Kolkata-London flight off radar, flyers to transit Delhi, Mumbai

Kolkata: The weekly flight between London and Kolkata is not in the limited number of flights that have been allowed to operate between the UK and India from January 8 to January 23. The ministry of civil aviation on Saturday announced the list of 15 flights a week between airports in India and those in the UK. While Delhi has a daily flight, Mumbai has six and Bengaluru two.

Telephones at the Air India office in Kolkata kept ringing on Saturday as anxious passengers booked to travel on the direct weekly flights between Kolkata and London enquired when they would be able to fly. The flurry of calls was triggered by an earlier MoCA notification on Friday evening announcing regulated resumption of flights between the two countries from January 8.

“We have received hundreds of calls since the morning from passengers seeking clarification on their travel. We are assuring everyone that there is no need to panic. Since they are booked on AI, the airline will ensure that they reach the destination, be it passengers set to travel to London or arrive here,” an AI official said.

Among the callers was Lalit Tejwani, whose son Vikram was originally scheduled to travel on Sunday. “There is no clarity at this point on when Vikram will be able to fly. We hope the airline will make some arrangement via another city,” said Tejwani. Vikram has completed four years in Leeds university and has to return after the Christmas break for the fifth year.

03/01/21 Times of India

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Mumbai Airport Scans Passengers from China, Hong Kong

Mumbai: Mumbai airport is thermal scanning all passengers from China and Hong Kong before they enter immigration, it said in a statement.
 Thermal scanners use heat sensors and can spot people with high temperature levels. A team is “conducting universal thermal screening for all passengers of flights coming directly from China and Hongkong. For other international arriving flights, only the self declared passengers are screened using thermal camera,” the airport operator said.
 “In case the passenger has symptoms of Coronavirus infection, he/she is being quarantined and sent to designated hospital,” it added. Meanwhile national carrier Air India has sent a flight to Wuhan, the epicentre of the outbreak, to evacuate Indians from there. A person in the know said their immigration and customs clearance will be done at a remote bay at the Delhi airport, following which they will transported to a quarantined area.
 31/01/20 Economic Times

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Vehicle relief rolls at Birsa airport

Vehicles can now drop and pick up passengers at Bisra Munda Airport without having to park at the parking bay, and the airport will have time-based variable parking rates from April.

At present, there is a flat rate of Rs 65 for four-wheelers and Rs 15 for two-wheelers in the parking bay irrespective of the time spent.

“We will be floating the tender for parking bays as per the new parking policy by first week of February and finalise the agency within two months with the new parking tariff,” airport director Vinod Kumar Sharma said. “The new variable parking policy would give respite to those who come for a few minutes at the airport as they would not have to pay the same fare as others who park their vehicle for longer times.”

Airport sources said for up to 30 minutes spent at the airport parking bay, a four-wheeler or an auto-rickshaw will have to pay Rs 20, and two-wheeler will have to pay Rs 10 (see box).
The airport authorities have also introduced from Wednesday a dedicated drop and pick-up lane for passengers.

“The decision was taken this week based on feedback from flight passengers,” airport director Sharma said. “The four-wheelers coming to drop and pick-up passengers can park in the dedicated lane for five minutes absolutely free of cost and leave the airport as against the earlier practice wherein any vehicle coming to the airport had to park in the parking bay at a distance away and pay Rs 65 after the five minutes of free time.”

Before this, passengers had to walk over 30m with their luggage to the space where the vehicles are parked. However, with the dedicated lane the cabs and cars can come near the exit gate and passengers can board without having to walk that distance.
31/01/20 Telepgraph

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3 girls heckle prolific tweeter Mahesh Hegde at airport

Bengaluru: Three random girls heckled prolific tweeter Mahesh Ganesh Hegde at the Mangluru airport to sing the national song Vande Mataram.
Kavita Reddy, Amulya Leona and Najma Nazeer caught up with Hedge at the airport on Friday.
"Please, please. We want you to sing for the country, let''s sing Vande Mataram," said the unidentified woman between Reddy and Leona as Nazeer sat to Hegde''s right in the airport, wearing a burqa and red scarf.
"Vikram, this is cinema opportunity. The best opportunity," said the girl, continuing in Kannada.
The girls promised Hedge that they will join him in singing Vande Mataram with him.
Later in the video, another girl sat beside Nazeer wearing a backpack in a short hairdo.
"This is for you. It''s your time now, come on," said the girl.
As Hedge sat uncomfortably, the girl started pleading him to please sing the national anthem.
"Do you remember what time Godse killed Gandhi? Do you remember? Come on sing Vikram. You have been torturing us on Facebook all the while now," said the lady referring to his posts.
Hegde did not utter a word but was uncomfortable with the girls asking him to sing, moving as he sat.
Akash Banerjee, a satirist, tweeted, "After Amish, Sudhair, Deepak it''s the turn of Arnab of the South and star fake news peddler Mahesh Hedge of Post Card to face humiliation. Too ashamed to sing Vande Mataram?"
Banerjee said he was proud of Reddy, Leona and Nazeer.
31/01/20 IANS/Outlook

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Coronavirus threat: Thermal screening at Goa airport, says Vishwajit Rane

Panaji: Thermal screening will be introduced at the Goa International Airport at Dabolim as a precautionary measure against coronavirus.
Health minister Vishwajit Rane said signage and a help desk have been set up at the airport on Thursday evening.

Confirming the measure, state epidemiologist Dr Utkarsh Betodkar told TOI on Thursday evening that thermal screening will be introduced at Goa airport to check international travellers.

The Goa government had requested the Centre to set up thermal screening at the state’s lone airport.
Till Thursday, Goa had one suspected case of coronavirus and five persons under observations.
31/01/20 Times of India

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YEIDA ready with report for airport green nod

Greater Noida: The final environmental clearance for the Jewar international airport is expected soon as the Union ministry of environment, forest and climate change will review next week YEIDA’s response to seven objections over the project’s effect on the environment.
Officials have now prepared a report specifying plans on how the development agency will rehabilitate Sarus and blackbuck habitats, how many saplings it will plant against the 11,000 trees that need to be cut and the shifting of 14 ponds that are in the area earmarked for the airport project.
An appraisal committee of the environment ministry had in June last year raised objections to the environment assessment report YEIDA had prepared and sought responses on seven specific queries. The committee had sought a conservation plan for birds and fauna in consultation with the Wildlife Institute of India (WII).
Sources said WII had found habitats of blackbucks, Sarus cranes and peacocks within the airport area and suggested plans to conserve them. One of the other points where response was sought from YEIDA was the status of permission from the forest department to cut trees and how many saplings would be planted against it. YEIDA has said it plans to cut 11,460 trees and plant 10 times the number of saplings.
31/01/20 Times of India 

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Postcard News co-founder ‘heckled’ at Mangaluru airport, asked to sing Vande Mataram

Bengaluru: Mahesh Vikram Hegde, the co-founder of website Postcard News, was allegedly heckled by a group of women at Mangaluru airport Friday morning and asked to sing Vande Mataram to prove his “Indian-ness”.
Hegde has been arrested twice earlier for allegedly spreading fake news.
Hegde was spotted by Karnataka Congress spokesperson and social worker Kavita Reddy at the airport where he was waiting to board a plane to Bengaluru.

Reddy along with two other student activists then asked Hegde to “prove his nationalism” by singing the national song.
The incident comes just days after the editor-in-chief and co-founder of Republic TV Arnab Goswami was heckled by comedian Kunal Kamra on a plane.
31/01/20 Rohini Swamy/Print

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Surat airport finally gets SMC’s fire NOC

Surat: Finally, the Surat international airport has been given no-objection certificate (NOC) by the Surat Municipal Corporation’s (SMC) fire and emergency department after the Airports Authority of India (AAI) had applied for the NOC.
Since 2005, the Surat airport had been operating without taking the mandatory NOC from the SMC’s fire and emergency department. The issue had come up during the inspection of the warehouse at the domestic cargo terminal by the fire authorities in the first week of December-2019. A diesel pump installed inside the warehouse was found to be in the non-working condition.

The fire department had issued notice to the Surat airport authorities asking them to take the NOC within 15 days. On checking the records, it was found that the airport authorities had not applied for the NOC since 2005.

According to the national fire safety manual, every airport has to take fire NOC from the local civic authorities. However, the Surat airport authorities failed to take the NOC.


Official sources in the SMC’s fire and emergency department said that the fire systems installed at the airport were inspected on January 6, 2020 and that they were found in the working condition. The systems including fire hydrant with hose box and hose reel, fire extinguisher, main fire pump with diesel pump, smoke detector with fire alarm system, sprinkler, under ground water tank and exit were all checked.
31/01/20 Times of India

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Jaipur airport slips to 89th spot in 4th quarter: Survey

Jaipur: The Jaipur airport slips to 89th position in the Airport Service Quality (ASQ) survey done by Airport Council International (ACI) for fourth quarter (October 2019 to December 2019). In the third quarter, Jaipur airport was at 63th position.
The constant increase of passengers, construction works have led to the degradation in the facilities which resulted in the slide of ranking.

In 2017, Jaipur airport ranked number 1 in the ASQ survey but with the constant increase in passengers and increase in frequency of the flights the service has badly affected in past three years.

TOI got the copy of the survey released on Thursday evening.

“The survey is done once in every three months to check the quality of services given to the passengers at the airports across the country. The results are really shocking for us,” said a senior officer of airport authority of India, Jaipur on the condition of anonymity.

Jaipur Airport was voted the number 1 airport in the world in the 2017 survey in the 2.5 million passengers per year. “Till December 2019, Jaipur airport had handled nearly 4.75 lakh passengers,” said an officer.

Ranchi airport has been on the top among 24 airports across the country, while Lucknow at number two and Trivandrum Airport at number three. “Some of the airports that are ahead of Jaipur are Ranchi (1), Lucknow (2), Trivandrum (3), Ahmedabad (4), Calicut(5), Indore (6), Varanasi (7) and others,” said an officer.
31/01/20 Ashish Mehta/Times of India

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Fog disrupts flight operations at Kolkata airport

Kolkata: Flight operations at Kolkata airport ground to a halt late on Thursday night and in the early hours of Friday following dense fog formation in and around the airport. While visibility began to plunge rapidly from 11pm, it hit a low of 25m at 2pm before gradual improvement. Flight operations at Kolkata airport are suspended if visibility drops below 50m.
The fog led to cancellation of two international flights and delay of 9 others including three domestic flights. Most international flights in Kolkata operate at night.

Fog is a visible aerosol consisting of tiny water droplets or ice crystals suspended in the air near the earth's surface. It is a low-lying cloud and is heavily influenced by nearby bodies of water, topography, and wind conditions.
31/01/20 Tamaghna Banerjee/Times of India

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Cargo terminal opens at Surat airport

Surat: With the opening of the much-awaited domestic cargo terminal (DCT) on Wednesday, Surat airport has added yet another feather in its cap in infrastructure upgradation.
The state-of-the-art cargo terminal being operated by AAI Cargo Logistics and Allied Services Limited (AAICLAS), a subsidiary of AAI has set a target to increase cargo movement from the current 300 metric tonnes per month to more than 1,000 metric tones per month.

Talking at the inauguration ceremony at Surat airport on Wednesday, CEO of AAICLAS, Keku Bomi Gazder said, “Surat has become the 26th city in the country to have the cargo terminal. This terminal will cater to the ever increasing air cargo demand of the entire south Gujarat region. We are looking at doubling the cargo transport in the next couple of months.”

According to Gazder, the DCT is built at the cost of Rs 13 crore on 1,400 square metre having the capacity of handling 50,000 metric tonnes of cargo per annum. The cargo terminal is equipped with state-of-the-art facilities for handling in-bound and outbound cargo. The terminal has two strong rooms for valuable cargo, two dangerous cargo rooms and four cold storages for handling general goods, valuables, perishable items, hazardous cargo etc.
30/01/20 Times of India

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Salman loses cool, snatches fan’s phone at Goa airport

Panaji: Irked by the behaviour of a fan who tried to click a selfie with him at the Goa airport, Bollywood actor Salman Khan on Tuesday snatched his mobile phone. The video of the incident has gone viral on social media. In the clip, a man can be seen approaching Khan and trying to click a selfie when the actor was walking out of the airport.

Annoyed, Khan can be seen snatching the mobile phone from the man, who was later identified as a ground staff working for an airlines. “No formal complaint is lodged but when the video went viral, we inquired about the incident and confirmed it,” said a senior official of the airport. When contacted, Airport Police Inspector Sagar Ekoskar said no formal complaint was lodged.

Meanwhile, the Airports Authority of India (AAI) issued an advisory to Dabolim airport authorities to ask its staff to maintain “decorum”. Confirming the issuance of the advisory, Goa Airport Director Gagan Malik told PTI, “The staff should concentrate on their work. They should do their duty and not indulge in clicking selfies with the passengers at the terminal.”
30/01/20 Hitavada

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Mumbai: International airport to get full-body scanners

Mumbai: This year, the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA) is all set to get new full body scanners, in addition to the existing ones, to enable the detection of cases of passengers smuggling gold and other valuable items into the country. This move was deemed necessary after a number of gold and drug seizures were made in 2019 using hand-held machines, which are difficult to use. However, the full-body scanners, to be set up at certain gates, will enable airport authorities to detect non-metallic, plastic explosives as well as chemical, biological and radiation tools of terrorism which would otherwise go undetected, without physical contact.

In a bid to reduce the lines at the CSMIA, which is one of the busiest airports in the world, authorities have made some upgrades to their existing machines and will shortly procure additional full-body scanners. New trolley management systems and advanced tray retrieval systems too will be in place, to ease operations. An official said, after a major spurt was recorded in the number of gold smuggling cases at the CSMIA, it was deemed necessary to get more of these scanners, instead of the hand-held units.

The continuous vigilance and placement of officials for passenger-profiling has led to not only to more seizures of the yellow metal, but also of contraband drugs at the international airport. “The full body scanners will quickly scan the passenger, eliminating the need for personal checking. Usually, it takes at least three minutes for an airport personnel to frisk a passenger. With these machines, the time taken for such checking could be cut down drastically,” said a senior airport official, requesting anonymity.
30/01/20 Yahoo!
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Hyderabad airport to launch self bag drop facility soon

To bring in more automation, the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport has launched the new self bag drop facility on January 26, 2020. SGK Kishore, CEO, GMR and the officials of Indigo airlines launched live trials of the SBD at the domestic departures terminal.
Currently, the facility is being launched for the Indigo travellers and will be soon extended to the passengers of other domestic airlines.
 "Passengers can print their boarding cards and baggage tags from any self-check-in cabins and proceed to drop their bags at the facility," said SGK Kishore explaining about the facility after launching the services. RGIA, one of the fastest-growing airports in the South has served over 21 million passengers in 2019. Through 25 passenger airlines, the airport currently connects to 71 destinations both domestic and International.
29/01/20 Roja Mayabrahma/Hans India

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Kafeel Khan arrested at Mumbai airport for ‘instigating’ students in Aligarh last month

Mumbai: Suspended lecturer Dr. Kafeel Khan was arrested at the Mumbai airport late on Wednesday night by the Uttar Pradesh Police’s Special Task Force over a month after allegedly making instigating remarks at the Aligarh Muslim University (AMU).
Earlier on Wednesday, Dr. Khan had addressed a protest against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the proposed nationwide National Register of Citizens (NRC) and National Population Register (NPR) in Bihar. He was scheduled to attend a protest in Mumbai Central, where local women have staged a sit-in, at 11 am on Thursday and had flown into the city on Wednesday. However, he was taken into custody after his flight landed in Mumbai and then taken to Sahar police station.
A senior police official said that the STF would take Dr. Khan back to UP on Thursday.
An FIR was registered at Civil Lines police station in Aligarh on December 13, 2019, a day after Dr. Khan had spoken at a protest rally in AMU. In its FIR, the UP Police accused Dr. Khan of sowing seeds of discord and disharmony towards other religious communities among 600 Muslim students he addressed at the University’s Bab-e-Syed Gate at 6.30 pm on December 12.
The police, which recorded the speech, also accused Dr. Khan of making disparaging remarks towards the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and Union Home Minister Amit Shah and of exhorting students to fight against the central’s government’s citizenship legislation and of attempting to stoke communal tensions.
30/01/20 Indian Express

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Mangalore Airport bomb: Spot inspection with bomb case suspect continues

The police team investigating the case of bomb planting at the international airport in Mangaluru on January 20, took suspect Aditya Rao to several places in the city where he had frequented in the past few months, police said on Wednesday. Police had earlier recovered a box from his bank locker at Udupi that contained a white powder which he claimed was cyanide. The substance has been sent to the Forensic Science laboratory for confirmation.

On further interrogation, Rao told police that he had a locker in a bank in Mangaluru also, where he was taken.

Only some papers were seen in the locker, police said.

He was also taken to the room where he stayed while he was working at a hotel in Balmatta here and to a hardware workshop from where he had purchased some spare parts, they said.

A 'live' explosive device was found in an unattended bag near a ticket counter of the departure gate of the airport here on January 20, triggering a scare before it was defused at a nearby open ground.
Police had released a picture of a man captured on CCTV camera as the suspect who placed the bomb and Rao later surrendered.
29/01/20 India TV

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Jewar airport: Villagers to get relief for assets on acquired land from February

Noida: After acquiring land for the first phase of the Jewar airport, the Gautam Buddh Nagar administration on Wednesday said it will begin disbursing compensation to villagers in lieu of their assets that were present on their land in February.

Rupees 3,166 crore was disbursed for the acquisition of 1,334 hectares at Rohi, Dayanatpur, Kishorepur, Ranhera, Paarohi and Banwari Bans that was completed on January 27, officials said.

"The administration had on August 6, 2019 begun the acquisition of land for the Greenfield International airport and it has been completed in six months.

It's record time for the acquisition of land for a project of this scale under the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013," District Magistrate Brajesh Narain Singh told reporters.

He said the next step would be disbursing compensation to the affected families for assets like wells, submersibles and trees etc. on their acquired land and the process would begin next month.

"Rupees 700 crore is to be disbursed among around 8,900 people. This process will begin in February and is expected to be completed in about a month and a half. The affected families have a choice of opting for a job or take Rs 5. 50 lakh and depending on their choice, the money will be disbursed. All such transactions will be made via the electronic RTGS system straight into their accounts," Singh said.
29/01/20 PTI/New Indian Express

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Karanvir Bohra detained at Delhi airport for flying to Nepal without passport

Actor Karanvir Bohra has been detained at the Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi for not carrying proper travel documents. Karanvir was on his way to Nepal from Mumbai, and had a connecting flight from Delhi to Kathmandu. Bohra was stopped at the Delhi airport as he was carrying his Aadhar Card (UID), which is not valid identity document in Nepal for Indian nationals, if you're flying into the country.

Karanvir Bohra took to Twitter to share his anguish, saying that he was allowed to board the flight from Mumbai but was stopped in Delhi. He wrote, "Deported at Delhi airport on my way to #nepal. trvlng wid #adhaarcar not allowed Nepal gov alows (PP,voters ID & Adhaar by road,by air only PP & VI)Then,Y did @airindiain in Mumbai let me fly with my Adhaar?Y didn't they stop me there? #indianembassy @DrSJaishankar @IndiaInNepal. (sic)"

The Bureau of Immigration, Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India, lists the following documents as valid for travel to Nepal:

1. Valid National Passport.
2. Photo Identity card issued by the Government of India/State Govt./UT Administration in India to their employees or Election ID card issued by the Election Commission of India.
3. Emergency Certificate issued by Embassy of India, Kathmandu.
4. Identity Certificate issued by Embassy of India, Kathmandu.

The list also mentions that an Aadhaar (UID) card is not an acceptable travel document for travel to Nepal/Bhutan except for certain cases.

Twitter users pointed out the same to Bohra, and said that the rule has been in place for a long time.
30/01/20 India Today

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UP’s Dr Kafeel Khan arrested at Mumbai airport for alleged anti-CAA speeches

Mumbai: The Uttar Pradesh Special Task Force (STF) has arrested Dr Kafeel Khan from Mumbai airport for allegedly making inflammatory statements at AMU during protests against the Citizenship Amendments Act (CAA) last month, officials said.

Khan was arrested on Wednesday night with assistance from the Mumbai police at the airport when he arrived in the city to attend anti-CAA protests, an official said.

“Officials of the UP STF arrested Dr Kafeel Khan in a case which was registered at Civil Lines Police Station under Section 153-A (promoting enmity between different groups) of the IPC. Our police team helped our UP counterparts on their request,” said an official from the Mumbai police.
30/01/20 Tribune

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GoAir announces new direct flights between Hyderabad & Pune from Feb 5

Hyderabad: GoAir, Asia's fastest growing airline on Wednesday announced its daily non-stop flights (except Saturdays) to and from Hyderabad and Pune. 
The new flights on Hyderabad – Pune – Hyderabad route will start from February 5 next month, the Airlines said in a release here. Both cities are known for their rich heritage, ever-growing business and IT industry.
 GoAir's new flights will offer the best connectivity for business and leisure travelers and the introductory return fare is priced as low as Rs 4,850. GoAir's flight G8 503 will depart from Hyderabad at 11:05 hours and reach Pune at 12:25 hours while the return flight G8 504 will depart from Pune at 13:00 hours and arrive in Hyderabad at 14:20 hours. The sales window is now open and passengers can book tickets on www.goair.in, GoAir mobile app and GoAir airport counters.
 29/01/20 UNI

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IAF not ready to give extra daytime slots to civic flights at airport: Girish Bapat

Pune: MP Girish Bapat, the chairman of the Lohegaon airport advisory panel, on Monday said the frequency of flights had reduced at the facility as the Indian Air Force was not ready to provide additional daytime slots for civil flight movements.

"It is a cause of concern and once the budget session of the Parliament is over, I plan to hold a meeting with the airlines to find out reasons for flight frequency getting affected. The daytime slot issue can be the reason as it affects profitability of airlines on some routes. We had urged IAF (Indian Air Force) to provide 10 additional daytime slots but there is no reply until now, which indicates that they might not be ready to provide them," Bapat told TOI.

A source said the total flight movements at the airport had decreased from around 200 earlier to 175 at present. One silver lining is that three airlines - IndiGo, GoAir and AirAsia will begin new daytime and direct flights to Prayagraj, Hyderabad and Bengaluru in the next two months. The source said an airline's proposal to start flights to Indore and Varanasi were not approved because of the slot issue.
28/01/20 Joy Sengupta/Times of India

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FlyAmritsar Initiative met with airlines for creating better air connectivity from Amritsar

Keeping up the efforts for boosting the domestic and international connectivity from Sri Guru Ram Das Jee International Airport, Amritsar for Amritsar & Punjab region, a delegation of FlyAmritsar Initiative let by its Convener met with officials of Star Air India, Thai Airways, Thai Smile, &Air Asia at Delhi and Bengaluru.

In a press release, the Global Convener for FlyAmritsar Initiative and Overseas Secretary of Amritsar Vikas Manch, Sameep Singh Gumtala, NRI from the USAalong with Convener (India) Yogesh Kamra informed that they had a fruitful meetings with different airlines where they presented detailed data and statistics to the airline officials.

They had a very fruitful meeting withSimran Singh Tiwana, CEO of Star Air at Delhi and shared the statistics for air linking Amritsar with Ahmedabad and other airports. Star Air is currently launching flights on several routes under government-initiated UDAN scheme. During the previous term of Modi government, FlyAmritsar Initiative along with representatives from acclaimed civil society organization Amritsar Vikas Manch met with Minister of Civil AviationSh. Jayant Sinhathat lead to the inclusion of Amritsar in UDAN-3 phase. Currently, due to UDAN-3, direct flights are operating from Amritsar to Jaipur by Spicejet and Kolkata by Indigo.

Gumtala informed that a meeting was also held with Thai Airways officials to link Amritsar directly to Bangkok, capital of Thailand. Thai airline currently operates direct flights from Bangkok to several cities in Australia and New Zealand, where a large number of Punjabis resides in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Perth, Auckland, Christchurch and other cities.
28/01/20 Punjab News Express

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Passengers fume as ‘parked’ cars block airport driveway

Coimbatore: With the city airport doing away the time limit for cars which come to drop or pick up passengers on the main road in front of the airport entrance, several drivers are seen parking their cars on the road and wait for customers. Some parked cars hinder vehicular movements as they wait upto 10min blocking the entry and exit gates completely. Passengers, who are in a hurry, lose valuable time because of this.
Several cars lined up close to the kerb to pick up passengers on Monday at 10am when a Spicejet flight from Chennai and an Indigo flight from another destination landed. The cars which came later started occupying next two lanes to wait for passengers, leaving several cars that came to drop off and pick up passengers stranded away from the airport.

“I took the 10am flight as I could reach my office by 10.15am. But I am stuck in my car and it is already 10.15am,” said Kumar K, a businessman, who had to sit inside his car and wait for two cars in front of him to clear the path.
Earlier, cars could pick up and drop off passengers at the airport without paying any charge as long as they exited within five minutes. Cars that take more than five minutes had to pay Rs 50.
28/01/20 Times of India

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Kempegowda International Airport logs 33 million flyers, 4.1% growth

Bengaluru: Despite the turbulence in the aviation industry in 2019, the Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) was patronised by 33.65 million flyers, giving it a 4.1% growth in traffic compared to the previous year. The highest ever traffic in a single day was recorded almost a year ago (January 20, 2019) with 1,09,174 passengers.

The big story in this growth figure is the handsome upswing of 14% in international passenger volume, said an official release from Bangalore International Airport Limited (BIAL) airport operator. This translated to 4.27 million flyovers in 2019 as compared to 2018.

Domestic traffic grew by a modest 2.6% touching 28.78 million last year as compared to 28.05 million in 2018.  The closure of Jet Airways and the grounding of A320 Neo aircraft which caused supply side issues had taken a toll on the industry as a whole. The ripple effect of it at KIA was the reduction of its Air Traffic Movements (Arrival/Departures) with a 0.1%, compared to double digit growth figures annually from 2014 to 2018.

These  factors had a ripple effect as the ATMs at BLR Airport were down by 0.1% as against the double-digit figure witnessed annually during the previous five years (2014-2018 ). The total ATMs during 2019 was 2,35,058 as compared to 2,35,190 in 2018. The dip in ATM was mainly  due to the slump in domestic movements by 1.8% though international movements soared by 13%. A total of 30,556 international ATMs took place.

In a reversal of positions, domestic cargo growth was positive while international growth went down. Domestic cargo grew by 4.1% with a total of 1,49,603 Metric Tonnes (MT) processed as against 1,43,701 MT in 2018. In the same period, international cargo dropped by 4.1%. This brought down the overall cargo shipment down by 1.0%.

Hari Marar, MD and CEO of BIAL, said, “The aviation market in India is in recovery mode after a volatile period. We estimate that passenger volumes at BLR Airport will be between 55 and 65 million passengers per annum (mppa) in the next five years. To support this growth, BIAL is investing Rs 13,000 crore for infrastructure expansion, including the South Runway, which is operational, and the first phase of Terminal 2.”
28/01/20 New Indian Express

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Flights to Dubai from Vijayawada soon: Machilipatnam MP Vallabhaneni Bala Showry

Vijayawada: If things go as per the plan, leading flight operator Air India will be operating two flights to Dubai every week from Vijayawada airport soon, said Machilipatnam MP Vallabhaneni Bala Showry. Speaking to mediapersons at the airport on Monday, Bala Showry said he has requested the flight operator and Union Ministry of Civil Aviation to operate international services from Vijayawada.

"At present, flights to Dubai are being operated on the Visakhapatnam-Hyderabad-Dubai route. We have requested Air India chairman and managing director (CMD) Pradeep Singh Kharola to operate a flight on the Vijayawada-Hyderabad-Dubai route twice a week," he observed.

Elaborating further, the MP said passenger ratio would be higher if a flight service was operated to Dubai from Vijayawada since many from the region visit the city for employment and tourism purposes. "Considering our request, Air India has assured to study the feasibility and may introduce the flight service in the months to come. Not only this, we have also requested SriLankan Airlines, Jet Airways and IndiGo to begin flights from Vijayawada to Sri Lanka, Thailand and Singapore, during a recent conference at the Civil Aviation office," he said.

"Our objective is to operate international flights from Vijayawada and I am confident that all our requests will be considered by the Union Ministry of Civil Aviation and flight operators," Bala Showry assured. Giving an update on the status of integrated terminal building works, the MP said Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu laid the foundation stone for it in December, 2018 at an estimated cost of Rs 611 crore.
28/01/20 New Indian Express

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International flyer movement up in Ahmedabad

Ahmedabad: Improved connectivity, more direct flights to newer destinations from Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International (SVPI) airport in Ahmedabad, has led to a significant increase in international passenger movements. According to data given by Airport Authority of India (AAI), international tourist arrivals at the SVPI airport in Ahmedabad went up by 16% in 2019, with some 24.09 lakh international passengers moving in and out of the city airport during the year. The number of international passengers handled at the SVPI airport in Ahmedabad stood at 20.6 lakh in 2018.
“The connectivity to international destinations has tremendously improved from SVPI airport. We now have direct flights to destinations such as Turkey, whereas direct connectivity to existing destinations has increased significantly. Moreover, some of the airlines have upgraded with higher seating capacity aircraft and others plan to do so. As a result, the overall passenger movement has increased significantly and will further go up,” said Manoj Gangal, director, SVPI airport.

Travel experts also attribute the growth in passenger movement to the heritage city status conferred upon Ahmedabad; in addition to a slew of foreign investments that have taken shape.
“Several foreign companies have invested in Gujarat and most of them are in and around Ahmedabad, as a result of which, movement of international business delegates has significantly increased at the city. This number is growing year on year and is visible with several hotels in the city hosting international guests,” said a city-based tour operator.
28/01/20 Niyati Parikh/Times of India

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Vadodara airport judged cleanest, safest

Vadodara: Vadodara airport has been judged as country’s cleanest and safest airport in the category of airports having annual passenger handling capacity of 1.5 million.
London-based World Record and Quality Certification Limited has bestowed the quality certificate to Vadodara airport. The certificate was handed over to Vadodara airport director Charan Singh in presence of Vadodara MP Ranjan Bhatt during 71st Republic Day celebrations organised at the new integrated terminal building of the Airports Authority of India on Sunday.

“For three consecutive years, we have been judged as the cleanest and safest airport in this category,” said Singh, adding that a team had conducted audit of the airport after which the airport was selected for the quality certification.

The airport currently witnesses 26 flight movements and handles nearly 3,000 passengers with flight connectivity to Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru and Hyderabad.
28/01/20 Times of India

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Large part of Rs 2K-cr borrowings to come from overseas for AAI

New Delhi: The Airports Authority of India (AAI) is set to tap capital from overseas in the next fiscal to fund its airport development projects, a top official told ET, in what is perhaps the first time it would raise money abroad.
“We have approvals to raise over Rs 2,000 crore. Of this, a large fraction will be through foreign borrowings,” AAI chairman Arvind Singh told ET.
 The authority is a debt-free company and has AAA ratings, which will ensure that it gets funds at competitive rates, he added. The total outlay for 2020-21 is likely to be more than Rs 5,000 crore, and AAI plans to fund about 40% of its outlay through debt. Of the rest, about Rs 500 crore will come from the government for developing smaller airports for regional flights, and internal accruals.
The Narendra Modi government has insisted that profit-making entities such as the AAI tap funding through debt and other modes to finance capital expenditure instead of through profits and cash reserves, so as to maintain a healthy debt-equity balance.
 As part of its outlay for airport projects, AAI is in the process of investing about Rs 25,000 crore for building new airports as well as upgrading existing infrastructure — building terminals, parking bays and other facilities — at multiple airports. A substantial part of the total outlay — about Rs 14,000 crore will go towards expanding and building new terminals, followed by greenfield airports that will cost about Rs 4,300 crore.
About Rs 2,050 crore will be used to upgrade new defence airports for commercial operations to meet demand growth and Rs 1,700 crore is to be invested in upgrading Air Traffic Control infrastructure, among others.
 26/01/20 Mihir Mishra/Economic Times

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AAI and AAOCLAS to open perishable cargo centre in Guwahati airport

Guwahati: Airports Authority of India (AAI) and its cargo wing- AAICLAS will soon open its perishable cargo centre at Lokapriya Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport, Guwahati which is being built by Assam Industrial Development Corporation (AIDC).
 A team of AAI, AAICLAS and AIDC and officials from state Government visited the site which is near its completion of the cargo centre on Saturday.
 The team was led by Sanjeev Jindal, Regional Executive Director, AAI; Ramesh Kumar, Airport Director, LGBI Airport. Airports Authority of India had leased 4050 SqM of land to M/S.
AIDC for a period of seven years from 31.05.2017 for establishing Center for Perishable Cargo at Lokapriya Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport, Guwahati with a Capacity to Handle 10000MT of Perishable Cargo with a Nominal Licence Fees of Rs.1/per annum with No Royalty, vide Ministry of Civil Aviation, Government of India directives with approval of Cabinet.
After the expiry of 7 Years period, the allotment will made a fresh as per AAI policy in Vogue.
 25/01/20 Economic Times

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Coronavirus: Advisory issued to Vizag airport

Vijayawada/Visakhapatnam: At the Visakhapatnam airport have set up a screening camp and are conducting preliminary medical tests on passengers flying in from China, following the coronavirus outbreak there. So far, no cases of the infection have been detected in the city, and in the last 15 days, no passengers have flown in from the affected Wuhan province.

Airport director M Raja Kishore told TNIE that the screening is being conducted as per an advisory from the Union health ministry. An awareness campaign is also being held to inform people headed to and arriving from China, about the preventive measures to be taken, he added. Most passengers from China reach the city via Kuala Lumpur and Singapore.

The airport has set up facilities to conduct preliminary tests, Kishore said, adding that international passengers with symptoms of acute onset of fever, cough and shortness of breath are being screened. In addition, officials have told people who arrived from China in the last two weeks to visit a hospital within 28 days of arrival, report to the State and district health authorities, and contact the health officer of the airport concerned if they develop a fever, cough a n d breathlessness. M e a n - whi le, the health ministry’s guidel i n e s o n screening for coronavirus are not applicable to the Vij ay aw a d a airport as it does not receive international passengers, said Vijayawada airport director G Madhusudan. People who reach Vijayawada from abroad would already have been screened at the international airports from which they reached the city, he pointed out. But just to be safe, medical emergency units at the airport were instructed to make arrangements for any SOS.
26/01/20 New Indian Express

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Talks on for air link to Dubai, Bangkok & Colombo

Aurangabad: Aurangabad Tourism Development Foundation (ATDF) has said that talks were on with operators for flights to Dubai, Singapore, Bangkok and Colombo.
The announcement was made at an event held in city to mark the National Tourism Day on January 25.

Over 11 months, flight operations at Aurangabad Airport have increased from six to 30. Much of this increase has been credited to the efforts of hotelier Sunit Kothari, ATDF president Jaswant Singh, president of the Indian Association of Tour Operators (IATO) Pranob Sarkar, IATO vice-president Rajeev Mehra, and Aurangabad airport director D G Salve.

There was a widespread impact on travel to the region following the grounding of Jet Airways flights in March last year. Subsequently, the team was responsible for continued follow-ups with airlines and the ministry of civil aviation. Currently, Aurangabad Airport hosts Air India, Trujet, Indigo and Spicejet flights. It is linked to Delhi, Mumbai, Udaipur, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad and Bengaluru.
26/01/20 Arpita Sharad/Times of India

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Odisha govt issues advisory for coronavirus

Bhubaneswar: Following outbreak of the novel Coronavirus (nCoV) in China and a few suspected cases in the country, the Odisha government on Saturday issued an advisory to the authorities to remain prepared to deal with the situation.

In a letter, the health department has asked the Biju Patnaik International Airport, Veer Surendra Sai Airport, East Coast and South Eastern Railways, and several medical colleges and hospitals to closely monitor the situation and create the facilities for the management of patients.

The Airport authority of India based at Bhubaneswar and Jharsuguda will be requested to facilitate entry of screening and issue instruction for airlines to follow the international civil aviation guideline for managing and notifying anybody reporting illness on flights originating from China and disembarking India directly or indirectly, the letter said.

It asked the airport authority in those locations to establish a screening centre and report the identification of such cases to the health officials of the districts and Capital Hospital director, Bhubaneswar in case of Biju Pattnaik International Airport.
25/01/20 IANS/Outlook

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Mopa Airport: Project Takes Off

A greenfield airport at Mopa in North Goa, being developed by GMR, seems to have finally crossed all hurdles. A Supreme Court bench, comprising Justices DY Chandrachud and Hemant Gupta, has given its nod for the construction of the airport and asked the National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI) to oversee the project to ensure that there is no environmental damage.

The bench directed the concessionaire of the project to adopt a zero carbon programme in the construction and operational phases of the airport. It said conditions imposed by the centre’s Expert Appraisal Committee (EAC) and the NGT are sufficient to protect the environment and approved the project. Incidentally, the Court had last year found fault with the environment clearance (EC) given to the project and directed the EAC to re-examine it.

Mopa village is situated in Pernem taluka in North Goa, close to the inter-state boundary with Maharashtra. The proposed airport is approximately 35 km north-east of Panaji, the capital of Goa. The site is a lateritic tabletop plateau at a height of 180 m above sea level and is surrounded by steep slopes.
26/01/20 Debi Goenka/India Legal

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Airport mishap: Four taken into custody

Bhubaneswar: A day after roof of the under-construction `56-crore Link Building at Biju Patnaik International Airport (BPIA) came crashing down, two senior officers of Airport Authority of India (AAI) and Managing Director of the firm which was awarded contract for construction were arrested on Saturday. The site engineer of the construction firm was also taken into custody by the Commissionerate Police which booked all the four under Sections 304 and 34 of the Indian Penal Code.

Earlier in the day, Dilip Khatei, MD of Dilip Constructions Pvt Ltd which was awarded the work in 2018 was taken into custody for questioning. The AAI officers include Joint General Manager Goutam Ray and Assistant General Manager Asish Sarkar. The mishap claimed life of the helper of a construction vehicle while the driver suffered serious injuries.

The incident occurred at about 11.10 pm Friday night when the roof of the building was being cast. Director of BPIA VV Rao said the AAI will constitute a committee to inquire into the collapse of the link building roof. “All the labourers had left when a part of the concrete slab caved in. However, one person got trapped and another managed to escape.

AAI will form a committee and its members will arrive here soon to investigate the matter,” he added. The AAI had approved plan of the link building and the tender process was initiated in 2018. The project is being carried out at a cost of about `56 crore and the deadline of the construction is October.
26/01/20 New Indian Express

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Coronavirus outbreak: Doctors to be stationed at Amritsar airport from tomorrow to screen passengers, say govt officials

Chandigarh: The Punjab government has asked all district hospitals to put in place necessary arrangements to tackle any emergent situation in view of the outbreak of novel coronavirus (nCoV) in China, and said a team of doctors will be stationed at the Amritsar international airport starting Monday for screening passengers.

 Coronavirus outbreak: Doctors to be stationed at Amritsar airport from tomorrow to screen passengers, say govt officialsRepresentational image. Getty Images.
"A panel of doctors will be sitting at the Amritsar international airport from Monday onwards (for the screening of passengers). If any passenger comes with symptoms will be screened at that place and if required, next steps will be taken", said Dr Gagandeep Singh, State Programme Officer, Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme (Punjab).

"We have two international airports, Amritsar and Mohali. There is no flight (from China) at Mohali but Amritsar airport does have some connecting flights which have a halt at China and Hong Kong. Our civil surgeons have taken a meeting with the officials concerned at both airports and they have been alerted", said Singh.

Amritsar was among 12 designated airports in the country where the Centre had issued an advisory for coronavirus.
25/01/20 PTI/First Post

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Udupi: Cyanide recovered from Mangaluru airport bomber Adithya Rao's bank locker

Mangaluru: Two bottles of cyanide has been recovered from the bank lockers of Adithya Rao, the accused in the bomb scare that occurred at Mangaluru international airport on January 20.

Rao was brought to Udupi for further investigation. He was taken to Karnataka Bank’s Kunjibettu branch, where he has an account as well as a safe deposit locker.

Upon checking the locker, the police recovered cyanide, which Adithya had stored with an intention of committing suicide. The poison has been sent to lab for tests.
Payments for the bomb materials were done from Karnataka bank Kunjibettu branch account. Rao was also taken to other places, where he resided as well as he worked. Adithya, who surrendered to the DGP at Bengaluru was brought to Mangaluru by the city police team led by ACP Belliappa. He was produced in court and was sent to police custody for 10 days. Since then, police are taking him to all the places where he worked, resided or came in contact with.
25/01/20 Daijiworld

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MIA Bomb threat: accused taken to Malpe beach to recover Sim Card

Udupi: Mangalore International Airport (MIA) culprit Aditya Rao has revealed that after placing the explosive device he went to Malpe and made threat call of placing bomb in the Indigo flight.
Rao, who is in police custody, on Saturday, was brought to Malpe under tight security by the
investigating officer ACP Belliyappa for spot investigation. On January 20, Aditya had come to the Mangaluru airport and planted an explosive device before going to Malpe and made a threat call about placing a bomb in the Indigo flight. He was just a couple of kilometers away from the Malpe police station while making the call.
Sitting outside an egg selling shop which opens only after 6:00 pm, Aditya had called the Airport and informed that a bomb was placed in the Indigo flight. Later he destroyed the sim card and left to Bengaluru to surrender.
25/01/20 UNI

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DGCA suspends pilots of Cessna aircraft which crashed at Aligarh airport during landing

New Delhi: The pilot-in-command and co-pilot of a Cessna aircraft which had crashed and caught fire while landing at Aligarh airport last year were suspended on Saturday by aviation regulator DGCA for one year and six months respectively, a senior official said.
Investigation by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) found that the plane, belonging to Air Charter Services Private Limited, was at a very low altitude while approaching the airport runway on August 27 last year, the official said.
It also found that the landing gear of the small plane hit electrical cable located 180 metres ahead of the threshold line of the runway 11.
"The crew subsequently lost control, the aircraft hit the ground and caught fire," the senior official said citing the DGCA investigation.
The aviation regulator then issued show-cause notices to the pilots and the responses received were found to be unsatisfactory.
The DGCA observed that the pilot-in-command failed to follow the procedures and maintain required visual clearance. The first officer too failed to maintain required visual clearance with obstacles in the final phase of landing, according to the official.
25/01/20 PTI/Outlook

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Spicejet to start Chennai-Vizag-Kolkata cargo flight

Visakhapatnam: SpiceJet is likely to start an exclusive Chennai-Vizag-Kolkata cargo flight, which can carry up to 20 tonnes on a daily basis, from mid February.
The airlines may start  first cargo flight Boeing 737 from Visakhapatnam, if it gets required permission, according to a release from Andhra Pradesh Air Travellers' Association here on Friday.
25/01/20 New Indian Express

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MP’s maiden Air Cargo Terminal to start from Jan end

The First Air Cargo Terminal of Madhya Pradesh will start in Bhopal by January end. The Principal Secretary Aviation Aniruddh Mukherjee took stock of preparations, being made to begin Cargo Terminal at Raja Bhoj International Airport on Friday.

The Airport Director Anil Vikram, Capt Sanjay Shrivastava, Capt Adarsh Rai, Security In-Charge Soni and Station Managers of Air India, Indigo and Spice Jet were also present on the occasion.
The Cargo Hub in Bhopal will facilitate transportation to national and international trade and create employment opportunities in the State.
25/01/20 Pioneer

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Doctors, Gaya airport alerted against coronavirus

Patna: The state health department has sounded an alert against the new coronavirus (CoV) which has infected large number of people in China and killed 26 till Friday afternoon. The civil surgeons have been instructed to orient their health workers, stock up sufficient number of masks and form a sample collecting team to tackle any emergency situation.
State surveillance officer Dr Ragani Mishra said though the virus had not been detected in India and people should not panic. She further said Union ministry of health and family welfare, in coordination with civil aviation authority, has issued advisory to all the international airports.

“This virus is so new that even its incubation period is not known. Hence, it is better to take precaution and create awareness. Also, no one has come to Bihar from China recently, but students or any individual of our state staying in China can return. So, we have to be on alert,” she said.

In the instructions given to the districts, civil surgeons have been told to form a district surveillance unit, a sample collecting team in each government medical college and hospital and ensure sufficient stock of masks. Mishra said the sample collected will be sent to National Institute of Virology in Pune for test.

Union ministry of health and family welfare regional director (Bihar and Jharkhand) Dr Kailash Kumar said Gaya airport authorities have been instructed in this regard.

There are daily flights from Gaya to Bangkok and Yangon till March-April, three flights in a week to Paro from December to February or extended up to March and one weekly flight to Hanoi from October to March.

25/01/20 Sheezan Nezami/Times of India

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Work on Green Field Airport in Arunachal begins next month

Itanagar: A "Green Field Airport" will be constructed in Arunachal Pradesh with an investment of Rs 1,000 crore, work on which is scheduled to begin next month, a top Airport Authority of India (AAI) official said on Saturday.

AAI Regional Executive Director (NER) Sanjeev Jindal said that the first phase of construction for the Green Field Airport in Holongi (near Arunachal Pradesh capital Itanagar) will start from next month and the entire two-phase work will be completed in two-and-a-half years.

"The AAI would spend Rs 620 crore and the state government will facilitate various other infrastructure including electricity, water supply connecting roads taking the total investment for the modern airport to around Rs 1,000 crore," Jindal told IANS.

After the construction of the Holongi airport, Arunachal Pradesh, bordering China, Myanmar and Bhutan, would have three airports as currently Tezu and Pasighat airports are operational.

"Pasighat airport is owned by the civil aviation department of the Arunachal Pradesh government. As the state government has limitations to develop, the AAI would likely be asked to further develop and modernise the Pasighat airport," said Jindal.

The AAI will undertake modernisation work including construction of new terminal buildings at Tezu airport this year to make the airfield a full-fledged airport.

The AAI Regional Executive Director (NER) along with other officials held a meeting in Itanagar with the Civil Aviation, Transport and Tourism Minister of Arunachal Pradesh Nakap Nalo and discussed the construction plan for the Green Field Airport.
25/01/20 IANS/Outlook

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Under-construction roof collapses at Bhubaneswar airport, 1 dead

Bhubaneswar: A person was killed and another injured after an under-construction roof of a link building connecting Terminal-1 and Terminal-2 of the Bhubaneswar airport collapsed on Saturday morning.

The deceased was identified as Antaryami Guru, a helper of a truck engaged in the construction work at the airport.

Another person, who was injured, was identified as a labourer. He has been shifted to the Capital Hospital in Bhubaneswar.
25/01/20 Mohammad Suffian/India Today

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Mangaluru: BJP leaders were targeting one community in airport bomb case - Mithun Rai

Mangaluru: “BJP leaders Prahlad Joshi, Renukacharya, Eshwarappa and Basavaraj Bommaih should apologise for their statement on bomb scare at Mangaluru International Airport,” said District Youth Congress president Mithun Rai.
Addressing media here on Saturday, January 25 Mithun Rai said, "Because of their statements there was possibility of communal violence, disturbance of peace and harmony of the district. So they need to apologize for their statement. We have seen several media reports that even police claimed it was a live bomb, there was a timer and taken to a safe zone and detonated. It was also reported that 10 kg of RDX was found along with the bomb. If it was the case then where that 10 kg of RDX came from? Who gave it to him? And who all are behind this act?
"All were targeting one particular community with this incident. Criminal has no religion or caste only has vested interest. Mangaluru should be famous for good reasons and not for bad ones.
“Due to the police firing and bomb scare incident, our district has fallen down in development. We have gone 10 years back. Mangaluru is becoming a scape goat and Dakshina Kannada district is used as laboratory for communal violence. Even several multinational companies are not ready to invest in Mangaluru. District Youth Congress will not tolerate such type of incident in the district.
25/01/20 Daijiworld

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Bomb scare-accused taken to airport for spot inspection

Mangaluru: Aditya Rao,36, will be in 10-day police custody for triggering a bomb scare at Mangalore International Airport (MIA). He was taken to the airport and various other places for spot mahajar on Friday.
On Friday, under heavy police cover, he was taken to a salon in Kenjar, where he had placed his bag first, before dropping the backpack with an IED in it at MIA. “The accused was cooperative throughout the spot mahajar,” a source added.
Aditya procured materials required for making the IED from an online portal based in Chennai. “If time permits, Aditya will be taken to Chennai for the investigation,” the source added.
25/01/20 Times of India

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Airlines to connect Mumbai to seven additional international destinations in 2020

Mumbai: Airlines will connect Mumbai to seven additional overseas desinations in countries such as China and Russia, the operator of India’s second busiest airport said Friday.
 At least 10 airlines such as Garuda Indonesia, Jazeera Airways, Air Italy, RwandAir, Air Tanzania, Star Air, Virgin Atlantic, Delta Air Lines and Uzbekistan Airways started flights from Mumbai last year. Flights from the airport ferry passengers to 108--47 international and 61 domestic-- destinations.
It handled close to 49 million passengers in the financial year 2018-19. “On an average the airport has introduced two new international airlines every year since 2007,” said the GVK Power & Infra led airport operator.
 Also last year, Air Mauritius introduced its new Airbus A330 Neo and A350 aircraft while Singapore Airline introduced its new and refurbished A380 jumbo jet.
 24/01/20 Economic Times

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Jaipur airport to offer free healthcare to passengers

Jaipur: With the number of flights operating from Jaipur constantly increasing, the Airports Authority of India has signed an MoU with a private hospital to provide free healthcare to passengers in need of treatment.
The hospital will provide round-the-clock medical services with the help of two doctors, nursing staff and emergency care services at the Mahatma Gandhi Hospital Medical Inspection Centre inaugurated on Thursday. District collector Joga Ram, Jaipur airport director J S Balhara, founder chairperson, Mahatma Gandhi Hospital Dr M L Swarankar, were present on the occasion.
Joga Ram said that the number of international flights and passengers has increased over the years. Medical Centre is an essential requirement to handle any kind of emergency. Dr Swarankar said that advanced life support ambulance will also be available to handle first-aid and complex emergency cases. In case of critical care related cases, patients can be shifted to the hospital.
24/01/20 Times of India

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Civil aviation minister reviews progress of Hollongi airport project

Itanagar:  Civil Aviation Minister Nakap Nalo on Thursday took a review meeting of the progress of Hollongi green field airport here at his office.
Regional Executive Director (NER) of the Airports Authority of India, Sanjeev Jindal; state Director of Civil Aviation, Tamiyo Tatak; POWERGRID, Nirjuli Senior General Manager C Borkotoky and the chief engineers of the departments of Public Works, Power, PHE&WS, UD & Housing were present in the meeting.
Presenting the status of progress, the AAI regional executive director informed that they are going to “start the first phase of work for the runway (Length 2300 m for operation of A320), pavement works, watch tower, perimeter road etc by the first week of February and the tenders for the second phase of works for terminal building and other constructions is likely to be finalized in April, 2020.”
The state work agencies informed that shifting of 11 KV LT power line passing through the project site will be completed by March, 2020 and works for bulk water supply and power supply, boundary wall, 4-lane approach road and other works will also commence by February.
24/01/20 Arunachal Times

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DGCA suspends Taneja Aerospace''s pilots for causing runway excursion at Nanded airport

New Delhi: The DGCA on Friday said it has suspended pilots of a Cessna plane, belonging to Taneja Aerospace that runs aircraft charter services for corporate sector, for a period of one year for causing runway excursion at Nanded airport last year.
The investigation of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) found that even though the air traffic control (ATC) gave the clearance to the pilots to land their plane on runway 28 on September 11 last year, they opted to use runway 10 where the "approach light system" was not "serviceable".
This caused the runway excursion that damaged the aircraft, and therefore, the DGCA issued show cause notices to these pilots for which they could not send a satisfactory response, and consequently, the regulator decided to suspend them for a period of one year.
24/01/20 PTI/Outlook

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Digi Yatra to bring facial recognition system to airports: Here’s how it works

Thanks to the use of facial recognition technology, fliers will soon no longer need any documentation in order to enter airports and board their flights. This is because the Digi Yatra, the national digital traveler system wants to bring in a system where someone’s face would suffice as the boarding pass itself, and allow them to enter the airport, do their check-in and pass through the security to get to their flight. The ‘facial recognition’ system has been in testing at the Kempegowda International Airport in Bengaluru.

Indian Express Tech Desk explains the woprking of  Digi Yatra >>

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Runway re-carpeting, work on bays at airport to begin in Feb

Trichy: Re-carpeting work of the runway at Trichy international airport will begin in the first week of February during which time some flights will be rescheduled during the night, Airports Authority of India has said. Two more additional bays will also be established as part of development works, airport director K Gunasekaran told TOI.
While the runway work is estimated to cost Rs 20 crore, the additional bays will be established at a cost of Rs 1 crore. A Mumbai-based company has bagged both the contracts and Rs 19.85 crore has been sanctioned already, Gunasekaran said. The runway with a length of 2,423 metres and width of 45 metres is being re-carpeted with tar after ten years. This includes a 580-metre-long stretch made of concrete now. “Frequent landing and take-off of flights usually lead to exhaustion of runways. Natural weather phenomena like rain and sun also affect the runway surface which should be re-laid once in five years. So, re-carpeting is essential for the safety of flights as well as passengers”, Gunasekaran added.
“Re-carpeting activity on runway would lead to disruption of flight movements. To enable the work to be executed without any disruption, flight movements have been rescheduled. Flight operation has been suspended between 1 am and 8 am at the airport”, he further stated.
24/01/20 D Vincent Arockiaraj/Times of India

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Navi Mumbai International Airport: Protest by villagers completes 30 days

Sanguna Dake, 50, has been on an indefinite hunger strike for eight days now, spending restless nights on a mattress on the cold footpath outside the office of the City Industrial Development Corporation (CIDCO) in Belapur. Once paddy farmers, the Dakes of Chinchpada village, one of ten villages in Raigad to be relocated to make way for the under-construction Navi Mumbai International Airport (NMIA), are struggling to make sense of city life. Now living in a rented flat in Karanjade node of Navi Mumbai, one of Sanguna’s sons is driving an autorickshaw; the others are daily wagers. “The airport will be built for thousands of crores, and those of us who lost land and homes to the project have been paid Rs 3,000 per month as rent until our new homes can be built. Tell me, where will you get a house on rent for Rs 3,000 anywhere in Navi Mumbai?” Sanguna asks.

Distressed over the slow response to continuing disputes regarding their rehabilitation package, a couple of hundred residents of these villages have been on a sit-in agitation outside the office of CIDCO, the implementing agency for the new airport. Wednesday marked the completion of one month since their dharna began. On January 16, 13 men and women started a fast unto death, hoping to draw authorities’ attention. A couple of them took ill since, and on Wednesday seven were continuing the hunger strike.
Like Sanguna, many gave up their homes in 2018 and have been living in rented accommodation since. “I have four sons, all married and with children of their own. But five families are considered as one unit for rent, for compensation, for relocation — how do you expect five families to live in a one bedroom apartment?” Sanguna asks. Rents in Karanjade, where several dozen airport-affected families are now residing, hover in the range of Rs 6,000 for a one-bedroom apartment and Rs 8,000 for a two-bedroom.
24/01/20 Kavitha Iyer/Indian Express

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Coronavirus: 250 passengers screened at Hyderabad airport, no cases found

Hyderabad: About 250 passengers coming from Hong Kong underwent thermal screening at the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport here following outbreak of the novel coronavirus in China, officials said on Friday.

No cases were found when screening was done on Thursday, they said.

"We are doing thermal imaging for screening passengers coming from Hong Kong and necessary equipment have been put up. Hyderabad does not have direct flight connectivity with China," Airport Health Officer Dr Anuradha Medoju, she told PTI.

According to her, even airlines have started asking the passengers to give a self-declaration if they have any symptoms of fever, cough, cold or sneezing, among others.

ALSO READ: Delhi AIIMS to utilise isolation ward for treating coronavirus

"If there are suspected cases they will be referred to state-run hospitals and their blood samples will be sent for analysis," she added.

We have not found any cases so far," she said.
24/01/20 New Indian Express

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Security at Shamshabad airport put on high alert ahead of Republic Day

A high alert has been issued at the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport (RGIA) ahead of the Republic Day based on an intelligence report. The entry of the visitors was also restricted inside the airport. It is learned that the entry of the visitors will be stopped and no passes will be issued to them. While the passengers have been asked to produce all the identity cards with them till January 31, 2020. Vehicles coming inside the airport are being checked thoroughly and the people who are moving suspiciously are being taken into custody. On the other hand, a high alert has also been issued in Delhi as a part of security measures ahead of the Republic Day.
24/01/20 Roja Mayabrahma/Hans India

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Indian tourists to prop up MAHB airport arrivals amid coronavirus outbreak — MIDF Research

Kuala Lumpur: Higher tourist numbers from India could serve to prop up arrivals into Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB)'s airports should there be no coronavirus outbreak in Malaysia.
In a note to investors this morning, MIDF Amanah Investment Bank Bhd Research said assuming there are no cases of the virus in Malaysia, Indian tourists — whose 15-day visa-free travel has been extended to the whole of 2020 — could offset a decline in Chinese tourist arrivals.
The research house noted tourist arrivals from India reached approximately 600,000, which is almost comparable to South Korea and 52.2% higher than Japanese tourist arrival numbers.
"Other growth factors would include direct connectivity seen from international airlines flights to locations such as Langkawi. As such, we still believe that MAHB passenger numbers can meet the 110.8 million mark in 2020 at the current juncture, assuming a growth rate of 5.4%. In terms of valuations, MAHB's stock price is trading at a 12-month price-to-earnings ratio (PER) of 24.6 times, less than half of its five-year average (PER) of 63.7 times and at a discount compared to the regional PER of 37.6 times," MIDF noted.
MIDF has maintained its buy call on MAHB with a target price of RM8.98.
The research house noted that following the 2003 SARS outbreak, MAHB's passenger traffic growth in Malaysia slowed to 1.5% year-on-year (y-o-y) — with total international passengers at Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA)'s main terminal travelling to and from China declining 10.7% y-o-y.
24/01/20 Arjuna Chandran Shankar/The Edge Markets

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No coronavirus infection cases in India, 12,828 passengers screened so far: Health Ministry

No case of suspected Novel Coronavirus infection has been detected in India, a statement from Union Health Ministry says.

As on January 22, 12,828 passengers from 60 flights have been screened for Novel Coronavirus symptoms at the International airports of Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Cochin, it states.

Briefing the preparedness of the government, the statement said Ministry of Civil Aviation has asked airlines to follow International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) guidelines for managing and notifying anybody reporting illness on flights originating from China and disembarking in India. Instructions for in-flight announcements for India bound flights have also been given.

"National Institute of Virology, Pune is fully geared up to test samples of nCoV. Ten other laboratories under Indian Council of Medical Research's Viral Research and Diagnostics Laboratories network are also equipped to test such samples, if need arises. Adequate stock of Personal Protection Equipment is being maintained by Medical Stores Organisation," the statement said.
The health ministry also said that through its Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme issued advisory to all States/UTs for SARI surveillance, it has to pick up any travel-related case reported in the community and follow up contacts of suspect/confirmed cases.
23/01/20 Joe C Mathew/Business Today

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Flights from Warsaw to Delhi: Why LOT?

LOT Polish Airlines, a Star Alliance Member, commenced operations out of India on September 12, 2019. Based on strong demand from the Indian Point-of-Sale and latest booking forecasts for flights from India to Europe and North America, as well as high demand from corporate travelers and leisure guests from Europe to New Delhi, the airline decided to increase the number of weekly Boeing 787 Dreamliner flights from 5 to 7 effective September 14, 2020.

India-originating passengers can now further benefit from the new codeshare agreement between Star Alliance members LOT Polish Airlines and Air India, offering connectivity via New Delhi’s terminal 3 from Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Goa, Hyderabad, Kochi, Kolkata, Mumbai, and Pune.

New Delhi was chosen not without reason as the next LOT destination in Asia. India is inhabited by over 1.3 billion citizens and is the world’s 7th biggest economy. After Singapore, India is the second center of direct investment in Asia for Polish entrepreneurs. In turn, for Indian business, Poland has a cost-effective and profitable investment environment. Geolocation of Poland with LOT’s extended network of connections rank Warsaw hub as a gateway for Indian passengers enabling them access to all countries in Europe. The new LOT’s connection will be a key element in strengthening economic ties and developing business relations between the two countries.
23/01/20 eTurboNews

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14 new flights planned for better air link to Odisha

Bhubaneswar: A total of 14 new flights are planned to several national and international destinations to improve connectivity with Odisha. Chief Secretary Asit Tripathy said the new flights to and from Odisha have been planned after holding discussions with the Ministry of Civil Aviation.“The flight between Bhubaneswar and Bengaluru (Air India), which commenced on January 20, was also the outcome of the meetings held in New Delhi in the last one month,” Tripathy said on the sidelines of a high-level meeting here on Wednesday on ‘Enhancing Air Connectivity for Odisha’.

The Chief Secretary also said that Bhubaneswar-Surat flight (operated by Air India) commenced from January 20, while Kolkata-Jharsuguda flight (Alliance Air) will start from Wednesday, Bhubaneswar-Varanasi flight (Alliance Air) will start from January 31, Varanasi-Bhubaneswar flight (IndiGo) will start from February 29 and Jharsuguda-Mumbai flight (SpiceJet) will start by the end of winter schedule this year.

Similarly, Prayagraj-Bhubaneswar flight (IndiGo) will start from July 1,  Delhi-Bhubaneswar flight (AirAsia) is expected to commence operation during the upcoming summer schedule, Bhubaneswar-Rourkela (Alliance Air) flight will likely start by May and flight operation between Bhubaneswar and Kalaikunda by Alliance Air is also expected to start during the summer schedule. The winter schedule will continue till March 27, while the summer schedule will commence from March 28, sources said.“We have declared not to charge VAT on fuel from airlines operating international flights,” Tripathy said.
23/01/20 New Indian Express

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How equipped is an Indian airport to screen for coronavirus?

On our arrival at the Kochi airport, we saw a health desk that was managed by two persons wearing masks. We went to them and said we were from China and want to be examined. "Go ahead to the immigration counter and you can move out. You don't need to be examined," said one of them, much to our astonishment.
Read what Anirudha Karindalam (The Week) found out on returning from China >>

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Jharkhand Leads The Way, Puts Off Plan To Build Airport To Save Important Elephant Corridor

In what could be termed an important step towards saving crucial wildlife in the country, the state of Jharkhand has chosen to not build the Dhalbhumgarh airport to save forests and animals.

The habitat of the elephant, an endangered species and India’s national heritage animal, are regularly threatened by developmental projects. The Dhalbhumgarh airport sought nearly 100 hectares of land from forests in Jharkhand that serve as a corridor for elephants migrating between Jharkhand and the neighbouring state of West Bengal.
According to a report by Huffpost India, “An expert panel of the Indian government’s Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) has deferred the project while noting that the project could lead to an increase in human-elephant conflict in the area. It has sought further information for reconsidering the proposal.”
The Dhalbhumgarh airport site is an abandoned World War II airfield situated 60 kilometres from the industrial city of Jamshedpur in Jharkhand. Currently, the surface of the runway is not suitable for operations and no other facility is available at the airport.
22/01/20 Shweta Sengar/India Times

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Watch a movie at the Chennai International Airport as PVR prepares to open a five-screen theatre

Chennai: While we can safely say that the types of airport entertainment have increased by leaps and bounds over the past few years, we can always have some more. So the Chennai International Airport is all set to get five PVR movie screens. The facility would be the first of its kind in India.
The theatre is going to be in the multi-level car parking complex that is already under construction, and is just the right kind of entertainment for those who have a lot of time to spare before boarding. It is going to cost INR 250 crore and is being built by the Olympia Group. The theatre will also have numerous food and beverage options for guests. According to reports, the five screens will seat about 1000 people and should be completed by the end of 2021. PVR is expecting 20 per cent of the theatre-going population here to be transit passengers.
While this is the first of its kind in India, movie theatres are already trending in the rest of the world. Singapore’s Changi Airport has two movie theatres, located in Terminals 2 and 3, and are free of charge.
23/01/20 Times Travel

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Domino effect of dense fog in north India delays flights

Pune: Dense fog in north India, especially in Delhi and the NCR region, triggered the delay of 10 flights — both inbound and departing — at the Lohegaon airport on Wednesday morning.
The delay, of more than two hours in some cases, irked passengers. No flights to/from Pune were diverted but the Delhi airport reported diversions of five flights in the morning.

Between 6am and 9am, three flights of IndiGo, SpiceJet and Air India to Delhi were delayed by 50 minutes to more than two hours. In the same duration, two flights of IndiGo and Air India — coming to Pune from Delhi — were delayed by over two hours.

Between 9am and noon, two flights, one to Delhi and another to Jodhpur, were delayed by over an hour. At the same time, three flights coming to Pune from Delhi were delayed by an hour-and-a-half to more than two-and-a-half hours.
23/01/20 Joy Sengupta/Times of India

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SpiceJet Launches Postal & Cargo Delivery Service At Odisha’s Jharsuguda Airport

Bhubaneswar: SpiceJet has launched postal and cargo delivery service at Jharsuguda airport, which is touted as one of the remotest airports in eastern India.

“@flyspicejet has started PO mail & cargo delivery service in Jharsuguda, one of the regional airports. This will help in bringing this region closer to rest of the country. Congratulations to everyone involved in this initiative,” the Civil Aviation Ministry informed in a tweet on Thursday.

On its part, SpiceJet tweeted, “Through such initiatives, we are proud to be transforming postal service delivery to the most far-fetched regions of the country, a testimony of our commitment to bring India closer.”
23/01/20 Odisha Bytes

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Karnataka: Belagavi to get India's first miniature airport

Belagavi: The border town of Belagavi is set to host India's first miniature airport on the lines of Miniatur Wunderland in Hamburg, Germany. The Rs 6-crore project under the Smart City programme is expected to make the district a major tourist attraction in the country. "The decision on miniature airport was taken a fortnight ago. The deputy commissioner will head the planning committee, which will have a member from the Indian Air Force," said Shashidhar Kurer, managing director of Belagavi Smart City.
"The miniature airport will showcase all operations - check-in, boarding, takeoff, landing and parking of aircraft. Children can learn about functioning of the airports. Aviation enthusiasts will enjoy this experience as the Belagavi facility will also have a runway," he added.
Belagavi Smart City Ltd has tentatively identified land near Vaccine Depot Grounds in the city for the project.
23/01/20 Snhreya HS/Times of India

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No planes to fly, but smaller airports getting ready in Tamil Nadu

Chennai: Though the ministry of civil aviation is pushing a regional connectivity scheme to link Vellore, Thanjavur, Neyveli and Ramnad, authorities have said barring Thanjavur, none of the other airports is likely to be opened for flights.
“That too only if low cost carriers like IndiGo or SpiceJet show interest,” the official said.

Another official of Airports Authority of India (AAI) said as the ministry wants to upgrade infrastructure, Vellore is readying to obtain a licence, Neyveli airport is ready and work is on to equip Thanjavur airport.

“But no thought has gone into the fact that airlines don't have small nine seater planes to fly to Vellore and Neyveli... none of the airlines has expressed their intent to buy such small planes,” he said.
Data from the Rajya Sabha show that AAI has spent Rs 150 lakh to spruce up Vellore and Thanjavur airports in the last three years. Of this, Rs 132 lakh was spent for Vellore though no airline in the country has a 20-seater plane to operate a scheduled service. There is no mention of the money spent for Neyveli. AAI has listed this airport as loss-making.

AAI spent Rs 17 lakh in 2016-17, Rs 22 lakh in 2017-18 and Rs 93 lakh in 2018-19 readying Vellore airport.
22/01/20 Times of India

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14 new flights planned for better air connectivity to Odisha

14 new flights are planned to several national and international destinations as Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Wednesday urged airline operators to improve connectivity with the coastal state. Most of the flights are scheduled to operate between January to the summer of 2020.

According to sources here, the planned destinations are Kolkata-Jharsuguda, Bhubaneswar-Varanasi, Varanasi-Bhubaneswar, Jharsuguda-Mumbai, Prayagraj-Bhubaneswar, Delhi-Bhubaneswar, Bhubaneswar-Rourkela, Bhubaneswar-Kalaikunda, Bhubaneswar-Bangkok, Bangkok- Bhubaneswar, Singapore-Bhubaneswar, Bhubaneswar-Abu Dhabi.

The Odisha government on Wednesday discussed with the airline operators and officials of the Union Civil Aviation Ministry about improving air connectivity to the state. More than 25 CEOs of different airlines were invited to the meeting.

The Chief Minister cited the growth story of Odisha, the presence of techno-savvy diaspora in different countries, the emergence of a globe-trotting middle class, growth of tourism and rapid growth in various sectoral economies.

Introduction of more international flights from Bhubaneswar to destinations like Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Hong Kong, and Bangkok will provide convenience and comfort to the people of the state, he said.
22/01/20 14 IANS/India TV

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Coronavirus outbreak: India screens 43 flights, 9156 passengers arriving from China at 7 airports

New Delhi: Secretary at the Union Health Ministry, Preeti Sudan, on Wednesday informed that a total number of 43 flights and 9156 passengers arriving from China have been screened for novel coronavirus illness at seven different airports across the country so far.

However, no case has been detected through these screening efforts.

The Civil Aviation Ministry, from Tuesday, initiated the thermal health screening of passengers arriving from China including Hong Kong at seven Indian airports, under the directions of the Union Health Ministry.

These airports include Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Cochin, Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata respectively.

This is being done as a preventive measure against the outbreak of deadly Novel Corona Virus Disease (nCoV) outbreak in Wuhan, Hubei province of China. All seven identified airports have airports signage displayed boldly at the strategic locations.

According to Sudan, the Embassy in China has informed that till January 22, a total of 440 cases of pneumonia with nCoV were confirmed in China and a total of 9 people have died.

Cases have been reported in 14 provinces (including Taiwan) and municipalities as well.

The Health Ministry has directed travellers to China, in particular, Wuhan city to monitor their health closely. Travellers have been asked to follow simple public health measures and a good standard of hygiene.
22/01/20 ANI/Yahoo!

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Telangana HC stays order on Hyderabad airport user charges

Hyderabad: A division bench of the Telangana HC on Tuesday stayed the order of a single judge who had earlier asked the GMR Hyderabad International Airport Limited to move Appellate Tribunal on the issue of determination of user charges.

While dealing with the appeal filed by GMR, the bench comprising Chief Justice Raghvendra Singh Chauhan and Justice A Abhishek Reddy found fault with the order saying the authorities concerned have only prepared a consultation paper on the proposed new user charges and not finalised them.

While adjourning the case, the High Court bench directed the Ministry of Civil Aviation and Airports Economic Regulatory Authority of India to file counter affidavits on the issue in three weeks.
22/01/20 New Indian Express

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Security beefed up at Trichy airport

Trichy: Security has been beefed up ahead of Republic Day at Trichy International Airport after a bag containing explosives was found in Mangaluru airport. Passengers as well as visitors were checked thoroughly at the airport. Police patrolling also has been intensified at various points at the airport.
The Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) has taken full control of the airport along with city police. While city police guard both entry and exit points, CISF personnel were deployed in the entire airport premises with bomb squad. To avert any untoward incidents, the visitors’ gallery has also been closed. All the vehicles were checked by security personnel at various checkpoints at the airport. Passengers will undergo an additional security check just before entering or leaving a flight to ensure the complete safety of flights.
22/01/20 Times of India

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AAI team on airport recce

Hailakandi: Silchar in south Assam might become the first place of the Northeast to have two airports.

A five-member committee of the Airports Authority of India (AAI) completed its two-day visit to Silchar on Tuesday to see the land and infrastructure for proposed international-level airport in Cachar district.

If the airport is constructed, the existing Kumbhirgram airport, 25km from Silchar town, will be used to transport goods.

The Kumbhirgram airport is located on Air Force authority land.

The members of the AAI team were Varun Kumar Lau, Manjit Singh, Soumen Podder, Sunil Kumar and Rajpal Lawasia.

They visited Silcoorie, Dolu and Khoril and mainly observed the infrastructure, feasibility, connection with Silchar town, passenger amenities and other technical issues related to an international-level airport.

They will submit a report to the authorities and the findings will be discussed in the AAI meeting, sources said.
22/01/20 Satananda Bhattacharjee/Telegraph

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India wants to identify fliers using face ID while Google CEO seeks temporary ban on face recognition AI

As part of the Digital India campaign, the Ministry of Civil Aviation has installed India’s first digital system called Digi Yatra for air travellers at the Bengaluru International Airport. The stated aim of the system is to makes things smoother for travellers by enabling faster movement at checkpoints. For example, using Digi Yatra, fliers will be able to get into the airport and clear various checkpoints using a sort of face ID.
As it happens with any technology that involves facial recognition, there seem to be privacy concerns around Digi Yatri, something that experts highlighted.
Ankita Chakravarti writes more on those concerns >>

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Chandigarh: Fly straight to Goa from March 29

Mohali: The summer flight’s schedule to get enforced from March 29 has brought good news for Tricity residents as direct connectivity to Goa has been announced from Chandigarh International Airport.
The start of 24x7 flight operations has also been declared in the schedule and the IndiGo flight to Goa will depart from the Chandigarh airport after midnight.
The summer flight’s schedule to get enforced from March 29 has brought good news for Tricity residents as direct connectivity to Goa has been announced

Besides this, Chandigarh is all set to get direct flights to other important cities like Patna, Chennai, Surat and Kolkata.

All these flights have been announced in the summer flight schedule of 2020, according to which IndiGo flight 6E-6137 from will arrive at Chandigarh from Goa at 6.40am and depart for Ahmedabad from Chandigarh at 8.10am.

Similarly, another flight, GoAir G8-814, will reach Chandigarh from Goa at 9.45am and will take off for Surat (G8-815) at 10.15am.

IndiGo flight 6E-6147 will arrive at Chandigarh from Bangalore around 11pm and the same flight (6E-6144) will depart from Chandigarh for Goa after midnight at 00:40am. This flight will operate six days a week from Monday to Saturday.

So, tourists have options to board IndiGo flight 6E-6137 and GoAir G8-814 from Goa to reach Chandigarh and those looking to fly from Chandigarh to reach Goa can take IndiGo flight (6E-6144) to the beach capital after midnight at 00:40am.

As per the summer schedule, Chandigarh will also get direct connectivity to holy city of Patna, one of the Takhts of Sikhism, starting March 30. IndiGo is going to operate two flights daily to Patna from Chandigarh. The first flight, 6E-6141, will arrive from Ahmedabad at 11.35am and then depart for Patna (6E-6148) at 12.05pm. The first flight will depart on March 30.

Second flight IndiGo 6E-6926 will arrive from Patna at 6.35pm and depart for the same from Chandigarh at 7.05pm. The flight will make its maiden journey on March 29.

22/01/20 Barinderjit Saluja/Times of India

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Mangaluru: Bomb scare at international airport is intelligence failure - MLA U T Khader

Mangaluru: “The bomb scare at Mangaluru international airport is nothing but an intelligence failure,” said MLA U T Khader.
Addressing media here on Wednesday, January 22, Khader said, "The first instance of intelligence failure was when the accused planted bomb at Mangaluru International Airport with such ease and second failure was when the accused easily landed in Bengaluru and then he surrendered to police. Where was police despite having CCTV footage and pictures of the accused? How come the accused reach Bengaluru so easily? Planting bomb at the airport is a serious issue and such ant-social elements exist in all religions.
"BJP leaders came to conclusion before the culprit was apprehended. We need to understand what made him to carry out this crime. If he was mentally not stable, then how it was possible for him to know to fix the bomb and escape from the airport and reach Bengaluru without any problem and then surrender to police? He alone cannot do this. I suspect there is a conspiracy behind the incident. The conspirator needs to be identified first.
“Home minister Basavaraj Bommai and union minister Prahlad Joshi need to apologise for their statements made with regards to the bomb scare,” he said.
When asked about H D Kumaraswamy's statement that it was a mock show, Khader said, "Kumaraswamy is a former chief minister, who has handled the Home department. He has his own sources based upon which he has expressed suspicion about the incident.”
22/01/20 daijiworld

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Mangaluru bomb scare: Man surrenders, claims he put bag with explosives at airport

Mangaluru: A person, claiming to have placed the Improvised Explosive Device (IED) at Mangaluru International Airport, surrendered before the police on Wednesday morning.

Sources said the accused, identified as Aditya Rao, arrived at the office of the DGP early Wednesday morning and confessed to have planted the bomb at Mangaluru airport following which he surrendered. He has now been taken to Halasurgate police station.

On Monday, a live bomb was found placed in an unattended bag near the ticket counters at the airport, creating panic. According to police, the bomb was found in the unclaimed laptop bag.

The CCTV footage showed a middle aged man, dressed in formal attire and wearing a cap, placing the bag at the airport.

22/01/20 Nagarjun Dwarakanath/India Today

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Accused Aditya Rao Brought to Mangaluru by SpiceJet for Further Investigations

Mangaluru: Mangaluru: The accused who placed an explosive device near the ticket counter at the Mangaluru International airport, Aditya Rao was brought to Mangaluru by the ACP of Mangaluru North Belliyappa and his team on January 22.
Aditya Rao surrendered to the Director-General of Police (DGP) office in Bengaluru on January 22. ACP Belliyappa reached Bengaluru to take custody of Aditya Rao. Rao was taken to a state-run hospital for check-up and produced in a local court for his transit custody and interrogation by the Mangaluru police.
At 7:15 pm the police brought the accused to the Kempegowda Airport and the flight  SpiceJet landed at the Mangaluru International Airport at 8:30 pm. Aditya was taken to Panambur police station and he will be produced before the court and remanded to police custody for further investigations.
Speaking to the mediapersons Police commissioner Dr Harsha said, “The accused who placed the explosive device in the Mangalore international airport Aditya Rao was arrested by our investigating team. He was produced before the first ACMM court and requested for transit warrant. Based on the evidence the court ordered the transit warrant to the investigative officer Belliyappa. We have also taken the permission from the Air transit and brought the accused Aditya Rao to Mangaluru.”
22/01/20 Violet Pereira/Mangalorean

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CCI Approves Acquisition Of Shares In GMR Airports Limited

On October 1, 2019, CCI approved the acquisition of 44.44% shares in GMR Airports Limited ('GMR') by TRIL Urban Transport Private Limited ('TUTPL'), Valkyrie Investment Pte. Limited ('VIPL'), and Solis Capital (Singapore) Pte. Limited ('Solis') (together, 'Acquirers')1. Acquirers and GMR together are referred as 'Parties'.2

TUTPL is part of the Tata Sons Private Limited ('Tata Sons') group. Tata Sons group, among other businesses, has majority stake in two airlines, namely, AirAsia India, and Vistara Airlines. VIPL is a private limited company incorporated in Singapore, and is a special purpose vehicle registered with the SEBI as a foreign venture capital investor ('FVCI'), and is a part of a group of investment holding companies managed by GIC Special Investments Private Limited ('GICSI'), which in turn is owned by GIC (Ventures) Private Limited ('GICVPL').3 Similarly, Solis is also a registered FVCI, and is an investment vehicle advised by SSG Capital Management (Singapore) Pte. Ltd. ('SSG Capital').4 Tata Sons group, GIC group, and SSG group are collectively referred to as 'Acquirers' Group'.

GMR is a public limited company and a subsidiary of GMR Infrastructure Limited ('GIL'), which is the ultimate parent entity of the GMR group. GMR, through its subsidiaries, operates and manages the Delhi and Hyderabad airports. In India, GMR is also developing a greenfield airport in Goa and Bhogapuram; and will develop and operate Nagpur airport on public private partnership basis ('Target Airports').

CCI observed that there were no horizontal overlaps between the Acquirers' Group and the GMR group. It also observed that there were no vertical relationships between the activities of the GIC group / SSG group and the GMR group.
21/01/20 AZB & Partners/mondaq

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Breather for GVK Team! Arbitration tribunal restrains Bidvest from promoting stake in Mumbai airport

Hyderabad-based GVK Team turns out to have were given a breather in its struggle to retain its stake within the Mumbai World Airport Restricted (MIAL). The arbitration tribunal in its order dated Sunday, January 19th, has restrained South Africa’s Bidvest Team or Bid Services and products from moving its stake within the MIAL to a 3rd celebration.

“It’s directed that pending the listening to and ultimate disposal of the arbitration complaints, Bid Services and products is restrained from alienating by means of switch to somebody its 16.2 crore fairness stocks in MIAL,” the tribunal stated in its order

The tribunal order additionally stated that “the induction of a 3rd celebration within the affairs of MIAL would have its personal penalties and it’s tough to foresee them.”

This construction is being observed as a non permanent respite for the GVK Team and a setback for Adani Team. The Adani Team has been within the information for its personal be offering to South Africa’s Bidvest Team, which holds a 13.five in keeping with cent stake, and a board seat in MIAL. The Gautam Adani-led conglomerate has presented to shop for Bidvest’s stake at Rs 77 in keeping with percentage for round Rs 1,200 crore.

GVK Team has been preventing teeth and nail to be sure that Bidvest does no longer promote its stake to a 3rd celebration. The stake within the airport trade is an important for GVK Team, whose airport trade income of round Rs 3,700 crore, comes in large part from this airport and accounts for a big percentage of the income of its indexed entity, GVK Energy & Infrastructure.
20/01/20 Zoe Bernard/Market Research Activity

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