Showing posts with label Airports Jan 2021. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Airports Jan 2021. Show all posts

Sunday, January 31, 2021

IndiGo flights to take off from Kurnool on March 28

Kurnool: IndiGo will begin its operations to three southern cities from the Kurnool Airport under the ‘Ude Desh ka Aam Naagrik’ (UDAN) scheme from March 28.

The airport, developed by the Andhra Pradesh Airports Development Corporation Limited, formerly known as Bhogapuram International Airport Company, had received the DGCA approval on January 15.

TruJet is another operator that has been permitted to operate its flights from the airport. IndiGo, in a release from New Delhi, said it would operate flights between Kurnool and Bengaluru, Visakhapatnam and Chennai under the regional connectivity scheme.

The airline plans to operate flights connecting Leh and Darbhanga in February. It also plans to kick-start operations from Agra in March, Bareilly and Durgapur in April, and Rajkot in May.

“It will strategically enhance regional connectivity in southern India as Kurnool will be one of the three capitals in Andhra Pradesh and the node for the Hyderabad-Bengaluru Industrial Corridor,” said Sanjay Kumar, IndiGo’s Chief Strategy and Revenue Officer.

31/01/21 The Hindu


Take a trip to Mumbai airport's 'Jaya He Museum' using this app

For discerning travellers, airports are more than just places of transit. Often, they can evolve into places that amalgamate and showcase the cultural thread that is India. In December last year, the T2 terminal of the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport in Mumbai launched a digital tour of its Jaya He Museum.

Read about some of the must-visit attractions here >>


AAI to set up RT-PCR test lab at airport

Chennai: Airports Authority of India will set up a Covid testing lab facility at Chennai airport in a couple of weeks as the government has given permission for the RT-PCR test.

An airport official said that people who prefer to get tested can pay and give samples. Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru and Hyderabad airports have already started a testing facility to offer passengers an option to get tested as the government has stopped testing international arrivals.

"Though people arrive with a negative certificate, they can be told to take the test if there is a doubt or if they fail temperature screening," he added. The space and people to run the testing centre are ready and the authorities were waiting for the state government to approve the kind of test that will be conducted. "The results wil be known in four to five hours and there will be space like a lounge for passengers to wait. Once the the facility is ready testing may become compulsory for passengers from the UK and other countries," he said.

31/01/21 Times of India

Plane helpful: Mosque ensures safer takeoffs

The minaret of a mosque, falling in the funnel zone of the Juhu airport as well as the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport that was endangering runway safety, has been reduced in size after repeated objections from BMC and Airports Authority of India. A funnel zone is an area aligned with the runways along the specific paths followed by flights while landing and takeoff.

The Ansar Masjid is located next to the Santacruz BEST depot and had led to the closure of Runway 34 at Juhu airport which also has cross runways like Santacruz airport.

Jabbar Tanwar, a trustee of the Anjuman Khadim ul Musalmin Trust that looks after the mosque, said, “We come here to pray. When objections were raised, we went to our MLA, Ashish Shelar. The BMC also helped us in reducing the size of the minaret. The changes were made during the lockdown. I don’t know the exact size by which it was flattened.’’

Shelar told Sunday Mumbai Mirror, “The trustees of the mosque had come to me, and I helped them find a solution to the problem.’’

Juhu airport director, AK Verma, said that the minaret was not only affecting Juhu airport, but was also coming in the way of the funnel zone of the main airport.

Now that the minaret’s size has been reduced, the problem is solved, he said.

Mumbai Mirror was the first to report on the issue in 2014. The heli operators had also said that the minaret was making them change routes.

The Rotary Wing Society of India, a professional body that works for the growth of the helicopter industry in India, had then said that helicopters are ideally expected to descend at a maximum eight degrees angle for safe landing, and that the minaret was at ten degrees angle. The minaret stood tall at 37 metres while the height limit was 26.12 metres.

31/01/21 Yogesh Naik/Mumbai Mirror


Kolkata: Inline baggage scan for all flyers from February

Kolkata: Passengers travelling by GoAir flights will soon be spared the hassle of first getting their checked-in baggage scanned at a standalone X-ray machine before depositing them at the airline check-in counter.

Flyers travelling by all other carriers have been availing of inline baggage scan (ILBS) since February 17, 2020. The system allows passengers to deposit the luggage directly at the airline check-in counter and the scan is done automatically as bags travel down the conveyor belt. But with portal A where GoAir and AirAsia India counters were located not integrated into the system, passengers of these two airlines had to get their luggage scanned before depositing them. Later, AirAsia India flights were accommodated in portal B. But GoAir passengers still require to get their bags scanned.

Not for long though. Kolkata airport director Kaushik Bhattacharjee said the airline would also migrate to ILBS from mid-February with the integration of portal A into the system. “Baggage screening trials are currently underway by an agency authorised by Transport Security Administration (TSA),” said Bhattacharjee.

TSA is an agency of the US department of Homeland Security that oversees the security of travelling public in the US and has been entrusted by the civil aviation authority in India to carry out checks on the ILBS system. It is only after a nod from the TSA agency that the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security authorises the use of the ILBS system at airports.

31/01/21 Times of India

Bengaluru airport to be partially closed for Aero India show, BIAL working with airlines

Bengaluru: The city airport will be half closed for Aero India show. Its commercial flight operations till February will be suspended for rehearsal and the main show.

In order to ensure safety and pave the way for the success of the event, the city Airport would partially close commercial flight operations and standby as the diversionary airport for flying display during the days of practice and the main show, Bengaluru International Airport Ltd said in a statement.

BIAL is working with airlines and IAF to ensure that minimal disruption is done to the existing schedule during the reduced operating hours, the statement added. The BIAL and respective airlines would share communication on the change in airport operations and the revised flight timings during the Aero India show to avoid passenger inconvenience.

31/01/21 TimesNowNews.com

Saturday, January 30, 2021

Sikkim's Pakyong Airport: A boon or a bane?

Gangtok: A Green Airfield Airport in Pakyong has long been one of the most ambitious projects of the Airport Authority of India. Built at a cost of Rs 603 crore under Project UDAN, the airport began operations on January 23, 2020, after a 19-month hiatus. So long the airport struggled with low visibility issues to safely land aircraft and its tabletop runway surface developing cracks.

But the troubles with Pakyong Airport, which was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in September, 2018, go beyond its boundary. The surrounding localities are now ravaged by sinking of the hill slope under pressure from the airport. The geography of the Pakyong sub-division has changed with damaged land, cultivation, and destruction of 165 houses.

Pakyong locals have been fighting a long legal battle for compensation for their homes and lands. Even as the state government has promised justice, people, under debt, now stand with different rates of compensation offered and released.

Locals here have not only lost their ancestral properties, but also their means of livelihood, and are now under debt to be able to pay for the construction of new houses, sans resettlement.

Earlier on January 28, commercial flight operations by SpiceJet recommenced with a Delhi-Pakyong flight after being closed for 19 months. In June 2019, the airline had suspened the airport's only commercial flight, between Kolkata and Pakyong, due to bad weather conditions and technical problems.

29/01/21 Pankaj Dhungel/Eastmojo

Jaipur airport stops lifting exports consignments, business hit severely

Jaipur: The Rajasthan Small Industry Corp. Ltd. (RAJSICO), a state PSU, is the sole custodian of Air Cargo Complex (ACC) handling export and import cargo at Jaipur Airport since the very beginning. But in the second week of January, BCAS (Bureau of Civil Aviation Security) warned airlines not to pick any export cargo from the facility.

BCAS said that RAJSICO has not taken security clearance of cargo handling area and if airlines pick up cargo from the complex, they will have to pay heavy penalty.

Since then, all exports from the city airport has stalled, forcing exporters to send their consignment from Delhi which involves additional transport cost and other material handling charges.

An official in RAJSICO said that even if they want to apply for security clearance, AAI objects to providing map of the cargo handling area, one of the requisite documents to apply for the permission.

He said RAJSICO pleaded with AAI to provide any other space where cargo could be handled so that export could go on smoothly, but the same remained unheeded by AAI.

Rajiv Arora, president of Federation of Rajasthan Exporters, said, “I have requested industries secretary Ashutosh Pednekar and the chief minister’s office to intervene and take it up to authorities in central government and civil aviation ministry to resolve it earliest in the interest of exporters of Rajasthan.”

Arora said he also brought this issue to the notice of chief secretary Niranjan Arya. “He assured that the state government will take up this issue and talk to concerned people in the central government to resolve it,” added Arora.

Meanwhile, exports from Jaipur airport has ground to a complete halt. The situation may lead to loss of buyers in overseas markets for the delayed delivery of consignments.

Suresh Agarwal, president of Federation of Rajasthan Trade and Industry (FORTI), said, “Regional director of BCAS has stopped the screening and storage of cargo at the Air Cargo Complex. As a result, valuable and common cargos, including perishables, have been pending for exports for the past 20 days. This has stalled Rajasthan’s exports and is hurting the industry and business.”

30/01/21 Srikanta Tripathy/Times of India


Airports Authority of India goes Live with Aireon System, Providing the Highest Safety Standards for Air Travel in the Region

New Delhi: Airports Authority of India (AAI) has announced today that Aireon's space-based ADS-B air traffic surveillance system is successfully being utilized across Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata's oceanic airspaces, just 18 months after signing a contract to implement the service. As the third largest airspace in the world, AAI is making significant strides towards enhancing safety and efficiency across their ever-growing, highly trafficked area.

AAI's deployment of space-based ADS-B now provides an additional layer of surveillance, backing up the existing ground-based network. With a vast airspace of over nine million square kilometers, multiple crossing airways and dense, continuously growing traffic, multi-layer surveillance covering the entirety of the airspace provides more efficient solutions, safer processes and greater visibility.  Improved communications and data sharing between Asia, the Middle East and Europe is also a main objective aimed at reducing delays and improving the flying experience for all users. 

"The collaboration and determination to complete implementation testing remotely by both the AAI and Aireon teams have set the region up for a successful 2021," said Vineet Gulati, Board Member, Air Navigation Services, AAI.  "Despite the challenges that came because of the ongoing global pandemic, AAI was able to continue testing to prepare our airspace to go live with Aireon's safety-of-life service. When travel picks up again, AAI will be ready to support the rapid increase of aircraft in a cohesive and efficient manner."

"It's been a pleasure working alongside the AAI team. Their determination to prepare for future air travel and improve safety to match their robust traffic growth is the innovative thinking that is propelling the aviation industry forward," said Don Thoma, Aireon CEO. "Deploying real-time air traffic surveillance is an initiative that has driven AAI to be a leader not only in the region, but throughout the world."

Prior to the deployment of the Aireon system, aircraft were compelled to fly at uneconomical levels due to the high-traffic and many conflict points at crossing paths, burning extra fuel and resulting in extra expenses for airlines. Now, with more accurate position reporting available throughout the entire region, aircraft are more likely to get preferred flight levels and route changes, alleviating the prior issues.

29/01/21 PRNewswire


New terminal building at Adampur airport to be ready by mid-2021: Airports Authority of India

The new terminal building at the Adampur airport in Punjab's Jalandhar is expected to be ready by mid-2021, Airports Authority of India (AAI) said on Friday.

"With a total built up area of 6,000 square metre and canopy area of 1,920 square metre, the new terminal building has been designed to process 300 passengers during peak hours," said the AAI's press release.

It said 40 percent of the project work has been completed and the new terminal building at the airport is scheduled "to be ready by the middle of this year".

The release said apart from the new terminal building, the AAI is scheduled to build new apron and taxi-track to make the airport suitable for handling two A320 aircraft at a time.

29/01/21 PTI/Moneycontrol


'Ensure easy passenger pick up for app-based cabs at airports': Parliament committee to AAI

New Delhi: The Airports Authority of India (AAI) needs to put proper signs and mark separate pathways at its airports so that picking up passengers becomes easier for app-based cabs as it would reduce traffic jams, said a Parliamentary Committee report released on Friday.

The AAI, which works under the Ministry of Civil Aviation, owns and operates 125-odd airports across the country.

"Most of the designated pick-up points (at AAI-operated airports) of UBER, OLA, etc. do not have appropriate identification marks for the passenger or the driver to identify his exact location at the airport," said the Parliamentary Committee on Public Undertakings' report tabled in Rajya Sabha on Friday.

In the absence of such signages or marks, it said, passengers and cab drivers face difficulty in communicating their exact locations resulting in wastage of precious time and causing crowding and traffic jams at the UBER and OLA pick-up points.

Major airports, including in Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Ahmedabad, are run by private companies and not by the AAI.

The committee said that appropriate circles be marked in different colours on the ground at the airports with appropriate identification numbers so that passengers can communicate their exact locations to the drivers.

"The identification number can also be displayed on the pillars or side walls in the area of the pick-up points which is easily visible to the drivers to locate the passengers," it mentioned.

29/01/21 PTI/New Indian Express


Eco-washing facility at RGIA

Hyderabad: GMR Hyderabad International Airport has introduced one more initiative towards safe travel, a ‘waterless eco-washing’ facility to sanitize cars. This service includes — exterior cleaning, vacuum cleaning, tyre clean and polish, air freshener, dashboard dressing, deep clean services.

This helps in the complete sanitization of the vehicles and ensures a safe travel. One of the kiosks is located at the entrance of the Car Parking zone – C and one kiosk dedicated to taxis near the airport lodge at the taxi staging area. Irrespective of the location, service will be provided at the location where the vehicle is parked within the airport car park. The service is available 24/7, 100% contactless, tech enabled service for the ease of the customers. Both cash and digital payments can be made, a press release said.

29/01/21 The Hindu

Rourkela can resume flight ops with ATR 72 aircraft, says Hardeep Singh Puri

Rourkela: Putting to rest suspense over resumption of commercial flights from the Steel City, Union Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri has said ATR 72 aircraft would be allowed to operate following licence upgradation and further development of Rourkela airport.

In a letter to Rajya Sabha Member from Delhi Sanjay Singh on January 15, Puri stated that Rourkela airport of SAIL has an ARC 2B VFR license. Developed by the Airport Authority of India (AAI) for operation under Regional Connectivity Scheme - Ude Desh Ka Aam Nagarik (RCS-UDAN), the airport was initially planned for 19-seater aircraft. 

“The ECS routes from Rourkela to Bhubaneswar and Raipur with ATR-72 type aircraft have been awarded to Alliance Air and Turbo Aviation. However, the operations are yet to commence due to lack of readiness of Rourkela airport for Code 3C operations,” he said in a reply to Singh. The Delhi RS Member had written to Puri for operation of 70-seater aircraft from Rourkela in February last year.

The Civil Aviation Minister further said, joint inspection was carried out on November 20 last for assessing requirement for ATR-72 type aircraft. The obstacle limitation surface (OLS) survey conducted for Code 2C VFR operation is being analysed for Code 3C operations. Once the regulatory requirements are complied to, operations can start with ATR-72 type aircraft.

Puri said 41 acre of land is to be alienated by SAIL to meet licensing requirements to cater to visual flight rule (VFR) operations of ATR-72 type aircraft. Work on upgradation of the airport is in progress.  Incidentally, after the joint inspection carried out under the leadership of State Commerce and Transport Principal Secretary Madhusudan Padhi, it was decided to apply for upgradation of the airport’s licence to ARC 2C VFR from ARC 2B and take up necessary infrastructure augmentation to allow operation of 42-seater aircraft.

30/01/21 New Indian Express

Jewar Airport: Uttar Pradesh CM Holds Review Meeting With Officials

Lucknow: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Saturday held a review meeting at Lucknow regarding the Noida International Greenfield Airport in the state's Jewar area.

The Chief Secretary and Additional Chief Secretary of the state along with other officials concerned were present at the meeting.

The Uttar Pradesh government has appointed Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority (YEIDA) as the implementing agency on its behalf for the airport in Jewar.

Zurich Airport International AG was earlier selected as the concessionaire for developing the Noida International Airport at Jewar.

The first phase of the airport will be spread over 1,334 hectares and would cost Rs 4,588 crores. It is expected to be completed by 2023.

30/01/21 ANI/Business World

UP set to take over seven villages for third Jewar airport runway

Greater Noida: The district administration will soon begin the process of taking physical possession of 1,365-hectare land in seven villages of Greater Noida for the development of the third runway of Noida International Airport. On January 25, the UP Cabinet notified the land acquisition for the third runway. The greenfield airport, one of the country’s biggest new infrastructure projects, will have a total of five runways.

Officials said the seven villages are Karauli Bangar, Kureb, Berampur, Mundhera, Nangla Shahpur, Ranhera and Dayanatpur. The third runway has to be added as a part of the stage II development of the project’s phase I. Work on development of the first and second runways over an area of 1,334 hectares is expected to commence by July this year, officials said.

Additional district magistrate (land acquisition) Balram Singh said the process to hire services of experts to conduct a social impact assessment study (SIA) will be initiated soon.

“Once SIA report is available and surveys are conducted, we will come to know how many houses and families are getting impacted in the seven villages. The state government will provide us funds to purchase the land. The circle rate of these villages is higher than the six villages that had been taken earlier but the final compensation amount will be finalised only when all other formalities get over,” said Singh.

Since a distance of at least 1,035 metres will have to be maintained to allow simultaneous landing and take-off from the parallel runways as per the International Civil Aviation Organisation guidelines, the third runway cannot be housed within the stage I area.

“We have to keep a buffer of at least 1.50km to 2km from the existing two runways while planning the third one. The land will be acquired for it and handed over to the subsidiary of Zurich AG,” said Shailendra Bhatia, nodal officer of Noida International Private Limited, the special purpose vehicle of the UP government set up to develop the airport.

30/01/21 Times of India


Aurangabad airport to be renamed after Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj: BJP MP

Aurangabad: BJP Rajya Sabha MP Dr Bhagwat Karad said on Saturday that the Chikalthana airport here will soon be renamed as the Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj International Airport.

Talking to UNI, he said that he had called on Union Civil Aviation Minister Hardip Singh Puri regarding the renaming of the rapidly developing Aurangabad airport.

The proposal for renaming of the airport has been forwarded to the Prime Minister's Office by the Civil Aviation Department and the PMO has sought information on how many more airports in the country are to be renamed, he said.

Proposals for renaming of 13 airports in the country have been sent to the PMO for approval, including three in the state like Aurangabad, Kolhapur and Shirdi, he said.

Dr Karad further said that he met Civil Aviation secretary Pradip Singh Kharola and joint secretary in the PMO Rohit Yadav on Friday and discussed the issue with them.

30/01/21 UNI

Mopa locals oppose more land acquisition plans for airport road

Mapusa: The situation in Pernem town on Friday remained tense after farmers from Mopa gathered in large numbers to protest the proposed additional land acquisition for the link road to the Mopa airport.

Work on the link road is presently under way.

The protesting locals said they will not allow any additional land to be acquired for the airport as the government had already taken up a sufficiently large area for the project.

Sources said that the survey work for the proposed acquisition was underway on Friday. At first, the locals gathered at the site and registered their protest. Police then booked an offence against locals, Suryakant Chodankar and Jitendra Gaonkar, for obstructing government work. This led to the aggrieved villagers gathering at the police station to condemn the act of the government and the police of booking offences against the protesters airing their view.

GFP’s Kiran Kandolkar, who visited Pernem to show his support to the locals, alleged that the government was acquiring the land not to facilitate the airport project, but for vested interests.

“The additional land acquisition for the road is not for the airport work, but to help investors from outside Goa, who have purchased huge plots of land for hotel projects. We condemn the act of the police. What happened to the complaints that the farmers had filed with the police earlier over the illegal grabbing of their land?” he said.

30/01/21 Times of India

Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel writes to Union Aviation Minister requesting air connectivity of Bilaspur to metro cities

Raipur: Air services on Bilaspur-Delhi-Mumbai-Kolkata route will become a reality soon.

Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel has written a letter to Union Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri requesting permission to provide air connectivity from Chhattisgarh’s Bilaspur to Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata under Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS), a government statement said on Friday.

He had requested for RCS connectivity facility from Bilaspur to metro cities under Udaan 4.1 Yojana in the near future.

“I would like to bring to your notice the issue of RCS connectivity of Bilaspur with metropolitan cities like Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata etc," CM said in the letter.

He said, Nyaydhani Bilaspur in Chhattisgarh is an important geographic location. I would like to dwell on the most desirable support from MOCA on this subject, he asked.

Bilaspur airport has just got upgraded to 3C VFR category. The State Government has been striving hard for RCS connectivity of Bilaspur to the metros both directly and in stages, through several periodic correspondences and discussions at various levels. It is strongly urged to please look into this issue and promulgate necessary rules or concessions, if need be, to permit Bilaspur - metropolitan connectivity under RCS, CM mentioned.

29/01/21 Avdhesh Mallick/Free Press Journal

Friday, January 29, 2021

New terminal building at Adampur airport to be ready by mid-2021: Airports Authority of India

New Delhi: The new terminal building at the Adampur airport in Punjab's Jalandhar is expected to be ready by mid-2021, Airports Authority of India (AAI) said on Friday. "With a total built up area of 6,000 square metre and canopy area of 1,920 square metre, the new terminal building has been designed to process 300 passengers during peak hours," said the AAI's press release.

It said 40 per cent of the project work has been completed and the new terminal building at the airport is scheduled "to be ready by the middle of this year".

The release said apart from the new terminal building, the AAI is scheduled to build new apron and taxi-track to make the airport suitable for handling two A320 aircraft at a time.

29/01/21 PTI/Economic Times

2 passengers held in Guwahati airport for flouting Covid norms

Guwahati: Two Delhi-bound passengers were apprehended at the Guwahati airport for violating Covid-19 protocols, police said on Thursday.

Police said that some passengers after their arrival from Delhi at the Lokpriya Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport here, forcefully came out of the airport complex without the Covid test, after causing obstruction to the officials.

Subsequently, a case was registered at Azara police station under the Disaster Management Act 2005 and two persons -- Dinesh Das, 54 and Jayanta Gogoi, 56, were arrested in connection with the incident.

Health officials underscored that if the passengers arriving in Assam couldn't show their Covid-19 test certificate then they have to undergo thermal screening and swab sample test, except some officials who come to the state for a very short time.

28/01/21 IANS/Daijiworld

Civilian Flights to be Rescheduled at Bangalore Airport For Aero India 2021 Rehearsals

There will be no civilian flight operations from Bengaluru airport during the rehearsals and air display at the upcoming biennial Aero India 2021 at the IAF's Yelahanka base here, the airport operator said on dnesday.

"The Kempegowda international airport will partially close commercial flight operations in the morning and evening daily from January 30 to February 5 for rehearsals and flying display at the air show," the Bangalore International Airport Ltd (BIAL) said in a statement here.

Flight operations will remain suspended from 1.30 p.m. to 4.30 p.m. on January 30-31, and from 10 a.m. to 12 noon and 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. on February 1 for rehearsals at the air show.

Commercial flight operations will be suspended from 9 a.m. to 12 noon and from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. on February 2-3 for the inauguration and air display.

There will be no civilian flights from 9 a.m. to 12 noon and 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. on February 4-5 at the airport to facilitate flying display of military aircraft at the air show.

28/01/21 IANS/News18

Master plan submitted for Calicut airport expansion

Kozhikode: M.K.Raghavan, Kozhikode MP, has submitted an alternative master plan to the Airports Authority of India (AAI) chairman Arvind Singh for development of the Calicut Airport.

He presented the master plan during a special meeting to chalk out a plan for the long-pending expansion of the airport. AAI member (operations) Indrakanti Narasimha Murthy, member (planning) Anil Kumar Pathak, member (air navigation services) Vineet Gulati, and other senior officials took part in the meeting.

As a follow-up to the meeting, the AAI will hold talks with the officials of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation, the regulatory body of civil aviation in the country. The master plan was prepared by experts in the aviation field and the faculty of the National Institute of Technology-Calicut (NIT-C), Mr. Raghavan said.

As per the plan, the length of the existing runway of 2,700 metres, the shortest of the four airports in the State, could be increased to 3,400 metres if the AAI utilised 19.46 acres of land in its possession and acquired another 43.11 acres.

Such a step would resolve the issues of wide-bodied aircraft now being barred from operating services to the airport.

The cargo factor that affected the trade and commerce sector, could also be solved. Also, a 420-metre extension of the approach lighting system could be made, he said.

28/01/21 The Hindu

First passenger flight Delhi to Pakyong kick started

Pakyong: A first regular domestic private airliner Spicejet flight no SG 2980/2981 flight operation kick started service from today along Delhi to Pakyong at Pakyong Airport.

Today , 43 passengers arrived from Delhi and 36 left from Pakyong airport.

The Chief Justice, Sikkim High Court Justice Jitendra Kumar Maheshwari and MP Lok Sabha Indra Hang Subba also boarded in this 1st regular flight operations to Delhi.

29/01/21 Voice of Sikkim

Thursday, January 28, 2021

Passenger traffic fell by 60% at SVPI

Ahmedabad: Increase in business travel, coupled with a boost in tourism in 2019, had boosted passenger movement at the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport to 1.17 crore. However, the restriction on international flight movements and widespread travel restrictions due to the Covid-19 pandemic had led to a fall in passenger movement by 60% to 47.06 lakh in 2020, revealed data provided by the Airports Authority of India.

Tour operators felt that leisure travel which took a hit due to pandemic has impacted air passenger footfalls.

“Leisure travellers account for a significant chunk of fliers. However, this time around, widespread apprehensions due to the pandemic impacted leisure travel adversely. Moreover, as international flights had been shut for the longest time, footfalls were adversely affected,” said Virendra Shah, chairman of Travel Agents’ Association of India (Gujarat).

“That apart, even corporates had imposed travel restrictions. This impacted MICE (meetings, incentives, conferences & exhibitions) travel also to a great extent,” Shah added.

Air passenger traffic touched 1.17 crore last year also due to improved connectivity. “The connectivity to international destinations from SVPI airport has improved tremendously. Direct flights to new destinations were ntroduced, and direct connectivity to existing destinations increased significantly. Moreover, some of the airlines also upgraded their aircraft to ones with higher seating capacity. This collectively pushed up passenger movement,” said a source.

28/01/21 Times of India

AAI seeks resumption of Vijayawada-Varanasi flight on textile traders’ plea

Vijayawada: Following the demand from textile traders and Cloth Merchants’ Association in Vijayawada, Airport Authority of India (AAI) has reportedly written to airline companies to resume operating direct flight services between Vijayawada-Varanasi. Apart from pilgrims visiting the famous Kashi Viswanath temple in Varanasi, traders dealing with textiles travel to Varanasi for making bulk purchase orders from the traders there. Varanasi is famous for garments and traders from across south India and other parts of the country purchase garments from there.

Over the years there is a huge demand for flight services between Varanasi and Vijayawada, especially from devotees thronging the Kashi Vishwanath temple and from textile traders, official sources said. Considering their demand, SpiceJet launched its flight Boeing 737-800 aircraft with 189 seating capacity to Vijayawada from Varanasi via Hyderabad in February 2017. At that time, the passenger occupancy ratio stood between 70 per cent to 80 per cent.

However due to various reasons, the airliner cancelled its services. Since then, the textile traders are procuring the clothing stocks through goods trains and road transport. Recently during the Covid-19 relaxations, the textile traders and the association have given a representation to the airport authorities seeking resumption of flight services between both the cities. In their representation the traders also mentioned about procuring clothing stock in bulk from Varanasi on a weekly basis.

“We have written to the aircraft companies to resume flight services between Vijayawada and Varanasi considering the demand from the textile traders and devotees. A few expressed their willingness for operating the services. Besides that, we also sought the aircraft companies to explore the possibility of operating cargo flights,” Airport Director G Madhusudana Rao told TNIE. He said they are awaiting confirmation from the companies and expecting to announce resumption of flight services.  

28/01/21  Sistla Dakshina Murthy/Indian Express

Jewar to be Asia’s 2nd largest airport

The Jewar International Airport in Greater Noida will be India’s largest airport and second largest in Asia after Yogi Adityanath Cabinet okayed 3 runaways for the second phase development of the proposed airport.

Currently, Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport is the largest in the country with three runways.

The first phase will, however, have only 2 runaways. The 1,334 hectares for the airport, rechristened as Greenfield International Airport, was acquired last year and the construction is in full swing. The first phase is expected to complete with a runway by 2024 with at Rs29,500 crore.

The state government has already inked a pact with a Zurich-based company for the first phase construction.

The Yogi Adityanath Cabinet cleared the second phase development of the Airport after Noida International Airport Limited (NIAL) cleared the technical feasibility report submitted by the Project Monitoring and Implementation Committee (PMIC). The second phase of Greenfield International Airport will begin in 2042. The work will be completed in 4 sub-phases with the fourth beginning in 2061. About 4,751 hectares and a budget of Rs31,114 crore will be required to complete the 4 phases of the second phase.

28/01/21 Srawan Shukla/Free Press Journal

Bhogapuram airport foundation post polls

Visakhapatnam: The government will lay the foundation for the proposed greenfield international airport at Bhogapuram after the panchayat elections. A series of review meetings have been held focussing on the construction of the international airport.

It may be recalled that CM YS Jagan Mohan Reddy and industries minister M Gautham Reddy during their recent visits to Vizianagaram district stated that the construction of the airport would start soon. The proposed airport will be 45 kilometres away from Vizag city, 25 kilometres away from Vizianagaram and 58 kilometres from Srikakulam district in the north Andhra region.

Authorities are also making efforts to speed up construction activities to rehabilitate those displaced as the government planned to acquire 2,700 acres for the construction of the airport.

According to sources, 2,200 acres would be given for construction of the airport while the government would keep 500 acres for future needs. “We have already acquired 2,342 acres...of the remaining 361 acres, farmers of 123 acres approached the court and demanded the government to pay compensation at present rates,’ one of the officials involved in the land acquisition process said.

28/01/21 Siva G/Times of India

AirAsia Commences Domestic Flight Operations Between Pune and Bhubaneshwar

AirAsia India commenced Bhubaneswar to Pune direct flight operation from Biju Patnaik International Airport (BPIA). Commerce and Transport Minister Padmanabha Behera flagged off the flight operation. The minister said it would boost the tourism sector and help in growing economy in the state.

The flight will operate every day except Saturday. Air Asia flight will depart from Bhubaneswar at 1.50 p.m. and arrive in Pune at 3.55 p.m. The return flight will commence from Pune at 4.35 p.m. and reach Bhubaneswar at 6.40 p.m., said sources.

Notably, the state government has agreed to provide financial support for AirAsia's direct flight operation between Bhubaneswar and Pune for three months.

"We are honoured to have Padmanabha Behera with us to flag off this new route. Bhubaneswar is a very special city for us as it was a part of our 'Umeed Ki Udaan' initiative for which we had collaborated with the State Government and other individuals to help our migrant guests reach home safely. We now connect Bhubaneswar with all our four hubs New Delhi, Bengaluru, Mumbai and Kolkata and are looking forward to strengthening the connectivity in the coming months," said Ankur Garg, Chief Commercial Officer of AirAsia India in a statement.

28/01/21 IANS/News18.com

Wednesday, January 27, 2021

1500 jobs expected to be available once Mopa airport becomes operational: Goa CM

Panaji: Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant on Wednesday told state assembly that 1500 jobs are expected to be available once Mopa airport becomes operational. 
In a written reply in response to a questioned tabled by Fatorda MLA Vijay Sardesai, the Chief Minister, who also holds civil aviation portfolio, said as on date 26 Goans have been recruited directly under GMR Goa International Airport Limited (GGIAL) while number of Goans presently working at construction site of Mopa Airport is 479. 
 'Clause 5.9 of the Concession Agreement envisages obligations relating to employment of people of Goa and displaced family. More than 1500 jobs are expected to be available once the airport becomes operational. Government has already approved setting up Aviation Skill Development Centre by GMR at the airport site to impart skills/training to Goan unemployed youth to become eligible for such jobs,' he said. 'Mopa Airport construction work is in progress and first phase is expected to be commissioned in the year 2022,' he said.
27/01/21 UNI

GHIAL to raise US $300 Mn through bond issue for Hyderabad airport expansion

Hyderabad: GMR Hyderabad International Airport Limited (GHIAL), a subsidiary of GMR Airports Limited and a step down subsidiary of GMR Infrastructure Limited (GMR Group), on Wednesday announced that it had successfully priced an offering of US$ 300 Mn bond in the international bond market. 
GHIAL has entered into a Purchase Agreement to issue and allot US$ 300 Mn 4.75 per cent senior secured notes of 5 year tenure, GHIAL said in a release here. The proceeds from the Notes will be used towards the capital expenditure with respect to the master plan (expansion) of the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport (RGIA) at Hyderabad, increasing the capacity of the Airport to 34 Mn Passengers Per Annum. 
Commenting on the occasion, Mr. Grandhi Kiran Kumar, Corporate Chairman, GMR Group said, the offering through GHIAL reinforces our ability to raise funds from the International Bond Markets and reflects our continued effort to create value for our investors and raise capital for growth. 
The successful pricing of the offering underscores investors' confidence in GMR Group and credit strength of GHIAL". GMR Hyderabad International Airport Limited (GHIAL) is promoted by the GMR Group (63%) in partnership with Airports Authority of India (13%), Government of Telangana (13%) and Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad (MAHB) Group (11%). Rajiv Gandhi International Airport (RGIA), was commissioned in 31 months and inaugurated on March 14, 2008, with an initial capacity of 12 million passengers per annum (MPPA) and 150,000 tons of cargo handling capacity per annum.
27/01/21 UNI 

Chhattisgarh: Bilaspur Airport upgraded to 3C category

Raipur: Seventy two seater aircraft will now be able to land at Bilasa Bai Kewtin Airport in Chhattisgarh's Bilaspur.

With the initiative of Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel, the airport of Bilaspur has been upgraded to 3C category, a government statement said.

The 2C license of Bilaspur Airport has been upgraded by the Director General Office of the Civil Aviation Department, Government of India and a 3C category license has been issued, an official communique said.

As a result of upgradation to 3C category license, now 72-seater aircrafts can also land at the Bilaspur airport in Chakarbhatha.

Earlier, due 2C category license only 40-seater aircraft was permitted to land on the airport.

With new license, the people of entire North Chhattisgarh including Bilaspur can enjoy the facility of air connectivity.

The Government of Chhattisgarh took this initiative keeping in view the public sentiment of Bilaspur and has got its approval from the Civil Aviation Department of the Government of India, the communique added.

27/01/21 Avdhesh Mallick/Free Press Journal

Tuesday, January 26, 2021

Goa-London flight takes off with over 200 passengers

Panaji: The Centre granted some leeway for flights to the UK, permitting one Goa-London flight to depart on Monday morning from Dabolim airport with 217 passengers. The flight, operated by Air India, is the first flight this year to the UK under the air bubble agreement ever since the suspension of flights between the two nations due to the emergence of a new, highly infectious Covid-19 strain.

Goa airport director Gagan Malik said that the flight was a one-off case with flights between Goa and London remaining grounded till the end of January. The Centre continued to restrict the arrival of passengers from the UK and has permitted flights between India and UK to operate only from five metro destinations.

“The relief flight, the 94th so far, left from Goa international airport today early in the morning to the UK with 210 passengers and seven children under the Air Bubble agreement. No passengers came on the flight as only departure was permitted,” said Malik. “We assisted the passengers and ensured all health protocols were followed.”

Air India flight AI 1193 to London’s Heathrow airport departed at 2:29am and the aircraft, a Boeing 787 – Dreamliner, will return with passengers from London to Delhi Indira Gandhi International airport.

26/01/21 Times of India

Airlines wary of flying people from UK to Chennai

Chennai: Airlines have become cautious while boarding passengers from London to Chennai and other cities in the country as the Union government has instructed that passengers flying via transit airports should not be allowed.

Checks are also high Dubai, a popular transit hub, after an airline got penalised when a Covid-19 positive passenger flew from the UAE to Chennai recently. Airlines are checking documents at Dubai to find out if all passengers to Chennai are originating from Dubai or whether they are coming from the UK.

The heightened travel restrictions in London and document screening in Dubai have affected passenger confidence to travel abroad, said Basheer Ahmed of Travel Agents Federation of India (TAFI).

Earlier, passengers from London were allowed to fly via transit airports such as Paris, Frankfurt, Dubai, Abu Dhabi and a few others. Now this has been stopped as the government wants to restrict the number of passengers who land in Chennai, Mumbai and Delhi from the UK.

An airport official said the scrutiny of documents is high at airports abroad. “This has made travel a hassle for people, especially those who want to come from the UK because there are fewer direct flights to Chennai. Air India is flying while British Airways is resuming schedule only from next month. There is an uncertainty whether the flights will continue or not.”

“A majority of the people have to land in Mumbai and Delhi. But they have to spend more to travel to Chennai by domestic flights because domestic fares have increased,” said Ahmed.

A London-Chennai one-way ticket costs Rs 30,000 while London-Mumbai flight costs Rs27,000 for travel in the second week of next month because the route has more flights. However, passengers have to pay Rs 4,500 to 5,000 on the Mumbai-Chennai leg. Most of the travel is not booked much in advance as there is a need for registrations and approvals.

26/01/21 Times of India

Now take direct flights on Belgaum-Nashik route; UDAN connects 311 regional airports

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Bengaluru: The first direct flight operations between Nashik, Maharashtra and Belgaum, Karnataka started on Monday under the RCS-UDAN (Regional Connectivity Scheme — Ude Desh Ka Aam Nagrik).

The beginning of flight operations on the Nashik-Belgaum route expands Belgaum's aerial connectivity to the 10 destinations across India. The Belgaum airport has emerged as the third busiest airport in terms of traffic in the state, after Bengaluru and Mangaluru.

Officials of the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) and Airport Authority of India (AAI) were present at the launch of the flight operations. Till date, 311 routes have been operationalized under the UDAN scheme.

The decision to start flights on the route was taken after several requests because there were no direct flight or train operations between these cities, till date. People were forced to travel by road and take up a long journey of more than 10 hours, MoCA said in a statement issued Monday.

Star Air was awarded the Belgaum-Nashik route during the UDAN 3 bidding process. The airlines are being provided Viability Gap Funding (VGF) under the UDAN scheme to keep the fares affordable & accessible for the common people.

The airline will be operating thrice-weekly flights on the route and will deploy its 50-seater Embraer ERJ-145 aircraft. The route marks the commencement of the 15th UDAN route by the airline.

26/01/21 ETNowNews.com

Monday, January 25, 2021

Republic Day 2021: Delhi Airport Imposes Operational Restrictions for Security Purposes

Operational restrictions have been imposed at the Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA), as part of security arrangement for ahead of Republic Day.

According to airport sources, landing and takeoff would not be allowed from 10.35 a.m. to 12.15 p.m during January 20-26, excluding January 25.

Accordingly, a NOTAM (Notice to Airmen) has been issued. However, there will be no impact of 'NOTAM' on IAF, BSF, Army aviation helicopters and those operated by state-owned aircraft or helicopters ferrying Governors or Chief Ministers of State.

Traditionally, a NOTAM is issued every year as part of the security arrangements for the Republic Day Parade which is held at the national capital.

Scheduled international passenger services have been suspended in India since March 23 due to the coronavirus pandemic. But special international flights have been operating under the Vande Bharat Mission since May and under bilateral "air bubble" arrangements with selected countries since July. India has formed air bubble pacts with 24 countries including the US, the UK, the UAE, Kenya, Bhutan and France. Under an air bubble pact between two countries, special international flights can be operated by their airlines between their territories.

25/01/21 News18

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Security tightened at airport for R-Day

Security arrangements has been tightened at the Kamaraj domestic and Anna International airport here in view of the 72nd Republic Day celebrations tomorrow. 
 Airport sources said the security was enhanced and several restrictions were put in place for passengers following intelligence inputs from the Centre alerting the States of possible disruption of celebrations by terror outfits. Apart from the apart, security has also been tightened in all places where public would congregate like airport, bus depots, railway stations, temples and places of worship. At the airport, additional security personnel were deployed in the cargo area from today morning and all passengers with valid tickets alone were allowed entry after thorough checks. 
 Vehicles entering the airport were also subjected to intense checks. Entry of visitors were banned till January 31. After the mandatory checks by the CISF personnel, who were manning the airport security, the passengers were again checked thoroughly by the security personnel of respective airlines before they were allowed to board the aircraft. Passengers were not allowed to carry liquid items, pickles and jams. All the CISF personnel were asksed to report for duty and their leaves were cancelled and additional bomb detection and disposal squads were deployed for intensive checks in parking and other areas in the airport. Surveillance has also been enhanced through CCTV cameras and Rapid Action force personnel were also deployed. Apart from the CISF personnel More than 100 personnel from the State police were also deployed on round-the-clock security duty. 
 25/01/21 UNI

Bengaluru's Kempegowda International Airport to be partially shut for Aero India

Bengaluru: Just like previous Aero India editions, the Kempegowda International Airport will partially shut operations for a week due to the closure of airspace over Bengaluru. Beginning a few days before the show and till its conclusion, the airport will not operate flights for a total of 33 hours.

The biennial air show and aviation expo will be held from February 3 to February 5 at the Air Force Station at Yelahanka. The partial closure will begin on January 30 and will continue till February 5, and the daily closure ranges from a minimum of three hours to a maximum of six hours a day.

According to an airport source, the South Runway, the only runway operating t present, will be closed. The NOTAM (Notice to Airmen), which contains information on change in any aeronautical facility, stated, "As a consequence of airspace closure in connection with Aero India Show 2021, KIA will be closed for aircraft operations."

25/01/21 New Indian Express


Air taxi service soon to connect Dehradun with Hisar, Chandigarh

Dehradun: The first small air taxi service connecting Dehradun's Jolly Grant airport with Hisar in Haryana and Chandigarh will be operational soon. According to senior officials of the Airport Authority of India (AAI), the service will be operated under the Centre’s Udan-RCS scheme.

DK Gautam, director of Jolly Grant airport, told TOI, “The air taxi service was scheduled to start in the first fortnight of January, but could not be operational due to bad weather. The service is expected to start soon."

Under the scheme, three people will be able to travel in a small aircraft and the fare for the service will be around Rs 2,500. The Centre has also urged the state government to waive VAT on air traffic fuel (ATF) for this service, according to the officials.

The launch of the air taxi service under the Udan (Ude Desh Ka Aam Nagrik) scheme is in line with the government's objective of providing air connectivity between metros and Tier-2, Tier-3 cities across the country. The government is giving per seat subsidy to airliners in order to connect cities with smaller towns.

The air taxi service will be operated by AirTaxi India which was granted the scheduled commuter airline permit by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) in December 2020. 

25/01/21 Times of India


Temporary solution to parking mess at city airport likely by September

Pune: The multi-storied parking lot, currently under construction at Pune airport, is expected to be complete by mid-2022. However, a section of the parking lot will be ready by September, thus bringing at least a temporary solution for regular flyers.

Ravi Suresh Jain, director of Pebbles Infratech Pune that is engaged in the project construction, told TOI that two basement levels will be up and ready by September, following which the Airports Authority of India (AAI) will be asked to conduct an inspection of the space and give a permission to start parking.

“Presently, the work is going on in full swing. The entire project will be completed by April next year. However, the two basement floors will be ready by September this year. The area can easily accommodate 500 cars. Once completed, we will ask AAI officials for permission to start parking while other construction work can continue. We will take all due precautions regarding safety protocols and we will only start the lots if AAI gives a go-ahead,” shared Jain.

Work on the multi-storied parking lot had started in January last year but the pandemic and lockdowns led to a halt for about two months.

With Parking Number-1 blocked due to construction work, parking at the airport has become an extremely difficult affair. Presently, a section of Parking Number-2 at the airport is used to park mainly two-wheelers as well as some cars. However, the same parking lot is also a pickup point for cabs and autorickshaws.

An official at the Pune airport said that parking will continue to remain a problem until the new parking facility is ready. “We cannot comment right now on whether parking will be allowed at the two basement levels once they are ready since the inspection needs to happen first,” an official said.

25/01/21 Joy Sengupta/Times of India

Air Canada Adding New Montreal To New Delhi Route

Air Canada looks to be starting a new direct service from Montreal to New Delhi starting this Spring. While there is yet to be an official announcement from the carrier, travelers can now book this route on the Air Canada website. Here’s everything we know about the new service.

Air Canada is planning to connect the largest city in Quebec to the Indian capital soon. The airline has begun listing a thrice-weekly service from New Delhi to Montreal starting from 18th April. When confirmed, this would mark Air Canada’s third direct route from India after Toronto and Vancouver.

The new service, listed as AC 50 and 51, will be flown using the trusted Boeing 787-9, which also flies other routes between India and Canada. The aircraft features a three-class layout with economy, premium economy, and business class.

Currently, AC 51 will depart New Delhi at 07:00 AM on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday, landing in Montreal at 11:30 AM. The return flight will leave Montreal at 19:20 on Tuesday, Thursday, and Sunday, landing in Delhi at 17:55 the next day. Flight time takes 13 to 14 hours each way (depending on the direction).

Last October, Air India announced its six-month schedule between India and Canada, the first time it had done so since the pandemic. Most schedules have been only for few months or less. The long-term planning still falls under the travel bubble agreement and does allow airlines to establish semi-normal schedules on their routes.

25/01/21 Pranjal Pande/Simple Flying

Goa's Mopa airport to be commissioned by Aug 22: Governor

Panaji: The upcoming Mopa greenfield airport in Goa is expected to be commissioned by August 2022, Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari said on Monday.

"I am happy to say that the construction work of Mopa Airport Project is in full swing and it is expected to be completed and commissioned in August 2022," Koshyari said in his inaugural address to the state legislative assembly on the first day of the winter session.

"The (Union) Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has approved Expressway connectivity to Mopa airport connecting it to National Highway-66," Koshyari also said.

The first phase of the airport, located atop the Mopa plateau in North Goa, was scheduled to be commissioned by September 3, 2020, but was delayed due to environmental litigations in the Supreme Court filed by activists, who had alleged illegal felling of trees at the airport site.

25/01/21 IANS/Daijiworld

Artworks at Vizag airport reflect culture, tradition

Visakhapatnam: Fusing traditional and contemporary elements, myriad artworks dot Visakhapatnam airport terminal building. Reflecting the rural landscape and slices of tradition and culture of the region, the terminal paints an aesthetic picture, attracting the attention of the tourists from across the globe.

From the statues of Araku Valley's popular Dhimsa dance to carvings of classical dance mudras, paintings that depict the pristine charm of the village life to artworks portraying Simhachalam and Kailasagiri, eye-catching murals highlighting the essence of the festivities to a bunch of abstract artworks, the terminal building comprises an array of artworks.

Some of the artworks portray the livelihood of fishermen in Visakhapatnam as the 135-km long coastal area in the district provides livelihood to the community.Along with others, the essence of Sankranti festival also took the art route as the walls of the terminal adorn the theme. In addition, a part of the artworks includes Hindustan Shipyard Limited located in the City of Destiny, the country's biggest ship building yard.

25/01/21 Vasu Potnuru/Hans India

CM wants a major airport for Himachal’s growth as int’l tourist destination

Shimla: BJP national president Jagat Prakash Nadda has assured Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur that he would work towards getting a major airport in the hill state to ensure its growth as an international tourist destination. Nadda gave the assurance to Thakur after the chief minister, while addressing a function at the Ridge Maidan here on the golden jubilee day of Himachal’s statehood, said a major airport is the need of the hour of the hill state for the growth of international tourism here. 

Envisaging an ample scope for the growth of the tourism sector in Himachal, Thakur said Lahaul has already become a tourist destination after the opening of the Atal Tunnel at Rohtang last year in October, he said. “A major airport is the need of the hour for the hill state as small airports were not serving the purpose of attracting more national and international tourists to the state,” the chief minister added. 

Taking note of Thakur’s demand for a major airport, Nadda, while addressing the function later, sought to assure the chief minister that he would work towards the state getting a major airport. Enlisting major ongoing developmental activities in the state, Thakur earlier said, “An investment of Rs 10,000 crores is expected in Himachal Pradesh as the hill state is all set to get one of the three Bulk Drug Parks.” 

Later, while speaking during his turn, Nadda, expressed BJP the commitment of the BJP government’s both in the Centre and various states to the development. Nadda also recalled that it was during the tenure of Modi’s government in the Centre that Himachal Pradesh status of a special category state was restored. Recalling his childhood days when Himachal Pradesh was declared a state on January 25, 1971, Nadda appreciated the exemplary efforts of the first chief minister Yashwant Singh Parmar in its development. 

Referring to the contribution of various chief ministers in the development of various sectors in the state in the last 50 years, Nadda described Shanta Kumar as ''paani wala mukhya mantri'' and Prem Kumar Dhumal as ''sadko wala mukhya mantri”. Union Home Minister Amit Shah too was slated to attend the function but owing to his engagement elsewhere, he was unable to reach Shimla. Addressing the gathering, Union Minister of State for Finance Anurag Thakur recalled the contribution of all former CMs in the development of the state.

25/01/21 PTI/Outlook

Sunday, January 24, 2021

Koz airport authorities submit safety assessment report

Kozhikode: The Calicut International Airport has submitted the safety assessment report to the DGCA to enable resumption of operation of wide-bodied aircraft from the airport.

The DGCA had suspended operation of wide-bodied aircraft from the airport in August last year after the crash of the Air India Express flight which overshot the runway on August 7. The jumbo flight operations were suspended even though the aircraft involved in the crash was not a wide-bodied one.

In a bid to recommence operation of wide bodied aircraft, the airport has submitted the joint safety assessment report conduct by it along with the airlines apart from the standard operating procedure of the Saudi Arabian Airlines. Currently only Saudia has submitted the revised SOP and other operators, including Air India, Emirates and Qatar Airways, are expected to submit it soon.

The DGCA had earlier taken the stand that the suspension of jumbo aircraft was to be in force during the monsoon months.

Following the demands raised by MPs from the region, a DGCA expert had carried out inspections at the airport and has asked the airlines and the airport authorities to review the safety assessment. A joint meeting of AAI and airline firms was held on January 5, in which the airlines were asked to submit revised SOP.

24/01/21 Times of India

Karnataka: Airport staff won't be considered as frontline workers for Covid-19 vaccine, says state govt

Bengaluru: A day after announcing airport staff would be considered as frontline workers for Covid-19 vaccination, Karnataka government on Sunday withdrew the circular and said Central government's classification of the workforce will continue to remain in effect for the inoculation drive.

It should be noted that healthcare and frontline workers are being administered free Covid-19 vaccine by the government in the ongoing nationwide vaccination drive.

Around two crore frontline workers will be covered in the first phase of Covid-19 inoculation drive, which is likely to continue for the next couple of months.

In an earlier circular dated January 22, the Karnataka government said that staff members of all airports will be considered as the frontline workers and will thus be eligible for the vaccination.

24/01/21 TimesNowNews.com

Direct flight to Agra from Lucknow soon

Lucknow: Bringing the city of Nawabs closer to Taj city, a daily direct flight will soon begin between the two cities.

The journey will take around 100 minutes, depending on air traffic. One can take the morning flight to Agra and return the same evening.

According to Agra airport authority, airlines like Zoom Air (India) and IndiGo will operate between the two destinations.

IndiGo is expected to start a direct flight from March 28, and will operate a 74-seater ATR 72 model, the twin-engine turboprop plane.

The flight will depart at 9am from Lucknow and will take 1 hour 45 minutes to reach Agra. It will return to Lucknow at 4.10pm after a 1 hour 20 minute journey.

The return journey will cost around Rs 2,600.

Agra airport director AA Ansari said, “The two-way air journey will be much cheaper and faster than Agra-Lucknow expressway, which will be a win-win situation for tourists and airline operator.”

24/01/21 Arvind Chauhan/Times of India

Six flights cancelled due to poor visibility

Patna: Six flights operating to and from Jayaprakash Narayan International Airport were cancelled on Saturday due to poor visibility caused by the foggy conditions.

Those cancelled were GoAir’s G8-351 (Mumbai) and G8-2506, G8-133 (Delhi) flights and IndiGo’s 6E-982 (Hyderabad), 6E-6105 (Kolkata) and 6E-2614 (Delhi) flights.

The visibility was less than 50 metres from 7am to 9.45am. “The minimum runway visual range (RVR) visibility of 1,000m was achieved at 12 noon. The pilot needs a minimum visibility of 400m for take-off and 1,000m for landing,” weatherman Kamal Singh Gupta of Patna Meteorological Centre told this newspaper.

Low visibility triggered by the fog delayed the arrival of 22 flights against 37 operated on Saturday. The departure of nine flights was also affected, said an airport official. The major disruption took place between 8am and 4pm as the delay in arrival of flights led to bunching of aircraft affecting their departures and the other scheduled flights as well.

24/01/20 Faryal Rumi/Times of India

Saturday, January 23, 2021

All incoming and outgoing flights cancelled at Srinagar airport

Srinagar: All incoming and outgoing flights at Srinagar International Airport were cancelled on Saturday due to poor visibility and snowfall since morning, officials said. 
 The first flight of Air Asia India, which was scheduled to land here from New Delhi at 0920 hrs, has been cancelled, they said. The visibility was very poor and there was continuous snowfall due to which no flight could land or take off at the airport today, they said. 
 Hundreds of passengers, who had come from different parts of the valley to take flight for various destinations in the country, had to return their homes disappointed after they were informed that all flights are cancelled. This is the second time air traffic was affected at Srinagar airport this month. All incoming and outgoing flights were cancelled for four days due to snow and poor visibility from January 3. 
 The issue of cancellation of air traffic and steep increase in air fare, particularly when SrinagarJammu highway remains closed, was taken up by stakeholders with the 31-member Parliamentary Standing Committee (PSC) on January 21. The PSC was on a three-day visit to Kashmir valley. 
 23/01/21 UNI

Hyderabad airport records 72% drop in passenger traffic compared to 2019

Hyderabad: The Rajiv Gandhi International Airport in Hyderabad witnessed a sharp drop of 72 per cent in passenger traffic during April to December 2020, in comparison to the corresponding period in 2019. Among the other major airports in India, the buzzing Mumbai port took the worst beating. The passenger traffic nosedived by 83 per cent whereas there was a 71 per cent decline in flight movements during the same period.

According to the data released by the Airport Authority of India (AAI), the Delhi and Bengaluru airports saw a 75 per cent decline in passenger traffic. The Hyderabad airport stands fourth with 72 per cent drop in passenger traffic. The statistics concluded that only a hand full of smaller airports witnessed a decline. In the context of flight movement, the Delhi airport recorded a 62 per cent drop, Bengaluru a 60 per cent drop, and Hyderabad reported 61 per cent drop in flight movement. However, the governing body informed that the numbers are improving with flight volumes and passenger traffic on a steady rise.

23/01/21 Newsmeter

Pakyong flights set to resume today

Passenger flights to Pakyong Airport in Sikkim would resume with a SpiceJet plane from Delhi scheduled to touch down at the state’s lone airport around noon on Saturday, almost 20 months after all commercial operations had been suspended because of various reasons.

This will be the first commercial flight between Delhi and Pakyong, which is about 35km from Gangtok.

Earlier, SpiceJet used to operate flights between Pakyong and Calcutta and Pakyong and Guwahati. The Calcutta-Pakyong-Calcutta flights are also expected to resume on February 1.

“SpiceJet will start 1st flight operations in the Delhi-Pakyong-Delhi route on 23rd January and regular flight operations will start on 28th January. Also wef 1st February in the route Kolkata-Pakyong-Kolkata flight operations will be done (sic),” Ramatanu Saha, the director of Pakyong Airport, told The Telegraph in a WhatsApp message.

Pakyong’s first commercial flight operations began on October 4, 2018, putting the Himalayan state on the aviation map of the country. However, operations were suspended from June 2019 onwards because of unpredictable weather, poor visibility and lack of proper landing facility, among others.

The green field airport, which was built under the Centre’s regional connectivity scheme, UDAN, was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in September 2018.

The air services between Delhi and Pakyong would be operated by Bombardier 400 aircraft. The airline had operated Bombardier 400 for its earlier services to and from Pakyong as well. “Our exclusive flights from Delhi to Pakyong (Gangtok) will cater for the growing demand for leisure travellers and backpackers who wanted to visit this beautiful state in the foothills of the Himalayas,” Ajay Singh, the SpiceJet chairman and managing director, had said earlier while announcing the launch of the service.

23/01/21 Rajeev Ravidas/Telegraph

Flight services resume at Agra civil terminal; 19 passengers arrive from Goa on Air India flight

Lucknow: Flight services at Agra civil terminal were resumed on Saturday and are expected to continue till the end of summer season.

In the inaugural flight 19 passengers arrived from Goa in AI 883 Air India 180 seater Airbus 320 at around 11.20am and at 12.20pm it departed for Delhi. According to Agra airport authority, Air India will operate only once in a week.

It’s important to note that Air India has no future plans of a direct flight for return journey to Agra from Delhi or direct flight to Goa from Agra.

Speaking to TOI, Agra airport director A A Ansari said, “Air India service was expected to start from January 12 but it got delayed due to internal technical clearance. Flight services of other airlines such as IndiGo, Zoom and Spicejet are expected to start in coming months and will continue till October.”

“From March 28, IndiGo will operate daily flights for four destinations including for Ahmedabad, Bhopal, Lucknow and Bengaluru, while Zoom is expected to operate four days in week for destinations like Delhi, Lucknow, Bhopal and Indore. Zoom airlines operation date is yet be cleared,” said Ansari.

23/01/21 Arvind Chauhan/Times of India

First consignment of Covaxin arrives in Kolkata

Kolkata: The first consignment of Covaxin for the state arrived in the city on Friday. The van carrying 1,12,960 doses drove into the Central Family Welfare Stores at Bagbazar at 3.57pm from Kolkata airport.

“Unlike Covishield that has 10 doses in a vial, a Covaxin contains 20 doses. So we have got 5,648 vials. They will be in custody of the central stores till the rollout for the second tier of recipients are finalised,” said a health department official. In the second phase, cops and other frontline workers will be vaccinated.

The consignment from Hyderabad reached Kolkata at 2.31pm on Friday. The AirAsia India passenger aircraft carried in its cargo hold 23 boxes of the vaccine that has been developed in India. Apart from Bengal’s share the shipment had an additional 55,360 doses for other states that was taken to the central government’s depot at Hastings. “We had made provision for the trucks to enter the operational area and park next to the aircraft so that the vaccines could be swiftly transferred,” an airport official said.

23/01/21 Sumati Yengkhom/Times of India

Kashmir Valley receives heavy snowfall, all flights cancelled

New Delhi: Kashmir received fresh snowfall on Saturday (January 23) which hit the flight operations in the region. As the snowfall continued, all flights were cancelled due to poor visibility.

After heavy snowfall made the roads slippery, the authorities stopped traffic movement on Jammu and Kashmir national highway. 

Earlier, in the morning, flights were delayed at the Srinagar airport after Kashmir received a fresh spell of snow. However, later on, all fights were cancelled due to heavy snowfall.  

As the flights got cancelled, huge traffic rush was seen on the roads, especially on the airport road. The passengers had to return back home amidst heavy snowfall. Some alleged that the authorities failed in handling the situation efficiently. 

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) in its statement said, “As predicted earlier widespread light to moderate snow observed over most parts of Kashmir Valley with isolated heavy snow over Sadhna top  ( 36 inches), Z-Gali (12 inches)." 

23/01/21 Syed Khalid Hussain Hussain/ZeeNews

Civil aviation ministry bats for coronavirus vaccines for aviation staff

Mumbai: Airline and airport staff in India, too, could get vaccinated on priority like their counterparts in Dubai and Singapore.

While the Karnataka government has already included airport employees in the state in the list of frontline workers for Covid-19 vaccination, the civil aviation ministry has also initiated steps in this regard.

"The civil aviation ministry has written to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare to add in the guidelines and issue directions to the concerned," a senior official said.

Airline and airport staff who are having interface with passengers & handling cargo would be given the priority.

Currently, doctors, nurses, and all hospital staff are being administered the Covid-19 vaccines across India. Over a million doses have already been given in the first week of vaccination.

Railway employees including station masters, engine drivers, ticket checkers, etc too have been selected for vaccination and their list is being compiled for the exercise.

Industry bodies have asked the government to vaccinate aviation staff on priority basis.

23/01/21 Aneesh Phadnis/Business Standard

'Digital transformation helped BIAL deal better with Covid'

At Adobe's Experience Makers India 2020 event, Bangalore International Airport (BIAL) chief strategy and development officer Satyaki Raghunath spoke about the airport's digital transformation with Gowthamram Nallan of Adobe. He shared how the digital initiatives taken by the country's third-largest airport helped it deal better with the Pandemic.

Raghunath started with sharing statistics about the BIAL airport, how it has been one of the fastest growing airports in the world with almost 20% year-on-year growth. Started in 2008, it witnessed a footfall of 9 million passengers in the first year itself. By BIAL’s 10th anniversary in 2018, traffic volume had tripled to around 27 million passengers. It is said to have witnessed a footfall of 33.3 million travellers in 2018-19.

“In the infrastructure business, you can’t always build your way out of a problem” said Raghunath. This made the company embark on its digital transformation journey. BIAL initially teamed up with Accenture in this journey. This followed the partnership with Adobe to help support BIAL across platforms. The aim being: Enhancing customer experience; improve operational efficiency and boost revenue generation.

BIAL, as per Raghunath, rolled out four platforms and is set to kickstart the fifth one. These include Business Analytics and Data Intelligence Platform that brings together all the data (operations, commercial, financials, etc) to provide a clear overview of what’s happening; website and mobile application re-architecture and integration into data platform; biometric boarding platform (also known as DigiYatra); and fourth is process automation.

23/01/21 Times of India

Covid-19 vaccine for airport staff in Karnataka

Bengaluru: The Karnataka government said staff members at all airports across the state are considered as frontline workers of Covid-19 and are permitted for vaccination against the virus on priority basis.

Commissioner health and family welfare service, government of Karnataka issued a circular to this effect on Friday.

The circular asks respective district health and family welfare officers to make necessary arrangements for the same.

They have been asked to ensure that all the staff members at airports received the Covid-19 vaccine as per the existing protocol.

Authorities at Kempegowda International Airport KIAL, Bengaluru and Mangaluru international airport, also at Belagavi, Hubbali -Dharwad, Kalaburagi, Mysuru and Bidar have also been intimated about the same.

23/01/21 PTI/Times of India

Airport misses chance of transporting Covishield

Pune: The Covishield vaccine, manufactured by city-based Serum Institute of India, was not exported from Pune Airport, despite the facility having an international cargo export unit started three years ago.

Earlier this week, the Covishield vaccine was exported to Bhutan from the Bagdogra airport on an Indian Air Force aircraft. During the early hours of Friday, two million doses of the vaccine departed from the Mumbai International airport to Brazil via Emirates SkyCargo and two million doses to Morocco on Royal Air Maroc.

A senior official with the Airports Authority of India (AAI) in Mumbai said he didn’t have any information of any airline requesting export of the vaccine from Pune. A message regarding the matter was sent to Pune airport director Kuldeep Singh, but his answer was awaited till the time of going to press.

A Pune customs official, requesting anonymity, said, “The AAI has not provided any cold storage facility at the international cargo export unit, which is important for vaccine storage. We cannot comment more on this.”

The facility was made operational by the AAI in July 2017. Anant Sardeshmukh, the former director general of the MCCIA, said, “Pune is not connected well to many domestic and international destinations. Secondly, I don’t think the airport has cold storage and other facilities.”

23/01/21 Joy Sengupta/Times of India

A few smaller airports witnessed bigger decline

Mumbai: Mumbai airport witnessed a massive drop in passenger traffic as well as flight movement between April and December 2020. In terms of flight movement, other major airports witnessed a lower dip than Mumbai. While Delhi airport saw a 62% drop, it was 60% in Bangalore and 61% in Hyderabad. But the numbers are improving with flight volumes and passenger traffic on a steady rise.

From the time domestic air travel restarted in May last year after the lockdown, the Central government has allowed airlines to steadily add more flights. Currently, airlines are allowed to operate 80% of their pre-pandemic schedule. In case of Mumbai airport though, the numbers are down due to added restrictions on flight movements imposed by the state government.

The drop in number of flights (domestic and international included) in December 2020 as compared to December 2019 for Mumbai was 44%. In comparison to the nosedive in flight numbers in preceding months —50% in November, 60% in October and 68% in September— things have certainly started looking up.

Similarly, passenger traffic decline for Mumbai in December 2020 as compared to December 2019 was 64%. But, in November, it was much higher at 66 %, for October it was 73 %, and in September it was 81%.

The only airports that saw a higher decline in passenger traffic than Mumbai in December were smaller ones like Port Blair (87%), Hubli (87%), Pondicherry (99%), Agra (94%), Shimla (93%) etc. The only major Indian airports standing neck to neck with Mumbai (83.2%) were Chennai and Trivandrum airports with an 83.1 % decline in passenger traffic. Though the percentage drop was similar for the three airports, Mumbai being the country’s second largest airport witnessed a comparatively heavier drop in passenger volumes.

23/01/21 Times of India

Friday, January 22, 2021

IndiGo strengthens regional connectivity, launches Agra as 64th domestic destination

New Delhi: To strengthen its regional connectivity, IndiGo, a major aviation giant in India, on Friday announced Agra as its 64th domestic destination.

The airline will connect Agra to Bengaluru and Bhopal through direct flights under the RCS scheme, effective March 28, 2021.

The bookings are open with one-way fares starting at INR 2523 for Bhopal and INR 3789 for Bengaluru.

The addition of Agra as a new destination is part of IndiGo’s strategy to enhance domestic connectivity to fulfil demand from regional centres while enhancing accessibility.

Sanjay Kumar, Chief Strategy and Revenue Officer, IndiGo said, “We are pleased to have the Golden Triangle cities mapped on the 6E network, with the addition of Agra as our 64th domestic destination. This will not only enhance connectivity for domestic travellers, but also aid in expanding international air traffic once restrictions are lifted and travel opens up. Additionally, these connections will help promote tourism, trade and commerce, with Agra being the home to multiple UNESCO world heritage sites, one of the hubs for leather goods production and known for its food and delicacies.”

22/01/21 India Blooms

Bidding process for 6 airports conducted in a competitive, transparent manner, says MoCA

The Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) on Thursday refuted a news article claiming that the Finance Ministry and NITI Aayog had raised 'red flags' before Adani's clean sweep of six airports as 'factually incorrect', adding that the bidding process was conducted in a competitive and transparent manner. According to an official release, a news article dated January 15, 2021, which said that the Ministry of Finance and NITI Aayog had raised objections before Adani's purchase of the airports over the 2019 Public-Private Partnership (PPP) bidding process and the same was ignored by the government.

The ministry said that the bidding process was conducted in a competitive and transparent manner through e-tendering portal of the Indian government, in which 25 firms across the globe had registered and a total of 86 registrations were received in the portal for six airports. Out of these registrations, 32 bids were received from 10 different entities for 6 airports. As the bid process was completed transparently, none of the participating entities raised any objection to the bidding process, said the ministry.

"It may also be noted that during the bid processing stage the entity which would be successful was not known to anybody. The bid parameter stipulated in the tender document was 'per passenger fee' quoted by the bidder and the entity whose bid is highest in terms of per passenger fee quoted would be declared as successful bidder," it said. After the opening of the financial bid, it was revealed that the quote of Adani Enterprises Limited was the highest in all six airports.

The MoCA further asserted that the Ministry of Finance and NITI Aayog had already deliberated and finalised the contours of the bidding process in the Empowered Group of Secretaries (EGOS) and Public Private Partnership Appraisal Committee (PPPAC). "Therefore the statement that the views of Ministry of Finance and NITI Aayog were ignored is factually incorrect and based on assumption, as the views of Ministry and Finance and NITI Aayog on various aspects of the proposal are part of the established procedure of PPPAC to ensure that all the aspects are examined before the proposal is placed before PPPAC for decision and same cannot be considered as overruled," said the ministry.

According to the release, EGOS decided not to stipulate prior airport experience as a mandatory qualification to increase competition and avoid monopoly by those players having Airport experience, who would have an edge over others. With regard to the acquisition of stake in the Mumbai airport Adani Enterprises and a subsequent extension request from the Airport Authority of India (AAI) for taking over the three Airports in Ahmadabad, Lucknow and Mangalore, the ministry said both the transactions are independent of each other.

"In view of above the newspaper article is suppressio veri and suggestio falsi," concluded the release. 

21/01/21 ANI/Devdiscourse

32 bids received from 10 entities: Aviation Ministry

New Delhi: The Ministry of Civil Aviation said Thursday that the 2019 privatisation of six airports — Ahmedabad, Mangalore, Lucknow, Jaipur, Guwahati and Thiruvananthapuram — was conducted in a “competitive and transparent” manner, with 32 bids having been received from 10 different entities during the bidding process.

Responding to The Indian Express report titled “Finance Ministry and Niti Aayog had raised red flags before Adani’s clean sweep of six airports”, published on January 15, the Ministry said that the assertion made in the article was “factually incorrect”. On the objections raised by both Ministry of Finance and Niti Aayog about the bidding process, the Ministry said that an Empowered Group of Secretaries (EGOS) “took a conscious decision not to put any restrictions on the number of airports to be bid or to be awarded to a single entity” given that the six airports handled only 9.5% of the passenger traffic. On the issue of ignoring the recommendations of Department of Economic Affairs (DEA) and Niti Aayog, the statement from the Ministry noted that both these agencies were represented in the EGOS, where the issues were deliberated. The concession agreement for Jaipur, Guwahati and Thiruvananthapuram airports, the Ministry said, was signed on January 19, 2021 and not September 2020, when the Letter of Award for these three airports had been issued by the Airports Authority of India.

The Indian Express replies:

As stated in the news report, the objections raised by the DEA and Niti Aayog were recorded in the minutes of the meeting of the Public Private Partnership Appraisal Committee (PPPAC) dated December 11, 2018 and it is these interventions were reproduced in the January 15 news report. The report duly acknowledged the decision taken by the EGOS pertaining to the specific point flagged by the DEA about restricting the number of airports to be awarded to the same bidder, and those raised by the Niti Aayog about stipulating prior experience as one of the bidding requirements. The news report also noted the PPPAC’s response on Niti Aayog’s objection that the EGOS had already decided on not having prior airport experience as a prerequisite for bidding.

22/01/21 Indian Express

flydubai barred from bringing passengers to Chennai till January 31 after passenger tests Covid positive

New Delhi: Tamil Nadu has barred UAE's flydubai from flying in passengers to the state till the month-end after the budget carrier brought a Covid positive passenger to Chennai this Sunday (January 17).

The state government has also written to the Union aviation ministry to examine how this happened in violation of Tamil Nadu's entry norms for those flying in from abroad, said senior officials.

This is perhaps the first instance of an Indian state barring a foreign airline from flying in people for violating its Covid rules.

Indian carriers have been barred a few times during the pandemic for varying periods of time by Hong Kong and UAE for inadvertently flying Covid positive passengers there. Saudi Arabia allows Indian carriers to only fly out people from there to India and not to the Kingdom.

UAE requires people flying in from several countries including India to undergo a Covid test 96 hours before their flight departure time and only those with negative reports are allowed to board flights for there. Chennai has a similar rule.

Additionally, there is testing on arrival in Dubai for those coming from India and many other countries.

"This person got a Covid test done from a certified lab in Chennai last Friday (Jan 15) and tested negative. He then travelled flydubai to Dubai. His on-arrival testing in Dubai gave a positive report," said sources.

The passenger was then asked to quarantine himself as per rules, with the positive report uploaded on the app travellers to Dubai need to install on their smartphones.

"On January 17, this person went to Dubai Airport and showed his two day old negative report for being allowed to board a flydubai flight to Chennai. Since the report was from a test done within 96 hours before departure for Chennai, he was allowed to board the flight as per rules of Tamil Nadu," said sources.

On arrival in Chennai this passenger reportedly cleared both immigration and health checks by showing his negative report.

"He was stopped at customs for baggage checks. To avoid the same, the passenger said he is Covid positive and showed his report from the test done on arrival in Dubai which was in his phone app. That is how it was known he was actually infected with the virus," said sources.

22/01/21 Saurabh Sinha/Times of India

Passenger traffic soars at Mysuru airport in December, January

Mysuru: Mandakalli Airport in Mysuru is emerging as a vital node connecting southern India with domestic air passenger traffic spiralling upward since November.

Monthly passenger traffic at the airport has gone up by 160% in December and the first half of January. Traffic soared high with single day 600-mark on January 17. Number of inbound passengers stood higher than outbound passengers. In the last eight months since May 2020, about 20,202 people have travelled from Mysuru to Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad, Belagavi, Goa, Cochin and Mangaluru. The inbound traffic figure is just over 19,000. In all, 39,000 passengers have travelled via Mysuru Airport.

According to airport authorities, Mysuru Airport, located at Mandakalli village, some 15kms away from Mysuru city on National Highway 766, is emerging as a hub connecting several places in Karnataka, Telangana, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Goa. Even as numbers have begun to soar high, airport authorities say they are determined to improve services and cater to air passengers.

R Manjunath, director of Airport Authority of India, Mysuru, told TOI that footfall has increased significantly in December compared to November. The highest traffic in single day in the recent past was on January 17, Sunday. About 609 travelled in the day — 326 inbound passengers and 283 outbound passengers.

22/01/21 Lawrence Milton/Times of India

Indian Oil Plans Pipeline To Supply Jet Fuel To Upcoming Jewar International Airport In UP

The Indian Oil Corporation is planning to build a 36-km long pipeline for the supply of Aviation Turbine Fuel (ATF) to the upcoming Jewar International Airport in Uttar Pradesh, reports Economic Times.

According to the report, the Indian Oil, which is India's largest refiner and supplier of ATF, has submitted an expression of interest (EoI) to the Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory board for the construction of the pipeline for supplying the jet fuel.

The board has launched a public consultation and will accept comments from everyone on the Indian Oil's proposal until 18 February.

Indian Oil reportedly plans to construct a 36 km pipeline from Haryana's Palwal, which is company's supply centre, to Jewar Airport. The jet fuel will be sourced from Indian Oil's refinery at Mathura.

It should be noted that the Indian Oil operates around 15,000 km of hydrocarbon pipelines in the country.

With the planned pipeline to the Jewar Airport, the company expects to meet an estimated jet fuel demand of 0.7 million tonne per year by 2029-30, and 1.8 million tonne a year by 2039-40.

22/01/21 Swarajya

Two flights with Covishield vaccine depart from Mumbai airport to Brazil, Morocco

New Delhi, Jan 22 (PTI) Two flights, each carrying two million doses of Covishield vaccine, departed from the Mumbai airport for Brazil and Morocco in the early hours of Friday.

India is one of the world''s biggest drugmakers, and an increasing number of countries have already approached it for procuring coronavirus vaccines.

"The Covishield vaccine, manufactured by the Serum Institute of India, departed from Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA) carrying 2 million doses to Brazil via Emirates Sky Cargo and 2 million doses to Morocco on Royal Air Maroc," said a press release by CSMIA.

As of January 22, CSMIA has facilitated movement of over 14.17 million doses of the Covishield vaccine across various international and domestic destinations, it mentioned.

Since Wednesday, India has been sending COVID-19 vaccines under grant assistance to Bhutan, the Maldives, Bangladesh, Nepal, Myanmar and Seychelles.

22/01/21 PTI/Outlook

First for Indian infra majors: GMR Group builds its second airport terminal in Philippines

New Delhi: The GMR Group has built a new passenger terminal building (PTB) at Clark International Airport (CIA) near Manila, its second project in Philippines.

This terminal, built with a capacity to handle 80 lakh passengers annually and expected to decongest Manila’s Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA), was handed over to Philippines government’s Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) on Friday. The capacity of this terminal can be further expanded to handle 1.2-1.6 crore passengers annually.

GMR Airports, India’s largest private airport company in India, is the only Indian airport developer to have developed and operated airports outside India. It is in a JV with Megawide Construction Corporation of Philippines operating and developing Mactan Cebu International Airport, the second largest airport of Philippines.

GMR Group subsidiary, GMR Airports, says its JV with Megawide Construction Corporation has built the over 1.1 lakh square metre terminal in a record time of 24 months during the pandemic. “It is one of the fastest completed projects in the Philippines and first project of the Philippines government under the hybrid PPP framework… (CIA) has the potential to emerge as a future destination for direct flights to and from India,” it says.

GMR Group chairman of energy and international airports, Srinivas Bommidala, said: “We feel proud to be part of (Philippines) president Duterte’s ‘build-build-build program’ through the development of Clark Airport and would very keen to further contribute in growth of aviation sector of the country through more projects. We are delighted to have been able to complete the new passenger terminal building in a record time of 24 months and hand over to BCDA successfully. Adhering to GMR’s concept to showcase local culture at the airport, the new terminal will give a rich feel of the Philippine culture. It has been designed and constructed using the latest innovative technologies and as per international standards and environmental best practices.”

22/01/21 Saurabh Sinha/Times of India

Bengaluru airport logs first successful landing after visibility upgrade

Bengaluru airport on Thursday saw its first landing under CAT IIIB conditions, which guarantees enhanced visibility for take-offs and touchdowns. An Indigo flight from Lucknow touched down successfully in the morning, said the airport authorities.

CAT IIIB compliant is an upgrade that permits flight operations even in poor visibility conditions. Bengaluru airport is the first in South India and sixth in the country to achieve this distinction.

“With this upgrade, the South Runway can facilitate aircraft landing with a Runway Visual Range as low as 50m and take-offs at 125m. Until now, the permissible visual range was 550m and 300m for landing and take-off respectively,” the authority said

“Radiation fog set in during the early part of the day, resulting in a rapid drop in visibility to 200 metres. During this time, IndiGo flight 6E-6389 from Lucknow made a successful touchdown at 0741 hours,” read a statement issued by Bengaluru International Airport Limited (BIAL).

“This upgrade by BIAL is expected to reduce disruption in operations and would immensely benefit passengers during inclement weather conditions,” the statement said.

Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri tweeted, “In line with @MoCA_GoI’s #Vision2040 to make India a top civil aviation hub, @BLRAirport handled its first landing under CAT 3B conditions. It will now be able to handle flights during fog/low visibility. @IndiGo6E flight from Lucknow touched down successfully this morning.”

The CAT IIIB upgrade at Kempegowda International Airport took effect from December 31. In an earlier statement, BIAL had said, “Bengaluru airport has obtained regulatory approvals to operationalise the runway with successful completion of both trial and calibration flights followed by an inspection by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). Airlines are required to deploy crew trained for CAT-III operations to make optimum use of the facility.”

22/01/21 Indian Express

Monopolising airports poses financial risk: Experts

Hyderabad: Adani Enterprises has signed concession agreements with the Airports Authority of India (AAI) for all six airports that had been put up for privatisation. The company won the bids in February 2019, despite the Finance Ministry’s Department of Economic Affairs (DEA) and Niti Aayog objecting the bidding process that allowed one player to win all airports, in a sign of crony capitalism.

Experts say this can pose financial risk as the operator’s financial health and the state of the aviation sector will impact all the airports under one company’s management, leaving no room for de-risking it. The International Air Transport Association (IATA) in its research showed that airlines are expected to lose $84.3 billion in 2020. Such scenario will continue to impact the revenues of airports.

Adani had emerged as the L1 (lowest) bidder for AAI-operated airports in Ahmedabad, Guwahati, Jaipur, Lucknow, Mangalore and Thiruvananthapuram in 2019. The group won the concession rights for these airports for 50 years, surpassing contenders such as GMR in the bidding process.

Reports indicate that prior to the bidding, the DEA had suggested in a note that not more than two airports be given to a single bidder due to the financial risk involved. This note, dated December 10, 2018 was not even discussed at the Public Private Partnership Appraisal Committee (PPAC) meeting held on December 11.

Following the Cabinet’s in-principle nod in November 2018 to privatise airports, the PPAC met on December 11 to recommend the proposal for final approval. Three days later, the AAI floated a tender for operation, management and development of the six airports.

DEA noted that these six airport projects are highly capital-intensive and hence suggested to incorporate the clause that not more than two airports will be awarded to the same bidder taking into account the high financial risk. Awarding them to different companies would facilitate yardstick competition.

22/01/21 Telangana Today

Thursday, January 21, 2021

AAI lines up concessions to attract aircraft repair firms to its airports

Mumbai: Government-owned Airports Authority of India (AAI) plans to abolish royalty and offer steep discounts in lease rent to encourage maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) units to set up facilities at its airports.

Around 85 per cent of the $1.4 billion maintenance work of Indian airlines is carried out overseas and the government hopes that policy sweeteners will attract investment in the sector, generate employment and reduce import dependence.

Last year, the government cut goods and services tax (GST) rate on aircraft repair and maintenance work from 18 to 5 per cent. To further incentivise the industry, it will lease out land at airports at discounted rates to repair units. Airports such as Bhopal, Chandigarh, Chennai, Hyderabad (Begumpet), Juhu, Kolkata and Tirupati, among others, have been identified for the purpose. Also, AAI has land parcels in Delhi that are also being considered for lease.

Airports in India charge a minimum 13 per cent royalty on MRO firms’ annual revenue, thus reducing their profit margin.

The civil aviation ministry has in-principle approved the MRO policy and is awaiting AAI board’s nod.

“We are working on a policy to attract MRO investments in India. We have already issued expressions of interest for setting up flying training schools at six airports. We are creating an enabling policy environment for both MROs and training schools. These will lower costs for trainee pilots as well as airlines and reduce foreign exchange outgo,” a senior AAI official said.

21/01/21 Aneesh Phadnis/Business Standard

Total outstanding dues of major domestic airlines to AAI rise to Rs 137.16 crore

The total outstanding dues of major domestic airlines to the Airports Authority of India (AAI) as of January 1 stand at Rs 137.16 crore, CNBC-TV18 has learnt. AAI charges airlines for using air navigation services, landing, parking among other facilities.

The highest pending dues are of SpiceJet and GoAir at Rs 33.74 crore and Rs 33.13 crore, respectively, sources said. While SpiceJet is making daily payment of Rs 60 lakh to settle the outstanding amount, GoAir made the latest payment to settle dues on November 25 of Rs 90 lakh.

GoAir and SpiceJet have been on cash and carry mode since August 11 and August 1, respectively.

It is important to note that GoAir had submitted a two-step plan to settle dues whereby it was to start making regular payments since October 2020 but it seems like that has been delayed a bit, sources said.

In fact, both GoAir and Alliance Air have not been making any payments to AAI to settle the pending dues. For Alliance Air, the regional arm of Air India, the total dues stand at Rs 12.22 crore, of which Rs 10.14 crore are dues up to June 2020 and Rs 2.08 crore are for the period with effect from July 2020.

AirAsia India is believed to have settled its dues up to June 2020 and its current dues to AAI stand at Rs 4.09 crore.

National carrier Air India is making payment of Rs 25 lakh daily to AAI on working days and its total dues stand at Rs 50.38 crore, of which Rs 4.32 crore are for period before July and Rs 46.06 crore are for the period with effect from July 1.

Its subsidiary Air India Express has cleared past dues up to June 2020 but its dues of the period starting July 2020 stand at Rs 3.59 crore.

India’s largest airline IndiGo and full-service carrier Vistara are the only two airlines which have cleared their dues up to June 2020 and current dues as well.

21/01/21 Anu Sharma/CNBC TV18