 Positive In Karnataka: Minister

Bengaluru: Karnataka Health Minister K Sudhakar on Friday said so far 10 people who have come to the state from the UK have tested positive for COVID-19 and their samples have been sent for genetic sequencing to find out whether it is a new strain of virus that has infected them.

"Among the UK returnees according to information I have about 10 people have tested positive, all their samples have been sent to NIMHANS, two to three days are required for genetic sequencing, once that (report) is out we will get to know whether it is the second strain, and accordingly we will follow necessary procedures for treatment," he said.

Speaking to reporters, Mr Sudhakar said, things relating to this second strain were still being studied and according to initial studies the variant of South African origin was more intensive than the one found in the UK.

"Based on the final reports we get, we will take necessary steps. Have trust in the government, before taking any decision we think hundred times. Protecting the health of the people is our main priority," he added.

The Minister had recently said that about 2,500 people have come to the state from the UK from November 25 to December 22 in two flights-Air India and British Airways that operate, and efforts were on to trace, monitor their health and subject them to tests.

25/12/20 PTI/NDTV

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2021: Bangalore’s Impressive Year With Three Airlines Starting US Routes

Bangalore Airport is quickly emerging as a major hub for flights to the US. 2021 will see United, American, and Air India all start routes from Bangalore to the west coast of the US. The new routes will see the airports go from being underserved to becoming a battleground for airlines. Let’s find out more about Bangalore’s impressive 2021 plans.

Commonly known as India’s silicon valley, Bangalore is the country’s bustling IT hub. The city is home to companies like Infosys and Walmart-owned e-commerce giant Flipkart, and hosts research centers for IBM, Oracle, Microsoft, and more. The presence of the growing tech industry makes Bangalore an important market for international travel.

Bangalore is also one of the highest yield markets for airlines in all of South Asia, beating out even Delhi and Mumbai for flights to London (currently the longest route from the city), according to an analysis by Anna.aero. American Airlines also expects high demand for business class seats once its route starts.

When it comes to the US, Bangalore surprisingly has no direct flights at all. This means passengers from the city take connecting flights with carriers like Emirates, Qatar, British Airways, and Lufthansa. However, connecting flights tend to be inconvenient and longer for passengers, making direct flights much more lucrative, especially for business travelers.

It is also notable that all three carriers have started flights from Bangalore to the US’s west coast. This means there will still be no direct flights to New York or Chicago for now. The reason for this is the strong cultural and business links between the regions.

25/12/20 Pranjal Pande/Simpole Flying

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Covid-19 in India: 10 UK passengers in Karnataka test coronavirus positive

Bengaluru: As many as 10 passengers who returned from the UK since November 25 have tested Covid positive so far, Karnataka Health and Family Welfare Minister K. Sudhakar revealed here on Friday.

"According to information I possess, 10 people tested positive, all their samples have been sent to NIMHANS, two to three days are required for genetic sequencing... once that report is out, we will get to know whether it is the second strain, and accordingly we will follow necessary procedures for treatment," he said in response to a question at a press meet.

According to him, details relating to this second strain are still being deliberated and according to initial studies, another strain of this virus discovered in South Africa is far more severe than the one found in the UK.

"We can take action only after we get the reports of these 10 positive patients. As we get (them), we will take necessary steps. I appeal the people to have faith in the government, before taking any decision we think hundred times. Protecting the health of the people is our chief concern," he said.

The Minister had recently said that about 2,500 people have come to the state from UK since November 25 to December 22 in flights operated by Air India and British Airways, and efforts were on to trace, monitor their health and subject them to tests.

Responding to criticism against the government, the minister observed that this is the very government that has achieved a recovery rate of 97.5 per cent, and brought down fatality rate to 1.22 per cent.

"After the new variant was discovered, countries like Britain and Germany have adopted stringent measures like ordering lockdown and latter enforcing curfew. What does this indicate?" he asked.

Sudhakar added that the decision to enforce curfew after 11 p.m. was taken keeping in mind the public interest so as to ensure that normal life is not affected.

25/12/20 IANS/Khaleej Times

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Testing of all international passengers who landed at Chandigarh International Airport since November 25

Mohali: All international passengers who arrived at the Chandigarh International Airport since November 25 would be traced and tested for the Covid-19.

The incoming passengers would be tested and isolated in accordance with the protocol for Covid-19. An SOP has been issued by the government in this regard.

A team has been deputed for tracing and testing all international passengers who have landed at airport (IA) since November 25.

The nodal officer of the team will procure the passenger manifest list from international airlines and furnish it to tracing and medical teams who will identify cases.

AN institutional quarantine facility for suspected patients has been set-up at Gian Sagar Hospital and officers have been deputed to look into places that may be provided as paid institutional quarantine centres for international travellers who wish to isolate in a private establishment.

24/12/20 Gaurav Kanthwal/Tribune

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9 crew members of British Airways flight quarantined in Chennai

Chennai: Amid reports of spread of mutant variant of coronavirus in the United Kingdom, nine crew members of a British Airways cargo flight from London were subjected to coronavirus tests and were sent to quarantine on their arrival at the Anna International airport here today.

Sources said following the spread of the mutant variant of the virus, the Central government has banned all flights to and from London till the end of this year, while allowing cargo flights with special permission.

This morning a British Airways cargo flight landed at the airport and all the nine crew members were subjected to tests and were sent to quarantine facility.

24/12/20 News Today

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8 UK-returned people test COVID positive during Delhi govt''s door-to-door drive

New Delhi: In the ongoing door-to-door contact drive being conducted by the Delhi government to test UK-returned persons for prevalence of COVID-19, eight have so far been found infected with the coronavirus, officials said on Friday.

A total of 19 passengers out of over 13,000 who landed from the UK at the IGI airport here between November 25 and December 21 have been found positive for the virus. 

Eleven were tested positive at the airport while eight others were found positive during the door to door contact and testing drive being carried out in all the districts of the city, said a top Delhi government source.

"All the 19 positive patients have been admitted to the special facility set up at LNJP hospital where they will undergo genome testing to determine whether they are infected by the super spreader strain of the coronavirus that has been reported in United Kingdom," the source said.

So far, one person each in the south east and south west districts of Delhi who returned from the UK in recent weeks were reported positive for the virus. The remaining positive persons were residents of other districts.

A person from Dwarka in south west Delhi who had returned from the UK on December 19 has been diagnosed as COVID-19 positive. The father of that person has also tested positive but he is asymptomatic, an official said.

The whole family has been quarantined in an institutional facility, the official said. In New Delhi district, the UK-returned passengers are being tested through RTPCR tests. No one has tested positive so far, they said.

The door to door contact and monitoring is also underway to keep watch on the persons who returned from the UK in the last few weeks. Among them, those showing even the slightest symptoms are being RTPCR tested, they said.

Out of the over 13,000 passengers who landed  at IGI airport from the UK, around 1400 have been identified as Delhi residents, officials said. The list of passengers provided by the Bureau of Civil Aviation is being sorted and all the Delhi residents who returned from the UK are being contacted, they said.

Delhi Health minister Satyendar Jain said on Wednesday that  tracing and testing of all those who travelled to Delhi from the UK in the past two weeks will be ensured.

“Delhi Government is aware, and all the people who have travelled from the UK to Delhi in the past two weeks will be traced, tested and advised quarantine," he had said in a statement.

25/12/20 PTI/Outlook

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Rs 112.75 crore sanctioned for Vijayawada airport

The state government on Thursday accorded administrative sanction for Rs 112.75 crore to resolve pending issues related to the development and expansion of Gannavaram Airport, near Vijayawada.

While Rs 57.20 crore will be spent on shifting of houses from Buddhavaram, Davajigudem and Allapuram villages affected by airport expansion, Rs 42.94 crore will be used towards payment of annuity. 

The remaining amount will be utilised for reconstruction of RWS water tank, reimbursement of rental payment for 55 displaced houses and other purposes.As per the Gannavaram Airport Development Land Pooling Scheme (Formulation & Implementation) Rules, 2015, the Krishna Collector has issued a notification for an extent of 837.69 acres, including 732.01 acres of patta/private lands, 95.97 acres of government lands and 9.69 acres of assigned lands, under Land Pooling Scheme for expansion of the airport as per the master plan prepared by the Airports Authority of India. 

In order to complete the above proposed land acquisition and other ancillary or incidental tasks, including annuity, structures, trees, drip material, horticulture crops, and R&R among others, the Collector requested for administrative sanction and allocation of budget for an amount of Rs 166.24 crore.

25/12/20 New Indian Express

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Covid-19 positive UK returnee woman manages to reach Andhra from Delhi

A Covid-19 positive woman, who allegedly managed to give the slip to authorities in New Delhi after her arrival from the UK recently and reach Andhra Pradesh by train, has been picked up from Rajamahendravaram and admitted to a hospital along with her son, officials said.

Meanwhile, Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain said the city government will approach airport authorities over a report that two Covid-positive flyers from the UK had slipped out from the airport.

Amid mounting concern over a new strain of the virus detected in UK, the Delhi government on Tuesday had said people who have arrived here recently from that country, are being traced and tested, while an institutional quaran­tine facility was being set up separately for positive cases at the LNJP Hospital.

At a press conference, asked about the report that two passengers from the UK, who had landed at Delhi airport on Tuesday, had further travelled to Punjab and Andhra Pradesh, despite testing positive for COVID-19, Jain said, "I have also read about it in the newspaper today".

"Flight operations and security there is under the airport authorities... But, a person who has tested positive, should not have moved out," Jain said.

Asked about the responsibility of the nodal officer for COVID-19 at the Delhi airport, the health minister said, "We will talk to airport authorities about it".

According to the report, the two UK flyers, who had "slipped out", have been traced and "brought back" to Delhi.

All passengers arriving from the UK are being tested for Covid-19 at the Delhi airport.

"Those found positive are being quarantined in an institutional quarantine facility," Jain said.

Sources said, three persons who returned from the UK, and tested positive, have been brought to LNJP Hospital's separate isolation.

24/12/20 PTI/Business Standard

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Kannur Airport Staffer Fired For Facebook Post Against Kerala Govt & CM; Stands His Ground

KL Ramesh, a staffer at Kannur International Airport Limited, was allegedly dismissed from service for his Facebook post criticising the Kerala government, passing comments about Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, and making provocative statements in the comments section of his post. KIAL MD V Thulasidas has issued a termination order to Ramesh, assistant manager of the Fire and Rescue wing, at Kannur International Airport.

Many Facebook users had raised a complaint against his comments saying that he had insulted the Chief Minister in the post. Republic TV spoke to Ramesh and he stated that he was asked to explain his specific post regarding the Supreme Court Judgment in connection to Padmanabhaswamy Temple.

"I had told the committee that I am a Hindu and from Thiruvananthapuram and the post in question was not in connection to KIAL  and as a citizen have the right to express my views," he said.

He also said the post was not at all connected to KIAL. However, he was told that the Kerala government gives funds to KIAL and that it will affect the company. The inquiry team noted that the explanation on the show cause notice given to him was not satisfactory. Meanwhile, Ramesh alleged that KIAL has sacked him for not turning a blind eye to the way of functioning. He said that he had raised several irregularities in Kannur Airport management and this is the real reason for his sacking.

25/12/20 Aswin Nandakumar/Republic World.com

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216 people who arrived Punjab from UK to be institutionally quarantined

Amritsar: As many as 216 people who arrived here from the UK in a December 22 flight will be institutionally quarantined as they might have come in contact with seven of their fellow passengers and a crew member who tested COVID-19 positive on arrival, health officials said on Thursday.

They are from different places, including Amritsar, and are being taken from their homes to institutional quarantine centres, they said.

The Air India flight from London had arrived at Amritsar’s Sri Guru Ramdas Jee International Airport on Tuesday with 250 passengers and 22 crew members, and eight people tested positive for the coronavirus.

The health officials said all of them had undergone the RT-PCR test on Tuesday and were found negative, except eight, but the step to institutionally quarantine the 216 people has been taken to ensure maximum safety as per Punjab government guidelines.

India has suspended all passenger flights from the UK till December 31 in the wake of the emergence of a rapid-spreading mutated variant of the coronavirus there. Moreover, passengers coming from the UK through flights till Tuesday midnight were tested for COVID-19 on arrival at airports.

Civil Surgeon Dr Ravinder Singh Sethi said on Thursday, “Eight passengers (including a crew member) on their arrival had tested positive for the coronavirus after RT-PCR tests. Later, they were immediately shifted to a private hospital here as per their choice”.

Their samples have been sent for further tests to a Pune laboratory, he said.

“Later the administration found that as many as 216 passengers could have come in contact with the eight positive passengers (including a crew member), and now we have decided to quarantine them institutionally following guidelines from the Punjab government,” he said.

He also said that “10 passengers of the 216 are from Amritsar and they are being taken to quarantine centres from their houses today”.

“They are being sent to a private hotel where they would complete their quarantine period as per the state government’s guidelines,” Sethi said.

24/12/20 Tribune

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5 Coronavirus Positive UK Returnees Flee Delhi Airport; One Traced in Ludhiana, Other in Andhra Pradesh

New Delhi: Amid fears over the new coronavirus strain that has been found in the United Kingdom, the news of five UK returnees, who went untraceable from Delhi airport, has put authorities on alert. 

Reports inform that as many as five COVID-19 positive passengers fled after arriving at the Delhi airport from the UK on December 22, a report by The Indian Express said. The passengers managed to escape despite standard operating procedures (SOPs) issued by the Union Health Ministry for people travelling from the UK. 

According to the report, three of the five passengers were traced and admitted to Lok Nayak hospital in Delhi, while two others -- one who managed to reach Andhra Pradesh and another who had reached Ludhiana in Punjab. According to a report by Moneycontrol, one of the five passengers, a 46-year-old man, managed to leave the Delhi airport unnoticed and reach Ludhiana. He checked himself into a private hospital and two his wife and nephew were also isolated. The report further informs that all the five passengers had arrived in Delhi from London on board an Air India flight and had tested positive on arrival. 

 Earlier in the day, a tweet by ANI said that an Anglo-Indian woman, who had reached Delhi from the UKon December 21 and had tested positive for COVID-19, managed to flee from the isolation centre. The woman fled an isolation centre in Delhi and reached Rajahmundry in Andhra Pradesh by a train. The woman has now been traced and placed under isolation in Rajahmundry, officials said on Thursday.

24/12/20 Latestly

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Chaos At Delhi Airport On-cam As UK Returnees Rage At Authorities Amid New COVID Norms

Just when India was returning to normalcy and improving in reducing the number of daily COVID-19 cases and active cases, the emergence of a new strain of COVID-19 in the United Kingdom seemed to derail the normalcy plans. With the authorities trying to prevent the spread of the new variant said to have easier transmission, chaos has been witnessed at Delhi airport. Videos of passengers getting angry at Delhi airport have surfaced on Twitter.

In one of the videos, one can see passengers shouting at the authorities. Words like ‘let us go’ could be heard in the video. 

The chaos seemed to be over the passengers allegedly being made to wait for hours to get their COVID-19 test report. A Twitter user shared a video from the airport, and expressed displeasure about being made to wait eight hours for the report, though his journey from London to Delhi had taken lesser than that, eight hours.

The Twitter handle of Delhi airport had replied that they were looking into the matter 'regretted the inconvenienced caused.'

Eleven passengers on four flights from the UK were found positive for COVID-19 when tested on arrival at the Delhi airport, said Gauri Agarwal, founder of the Genestrings Diagnostic Center, on Wednesday, as per a report on PTI>

Genestrings is handling coronavirus testing of all passengers at the Delhi airport. In her statement, Agarwal said 50 passengers of the aforementioned four flights have been put under institutional quarantine.

24/12/20 Republic World

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Increased scrutiny for flyers at Kolkata airport to keep fresh Covid strain away

Kolkata: Five British travellers of Indian origin who flew into the city late Monday night from Doha were separated and taken to CNCI Hospital in Rajarhat for RT-PCR tests.

They were taken for a repeat test to be sure that none of them have Covid. Five British passport holders, including four of a family, reached the city at 2:05 am yesterday on Qatar Airways flight QR540. 

An airport official told the Times of India, “Though they had Covid negative reports and did not display any Covid symptoms, they were transported to Covid facility at Rajarhat for RT-PCR test to be sure that they are not carrying the infection.”

The five people, along with the two people who had come by the Air India flight from London on December 20 and tested positive on arrival, would be kept in institutional quarantine for six days. Samples from the five Qatar Airways travellers would be sent to Pune for study.

Immigration officers have been ordered to check passports of all incoming people to ensure no one has been to UK in the last week. The increased vigilance is to check the entry of people who may be coming from UK via another nation.

The city has flights connecting Dubai, Sharjah, Abu Dhabi, Kuwait City, Doha and Dhaka. There is a chance of a passenger from UK having flown into these countries before the ban and then moving to fly into Kolkata now. 

24/12/20 TimesNowNews.com

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It only takes Dh300 to fly down to Mumbai from Dubai, while Karachi is Dh434

Dubai: Airline ticket rates are again dropping sharply, with seats to Mumbai now available at Dh300-Dh400 from Dubai, while it's at Dh430 or so to Karachi. This comes as the aviation industry faces another disruption from a new COVID-19 virus strain, and governments impose strict measures against its spread through air travel.

These are available on flydubai and Air Arabia flights and are unprecedented for this time of the year, when holiday travel is typically at its peak. London, which is in the middle of another lockdown, can be had from Dh1,600, which is at least 30-40 per cent off from their usual December range. Maldives, which has emerged as the most attractive destination for UAE residents during the pandemic year can cost between Dh2,500 to Dh3,500.

“It's likely that there will be some bargain fares in the market in the coming days/weeks," said John Grant, Partner at Midas Aviation. "Airlines are trying to balance consumer confidence being rocked again by the new variant of COVID-19.

“At the same time, airlines are desperate for cash and need to try and stimulate any possible demand. So, expect more sharp fares.”

UAE airlines have so far not joined in the cancellation of flights to the UK after the country imposed another lockdown round. Spokespersons at Emirates and Etihad had confirmed earlier that flights to London are running on schedule. However, reports have been coming through of widespread cancellations as expats are deterred by COVID-19 curbs in the country.

24/12/20 John Benny/Gulf News

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Domestic passengers to be screened at Vizag international airport

Visakhapatnam: A medical team led by a senior medical officer has been deployed at the Visakhapatnam International Airport since Tuesday night to check the passengers flying in from Mumbai, New Delhi, Chennai and Hyderabad.

"We have asked the medical personnel to check tickets of passengers to ensure they did not fly in from England or any other European country. There is a possibility that some arriving from England might have missed the screening test at the port of landing in India,’’ said OSD on Covid-19 for north Andhra and principal of Andhra Medical College Dr P.V. Sudhakar.

Talking to this correspondent here on Wednesday, Dr Sudhakar said suspected persons would have to undergo RT-PCR test and by genome mapping the new strain could be found. Apart from Vizag, Rajahmundry, Vijayawada and Tirupati airports have also been put on alert.

Health experts said two months travel history must be checked of those who arrived from England and Europe. They said SOPs from Union health ministry has been received and they have been waiting for the SOPs from the State government to act in case of discovery of a new strain in the state.

24/12/20 Deccan Chronicle

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SpiceJet ties-up with GMR Hyderabad Air Cargo for storage

Hyderabad: SpiceJet signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with GMR Hyderabad Air Cargo (GHAC), the cargo division of GMR Air Cargo & Aerospace Engineering (GACAEL), for providing a seamless service to all vaccine manufacturers in the region.

As part of this association, SpiceXpress–the cargo arm of SpiceJet envisions providing a solution for vaccine delivery, while also creating a sustainable cold chain network. SpiceXpress aims to provide the first mile pick up and last mile delivery to carry Covid–19 vaccines across the domestic and international markets in a temperature-controlled environment.

Under the MoU, GHAC will provide available required space on priority for SpiceJet’s vaccine shipments besides training its personnel along with the airline for specific customer requirements. SpiceJet on its part will keep a dedicated fleet of freighters including wide-body aircraft at Hyderabad airport to handle all domestic and international consignments.

Hyderabad, which is already at the centre stage of India’s Covid-19 vaccine development programme, is expected to be a key hub in the manufacturing and distribution of the vaccine both domestically as well as globally. The association between SpiceJet and GHAC will aid the manufacturers in the region by ensuring seamless delivery of the vaccine.

Ajay Singh, CMD, SpiceJet said, “Delivering Covid-19 vaccines safely not just within India but across the globe is a task we are fully committed to. With strong partners and our capability to transport extremely sensitive drugs and vaccines in controlled temperatures of up to -40°c, we feel that we are fully prepared to assist in the biggest vaccination drive in the history of mankind.”

24/12/20 Telangana Today

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Make Darbhanga international airport, Nitish Kumar urges Hardeep Singh Puri

Patna: Chief minister Nitish Kumar wrote a letter to Union civil aviation minister Hardeep Singh Puri and also talked to him on Wednesday, requesting for more flights to Darbhanga airport, development of permanent terminal amenities there and naming it after Maithili poet Vidyapati. Puri assured the CM to do the needful at the earliest.

“Darbhanga airport is being used by many people in a very short time period. It has the potential to provide connectivity to a large number of people. I had proposed during the foundation laying for the civil enclave on December 24, 2018 to name it as ‘Vidyapati airport’. The then minister, Suresh Prabhu, had agreed to the proposal. Apart from people from Mithilanchal region, it is my feeling as well that Darbhanga airport be notified as Vidyapati airport,” Nitish wrote.

The airport belongs to Indian Air Force and flight operations commenced here on November 8 this year. The airport is presently handling three flights of SpiceJet to Bengaluru, Delhi and Mumbai daily.

Nitish has requested Puri to increase the number of flights as well by roping in more airlines. “It is also required to have direct connectivity to Darbhanga from few more prominent cities in the country,” he wrote.

The flight operations at Darbhanga commenced following construction of a civil enclave over an area of 15,000 sq ft. Nitish has demanded construction of a permanent terminal building over there. “It is expected from the central government to initiate steps for transfer of land earmarked for construction of permanent terminal building by the Air Force to Darbhanga airport at the earliest. The state government has already allocated funds for acquiring 31 acres of land from the Air Force for the terminal building,” Nitish wrote in his letter.

24/12/20 Piyush Tripathi/Times of India

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NIA arrests absconding Khalistani terrorist Nijjar from IGI airport

New Delhi: National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Tuesday arrested an alleged pro-Khalistan terror accused Gurjeet Singh Nijjar, who had been hiding in Cyprus, at the Indira Gandhi International airport here.

Nijjar was an absconding accused in the Pune Khalistan case, which has its origins in the arrest of an accused Harpal Singh in Pune by Maharashtra ATS on December 2, 2018, with an illegal firearm and some live rounds. Harpal has links with proscribed terrorist outfit Babbar Khalsa International (BKI), said a source. Subsequently, another accused – Moin Khan – was arrested by Punjab police from Sirhind and his custody taken by Mumbai police on December 24, 2018.

Investigation revealed that Nijjar was the main conspirator in the case. Accused Gurjeet Singh Nijjar, Harpal and Moin Khan were active on social media platforms and hatched a criminal conspiracy to revive Sikh militancy with the ultimate aim of formation of a separate state of Khalistan. They would post videos and images in praise of Khalistani terrorist Jagtar Singh Hawara who has been convicted for assassination of former Punjab chief minister Beant Singh, images of Operation Blue Star and pro-Khalistan posts related to Babbar Khalsa International with the sole intention of motivating like-minded Sikh youths and others to join the Khalistan “movement”, NIA said on Wednesday.

Nijjar, who hails from Pandori Sukha Sigh village in Ajnala, Amritsar, had left India for Cyprus on October 19, 2017. Sources said his economic background was not sound as he did not have enough land to make sufficient earnings. He was working as a labourer here when he took a loan and went abroad on a study visa but ended up doing menial labour work in Cyprus to make ends meet.

24/12/20 Bharti Jain/Times of India

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Indore: Exporters ​told about international cargo ​facility at city airport

Indore: ​"​The exporter​s​ of the region can ​book their shipment right from the​ city as ​the ​​international ​c​argo facility is soon going to ​start​ from ​the city airport. ​This facility will reduce the cost ​and delivery time ​of ​the ​export​s​," said MP Shankar Lalwani​ while addressing an ‘Exporters Meet’ here on​ Wednesday.

​The meet was organised by the Federation of Export Organisations​ (FIEO) in association with ​AAI Cargo Logistics and Allied Services (​AAI​​CLAS​)​​ ​Indore & Kotak Mahindra Bank.

The​ objective of this meet was to update the exporting fraternity on the​ ​facilities provided by- Indore ​a​ir cargo complex to the exporters​. The airport ​terminal is being extended ​for an International Air Cargo Terminal.

Lalwani​ appeal​ed​ to the exporter to increase the manufacturing​ of toys to increase the export from India. During his address he also​ informed that they have identified the land, which they are offering​ to various associations for the development of the various​ ​clusters.

Suber Rampurawala, Convener FIEO MP chapter said that being the​ commercial hub of Madhya Pradesh the city mostly attracts all kinds of​ businesses. Earlier​, ​exporters had to ​book their shipment from Mumbai, Chennai and other big cities ​which meant extra cost. Now, since AICLASS has come up, ​we can export our products directly from the​ city​. This will help the region grow at a rapid pace. 

23/12/20 Free Press Journal

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To save wildlife, state govt says no airport in Rajura

Nagpur: The state government on Tuesday is said to have said ‘no’ to the Greenfield airport conceived by former forest minister Sudhir Mungantiwar in Vihirgaon and Murti villages falling in the Tadoba-Kawal Tiger Reserve corridor.

Two days ago, Mungantiwar had raised the proposed airport issue in the Rajura range under Central Chanda division in the Assembly session following which deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar had called a meeting on Tuesday. It was attended by Mungantiwar, Maharashtra Airport Development Authority (MADC) and top government officials.

“The said proposal already has negative remarks on the file on the ground that it is a tiger corridor and hence, the Wildlife Institute of India (WII), Dehradun, has already said ‘no’ but under alleged political pressure it agreed with stringent mitigation measures,” said sources.

“The government is also against the proposal as the area already has the presence of tigers, leopards, and other Schedule-I animals. Recently, a full-grown male tiger RT1 was captured after it killed 10 villagers. It took at least 9 months to capture the tiger in the Rajura forest. The project will increase man-animal conflict,” they said.

The then Chandrapur SV Ramarao had recommended the project in March 2020, but in his remarks, he clearly stated that compartment numbers 173, 200 and 593 fall in the functional tiger corridor between Tadoba-Kawal as per the Eastern Vidarbha Landscape (EVL) report on corridors by WII. The inspection report also mentions about the presence of tigers, leopards, sloth bears and herbivores.

The Rs75-100 crore airport project needs 75.24-hectare forest land of which 47.41 hectares is a reserve forest and 27.830 hectares is a protected forest. Over 3,817 trees will be felled and overall, the project needs 800 acres of land. The rejection of the project seems to be a big blow to Mungantiwar, who is also MLA from Ballarpur.

Talking to TOI, Mungantiwar said, “The proposed airport is in national interest. Apart from being used as an airport, it will bring in some defence products’ units under the ‘Make in India’ tag. The government has no problem while allowing the New Mumbai airport then why oppose it in Rajura?

The project is being scuttled just because some officials are against it and putting wrong notings. The WII has said yes to the project with mitigation measures. Being a prop-development leader, I will follow the issue till its logical end,” said Mungantiwar.

23/12/20 Vijay Pinarkar/Times of India

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Rules to stop coronavirus variant stoke chaos at Indian airports

Mumbai: Passengers flying into India's biggest airports on Wednesday complained of long waits and confusion as authorities sought to impose rules to try to stop the spread of a new more transmissible variant of the coronavirus.

Like many countries, India has suspended flights from Britain, where cases have soared because of the variant.

People arriving from Britain before the ban came into force on Wednesday were being tested, including Kamini Saraswat whose plane landed in New Delhi just before midnight.

Despite pre-booking a test, her turn came nine hours after arrival and she told Reuters she was still stuck at the airport waiting for the result.

"There is no clear communication," said Saraswat, 28. "There is no social distancing."

Cellphone footage taken by Saraswat, shared with Reuters, showed long lines of passengers and crowds packed together around desks to get themselves tested.

India's hardest-hit state of Maharashtra, home to financial capital Mumbai, has taken additional measures, quarantining most passengers arriving from Europe and the Middle East for a week. Many European and Middle Eastern countries have also suspended flights from Britain, but act as transit hubs for the big airlines flying into India.

Ishwari Gaurav Naik, who arrived in Mumbai from Dubai at around 2 a.m. on Wednesday, said she had to wait more than six hours before authorities sent her and three family members to a quarantine facility.

Delhi and Mumbai airport officials declined to comment, and local officials in both cities and India's federal health ministry did not respond to questions from Reuters.

Federal authorities have said that all required measures will be undertaken but have given few details of how the extra checks will be staffed.

India's plan to track down and screen all arrivals from Britain since Nov. 25 is also getting stretched.

23/12/20 Shilpa Jamkhandikar and Devjyot Ghoshal/Reuters/Peninsula

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