Runway glitches baffle pilots

New Delhi: Though spanking new airports have come up in India, there seem to be glitches in the runway construction of at least three of them which is baffling aviators. Have airport operators slipped up on the most vital part of their operations?
Take Delhi Airport, which has three runways. The third and newest runway, 29-11, was inaugurated with much fanfare last year. Touted as the longest in Asia, an awesome 14,534 ft.But just two-thirds of the runway, only 8,015 ft, is actually in use. In fact, the second runway, 28-10, whose total length is 12,500 ft, out of which 11,360 ft is used, is ironically longer than this one. Besides, only landings are taking place from one side of the new runway — the Shiv Murti side. Even the other end, towards Dwarka, is hardly used, except when the winds are easterly and during monsoons, says a commander.
So what went wrong? This runway is too close to the 62-feet high Shiv Murti statue. Its shorter length also makes it difficult for wide-bodied and heavier planes to land as they need more runway length. ''We now have to apply maximum brakes, especially if there are tail winds there,'' says a pilot. ''It will be worse when the runway is wet.'' So what's the solution? Sources say this runway could perhaps be extended to the other side, opposite the statue, so that it retains its original length. Or shift the statue, suggest others.
02/02/09 Shobha John/Times of India

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K'taka to invite fresh bid for two airport projects

The Karnataka government is considering to inviting fresh bid for two Greenfield airport projects proposed at Shimoga and Gulburg in the state. Each project cost has been estimated to Rs.110-crore.
These projects are awarded to ‘Maytas’ running by B Teja Raju, the son of tainted owner of scam-hit Satyam Computer Services in which Raju’s family holds 36% stake in Maytas.
According to official sources, Maytas is part of a three-member consortium including Nagarjuna Construction Corporation (NCC) that had won the successful bidding of two airport projects of total worth of over Rs. 200-crore in global bidding before the unearthing of the Satyam’s mega financial scam of Rs.7,800-crore.
The involvement of Maytas led the government to reconsider the decision for which Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa has convened a meeting on Thursday with the investment committee.
After the meet Yeddyurappa said, ‘We will call for new bids to replace Maytas as we want the two projects to be implemented soon and to be completed within the schedule.’ In this regard, he has already spoken to state secretary Sudhakar Rao, added Yeddyurappa.
30/01/09 News Track India

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Maytas gives banks Rs 8K-cr headache

Bangalore: The Satyam saga, which has pushed the infotech firm’s sister concerns Maytas Infrastructure and Maytas Properties into a crisis, is now haunting leading banks that have loaned funds and stood guarantee for them.
Maytas is headed by Teja Raju, son of former Satyam chief Ramalinga Raju. The banks are now left with a whopping Rs 8,000-crore headache. While ICICI Bank has the largest exposure of Rs 3,000 crore, mostly in guarantees, State Bank of India has given a loan of Rs 500 crore and Bank of India has an exposure of Rs 215 crore.
A senior manager of ICICI Bank in Bangalore said ‘the matter is with the corporate department of the bank and they will look into the matter. This exposure will not affect the daily affairs of the bank.’ The infrastructure firms are now caught in a vicious circle. Starved of capital, many of their projects have come to a grinding halt. And with the risk of losing other projects, their openings for earning revenues are disappearing.
The Government of Karnataka is all set to cancel the contract awarded to Maytas to build greenfield airports in Shimoga and Gulbarga.
The Chief Minister had asked the Chief Secretary to take a decision on Maytas projects in a day or two.
31/01/09 Mohammed Shariff/ExpressBuzz

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Turban searches humiliating, local Sikhs say

Some Sikh men say they are subjected to systematic and humiliating searches of their turbans whenever they fly out of Oakland International Airport, but a federal airport security official says their complaint is unjustified.
J.P. Singh, co-founder of the Sikh temple in El Sobrante, says he was subjected to a secondary search for explosives all six times he flew out of Oakland in 2008. In eight other U.S. airports that Singh flew out of last year, he was not pulled aside for a secondary search, he said.
"Once in a while, randomly, that's OK," said Singh, a seismic engineer who also is a consultant to the U.S. Department of Justice on cultural sensitivity issues. "But to be humiliated every time I fly out of Oakland, that's not OK."
The Sikh Coalition, a nationwide advocacy group, recently put Oakland International at the top of its list of "problem airports," which it defines as "those from which Sikhs report a nearly 100 percent secondary search rate of their turbans."
All 18 incident reports from travelers departing from Oakland received by the coalition in the fourth quarter of 2008 involved enhanced screening, according to its latest quarterly "TSA Report Card." (TSA refers to the Transportation Security Administration, the airport security branch of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.)
A Sikh man from Danville who frequently flies out of Oakland reported experiences similar to Singh's; the coalition has filed a complaint with the TSA.
Nico Melendez, the TSA's West Coast public affairs manager, said the coalition's quarterly study is "very unscientific."
"I'm sure that more than 18 Sikhs flew through Oakland in the past three months," Melendez said, adding that his agency has worked hard to address the Sikh concerns. He said wearers of cowboy hats and even baseball caps are scrutinized the same way as wearers of turbans.
Revised standard procedures implemented by the TSA in August 2007 subject anyone wearing head covering to possible additional security screening that could include a "pat-down search of the head covering ... if the security officer cannot reasonably determine that the head area is free of a detectable threat item," Melendez said.
30/01/09 Tom Lochner/West County Times/InsideBayArea.com, USA

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AN-124, holder of 30 world records

Bangalore: The Bengaluru International Airport (BIA) played host to a code F cargo aircraft(An-124), which is the third largest in the world. It flew in from Leipzig, Germany loaded with equipment for the impending Aero India 2009 and headed back after offloading at the BIA.
The An-124 Russian airplanes have set 30 world records, including lifting 171,219kg of cargo to 10,750m. It is fitted with a swept back supercritical wing to give high aerodynamic efficiency. The loading and unloading of the aircraft is fast and efficient as the fuselage nose can be hinged upward to open the front cargo hatch and there is a rear cargo hatch in the rear fuselage.
An-124 is a cargo aircraft that has a payload capacity of up to 150 tonnes.It is designed for long-range delivery and air dropping of heavy and large cargo. An-124 Specifications ?The aircraft fuselage has a double-deck layout. The cockpit, the relief crew compartment and the passenger cabin for 88 seats are on the upper deck. The lower deck is the cargo hold.
?The landing gear is self-orienting and incorporates a kneeling mechanism which allows an adjustable fuselage clearance to assist the loading and unloading of self-propelled equipment. ?There are 34 computers functioning aboard the aircraft, combined into four main systems: navigation, automatic piloting, remote control and monitoring.
31/01/09 ExpressBuzz

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More room for residential layouts around airport

Bangalore: Half the area has been reserved for residential purpose, while less than 4% is earmarked for the industrial sector. Bangalore International Airport Area Planning Authority's recently announced masterplan 2021 was expected to give much-awaited boost to industrial development around the airport. With this announcement, proposals awaiting the government's nod will now be put on the fast track.
Of the 14,627.63 hectres identified under the master-plan, 7,284.34 hectres has been reserved for residential purpose. This constitutes 49.80% of the total area. For industrial and commercial purposes, 566.70 hectres (3.87%) and 470.33 hectres (3.23%) has been respectively earmarked. And to perhaps escape criticism, BIAAPA has reserved 1,841.89 hectres (12.59%) of the area for parks and open spaces.
Karnataka Town and Country Planning Act, 1961, empowers the urban development department to chart out development of the international airport region. Accordingly, Masterplan 2021 was approved by the government. Guidelines for plot coverage, floor area ration, building line and space for parking are defined in the plan.The proposed Satellite Town Ring Road, Intermediate Ring Road, Town Ring Road and expressways around the airport are also included. A good amount of the area -- 1,982.61 hectres (13.55 %) -- is reserved for transportation.
31/01/09 Times of India

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Invisible bars to block illegal entries at airport

Mumbai: It is yet another gadget to fortress the airport. And this time, it won't be visible to the layman's eye. Only in times of crisis and emergency would this underground gadget come up to prevent access inside the airport.
By April this year, Mumbai airport would install hydraulic bollards-thick iron rods-which would be placed underground to prevent a speedy vehicle from barging into the air-side of the airport. Hydraulic bollards, which would first be placed at gate number 1 of the airport from where many vehicles from the city-side enter directly to the air-side, where airport operations take place.
Gate 1 is located right next to departure terminal 1B of the domestic airport, and is the entry and exit point for flight-crew and other airport staff. It also facilitates access to the apron area.
The moment a vehicle tries to forcibly enter without permission or a check, the iron bars would rise at the push of a button, and block entry. "These steel bars would be placed under the surface and can be easily hauled up in an emergency. We should be ready with them by April,'' said a Mumbai International Airport Pvt Ltd (MIAL) spokesperson.
Currently, at every point of entry, movable horizontal barricades guard the movement of vehicles. Considering the sensitive security situation, the barricades were deemed unworthy of any support in case a vehicle rams through them to enter the air-side. "The access to aircraft parking, hangars, and runway, is very easy through that gate,'' said an airport official. "Though security guards are posted in the area, it is still vulnerable to forced entries,'' he added.
Hydraulic bollards are usually installed at places requiring high security, like the American consulate, for instance.
30/01/09 Chinmayi Shalya/Times of India

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Four international airlines looking to operate from Hyderabad

Hyderabad: In spite of the global recession and low capacities, international airlines are still looking at operating out of Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh. Speculations are rife that international carriers, namely Cathay Pacific Airways, Turkish Airlines, Kenya Airways and Iran Air are looking at operating flights from Hyderabad this year. According to sources from GMR- Hyderabad International Airport Limited (GHIAL), the four aforementioned carriers are either in talks with the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA), Government of India for bilateral rights or have received the rights and are looking at starting operations soon.
A source close to the developments said, “The traffic from Hyderabad to Iran, Kenya, Turkey and Hong Kong is growing day by day. People from Hyderabad are forced to board one-stop flights to these countries, as there are no direct flights. The bilateral talks are on between the four carriers and the Indian aviation ministry and there are high possibilities that the carriers will start operations from Hyderabad soon.” Viswanath Attaluri, Chief Commercial officer, GHIAL confirmed the news, but denied to disclose any time frame for the carriers to start operations from and to Hyderabad International Airport.
30/01/09 Anita Jain/TravelBizMonitor

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Security at Mumbai airport strengthened following hijack alert: Sources

New Delhi: Security at the Mumbai airport has been tightened following intelligence input suggesting terrorists were planning to carry out a hijacking attempt for securing release of some militants.
An alert has been issued following a meeting of senior officials of Civil Aviation Ministry, Bureau of Civil Aviation Security, DGCA and Home Ministry, Civil Aviation Ministry sources said on Thursday.
During the meeting, preparedness of "different layers" of the security and safety mechanism at airports as well as in the airspace were assessed in the wake of these inputs, the sources said.
Authorities had received "specific" information that terrorists were planning to attack airports at Mumbai and other smaller airports like Gorakhpur and Bagdogra, they said.
Major airports across the country, especially those in the western region, have been on high alert and extra vigil for the past few weeks following the terror strikes in Mumbai.
Extra surveillance has been mounted at the airports, with additional CISF and police personnel being deployed to keep an eye in and around the terminals.
29/01/09 Press Trust of India/NDTV.com

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Another airport in Goa is the need of the hour: Indian Navy

Panaji: The Indian Navy Thursday supported the need for an additional international airport in Goa, calling it ‘the need of the hour’. Speaking to reporters at a press conference in Vasco, Flag Officer Commanding Goa Area, Rear Admiral S.M. Vadgaonkar said that the present airport at Dabolim, which was controlled by the Indian Navy, was incapable of handling increasing traffic, which Goa would attract in the near future.
“On one side of the airport, you have the Arabian Sea and on the other there are populated areas. The present airport cannot be extended any further,” he said.
“There is no scope for construction of a cargo area, which is essential for civilian operations,” he added.
Vadgaonkar also noted that the present facility at Dabolim had been exposed to an increasing number of several aviation risks in recent times.
“Indiscriminate dumping of garbage and drying of fish in the populated areas along the air strip has led to increased bird menace near the runway,” he said. The proposed construction of an international airport at Mopa, near the Maharashtra border on Goa’s northern tip has virtually split political opinion on geographical lines.
While the new airport is being backed by elected representatives from North Goa, the project is being vehemently opposed by politicians from South Goa.
29/01/08 IANS/Thaindian.com, Thailand

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Mid-air scare: ATC blames Jet aircraft, probe ordered

Kolkata: A day after seven aircraft approaching Kolkata lost contact for almost half-an-hour with the air-traffic control (ATC) at the Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport, the ATC officials say it might have been because of a glitch in the transmitter of an in-coming Jet aircraft that blocked their VHF (very high frequency) communication with the ground staff at the airport.
Sources at the airport said the recorded dialogue between ATC officials in Kolkata and the pilot of the Jet aircraft shows that the plane was facing problems with its equipment once it left Yangon ATC.
The pilot of the aircraft reportedly said the problem was probably caused due to a glitch in the equipment of the aircraft.
Meanwhile, the executive director of the airport, P K Singhal, told the Indian Express that the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has been asked to probe into the matter.
“We are involving the DGCA as the probe may include checking of the aircraft’s equipment to ascertain what went wrong. They will also be questioning the airline engineers,” said Singhal.
“The pilot has admitted to the ATC that there was a technical glitch in his air-borne equipment,” he said, adding he has also ordered a on the “action taken” during the half-an-hour crisis.
“In simple words, at any point of time, an aircraft is supposed to use one particular frequency. A certain channel discipline needs to be maintained at all times,” explained a senior ATC official, adding that there are six available frequencies for air-borne pilots to establish contact with the ATC.
“If there is a glitch in any of the transmitters of any aircraft, it can jam the frequency for others. This is probably what happened yesterday,” the official said.
29/01/09 Express India

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Maytas airports deal in trouble

Bangalore: Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa on Wednesday said he had directed the officials concerned to cancel the contract awarded to Maytas to build greenfield airports in Shimoga and Gulbarga.
After holding a high-level meeting here, Yeddyurappa told reporters that the chief secretary would take a decision in this regard in a day or two.
Maytas is headed by Tej Raju, son of former Satyam chairman Ramalinga Raju.
Due to the delay on the part of Maytas to commence the projects, the government is now seriously considering going in for fresh tendering and inviting new bids.
29/01/09 Deccan Herald

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Work on runway across Adyar takes off

Chennai: The city will by next year have something in common with Atlanta, Brooklyn and Madeira Island -- a runway across a river.
A year from now, aircraft using the secondary runway at Chennai airport will make its run for take-off over a bridge across the Adyar river. Airports Authority of India (AAI) has started construction works to extend the 2,035-metre secondary runway by 1,400 metres, including 835 metres on the northern side of the river.
AAI is getting technical assistance from IIT-Madras because the river is flood-prone. Mumbai airport has an end of its runway across the Mithi river, but this stretch is used only for taxing.
The existing runway ends on the banks of the river. A bridge, to be designed similar to that of a box culvert, will be constructed across the river and the runway will extend over it towards the north. Land filling and levelling works that started December-end are progressing well to meet the 2010 deadline. The state government has acquired 120 acres and handed over to AAI for the project.
The extension of the secondary runway is being carried out at a cost of Rs 430 crore. The runway works without the bridge will cost Rs 230 crore, while construction cost of the bridge is estimated to cost Rs 200 crore," said a senior AAI official.
KGL Constructions has bagged the contract to build the runway excluding the bridge, while a separate contract will be awarded for the bridge construction. "The tender will be awarded very soon," said airport director K Natarajan.
29/01/09 V Ayyappan/Times of India

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Over 80 flights affected by fog

New Delhi: Flight operations came to a standstill this morning after dense fog engulfed the Indira Gandhi International Airport here affecting over 80 flights of various airlines.
“No flights were taking off or landing at the airport as the visibility reduced to below 50 metres due to the dense fog which began to descend at around seven am,” airport sources said.
Airport authorities were caught unawares as fog suddenly enveloped the airport after a clear morning.
More than 40 flights departing from here were delayed by over two hours while four SpiceJet flights from Mumbai, Pune, Kolkata and Ahmedabad scheduled to arrive here at 7.45 am were diverted to Jaipur. Most flights arriving here were delayed by over two hours.
The fog reduced the runway visibility to less than 50 metres.
Early morning flights went as per schedule as the visibility was above 1,500 metres and general visibility was 100 metres at around 6.30 am.
All flights which were scheduled to take off after 7.30 am were badly affected, as passengers had boarded and doors were closed when the fog descended.
A huge backlog of flights has aggravated the situation as no flights were taking off.
29/01/09 PTI/Livemint

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Airport authorities begin process for ILS installation at Lohegaon

Pune: The Airports Authority of India (AAI), Pune, has started the process for the installation of a sophisticated Instrument Landing System (ILS) at the city's Lohegaon airport.
On Wednesday, the AAI released a notice inviting tenders for the Rs 2.24 crore electrical engineering works that are meant for operationalising the ILS. Imported category I (CAT-I) level ILS equipment has already been acquired by the AAI for this purpose.
"The tenders are to be issued between February 16 and 18 and will be received till 3 pm on March 3. They will be opened the same day at 3.30 pm," a senior official from AAI's engineering (electrical) department told TOI. "The project is to be completed three months after the work is handed over," he added.
"Among other things, the work involves laying of power cables, LT panels, stabilizers and advanced lightning protection system," he said.
The process notwithstanding, it may take some time for the ILS to actually go operational, considering that the location where the equipment is to be placed, is not yet finalized.
"There are certain pre-defined technical requirements, which are needed to be met to finalise the ILS site," said Pune airport director G Chandramouli. "We want to do it (ILS installation) before the monsoon," he added. "Our (AAI) corporate headquarters and the Indian Air Force (IAF) are coordinating the process to finalise the site," Chandramouli said.
28/01/09 Vishwas Kothari/Times of India

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Fog engulfs capital, no take-offs from airport

New Delhi: Heavy fog blanketed many parts of the capital Thursday, throwing air traffic completely out of gear as morning flights were cancelled due to poor visibility.As a result of the northwesterly winds blowing over northern India, the mercury dipped and fog engulfed Delhi, meteorological officials said.
“The fog started descending at the airport (Indira Gandhi International Airport) at 2.30 a.m. and the visibility dropped below 50 metres,” an official at the airport met department told IANS.
All the outbound flights were cancelled due to heavy fog.
“No flights have taken off this morning and inbound flights are also delayed. The visibility will improve by noon as the fog lifts,” the official added.
The minimum and maximum temperature also registered a decrease with a chilly morning greeting the denizens of the capital.
29/01/09 Thaindian.com, Thailand

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Implementation of CUTE getting delayed

Thiruvananthapuram: Implementation of the Common User Terminal Equipment (CUTE) at the Thiruvananthapuram International Airport is getting delayed indefinitely.
While the Civil Aviation authorities blame Air-India, which is the ground handling agency of the airport, for the delay in implementing CUTE, Air-India sources said that the proposal to implement CUTE is under their consideration.
CUTE enables streamlining of the check-in facility at the airport, thereby enabling checking-in of passengers of different airlines from any of the check-in counters.
CUTE has been developed by SITA, a multinational airline telecommunication solutions provider for the aviation industry. It has already been implemented successfully at many major airports including the Nedumbasery Airport.
Civil Aviation department sources told `Express’ that the Airports Authority of India had taken all necessary steps to introduce CUTE by September 2008. But Air-India is yet to take a decision on implementing the new system.
``We have received a proposal from Airports Authority of India to implement CUTE at the Thiruvananthapuram Airport. The proposal is being studied by our team of experts and based on the study report a decision on implementing CUTE at Thiruvananthapuram would be taken, ‘’ an Air-India spokesperson said.
Implementation of CUTE would result in additional financial burden to the airlines, which is said to be a reason for the delay in taking a decision on its implementation.
28/01/09 Arjun Raghunath/ExpressBuzz

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Half-hour panic in city skies, 7 planes lose contact with ATC

Kolkata: It was a nerve-wracking 30 minutes at Kolkata airport on Tuesday morning after a freak snag in the critical communication system severed all contacts with as many as seven flights that were converging for landing. Though ATC officials claimed they managed to get in touch with the pilots through alternative channels and asked them to hover till the snag was sorted out, sources confirmed that anything could have happened in that bizarre half hour when the seven planes became incommunicado.
All was fine till 9.55 am, when a Jet Airways aircraft on the Bangkok-Kolkata sector entered Kolkata airspace.
“The problem cropped up when the Jet Airways flight was 100 nautical miles or 185 km to the east of Kolkata. Suddenly, communication with all other planes became garbled and illegible. Planes were visible on the radar but voice communication was severed. As soon as we switched to another frequency, it got jammed. The only plane we remained in touch with was the Jet Airways craft from Bangkok. It was very peculiar. In several decades of service in the tower, I have never encountered something as strange,” one controller said.
Realizing the urgency of the situation, the airport halted all operations on the ground and went into emergency mode. Flights that were queuing up for takeoff — Air India flights to Guwahati and Dibrugarh, a Jet Airways flight to Guwahati, a Kingfisher flight to Silchar and an Air India Express flight to Singapore — were put on indefinite hold. A communication was sent to adjoining ATCs through hotline to order pilots of approaching aircraft to stay on hold in their given altitude.
Meanwhile, on the ground, engineers tried to identify the problem. “It was as if the Jet plane was fitted with jammers. While its communication channel remained open, that with all other aircraft was jammed,” said a technician.
Even as the engineers remained perplexed, it was decided to land the only aircraft the tower was still in touch with. And then, the miracle happened. As the Jet flight touched down at 10.20 am, the jammed frequencies opened up, restoring links with all seven aircraft in the sky.
28/01/09 Times of India

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Mid-air disaster averted just in time

Kolkata: A mid-air disaster was narrowly averted a day after the Republic Day when more than seven aircraft lost their contact with the air traffic control (ATC) at the Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport for more than half-an-hour after an unknown transmitter blocked their VHF (very high frequency) communication.
The mysterious incident occurred around 9:45 am when a Jet flight from Bangkok to Kolkata left the Yangon ATC and approached Kolkata. It first contacted the east area control frequency, which then lost all contact with the seven other approaching aircraft.
Realising the problem, the east control immediately informed the pilot to connect to west area control around 9:55 am. Accordingly, the pilot contacted the west area control, which too immediately lost contact with all other aircraft.
As the aircraft was fast approaching Kolkata, it was then asked to contact the approach frequency. A similar problem was encountered there as well, but the flight was finally given a green light for safe landing by approach at 10:18 am.
Meanwhile, the east and west control had instructed the other seven domestic flights to hover for more than 20 minutes. During this time, none of the other flights could establish any contact with the approach frequency.
“None of the other frequencies could be contacted except for area control south, while the Jet flight landed. After it landed, everything was normal,” said an ATC official.
“The ATC works with many frequencies at a time like area, tower, approach and HF (higher frequency). Today, each time we established contact with the Jet flight, we lost contact with the other flights,” said another ATC official.
“There was not much risk as we could see the flights in the main and secondary radars. Thus, at all points, we were aware of their position and height,” said P K Singhal, the executive director at the airport. He added that besides this, there are other standby frequencies that can be used in case of emergencies.
An investigation has been ordered to see if it was technical failure or some lapse on the part of the ATC. “Some unknown transmitter on a similar frequency was blocking the VHF. We are looking into it but we have not been able to identify the transmitter,” Singhal added.
28/01/09 Express India

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Aviation heads in race for AERA top post

New Delhi: Top managers in the aviation industry, including Air India chairman and MD Raghu Menon, its former CMD V Thulasidas, and former Airport Authority of India (AAI) chairman K Ramalingam, are in the fray to head Airport Economic Regulatory Authority (AERA), a new regulatory agency expected to start functioning by March.
“Former civil aviation secretary Ajay Prasad has also met aviation minister Praful Patel to explore the possibility of becoming the chairman of AERA,” an official in the aviation ministry said. But Mr Prasad is yet to submit his application, the official added.
“Former secretary in the ministry of new and renewable energy V Subramanian and department of consumer affairs secretary Yashwant Bhave have also submitted their applications for the AERA chairman,” he added.
Top aviation ministry officials said once the airport regulator starts functioning, most likely by March, Indian airports will have a tariff regulator in line with international practices. The proposed regulator is expected to create a level-playing field between airports and encourage investments. The authority would also regulate fares.
28/01/09 Economic Times

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DIAL plans VK's night respite

New Delhi: There may just be some respite for residents of Vasant Kunj who have been complaining of massive noise pollution due to aircraft flying overhead to land on the new runway. Delhi International Airport (P) Ltd (DIAL) has proposed a change in use of the new runway during night hours, when it will be used only for take-offs, thereby doing away entirely with the problem of aircraft flying over Vasant Kunj area.
However, India does not have either regulations for aircraft noise limits nor the instruments to measure aircraft noise with. While DIAL will be acquiring a sophisticated aircraft noise monitoring system by June this year, the ministry of environment and forests needs to formulate guidelines for the same. Sources revealed that at present, only the ambient noise is monitored by using normal noise meters.
Speaking to Times City, DGCA chief Naseem Zaidi said it had recently held a meeting on the issue and there were several short term measures that could be taken to alleviate the problem. "There are many aspects to this issue and we are in the process of considering some short term measures that can be taken. However, it will still take a while to draw any conclusions,'' he said.
The issue of noise pollution arose after the new runway was commissioned in November 2008, and entailed aircraft taking an entirely new route to land on the runway. Residents protested strongly against the noise pollution which prompted even chief minister Sheila Dikshit to step in and ask the airport management to take necessary steps to resolve the issue. Some airports abroad close down at night to minimise the problem, that is not a possibility for India at present.
Interestingly, experts say that noise levels over Vasant Kunj are not alarmingly high. According to ICAO standards, 140 decibels is what causes deafness instantaneously. Even at 90 decibels, one needs constant exposure of about 8 hours before one can become deaf. In Vasant Kunj, noise levels have reached a maximum of 90 decibels, if one is standing right below a passing aircraft.
28/01/09 Neha Lalchandani/Times of India

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Cool cabs will still singe wallet

Nagpur: Air traffic may be picking up once again with almost all airlines reducing fare. However, travelling to and from city airport by rented car or taxi, even after the launch of ‘Pre-Paid taxi service’, is an expensive affair for passengers.
The Airports Authority of India (AAI) and Nagpur Cool Cab and Kali/Pili Taxi Owners Association have started pre-paid cool- cab and taxi services from airport from Monday with a promise to charge tariffs as per RTO guidelines soon.
TOI had frequently highlighted the absence of proper and cost-effective transportation from the airport. Passengers complained that present car rental service operated by a private operator was very costly. Abhay Gokhale, a passenger, said, “The private taxi operator charged me Rs 300 for the short distance to Pratap Nagar. If new pre-paid service provides services at affordable rates, then we welcome it.”
Airport Director S N Borkar said, “pre-paid taxi service from airport was a long-pending demand of passengers. The taxi union came forward and we gave them green signal. The tariffs decided by the union are in the range of Rs 200 to Rs 300 depending upon routes,” he added.
“We have allotted special parking space and a counter for booking just outside arrival area at airport for the service. The taxi owners will pay Rs 15 per booking to AAI,” he added.
At present, the services will be operated at the rates decided by union. However soon the tariffs approved by RTO will be made applicable.
28/01/09 Sachin Dravekar/Times of India

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Air India chief in the running for top job at airports watchdog

New Delhi: Less than a year after taking over the reins of Air India, run by government-owned National Aviation Co. of India Ltd, or Nacil, its chairman and managing director Raghu Menon has applied to be considered to lead the country’s new airport regulator, Airports Economic Regulatory Authority.
Aera, as the proposed regulator is called in short, will replace the current state owned regulator Airports Authority of India, or AAI, for setting airport tariffs for high traffic airports such as New Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore. The new regulator will have a chairman and two members. It is expected to be functional early in the next fiscal year.
The government had sought applications from “officers with minimum of five years of service in the next below grade, with at least 18 years of service in the central government or any of the central PSUs (public sector units)” with “a minimum three years of experience in the field of aviation”.
Nearly a dozen applications had been received by 20 January, the last date, for these three posts mostly from retired officers, according to a civil aviation ministry official who asked not to be named.
Menon has sought the chairman’s position, as has also K. Ramalingam, who until last year headed AAI. Others applicants for Aera positions include Yashwant Bhave, secretary, department of consumer affairs; former Air India managing director Brijesh Kumar; V. Subramanian, former secretary, ministry of new and renewable energy; and B.N. Puri, principal adviser, Planning Commission, besides others. Further details could not be immediately ascertained.
A search and selection committee headed by cabinet secretary K.M. Chandrasekhar is expected to screen the applications received for various posts over the next fortnight, the ministry official said.
26/01/09 Tarun Shukla/Livemint

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Double blow for IGI: Fog, R-Day curbs

New Delhi: While the rest of the city celebrated India's 60th Republic Day, passengers at the IGI Airport bore the brunt of an unexpected fog. As visibility dipped suddenly in the morning hours, atleast six flights were cancelled while several were delayed. An hour-long closure of air space due to the flypast only compounded the problem, even though several airlines had rescheduled their flights much earlier.
Low visibility procedures (LVP) were out in place at 3.35 am, when visibility had fallen to 150 m and were lifted only at 9.05 am when it had improved to 700 m. Atleast one flight was diverted during the 5.5 hours of LVP while 70 flights operated. There were only three CAT III-B operations even as the runway visual range was well below 350 m CAT III-B operations take place when RVR is between 350 m and 50 m for about two hours.
The Met department said that while the visibility had been low since late on Sunday night, having reached 350 m by 1.30 am and improving from 100 m to 700 m in a span of one hour at 9.30 am, the RVR on the main runway was comfortable for a large part of the morning. At 4.30 am, the RVR on the main runway was 1,400 m but within an hour, it had dropped to 250 m. It went down further to a 100 m and improved to 600 m by 7.30 am. However, the new runway continued to grapple with the problem of low visibility for much longer, necessitating the use of only the main runway from 3.35 am to 7.15 am. Here, the RVR dropped to 300 m at 4.30 am and improved almost suddenly from 200 m to 1,400 between 8.30 am and 9.30 am.
27/01/09 Times of india

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Dense fog envelops Delhi; flights cancelled

New Delhi: Visibility dropped to zero in the capital on Monday morning for the first time this year as dense fog engulfed the city skyline.
There was zero visibility at 0630 IST due to the thick blanket of fog. Met department attributed the heavy fog to Western Disturbances and upper air cyclonic circulation over central Pakistan adjoining west Rajasthan.
Earlier this month, the visibility was reduced to less than 50 metre on a number of days.
"But today for the first time, the visibility has been reduced to zero," a senior Met department official said.
On January six, the visibility came down to 10 metre while it was 20 metre on January two. On six different days, the visibility remained below 50 metre this year.
The fog started at 0230 IST. At 0830, the visibility has improved a little, Met department said.
About six flights were delayed due to the fog at the IGI Airport in Delhi.The minimum temperature was recorded at 13.2 degree Celsius, about five degrees above normal. The Weathermen predicted a partly cloudy sky for tomorrow.
26/01/09 NDTV.com

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Airports may levy more charges as traffic slows

New Delhi: Airports across the country are keen on levying additional charges as the slowdown in air traffic, especially on the domestic side, is hurting their financials.
Air traffic figures available on the Airports Authority of India (AAI) website, which has been updated only till October, showed a decline of 8-15 per cent in the air traffic between April and October for airports like Ahmedabad, Patna, Trichy and Goa and also major cities such as Mumbai and Hyderabad.
The overall decline has been led by a decrease in the domestic passengers up to 64 per cent. In a recent letter written to the civil aviation ministry regarding the approval of the airport development fees, Mumbai International Airport Limited (MIAL) — the GVK-led consortium operating the Mumbai airport — said that as against its traffic projections of 28 million passengers in 2008-09, it would get less than 26 million, which was its total traffic for the previous year.
The Hyderabad airport has also revised traffic estimates downward by 16.25 per cent. "Projections for the current year earlier stood at 8 million passengers, which have been revised to 6.7 million going by the current trend," said a GHIAL spokesperson. The company has demanded an airport development fee (ADF) of Rs 300 from domestic passengers and Rs 1,000 from international passengers.
The Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL), the GMR-led consortium operating the Delhi airport, said that it would not share its projections for the year 2008-09. However, sources said that in the first nine months of the financial year (April to December), they carried 17 million passengers — a drop of 4 per cent over the year-ago period. DIAL has also asked for permission to impose ADF, which is under active consideration.
26/01/09 Anirban Chowdhury/Business Standard

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Bengal Aerotropolis runs into coal block

Kolkata: The Rs 10,000-crore Durgapur Aerotropolis, India's first airport city project, might be shifted out of its present site as Coal India has reservations over the project coming up in the Tamla coal block area where it has coal reserves.
Santosh Bagrodia, minister of state, ministry of coal, said, the airport project may be possibly shifted. "We are trying to work out a solution with the state government," he said.
Eastern Coalfields Ltd (ECL), a Coal India subsidiary, which holds the mining licence for the Tamla block, raised objections on the ground that the site falls in the coal block area.
In an objection to the land acquisition with collector of Burdwan, ECL said, coal extraction from the coal seams underneath may affect the surface structures that are proposed to be built under the aerotropolis project.
According to sources, the coal ministry had written to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and the state government on the issue of shifting the aerotropolis project. The project promoted by Bengal Aerotropolis Projects Ltd (BAPL), is slated to come up in the Durgapur-Asansol region of West Bengal, which falls in the Burdwan district.
On the other hand, the land acquisition process has already started under West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation (WBIDC), the nodal agency facilitating land acquisition for BAPL.
A total of 3,500 acres will be required over seven years, of which 2,362 acres will be needed in the first phase.
24/01/09 Madhumita Mookerji/Daily News & Analysis

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Cochin airport to get Rs 120 crores

Nedumbassery: Cochin International Airport Ltd (CIAL) is all set to take up multifaceted development schemes amounting to Rs 120 crore. The projects include commissioning of Centre for Perishable Cargo (CPC) , expansion of international and domestic terminals, construction of additional aprons, first phase of golf course, improvement of facilities in the emigration wing, launching of an Aviation Academy and introduction of industrial park. CIAL has also proposed better marketing of CIAL as a tourist destination and a cargo hub. International seminars and airport revenue conferences will be the additional programmes to update technology and boost the income of the airport. Addressing a press conference, Minister S Sarma, member of the Board of Directors of CIAL, said that the full fledged CPC, a Rs 13.2 crore project, would be inaugurated by Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan on February 2. The CPC, spread over a 22,000 sq ft area, will handle 25,000 tonnes of cargo in a year.
The state-of-the-art infrastructure and fully automated system of CPC will ensure the export of farm products which will benefit farmers of Kerala and neighbouring states as the products will reach international markets afresh. Farmers will get better price for the produce, Sharma said.
The expansion work of the international terminal will be completed by May. The total area of the International Departure block will be 4,80,000 sq ft with a spacious Duty Free Shop on 60,000 sq ft area. The domestic terminal will be expanded to cater to the future growth in air traffic. The first phase of the 9 hole golf course attached to a country club will be commissioned within 8 months. The membership drive will begin within three months. CIAL has also geared to meet the expense of additional officers for emigration duty. Passengers often find it extremely difficult to stand in serpentine queues for emigration clearance due to shortage of personnel in the emigration wing in the airport. The Government has allotted 50 sub inspectors for this and 30 have already joined. The ambitious Aviation Academy of CIAL will be launched next academic year. CIAL has approached the Director General of Civil Aviation for starting various courses in aircraft maintenance.
26/01/09 K J Francis Joy/ExpressBuzz

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Construction work at Airport site hit

Thiruvananthapuram : Hours after top officials of the Airports Authority of India reviewed the construction of the new terminal of the Thiruvananthapuram Airport, workers at the construction site have decided to keep off from work following attack by headload workers.
Spurning repeated instructions by the State Government, the headload workers in the Chakkai locality are insisting on 'nokku kooli’ for unloading building materials using crane at the airport construction site.
The issue, which has been an irritant in the construction works of the new terminal since its beginning, took a violent turn the other day when a section of headload workers assaulted workers at the construction site and caused damage to vehicles and property.
Following protest by the headload workers demanding `nokku kooli’, two truckloads of cement are waiting to be unloaded at the construction site over the last several days.
Vishal Infrastructure, which has been carrying out the works on the apron, taxiway and other key units, has decided to stop the work. ``We would be able to continue with the work only if the authorities could ensure adequate security, ‘’ said company project manager C.N. Sathisha.
26/01/09 Express Buzz

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Bird peril on flight path

The aerial approach to Calcutta airport has become a haven for birds and a hazard for planes because of unregulated growth on the ground and a water body in the vicinity, a survey has revealed.
Officials who conducted the survey blamed eateries that dump waste on the airport periphery, the markets that have sprung up all around and a large water body near the boundary wall for the rise in the avian population and the frequency of bird hits.
The study was conducted by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) and the Airports Authority of India after a JetLite aircraft suffered a bird hit last week, the third such incident this year.
According to JetLite sources, the airline took a Rs 50-lakh hit when its plane ran into a bird last Saturday.
“The factors that lead to bird hits cannot be totally eliminated. But the chances of a bird hit can certainly be brought down,” a DGCA official said from New Delhi. A large water body on the southern side of the airport — a few feet away from the boundary wall — also attracts a large number of birds.
The survey team’s findings have been sent to Delhi. “We will write to the municipal authorities to address the problem,” the official said.
Birds are being attracted to the airport not only by waste dumped beyond the boundary wall but also by commercial and construction activity within it. Officials, however, insist that the problems within the airport are temporary.
“We have two canteens on the premises but those are not a threat. What is happening beyond the perimeter is serious. The last bird hit occurred around 400 feet above the ground. At such a height, the crackers that our bird chasers burst on the runway have little effect,” an official said.
The markets and eateries are under the jurisdiction of three civic bodies — Dum Dum, South Dum Dum and Rajarhat-Gopalpur municipalities.
Trees on either side of the approach to the runway are another problem.
Officials of Rajarhat-Gopalpur municipality, under which the major part of the airport falls, claimed that trucks were bringing mounds of garbage from other parts of the city at night and dumping these near the boundary wall.
24/01/09 Sanjay Mandal & Julius Gomes, Soumen Bhattacharjee/The Telegraph

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Fog hits flight movement at Netaji airport

Kolkata: Dense fog early on Saturday morning, disrupted flight movement for nearly six hours at the Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International (NSCBI) Airport here.
While some flights were delayed, some had to be diverted owing to poor visibility. The first flight could take off only at around nine in the morning.
Airport Authority of India (AAI) sources told The Hindu that flight movement remained suspended from 3.30 a.m. to 9.10 a.m. as a thick cover of fog descended on the runway leading to a drop in visibility below 50 metres. Flight schedules too went haywire.
An Air India flight from Bangalore, which was scheduled to arrive at 8.35 a.m., had to be diverted to Bhubaneswar and reached here at 11 a.m. Again, a Kingfisher Airline flight from Chennai was diverted to Guwahati following dense fog at NSCBI Airport.
Several other flights to destinations such as Mumbai, Bangalore, Delhi, Port Blair, Agartala and Ranchi, among those were delayed by an average of 50 minutes.
Air India’s flight to Port Blair was the first flight to take off at 9.10 a.m. Sources in Air India and Kingfisher Airlines said that the early morning delays were bound to effect the schedule of flights throughout the day.AAI sources at the airport said that a dip in temperature and high humidity are the causes for such dense fog and predicted more such foggy days during the season.
25/01/09 The Hindu

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CAV reviews airport terminal work

Thiruvananthapuram: Union Civil Aviation Secretary M. Madhavan Nambiar on Saturday reviewed the work on the Aircraft Maintenance Base and the world class terminal complex of Thiruvananthapuram International Airport.
Accompanied by the Airports Authority of India (AAI) Chairman V.P. Agarwal, District Collector Sanjay M. Kaul, Airport Director N. Nagraj and Air India Station Manager H.A. Munaff, Mr. Nambiar visited the sites near Chakka. Mr. Nagraj and the General Manager, Projects, AAI, V.K. Malhotra briefed Mr. Nambiar about the facilities being created in the terminal complex for the passengers. Earlier, Mr. Nambiar attended a meeting convened by Minister for Law M. Vijayakumar. It was decided at the meeting to handover some land to the IAF from the land acquired for the airport.
25/01/09 Kerala Online

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Heroin worth Rs 1.5cr seized from Sri Lankan national

Chennai: After a brief interval, the air intelligence unit of Chennai customs has once again seized drug consignment on Friday night - heroin worth Rs. 1.5 crore was seized from a Sri Lankan national. Customs officials arrested Baladeepan alias Balasingam (25), a native of Jaffna, after he was found carrying 1.576 kg heroin in seven polythene packets concealed inside a Yamaha keyboard.
"The person was caught by the intelligence officials as they were profiling passengers at the airport. The youth was about to board a Sri Lankan flight at about 8.30 pm. His behaviour raised doubts in the officials. They took him in for questioning and recalled his checked-in baggage," Parminder Singh Sodhi, commissioner, customs, told The Times Of India.
Baladeepan was staying with his wife in Chennai for the past two years. His parents are still in Jaffna.
Customs department officials said that the heroin which seemed to have been sourced locally was of high quality. Baladeepan had cleverly concealed the heroin in seven packets sealed with adhesive. The packets were hiddden in the hollow portion of the keyboard. According to Q-branch sources, Baladeepan would visit Sri Lanka frequently. According to sources, Baladeepan was staying in Mannadi. A person who had befriended Baladeepan in Mannadi gave him the keyboard at Kathipara junction as he was on his way to the airport on Friday.
Sources told TOI that Mannadi in North Chennai has turned out to be a hub for nefarious activity. In the current financial year, Chennai airport customs have seized heroin worth more than Rs 11 crore in the international market, as well as other smuggled goods worth Rs. 14 crore.
25/01/09 Times of India

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Land row keeps Tirupati air terminal plan grounded

Tirupati: The Airports Authority of India’s plan for construction of an integrated terminal at the Tirupati airport is unlikely to take off in the near future, if the ongoing dispute over land allocation is any indication.
The AAI has accorded ‘in-principle’ approval for taking up works at the airport for upgrading infrastructure to facilitate operation of international flights after the international airport status was conferred on it.
The Rs. 150-crore project envisages construction of an integrated terminal with modern amenities for 700 passengers and extension of the runway from 7,500 to 10,700 feet.
According to official sources, the Civil Aviation Ministry, in the first phase, contemplates introducing flights from the temple town to New York, London and Singapore.
The AAI has already indicated to the Andhra Pradesh government that it needs 736.03 acres for the expansion project and also made it clear that the land should be handed over to it “free of cost and free from all encumbrances.” This has become the bone of contention between the AAI and the State government.
Of the 736.03 acres required, 429.34 acres is DKT land (allotted to weaker sections), 155.69 acres is patta land (private land) and the remaining 151 acres alone is government land.
24/01/09 A. Devarajan/The Hindu

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Delhi airport lauded for Haj operations by Delhi government

New Delhi: The Haj terminal, an exclusive terminal for Haj pilgrims at the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport in the capital was lauded by the Delhi government yesterday. “We are very satisfied with the entire Haj operation carried out from the Delhi airport,” said Delhi's Social Welfare Minister Rajkumar Chauhan. Over 18,000 devotees had flown for Jeddah from Delhi airport. The IGI Airport is the only airport in India to have an exclusive permanent facility for Haj passengers.
Chauhan was speaking at a function organised by the airport developer, Delhi International Airport Ltd. (DIAL), where members of the Haj Committee, which organises Haj tour for the pilgrims, were also present. The first flight for this Haj season started October 30, 2008 and the flights continued to depart till November 16, 2008. However, special flights continued to operate till the 15th of this month bringing back the pilgrims, DIAL said in a statement.
The flights operated for the purpose were by Saudi Arabian Airlines and Air India, said DIAL. Of the 123,211 pilgrims, 63,511 pilgrims flew by Saudi Arabian Airlines while Air India carried 59,700 devotees. Mohammed Moazzam, Chief Co-ordinator, Central Haj Committee, said the space enhancement at the new Haj terminal made the pilgrims' travel convenient.
23/01/09 TravelBizMonitor

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Chief Labour Commissioner Visits Airport

Mangalore: S K Mukhyopadhyay, chief labour commissioner, visited Mangalore Airport on Friday January 23 and held discussions on the issue of payment of minimum wages to the loading workers.
Speaking on the occasion, Naveen D'Souza, member of the Airport Authority Advisory Committee, explained about various problems being faced by the loading workers at the airport. He said that the airlines which function in the airport are not even paying the minimum wages for which the workers are eligible. The commissioner said that the department is feeling helpless as loading activity has not been included in the Minimum Wages Act. The workers claimed that in addition to loading, they also attend to the cleaning work for two hours at the airport. The representatives of the airlines however, contended that the workers do cleaning job for only half an hour everyday. The commissioner talked to loaders belonging to different agencies on the occasion.
He even ordered the Labour Act Implementing Officer to verify the functioning of the loading workers and file a detailed report about the payment of minimum wages to the loaders, with the Deputy Chief Labour Commissioner Bangalore within 30 days.
M R Vasudev, director, Airport Authority, officials of the union department of labour and heads of airline companies were present.
24/01/09 Daijiworld

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Delta to temporarily cut Atlanta to Mumbai route

Atlanta: In another sign of a slumping economy, Delta Air Lines will temporarily cut back its non-stop international service from Atlanta to Mumbai, India.
Between April and October, Delta will fly between Atlanta and Mumbai 5 times a week instead of every day.
Market demand is down on that route and others says Delta spokesperson Susan Elliott.
ELLIOTT: "We've been making adjustments across our schedule both on the domestic side and on the international side. It's about being prudent in how we manage our business and tying capacity to demand."
This year, Delta hopes to cut international capacity by at least 3 percent and domestic capacity by at least 8 percent.
For passengers, capacity cuts could mean more than schedule changes. It may also mean Delta offers fewer seats.
24/01/09 Public Broadcasting

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Fliers protest on tarmac

Calcutta: Passengers of a Bagdogra-bound flight that was cancelled because of bad weather in north Bengal staged an agitation on the tarmac of the city airport on Friday afternoon.
The Kingfisher Airlines Calcutta-Bagdogra flight was cancelled after its 75 passengers had boarded the plane, said an airport official.
The 15-odd passengers who staged the agitation near the parking bay alleged that they had to wait on board for nearly two hours. They were escorted inside the domestic terminal building, where they continued to protest till night.
An airline spokesperson said, “The departure was scheduled at 2.20pm. The passengers had to wait for 45 minutes before the flight was cancelled as visibility dropped sharply at Bagdogra.”
He added: “Officials at Bagdogra said the weather was bad and conditions were not suitable for flying. Hence, there was no point in taking off. Safety of the passengers was our primary concern.”
According to him, non-resident passengers were accommodated in a hotel and those who wanted to cancel their tickets were compensated.
24/01/09 The Telegraph

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Few takers for duty-free retail space in non-metros

New Delhi: India may have to wait longer to catch up with the rest of the world in airport retail, judging from the response to last month’s call for bids to run duty-free concessions at six small international airports.
Four out of the six have received no response, according to the Airports Authority of India, or AAI. That reflects retailers’ scepticism about their revenue earning potential amid an economic downturn and impatience over bureaucratic red tape.
There were no takers for duty-free retail space at Jaipur, Lucknow, Amritsar and Thiruvananthapuram. Coimbatore airport received two bids—from Dubai-based airport retailer Flemingo International Ltd and state-owned India Tourism Development Corp., or ITDC— and Pune airport got one from Flemingo.
The poor response—the results of the bidding were declared in the second week of January—was a setback to efforts to promote airport retail and upgrade existing airports. Passenger traffic is declining as the US and Europe struggle with recession and Indian economic growth slows.
Airport retail had been seen as a potentially attractive opportunity in India. In a September study, real estate consultant Cushman and Wakefield said about 78 million sq. ft of retail, commercial and hospitality space would come up by 2015 with 40 airports being upgraded and seven new ones built.
Globally, non-aeronautical revenue comprises 70% of airport revenue. In India, the proportion was 35% in 2007. The study by Cushman and Wakefield said that by 2015, the share of non-aeronautical revenues would likely grow to 54%. And by then, retailing would constitute a healthy 27% of non-aeronautical revenues, it said.
But such projections have failed to enthuse retailers.
22/01/09 Rasul Bailay/Livemint

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WB govt to go ahead with airport project

Burdwan: The West Bengal government would go ahead with the private airport project in Burdwan district despite the reservations expressed by the Coal India Ltd.
"If the private airport project is implemented, the picture of Burdwan and Durgapur will change," West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee said today at a conference here.
The airport, the first greenfield one, would be part of a Rs 10,000 crore Durgapur Aerotropolis ( Airport City) project by Bengal Aerotropolis Project which had signed a technical service agreement with Global Changi International Airports, he said.
CIL Chairman Partha S Bhattacharyya had said the company was not against the airport, but had informed the government that the coal reserve would be affected if the project went through.
22/01/09 Indopia

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Airport expansion: JAC to intensify agitation

Imphal: The JAC Against the Acquisition of Land for Expansion of Tulihal airport at Imphal has decided to step up the ongoing bandh along the Tiddim Road until the State Government withdraws its move of expanding the airport in collusion with the Airport Authority of India.
The JAC has been imposing a road block along the said route since January 19 .
JAC spokesperson Dinesh Sadokpam has also categorically stated that the Government should be solely held responsible for any eventualities in this regard.
Talking to mediapersons at Keishampat here today, Dinesh explained that the JAC has no objection as such to the proposal of developing the airport to suit the changing time but it should have the prior and informed consent of the people.
Forcing the people who mostly depend on agricultural activities for survival to part with their land at a time when the cost of one kg of rice has reached Rs 25 is simply unacceptable, he said.
Coming out strongly against the conduct of the police commandos who have been hunting down the land owners to force them into submission, Dinesh also hinted at a hidden agenda of the Government behind this.
22/01/09 The Sangai Express/E-Pao.net

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Unclaimed suitcases create flutter

Chennai: Five unclaimed suitcases found lying at the Airport's apron here created a flutter on Thursday.
According to officials, the suitcases were found at Apron 34, from where a Colombo-bound Jet Airways had taken off, triggering a bomb scare.
CISF and bomb disposal squad (BDS) cordoned off the area and did not allow planes to be parked at Aprons 31,34 and 35.
When BDS personnel opened the suitcases, they found it contained only clothes, officials said adding the loaders could have failed to put them in the designated flight.
22/01/09 PTI/The Hindu

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Delhi airport wins praise for Haj operations

New Delhi: The Haj terminal, an exclusive terminal for Haj pilgrims at the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport here, has come in for praise from the Delhi government Thursday. “We are very satisfied with the entire Haj operation carried out from the Delhi airport,” said Delhi’s Social Welfare Minister Rajkumar Chauhan. Over 18,000 devotees had flown for Jeddah from Delhi airport.
The IGI Airport is the only airport in India to have an exclusive permanent facility for Haj passengers.
Chauhan was speaking at a function organised by the airport developer, Delhi International Airport Ltd (DIAL), where members of the Haj Committee, which organises Haj tour for the pilgrims, were also present.
The first flight for this Haj season started Oct 30, 2008 and the flights continued to depart till Nov 16. However, special flights continued to operate till Jan 15 bringing back the pilgrims, said DIAL in a statement.
The flights operated for the purpose were by Saudi Arabian Airlines and Air India, said DIAL. Of the 123,211 pilgrims, 63,511 pilgrims flew by Saudi Arabian Airlines while Air India carried 59,700 devotees.
22/01/09 IANS/Thaindian.com, Thailand

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DIAL sends out RFPs for second cargo terminal, upgrading facilities

New Delhi: Even as the first phase of modernisation plans of Delhi Airport have hit financial hurdles, the GMR group-led Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL) has set the ball rolling for expansion of cargo facilities at the international airport.
It has sent out a request for proposals (RFP) notice for the construction of the airport’s second cargo terminal and upgradation of existing facilities. The proposals have been sought from players in the cargo handling business to design, develop, finance, build and operate the new terminal for a 25-year concession period. In addition, separate proposals are being invited for the upgradation of the existing cargo facility.
The commissioning of work on the new cargo terminal is part of the estimated Rs-8,000 crore modernisation plan of Delhi airport. It is also likely to pave the way for the developer to get clearance from the civil aviation ministry to levy an airport development fee (ADF) on departing passengers, a proposal for which is already under the consideration of the ministry.
According to the operations management development agreement (OMDA) signed in April 2006 and the state support agreement (SSA), the Delhi airport had been allowed to increase aeronautical charges, which include charges like ADF, after two years of airport modernisation if they complete and commission mandatory capital projects in that period.
23/01/09 Smita Aggarwal/Indian Express

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International airport at Mohali to be ready in two years

Mohali: The upcoming international airport will start functioning from 2011. A decision to this effect was taken at a recent meeting of Airports Authority of India (AAI) held in Delhi. It has already been decided that international flights would start from the existing airport from June this year.
A copy of minutes of the meeting, received by Greater Mohali Area Development Authority (GMADA), said that the project would be completed in two phases, sources said.
According to GMADA officials, “AAI will bear all the capital expenditure and will also depute staff. The airport would be used not only for domestic and international flights, but cargo planes carrying flowers, agro products and garments would also take off from here.”
AAI had in its recent meeting discussed at length the preliminary report submitted to the civil aviation ministry last month by PricewaterhouseCoopers, who was appointed as consultant for the airport project, sources said. In the report, the consultant has also defined the role of three partners - AAI, who holds 51% stake, GMADA and Haryana, who holds 24.5% each - in the joint venture formed for the project.
22/01/09 Times of India

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Lack of CISF men holds up

Chennai: International flights at the Chennai Airport continue to suffer delays up to an hour because of a shortage of security personnel.
The situation, sources said, had not improved even after a recent meeting between the Airline Operators Committee and Airports Authority of India (AAI) officials.
Around 6.30 am on Monday, passengers of Air India Express, Kingfisher Airlines and Oman Airways picked up an altercation with Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) personnel manning two security check gates at the international departure terminal.
Only two counters were being manned to screen as many as 300 passengers. Two more counters were lying unused and the queue stretched past the duty-free shops.
The Kingfisher Airlines flight to Colombo was delayed by half an hour because security checks could not be completed on time. Passengers turned impatient and many of them tried to jump the queue, compounding the situation.
"Open more counters or else we will like to talk to the senior officials," shouted a couple of passengers. The CISF personnel said that they were short of staff and more counters could not be opened.
Airline officials remained mute spectators when the security personnel refused to give preference to their passengers though their flights were getting delayed. The CISF personnel were even heard telling passengers to endure the security check in silence.
The situation on Tuesday was the same.
Such tardy security checks had been delaying international schedules for long. Passengers who get the boarding pass after immigration and customs formalities do not come for security check immediately because they like to relax in the lounge, said an airline official.
22/01/09 Times of India

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Flying burglar grounded at airport

Chennai: Imagine asking your co-passenger in a plane, "So, what do you do?" and the man replying, "Well, I'm a burglar." While one can be certain that Tohail Ahmed did not go about revealing his profession to his fellow passengers looking for small talk, police claim that he did frequently fly down from Bangalore to Chennai with the sole purpose of committing theft.
Anna Nagar police is slowly unravelling the mystery behind a number of house break-ins in the city as Ahmed (32), went into the confessional mode after the court sent him to police custody. Ahmed, a native of Cuddalore who went on to settle in Bangalore, was caught by immigration authorities 10 days ago at the Chennai airport while trying to flee to Malaysia. Police sources said he was under watch and that is why immigration authorities arrested him.
"His involvement was confirmed by fingerprint analysis. He has also owned up many burglary cases. We are in the process of recovering the valuables which he had stolen from many houses in the city," a senior police official told The Times Of India.
Ahmed, according to the official, had been an innovative burglar. "All along, he had been involved in house break-ins. He came down from Bangalore and burgled houses in Chennai. He then went back to Bangalore and sold the ornaments and other valuables there," the official said.
Some policemen said that Ahmed would fly down to Chennai and hire a taxi from the airport to go around the city to identify houses he would target. They said he splurged the money he got through house break-ins to live in style and always dressed well to give no hint of his profession.
22/01/09 Times of India

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20 men heading for Iraq detained

Chennai: A group of 20 men headed to Dubai from the State were detained at the airport here. Police sources said immigration officials became suspicious that the men, who hailed from different districts, were headed to Iraq to be employed in well-paid but menial jobs. On being questioned, the men admitted that they were going to Iraq.
Officials said the men paid Rs 1 lakh each to a job agent, who also arranged for their visa to Iraq from Dubai. “Their travel plan was traced. The passport of some men showed that they had been to Iraq before. Some had their passports issued there; which gave them away.”
They said it was a routine matter. Travel to Iraq was banned, as it was a war zone. The risks of never coming back were high. Despite that many job seekers wanted to go the Gulf country because of the attractive pay packets.
Sources told Express that the men were generally employed through sub-contract by the US army for routine jobs like building roads and transport and catering services. Drivers were in great demand.
The entire modus operandi is simple. Sub-agents across the State scout for willing people and get them a tourist visa for Dubai and from there another agent arranges for another visa to travel to Iraq, which is a simple process. Ten out of the 20 men tried to go to Dubai on Wednesday on an Indian Airlines flight, but they were detained again.
22/01/09 Mamta Todi/ExpressBuzz

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Displaced AAI employees may be offered VRS

New Delhi: The Airports Authority of India (AAI) is planning a voluntary retirement scheme (VRS) for its workers displaced as a result of the privatization of the New Delhi and Mumbai airports.
AAI is the government’s airports regulator and runs most other airports in the country.
The New Delhi and Mumbai airports, ranking among India’s busiest, were privatized by the Union government two-and-a-half years ago.
The proposed VRS is expected to cost at least Rs1,000 crore and will cover some 4,000 AAI employees at the two airports. Under the terms of privatization agreements, the costs have to be shared by the private consortia running them.
The airports were handed over as a public-private partnership in May 2006 to a GMR Infrastructure Ltd-led consortium that runs Delhi International Airport (P) Ltd (DIAL), and GVK Infrastructure and Power Ltd-led consortium that runs Mumbai International Airport Pvt. Ltd (Mial), with a condition that the two firms will retain the AAI employees—numbering at least 2,000 each—for the first three years.
Under the agreement, DIAL and Mial were to offer and try to absorb about 60% of these employees. But so far, just 5% of the workers at these two airports have accepted the offer by the airport companies. By May, most will return and join AAI, resulting in a huge surplus pool. AAI, according to data of March last year, had 19,180 employees, including those at the Delhi and Mumbai airports.
21/01/09 Tarun Shukla/Livemint

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Laqshya Media scales up outdoor advertising at Hyderabad airport

Outdoor media service specialist Laqshya Media has unveiled its largest advertising display system to date at Rajiv Gandhi International Airport (RGIA).
The centre-piece of the display system is a backlit triple-sided, double-decker Unipole advertising unit, positioned near the Passenger Terminal Building and visible from the runway, the terminal building and also the approach road.
The new installation has a display space of 5,400sq ft and is the largest backlit display unit at an Indian airport.
Laqshya Media has also integrated additional formats such as V-shaped Unipoles, Portrait Unipoles & Car Park flag poles into its advertising system, all strategically placed on the main access road leading to the airport.
With a full saturation capacity of 40 million passengers per annum, alongside high dwell times of one hour for domestic passengers and one hour forty five minutes for International passengers, the airport is hoping to maximise the effectiveness of its new advertising solution.
21/01/09 Matt Willey/Moodie Report

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Search on Indian envoy: Sudan orders probe

A diplomatic row is brewing between Sudan and India over the alleged harassment of the Indian ambassador by customs and security officials at the Juba International Airport.
Information and Broadcasting minister in the Government of Southern Sudan, Mr Gabriel Changson Chang, confirmed the incident and later told the Press that about six customs and security officers were involved in a dramatic embarrassing situation when they demanded to inspect the baggage of the Indian ambassador to the Sudan, Mr Deepak Vohra last Thursday.
Under the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, the baggage of the Head of Diplomatic Mission is exempted from customs searches. It was also alleged that the officers tried to block him from boarding a plane to Khartoum if he did not pay them some money in bribery.
Following the incident the South Sudan government has ordered the Internal Affairs minister to take immediate measures including identifying the culprits who were involved in the incident, investigate and prosecute them.
However, the incident ended peacefully after some other interventions forced the Indian Consul General in Juba to present a complaint to the Government of Southern Sudan through the Regional Cooperation ministry after informing it about the incident. The Government of Southern Sudan’s Cabinet, chaired by Vice President Riek Machar, was briefed over the issue on Friday by its Regional Cooperation minister Dr Barnaba Marial Benjamin.
Dr Marial told the Cabinet that the incident started when the Indian Consul General in Juba went to the Airport on Thursday morning to check-in the baggage of the ambassador who was travelling to Khartoum.
The incident happens barely few weeks after another embarrassing one involving a Kenyan and a top minister in the Government of Southern Sudan.
Housing and Public Utilities minister had given a Kenyan businessman who was travelling to Nairobi, about $2,000 (Sh156,000) to take to his family in Nairobi. But while inspecting the baggage and getting the money inside the bag, the security personnel allegedly demanded to take $500 (Sh39,000), leaving the Kenyan with the remaining $1,500 (Sh117,000) only.
21/01/09 Daily Nation, Kenya

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Now, hyenas take a walk on the runway!

Kolkata: A Jet Airways evening flight from Agartala to Kolkata had to hover for sometime before landing at NSC Bose Airport because of the reported sighting of hyenas on the runway by another pilot, who had landed earlier today.
The pilot of Indigo's flight from Nagpur to Kolkata, who landed here at about 6.40 p.m. informed the Airport Authority of India (AAI) officials that he had sighted two hyenas on the runway while landing. Accordingly, AAI officials conducted a search to ensure that there was no obstruction for the landing and taking off of the flights. Meanwhile, the pilot of the Jet Airways flight from Agartala, which came to Kolkata and was in the final phase of landing, was instructed by the ATC officials to hover till the runway inspection was over. The AAI officials did not find any animal on the runway and eventually the flight was given the clearance to land.
20/01/09 The Statesman

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Falcons to tackle bird menace at airport proposed

Jaipur: The forced landing of US Airways Flight (1549) on the Hudson river in New York, somedays ago, could have been avoided if the US airport authority stationed trained falcons to check the birds' movements, according to Shahid Khan, a 50-year-old jeweller and the only Indian who has a licence to train falcons.
Khan had sent a proposal to the civil aviation ministry, providing a fool-proof solution to reduce the bird-hits in the country. He offered to train falcons to make rounds around the airport, minutes before the landing and take-off, to scare away the birds. "It creates a panic among the other birds. While flying, birds generates a sound in the sky, which prohibits other birds to fly in the region," added Khan.
The Airport Authority of India (AAI) had realized the importance of biological methods to reduce the movements of birds a decade ago, when their modern methods failed to prevent bird-hits. The additional principal chief wildlife warden had urged the Union ministry of forest and environment to grant permission two individuals, Shahid Khan and Shantanu Kumar, to capture falcons and train them in 1999. Khan has also demonstrated the impact of the falcon's presence in reducing aircraft damage in his report to the aviation ministry, time and again.
Anuj Agarwal, airport director of Jaipur, agreed that the birds get used to the man-made tactics, which makes them ineffective after a period of time.
There has been five major and 20 minor bird-hits reported at Jaipur airport last year. Every bird-hit causes severe financial damages to the airline company. "Nearly 80% of bird-hits have been reduced at the airports which had adopted the falcon solution", claimed Khan.
21/01/09 Shoeb Khan/Times of India

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Terror 'parks' at Sahar

Mumbai: Two months ago, the Sahar police declared the lane outside the IndianOil depot on Sahar Road a no-parking zone. But Mumbai International Airport Limited (MIAL) recently made it a pay-and-park area. And this has raised security concerns.
Anyone can park a vehicle on the road that houses the IndianOil station by paying Rs60 for four hours. Tourist vehicles and cars from other states are often parked on this road.
"MIAL started the pay-and-park facility almost 15 days ago. There is no one to check the vehicles," an airport official said. Even DNA had a first-hand experience by parking a scooter from 1pm to 4 pm for Rs60. No one questioned anything. The sensitive area has 10 major oil tanks with each housing almost 60,000 lakh litres of aviation turbine fuel (ATF).
"We even wrote to MIAL asking them not to make it a parking area. We made them put up no-parking boards as well," an officer from the Sahar police station said.
"Anybody can keep a bomb inside a vehicle that is parked here. It is a threat not only to the oil installations but to the entire Sahar and Vile Parle area. And there is no one to check the vehicles that are being parked here."
Dilip Patil, senior police inspector, said they had asked MIAL to make it a no-parking area. He promised to take up the matter with MIAL after he was told of the pay and park facility there.
21/01/09 Navita Singh/Daily News & Analysis

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Row between Pvt airlines and GMR authorities

Hyderabad: The ongoing row between domestic private airlines and GMR authorities over the Common Infrastructure Charges (CIC) being levied by the operators of the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport (RGIA) at Shamshabad appears to have been settled in favour of the airport authorities by the Centre.
Sources in GMR told TOI that the union ministry of civil aviation has directed the different domestic air carriers operating from Rajiv Gandhi International Airport to pay the CIC as applicable to the airport management. This was decided at a meeting which ministry officials had with the Federation of Indian Airlines (FIA) on Monday in New Delhi, they added. While the international carriers have been paying the fee since the airport commenced operations in March 2008, the domestic ones were not, thus sparking a row between the authorities and the carriers.
The GMR authorities were seeking the fee from the carriers for using facilities like aerobridges, common reservation system and computerised video guidance system. This amounted to Rs 70 per passenger for using aerobridge and Rs 48 per passenger for using boarding ladders.
With the centre ruling in favour of GMR, the airport authorities now want to collect the arrears from the domestic air carriers as well as collect the current ones.
21/01/09 Times of India

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Private Aircraft to Soar through Fog

New Delhi: Fog will soon cease to be the great leveller that currently forces the noveau rich to fly with the aam admi in CAT III compliant schedule airlines during winter.
Based on requests from several owners of private planes and charter operators to allow their aircraft to become CAT III-compliant, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has set up a panel to find out how this can be made possible.
At present, instrument landing system (ILS) norms that allow movement under different fog conditions that are ranked I, II or III based on how poor visibility is, exist only for schedule airlines. Which means, that even if the richest individuals who use their own private or charter planes can't have the CAT III rating for their aircraft and pilots.
"A committee has been set up for examining general aviation's (that operates on non-schedule permit) request for becoming CAT III compliant. At present, this compliance is only for schedule airlines. Now general aviation also wants to have planes and pilots that can operate in fog. The panel will try to work out the regulations and procedures for this," DGCA chief Nasim Zaidi said. The request from owners of private planes to install the CAT III system that may cost upto a couple of crores along with expensive pilot training is, however, not surprising. Fog sets in anywhere from November-end and keeps descending on Delhi and other cities anywhere till February-end or early March.
21/01/09 Daijiworld.com

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Sri Lankan Tamil pilgrims stranded at Chennai airport

Chennai: About 95 Sri Lankan Tamils were stranded at the Chennai airport when they missed the return flight to their homeland on Monday. Several of them were held up enroute to the airport in buses for fear of violence in connection with the fasting of VCK leader Thirumavalavan.
This group of 95 Tamilians had come from Sri Lanka last week on a pilgrimage to Sabarimala and were supposed return home on Monday by a Sri Lankan airlines flight in the morning. However, several of them were coming back by road and their buses were stopped because of Thirumavalavan’s fasting for the cause of their larger community back home.
The Sri Lankan airlines flight on Monday morning reportedly waited for them for about an hour and then took off without these passengers. While seven of these people came to Chennai by train and boarded their scheduled flight on Monday, the rest of them reached the airport only in the evening.
The representatives of Sri Lankan airlines then assured them that they would be sent home depending on the seat availability. While some members of the group were sent on Tuesday, a majority of them still sat waiting at the airport to be put on the next flight.
21/01/09 ExpressBuzz

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Delhi airport upgrade under cloud

New Delhi: Delhi International Airport Ltd (DIAL), the GMR-led consortium that is modernising and operating India’s busiest airport, is seeking to change its lead banker from private sector ICICI Bank to government-owned Canara Bank even as serious questions are being raised about the project’s financial viability.
The company is facing difficulties raising further loans to complete the Rs 8,890-crore project, scheduled to be ready by March 2010, owing to the reluctance of some promoters to augment equity, heavy revenue-sharing commitments and lower-than- expected revenues.
Delhi airport is the first of the country’s airport to start work on a modernisation plan under a public-private partnership. The DIAL consortium comprises Bangalore-based GMR Infrastructure (50.1 per cent), Fraport AG and Malaysia Airport Holding Berhad (10 per cent each), India Development Fund managed by IDFC (3.9 per cent) and the Airports Authority of India (AAI), which has 26 per cent stake.
Of the sanctioned loan of Rs 4,940 crore, DIAL has raised Rs 2,500 crore; by the end of March, it needs to raise a total of Rs 3,807 crore.
The problem is the contribution toward equity by the promoters. Under the original plan, the equity portion was Rs 840 crore till March 2010 and it needed to raise a deposit of Rs 3,110 crore by leasing land for hotels around the airport. This was to be treated as quasi-equity. The promoters have contributed toward equity Rs 700 crore till now but have not been able to raise the full lease deposit.
Banks, therefore, are asking the company to replenish the lease deposit by equity.
20/01/09 Arun Kumar/Business Standard

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Dense fog disrupts flight services in Delhi

New Delhi: At least 30 flights were cancelled and six delayed as dense fog engulfed Delhi Monday, an official said.
An Air India flight from Muscat was diverted to Jaipur early morning as visibility at the runway here dropped to less than 100 metres, an official at Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) said.
The Delhi International Airport Ltd, the company that has developed and manages the international airport in the capital, said in a statement that the visibility at the new runway was 75 metres, while it was 100 metres at the main runway at midnight.
However, visibility was normal Monday afternoon, when it improved to 2,500 metres at the new runway and 3,000 metres at the main runway.
About 920 flights have been delayed and 156 cancelled since Dec 29 here. Fifteen flights were cancelled Sunday, with 50 being delayed and 23 diverted.
19/01/09 IANS/The Hindu

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Deadlock continues over Nagpur airport transfer to MADC

Nagpur: The deadlock over the transfer of the Nagpur airport to the Maharashtra Airport Development Company (MADC) continues. This despite the
fact that the MADC officials, representatives of the Airport Authority of India (AAI) and senior bureaucrats of the Maharashtra government met in Mumbai on Monday.
It was decided to push for the transfer process. The state government would also write a letter to the union aviation secretary to the effect. It was agreed that the AAI would also take up the issue with its senior officials in New Delhi. The Nagpur airport, at present, is under the AAI administration and has singed a memorandum of understanding to transfer it to MADC. The entire Mihan project hinges on the transfer of Nagpur airport to MADC after which it would be further developed for upgrading it into a cargo hub.
20/01/09 Times of India

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Amritsar airport: No Singapore flights from Feb 2

Amritsar: Singapore Airlines will stop flights from here from February 2. But Rs 140- crore modernisation and expansion project under way is likely to be commissioned soon.
Senior manager of Singapore Airlines Ang said it had been decided to terminate thrice-a-week flights for reasons like lack of cargo and J class load. There was no move to review the decision though they would like to continue the operations as they were getting sufficient economy class load.
Earlier, Jet Airways had stopped daily Amritsar-London flights in November last year, to the chagrin of NRI diaspora and vegetable exporters.
Meanwhile, the Goair has decided to launch flights from February 15 connecting the holy city with Mumbai and Srinagar. Traders and industrialists have hailed Goair for connecting the city with Mumbai and Jammu and Kashmir. Airport authority officials have yet to receive the flight operation schedule.
19/01/09 SikhSangat

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DGCA to revive panel to tackle bird menace

New Delhi: Close on the heels of a miraculous crash landing on river by a bird-hit plane in New York and the engine of a Kolkata-Guwahati flight catching fire after ingesting kites, the government has decided to take urgent steps to tackle this growing menace at Indian airports.
The national committee of prevention of bird menace at airports is going to be revived after a gap of nearly two decades. This panel has experts from various fields like urban management and aviation to ensure airports in cities get a clean environment for safe movement of flights.
While setting up this panel may take some time, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has issued directives to all airport operators to immediately take some steps. "They have to activate local environment management committees, which are supposed to ensure that environs around airports are clean and cease to attract birds. Operators must deploy all measures like having bird chasers, crackers and other equipment to ensure safe aircraft movement at airports. If some of this equipment is with private agencies, the operators must hire them at the earliest," DGCA chief Nasim Zaidi said.
DGCA will do an audit of all airports in the country, especially those, where bird hits are a regular menace, like Vadodara, Ahmedabad, Kolkata, Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai, which pilots dread.
"The problem of planes approaching to land or about to take off suffering bird hits and endangering passenger lives is more than just an airport issue. The entire area around the airport has to be clean with no garbage dumped in open that could attract birds. Unfortunately, neither civic agencies nor people living or running commercial establishments near airports seem to be mindful of this," an airline official rued.
19/01/09 Times of India

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Fly peacefully; at Chennai no bird hits for yr now

Chennai: If you're flying in or out of Chennai, you can probably sit back and relax as there have been no bird hits around the airport since last February.
After a JetLite aircraft sustained a bird hit soon after taking off from Kolkata for Guwahati on Saturday morning and a US Airways Airbus landed on the Hudson river on Friday after flying into a flock of geese, travellers may worry about avian activity around the city airport.
But the last reported incident was when a bird hit the engine of an Indigo Airlines aircraft soon after take-off in February last. Fears of bird strikes returned when the left wing flap of a Sri Lankan Airlines aircraft was recently found damaged during a routine inspection. However, officials heaved a sigh of relief after it was confirmed that the hit occurred en route and not while landing."We haven't had any bird hits after we introduced a series of measures to control avian activity near the airport. We also employ people to scare birds," said airport director K Natarajan.
Airports Authority of India (AAI) has signed an MoU with the government to ensure that avian activity does not affect aircraft movement near airports. AAI has carried out intensive awareness programmes telling restaurant owners and residents not to litter, while local body officials were told to prevent the opening of slaughter-houses near the airport.
19/01/09 Times of India

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Brainstorm after bird hit at airport

The Airports Authority of India will conduct a detailed inquiry into the bird hit near Calcutta airport on Saturday that forced a JetLite flight with 54 on board to make an emergency landing.
The report will be submitted to the Director General of Civil Aviation.
Bird chasers at Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport said the method of surveillance needed to change to avoid bird hits. According to them, chances of planes colliding with birds increase in winter. “The migratory birds fly into the city and to surrounding areas like the Santragachhi jheel and the East Calcutta wetlands during this season. Flocks of birds often hit aircraft engines causing extensive damages,” said a bird chaser at the Calcutta airport.
Since these birds fly very high, bursting of firecrackers and blank shots by bird chasers are not effective.
“We need expert bird monitors. They should keep constant watch with binoculars and alert the Air Traffic Control whenever a flock approaches,” said an official.
Airport officials felt that the problem was impossible to eliminate but could be minimised.
“We have repeatedly asked the municipal authorities to remove the markets around the airport boundary walls but they haven’t done anything,” alleged a senior airport official.
Last year, authorities of the Rajarhat, South Dum Dum and Madhyamgram municipalities and the Airports Authority of India met several times to discuss the issue but nothing fruitful came out of it.The state government later proposed to develop parks on plots adjoining the airport compound.
19/01/09 The Telegraph

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Juba Airport officers accused of harassing Indian Ambassador

Juba: A number of unidentified Security and Customs Officers deployed at Juba International Airport have been accused of harassing a senior diplomat on Thursday.
Government of Southern Sudan (GoSS) Minister of Information and Broadcasting, Gabriel Changson Chang, told the press on Friday that about six Customs or Security Officers involved in dramatic embarrassing situation on Thursday when they demanded to inspect the baggage of the Indian Ambassador to Sudan, Deepak Vohra, and tried to block him from boarding a plane to Khartoum if he did not pay them some money in bribery.
The incident which ended peacefully after some other interventions forced the Indian Consul General in Juba to present a complaint to the Government of Southern Sudan through the Ministry of Regional Cooperation after informing the Ministry about the incident.
The Government of Southern Sudan’s cabinet after being briefed on Friday by the Minister of Regional Cooperation, Dr. Barnaba Marial Benjamin, on the incident immediately resolved to direct the Minister of Internal Affairs to take some immediate measures that included identifying the culprits who involved in the incident, investigate and prosecute them.
The incident disappointed the Government which described it as “embarrassing.”
In his narration to the Council of Ministers meeting chaired by the Vice President, Dr. Riek Machar Teny, the GoSS Regional Cooperation Minister told the cabinet that the incident started when the Indian Consul General in Juba went to the Airport on Thursday morning to check-in the baggage of the Ambassador who was traveling to Khartoum. He said four security or customs officers emerged and asked the diplomat to open the baggage for inspection.
Marial explained that it happened despite the fact that the baggage which consisted of four packages were clearly labeled as “Embassy of India Khartoum” which unfortunately the Officers did not respect.
He further explained that the diplomat tried to explain to the Officers that it was not necessary to search the baggage since the Ambassador had privileges and immunities that exempt him from such searches, but they still insisted on opening the baggage.
Under the international Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, the baggage of the Head of Diplomatic Mission is exempt from Customs searches.
The incident was resolved after intervention by another senior officer from the Security Detachment at the Arrival Section who immediately authorized check-in of the Ambassador’s baggage without inspection.
Unfortunately, the matter did not end there. When the Ambassador, Deepak Vohra himself arrived at the Airport and went to the VIP lounge, two other personnel in plain clothes who were not present among the first four officers accosted him in the lounge and told him rudely that they would open his baggage unless he produced the relevant “documents” or gave them money.
“When the Ambassador politely asked what documents were needed, they were unable to answer. In order to avoid an unpleasant situation, Ambassador Vohra offered to travel without his baggage. As he was on his way to the aircraft, the two officers rudely tried to block his way, but seeing other passengers looking at them, they moved away,” lamented the Minister.
“When the Ambassador’s diplomatic passport and Identity Card were shown to them, they shouted, “We don’t care throw the passport away,” he added.
The cabinet discussions on the incident also recalled other similar unpleasant incidences involving not only diplomats but also senior GoSS officials at the Airport.
19/01/09 James Gatdet Dak/Sudan Tribune, Sudan

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