Debris of Air India Express flight that crashed at Karipur moved out of airport

Kondotty: The parts of the Air India Express plane that crashed at Karipur two years ago were moved out of the airport premises. The debris was moved to the area near the cargo complex.

The aeroplane was kept at a special platform near the CISF barrack opposite the terminal. Nearly Rs 1 crore was spent to move the parts of the aeroplane there.

The Boeing company had the responsibility of the aeroplane. The Air India Express received compensation through insurance.

The aeroplane was reportedly moved out of the airport to resolve the financial burden and technical issues while keeping it inside.

06/12/22 Mathrubhumi

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Bangalore international airport terminal 2: Making of the 'Terminal in a Garden'

Terminal 2 of Bengaluru’s Kempegowda International Airport opened on November 11, 2022. Nicknamed Terminal in a Garden, the terminal was designed by American firm Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) and built at a cost of about Rs 5,000 crore.

In the week after Thanksgiving, SOM's Design Principal Peter Lefkovits spoke about the design approach that went into the Bengaluru airport project. 

Edited excerpts >>

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Hyderabad Airport welcomes Airbus Beluga, world's largest cargo plane

The world's largest cargo plane, Airbus Beluga, arrived at Hyderabad Airport on Sunday night and is expected to stay until 7:20 pm on Monday.

As per the information, the aeroplane arrived from Al Maktoum Airport in Dubai and would fly to Pattaya Airport in Thailand.

Special arrangements had been made by the GMR Hyderabad International Airport for the plane's landing, parking, and take-off.

The Airbus Beluga is known for its ability to transport oversized air cargo, according to reports. The Hyderabad Airport was chosen due to its strong infrastructure and technical parameters.

05/12/22 Apoorva Jayachandran , Abdul Basheer/India Today

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Soon, hang out at Kochi airport without a flight ticket

Kochi: ‘Hey! Want to meet?’ ‘Sure, where?’ ‘Come to Kochi airport.’

Conversations like these will become common if all goes as per the Kochi airport’s plan. For the airport has several projects in the pipeline to turn the commercial space on its premises into a hangout place for the Gen Z, families and others.

“Talks are on for the overall transformation of the vacant space on the airport premises where people from outside can spend time. We are planning to pitch it as our commercial business, similar to the one at Bengaluru airport,” said a source.

Popularly called Quad, the commercial space in front of the Bengaluru airport is home to food and souvenir stalls and has scenic outdoor seating, making it a busy hangout spot on Friday evenings and weekends. Kochi airport has a similar plan, said officials, adding the aim is to boost the airport’s revenue from non-aero sector.

One of the projects is the business jet terminal, which will be inaugurated by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on December 10. Through such initiatives, the Cochin International Airport Ltd (CIAL) aims to generate 70% of its revenue from non-aero sources and 30% from the aero sector.  

“We are adding new projects through which we can change the proportion of revenue generation. Post-pandemic, CIAL generated 60% revenue from aero and 40% from non-aero avenues. After incurring huge losses in the past two years, we are planning to generate 70% revenue from non-aero sectors and 30% from aero sectors,” CIAL managing director S Suhas told TNIE. 

He sa id boosting the nonaero sector will have a trickledown effect. If emphasis is given to non-aero sources, more people will come to the airport, leading to a rise in operations. Meanwhile, CIAL will operate its upcoming business jet terminal operations on a revenue- sharing basis with Air India SATS.

05/12/22 Aishwarya Prabhakaran/New Indian Express

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Bengaluru Bengaluru airport to adopt facial recognition technology

 Bengaluru: Domestic travellers at Kempegowda International Airport can now anticipate quicker passage through the terminal thanks to the Digi Yatra app, which makes use of facial recognition technology. The app, which had previously only been available to a select group of users, was made available to all users as of December 1. Passengers can use this to sign up for the Digi Yatra app using their identifying information and face biometrics. After that, they won't need any identification or travel documents to leave the airport because the exit gates' biometric technology would confirm their identity. Only travellers travelling out on Vistara, Air India, Air Asia, or IndiGo airlines from Bengaluru Airport may use the facility.

For a simple and convenient travel experience, the app offers a contactless, paperless, and seamless check-in to boarding process. The information is securely saved and destroyed 24 hours following the passenger's trip in consideration of privacy concerns. On August 15, 2022, the Ministry of Civil Aviation released the app's beta version, which was solely accessible to Android users. With the entire roll-out, iOS users were also given access to the facility. The facility is currently accessible to travellers departing from Delhi and Varanasi airports in addition to Bengaluru.

04/12/22  Hans India

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Most airports and nearby areas unlikely to get 5G connectivity soon

The Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) and MoCA (Ministry of Civil Aviation) fear that the radio altimeters and GPS used in most aircrafts will be adversely affected by the radio waves used for 5G in India. Therefore, they are asking for time to replace the existing equipment with new, updated variants.

Fearing that 5G bands that are being used by telecom companies might interfere with the navigation instruments on board most common aeroplanes, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation and the Ministry of Civil Aviation have asked telcos to not install any base stations for 5G that operate in the 3.3-3.67GHz frequency range in certain areas near airports.

The DGCA has asked telcos to not place any 5G base station within 2100 or 2.1 kilometres of either end of a runway and to also avoid installing one within a radius of 910 metres from the central line of the main runway of an airport. Furthermore, the DGCA has asked telcos to lower the power of all base stations that fall within 540 metres, beyond the proposed exclusion or buffer zone.

The main reason behind the directive by the DGCA and the MoCA is that radio altimetres, one of the most crucial instruments on an aircraft for determining altitude, as well as GPS, the two devices that help pilots navigate in situations of low visibility, are adversely affected by the radio frequencies used by the telcos operating the 5G bands in India.

Telcos, on the other hand, argue that the bandwidths in which Indian telcos operate are lower than the bands which are being used by the aforementioned equipments in aeroplanes plying in India and most countries across the world.

The most sensitive to radio frequencies, the altimeter, usually operates around the 4.2GHz band, which is way higher than the 3.3-3.6 GHz range that is being used by

Indian telcos for 5G. Furthermore, Indian telcos have requested the DGCA to test if there were any signs of interference, asking them to base their test on a similar test that was done in Europe. The DGCA refused to comply with the request. Interestingly, the European tests discovered that there was no interference with an aircraft’s navigation instruments whatsoever.

In the US, one of the few countries that have 5G in its truest sense and uses ultra-fast 5G, telcos are operating around the 4GHz bandwidth. As a result, airlines operating in the US have raised concerns. Because of this, airports in most states across the US, have a buffer zone.

DGCA has assured telcos, that the current altimetres being used by aircrafts in India will be updated gradually but in a timely manner, and soon the restrictions will be done away with. However, telcos fear that the delay or the lack of 5G services in places close to most airports, which may include areas such as notable hotels and resort chains, business parks and residential areas and the airport themselves, won’t be getting true 5G services, which may impact their bottom line.

02/12/22 Kanchan Nath/Travel Daily 

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Technical Glitch Detected in Qatar Airways Chennai-Doha Flight on Runway; Passengers Safe

A technical glitch was detected in a Chennai-Doha Qatar Airways flight while it was on the runway on Friday morning.

The QR529 flight flying from Chennai’s Anna International Airport was carrying 139 passengers when the mechanical fault was detected on the runway.

All passengers are reportedly to be safe.

The AOG (Aircraft on Ground) was declared at 8:37 am.

02/12/22 News 18

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Bengaluru: Defunct devices render operations risky on Kempegowda International Airport runway

Bengaluru: In a shocking case of apathy, crucial weather equipment that enables safe aircraft landing on the north runway of Kempegowda International Airport during bad weather and poor visibility has been defunct for months, despite numerous complaints to the meteorological department at the terminal.

Apart from posing a grave safety risk during the landing of flights, the situation has forced closure of the runway during foggy conditions like on Wednesday morning, when the airport's entire operations had to be switched to the south runway, causing a congestion of aircraft and delaying flight operations.

Sources at KIA said the runway visual range (RVR) devices, which are part of the instrument-landing equipment CAT I installed on the north runway, have remained defunct for many months, making the runway extremely dangerous and unusable for landing aircraft during dense fog and heavy rain.

"Because of the handicapped state of the north runway during adverse weather, flight operations are completely shifted to the south runway, making it congested with flights. This was what unfolded on Wednesday morning as the foggy conditions forced the airport authorities to close the north runway. The south runway took all the load till visibility returned, causing flight delays and a diversion," a senior airport official told TOI.

The weather instruments, including the RVR and CAT at Bengaluru airport, are handled by the India meteorological department (IMD), which has an exclusive office at KIA.

Bangalore International Airport Ltd (BIAL) representatives and other airport authorities, including the air traffic control, have alerted IMD officials numerous times about the need to fix RVR equipment on the north runway. "During clear conditions, RVR instrument is immaterial for landing and takeoff but it is crucial during bad weather. With winter here, it is the need of the hour to fix the RVR to aid pilots for landing on the north runway," a BIAL source said.

The south runway, which is CAT II and CAT III compliant, has upgraded RVR capable of aiding landings during extreme fog and poor visibility.

Flight operations are safe on the north runway when the RVR reading is 550m or above, while the south runway can facilitate aircraft landing with RVR readings as low as 50m and takeoff at 125m, the source said.

Usage of the south runway results in more fuel consumption as it is longer and farther away from the terminal.

When TOI reached out to the IMD office at Bengaluru airport, staff confirmed that the RVR equipment on the north runway is non-functional and airport authorities are advised to use the south runway during fog. Senior officials of IMD couldn't be reached but sources in the department said the matter is under process and new instruments have arrived and are awaiting installation.

02/12/22 Petlee Peter/Times of India

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DigiYatra: These airports in India now have facial recognition technology. How does it work?

Starting Thursday, the government has introduced paperless entry at select airports to make air travel hassle-free. Under this initiative, airports will use a facial recognition software called ‘DigiYatra’ for entry. This means, passengers won’t need to carry their ID card and boarding pass.

In the first phase, the initiative will be launched at seven airports, starting with three — Delhi, Bengaluru, and Varanasi, followed by four airports namely Hyderabad, Kolkata, Pune, and Vijayawada by March 2023. Subsequently, the technology will be implemented across the country.

The Delhi International Airport Ltd (DIAL), run by GMR, had in August announced the soft launch of the Centre’s DigiYatra initiative, rolling out the beta version of its app for Android platforms. The Delhi airport has the required infrastructure set up at the airport’s Terminal 3, and other airports are also setting up the requisite infra for it.

DigiYatra envisages that travellers pass through various checkpoints at the airport through paperless and contactless processing, using facial features to establish their identity, which would be linked to the boarding pass. With this technology, the entry of passengers would be automatically processed based on the facial recognition system at all checkpoints – including entry into the airport, security check areas, aircraft boarding, etc.

The facility will be available for passengers taking domestic flights at Delhi’s Terminal 3, Bengaluru and Varanasi airports. DigiYatra will be launched at four more airports — Hyderabad, Pune, Vijaywada and Kolkata — by next March. Later, DigiYatra will be rapidly rolled out across all other airports.

Among airlines, passengers travelling Air India, Vistara and IndiGo on their domestic network can avail this facility at the three airports. SpiceJet, GoFirst and Akasa Air are yet to offer the DigiYatra facility.

For availing the service, a passenger has to register their details on the DigiYatra app using Aadhaar-based validation and a self image capture. In the next step, the boarding pass has to be scanned, and the credentials are shared with airport authorities.

At the airport e-gate, the passenger has to first scan the bar coded boarding pass and the facial recognition system installed at the e-gate will validate the passenger’s identity and travel document. Once this process is done, the passenger can enter the airport through the e-gate.

The passenger will have to follow the normal procedure to clear security and board the aircraft.

02/12/22 Mihir Mishra/Indian Express

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UDAN 5.0: Small aircraft services from Gauchar, Chinyalisaur in Uttarakhand

Small aircraft services from Gauchar and Chinyalisaur in Uttarakhand will be included in the tender for UDAN 5.0 scheme, Jyotiraditya Scindia said on Nov 30.

Jyotiraditya Scindia, the Minister of Civil Aviation, stated that Pithoragarh would begin offering fixed-wing aircraft services in January of next year in a letter to Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami.

With the addition of more than 50 additional locations near tourism hotspots, the UDAN 5.0 program’s fifth phase includes Gauchar and Chinyalisaur in Uttarakhand’s Chamoli and Uttarkashi districts, intends to transition from regional to rural air connectivity.

The Union minister stated in the letter that Fly Big Airline has already been requested to begin fixed-wing aircraft services out of Pithoragarh on January 31.

Regional carrier Fly Big is based in Indore. The airline’s primary goal since starting operations in December 2020 has been to link tier-2 cities in India. 

01/12/22 Sakshi Jain/100knots

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DoT asks telcos to shut down 5G services near airports, here’s why

The civil aviation ministry has reportedly requested the Department of Telecom to impose some new restrictions related to 5G coverage across the country by the telecom operators. These temporary restrictions will require the telcos to shut down 5G services in high-frequency bands in and around airports. DoT has asked the telcos to stop installing 5G base stations in the 3.3-3.6 GHz band in an area of nearly 2 kilometres from both ends of the runway and almost a kilometre from the centre line of the runway of Indian airports. DoT’s restrictions are based on the buffer and safety zone details provided by the aviation ministry.

According to a report by PTI, telcos have to shut down 5G service in the 3.3-3.6 GHz band only in and around airports to comply with the temporary restrictions provided by DoT. The report claims that the services will be restored after the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) ensures that altimeters in all the aircraft have been replaced.

As per the report, DGCA has not shared any timeline for completing this replacement exercise. However, DoT expects DGCA to complete the altimeter replacement exercise in a “proactive and time-bound manner,” and has also asked the civil aviation regulatory body to provide a timeline for the same.

01/12/22 Times of India

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Mumbai Airport Services Back To Normal, Chaos Caused By Damaged Cable

Mumbai: The computer server at Terminal 2 of Mumbai airport was down for nearly an hour today, leading to long queues as check-ins were done in the manual mode, potentially upsetting the schedule for some flights. It was caused after a network cable was cut due to "ongoing work elsewhere in the city", said the firm that operates the Mumbai airport, India's second busiest after the one in Delhi.

One of two terminals of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport, T2 mostly deals with international flights but is also used for domestic routes.

News agency ANI reported at 7 pm that normal services have resumed after "operations were disturbed for about 40 minutes". 

Earlier, a number of Twitter users shared photos of long queues.

Air India had replied to one of them, saying. "Our team is working diligently to minimize the inconvenience."

One of the Twitter users said the system crashed just after she placed her bag on the check-in counter.

The operating firm, Mumbai International Airport Limited, issued a statement requesting passengers to "allocate additional time" for check-in and to "connect with their respective airlines" due to the "temporary network interruption".

01/12/22 NDTV

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