Air India International told to pay Rs 4.16 lakh compensation

New Delhi: The National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC) has asked Air India International to pay compensation of Rs 4.16 lakh to a cotton fabric manufacturer after some bales in a consignment were stolen and others damaged due to exposure to rain.
The complainant, Soimex International (P) Limited, had entered an agreement in 1996 with a Middle-East company, Al Khwaja, for delivering a consignment comprising 43 bales of fabric.
But the complainant suffered losses after most of the cotton bales were damaged at Mumbai airport after the carrier chose to break the journey from Delhi to Dubai in the process of completing the assignment.
"If the carrier had chosen to break the journey after airlifting the consignment..., any loss caused to it at Bombay airport will have to be borne by Air India International," the Commission, comprising Members Justice K S Gupta and Rajyalakshmi Rao, said.
The manufacturer approached the Commission, seeking Rs 38.50 lakh compensation for the loss of business and reputation by the carrier's deficiency in service.
The carrier alleged that the Airports Authority of India, Mumbai was liable for the damage to the consignment as the bales were lying under its custody.
The Commission cited the condition which attributed responsibility on the carrier to deliver the complete consignment to the destination.
31/01/10 PTI/Economic Times

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Qatar Airways to fly Bangalore from Feb 22

Doha: Qatar Airways has announced plans to fly daily to Bangalore, the capital of India's Karnataka state, from February 22.
Bangalore (also known as Bengaluru), India's top information technology hub, is also a major industrial and commercial centre.
Flights will depart Doha at 2100 and arrive in Bangalore at 0335. Return flights will leave Bangalore at 0435 and arrive in Doha at 0640.
Dotted by numerous parks and tree-lined avenues, Bangalore is known as the “Garden City of India”. Considered the IT capital of India, it is home to numerous computer software, aerospace and telecommunications companies.
With the addition of Bangalore, Qatar Airways’ Indian capacity will rise to 71 flights a week spread across 11 cities. These include Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Trivandrum, Cochin, Kozhikode, and recently introduced Goa and Amritsar.
The Doha – Bangalore route will be operated by an Airbus A320, featuring 12 seats in Business Class and 132 in Economy.
Qatar Airways chief executive officer Akbar Al Baker said the new route demonstrated the airline’s ongoing commitment to the Indian market.
31/01/10 TradeArabia, UAE

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Actual aviation security at TIA

The print media has been recently abuzz with the news of heightened security at the Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) citing security threats to Indian air-carriers. The officials from both the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN), the custodian of physical infrastructure of the TIA, and the police department are amusingly going overboard in trying to project a safe image of TIA. However, keen observers of the state-of-affairs at TIA are reluctant to accept the claims of a safe TIA citing fundamental problems within the elements involved in the operations of TIA.
First, despite being a commercial entity and involving a certain degree of hospitality or facilitation, TIA is being run by people bereft of any decent formal qualification in business management or branch thereof. The only necessary qualification required to run the show is some seniority within CAAN and the rest is clear proximity to the party in power. And the results are there for all to savor, stretching all the way from passenger queues to mess at taxi rentals. The million-dollar question is: Why is this farce going on for so long? Well, the primary cause for this continued deterioration has a historic precedence in that the airport managers have been posted for their capabilities to “contribute” to the political party and godfathers rather than for their capabilities to contribute to the airport and civil aviation. The reason is not difficult to fathom as two-thirds of the annual budget of TIA (to the tune of about 400 million rupees) fetches an attractive commission of up to 40 percent on the purchase of goods and services. When such an amount is involved, it is certain that an elite clique with direct political patronage will control the key functioning of the relevant matters and other voices of reason are summarily dismissed as dissent and the individuals suitably punished. The second cause of the mess is the lack of an alternative airport and this lack of competition makes the sole player complacent or, worse still, irresponsible.
31/01/10 Mukund Mishra/My Republica.com

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37 more CCTVs for Delhi airpot

New Delhi:Keeping in mind the security needs of Commonwealth Games, the Delhi Police is planning to install 37 more CCTVs at the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport here to ensure better monitoring of the facility as well as its periphery.
With this, the total number of CCTVs in the IGI will rise to 559.
The domestic terminal of the IGI presently has 325 CCTVs while the international terminal has 197 — both on the city side and and air side.
31/01/10 PTI/Nam News Network, Brunei

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AAI proposes temporary entrance to new terminal at Thiruvananthapuram airport

Thiruvananthapuram: In the wake of the inordinate delay in completing the construction of the approach road to the new terminal of the Thiruvananthapuram International Airport at Chakkai, the authorities are planning to open a temporary entrance to the new terminal from the Pettah-Chakkai stretch.
A proposal submitted by the Airports Authority of India (AAI) in this regard is under the active consideration of the State Government, said a highly-placed Government official.
The plan is to provide an entrance from the left side of the Pettah-Chakkai stretch immediately after the Chakkai bridge. Already there is an entrance at the spot through which construction materials are being transported to the construction site.
Once the works of the approach road from the NH-bypass near Injackal are completed, the temporary entrance may be used for VIP and VVIP movement as well as for emergency situations like traffic disruptions at the main entrance.
Law Minister M.Vijayakumar and other senior Government officials had held several rounds of talks with the AAI officials on the proposal. A final decision is likely to be taken soon, said the source.
31/01/10 ExpressBuzz

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Bajpe Airport : Four Directors in Eight Months Hampers Progress

It is generally said that comparisons are odious. Nevertheless situations call for such comparisons especially when undue delay and apathy nullifies the efforts and progress made by a predecessor and the successors fails to carry on the same tempo of progress. The fate of the new airport terminal at Bajpe Airport which awaits inauguration for quite some time now, is the situation referred to here that necessitates the comparison. When M R Vasudeva was the Airport Director tremendous headway was made as far as converting the tiny Mangalore Airport into that of an International standard one.
Ever since his promotion transfer to Coimbotore in April last year there has been a change of guard at the helm too often and one is bound to remember and compare his services with the present people at the top and one need not say the result has not particularly pleasing. In the last 8 months there have been four Airport Directors. M R Vasudeva B R Sena, V N Chandran and present Director Peter Abraham have been Airport Directors in the short span of 8 months. Peter Abraham assumed charge from V N Chandran in the last week of December 2009. Going by the trend one wonders how many more Directors and changes are in the offing before the new terminal sees the light of the day which is not too far if the airport authorities are to be taken on their face value.
With the tentative dates given for its inauguration of the new terminal getting postponed for reasons best known to the Airport Authorities both in Mangalore and Delhi, scores of people who have been fervently waiting for the new terminal to become operational, are getting impatient and are crestfallen.
According to the Peter Abraham K, the new Airport Director the new terminal will be inaugurated in March this year. However, he refused to divulge any more information including any further details on the eagerly awaiting direct flights to Saudi about which scores of people are keen to know.
31/01/10 Florinr Roche/Daijiworld

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Private sector international airport to come up in Punjab

Chandigarh: North India's first private sector greenfield international airport will soon come up near the industrial hub of Ludhiana in Punjab.
Covering an area of 3,000 acres, the 'Aerotropolis' is modelled on the lines of similar facilities in Singapore and Frankfurt.
Punjab's Civil Aviation Minister Upinderjit Kaur said: "The Aerotropolis will be built in the private sector by Messrs Bengal Aerotropolis which has Changi International Airport of Singapore as partner."
"The aerotropolis would come up in an area covering 3,000 acres and would be the first greenfield international airport in north India to be set up in the private sector. The Aerotopolis a modern age concept of a township-oriented airport, along the Singapore-Frankfurt model.
"It would be developed with a total fiscal layout of Rs.17,500 crore (Rs.175 billion/$3.77 billion)," she added.]
30/01/10 PTI/Economic Times

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Scare after flier asks plane to be taken to US

Kolkata: A passenger on board a Jorhat-Kolkata Jet Airways flight gave everyone on board a scare on Friday when he repeatedly asked the pilot to fly the plane to Houston in the US instead of Kolkata. The pilot made an emergency security landing at Kolkata airport after convincing the man that the flight was being diverted to Houston.
The passenger, Tarun Mahanta, was handed over to immigration department officials and later arrested. During interrogation, Mahanta reportedly told police that he had received a "divine message" that there would be trouble if the flight landed in Kolkata.
Mahanta, a resident of Jorhat, was coming to Kolkata on the flight with 119 other passengers. Barely 30 minutes before the plane was scheduled to land at Kolkata airport, Mahanta suddenly handed over a message to an airhostess and asked her to hand it to the plane's commander. The message asked the pilot to divert the plane to Houston to avoid serious problems. The commander, Sarvesh Gupta, On receiving the message,inquired into the matter and realised that Mahanta was mentally challenged and that there was no cause for worry. He then sent a message to Mahanta, assuring him that the flight was being diverted to Houston.
"As the Republic Day alert was on, there was a sky marshal on board and the pilot had instructed him to keep an eye on Mahanta and ensure that no panic occurred on board," a Jet Airways spokesperson said.
Police said Mahanta claimed to be a child specialist.
30/01/10 Arpit Basu/Times of India

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AAI to lease out land for funds

New Delhi: Funds for its on-going Rs 7,750-crore infrastructure projects at 37 airports in the country, the Airport Authority of India (AAI) has chalked out a plan to add to its revenue base by leasing out around 300 acres on the city side of 10 airports. The surplus land will be used for the setting up of hotels, parking lots and cargo and commercial complexes.
The land would be given on a 30-year lease that may be extendable to another 30 years.
The airports are: Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Vishakhapatnam, Indore, Kolkata, Lucknow, Amirtsar, Hyderabad, Guwahati and Bhubneshwar.
The AAI has planned to invest Rs 1,940 crore on infrastructure projects at the Kolkata airport, Rs 2,000 crore at Chennai, besides Rs 290 crore at Ahmedabad, Rs 245 crore at Thiruvananthapuram, Rs 330 crore at Goa, Rs 250 crore at Amritsar, Rs 77 crore at Chandigarh, Rs 100 crore at Guwahati, Rs 147 crore at Mangalore, Rs 130 crore at Madurai, Rs 135 crore at Raipur, Rs 125 crore at Jaipur, Rs 117 crore at Vadodara and Rs 110 crore Varanasi.
29/01/10 Manish Tiwari/Samiran Saha/Hindustan Times

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AAI seeks cash for giving up big airports

New Delhi: Airports Authority of India, the country’s largest airport operator, has decided to seek compensation from the government for the revenue loss suffered due to closure of commercial operations at two of its money spinning airports in Hyderabad and Bangalore. The move follows finance ministry’s refusal to issue Rs 5,000-crore worth of tax-free bonds sought by AAI to help it meet the shortfall in revenue.
“The government’s decision to shut commercial operations at the Hyderabad and Bangalore airports has resulted in a revenue loss of Rs 300 crore, ” a senior AAI official, who did not wish to be identified, told ET, adding that it should be compensated for the loss.
The AAI is upgrading 35 non-metro airports in the country in addition to two major airports in Chennai and Kolkata with an estimated investment of Rs 12,434 crore.
While the Delhi and Mumbai airports have also been privatised, the private companies running the two airports are required to share a substantial portion of the revenue generated with AAI. The two airports contribute about Rs 900 crore annually to the kitty of public sector airport operator.
30/01/10 Nirbhay Kumar/Economic Times

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New ILS for Chandigarh airport

Chandigarh After much delay, the work on installation of Instrument Landing System (ILS) at the Chandigarh Airport has begun. The Airports Authority of India (AAI) has received permission from the Air Force, much to the relief of air passengers.
After the attempt by AAI for calibration of the existing ILS turned futile, the Air Force and AAI authorities discussed the installation of a new ILS. As the existing instrument was found unfit for calibration, the only option left was for the installation of a new instrument, the proposal for which was earlier put on the backseat by the AAI.
“The AAI has signed an MoU with the Air Force authorities for installation of a new ILS. As the existing ILS is installed in the Air Force premises, AAI was awaiting the permission for its replacement. The process has been initiated,” said Chandigarh Airport Director Suneel Dutt.
The new ILS will be of the same category — CAT-I — as the previous one, which was installed by the Air Force around 15 years ago. Though the ILS does not assist in flight operations at night, it is useful during bad weather conditions. ILS CAT-I assists in aircraft landing between 2800-1200 m visibility. CAT-II assists in visibility of 200 m and above while CAT-III is operational even in zero visibility.
Though the installation process, which is likely to cost Rs 4 crore, has been initiated, it will take nearly six months for the ILS to start operations.
30/01/10 RituSharma/Express India

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Indian National Sentenced To Hang For Ketamine Trafficking

Shah Alam: An Indian national was sentenced by the High Court here on Friday to hang for trafficking in 25kg of ketamine at the KL International Airport (KLIA) two years ago.
Judicial Commissioner Mohd Yazid Mustafa passed the death sentence on Athiseshan Singaram, 48, after ruling that the prosecution had proven its case beyond doubt.
Athiseshan was found guilty of committing the offence at the customs examination counter of the airport at about 3.30pm on July 26, 2008.
29/01/10 Bernama, Malaysia

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GMR to assemble planes next

Hyderabad: GMR Hyderabad International Airport Ltd (GHIAL) is setting up an aircraft manufacturing unit near the international terminal that it operates near the city, in a joint venture with an unnamed European major.
“We are talking to an European company, which is a leading aircraft manufacturer. We are hopeful of signing an agreement in the next 1-2 months,” Ravindran Devagunam, COO, of the aviation and aerospace business of the GHIAL, told DNA on Thursday.
The manufacturing activity would be confined to smaller aircraft initially. “We are looking assembling these small aircraft first,” Devagunam said.
GHIAL is setting up an aerospace special economic zone across 250 acres at the sprawling 5,500-acre airport complex.
In fact, the European company is working on this deal as part of its offset obligation for defence contracts bagged in India.
The GMR group is planning to convert this aircraft major into an anchor client at the manufacturing hub at the SEZ.
“We are talking to one more aircraft company. But, the European company would be the first to come and hopefully it would be the first with which we would be signing a deal,” he said.
The investments and size of the activity are yet to be determined.
In fact, the SEZ is one of the plans GMR has to monetize the property it has at the international airport.
29/01/10 KV Ramana/Daily News & Analysis

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Airports on alert after hijack threat

Mumbai: Airports across the country were put on high alert and security checks were intensified after a hijack threat was issued by the Intelligence Bureau (IB) on Thursday evening. The alert said that a plane hijack attempt was likely to take place on Thursday evening.
Security measures were beefed up immediately for both Thursday and Friday. Almost all major international airports in the country were already on a red alert because of Republic Day; the fresh intelligence input from the IB had only increased the threat perception, officials said.
Officials said it was a specific alert which said that an aircraft hijack attempt was likely on any aircraft, particularly between 7 pm and 7.20 pm.
“The alert was issued to all airports citing a possibility of a hijack attempt. Though it did not specify where the possibility of the incident happening was higher, it said that an attempt was likely on Thursday evening. Special measures have been taken for Thursday night in particular and security for Friday, too, has been stepped up as a preventive measure,’’ an official said. “Following the threat, all airports, particularly the major international ones, have been asked to tighten the security,’’ he added.
Airport officials have been working overtime after a specific hijack alert was sounded for flights to and from Nepal two days ago. The threat said that a re-run of the Air India Kathmandu-Delhi IC-184 hijack was likely. All flights going to Nepal were put on extra and special checks following the intelligence input.
29/01/10 Chinmayi Shalya/Times of India

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Fog breaks 7-yr record, engulfs Delhi airport for 172 hrs

New Delhi: Breaking a seven-year-old record, dense fog kept the Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi under its cover for 172 hours, so far this month, disrupting schedules of over 1,200 domestic and international flights and causing cancellation of 200 others.
"Dense fog, this January, has broken the record of January 2003 and has enveloped the airport for 172 hours. In January 2003, thick fog had kept the airport under wraps for 168 hours," RK Jenamani, Director-in-charge of Airport Met Department said.
However, in any month during the fog season, December 1998 holds the record of having the longest duration of fog that had engulfed the airport for 179 hours.
But, if this condition prevails and with three days still left in the month of January, fog could easily break the record of December 1998, he said.
Fog season is generally considered from November to February, with the months of December and January witnessing the longest durations of dense fog.
29/01/10 Press Trust of India/IBNLive

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Jan foggiest month since the '60s

New Delhi: With the last spell of fog on January 27 and 28, this month is now officially the foggiest since the 1960s, having clocked a total of 172 hours of below 200 m visibility. The good news is that the Met department does not foresee too many dense fog spells in the remaining days of the month.
This winter season has been unique in the sense that December recorded only 4 hours of below 200 m visibility against record-breaking January, and those also on the last day of the month. Met officials say that the current month has been plagued by persistent calm systems with no strong winds, a substantial moisture supply and middle latitude systems that regularly brought in cold air the combination of which proved ideal for dense fog formation. "This month has seen only five days which had no dense fog. Between January 9 and 13, visibility did not fall so much while the worst phase has been from the 19th to the 22nd which saw 33 hours of below 200 m visibility,'' said R K Jenamani, director in-charge, IGI Met.
The city finally got a respite from fog on Thursday though part of the new runway experienced low visibility during the early morning hours. That did not have any impact on flight movement as the runway was not in use during that period. The maximum temperature went up to 26.6 degrees Celsius, five degrees above normal, while the minimum was 10.1 degrees Celsius, two degrees Celsius above normal.
On Thursday, Delhiites enjoyed a warm sunny afternoon though the early part of the day remained cloudy under the impact of a western disturbance that is currently over northern Pakistan and Jammu and Kashmir.
29./01/10 Times of India

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Coming soon at airport: hi-tech control, new tower

New Delhi: While fog and technical snags have left the IGI Airport grounded for hours this season — operations were briefly disrupted even early Tuesday morning after two radar screens of the ATC tower went blank in quick succession — here’s finally some good news. Air traffic controllers at the country’s busiest airport would soon get the latest and more sophisticated Air Traffic Control (ATC) software.
For ATC officials manning the control tower amid space constraints, the Airports Authority of India (AAI) would soon construct a new control tower near the upcoming terminal T3 of IGI Airport.
“The new tower would be higher than the present one, to stand at approximately 70 metres,” AAI chairman V P Agrawal told Newsline.
Top sources have told Newsline that the new tower would be constructed by 2011. “It is part of the second phase of expansion of the Delhi Airport master plan,” a source said. “While air traffic control would be shifted to the new tower sooner, all other technical process would shift by 2015.
“The bigger tower would help us fight space congestion we are currently facing at the existing ATC tower.”
In another fortnight, the ATC system would make its shift to a new software that proposes to help Delhi fight air congestion as well.
29/01/10 Geeta Gupta/Indian Express

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Thief drives off with tractor at 'high-alert' IGI

New Delhi: Raising questions about security at IGI Airport during a "high-alert" period in the run-up to Republic Day, a thief managed to drive away a tractor belonging to SpiceJet airline. More than a week after the January 19 incident, police are yet to make headway in the case.
Airport police said an unidentified person had driven away with the red Mahindra tractor parked at terminal 1D. "The theft took place in the early hours of January 19 morning. The last log entry for the tractor was made at 1.20am. Later, when a driver went to fetch it, the tractor wasn't there. After the management had frantically searched for the vehicle, it informed the police," said a senior investigating officer. An insider hand is suspected.
To make matters worse, sources claimed there was no CCTV footage of the incident. Highly placed officials claimed that most of the CCTV cameras were only "partially" functional at night.
Though CCTV cameras were placed at the spot inside IGI from where a tractor was stolen, they were reportedly only "partially" functional at night. "That is the reason why no clear images have emerged of the driver who made off with the vehicle," an official said.
Delhi Police refuted the claim. "With the Commonwealth Games around the corner, DIAL along with security agencies has spruced up security in the entire airport. We can assure you that there are no security threats at the tarmac and the CCTVs cameras are fulfilling their purposes," a senior police officer said.
29/01/10 Dwaipayan Ghosh/Times of India

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High court raps Mumbai airport over congestion

Mumbai: The Bombay high court on Thursday expressed concern over the air traffic congestion at the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport.
“To say that there is no congestion in air traffic is running far away from the reality,” observed justice FI Rebello. “People are being charged extra by the airlines to provide various facilities, including the on-time landing of flights.”
The court was hearing a PIL filed by Resources of Aviation Redressal and seven others. Filed in 2009, the PIL claimed that the air traffic congestion at the international airport was jeopardising security of passengers.
“We want to highlight the current operational policies adopted by the Mumbai International Airport Limited (Mial) in particular, which has resulted in minimising and or jeopardising the security of the passengers for generating more and more revenue,” the petition claimed
The petition also highlights as to how the director general of civil aviation (DGCA), though specifically empowered to curtail wastage of aviation fuel and further empowered to ensure safety and security of passengers, is ignoring and neglecting the air congestion at the airport.
29/01/10 Hetal Vyas/Daily News & Analysis

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Airport operators want more duty-free liquor,uniform ATF tax

Mumbai: The private airport operators have demanded more duty-free import of liquor and wines, besides classifying aviation turbine fuel as a 'declared good' to reduce tax burden on it.
In a pre-budget memorandum to the Finance Minister, the Association of Private Airports Operators (APAO) has also demanded specific income tax exemption on the security component of the passenger service fee.
"Duty-free import of liquor may be allowed up to three litres and additional two litres for wines," the memorandum said, adding this would not only promote tourism but also benefit the passengers, Airports Authority of India as well as private airport operators, APAO secretary-general Satyan Nayar has said in the memorandum.
The association has also demanded that jet fuel should be brought under the declared goods category so that the fuel will have a uniform 4 per cent tax across the country. Now this varies from state to states.
Normally, fuel cost accounts for almost 40 per cent of the operational expenses of airlines.
28/01/10 Economic Times

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June debut for domestic terminal in Gujarat

Ahmedabad: At last, the swanky new terminal, which was under construction for last three years, will start functioning by June 2010. The civil aviation minister Praful Patel made this announcement at the fourth Vishwa Gujarati Parishad on Friday. Interestingly, the minister said that the inauguration of the terminal was delayed by only three months when it was supposed to have started functioning in March 2009.
It is noteworthy that the swanky terminal costs more than Rs300 crore. Earlier, it was decided that the terminal was to be used for international operations but now it will be operational only for domestic purposes. According to sources, the change in the plan will cost the Airports Authority of India (AAI) more than Rs50 crore as the existing terminals (both domestic and international) will be merged for international operations.
However, when DNA asked the reason behind the civil aviation ministry's change in plan, the minister refused to comment.
"This is the irony for AAI. We are already facing liquidity crunch and there is hardly any attempt to recover the money from airlines.
29/01/10 Satish Jha/Daily News & Analysis

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Nagpur airport staffers' strike from Friday

Nagpur: Be prepared to face inconvenience if you are scheduled to fly from Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar International Airport of the city in the next few days. A majority of the Airports Authority of India (AAI) staffers, who at present are working under the joint venture company Mihan India Private Limited (MIPL), will go on indefinite 'pen down' and 'tool down' strike from January 29.
"All employees (221) attached with fire, engineering, civil, administration and maintenance departments at Nagpur airport, excluding 120 staffers from communication, navigation and surveillance (CNS) and area traffic management (ATM), working under the newly-formed MIPL will join the strike," said JJ Goswami, secretary of Airport Authority of Employees Union.
The employees have decided to go on strike as both AAI and the MIPL have failed to sort out the issue as to who will pay their salaries.
Goswami said, "Just three months back, on August 6, 2009, Maharashtra Airport Development Company Limited (MADC) and AAI had announced the signing of an 'agreement of transfer' that effectively gave control of the city airport to MIPL. Since then, all staffers, except the 120 staffers from communication, navigation and surveillance (CNS) and area traffic management (ATM), were working under the newly-formed MIPL.
28/01/10 Times of India

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South African nabbed with 7 kg heroin at city airport

Mumbai: The Air Intelligence Unit (AIU) of Mumbai Customs nabbed a South African national with 7 kg of heroin at the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport (CSIA) Thursday morning. Julia Nyandeni (50) was allegedly on her way out of the country with a cache of high quality heroin hidden in the false bottom of a suitcase. Some quantity was hidden in the soles of three sandals and a few purses in the suitcase. “The Customs seized a total of 6.955 kilogram of heroin from her which is valued at seven crore rupees in the international market,” said Baljeet Singh Nunwal, Additional Commissioner of Customs, AIU.
According to Customs officials, the South African national was on her way to Manzini, the largest city of Swaziland in Africa. Nyandeni was due to board an Ethiopian Airlines flight to Addis Ababa from where she had a connecting flight to Johannesburg.
“We caught her because of our routine surveillance at the airport. We saw her behaving in a suspicious manner and kept an eye on her,” said a Customs official.
29/01/10 Indian Express

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Ray of hope for Bangkok air service

Guwahati: Flights in the Guwahati-Bangkok sector, which had died a premature death after being introduced with much fanfare, may take off once again with Thailand evincing keen interest in resumption of the service.
A Thai delegation had a detailed discussion here in back-to-back meetings with chief minister Tarun Gogoi and industry minister Pradyut Bordoloi on the possibility of resumption of the Guwahati-Bangkok flight today.
The Thai team, led by the country’s ambassador to India, Krit Kraichitti, comprised commercial counsellor at the Thai embassy in New Delhi, Tharadol Thongruang, besides officials from Thai Airways, among others.
If the move fructifies, it would give a fillip to trade ties between the region and Thailand, which also forms the focus area of India’s Look East policy.
Gogoi, while welcoming the show of interest by Thailand, said all support would be provided to make the venture a success.
He said tourism and other sectors would prosper if there was air connectivity between the Northeast and Thailand.
The chief minister even suggested a common tourism package given that there were similarities between the culture of Thailand and some parts of the Northeast.
29/01/10 The Telegraph

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Schedules of 200 flights disrupted; passengers stranded by fog

New Delhi: Thousands of air travellers were today stranded at the IGI airport here after thick fog blanketed the national capital throwing schedules of over 200 flights out of gear.
The Delhi airport witnessed 54 cancellations, the highest so far this fog season, and 34 flights (21 domestic and 12 international) were diverted to Jaipur, Lucknow, Mumbai, Kolkata, Bhopal, Bangalore, Chennai and Lahore after the runway visibility dropped to 50 metres.
A Malaysian Airlines flight (MH 191) from Kuala Lumpur was diverted to Lahore around 10.30 pm yesterday when the visibility was around 50 metres.
Delays and diversions of flights caused problems not only for the airlines but also for the passengers who had wait for long hours at the airport or in the aircraft before their flight were cancelled.
A Jetlite Kochi-Delhi flight landed here 18-hours after it took off from Kochi at 6.30 pm last evening.
Dense fog started to envelope the airport around 8.30 pm last night due to which the runway visibility was reduced to 50 metres and the general visibility to zero.
The runway visibility hovered between 50 metres and 100 metres throughout the night and early this morning, an airport official said.
Airport authorities implemented low visibility procedures (LVP) around 7 pm last evening as the runway visibility of the new runway deteriorated to less than 800 metres. It was finally terminated around 11 am today, after 16 hours.
A total of 167 flights operated during the LVP, of which 81 under CAT-I instrument landing system, two using CAT-II, 16 with CAT-III A and 68 using CAT-III B ILS, the official said.
With runway visibility hovering between 50 metres and 100 metres for most of the time, no flight could take-off as the minimum limit for a flight to take off during low visibility has been fixed to 150 metres by the Indian civil aviation regulator, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).
27/01/10 Zee News

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Season’s most intense fog hits airport

New Delhi Celebrating the 61st Republic Day, the Capital sat amid zero visibility on Tuesday morning as the season’s most intense fog stretched for over five hours.
The year now looks set to break the record of recent years while counting the highest number of dense fog hours in the month of January: the highest this decade was in January 2003, with 168 hours. This January, Delhi has already seen 148 hours of dense fog.
According to the weatherman, similar or worse conditions are likely to cloud the sky till the first week of February.
At the IGI Airport, flight operations remained suspended for nearly six hours — first due to low visibility and then due to an hour’s closure of airspace for the flypast during the Republic Day parade till about 12.15 pm.
“The spell of dense fog at IGI Airport on Tuesday morning was the worst in terms of intensity,” IGI Met department director-in-charge R K Jenamani said. “The runway visibility was consistently between 50 and 75 metres from 5.30 am to 11 am.”
He said the conditions do not seem to be improving, with a consistent pattern of weak winds over northern India: “This is an extra topical phenomenon when temperatures also continue to be low persistently.”
The Met department predicts the situation might improve after Thursday (January 28). “The incoming western disturbances are becoming more active, leading to an increase in moisture in the air. Humidity is already 100 per cent,” Jenamani said.
While flights can land in near-zero visibility, the mandatory take-off minima to be followed by pilots has been set by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation at 150 metres.
27/01/10 Express India

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Abusive flier offloaded from aircraft

Mumbai: In yet another incident of unruly passenger behaviour, a Kingfisher Airlines aircraft—which was taxiing for take-off on Tuesday—returned to its parking bay to offload a flier who had got abusive with a cabin crew member.
The incident took place around 6.45 pm after Mumbai-Hyderabad flight IT 3163 had taxied and had almost reached the runway for take-off. "The flight attendants, as usual, had gone around asking passengers to put their seats upright. When the flight attendants did a second round, they found this passenger with his seat still in a reclined position," an official said.
"The cabin crew member asked him to get his seat upright but received a barrage of abuses in response. It was not known whether the passenger was drunk," the official added.
The commander of the flight, when informed of the incident, decided to turn the aircraft back to the parking bay.
The passenger was offloaded and handed over to the airline security personnel. He had not checked in any bag and so the flight left immediately.
"As an added security measure, the passenger was kept at the airport till the flight landed in Hyderabad," the official said, adding that the passenger was seen pleading to be put back in the flight.
28/01/10 Manju V/Times of India

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Eighteen-hour ordeal for Jetlite passengers

New Delhi: It took Delhi Metro chief E Sreedharan, who has provided the city one of the fastest modes of transport, 18 hours to reach the national capital in a normally three-and-a-half hour flight from Kochi, due to fog.
Jetlite flight (S2-256) from Kochi, with Sreedharan and 100 other passengers, was scheduled to depart at 4.45 pm last evening but it took-off for Delhi around 6.30 pm after a delay of two hours and landed around 2.30 pm on Wednesday after the flight was diverted to Ahmedabad.
“As the plane reached Delhi around 11 pm on Tuesday night, the IGI airport was enveloped in dense fog and visibility had dropped to 50 metres. The pilot announced that the flight was being diverted to Ahmedabad,” said Ramesh Kumar, a passenger of the flight.
“After landing, the passengers had to wait for about an hour inside the aircraft.. ,” Kumar said, claiming that some passengers lost their baggages in the chaos. The airline provided accommodation to the passengers around 3 am after they protested, he claimed. Around 6 am, airline officials informed the passengers to be ready by 8 am on Wednesday.
“We boarded the flight around 10 am and it finally took off for Delhi around 11.30 am...” Kumar said.
28/01/10 Press Trust of India/Deccan Herald

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Cancelled flight forces minister to spend night at airport

Nagpur: Almost 90 Pune-bound passengers of Indigo Airlines' Delhi-Nagpur-Pune flight, including minister of state for home Ramesh Bagve, had to face hardship after the flight was cancelled after being delayed for over four hours on Tuesday evening.
Bagve, who is guardian minister for Chandrapur, spent the entire night in the VIP lounge at Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar International Airport.
One of the passengers on the flight, Rakesh Anand, said that when he was about to get a boarding pass, the airlines official informed them that the flight had been delayed an hour due to fog at Delhi airport, and would depart at 10.30pm. However, airline staffers later informed that the flight had been delayed further and would depart at 11.30pm. Another half an hour later, the staffers announced that the flight would depart at 12.30am. Rakesh said after a series of announcements, the airline staffers finally said the flight had been cancelled, leaving nearly 90 passengers in the lurch.
28/01/10 Times of India

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Headley flew PIA 7 times, named Pak father, yet went unchecked

New Delhi: In his flights to and from India, Lashkar-e-Toiba suspect David Coleman Headley flew Pakistan International Airlines seven times, mentioned his Pakistani father’s name — Syed Akhtar Geelani — in his passport and yet never raised a red flag in Indian immigration.
Top Intelligence sources have confirmed this to The Indian Express adding that as a cover, he used fake references, false entries, a quick switch of hotels — from the most expensive in Mumbai to backpacker haunts in Delhi — a shell office, shopping sprees in malls and bookstores.
His PIA flights assume significance given that their passenger manifests are routinely put through rigorous scrutiny and checks. In fact, these flights are timed in off-peak hours to facilitate careful inspection. Incidentally, Headley’s passport had his “American name,” instead of his original name Daood Geelani but it did mention his father’s name as Syed Akhtar Geelani.
The multi-agency probe into the nine visits made by Headley (between September 2006 and March 2009) and the single visit of his associate, Tahawwur Rana (November 2008) has uncovered a sinister modus operandi as the duo went about setting the stage for the Mumbai attacks.
28/01/10 Ritu Sarin/Indian Express

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Ethos Swiss Watch Studios plots Indian airport expansion

Ethos Swiss Watch Studios, a leading Indian retailer of Swiss watches, is eyeing expansion across India’s airport network after recently opening an outlet at Delhi Indira Gandhi International Airport Terminal 2.
The company’s first airport store opened in 2008 at the new Bengaluru International Airport, followed in October last year by a store at Delhi T1, Domestic Departures – described by the company as India’s first watch store in a domestic terminal. Then came the opening of its Departures duty free unit at Delhi T2. And the retailer said that “more airport stores are in the pipeline.”
Ethos Swiss Watch Studios CEO Yashovardhan Saboo said: “All of us at Ethos love the airport experience of welcoming new customers and meeting old friends and customers passing through Indian airports on business or holiday.
27/01/10 Dermot Davitt/The Moodie Report

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Radar screens again go blank at IGI

New Delhi: In the second such incident in a fortnight, some radar screens of the air traffic control tower at the IGI airport went blank in quick succession, sending the ATC officials in a tizzy.
According to airport sources, one or two radar screens (consoles) -- which shows traffic in the airspace controlled by Delhi tower and gives vital information like aircraft speed, height and call-signs -- suddenly went blank early Tuesday morning.
Unlike January 14 when a similar problem had arisen, all the radar consoles did not blink and the two were revived within a span of a few hours, said an official, who is associated with the maintenance of the system.
However, officials were on their toes as there was a top security alert due to the Republic Day celebrations which was to begin in a few hours. Since there were not many flights when the consoles blinked, the ATC officials managed to control the situation from getting out of control.
Presently, the ATC is using AutoTrack-II radar automation system and it is being upgraded to the advanced AutoTrack-III. On the evening of January 14, all consoles went blank during an exercise to upgrade the system which led to disruption in movement of aircraft over the vast north Indian stretch.
27/01/10 PTI/Deccan Herald

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Disaster averted as Iran Air flight lands with burst tyres

Mumbai: A major Republic Day disaster was averted at Mumbai Airport on Tuesday when an Iran Air Boeing-747 aircraft managed to land safely despite a set of burst tyres.
All 117 passengers and crew on the Tehran-Mumbai IR-810 were reported safe, according to airport sources.
The incident, which occurred around 8 am, was noticed by the pilot of the aircraft after landing as he was moving towards the passenger terminal.
He immediately alerted the concerned authorities and the aircraft was moved to a different location at Parking Bay No 49 where the passengers disembarked.
26/01/10 Indo-Asian News Service/Muslim News

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IGI airport grounded in zero visibility

New Delhi: After a one-day breather, flight operations at the IGI airport went into a disarray once again due to dense fog on Tuesday. Over 200 flights were delayed by up to four to five hours and another fifty flights were cancelled when a thick fog started to descend over the airport from the wee hours of Tuesday and went on till about 1:30 pm.
Sources said that this was probably the most intense fog of the season. It set in late — from 6 to 11 but during this time the runway visibility range (RVR) remained consistently below 100m. In fact, it fluctuated between 50m and 100m, stuck at 75m for a major period.
No flights could land even using the CAT-III B instrument landing system, as the minimum permissible limit to land under such conditions is 50m, while the limit for low visibility take-off is 150m.
According to airport sources, dense fog started covering the airport from around 5am forcing the authorities to implement low visibility procedures (LVP). Delhi’s airspace closure for an hour between 11.15am and 12.15pm for fly-past of Indian Air Force aircraft during the Republic Day parade added to the chaos. Officials said that visibility at the main runway dropped to 75m till LVP was finally lifted past noon. Similarly, at the new runway, visibility dropped to 50m by early Tuesday morning and even CAT-III B operations were not possible. "No flights have taken-off or landed after 8am as the runway visibility dropped to 50m on both the runways due to dense fog that enveloped the airport early this morning," said sources.
27/01/10 Times of India

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More pickets, tight checking turn airport into fortress

New Delhi: Last weekend starting from Friday, there was heavy passenger rush at the Indira Gandhi International Airport. But on the eve of the country’s 60th Republic Day, the airport is not that crowded.
Inside, the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), responsible for anti-hijack and anti-sabotage checks at the airport, had intensified its vigil.
The highest threat perception in the Capital is reportedly at the IGI Airport following specific intelligence inputs regarding a hijack attempt on an Air India flight to a SAARC country.
Together with the Delhi Police, the city-side security arrangements have turned the IGI Airport into a fortress.
“Checking has been intensified at the city-side of IGI Airport’s domestic as well as international terminals. Special pickets have been put up. The heightened security arrangements would last till the high alert is withdrawn,” Deputy Commissioner of Police (IGI Airport) O P Mishra told Newsline.
Mishra said anyone visiting the airport’s city-side should be prepared for random checking by police personnel. This could also lead to intensified questioning if the police officials get suspicious about any person on the airport’s city-side, he added.
26/01/10 Geeta Gupta/Indian Express

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Pvt carriers may soon have to fly to more areas in Northeast

New Delhi: The government has decided to plug an existing loophole in the civil aviation guidelines that allows domestic airlines to report high compliance with the North-Eastern Region (NER) flying quota without undertaking actual flying into the region.
At present, an airline could end a flight in the commercially viable destination of Bagdogra, West Bengal, to meet the 10 per cent NER connectivity quota. However, airlines will soon have to make additional flights into the poorly connected region. In a recent meeting between the civil aviation ministry and development of Northeast region (DoNER) ministry, the two sides decided to remove Bagdogra from the list of destinations that airlines could fly to meet their NER connectivity quota.
“Private airlines have been taking advantage of this loophole and have avoided flying into NER. Now, the government has taken an in-principle decision to drop Bagdogra, until now considered part of the NER region, from the list of destinations for meeting the NER flying quota,” said a senior government official. The government will evaluate the technical feasibility before it notifies the decision.
Meanwhile, domestic airlines will be given some grace period to adjust their future flying schedules accordingly, the official added. “The move will considerably impact private airlines and will bring down their compliance from the current levels if Bagdogra is excluded,” said a senior airline official, on condition of anonymity.
25/01/10 Smita Aggarwal/Express India

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Poor infrastructure at Dibrugarh airport

Dibrugarh: Any casual visitor to the Dibrugarh airport at Mohanbari here would first be impressed by the swank new terminal, opened for the public recently. But the impression is short lived, as one comes to know of the serious flaws of the airport. To begin with, the length of the runway, at 6,000 feet is woefully short to facilitate operation by bigger aircraft. No civilian flights are allowed to land or take off after 4 PM, as the airport does not have night landing facilities. This factor has become a major obstacle in plying of adequate number of flights at schedules that would be convenient to the passenger.
The airport here is the country’s easternmost, and there is enough scope to develop it as a part of the much hyped “Look East Policy”. However, the powers that be have ensured that the Dibrugarh airport is a truncated facility, and of little use to businessmen and corporate executives.
With the weather getting foggy at Delhi, flights to Dibrugarh are the worst affected, as late take-offs from Delhi hardly allow pilots to land and take-off from Dibrugarh within the “sunset rules” (4 PM deadline). As a result, passengers to upper Assam and Arunachal Pradesh have to travel upto Guwahati by air and then make other arrangements for the remainder portion of their journeys. This makes it very inconvenient for the elderly and the infirm.
The length of the runway at the Dibrugarh airport is scheduled to be extended from 6000 feet to 7500 or 9000 feet in the days ahead. A major hurdle in the work was to get the required land,the airport ’s adjacent areas belong to the Defence Ministry.
25/01/10 Ron Duarah/Assam Tribune.com

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Flight operations at at the IGI airport suspended due to dense fog

New Delhi: Flight operations at the IGI airport remained suspended this morning due to dense fog which disrupted the schedules of over 50 domestic and international flights.
No flights have taken-off or landed after 8 am as the runway visibility dropped to 50 metres on both the runways due to dense fog that enveloped the airport early this morning, airport sources said.
About 12 incoming and outgoing morning flights were cancelled.
According to Met Department, the fog started to descend on the airport in the wee hours and it began to thicken around 5 am, reducing the general visibility to less than 50 metres while runway visibility was reduced to around 250 metres.
Within an hour, the runway visibility dropped to 75 metres and by 7.30 am it further deteriorated to 50 metres, affecting the movement of several morning flights.
No flights could land even using the CAT-III B instrument landing system, as the minimum permissible limit to land under such conditions is 50 metres, while the limit for low visibility take-off is 150 metres.
26/01/10 PTI/Times of India

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Man dies on flight from Ethiopia, body taken off board at IGI

New Delhi: A tanzanian national on a flight from Addis Ababa to Beijing died on Saturday on board the Ethiopian Airways, which had a stopover at IGI Airport here.
Since Musak Suleman Amir, 36, did not have an Indian visa, his body was kept at the airside for over three hours till the Tanzanian Embassy was contacted to verify his details.
According to airport officials, Amir complained of feeling uneasy two hours after the flight took off from the Ethiopian capital — he reportedly collapsed inside the airborne-plane.
The Ethiopian Airways flight (ET 604) had a stopover at Delhi, and Amir’s body was be de-boarded at IGI Airport. Airport sources said he was declared dead by doctors after arrival at the city airport around 4.30 pm, and the police followed the standard operating procedure of informing the concerned embassy.
Amir’s body is now awaiting postmortem at Safdurjung Hospital, and further formalities would be performed only once the relatives get in touch with the airport authorities in India, a senior official said.
26/01/10 Geeta Gupta/Indian Express

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Navjot Sidhu cries for development of Rajasansi Airport at Amritsar

Amritsar: BJP Member Parliamentarian from Amritsar Navjot Singh Sidhu here Monday urged the Union Government of India for speedy development of Amritsar based Rahasansi Airport.
Talking to media persons, Sidhu alleged that Union Government adopting dilly dallying attitude for the development of Rajasansi Airport due to the reason best know to them.
Sidhu alleged that the Rajasansi Airport lacking basic required and mandatory infrastructure as per the international level as a reason passengers had to go through various hardships.
Sidhu claimed that in the next Lok Sabha session he would raise the matter on the floor of the house for the early development along with the modern infrastructure at Rajasansi Airport.
25/01/10 Jagmohan Singh/Punjab News Line

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Police look for ‘bullet’ doctor

New Delhi: Delhi police are looking for a US-based Bengali doctor who was detained after live bullets were found in his flight luggage but vanished before he was to board a plane to Calcutta. Red-faced cops in the capital have now turned to their counterparts in Calcutta for help as Subroto Lahiri was scheduled to reach the Bengal capital on Friday.
A Delhi police officer, however, said Lahiri’s relatives had denied that he had reached Calcutta.
“During investigation, it was found that Lahiri had taken an Indigo flight to Calcutta. However, his relatives in Calcutta are denying that he has reached. If Calcutta police manage to trace him, we will send a team to arrest Lahiri,” a Delhi police officer said.
Lahiri, who has been living in the US for the past 25 years and is said to be a professor at a university, had landed at Delhi airport on January 20 and boarded a coach for the domestic terminal for a connecting Kingfisher flight to Calcutta.
But in the coach he had left behind a bag, which was found by the Central Industrial Security Force. When the bag was opened, it was found to have live cartridges.
“..Lahiri was detained. He is a licence holder but his licence is not valid in India,” the police officer said.
During detention, Lahiri complained of chest pain and was admitted to the Apollo medical unit at Delhi airport. “After completing the formalities, we allowed him to leave for Calcutta,” the police officer said.
24/01/10 Ananya Sengupta/The Telegraph

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Cops hunt for NRI caught with bullets

New Delhi: The cops have launched a hunt for a US-based Indian from whose bag live cartridges were recovered at IGI Airport on Tuesday.
The Delhi police have sought help from their Kolkata counterparts to locate Subroto Lahiri, reportedly a professor at a US university, who gave investigators the slip on Friday. Cops lost track of him even though he was in their custody earlier. Lahiri was to board a morning flight to Kolkata on Friday but instead took a different flight later that day, police said. Lahiri was detained on Tuesday after CISF personnel recovered live cartridges from a bag he left behind in the coach.
During questioning, Lahiri complained of chest pain and was admitted to a medical unit at the airport. He was later shifted to a hospital in Vasant Kunj and was discharged on Thursday.
Lahiri was scheduled to board the Kingfisher flight on Friday morning. But according to sources, he took a different flight. His relatives in Kolkata claimed he had not reached.
25/01/10 Times of India

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Terror threat: Security tightened at Chennai airport

Chennai: Central Industrial Security Force today upgraded surveillance at the airport here, posting armed men on the open terrace of Domestic and International terminals, following intelligence inputs warning terror threats during republic day celebrations.
Armed personnel will be on alert till month-end and they will keep watch on the recently constructed flyover near the airport as those travelling on it would have a full view of the airport, officials said.
The Centre had already warned of terrorists' plans to hijack Indian aircraft operating between SAARC countries following which security had been beefed up at Chennai airport, with entry of visitors banned till January 31.
25/01/10 Press Trust of India

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Flight operations normal at IGI airport in New Delhi

After remaining disrupted for almost a week due to dense fog, flight operations at the IGI airport were normal on Monday.
“Air operations were normal and all flights were operating as per schedule as there was no fog and the visibility remained over 2,000 metres at the airport early in the morning,” an airport official said.
The runway visibility was above 2,000 metres on Sunday night and early Monday morning but it dropped to a low of 1,300 metres after 7 am as shallow fog descended on the airport, a Met official said.
Though shallow fog did not cause any disruption to flight movement, one flight each of Jet airways and Jetlite was cancelled while few others were delayed due to operational reasons. In view of the foggy conditions, some international carriers have already rescheduled their flights.
25/01/10 PTI/The Hindu

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Duration, density of fog down as mercury marks a rise in city

New Delhi: Even though the day temperatures became normal on Sunday in the National Capital, the fog has not completely gone away.
Visibility dropped to 100 metres at 5.30 am which, however, improved to 1,000 metres later in the day. Thick fog disrupted flight operations at the IGI airport in the morning, delaying around 50 domestic and international flights and diverting six.
Eight trains were cancelled and as many rescheduled due to poor visibility, while over 100 are running several hours behind schedule.
Operations at the airport became normal at 8.30 am.
According to Met department officials, in the last eight days, today was the only day when fog was there for fewer hours. In the last few days, fog had enveloped the city for almost eight to nine hours every day, while today it stayed for five hours.
Heavy fog in the morning today disrupted train and flight schedules but a clear sky during the day pushed the mercury up in Delhi, which recorded a maximum of 24 degrees Celsius. Night temperature hovered around seven degrees Celsius.
The high was three degrees above normal at this time of the season, bringing a bit of relief for the city, which mostly saw a slump in day temperatures in the last fortnight.
25/01/10 Indian Express

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AAI's communication wing faces acute manpower shortage

New Delhi: The Communication, Navigation and Surveillance (CNS) wing of the Airports Authority Of India, which looks after the sensitive radar, communication and other navigational systems of the Air Traffic Services, is facing acute shortage of manpower.
"..but we are short staffed by over 45 per cent against the sanctioned strength," a senior CNS official said.
CNS engineers and executives complained that they were being "utterly neglected" .
24/01/10 Press Trust of India

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Airport approach options await nod

Calcutta: Two alternative proposals to decongest the approach to the airport have been gathering dust for months, with the authorities failing to meet even once to zero in on either.
The Airports Authority of India (AAI) and the transport department, the agencies involved in drafting the plans, are convinced that only a flyover on VIP Road can ensure a smoother flow to and from the airport but their views differ on the highroad’s alignment and use.
The AAI’s plan was submitted to the government three months ago while the transport department had finalised its blueprint a little before that.
“We have submitted the proposal to the state government and will hold a meeting to finalise the design. This new flyover has been planned to ease the congestion on the road approaching the airport,” said airport director R. Srinivasan.
“Both proposals have been sitting idle. A meeting between the two sides could have resolved the differences and got work started,” said an airport source.
The principal secretary in the state transport department, Sumantra Chowdhury, said: “A meeting was scheduled for the second week of January but it was deferred. We will decide on a new date.”
The project cost and other details can be worked out only after the authorities approve one of the proposals.
25/01/10 Sanjay Mandal/The Telegraph

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Pact for new airport on Jaipur-Delhi highway

Jaipur: Rajasthan Aviation Infrastructure India Private Limited (RAIPL) signed a partnership agreement with Fraport AG (Frankfurt Airport Services Worldwide, Germany) on Saturday. RAIPL is building an aerotropolis project (airport) on Jaipur-Delhi highway.
Fraport is a full-service provider in the airport management field and owns the Frankfurt airport in Germany. This partnership pact is for technical services, operator and strategic partnership. The proposed new airport will be one of the first privately-owned airports in the country.
The new Greenfield Airport Policy (2008) permits private organisations to build airports if permitted by Centre. RAIPL has received all necessary clearances from the Centre to build the airport.
24/01/10 Times of India

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AAI team inspects site for greenfield airport in Ahmedabad

A team from the Airport Authority of India (AAI) today inspected the site of the proposed cargo and passenger Green Field airport near Dholera Special Investment Region (SIR) in Ahmedabad district.
"A seven-member AAI team today visited the proposed site for green field airport at Dholera," Gujarat Chambers of Commerce and Industry (GCCI) real estate committee chairman Vijay Shah said.
Shah had met the team yesterday as a representative of the Chamber and briefed them about the requirements of the new airport in the Ahmedabad district as the existing airport here has no potential for expansion, he said.
The team, with AAI general manager R Rajshekhar as its co-ordinator, will also conduct techno-economical feasibility
study for the proposed airport and would submit the report to the ministry of civil aviation, he said, adding the team will
study traffic potential, size of airport, cost of infrastructure and run-way orientation.
23/01/10 PTI/Daily News & Analysis

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Indian hijack plot caused new UK terror alert

Fears that Islamist terrorists plan to hijack an Indian passenger jet and crash it into a British city helped to prompt this weekend’s heightened terror alert.
MI5 was told by the Indian authorities early last week about a suspected plot by militants linked to Al-Qaeda in Pakistan to hijack an Air India or Indian Airlines flight from Mumbai or Delhi.
The warning, which came after the capture of a suspected Islamic leader, was contained in a detailed “threat assessment” sent to MI5 by the Indian Intelligence Bureau. It did not state that Britain was a specific target. But police security sources said it had raised fears in London that a British city might be attacked.
The warning revived long-running concerns following an Al-Qaeda plot in 2003 in which a hijacked aircraft was to be flown into Heathrow airport. That incident led Tony Blair, then prime minister, to make the largely symbolic move of dispatching armoured vehicles to guard the airport perimeter.
The Indian government has increased passenger screening and frisking at all main airports. It is deploying additional armed sky marshals to deal with the threat.
The threat to hijack an Indian aircraft was uncovered during the interrogation of Amjad Khwaja, a member of a militant Islamist group involved in numerous attacks against India.
He was arrested in the southern city of Chennai earlier this month. He is said to be a leader of Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami, a militant group involved in terrorist attacks in India.
24/01/10 David Leppard/Times, UK

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SpiceJet fliers spend whole night in plane

A SpiceJet Delhi-Ahmedabad flight turned into a nightmare for passengers when their flight was delayed for over 12 hours. The SpiceJet flight (SG117) scheduled to take off from IGI Airport in New Delhi at 9.20 pm on Friday was delayed first due to fog then, allegedly, the pilot’s refusal to fly as his shift had ended.
By 1.30 am, the passengers on board the flight were told it had been cancelled. Furious, they refused to deplane till SpiceJet officials put them on a special flight the next morning. After spending all night at the airport even their special flight was put in a queue for an hour & a half. The aircraft finally took off at 10.45 am.
Passenger Rajesh Tripathi said, “The flight was to take off at 9.40 pm. The airline announced a delay. The flight was then supposed to depart at 11.20 pm but again got pushed back to 11.55 pm. We boarded the flight at 11.20 pm and the doors were closed at 11.45 pm. The pilot announced that fog had reduced visibility, delaying departure yet again.”
Passenger Sohail said, “At 12.20 am, the pilot exited from the cockpit. I asked him why he was leaving. The pilot replied that he would exceed his flying hours. ...”
Tripathi added, “At 1.30 am, the fog thickened and the flight got cancelled. We were asked to deplane and meet the ground staff for our refund.”
Passengers, however, refused to take back their money as other tickets were 4-5 times more costlier. “We decided we would stay put till the officials made arrangements to fly us to Ahmedabad. They tried to get us off the plane using various means, but we stayed put,” said Prakash, who was also on the flight.
At 3 am, the passengers were informed that alternate arrangements had been made.
This flight was meant to depart at 7.25 am on Saturday, but a thick fog rolled in, delaying the take-off. The passengers heaved a sigh of relief when the plane finally took off around 10.45 am.
24/01/10 Ahmedabad Mirror

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Hyderabad to Delhi by air, in 24 hours

Mumbai: It took nearly 24 hours for nearly 200 passengers on JetLite’s Hyderabad-Delhi flight to reach their destination Delhi instead of the usual 1.50 hours on Jan 20.
Actor and fitness instructor Reema Sarin was one such harried passenger on JetLite’s S2 242 Hyderabad-Delhi flight who took 24 hours to reach Delhi. The flight was scheduled to leave from Shamshabad airport at 4.20pm on January 20 but got delayed by two hours and later by two more hours.
“The flight eventually departed at 8.15pm but at 9.40pm, with 40 minutes left to land at the Delhi airport, the pilot announced that due to intense fog in Delhi the flight was being diverted back to Hyderabad. We all got a little irritated, as we had waited all day to fly and it had been a long day for us,” Sarin said.
The flight landed at Hyderabad at 11.30pm and by midnight, the passengers alleged that the airline refused to offer accommodation and asked them to fend for themselves.
“There was a bandh that day in Hyderabad and there were very few cabs running. The Airport Bus - AeroExpress too wasn’t running.
Sarin then hired a cab and got herself booked in a hotel that was 6kms away from the highway and paid Rs8000 for a night. She said that a one way trip from the airport into the city costs Rs600 but she had to pay Rs1200 as she was asked to report back to the airport at 6am for a 8am flight the next day. Some passengers even spent the night at the airport. When the passengers came in the next day they were told that the flight will leave at noon.
“It is then that we put our foot down as we had gone through a lot of torture. The airline finally put us on a 4.15pm flight after 24 hrs of torture,” she alleged.
23/01/10 Naveeta Singh/Daily News & Analysis

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IATA calls for harmonising security laws

New Delhi: With heightened terror threat on civil aviation the world over, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) has asked governments to harmonise security laws and procedures, upgrade screening technologies and share passenger data to identify those wanted.
The appeal by IATA chief Giovanni Bisignani came after a conference attended by US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) secretary Janet Napolitano, International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) secretary general Roberto Gonzalez and top executives from 25 airlines and US government officials.
The meeting came on a day when high security alert was issued to all Indian airports and airlines, including Air India, following intelligence inputs that Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Toiba and Al-Qaeda terrorists were plotting to hijack an Indian plane in the region.
In line with the IATA appeal, India and the US recently set up a joint working group of officials of the Transportation Security Administration and the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security to standardise security procedures, including laying down parameters for deployment of sky marshals on flights between the two countries and transfer of security-related technology.
At the conference in Geneva on Friday, IATA and the airlines made several recommendations, including institutionalising government and industry cooperation on security matters. This would allow security policies to be written with the benefit of airlines’ operational expertise. IATA also urged the ICAO to create a template for such cooperation to be implemented globally, a spokesperson for the global airlines body said.
24/01/10 PTI/Economic Times

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Another snag hits operations at IGI

New Delhi: Weeks after it was set right, the runway visual range (RVR) machine at IGI Airport developed more problems on Saturday. And as a result, only a single runway was in use for a large part of the morning — all due to the fog.
About 150 flights were delayed and several hundred passengers remained stuck inside aircraft as congestion was compounded in the morning with only runway 28/10 available for operations. The RVR machine for runway 29 developed a technical problem after the dense fog led to moisture accumulation in the machine.
Airport sources said the machine stopped functioning just after midnight and was set right only by 10am. While the runway is not used between 10pm and 6am due to night restrictions, it plays a vital role in clearing the morning congestion.
"Due to moisture on the mirror of the machine, we were unable to get RVR values. From about 8.30am, the Met department had to give manual readings to assist in flight operations. Manual readings cannot be used during CAT-III operations so we had to wait for visibility to improve. Meanwhile, the machine was cleaned and recalibrated," said a senior official.
On the first day of dense fog on January 2, both the runways were out of service for several hours as the RVR system collapsed due to a human error. Low visibility procedures were implemented at the airport between 10.07pm on Friday and 11.10am on Saturday. Very dense fog conditions were prevailing between midnight and about 8.30am during which visibility was below 50m and RVR was fluctuating between 100m and 175m.
24/01/10 Times of India

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Heavy fog in Delhi snaps air, rail travel

New Delhi: A heavy blanket of fog engulfed the national capital on Friday night and continued into the early hours of Saturday, wreaking havoc on flight and train schedules. At least 45 flights were affected and as many as 120 trains were running late, officials said.
"The general visibility was zero for many hours early in the morning. It eased by 9 am and was recorded little less than 100 metres," an India Meteorological Department official told IANS.
The fog triggered chaos at the airport as well as at the three major railway stations. Commuters were left stranded at airport lounges and railway platforms.
The runway visibility was very poor in the early hours so no flight could take off or land till around 8 am. The visibility then improved and low visibility procedures requiring 150 metres visibility could be enforced, an Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) official said.
"The dense fog badly affected air traffic last night and till early morning. Now some flights are taking off as fog has cleared a bit," the official said mid-morning.
Nine domestic arrivals and 22 domestic departures were delayed and one flight was cancelled, the IGIA website said. Eight international departures and 16 arrivals were running late, some delayed by over eight hours.
23/01/10 Indo-Asian News Service/Hindustan Times

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NSG prepares for hijack threat

New Delhi: India has put its elite commando force, the National Security Guard (NSG), on high alert and stationed helicopters at its base for quick movement of troops in view of “credible” intelligence that Pakistan-based terrorist groups plan to hijack an Indian commercial aircraft in south Asia.
The Home Ministry had sounded an alert — reportedly based on Western intelligence — on Wednesday and followed it up with another on Thursday.
According to the inputs, groups linked to the Al Qaeda, Lashkar and Jamaat-ud-Dawa plan to hijack an Air India plane operating in any of the SAARC countries — India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Maldives, Afghanistan, Pakistan.
“Helicopters from the Border Security Force have already been requisitioned by the NSG,” a ministry official who didn’t want to be named said.
To make the skies safer, sky marshals (armed NSG commandos in plainclothes) will be placed on flights believed to be high risk and all those boarding flights will be frisked at ladder point.
“Hundreds of NSG men are already deployed on flights operating in sensitive airports. The deployment is in large numbers but we can’t share further details,” a senior NSG official told HT.
23/01/10 Manish Tiwari/Aloke Tikku/Hindustan Times

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Terror threat adds to woes of fog-hit fliers

New Delhi: While Delhi’s IGI Airport has been on high alert due to heightened security concerns for the Republic Day, the terror threat to all airlines originating from and departing for SAARC countries, especially Air India, has pushed security agencies in a tizzy.
Even as security deployment has been increased at the airside and terminals, officials are concerned that security personnel, already under stress due to the fog-related disruptions, will have a hard time coping with the tighter security measures.
Entry of all visitors to the arrival lounge of both the domestic and international terminals has been banned till January 30. This is done to ensure that only persons with valid tickets and airport employees have access to the terminals. Due to the alert, officials say there is a special focus on security of SAARC-bound and US-bound flights.
For passengers, it will be a good idea to reach the airport much before their flights are scheduled to depart, specially till January 30. Till that date security will be tight. Some airlines have issued advisories on their websites, asking even domestic passengers to arrive at the airport at least two hours before their flights are to depart.
‘‘However, passengers must also keep in mind that due to the fog, flight schedules are in a mess and they should not reach the airport without information on when their flights are scheduled for. Otherwise, it will only lead to a bigger chaos at the airport,’’ said an official.
23/01/10 Times of India

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Airports put on red alert

New Delhi: The Union government on Friday ordered further strengthening of security at all airports and deployment of sky marshals on certain flights.
The directive came after intelligence inputs from security agencies and the Ministry of Home Affairs warned of a possibility of terror groups hijacking a flight operating from a South Asian country.
The level of security to counter the threat perception had been upgraded and the agencies in-charge of civil aviation security had taken all necessary steps, including the strengthening of anti-hijacking measures and the introduction of stepladder frisking, said the spokesperson of the Civil Aviation Ministry, which sounded the red alert.
“As per practice, intelligence agencies inform the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) on various inputs from time to time. Based on such inputs, the airlines security department, headed by a senior IPS officer, coordinates with various governmental agencies, including the BCAS and the Central Industrial Security Force to take the requisite measures,” the spokesperson said.
Para-military forces have been ordered to be deployed at strategic points at sensitive airports as well as around vital installations.
Air India confirmed it had initiated action at the airports concerned to counter any possible threat.
23/01/10 Vinay Kumar/The Hindu

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Tribhuvan International Airport on high alert

Kathmandu: Security at Tribhuvan International Airport has been beefed up to foil any possible security risks after the Indian government sensitized all Air India planes operating to and from India’s neighbouring countries.
The Indian government move followed ‘intelligence inputs that terrorist groups with allegiance to al-Qaeda, Lashker-e-Toiba and Jamat-ul-Dawa were planning to hijack an Air India plane, especially operating to or from SAARC countries.
“We are on high alert in view of a possible hijack plot,” said Keshav Raj Khanal, Director General at the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN).
The Home Ministry, however, said there was no formal notice issued in this regard. “We have taken the issue seriously in order to avert any untoward incident,” said Jay Mukunda Khanal, the Home Ministry spokesman.
India has increased security at its airports and warned its domestic airlines about a possible hijack attempt by Islamic militant groups following Western intelligence reports, according to Indian officials.
22/01/10 Baburam Kharel & Sangam Prasai/The Kathmandu Post

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Malaysian airlines keep to schedule despite Indian alert

Petaling Jaya: Flights going to and from India will keep to their schedules despite Indian airports being put on high terror alert yesterday because of information that militants were plotting to hijack a plane.
An AirAsia spokesperson said airlines was aware of the alert but they had not received any official statement or directive from the Indian authorities.
“Nevertheless, we are monitoring this closely and so far, no flights are affected,” said the spokesperson.
A Malaysia Airlines official said it had yet to receive any official statement from the Indian Go­­vern­ment.
“At the moment, our flights will take off as usual,” said the MAS spokesperson.
23/01/10 The Star Pnline, Malaysia

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Manual checks after terror warning

The wade through Mumbai airport is set to get lengthier after specific intelligence on a threat from militants to hijack a plane of the national carrier Air India, Union home ministry officials said on Friday.
The authorities have decided to start manual checking at the airport, which has already been on high alert since the 26/11 terror attack. Airlines have assured passengers that they have taken all the necessary security steps.
The central industrial security force (CISF) has been put on high alert in the run-up to the Republic Day on January 26. “We have increased manual checking of baggage to 65% from the normal 10%,” said a senior CISF official.
Since the airport is yet to get a full-body scanner, passengers are being randomly searched by the CISF, apart from the usual metal detector scans.
“We have also increased patrolling in the city-side area and have deployed more men in the Quick Reaction Team (QRT),” he said. The QRT was formed by the CISF after the 26/11 terror attacks at the Taj Hotel in Colaba. CISF men in civilian clothes are profiling passengers and a 12-member dog squad is also patrolling the airport on a 24-hour rotation basis.
Even the national airline, Air India, which has its own security apparatus, said it has beefed up security at the concerned airports to counter any possible threat that may emanate from the intelligence inputs provided to the airline in the past few days.
23/01/10 Naveeta Singh/Daily News & Analysis

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Security in NE airports tightened

Guwahati: With intelligence indicating the possibility of terror threats to airlines and airports, security has been beefed up in all the major airports of Assam and rest of the North East. At places there are more rigorous checks on passengers, and security personnel, including CISF, have been put on extra alert to sanitise airport premises.
The threat in the North East is been taken more seriously as groups like the NDFB and ULFA have recently been under pressure and could therefore seek to mount attacks on high value assets.
Well placed sources in the Airports Authority of India acknowledged that security has been beefed up after instructions were issued by the Government of India. “We have studied the situation and tightened security from a couple of days…the measures will remain in place for some time,” a senior official of AAI stated.
He revealed that sharing of information has taken place with the State Police to counter any threat in Assam.
22/01/10 The Assam Tribune

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New DGCA rule adds to chaos at Delhi airport

New Delhi: A new rule notified by Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) for airlines is expected to ground flights even when they can take off in foggy conditions.
The new DGCA rule was meant to make flying safer for us during foggy conditions but what it has ended up doing is ground even those pilots who have the technical ability to fly through fog, adding to the congestion at Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport.
It means bringing airlines, all on one level-playing tarmac, those which can fly in less visibility and those who need clearer weather
The DGCA circular dated January 17, 2010, has put Runway Visibility Range (RVR) for Category C aircraft to 150 meters.
It means that carriers like Kingfisher, Indigo and Indian who have trained pilots to take off in visibility as low as 125 meters, and were doing so till now, have to adhere to 150 meter limit. The new rule puts them at par with airlines like Jet, Spicejet who can't take off if runway visibility isn't at least 150 meters.
22/01/10 Anubha Bhonsle & Karma Paljor/CNN-IBN

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Passengers battle 12-hour flight delays, hunger, fatigue at airport

New Delhi: Even as there has been no respite from the low visibility conditions due to dense fog, the Met department has forecast foggy conditions for another day due to the high moisture content in the air.
Over 200 flights were delayed, six flights had to be cancelled and 29 others were rescheduled on Friday.
There was no let-up in the chaos at the Indira Gandhi International Airport as flights continued to get delayed by over 12 hours for the fourth consecutive day on Friday.
Despite specific guidelines issued by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation to airlines regarding timely updates on delay-related information, hundreds of passengers had a harrowing time as no prior information was provided to them by the airlines and most of them were kept waiting for hours.
Passengers also complained of indifference by the airlines staff at the airport, and the refusal by airlines to provide accommodation, or even refreshments to stranded passengers.
Many passengers said they had to spend the night at the airport.
23/01/10 Indian Express

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AAI team to study feasibility of Fedra airport in Gujarat

Ahmedabad: A seven-member team from the Airports Authority of India (AAI) arrived in Ahmedabad for a feasibility study of the ambitious project ofthe international airport at Fedra in Dholera. The proposed airport site is about 130km away from Ahmedabad and will be useful for both passenger and cargo purposes once its ready.
According to a source from Gujarat Chamber of Commerce and Industries (GCCI), the team met Gujarat Infrastructure Development Board (GIDB) and GCCI members to learn about the feasibility of the airport.
The AAI team consisting of seven members, are going to visit the site at Fedra on Saturday, added the source. The GCCI has also made a presentation on why Ahmedabad needs another airport. The presentation included topics like logistics, total exports from state in coming 10 years etc. Also, details of the number of travellers including tourists and NRIs/ NRGs who visit Ahmedabad on a yearly basis were also explained to them.
Vijay Shah, member of the GCCI, presidents of CREDAI- Gujarat chapter and GIHED, Jaxay Shah and Suresh Patel respectively, were present to do the presentation.
The AAI team included DP Singh (traffic potential), Rajiv Jain (to evaluate cost) PC Mittal (design of airport), Daswani (runway orientation), Singhal for aerodrome planning and Ravi Verma for financial assessment.
23/01/10 Daily News & Analysis

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IGI ranks one among World's Most Delayed Airports

Washington: Traveling to India and China? Pack your patience. Airports in those countries top our third annual list of The World's Most Delayed Airports.
Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport takes the prize for the airport with the least timely arrivals with just 45% of its scheduled passenger flights arriving on time. Beijing Capital International Airport has the worst departure record with just 38% of commercial passenger flights leaving as scheduled. To gather our information, we relied on FlightStats, a service that tracks historical and real-time flight information around the globe.
Officials from Delhi's and Beijing's airports could not be reached for comment, but their status should come as no surprise. Both were at or near the top of our most-delayed list last year.
Mumbai's Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport and Istanbul Ataturk International Airport round out the top three worst airports for timely arrivals. For departures, Dubai International Airport and Moscow Sheremetyevo International Airport follow Beijing.
A flight is considered "on time" if it arrives or departs less than 15 minutes after its scheduled take-off or landing time. In many cases delays can be attributed to growing pains at a particular airport. For example: Delhi's airport expects to open a new terminal later in 2010; Mumbai's airport plans a massive expansion by 2015; and Cairo International (fourth worst for departures at 54.7%) was forced to close one of its two runways in 2009 to accommodate construction for a third runway.
22/01/10 Brian Wingfield and Deborah Weinstein/Forbes.com

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SC notices to Jet, others on service tax dues to AAI

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday issued notices to Jet Airways (India) Ltd, Flemingo Duty Free Shops, Thomas Cook and others on an application by the Airports Authority of India seeking recovery of tax dues on airport services from those firms.
A bench headed by justice Aftab Alam sought reply from Jet Airways, Flemingo Duty Free Shops and 27 others on the AAI’s application seeking recovery of service tax dues of more than Rs 18.66 crore from them.
AAI had earlier moved the apex court seeking transfer of petitions pending before various high courts of Delhi, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Madras, and Bombay on the issue.
The Supreme Court in April 2007 issued notices regarding the transfer petitions and stayed further proceedings in various high courts.
Various companies, including Jet Airways, Flemingo, Thomas Cook and Siddhi Vinayak Enterprises, had challenged levy of service tax by AAI in the high courts. The high courts accordingly had stayed the recovery notices issued by the authority.
AAI had levied service tax on the licensees for airport services such as cargo and passenger handling and transit facilities provided by airlines and other companies. The authority had levied service tax on their billings for licence fee/royalty for duty-free shops at various airports.
AAI in its application on Monday said that service tax dues are payable by the licencees on these contracts which had either expired or are about to expire.
23/01/10 Financial Express

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Joint venture co for Chandigarh airport to be registered soon

Chandigarh: The registration of joint venture company (JVC) under the name of Chandigarh International Airport Ltd is likely to be carried out soon, which will set the ball rolling for construction of the much-awaited airport.
A memorandum of understanding (MoU) for construction of the airport was signed between Greater Mohali Area Development Authority (GMADA), the Airports Authority of India (AAI) and the Haryana government on January 4, 2008. It took more than 21 months for the trio to form a JVC for the ambitious project. Officials say the delay was caused by differences over the nomenclature of the proposed JVC. Punjab had proposed that the JVC be named as Shaheed-e-Azam Sardar Bhagat Singh International Airport Ltd, Mohali. On the other hand, the Haryana government demanded that the joint venture company must be named after Chandigarh.
Sources in the civil aviation department, Punjab say finally, the formalities for the formation of the JVC have been completed.
The board of JVC will have nine members. AAI can nominate five members, while GMADA and Haryana Urban Development Authority (Huda) will have the right to nominate two members each. It will initially have an authorised share capital of Rs 20 crore, sources revealed.
23/01/10 Swarleen Kaur/Financial Express

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HPCA wants more flights to Dharamsala during IPL

Dharamsala: The Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association will approach the civil aviation ministry to start at least two daily flights from Delhi to Dharamsala during April to meet the needs of Indian Premier League matches.
Two IPL matches have been alloted to the the city, HPCA president Anurag Thakur, son of chief minister Prem Kumar Dhumal and MP, told PTI.
About 25,000 spectators are expected to watch the two IPL matches to be held here, he added.
A team of IPL organisers visited Dharamsala yesterday to see the arrangements.
22/01/10 Press Trust of India

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Takeoff curbs applied to Airbus planes too; delays may worsen

New Delhi: The aviation regulator has tightened rules for Airbus planes taking off in low visibility, a move that could mean more flight disruptions in a season when a thick blanket of winter fog covers most cities in northern India.
Kingfisher Airlines Ltd, National Aviation Co. of India Ltd-run Air India and InterGlobe Aviation Pvt. Ltd-run IndiGo, which fly mainly Airbus A320 planes on domestic routes, have until now been allowed takeoffs even in foggy conditions, provided there is at least 125m visibility.
Flights of Jet Airways (India) Ltd, with a fleet made up mainly of Boeing aircraft, and SpiceJet Ltd, with an all-Boeing fleet, had to wait until the visibility went up to 150m before taking off.
The visibility standards were in line with the technical requirements of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). “There was a special dispensation for three airlines for two years. Now it is 150m for everybody,” said a DGCA official who asked not to be named.
The order was issued to the three carriers earlier this week.
The order may worsen the woes of air travellers already struggling with flight cancellations, delays and diversions in Delhi and other parts of northern India because of fog. On Wednesday, the Capital was covered by the densest fog in seven years.
21/01/10 Tarun Shukla/Live Mint

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Work on Durgapur airport to begin in April

Kolkata: Bengal Aerotropolis will start work on the proposed airport at Durgapur in West Bengal in April and expects to complete it by 2011-end, the company said here Thursday.
Larsen and Toubro, Simplex and Tantia Construction are among the companies in the fray for the contract to construct the airport.
Bengal Aerotropolis, along with the West Bengal Industrial Development Corp (WBIDC), is developing the Rs.10,000-crore project to come up on 2,182 acres, with 650 acres being earmarked for the airport.
The aerotropolis will also house aviation-related infrastructure like an aviation academy.
There are also plans to build an industrial park with factories, office parks, information technology park, institutional area, with a hospital, market, school, theme park, community centre and residences.
Changi Airports India is a 100 percent subsidiary of Singapore’s Changi Airport International.
21/01/10 Thaindian.com, Thailand

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All fogged up

New Delhi: You can’t drive, you can’t fly and you can’t take the train. Delhi’s struggle with the worst fog in many years continued into Thursday with no signs of a let up over the next few days.
The forecast is grim: more fog.
As visibility dropped to zero at the airport, flights were cancelled one after another. Between Wednesday evening and Thursday evening about 200 flights were delayed, 28 flights were diverted and 25 were cancelled.
But it wasn’t just the fog to blame. As the skies cleared late morning, the airport shut down as Indian Air Force aircraft rehearsed their Republic Day moves overhead.
When operations resumed around noon, flights came in a flood, severely stressing the support infrastructure.
Airlines ran out of ladders, keeping passengers on board for around 30 minutes in some instances.
And when finally they disembarked, the wait for checked-in luggage stretched torturously. Each conveyor belt carried luggage of two or three flights and passengers fought and pushed to be closer to the belt.
22/01/10 Hindustan Times

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Dense fog plays havoc with air traffic in North India

New Delhi: Dense fog over large parts of North India today played havoc with air, rail, and road traffic while the intense chill abated slightly in Rajasthan and Jammu & Kashmir even as the toll from the cold reached 480.
Heavy fog disrupted flight operations and movement of trains and vehicles as poor visibility affected the schedules of around 80 flights at the Indira Gandhi International Airport in the national capital.
Dense fog enveloped Punjab, Haryana, and Chandigarh, reducing visibility to near zero. While trains bound for Amritsar, Pathankot, Bathinda, Ferozepur, and Chandigarh ran hours behind schedule, flights failed to take off from Chandigarh and Amritsar airports.
21/01/10 PTI/Daily News & Analysis

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Fogged out Shabani bats for airlines

New Delhi: Stranded in a New Delhi airport owing to one of the worst fog of the national capital, actor Shabana Azmi said the airlines in India were doing the best they can under the situation.
“We have to be patient. They (the airlines) are doing their best under the circumstances,” a sporting Shabana Azmi, who was to fly to Jaipur from New Delhi to take part in a literary festival, told a TV channel on the cancellation of flights owing to poor visibility.
In one of the worst fog of Delhi, schedule of about 80 flights went haywire since Wednesday.
21/01/10 India Blooms

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Drastic fall in cargo at Dumdum airport

Kolkata: Cargo handling at Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International airport has fallen drastically due to the slowdown and exit of Tata Motors’ Nano car project from Singur in West Bengal, raising questions about how capacity will be utilised once the airport modernisation is over.
In 2009, it handled cargo of 100 tonne per day. “We had planned with certain growth projections in mind. We estimated that with Nano we will have 100 tonne import everyday. Now it is only 30 tonne everyday,” said R Srinivasan, director of NSCBI.
The Airport Authority of India has taken up an ambitious Rs 2,000 crore modernisation project. The modernization plan includes secondary runway extension to 400 metres on the northern side, new parking bays and rapid taxibay.
Talking to reporters on the sidelines of an interactive session organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry, he said, “Business should come with the investments. Unless the trade bodies make use of it creating infrastructure will not be of any help.”
22/01/10 Financial Express

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