125 lives were in danger as Air India’s damaged plane landed in Hyderabad

Hyderabad:The 125 passengers on board Air India’s AI 541 flight — Tirupati to New Delhi via Hyderabad — had a narrow escape on Tuesday afternoon, with aviation experts saying the damage caused to the aircraft could have had serious ramifications. Based on images of the now grounded plane, experts said they indicated impairment to the radar and stabiliser, which are part of an aircraft’s primary control system.
The matter came to light after the flight landed at the city’s Rajiv Gandhi International Airport around 4pm on January 29. A preliminary survey showed the underside and wings of the A321 (from airbus A320 family) had suffered damage, allegedly due to the presence of “foreign object” (presumably concrete) on the runway at Tirupati. The aircraft was moved to the hanger at RGIA, and an inquiry initiated into the incident.
A senior pilot familiar with the incident, said: “It appears a foreign object (or concrete) went through the engine at the time of take-off and was thrust out in different directions, thus damaging the wings. It seems serious, and could have led to the pilot losing hold over the primary control.”
Confirming the incident, an official spokesperson of AI said that a probe is on to ascertain the exact cause of the damage. “It is now known that the runway at Tirupati was in poor condition. Though there has been damage to the aircraft, we are glad that the pilot managed to land safely at RGIA. All our passengers travelling onwards to New Delhi were accommodated on AI and other private carriers subsequently. An inquiry and repair of the plane will be carried out simultaneously,” the spokesperson said.
When contacted, Tirupati’s airport director, claimed the damage wasn’t caused because of the runway. “Nothing happened to the aircraft during take-off. Only on landing in Hyderabad, they found there were some ‘scratches’ on the body,” the director said. Incidentally, soon after this, an inspection of the runway revealed there was damage at the edge.
31/01/19 Times of India

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AAI Seeks Consultants to Prepare Detailed Report for a 4 MW Solar Project at Trichy Airport

The Airports Authority of India (AAI) is looking for a consultant to prepare a detailed project report (DPR) for a 4 MW ground mounted solar PV project proposed at Trichy airport.

The last date for the submission of bids is February 12, 2019.The technical bids will open on February 13, 2019 while the financial bids will open on February 18, 2019.

To be eligible for the services, an agency should have successfully installed or provided consultancy services for at least one grid connected solar PV project of 4 MW or above during the last seven years.

It should also have annual average financial turnover of at least ₹1,50,000(~$2,104.80) against the works executed during last three years.

The estimated cost of the consultancy service is ₹5,00,000(~$7,016.00) and the duration for completing the work is two months.

The AAI, which comes under the Ministry of Civil Aviation, is a statutory authority responsible for the creation, management, and upgradation of civil aviation infrastructure in India.

The AAI is seeking to use solar as a low-cost and renewable source of power to fuel operations at various airports across India.
31/01/19 Nitin Kabeer/Mercom

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IndiGo to build MRO at Bengaluru airport, its second in India

New Delhi: IndiGo will build its second maintenance repair and overhaul (MRO) facility at Bengaluru. The airline, which has over 200 aircraft in its fleet with more than 360 more yet to be delivered according to existing orders, has a MRO facility at its Delhi airport base but given its size has gone in for another one. IndiGo operates over 1,300 daily flights, of which 158 are out of Bengaluru.
The airline on Thursday said its parent company InterGlobe Aviation and Bangalore International Airport Limited (BIAL), operator of Kempegowda International Airport, have entered into a 20-year agreement to sub-lease land at the airport to build a state-of-the-art MRO facility. The 13,000-sq metre hangar, to be built on five acres in the airport campus, will be able to accommodate two narrow body aircraft and have support infrastructure, including an engine shop warehouse and engineering offices for all repair and maintenance. This facility is expected to be operational by next March.
31/01/19 Times of India

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In Lohegaon airport, percentage increase in domestic passenger traffic plummets

Pune: The city airport may be among the busiest, but the percentage increase in domestic passenger traffic has fallen during November 2017-November 2018 as compared with the same period the previous year.

Pune airport sources told TOI that while the new flights — both domestic and international — are welcome, the focus this year is on increasing and managing passenger services.
Experts cite different reasons for the decline. “Pune airport has kept up its double-digit growth, but it has shown some moderation in 2018 in terms of international and domestic traffic. Factors like sharp rise in crude oil prices and rupee depreciation adversely impacted the demand. Efforts on the parts of airlines to increase their yield also led to higher fares during vacation and festival periods, resulting in comparatively lower passenger load this year. In fact, India's domestic air passenger growth fell to 11% in November last year, the lowest in the past 51 months,” aviation analyst and expert Dhairyashil Vandekar told TOI.
31/01/19 Joy Sengupta/Times of India

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Vijayawada runway expansion to be completed by March

Vijayawada:  An airport development committee meeting chaired by Krishna district collector B Lakshmikantham on Wednesday set a March 2019 deadline to complete the much-awaited runway expansion at the Vijayawada International Airport.

“The Vijayawada airport is progressing fast and passenger float between Vijayawada and Singapore has increased. The integrated terminal will be a special attraction for the airport and the expanded runway will help to facilitate huge aircraft,” said the collector.

The ongoing work has prevented a few airlines from pressing into service huge aircraft.

The success of direct flights between Vijayawada- Singapore has energized the Vijayawada airport. Once the runway expansion is completed, there is likely to be direct flights to Dubai and other international destinations.

The Airports Authority of India (AAI), which started the runway expansion from 2286 meters to 3360 meters in 2017, missed the deadline because the district administration had failed to hand over the land to AAI when landowners raised a hue and cry. The diversion of irrigation canals, too, impacted the pace of work.

31/01/19 Times pf India

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Expect 5-15 minute flight time cut from April

Mumbai: From April, you can expect to get shorter flight durations, at least on your tickets to begin with. You could find that the journey time listed by airlines for domestic flights landing at Mumbai, Delhi and Bengaluru has decreased by 5-15 minutes. In an attempt to reduce air traffic congestion, the government plans to enforce slot discipline at the three airports.

One of the ways would be to cut down inflated journey time cited by airlines as a buffer against delays. Thus, proud “early arrival” announcements by domestic pilots, even on flights with delayed departures, might soon reduce.

April marks the start of airline summer schedule. The civil aviation ministry has brought out an action plan, under which regulator DGCA would need to ensure that landing/takeoff slots and block times match. (Block time is the time taken by a flight right from the moment it pushes back from the departure gate till it arrives at the destination gate.) At present, to boost their punctuality record, airlines, when applying for landing slots, typically inflate their block times by 5-15 minutes. This is why when you look up, say, a Mumbai-Delhi flight on a travel portal, you will find that the journey time listed by different carriers vary from 2 hour 5 minutes to 2 hour 25 minutes, even for departures within an hour of each other.

A study carried out by the Airports Authority of India (AAI) between September 24 and November 30 last year found that slot indiscipline was rampant. At Mumbai, 73% of flights landed over 10 minutes ahead of schedule. At Delhi, this was 52%. The study compiled departure time data from over 80 domestic airports and arrival data at Mumbai, Delhi and Bengaluru to look at early arrivals at these three congested airports.

A takeoff slot or a landing slot is a right granted by an airport to an airline that allows the latter to schedule a flight departure or arrival at that specific time. Slot discipline is crucial because congested airports like Mumbai handle three to four departures or arrivals every five minutes. “A flight that arrives to land before its time congests airspace. A majority of domestic flights arrive before time, making it difficult to effectively manage air traffic,” said a senior air traffic controller.
Early this month, the civil aviation ministry met stakeholders (including DGCA, airlines, AAI and private airport authorities) to check early arrivals and enforce slot discipline to be able to handle fastgrowing air traffic better.

During the meeting, AAI listed two primary reasons for early arrivals, including block time inflation. The other reason is that airlines often plan and operate departures 5-15 minutes ahead of schedule (provided passengers are seated by then).
31/01/19 Manju V/Times of India

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Morning flights cancelled at Srinagar airport due to bad weather

Srinagar: Several morning flights were on Thursday morning cancelled at Srinagar airport due to bad weather.
Officials at Srinagar International Airport said due to bad weather several flights were cancelled.
“Air Asia I5-716, Indigo 6E-2554, 6E 576, 6E 653, Go Air 128/129 SXR-DEL, Vistara UK 611 SXR-IXJ, Spicejet SG 161 SXR-IXJ were cancelled,” Srinagar Airport authorities said on Twitter.
Fresh snowfall began today morning at many places across the valley including summer capital Srinagar.
31/01/19 Greater Kashmir

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Kozhikode: Lobby for cut in aviation fuel tax

Kozhikode: Passengers forums and industrial organisations have lamented on what they called the step-motherly treatment being meted out to the Karipur International Airport even as the state and Central government are showering supporting schemes to promote the Kannur international Airport Limited (KIAL).
The Central government should take measures to ensure support to save the Karipur International Airport which has been hit with the freebies showered on KIAL, they said.
It may be recalled that major airlines operators have started cutting down services from Karipur airport as they are planning to operate more services from KIAL. Jet Airways has announced cutting down Mumbai-Kozhikode and Kozhikode-Mumbai services from Karipur from February 7.
The number of services will come down from seven in a week to four, according to airline authorities.  Earlier, Jet Airways had withdrawn its two international services from Karipur.
Air India has also announced cutting down its Kozhikode-Thiruva-nanthapuram services from seven a week to six.
The Malabar Devel-opment Council has approached the Union ministry of civil aviation and the Airport Authority of India demanding major cuts in taxes for Aviation Turbine Fuel and parking and landing fee for aircraft at Karipur.
31/01/19 Deccan Chronicle

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Now, fly from city without paper boarding pass

Mumbai: From February 1, domestic passengers flying out of the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport’s Terminal 2 won’t have to carry physical copies of their boarding pass.

Passengers will now have to authenticate their boarding pass at pre-embarkation security check points by scanning the QR code of their boarding pass on their mobile phone or a physical copy of the pass at e-gates, using the live passenger dataset. The e-gates will be located between the check-in counters and the security check hold area.

The pilot project of the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) will be applicable for domestic passengers of Air India, Jet Airways and Vistara, which operate out of the integrated terminal at Terminal 2. The new method of authenticating the boarding pass will free the CISF staff from the responsibility of stamping boarding passes. The move will save the time of the CISF staff and also improve the overall security check process.

A Mumbai International Airport Ltd (MIAL) spokesperson said the pilot project is aimed at reducing the time in completing pre-flight boarding checks. The spokesperson said, “It is a forward-looking service that is technology-driven and offers seamless digital experience to passengers. The self-service facility has drastically reduced waiting time and queues at touch points.”

The spokesperson said that the initiative is a step towards adopting modern technology by making the entire procedure hassle-free for passengers.

MIAL has already equipped its two terminals with self-service check-in kiosks, Common Use Self Service systems that generate boarding passes and baggage tags, and the self-baggage drop facility helps passengers in making faster check-ins.
31/01/19 Aditya Anand/The Hindu

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Expansion of Surat airport building to boost trade: PM Narendra Modi

Surat: Referring to the recent study by London-based Oxford Economics that Surat will be the fastest growing city in the world through 2035, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that the future belongs to Surat and other nine fastest growing cities of India.
Congratulating the huge crowd present at the foundation stone laying ceremony of Surat terminal building expansion on Wednesday, Modi said, “All top 10 fastest growing cities in the world till 2035 are in India and Surat is on the top. The future belongs to Surat and the nine fastest growing cities. It is our responsibility that these cities should be prepared for the present and future. Apart from infrastructure, education, health etc., we have to touch the hearts of the people to be on the top.”

PM said that the Surat’s spirit of surging ahead will get a further boost with the expansion of terminal building at Rs 354 crore and the development projects of Surat Municipal corporation (SMC) worth over Rs 1,000 crore.

“Surat’s airport is third biggest and busiest airport of Gujarat. The expansion of terminal building will become capable to handle 1,200 domestic and 600 international peak hour passengers. It will be capable of handling 26 lakh passengers per annum from the current 4 lakh passengers. Also, the cargo complex at Surat airport will boost the exports from Surat and people visiting from other countries will save time and money,” said Modi.
31/01/19 Times of India

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Air India proposing to launch night flights to and fro from Srinagar

Srinagar: A delegation of the Kashmir Chamber of Commerce & Industry (KCCI) led its president, Sheikh Ashiq Ahmad on Wednesday met General Manager-Commercial, Northern Region, Air India Ltd., Divya Mohan at her office chambers to discuss and deliberate various issues confronted by travel trade.
Various issues regarding night flights, facilities and functioning of Air India were discussed in detail. It was discussed in the meeting that Air India is working out to launch night flights to and fro from Srinagar soon. She assured the delegation about the commercial viability of night flights, an official statement read.
“She has been kind enough to assure the delegation about working on Srinagar-Jeddah direct flights as the load since last two years has increased tremendously,” a KCCI spokesperson in the statement said, adding that she also agreed on demand of increase in Air tickets of Umrah pilgrims to be enhanced to the level of 100 to 200 seats at Srinagar city office and enable IATA (International Air Transport Association) holders to issue tickets against bank guarantees.
General Manager-Commercial, Air India assured that all the issues raised by the chamber would be considered on top priority.
31/01/19 Kashmir Reader

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Three 'Stress Busting' Dogs at Indian Airport ‘Stolen’ by Ex-Staffer - ReportsCC0

New Delhi: A report of a dog abduction was filed at a police station in Mumbai, the financial capital of India, reporting that three dogs belonging to a private firm contracted by Mumbai Airport to provide therapy to distressed flyers were stolen by the company's former employee, says a report in Mumbai Mirror.

Mumbai Airport had engaged a company, Fur Ball Story (FBS) that provides therapy dogs for hire to aid passengers that suffered from flight-related anxieties. The founder of FBS Animesh Katiyar had filed the said police complaint against Arushi Dixit who had been a company employee until November 2018 but also holds 18% equity in the firm.

Animesh had purchased three pups Effy, Hachi, and Oreo and had them trained. Subsequent to the signing of a contract with Mumbai Airport, the dogs were shifted to Mumbai and housed in a flat with Arushi. The Mumbai operations were under Arushi's purvey. She was the tenant on record for the flat where she lived along with the dogs.

As local authorities in Mumbai do not permit dogs to be registered with companies as owners, the three canines were registered under Arushi's ownership.

Last November Arushi was sacked from the company for alleged misconduct and unprofessionalism and the dogs were reassigned to two other company staffers. But the flat where they were being housed continued to have her as the tenant on record.

According to Animesh, she vacated the flat and went off with the dogs and has "adamantly" refused to disclose the new location where they are currently being housed.

Arushi countered that she is being "mercilessly" harassed and asserted that she is the rightful owner of the dogs and has documents to prove this. She announced that she would file her version in a counter complaint against the company's founder Animesh and other partners.
31/01/19 Sputnik

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Commissioning of Goa Airport may be delayed due to SC order: Parrikar

Panaji: Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar on Wednesday informed State Assembly that there could be a delay in the commissioning of phase I of Mopa Airport due to stay on tree cutting earlier and status quo ordered by the Supreme Court this month.
In a written reply in response to a question asked by BJP MLA Rajesh Patnekar, the Chief Minister, who also holds Aiport Portfolio, he said, 'Construction of Phase I of Mopa Airport has commenced and is expected to be commissioned by September 2020 as per Concession Agreement... As per Concession Agreement the Phase I of the airport is to be commissioned by September 2020. However, there could be a delay in the commissioning of Phase I due to stay on tree cutting earlier and status quo ordered by the Supreme Court vide order dated 18/1/2019.'
30/01/19 UNI

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Supreme Court order for status quo could delay Mopa airport, accepts Goa CM Parrikar

Provorim: Though phase I of the Mopa International airport, which was slated to be commissioned by September 2020 has begun, Goa chief minister Manohar Parrikar on Wednesday said that the project could be delayed due to the Supreme Court’s stay on tree cutting and the status quo ordered by the Apex Court on January 18.

In a written reply to the Goa Legislative Assembly, Parrikar said that construction of phase I of the airport had commenced and as per the concession agreement, the airport was supposed to be commissioned by September 2020 as per the concession agreement with GMR Airports.

“There is no proposal at present to have a railway terminal at the airport,” Parrikar also said in the written reply.

The project has a provision for two runways but initially, only one runway with a taxiway will be built while the second runway will be constructed based on the traffic flow at the airport.
30/01/19 Newton Sequeira/Times of India

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Toilets at Chennai airport to be renovated

Chennai: For passengers who have always felt a sense of discomfort using toilets at Chennai airport, there may be some relief on the way.

Airports Authority of India (AAI) officials said they plan to renovate the toilets in the domestic terminal and the departure hall of the international terminal.

“We recently got the approval to execute this work. Eleven toilet (blocks) in the domestic terminal in both the departure and arrival halls and five toilet (blocks) in the departure hall of the international terminal will be renovated.

Since the old international arrival hall will be demolished completely as part of phase II modernisation project and rebuilt, the toilets in that building alone are not going to be renovated,” an official said.

Chennai airport’s passenger and air traffic has been growing rapidly; over 30,000 passengers travel through the airport every day and there are over 500 aircraft movements a day. With such a growth, it has become important to retain the washrooms clean in the terminals, as it is one of the basic facilities a passenger expects.
30/01/19 Sunitha Sekar/The Hindu

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Chandigarh airport functional 24x7 by March 31, Punjab and Haryana HC told

Chandigarh: The central government on Tuesday claimed the Chandigarh international airport would be functional for round-the-clock flying operations by March 31.

Informing the Punjab and Haryana high court, the centre has stated that all work related to night operations is expected to be completed by the end of March this year. Assistant Solicitor General of India Chetan Mittal told the court that most of the work related to making the airport fully operational round-the-clock has been completed. He also told the court that the issues related to delay in payments of agencies involved in the work at airport would also be resolved expeditiously.

Mittal further told the court that the Chandigarh International Airport Limited (CHIAL) is already receiving offers from some airlines to start Chandigarh-Delhi flights till 11.45 pm and 6 am. Mittal said the airlines have shown interest in late night and early morning flights after CHIAL has decided to extend parking facility at the airport.

At the moment, the watch hours at the airport are from 8am to 8pm.

Meanwhile, the UT administration informed the high court that it has already initiated process to acquire 0.6 acre land for the purpose of installing category-III instrument landing system (ILS) at the local airport.
30/01/19 Times of India

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Student goes missing from Vadodara airport

Vadodara: A student of fine arts faculty of MS University (MSU) went missing from Vadodara airport on Monday afternoon.

Subeng Bohra (25), a native of Assam, is a fourth-year student of sculpture department. According to police sources, Bohra had been remaining disturbed for the past couple of weeks. Bohra’s friends said that when he came to city on Uttarayan, they sent him back as he was unwell. However, he again came to Vadodara on January 19.

On Monday, he decided to go to Guwahati and reached Vadodara airport around 1.30 pm. Since he did not have ticket, the security personnel did not allow him to enter the terminal.

Police said that Bohra then went to the ticket counter of Jet Airways to buy the ticket for Guwahati. At the ticket counter, he said that he had only Rs 2,000 with him and would return with more cash. Bohra left his luggage and phone near the ticket counter, but did not return for a long time.

The airline staff then informed the security personnel about the luggage. The security personnel then called up Bohra’s friends from his phone and informed them about the luggage and that he has gone missing. Later, Harni police were also informed and a missing person’s complaint was registered.

On Tuesday, police registered the statements of his friends and informed his parents. “Lately, he had started talking about spiritual things. He used to say that the world is not right and it needs to be corrected,” said Bohra’s friend and classmate Avinash Bhishnurkar. When Bohra returned from Assam on January 19, he stayed with Bhishnurkar.
30/01/19 Times of India

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PM Modi Likely to Lay Foundation Stone For Jewar Airport in Feb, Says Mahesh Sharma

Noida (UP): Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to lay the foundation stone for the Jewar airport in Gautam Buddh Nagar next month, Union Minister Mahesh Sharma said on Wednesday.

"The foundation stone laying ceremony for the Jewar airport is likely to be held between February 23 and 25," Sharma, the Gautam Budhh Nagar MP, said.


Last week, a metro rail service was launched to connect Noida and Greater Noida and other projects are also underway, including elevated road corridors, he said.


"Our government has not only made announcements, but delivered projects," he added.

"Anybody coming from Meerut can reach the Jewar airport in just 45 minutes. There will not be a single traffic light on the stretch connecting Jewar and Meerut," Sharma said.

The proposed airport, second in the National Capital Region (NCR) after Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport, would cost around Rs 15,000 crore to Rs 20,000 crore and is expected to be operational by 2022-23.
30/01/19 PTI/News18

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Indigo Decision To Operate Daily Direct Srinagar-Bengaluru Flights Hailed

Jammu:  Advisor to the Governor, Khurshid Ahmed Ganai, Tuesday welcomed the decision of Indigo Airlines to operate daily direct flights between Srinagar and Bengaluru from February 15 next month.

In his message, Ganai, who is in-charge of the Tourism Department, said direct flights from Bengaluru to Srinagar on daily basis will give a huge fillip to tourism in the State and increase footfall of visitors from South India. He emphasized the role of aviation industry in promotion of tourism and added that the Government is willing to facilitate private airline carriers to operate more direct flights to Srinagar and Jammu from other metropolitan cities like Chennai, Hyderabad and Kolkata.

The Advisor said the Governor’s Administration is taking a number of measures to herald J&K’s resurgence as a mainstream and wholesome travel destination in the country. He said the State’s Tourism Department is organizing road shows in different states to attract inbound tourists especially from southern states like Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Tamil Nadu, the sector which has largely remained untapped.
30/01/19 Kashmir Observer

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Hindon airport in Ghaziabad to be operational for UDAN flights by March

New Delhi: You will be able to fly from the Hindon air base near Delhi to places like Pithoragarh, Jaisalmer, Gorakhpur, Allahabad, Hubli and Kannur by March this year. A senior aviation ministry official Wednesday said the civil enclave being built by Airports Authority of India (AAI) will become operational by March after which up to 80-seater planes can operate flights under the subsidised regional air connectivity scheme UDAN. The airport will be able to handle aircraft which carry less than 80 passengers.
Since Delhi IGI Airport does not have free slots, it was unable to accommodate new RCS flights — on which fares are capped at Rs 2,500 per hour of flying for a certain number of seats on each flight. Hindon will handle these flights till IGIA’s expansion work to have a fourth runway and a bigger terminal 1 is completed in three to four years.

According to AAI, the first set of flights to and from Hindon bid out under “ude desk ka aam nagrik” (UDAN)-II RCS scheme will some routes being operated by big low cost carriers including: Lucknow-Hindon-Kolkata-Jorhat; Hindon-Bhopal-Ozar (Nasik); Hindon-Jaisalmer-Udaipur; Hindon-Gorakhur-Allahabad; Hindon-Allahabad-Kolkata; Hindon-Kannur; Ozar (Nasik)-Hindon and Tirupati-Hubli-Hindon. Most of these new flights will be by IndiGo and a couple of small, new players.

30/01/19 Saurabh Sinha/Times of India

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Stakeholders expect Mysuru tourism to soar high with additional flights

Mysuru: The region’s tourism sector is poised to take wings with Mysuru being provided with air connectivity to five new cities under the Centre’s UDAN scheme.

The routes under the third round of UDAN announced on Friday saw Mysuru being linked to Goa, Kochi, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, and Belagavi. This is in addition to the existing connectivity to Chennai.

The Mysuru airport was classified under the under-served category and additional routes with prospects for generating more air passenger traffic, was identified and charted out under UDAN 3.

While Alliance Air will connect Mysuru to Goa, Kochi and Bengaluru, Turbo Megha will connect the city to Belagavi. The Hyderabad link will be provided by Interglobe and Alliance Air.

For the stakeholders in the region this could be a game changer for the region’s tourism and investment prospects.
28/01/19 The Hindu

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Six flights from Kolkata, two each from Andal, Kalaikunda

Kolkata: This year, Kolkata airport will be linked to six new stations while Durgapur airport will get flights to two more metros. Also, two air bases in the state — Kalaikunda and Hashimara — will become civilian enclaves. These are part of new routes allotted to various airlines in the latest edition of regional connectivity scheme Udan-3.

Airports Authority of India (AAI) regional executive director (east) S P Yadav said flights would be introduced from Kolkata to Amritsar, Gwalior, Shillong, Ghazipur, Hashimara and Jharsuguda under Udan-3. While SpiceJet has won bids to Jharsuguda along with Alliance Air, the carrier will also connect Kolkata to Gwalior and Ghazipur. IndiGo has won the bid for flights to Amritsar and Shillong. Zoom Air will connect Kolkata to Hashimara in north Bengal.

“Two airlines — Deccan and Air Odisha — that were allotted routes in the previous phase of Udan but failed to operate the flights due to paucity of aircraft have been kept out of Udan-3. New routes have instead been offered to airlines with reliable operations. We expect most of them to take off this year,” said Yadav.


Kazi Nazrul Islam Airport at Andal that currently has an Air India flight to Delhi and will get another thrice-a-week connection to Hyderabad from Febraury 17, has been given two more connections in the Udan-3 scheme. Spice-Jet is scheduled to operate the flights to Mumbai and Chennai.
29/01/19 Times of India

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British citizen airlifted from MIA

Mangaluru: British citizen Ann Maud Lewis Smith who was due to be airlifted back home in an air ambulance on Saturday, finally departed from Mangaluru International Airport (MIA) on Monday.
Efforts to airlift Ann, who had arrived in this coastal city on board a cruise ship 10 days ago and subsequently, fell sick, failed when the air ambulance that reached MIA hit a technical snag minutes before take-off on Saturday.
The alternative air ambulance arranged by Air India Sats reached MIA from Sharjah at 12.30am on Monday and took off at 1.45am, V V Rao, airport director, MIA said, adding as per the flight plan filed, the relief aircraft was scheduled to stop at Karachi for refuelling. The original air ambulance that was summoned to take Ann and her husband developed technical snag minutes before it was due to take off on Saturday and a replacement aircraft had to be called in.
29/01/18 TImes of India

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Alliance Air ATR-72 struck its tail onto the runway during landing at Diu Airport in India

Regional aircraft ATR-72-212A operated by Alliance Air struck its tail onto the runway during landing at Diu Airport in India. The aircraft was performing a flight 9I-623 from Mumbai to Diu on behalf of Air India. There were no injuries during the accident, but the aircraft sustained substantial damage. All the passengers were disembarked at the terminal and the return flight of the aircraft was canceled.
The occurrence aircraft is still on the ground in Diu about 35 hours after landing.
The investigation of the accident is underway, but according to preliminary information, ATR-72-212A struck its tail onto the runway due to a human mistake during landing operations.
29/01/19 Svilen Petrov/Wings Herald

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Air India flight hit by foreign object in Tirupati during takeoff, grounded in Hyderabad

New Delhi: An Air India aircraft was damaged today after "foreign objects", most likely loose concrete from the runway, hit its body while take off from the Triupati airport in Andhra Pradesh.

The damage did not result in any accident and the flight was grounded at the Hyderabad airport.

No injuries to the passengers or the crew have been reported so far.

The flight has been identified as Air India 541. It took from Tirupati around 3 pm today.

Photos of the damaged aircraft show that holes were formed in the aircraft's wings and some damage was also caused to its belly.
29/01/19 India Today

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Tirupati runway in poor condition, airport closed after Air India aircraft suffers damage

Mumbai: The fuselage and flight control surfaces of an Air India aircraft that took off from Tirupati airport on Tuesday afternoon suffered extensive damage, presumably because of foreign objects and particles on the runway. Following the incident, the airport runway was shut down, leaving air passengers on atleast a dozen arrival and departure flights stranded.
Air India flight AI 541 took off from Trichy airport for Hyderabad around 3 pm. ``Heavy damage to the A321 (VT-PPN) aircraft's stablizers and elevators and holes in the fuselage possibly because of foreign object damage (FOD) has been observed,'' said a source. An FOD is any object, debris that could cause damage to the aircraft, especially during the take off run.
The Air India aircraft was withdrawn from service and moved to a hangar for damage assessment.
Soon after the Air India flight departed, an IndiGo flight (6E7113) to Bengaluru departed but after that the runway 26 of Tirupati airport was shut down. Currently, there have been no arrivals and departures into Tirupati.
29/01/19 Manjuu V/Times of India

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More flights sought for Amritsar airport

Amritsar: A group of city residents, under the tutelage of FlyAmritsar Initiative and Amritsar Vikas Manch (AVM), on Monday returned after attending the recently held first Global Aviation Summit in Mumbai. The summit was organised by the Ministry of Civil Aviation for the promotion of Sri Guru Ramdas Jee International Airport.
FlyAmritsar Initiative also aims to encourage different airlines to start direct flights to Amritsar.

The delegation, including Yogesh Kamra, co-convener of FlyAmritsar Initiative and additional secretary of AVM, Daljit Singh Saini, Initiative Taskforce member, held meetings with several airlines to present the city airport before the aviation world and major global airline operators.
29/01/19 Tribune

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Don’t privatise Thiruvananthapuram airport, Centre urged

Thiruvananthapuram: The State government is putting pressure on the Centre to change its stance on handing over Thiruvananthapuram international airport to a private player for operating, managing and developing it for the next 50 years.

It wanted the Centre to retain the premier airport under the State government in the public sector. Replying to a calling attention by C.K. Hareendran in the Assembly on Monday on the privatisation move and the need to exert pressure on the Centre, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said the government had formed a consortium under the Kerala State Industrial Development Corporation (KSIDC) to participate in the bidding process that had commenced.

The Chief Minister said the privatisation move of the airport, managed by the Airports Authority of India (AAI) and generating profit, had come when the government was on the final stages of acquiring 18 acres of land for the integrated terminal on the city side. “This is against the interest of the State and we had asked the Centre to review the decision.”
As there was no positive response from the Centre to the requests of the State government, Mr. Vijayan said the government had formed the Thiruvananthapuram International Airport Limited (TIAL), a special purpose vehicle, and had appointed technical, financial and legal consultants to take a call on the bids floated by the AAI.
29/01/19 The Hindu

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AAI ED slams Forest officials over delay in expansion of Bokaro Airport

Bokaro: Over delay in completion of expansion and modernisation of Bokaro airport, the officials engaged at work have come under fire of AAI Executive Director on Sunday.

Expressing deep concern over the delay in starting air services at Bokaro airport the Executive Director of Airport Authority of India (AAI) K Bhattacharya asked his officials to start services, anyhow, in the next six months.

The ED also directed his officials to expedite the construction work, so that air services could start by June this year. Bhattacharya along with AAI official’s team rushed at Bokaro to take an account of ongoing expansion and development work of the airport.

Annoyed over the attitude of district forest department for felling the trees Bhattacharya asked his officials (AAI) to engage contractor on their own end to remove trees if forest department did not starts the removal work. “The district forest department officials are not showing their keen interest in the removal of the trees inside the airport premises earliest and the construction works of terminal building and main building are trapped,” he said.

“Without removal of the trees, civil work could not be possible,” added Bhattacharya.

Earlier, Bokaro Deputy Commissioner MK Barnawal ordered Van Vikas Nigam to remove the trees inside the airport premises but despite the order, officials are not paying any heed, he said. 
29/01/19 Pioneer

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Yogi govt plans airport terminal in Chitrakoot

Lucknow: After initiating construction of a full-fledged airport in Ayodhya to enable landing of big aircrafts and boost religious tourism, the Yogi Adityanath government has moved a proposal for expanding the air strip and constructing an airport terminal in Chitrakoot, the place where Lord Ram is believed to have spent part of his 14 years in exile.
The department of civil aviation has proposed acquisition of one hectare land for expansion of air strip and construction of terminal building in Chitrakoot under the regional connectivity scheme.

The land will be sought from forest department, said special secretary, department of civil aviation, Surya Pal Gangwar. The government has released a sum of over Rs 10 lakh for initiating the project.

Sources said that the master plan of the project has already been prepared by Airport Authority of India (AAI) which would execute the project. “The district administration has been asked to adhere to the layout plan and accordingly intimate the state government about the progress of project,” Gangwar said in a letter to Chitrakoot divisional commissioner and district magistrate.
While the airport in Ayodhya is proposed to be in named after Lord Ram, the proposal for airstrip expansion and terminal construction in Chitrakoot focuses on ‘Ramayan Mela’. Not surprisingly, the proposal comes almost 10 days after the UP cabinet gave its nod to the process of notifying Chitrakoot district as a province as it would enable the government to organise Ramayan Mela on a large scale and bear its cost.

29/01/19  Pankaj Shah/Times of India

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Only Kial deserves tax relief: CM Pinarayi Vijayan

Thiruvananthapuram: The state government has turned down the demand to exempt airlines operating from Calicut International Airport at Karipur from aviation fuel tax, Monday.

The demand for the tax relief grew louder after the government reduced air turbine fuel (ATF) tax for flights operating from the newly-opened Kannur International Airport Ltd (Kial).

People's representatives from Kozhikode and Malappuram districts have deamnded tax relief for the 30-year-old Karipur airport, which according to them, was struggling especially after the opening of the Kannur airport.

Chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan told the legislative assembly that the fuel tax for flights operating from Kannur airport was slashed to 1% for 30 years as it was requisite for the airport to join the central government's UDAN project that promotes regional air connectivity.

Also, being a green field airport, the daily expenditure of Kannur airport was very high, he said.

“Karipur, Thiruvananthapuram and Kochi airports don’t deserve tax exemption. The exemption given to Kannur airport would no way affect Karipur airport,” he said.

A P Anilkumar, MLA, claimed that the flight services from Kannur have become cheaper than from Karipur. “We are not against Kannur getting the exemption. The government should carry out a study to assess whether Karipur airport has achieved due growth in 30 years,” he said.
29/01/19 Times of India

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Northeast India to soon have seaplanes to connect airports under UDAN scheme

Assam will soon have water aerodromes in two destinations that will link them with airports via seaplanes. UDAN (Ude Desh ka Aam Nagrik) scheme is adding a new dimension with the Union Ministry of Civil Aviation giving its nod for setting up the said water aerodromes in Assam. With this development, Northeast India is looking forward to boosting tourism and attract more visitors in the near future.

As per the latest news reports, Union Civil Aviation Minister Suresh Prabhu, under UDAN 3 scheme, recently handed out the letters of award to successful airlines.

If one goes into the technicality of seaplanes, these are powered fixed-wing aircraft capable of taking off and landing on water. Also, there are two categories of seaplanes, i.e., Category 1 and Category 1A. While the Category 1A seaplanes have less than nine seats, whereas Category 1 seaplanes comprise between 9 and 20 seats.
Not just these seaplane links, the Civil Aviation Ministry is also planning to introduce a number of routes in Northeast India under and bringing it under the ambit of UDAN scheme. As of now, a private airline has been selected to connect Guwahati riverfront to Umrangso Reservoir, Guwahati riverfront to Jorhat, and Guwahati riverfront to Shillong.
28/01/19 Times Travel

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Seven new flights from Udaipur to 5 cities to be introduced in April

Jaipur: Seven new flights connecting Udaipur with other cities will operate from April this year.

Four direct flights connecting Udaipur to Ahmedabad and Bhopal (two each) will get functional from April. Also, three direct flights connecting Udaipur to Aurangabad, Jodhpur, and Kishangarh (one each) will start operating soon.

According to the airport authorities, the launch of these seven new flights will boost connectivity and tourism in Udaipur. Eighteen flights are operating from Udaipur airport. After the introduction of these new flights, the number will reach 25.

All the flights will be under Regional Contact Scheme (RCS) for which the session will commence from March-April.
29/01/19 Rimjhim Jethani/PinkCity Post

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StarAir takes wings with UDAN 3.0

The newest airline in the Indian skies which commenced commercial flight operations only a couple of days ago has bagged the most number of routes (from Karnataka) in the (Ude Desh Ka Aam Naagrik) UDAN 3.0 or third round of the Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS).
The Bengaluru based StarAir promoted by the Ghodawat Group and which started its first commercial flights on January 25, has bagged 13 routes in UDAN 3.0.
A bulk of these routes will be operated from the Belagavi airport connecting to destinations like Indore, Jodhpur, Jaipur and others, the airline has also been awarded an intra state route between Bengaluru and Kalaburgi. The airline will operate from three airports in the state-Bengaluru, Belagavi, Kalaburgi which are among the four airports been that have been chosen to operate flights under UADAN 3.0.
StarAir will not be operating from Mysuru airport from which Alliance Air has bagged four routes.
29/01/19 Bangalore Mirror

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Airfare in Kannur-Gulf sector comes down

GoAir has announced new direct flights to Muscat and Abu Dhabi from the Kannur International Airport from February 28 and March 1 respectively.

The announcement was posted on the website of the airline company on Tuesday.

As per the flight schedule released by the GoAir, it will operate direct services from Kannur to Abu Dhabi on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays. The fares start at Rs. 6,099.
The services from Abu Dhabi to Kannur are on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays and the starting fare is Rs. 7,999.

From March 31 to October 26, the airline’s Abu Dhabi-Kannur services will be on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays.
GoAir will also operate services three days a week in the Kannur-Muscat route. The Kannur-Muscat flight services will be operated on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. The opening fares start at Rs. 4,999. Its Muscat-Kannur services are on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays. The fares start at ₹5,299.
GoAir already operates domestic services from Kannur to Bengaluru, Chennai and Hyderabad.

With the announcement of GoAir’s flight services in the Abu Dhabi-Kannur and Muscat-Kannur routes, the fares saw steep decline which will be a relief for people from the region working in the Gulf countries.

The fares of the Air India Express in the Kannur-Abu Dhabi route reached as high as Rs. 30,000 forcing passengers from north Malabar region to opt for Kozhikode or Kochi airports.
29/01/19 The Hindu

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100 additional airports to come up in years to come: Suresh Prabhu

Panaji: Union Minister for Civil Aviation Suresh Prabhu on Monday said that in addition to existing 101 aviation facilities, country will have additional 100 airports in years to come.
Speaking after inaugurating country's first Geographical Indication Store at Goa International Airport at Dabolim in South Goa, he said,“Over a period of time, there are certain geographies with very specific skills. In some geographies, there is expertise available which is not seen in other place. In case of Goa it is a culture, art which is also a geographical indicator. But also something also which comes from nature like the cashews of Goa.”
Mr Prabhu said the GI stores would promote local products made by artisans of the state at the airport which in turn boost local manufacturing and talent.
28/01/19 UNI

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International flyers spend up to two hours at immigration, baggage belts

Chennai: If you are taking a long flight to Chennai from abroad, your travel, or travail, will not end after touchdown. Long queues at immigration counters and commotion at the conveyor belt to collect luggage await you.
International flyers have complained that they have to wait between 45 minutes and two hours to complete immigration at the airport. Though adequate counters are available, they are not always manned.

“Immigration and baggage clearance are major issues. Baggage delay is much more than the time taken at the immigration counter. After spending time at the immigration, passengers have to wait at the conveyor belt for 40 minutes or more,” said Air Passengers Association of India national president D Sudhakara Reddy.

“It took me 45 minutes to get bags when I returned from Colombo recently. The flying time was one hour and 20 minutes. We are getting complaints from passengers about delays at immigration and baggage delivery, especially during midnight,” Reddy said.

The international arrival terminal handles around 10,000 passenger a day, most of them at night. For almost a year now, passengers are being held up. Airports Authority of India (AAI) said it had requested for more manpower.

With little or no relief, passengers often take to social media to vent their ire. Dhananjayan, a national award winning writer and film critic, tweeted recently: “The biggest challenge #ChennaiAirport faces is immigration & baggage arrival. Look at the mess of returning passengers - made to wait for 45 minutes & then wait for luggages to come for another 45 minutes. When will our Airports improve? @jayantsinha ji kindly look into this”

Reddy said Hyderabad and Bengaluru airports do not face such congestion. “They manage the crowd well. They have the personnel,” he said.
28/01/19 Times of India

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Kerala eyes interlinked airports

Thiruvananthapuram: Domestic airline companies are actively considering the government’s request for better connectivity among the four airports in state using smaller aircraft. The idea was proposed at a recent meeting between chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan and representatives of 12 domestic airlines, Union civil aviation ministry officials and senior government officials. It is reliably learnt that SpiceJet, IndiGo and GoAir – three major players in domestic sectorevinced interest to link all four airports.
Top sources said SpiceJet that already owns a fleet of small aircrafts, has evinced interest in the government proposal to launch services connecting Kannur, Kozhikode, Kochi and Thiruvananthapuram airports. IndiGo and GoAir have already expressed plans to launch a Kannur-Thiruvananthapuram service and they have been asked to consider a stopover in Kochi or Kozhikode. Government has also suggested connecting nearby airports like Coimbatore, Mysuru and Madurai with intra-state destinations. “The main demand of airline companies is that tax on aviation turbine fuel (ATF) – charged at 29% – should be reduced substantially. At present, ATF is taxed at 1% for Kannur airport for the next 10 years. Airlines are seeking a fair reduction,” said a top source.
Airline companies said operating cost for smaller aircraft are much higher because of the lesser number of seats and hence taxes should be slashed to reduce fares and attract passengers. Government sources contended that if taxes were reduced, only the government stood to lose revenue and a balance in terms of ‘cost effectiveness’ should be struck before reducing the tax. It is learnt that the Union ministry of civil aviation favours launching more services connecting nearby destinations.
Another idea that was discussed was to connect more international destinations with one or more airports in state by domestic airline companies. Sources said the idea that is being seriously considered is that whether government would underwrite fares for an agreed percentage of seats in every flight to an international destination so that airlines can operate with a minimum guarantee.
28/01/19 KP Saikiran/Times of India

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Alliance Air to connect Ahmedabad with Hyderabad via Nashik from February 1

Mumbai: Alliance Air, the regional arm of the national carrier Air India, Monday announced operations to Ahmedabad from Hyderabad via Nashik from February 1. The new service is part of the government's regional connectivity scheme Udan, under which the air fares are capped at Rs 2, 500 for an under one-hour flight, Alliance Air said in a statement.

Alliance Air will deploy the 70-seater ATR-72 to operate services on the new route, it added. While services on the Hyderabad-Nashik route will be operated daily, the flights on the Nashik-Ahmedabad route will run on all days except Sundays.

The Delhi-based airline operates around 100 flights a connecting 53 destinations through its Delhi, Jaipur, Kolkata, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Vizag and Chennai hubs.

Alliance Air has been awarded a total of 43 routes under the first two phases of the Udan. It bagged 17 routes in the first phase and another 26 routes in the second phase. It has already commenced services on all 17 routes awarded in the first phase.
28/01/19 ETNowNews.com

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Health minister wants AAI to manage Chicalim Hospital

Margao: Health Minister Viswajit Rane has said that he wants the Cottage Hospital at Chicalim be managed by the Airport Authority of India (AAI) along with the State government.
He said that he wants to provide the best health care to the people of Goa while at the same time ensuring the availability of funds for them.
He appealed to Civil Aviation Minister to consider taking up the management of Chicalim hospital by the Civil Aviation Ministry through the Airport Authority of India along with the Government of Goa.
Asking Vishwajit to discuss the proposal with him in Delhi, Civil Aviation Minister Suresh Prabhu said he would consider it positively.
Speaking to media persons, Vishwajit said that he has to think out of the box to make the heath care run without being burdened about the finances and added that private public participation is one way of doing that.
28/01/19 Herald

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Air India agrees to operate late night flight to Mumbai, Delhi from Vizag

Visakhapatnam: Air India Limited has agreed the proposal of operating late night flight to Mumbai and Delhi from Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh Air Travelers Association (APATA) informed on Monday.
APATA representatives along with Air India Independent Director Daggubati Purandeswar, met Air India Limited Board Member and Director (Commercial) Capt Amitabh Singh, at Mumbai. The representatives requested the Capt Amitabh Singh for operating late night flight to Mumbai and Delhi from Visakhapatnam as these services are necessary to facilitate the international travelers to have access to the flights from Mumbai and Delhi so as to continue their travel to other countries.
28/01/19 UNI

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Ranchi airport shows surge in flyer count to 22 lakh a year

National capital Delhi is the favourite destination for flyers from the Jharkhand capital, followed by IT city Bangalore and eastern India’s biggest metro Calcutta, recent data from Birsa Munda Airport, Ranchi, reveals.

Also, since 2014, passenger traffic from the Birsa airport has increased almost four-fold, from 6 lakh flyers to an estimated 22 lakh.

State transport and civil aviation department secretary Praveen Toppo said Ranchi had flights to almost all zones of the country.

“It is a good sign that since 2014, passenger flow at Birsa Munda Airport in Ranchi has increased four-fold. It shows that the purchasing capacity of the state population has increased considerably in recent times. It is with this objective that we are giving more impetus in developing airports at Deoghar and Dhalbhumgarh,” he said.

The transport secretary said it was heartening that the number of flyers had shown a steady spurt in every passing year. “In 2014 there were only 11 flights carrying annually 6 lakh passengers from Birsa airport, in 2018 the number of flights is 30 with 22 lakh estimated flyers,” he added.

A break-up of Birsa air passengers in 2018-19 reveals nearly 45 per cent of passengers had gone to Delhi, 30 per cent to Bangalore, 15 per cent to Calcutta. Surprisingly, the country’s commercial capital Mumbai comes a distant fourth with only 7 per cent passengers. The number of flights here corresponds to this demand, with a whopping total of 13 flights a day from Ranchi to Delhi, followed by 10 to Bangalore.
28/01/19 Animesh Bisoee/Telegraph

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Flights to Belagavi, Bhavnagar from Pune under Udan-III

Pune: The Pune airport will see two new connections under the phase 3 of the Udan scheme, airport officials said after the announcement from the ministry of civil aviation on January 25.

Pune airport director Ajay Kumar said two airlines, Alliance Air, a subsidiary of Air India, and SpiceJet, will start direct operations from Pune to Belagavi in Karnataka and Bhavnagar in Gujarat soon. The senior official said that a different airline will be re-starting the Pune-Nashik flight.

“The schedule for the two flights to Belagavi and Bhavnagar will be finalized soon. The regional connectivity scheme has been a game changer providing many unserved and under-served airports and airstrips across the country with air connectivity at reasonable and affordable fare structure,” the director said.

The second phase of Udan had seen the Pune airport getting a new flight to Nashik which was to be operated by Air Deccan, in addition to flights to Huballi and to Allahabad.

“The Pune-Nashik flight operated for a while but was suspended. The flight will start again soon and a different airliner will operate it. The details will be shared once matters are finalized. The flight to Huballi was to be operated by Ghodawat Group and IndiGo” the director added.

Air Deccan had won four flights from Maharashtra under Udan. These included flights between Jalgaon-Mumbai, Mumbai-Jalgaon, Pune-Nashik and Nashik-Pune.
However, citing operational reasons, all the flights were suspended by the airline last October. With two airlines including Air Deccan and Air Odisha performing badly in the first two phases of Udan, the centre had decided not to open their financial bids for the phase 3.
28/01/19  Joy Sengupta/Times of India

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Airlines, government blame each other for delay in services at Hisar airport

The Haryana government’s plan to start air services from the State’s first civil airport in Hisar, the first phase of which was inaugurated by Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on August 15 last year, seems to have hit turbulence with accusations flying thick and fast between airlines, and the State and Central governments over the delay.
Though Mr. Khattar had then expressed hope that M/s Pinnacleair Private Limited would commence operations by mid-October last year, the Airports Authority of India has now issued a notice to airlines over prolonged delay in starting services and directed it to do so at the earliest.

The notice was issued recently after the Haryana government had in a letter dated December 24, 2018, to the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) said that all facilities for starting scheduled operations were in place at the Hisar civil airport and a licence from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation was also obtained on September 27, 2018, but there was no progress from airlines regarding initiation of the Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS) flights on allotted routes despite persistent follow-up.
As per the communication between Haryana Civil Aviation Minister Rao Narbir Singh and the MoCA, airlines were awarded the Hisar-Chandigarh and Hisar-Delhi routes during the second round of bidding under the RCS-UDAN scheme on January 1, 2018. Operations were to start within six months of the date of letter of award.
When contacted, a senior Pinnacleair official told The Hindu that the MoCA was yet to clear the Delhi airport slot to them for the Hisar-Delhi-Hisar route, leading to the delay.
“We were allotted the Hisar-Chandigarh-Hisar and Hisar-Delhi-Hisar routes. However, the MoCA has not cleared the Delhi airport slot till date, which makes the entire project financially unviable for us,” said the official.

He said the length of the runway should also be increased from the present 2,000 feet to 6,000 feet.

“Though an 18-seater aircraft can land on the existing 2,000-foot runway, it may need a longer runway on a hot and humid day. We have requested the Haryana government to increase the length of the runway but they are yet to reply,” he said.
28/01/19 Ashok Kumar/The Hindu

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Tourism industry to submit proposal for intra-state and inter-state air connectivity

Kochi: Tourism industry is submitting a proposal to government to ensure more intra-state and inter-state air connectivity to boost the industry.
“Intra and inter-state air connectivity is important for growth. We have decided to submit a proposal to the government to take up the matter with Airports Authority of India. We urgently need more direct flights from other countries to Kerala,” said president of Kerala Travel Mart society Baby Mathew, who added Kerala was losing tourist due to poor air connectivity.
“There are Kochi-Thiruvananthapuram, Kozhikode-Thiruvananthapuram and Kozhikode-Kochi flights and most of them are full. This shows if there are adequate facilities at a reasonable price, people will prefer flights to save time,” said Mathew. Abad Hotels MD Riaz Ahmed said that feasibility is an issue.
“There is opportunity to promote business/tourism activities in state. But to ensure this, state needs good infrastructure facilities, peaceful atmosphere, minimum controversies and good road connectivity to destinations,” said president of Indian Association of Tour Operators (Kerala) EM Najeeb.
There are few things that work against the idea, especially steep airport tax, passenger load, take-off and landing costs.
28/01/19 Preetu Nair/Times of India

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Cial in talks with domestic carriers

Kochi: With government pushing for improved intra-state air connectivity, Cochin international airport Ltd (Cial) is exploring the possibility of starting services from Kochi to Thiruvananthapuram, Kozhikode and Kannur. A senior Cial official said domestic carrier IndiGo has confirmed a Kannur-Thiruvananthapuram service via Kochi by February-end. Talks are on between Cial and domestic carriers and more intra-state flights can be expected in coming months.

“Intra-state connectivity has been a focus area for Cial. We are analyzing the increasing trend of people taking flights to travel within the state and it takes a lot of discussion with carriers to start new services. There might be new services in summer schedule,” said Cial MD VJ Kurian.

Passengers, mostly businessmen and IT professionals, who fly frequently from Kochi to Trivandrum and Kozhikode, welcomed the decision. As of now there are only four services from Kochi to Thiruvananthapuram including an IndiGo flight in the morning and an Air India flight at night. Similarly, there is one daily service by Air India Express to Bahrain via Kozhikode at 8.30am.
“If I go to Thiruvananthapuram from Kochi by road, the round trip will cost me half-a-day in travelling. Even trains take same amount of time. A flight will take 45 minutes and you can use time productively. People now realize that airfares are cheaper and there is an increasing demand for intra-state flights,” said vice-chairman of SCMS Group of Educational Institutions Pramod P Thevannoor.

More intra-state flights can boost IT industry as Kochi and Kozhikode are developing as IT hubs. “One of the biggest beneficiaries will be IT professionals. Many companies at Technopark want to expand their business to Kochi and Kozhikode but the main concern is travelling time and lack of seamless air connectivity. If more flights are in, it will give a major thrust to IT hubs,” said CEO of Infopark, Technopark and Cyberpark Hrishikesh Nair.

28/01/19 Anantha Narayanan K/Times of India

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Udaipur to have 7 more flights from April

7 new flights are being introduced in the month of April to provide better connectivity to Udaipur with other cities in the country. People who crave to fly to destinations like Aurangabad, Bhopal, Ahmedabad, Jodhpur and Kishangarh would love to read this news.

Udaipur will have 2 flights each to Ahmedabad and Bhopal and 1 flight each to Kishangarh, Aurangabad and Jodhpur. These flights will most certainly increase Udaipur’s connectivity with the rest of the country. Udaipur airport recently has 18 flights which will be 25 in the month of April.

The air route Udaipur to Ahmedabad will be the most travelled route as there is too much of public travelling between the two cities daily. Jet Airways and Spice Jet will be flying on this route. Since the nearest international airport from Udaipur is Ahmedabad, people can now fly to this Gujarat city and save upon time.
Kishangarh route used to be an air route with Zoom Air and Supreme Airlines operating on Udaipur-Kishangarh sector. The airlines closed down closing the route forever via air. Now that Zoom Air is going to start operations again, the sector can again be travelled by flight and tourists visiting Pushkar can also reach Udaipur directly through the Kishangarh flight.
Passengers need not go to anywhere else to fly to Bhopal. Udaipur to Bhopal flights of Jet Airways and Spice Jet will facilitate a good connectivity between Udaipur and Bhopal.
28/01/19 Monika S/Udiapur Times

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Gaya airport continues to remain underutilised

Gaya: Gaya international airport, manned by trained personnel of the Airports Authority of India (AAI), remains grossly underutilised despite having state-of-the-art facilities, including two aero bridges, an open bay, spacious lounge and night landing infrastructure.

The airport is adequately equipped to handle 10 lakh passengers every year, but around 75% of the capacity remains unutilised. According to official estimates, the airport handles only about 2.5 lakh flyers, which is just 25% of its capacity.

Spread over an area of 950 acres, Gaya airport is about four times bigger in size compared to Patna airport. Jayaprakash Narayan International Airport, Patna, on the other hand, is spread over an area of around 250 acres.

A couple of years ago, the 2,286-meter-long runway was repaired at a cost of Rs 22 crore. Besides runway repair by peeling off the surface and filling it with new material, recarpeting job was also done.

As of now, a single domestic flight, AI- 433, operates on the Gaya-Varanasi-Delhi route. Some foreign airlines, including those from Myanmar, Thailand and Bhutan, conduct seasonal operation between October and March.

According to insiders, Gaya airport’s growth trajectory has been somewhat kinked. Sources said the runway had not been adequately expanded to accommodate wide body (double aisles) planes. Everywhere in the world, narrow body (single aisle) planes are being replaced by wide body planes. AAI sources said another 500 meters have to be added to the existing length of 2,286 meters of the runway to make it compatible with wide body planes.
28/01/19 Times of India

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Karipur on revival path, registers 29% growth

Kozhikode: With wide-bodied aircraft resuming operations from Karipur last month after a gap of three years, the airport is on a revival path with plans to fully re-establish and enhance air connectivity to the Gulf. The number of domestic passengers at Karipur airport has grown by 29.2% from April to December 31, 2018 to touch 4.94 lakh.

At the same time, people’s representatives, trade and business organizations are exerting pressure on the government to provide the tax relief given on general sales tax on aviation turbine fuel (ATF) for domestic airlines operating from Kannur airport to Karipur as well to ensure that its growth prospects on the domestic front is not affected.

In November 2018, government had issued an order reducing ATF tax from 29% to 1% for the newly-commissioned Kannur airport which raised charges of favouritism. It was pointed out that the preferential treatment given to Kannur airport will affect the prospects of Karipur.

Though the opening of Kannur airport, managed by a public-private consortium, is expected to give competition to Karipur as a section of passengers will shift to the new airport, Airports Authority of India (AAI) hopes that the resumption of jumbo flights to Saudi Arabia will make up for the passenger loss.

“Despite the ban on operation of widebodied aircraft, we registered growth from April to December 2018 with international and domestic passengers increasing by 2.81% and by 29.2%. Overall passenger numbers have registered a growth of 7.7%, compared to 2017,” said airport director K Srinivasa Rao.
28/01/19 Times of India

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Absence of inline bag scanners holds up domestic passengers

Chennai: You may miss your domestic flight from Chennai airport even if you arrive there an hour before your flight as queues near baggage scanning machines can be long.

Inline baggage scanners that do multiple scans of checked-in bags, enabling passengers to deposit their bags at the check-in counters, were supposed to be installed by March last year, but there is no sign of them yet. The problem is worse during the morning peak hours.

Airports Authority of India (AAI) attribute the delay in getting the machines to new specifications introduced by Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) and paperwork for importing the scanners. AAI has increased the number of standalone scanners manned by airline security at the terminal, but sometimes these are not enough to reduce waiting time. A senior official of AAI said that inline scanning machines would be installed by March or April. “Tenders were awarded long ago and we are awaiting machines from abroad. That is taking time,” said an official.

The domestic terminal handles 25,000 passengers a day. An airline official said the number of people travelling domestic with cabin baggage alone is increasing but that is not the case during holidays and weekends when a large percentage of the travellers are families who go on leisure trips, with heavy bags that need to be checked in.

The terminal registered an increase in number of travellers during the Christmas-New Year week and also during Pongal. This increased the number of bags handled by airline staff. The domestic departure terminal has six to seven baggage scanners. Doing away with these machines will also help free up space that could be used for other passenger facilities.
The proposed inline scanners will screen bags at multiple levels and comply with new security regulations issued by BCAS.
28/01/19 Times of India

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Mangalore International Airport says connect to official free Wi-Fi for better user experience

Mangaluru: The Mangalore International Airport (MIA) authorities have advised passengers to use Airport Authority of India’s official free Wi-Fi to avoid slow speeds and connectivity issues.
MIA has advised passengers that the airport is providing free Wi-Fi from Vodafone through partner M/s Firefly networks, where 200 mb is free up to 45 minutes, whichever is earlier, and then online recharge is available.
Reacting to a report in TOI on Sunday that MIA lacks proper Wi-Fi connectivity, MIA airport director V V Rao said passengers were by mistake connecting to the old BSNL Wi-Fi and were facing problems. “Our technical team has analysed and advised as such. If any user faces problems, they can contact our terminal manager on a 24X7 basis,’’ he said, adding: “We have disconnected the old BSNL Wi-Fi to avoid confusion.”
He said due to this reason, some guests were connecting to the earlier installed BSNL Wi-Fi and giving wrong feedback. He has requested all guests at MIA to use only the official Wi-Fi provider by logging on to-‘Free Wi-Fi@AAI by Vodafone’.
28/01/19 Times of India

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Greater Noida new airport unlikely to meet the deadline. Here's why

New Delhi: It seems like the passenger rush at the Indira Gandhi International Airport might not be eased as soon as expected. The proposed international airport in Greater Noida might miss its 2022 headline. It may be noted that the deadline for land takeover for the project was December 15, 2018, but it was missed as farmers have not yet ceded any ground.

It may be noted that this project requires 5,000 hectares of land which has been earmarked along Yamuna Expressway. About 1,334 hectares of land was supposed to be acquired in the first phase of the project however, the Gautam Budh Nagar district administration which is the nodal agency for the project, has not yet begun land acquisition.
An India Today report stated citing top officials that since land acquisition has not even started yet, the project's construction will be delayed and the 2022 completion deadline is unlikely to be met. As per the report, officials have been trying to discuss the compensation demands of the farmers, who will be impacted by this project, for the past eight months.

BN Singh, District Magistrate, Gautam Budh Nagar was quoted in the report saying, "The 1,334 hectares of land will be acquired by February-end. Farmers have not given their complete approval. Once a consensus is reached, the first phase of land acquisition process for the proposed airport at Jewar will be completed."

The report further mentioned citing farmers that the compensation for the land offered to the farmers by the UP state government is less than what was promised to them earlier. Farmers claim that the government has put their villages in the 'urban' category which lowers compensation amount.
28/01/19 ETNowNews.com

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Reduce fuel tax at Calicut airport: chamber

The Calicut Chamber of Commerce and Industry has demanded that the State government reduce general sales tax on aviation turbine fuel at the Calicut International Airport. The demand comes in the wake of the government decision some time ago to reduce the tax at the Kannur International Airport from 28% to 1%.
Terming the move as a “discriminatory step”, chamber president Subair Kolakkadan and airport subcommittee chairman K. Moidu said here on Saturday that it would affect domestic services from the Calicut airport. They pointed out that the government should not encourage private capital at the cost of State-owned enterprises. The Calicut airport is owned by the Airports Authority of India and the one at Kannur is run on a public-private partnership model.
28/01/19 The Hindu

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Country's first GI store opens at Goa International Airport

Panaji: Union Minister for Civil Aviation Suresh Prabhu inaugurated country's first Geographical Indication (GI) Store at Goa International Airport at Dabolim in South Goa on Monday.
The store is located on the first floor on Departure Terminal, and jointly set up by Airport Authority of India (AAI) and The Cashew Export Promotional Council of India (CEPCI).
Members of Parliament Narendra Sawaikar and Vinay Tendulkar, Minister for Tourism Manohar Ajgaonkar, Minister for Town and Country Planning (TCP) Vijay Sardesai, Minister for Panchayat Mauvin Godinho were, among others, present on the occasion.
28/01/19 UNI

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Passengers fume as city airport turns ‘no-go zone’ for taxi aggregators

Visakhapatnam: Passengers relying on private taxi aggregators to reach their destinations from the Visakhapatnam international airport are facing inconvenience, with the authorities denying entry of cabs being operated by Ola and Uber into the airport.

Cashing in on the situation, the local taxis are fleecing the passengers by charging the fare as per their whims and fancies, the passenger allege.

“Local taxis are demanding more than double the fare charged by Ola and Uber cabs. Sometimes, we end up paying more on taxis than on flight tickets purchased during discount sales and special offers. The taxi aggregators are now being stopped outside the toll booth, which is about a half-a-km from the terminal building, forcing us to walk all the way with our luggage to catch a cab,” a passenger laments.

On the other hand, the drivers of taxi aggregators allege that they are being forced to pay entry fee at the airport.

“The toll gate staff are forcing us to pay ₹55 as the entry fee for picking up passengers from the terminal building. Even if we return within the stipulated 10 minutes after dropping and picking up new customers, we are made to pay the same fee. Both Uber and Ola drivers are facing the same problem,” says Naresh, an Uber cab driver.
28/01/19 B Madhu Gopal/The Hindu

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AAI Land Encroached For Naveen Niwas: Congress

Bhubaneswar: Odisha unit of Congress today leveled serious allegations that around 1.6 acre of land belonging to the Airports Authority of India has been encroached upon for Naveen Niwas, the residence of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.

Addressing a presser today, Chief of Odisha Congress Media unit, Satya Prakash Nayak informed that as per an RTI query, the State Government on February 3, 2016 wrote a letter to the Airports Authority of India to hand over around 1.6 acre of land from Airport Colony Chhak to Palaspali flyover to the State government for widening of the road with a swap offer of equivalent state government land at some other place.

After the proposal was accepted, the AAI and the General Administration department of the State government headed by CM Naveen Patnaik signed an MoU for swapping of land on April 10, 2017.
28/01/19 Odishatv.in

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AAI receives 111 initial proposals for UDAN-3

New Delhi: The Airport Authority of India (AAI) has received 111 initial proposals and 17 counter proposals from 15 bidders covering more than 350 routes in the round 3 of Ude Desh Ka Aan Naagrik (UDAN) scheme of Ministry of Civil Aviation. Proposals connecting 13 water aerodromes and more than 40 tourism routes were also received as part of the bidding process. UDAN 3 scheme includes the inclusion of seaplanes for connecting water aerodromes and bringing a number of routes in the North-East region under its ambit.
The inclusion of tourism routes under UDAN 3 is in coordination with the Ministry of Tourism, and under the scheme 16 unserved airports, 17 underserved airports, 6 water aerodromes and 50 served airports would be connected.
The UDAN 3 will connect 235 routes comprising 189 Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS) routes and 46 tourism routes across 29 states in the country.
The UDAN 3 would add another 69.30 lakh seats annually across the RCS routes with more than 1 lakh annual seats through seaplanes and more than 15 lakh annual seats on tourism routes. This is in addition to the number of seats created under UDAN 1 (13 lakh) and UDAN 2 (29 lakh).
27/01/19 ANI/Sify.com

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TruJet, Ghodawat Aviation get nod for Kolhapur-Mumbai route

Kolhapur: The much-awaited regular flight operations on Kolhapur-Mumbai route is likely to materialise soon as the ministry of civil aviation has given nod to private domestic airlines TruJet and Ghodawat Aviation to start operations on the route.
The citizens will also have alternatives with flights starting from Belagavi, some 128km from the city, to Nagpur, Nashik, Mumbai and Pune under the regional connectivity scheme, known as UDAN (Ude Desh ka Aaam Naagrik) scheme.

The Ghodawat Aviation will operate flights from Belagavi to Nagpur, Nashik, and Mumbai. While the Pune flights will be operated by Alliance Air, subsidiary of Air India.

According to sources, the ministry of civil aviation and the Airports Authority of India as the implementing agency will release the letter of awards to the selected airlines soon. Focus will be on ensuring early commencement of flights.

Hyderabad -based Turbo Megha Airways Pvt Ltd is a scheduled regional carrier with the scheduled commuter operator permit and is operating under the brand name Trujet.

At present, the Kolhapur airport operates daily flights on Hyderabad and Bengaluru routes, in which over 4,000 passengers have travelled since launching of the flights on December 9, last year.
27/01/18 Piyush Bhusari/Times of India

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People flying to and from Indian airports would grow to 1 billion by 2030: AAI Chairman

New Delhi: Airports Authority of India (AAI) Chairman, Guruprasad Mohapatra hoisted the national flag on the occasion of the 70th Republic Day in New Delhi. Speaking at the event, the AAI Chairman said, "The ever growing Indian aviation market will become the number one market in the world by 2030.

By 2023, 600 million people would be flying on Indian airports and the number would grow to 1 billion by 2030." The function saw several cultural performances, reenactment of jawans fighting on borders, and dances performed by kids.
26/01/19 ANI/Business Standard

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UDAN-3- new air connectivity from city of palaces soon

Mysuru: The city of places has one of the top most tourist destination in the country will be further boost with more air connectivity very soon.
The Union government has approved to provide air connectivity to five prominent cities from Mysuru Airport, under it’s Ude Desh Ka Aam Nagarik (UDAN)-3.
Presently the Mysuru has only flight facility connection to Chennai, daily.
27/01/19 UNI

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Soon, fly from Ambala to Delhi, Srinagar

Ambala: The proposed civil airport in Ambala Cantonment will have flights to Srinagar, Lucknow and Delhi. Flights to Srinagar and Lucknow have been awarded to Zoom Air and the operator to Delhi is yet to be decided.
Under the Udan 3.0 scheme of the Centre, a domestic airport will be constructed in Ambala Cantonment. Land will be acquired in Garnala or Barnala and the runway of the Air Force station will be used.

“A civil airport will be developed by the Centre. A team of the Airports Authority of India carried out survey of land for the purpose. The team identified land in Barnala and Garnala villages adjoining the Air Force station,” said Health and Sports Minister Anil Vij.
27/01/19 Nitish Sharma/Tribune 

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Airlines against buses from terminal building to tarmac

Pune: Airlines operating from Pune have expressed their unwillingness to operate coaches to ferry passengers from the terminal building to the aircraft with the Airports Authority of India (AAI) formulating a ground handling policy under which plying of coaches will be taken care of by an independent agency.
“A policy is being framed and expected to come into effect from April. So, there is no need for us to invest in coaches for now,” airlines’ representative said. The airlines, however, cited “safety issues” for their reluctance to operate coaches.

TOI had reported on Thursday that Pune airport officials have provided formal permission to all airlines to run passenger buses. “We had a meeting with the AAI on this and told them that even after increasing the apron area and introducing new parking bays, plying of coaches is still not possible considering the safety issues. They seem to be convinced with our reasoning. While some coaches can be plied when it is utmost necessary, we feel the system in place at airports like Delhi cannot be replicated here,” an airline official told TOI on Friday.
26/01/19 Joy Sengupta/Times of India

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Sambra airport gets connectivity with 13 domestic airports

Belagavi: Belagavi will now be connected to 13 destinations across the country. The Union government cleared five airline operators to offer civilian air connectivity between the Sambra airport in Belagavi with 13 domestic airports.

These are part of the 235 routes announced under the regional connectivity scheme (RCS).

According to a social media post shared by Suresh Angadi, MP, the operators will connect Belagavi to Hyderabad, Tirupati, Mumbai, Pune, Surat, Kadapa, Mysuru, Indore, Jodhpur, Jaipur, Ahmedabad, Nasik and Nagpur. Even before the RCS was implemented, Belagavi had connectivity to Chennai, Bengaluru and Mumbai. Now, the residents of the city can fly to 16 destinations from Belagavi.

The five operators selected are Ghodawat Star Air, Turbo Megha, InterGlobe, Spice Jet, and Alliance Air.

There are three airports within 100 km of Belagavi. The domestic airport in Hubballi connects 22 destinations and the one in Kolhapur connects four. Dabolim in Goa is among the well-connected international airports in the country.

Belagavi had regular daily flights to Mumbai, Bengaluru and Chennai before the Centre implemented UDAN RCS.
26/01/19 The Hindu

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Flight services soon from Jharsuguda airport to six cities

Bhubaneswar: Commercial flight services will be launched from Veer Surendra Sai Airport, Jharsuguda to six cities of the country under UDAN-3 scheme.

The Civil Aviation Ministry on Friday announced the results of UDAN-3 scheme in which the ministry issued licences to 235 routes comprising 189 RCS Routes and 46 Tourism Routes across 29 states.

For the first time, tourism routes and water aerodromes are included under the scheme.

According to a statement released by the ministry, UDAN 3.0 has 235 routes comprising 189 UDAN routes and 46 tourism routes connecting all 29 states. The airlines which bagged the licences under the UDAN 3 scheme are Spicejet, IndiGo, Jet Airways and Air India.
25/01/19 Ramakanta Biswas/Pragativadi

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Government awards 235 routes under UDAN, seaplanes to fly on 18 routes

New Delhi: Seaplanes will fly on 18 air routes among the 235 routes awarded Friday under the government's ambitious regional connectivity scheme that will also connect 16 unserved airports and six water aerodromes.
Announcing the awards of the third round of regional air connectivity scheme or UDAN, Civil Aviation Minister Suresh Prabhu said as many as 69.30 lakh seats would be added on an annual basis across the 235 routes. More than 1 lakh seats would be through seaplanes.
Besides, the civil aviation ministry announced that SpiceJet would operate international flights under UDAN from Guwahati to Dhaka and Bangkok.
SpiceJet, IndiGo Jet Airways, Air India subsidiary Airline Allied Services Ltd or Alliance Air, and Turbo Aviation are among the operators that have bagged the routes in the third round.
Other operators that have been awarded routes are Andaman Airways Pvt Ltd, Aviation Connectivity and Infrastructure Developers Pvt Ltd, Ghodawat Enterprises Pvt Ltd, Heritage Aviation, Turbo Megha Airways Pvt Ltd and Zexus Air Services Pvt Ltd.
Together, 73 proposals of the 11 operators have been approved by the ministry.
26/01/19 PTI/Economic Times

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Facial recognition will help Indian flyers go paperless

Indian domestic flyers will soon be able to fly paperless with the help of a new facial recognition technology being introduced under the Ministry of Civil Aviation’s ambitious “Digi Yatra” project this year.

Digi Yatra will be based on facial recognition technology, artificial intelligence and electronic boarding gates. While taking domestic flights, passengers willing to opt for Digi Yatra, will be asked for a one-time registration either at the airport or through the Digi Yatra portal, against which a unique DY ID will be generated and which will be used for all future air travels across India.

The unique DY ID will be linked to one’s PNR number every time one books a ticket with any airline, which in turn will be uploaded in the central database of the Digi Yatra portal. With the help of the airline and using artificial intelligence, the portal will be able to recognise the airport, the city, the airline and the passenger details to make a match and send the details to the security staff six hours prior to the departure of the flight for a quick and hassle free experience for the traveller at the airport.

Airports will be fitted with automatic boarding gates that will operate using the facial recognition technology at several points, such as the main entry gate into the terminal building, boarding gates and at the entry to the Security Hold Area (SHA).

According to the Ministry’s sources, this technology will help streamline the airport experience in India as well as expedite the process of boarding. Not only this, according to officials in the Ministry of Civil Aviation, Digi Yatra will also help the security agencies in enhancing security at the airports as passengers with fake tickets will not be able to gain access to the terminal building.
26/01/19  Dibyendu Mondal/Sunday Guardian Live

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New airport in Greater Noida's Jewar to miss takeoff date

New Delhi: The maddening rush of passengers at Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) may take longer to ease as plans for a second such facility in Delhi-NCR have run into serious land acquisition troubles.

The proposed international airport at Greater Noida's Jewar is "impossible" to meet its 2022 completion deadline, top officials have indicated to Mail Today.

The latest deadline for the first phase of land takeover for the planned Noida International Greenfield Airport project was December 15, 2018, but angry farmers have so far not ceded any ground.

The Rs 6,700-crore project needs 5,000 hectares of land earmarked along the Yamuna Expressway. In the first phase, 1,334 hectares was to be acquired. The Gautam Budh Nagar district administration, the nodal agency for the project on behalf of the Uttar Pradesh government, is yet to begin acquiring land.
"Consequently, the project's construction will take even longer to start. The 2022 completion deadline seems impossible," said a top official.

The New Okhla Industrial Development Authority (NOIDA) and the UP government have a stake of 37.5 per cent each in the joint venture created for the project. The Greater Noida Industrial Development Authority (GNIDA) and the Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority (YEIDA) have a stake of 12.5 per cent each.

For the past eight months, officials have been racing against time to address compensation demands of farmers to be impacted by the project at Jewar, 60 km from Delhi. "The 1,334 hectares of land will be acquired by February-end. Farmers have not given their complete approval. Once a consensus is reached, the first phase of land acquisition process for the proposed airport at Jewar will be completed," said BN Singh, District Magistrate, Gautam Budh Nagar.

In the first phase, the administration needs to acquire land in six villages - Rohi, Parohi, Banwari Bas, Dayanatpur, Kishorpur, and Ranhera.
26/01/19 Kanika Mehta/India Today

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GMR unveils GMR Square at Delhi airport

New Delhi: The GMR Group announced the introduction of ‘GMR Square’ in the hospitality district of Delhi International Airport which will offer easy access to the commercial hubs of Aerocity from public places.

It was unveiled on January 19 by Rajiv Nayan Choubey, Secretary, Ministry of Civil Aviation, it said a release.

The square connects the Aerocity’s Airport Metro station to all the major hotels and offices with Aerocity’s Hospitality District through an experiential walkway, it added.

“The Aerocity is no more just a hotel district, but has now crafted its own unique identity. Recent events like Oktoberfest, India Mobile Congress, National Skill Competition, India Craft Week and Cirque De Soliel attracted an excellent response. Today, GMR Square offers a very unique experience to all the Indians which is at par with any famous location overseas,” said Aman Kapoor, CEO, Airport Land Development (ALD), GMR Group.
25/01/19 PTI/India.com

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India likely to get 70 percent stake to airlift Mattala

Sri Lanka is to give India 70 percent of the stake in the Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport (MRIA) in a move that appears to strike a balance with the Hambantota Port being given to China. In terms of a Cabinet Paper now being prepared for approval, the new deal is to be a joint venture between the Airport and Aviation Services of Sri Lanka (AASL) Ltd and the Airports Authority of India (AAI).

The draft Cabinet Paper is still undergoing changes based on discussions between the two sides, sources said. There are no moves to call for fresh bids for the management of MRIA and talks are going on, as the Sri Lankan Government prefers a joint venture with India. “India is a single investor and would possess the required expertise to revamp the now virtually dead airport,” said one aviation source.

India remains on board but will not settle for anything less than a 70 percent stake owing to the burden of managing a loss-making airport.
“Given the fact that Mattala has been a loss-making project from the beginning, it would actually be safer for Sri Lanka to settle for a 30 percent stake in the joint venture rather than going for the traditional 51:49 split,” the source said. “That way, we will be absorbing a smaller portion of the losses.”
27/01/19 Abdullah Shahnawaz/Sunday Times

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Three new domestic flight routes under Udan scheme from Amritsar

Amritsar: Member of Parliament for Amritsar S Gurjeet Singh Aujla Saturday informed that Sri Guru Ram Das Ji Airport, Amritsar got 3 new domestic flight routes under Udan Scheme which include Patna, Kolkata and Jaipur.
S Aujla informed that UDAN (Ude Desh ka Aam Naagrik) is a regional airport development and "Regional Connectivity Scheme"(RCS) of Government of India, with the objective of "letting the common citizen of the country fly", aimed at making air travel affordable and widespread, to boost inclusive national economic development, job growth and air transport infrastructure development of all regions and states of India.
26/01/19 UNI

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Vijayawada airport sees 73% international passenger load factor in first month

Vijayawada: The bi-weekly international flight service which began recently from the Vijayawada International Airport registered an impressive occupancy ratio (load factor) of about 73% in the first month.

According to the traffic data released by Airports Authority of India, 2,102 passengers flew between Vijayawada and Singapore on 16 flights in December. Each service has a capacity to accommodate 180 passengers.

On the other hand, the airport registered a growth of 70% in domestic passenger traffic and 65% in aircraft traffic from April to December in the current fiscal. If the passenger load factor continues to be consistent, the burden of Viability Gap Funding on Andhra Pradesh Airports Development Corporation Limited (APADCL), which struck a deal with Indigo Airlines to run the services, will be eased. APADCL has already paid an advance of ₹3.05 crore to Indigo as per the agreement.

In all, 9.98 lakh passengers flew through the city airport and 1,539 aircraft movements were handled.

Passenger traffic at Tirupati, Rajahmundry and Kadapa airports too surged high, while that in Visakhapatnam was nowhere close in the current fiscal year until December.
26/01/19 Tharun Boda/The Hindu

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FlyAmritsar Initiative presents Amritsar Airport to the Aviation World at GAS 2019

Amritsar: A delegation of FlyAmritsar Initiative attended the recently heldfirst Global Aviation Summit 2019 in Mumbai organized by Ministry of Civil Aviation, Government of India with the aim to provide the most comprehensive platform for civil aviation.  FlyAmritsarInitiative also aims to connect with different world airlines and governmentsto encourage them to start direct flights to Amritsar.
Delegation including Yogesh Kamra, Co-Convener of FlyAmritsar Initiative and Additional Secretary of NGO Amritsar Vikas Manch (AVM), Daljit Singh Saini, Initiative taskforce member held meetings with several airlines at the Global Aviation Summit to present Amritsar Airport to the aviation World and major Global Airline operators. Member Parliament from AmritsarGurjeet Sing Aujla also joined the delegation at the Summit.
26/01/19 Punjab News Express

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MIA lacks proper Wi-Fi connectivity

Mangaluru: Though Mangalore International Airport (MIA) is one of the fastest growing airports in the country, connectivity, both voice and data, inside the airport, has been a major issue for passengers. With many dead zones inside the airport terminal, the voice and data connections can at best be patchy, adding to the woes is unreliable Wi-Fi connection.

Flyers at MIA, since the past few days, have been complaining about poor access to Wi-Fi.

The Wi-Fi is provided by a third party using BSNL services. The service is free for 30 minutes and thereafter is charged as per the available plans or as per usage hours after the free minutes. This type of service is available at many airports in the country on a similar model. But unlike international airports where passengers are able to receive 60 minutes of free hi-speed Wi-Fi access, at MIA it’s free only for the first 30 minutes.

Though it was touted that the speed available is up to 10 Mbps with good signal strength, with hundreds of passengers logging in, the connection literally crawls. Though the access is supposed to be fairly simple, it is not. When the user accesses the Wi-Fi network, a BSNL logo pops up in the browser, and if the user presses the icon, the log-in interface pops up on the screen. The user will have to enter the name, mobile number following which OTP (one time password) would be sent via SMS. Many users are facing problems with pop-up access.

26/01/19 Times of India

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Pre-Paid Auto Service Begins In Biju Patnaik International Airport

Bhubaneswar: A pre-paid auto service has been inaugurated at Terminal 1 of Biju Patnaik International Airport here on Saturday. Twin City Police Commissioner Satyajit Mohanty, Airport Director Suresh Chandra Hota and other senior officials were present at the inauguration function.

Commissionerate Police has promised to provide all safety and security required for this needful service. With many national and international flights making a beeline for Biju Patnaik International Airport, the commuters will find this pre-paid auto service extremely beneficial.
26/01/19 Kalinga TV

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Aviation boost: Abandoned airstrips to be renovated to boost connectivity, says official

The Centre has decided to renovate and develop around 400 abandoned airstrips across the country to strengthen air-connectivity, a senior official said Thursday. Like the proposed Dhalbhumgarh airstrip that had been developed by Britishers during the World War II in Ghatsila sub-division of East Singhbhum district, Secretary of Union Civil Aviation department R N Choubey said there were 400 such airstrips lying abandoned across the country.
"The air strips were all our assets and we are willing to renovate them... Develop those strips as modern airports with the respective state governments to improve air connectivity," Choubey said.

He was addressing a gathering after Union Minister of State for Civil Aviation Jayant Sinha and Jharkhand Chief Minister Raghubar Das performed the ground breaking ceremony for a proposed airport in

Dhalbhumgarh, about 65 km from here, under Ghatsila sub-division of East Singhbhum district.

Choubey said Das and Sinha have asked the ministry to make all possible efforts to set up an airport at Jamshedpur, considered the industrial capital of Jharkhand.

On the directive of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, a drive has been launched to renovate and develop abandoned airstrips to improve air connectivity, he said.
25/01/19 PTI/ZeeBiz

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