GMR, GVK keen on Chicago airport

Mumbai: India’s GMR and GVK groups, the respective business houses behind the companies managing airports in New Delhi and Mumbai—the country’s top two airports—will together with international partners participate in bids to choose the developer to privatize Chicago’s Midway International Airport in the US, senior executives at the two groups said.
The bid could entail spending around $1 billion (Rs4,300 crore) according to an investment banker.
Under the privatization plan of the Chicago airport—the bigger airport in the city is the O’Hare International Airport— that is owned by the Illinois state, the private developer will have long-term exclusive rights to operate the airport and to collect all revenues associated with the operation of Midway including aeronautical, leases, passenger facility charges and federal grants, subject to Federal Aviation Authority, or FAA, rules.
The agreement term for the airport, which handled nearly 20 million passengers last year, is expected to be at least 50 years.
The Bangalore-based GMR Group won the 20-year operations right of Sabiha Gökcen International Airport at Istanbul earlier this year. Its plan to bid for the Chicago airport is part of its interest in several global airport projects, an executive said.
A second GMR executive, who did not want to be named, added the group had plans to bid for airport projects in South Africa, Prague in the Czech Republic and St Petersburg in Russia.
04/07/08 P.R. Sanjai/Livemint

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Audio data nails pilot lie

Calcutta: The pilot of the cargo Boeing 737 that almost crashed into an Airbus with 136 passengers on May 29 was the one responsible for the planes coming so close that the blips on the radar merged (Metro grab on right), an inquiry has revealed.
“The pilot of the cargo flight is prima facie responsible for the near-mishap (60 nautical miles from the city airport). The probe has revealed that he was not adhering to the flying altitude assigned by Dhaka ATC (air traffic control),” a senior airport official, who was in the inquiry team, said on Sunday.
“The pilot accepted that he had descended more than the assigned level, but claimed he was asked to do so by the ATC,” the official said.
The recorded conversation between the watch shift officer of Calcutta ATC and his Dhaka counterpart nailed the lie.
On noticing that the Alliance Air cargo plane had descended below 18,000 feet, the level assigned to it, the watch shift officer of Calcutta ATC had immediately contacted Dhaka for a clarification.
“Have you assigned him a level below 18,000 feet?” he asked his Dhaka counterpart. “No,” came the answer.
“Then who asked him to descend further?”
“We have no idea,” was the reply from Dhaka.
When the error was detected, both the Boeing 737, coming to Calcutta from Agartala, and the Air India A-320, headed in the opposite direction, were flying at the same altitude: 17,000 feet. They missed each other by the proverbial whisker, officials said.
According to the probe panel, set up by the directorate -general of civil aviation, the pilot of the Boeing 737 descended 1,000 feet more than what the ATC had recommended while the other aircraft had maintained the specified altitude of 17,000 feet.
30/06/08 Sanjay Mandal/The Telegraph

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Air India passengers stranded at Bangalore airport

Bangalore: Passengers of a US-bound Air India flight were stranded here on Saturday after it was cancelled shortly before take-off due to technical snag, officials said.
"The Bangalore-Mumbai-Chicago flight scheduled to take off at 1 am on Saturday was cancelled an hour before the departure due to technical problem," an Air India official said.
The flight has been rescheduled to leave at 1 am on Sunday from the Bengaluru International Airport, the official said.
28/06/08 PTI/Daily News & Analysis

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Lufthansa Moves Out of MRO Deal With GMR

New Delhi: The slowdown in aviation and poor financial health of airlines are now casting its shadow on big deals that Indian companies had stuck with global majors.
German carrier Lufthansa's $5 billion technical support arm, Lufthansa Technik, has pulled out of a tie-up with GMR Group, inked in April 2007, to set up a $20 million maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) facility at the new airport in Hyderabad. The GMR Group is now talking to some leading Asian carriers for the proposed MRO.
The deal aimed to ready the MRO facility by this year-end, with Lufthansa arm contributing 75% of the investment and Indian carrier the rest. Sources close to the deal said Lufthansa Technik was in talks with a leading Indian carrier to maintain their fleet of Boeing 737s and Airbus A 320s at the proposed site so that it has an assured fleet to service. But in this cost-hostile environment, this did not happen and the MRO deal fell through.
A GMR official said they had to do land leveling and prepare parking bays at the airport.
28/06/08 Saurabh Sinha/RedOrbit, USA

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Unaccounted jewellery worth Rs 68 lakh seized in TN airport

Chennai: Income Tax Officials seized unaccounted jewellery worth Rs 68 lakh, weighing about seven kg, from a passenger who arrived from Ahmedabad at the domestic airport here last night.
Airport sources said acting on information, IT sleuths checked the baggage of the passengers who arrived here by a Spicejet flight from Ahmedabad.
Upon screening the suitcase of Ramdev (53), the officials found jewellery worth Rs 68.6 lakh. On interrogation, he said he was a jewellery broker based in Ahmedabad and had brought the jewellery for selling in some reputed shops in the city.
However, he did not have any document to substantiate his claim.
27/06/08 Chennai Online

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Mumbai aircraft lost radio contact: AI

Mumbai: "The aircraft going beyond Mumbai can be attributed only to loss of radio contact," said a statement issued by Air India in response to a report carried by TOI on Thursday on an AI flight which overflew Mumbai even as its pilots snoozed in the cockpit.
The report had stated that two pilots of Air India flight 612 from Jaipur to Mumbai had, earlier this month, dozed off and overflown their destination. The incident took place on June 4, just after 7 am, when the pilots took off from Jaipur and put the aircraft on autopilot, sources said. Prior to this flight the pilots had operated a Dubai-Jaipur flight.
An Air India spokesperson said that the commander and his co-pilot had availed of 24 hours of rest in Dubai prior to operating the flight and so there was no question of the crew being fatigued. Air India said that its pilots were not asleep and that "(they) had temporarily lost contact with the ATC and therefore the aircraft had strayed 10-15 kilometres away from Mumbai".
Reacting to the statement, the commander of a Gulf-based airline said, "In India, when the pilot recognises that he has a communications failure he has to squawk 7600 on the transponder and the ATC would have cleared all aircraft below the flight level of this aircraft and he would have landed. I don't understand why the pilot did not even commence descent into Mumbai and went off 10-15 kilometres. No one ever does that."
The airline also said that the pilots were not woken up by the SELCAL buzzer. However, a top official of Mumbai Air Traffic Control confirmed that SELCAL was indeed used to establish contact with the pilots. SELCAL, or selective calling, sounds like a buzzer in an aircraft's cockpit when the ATC dials the exclusive four-alphabet combo assigned to an aircraft.
27/06/08 Times of India

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AI denies report that pilots hit the snooze button

New Delhi: Air India on Thursday said a Jaipur-Mumbai flight had lost radio contact with the air traffic control (ATC) for a short while on June 4.
Commenting on a news report that the flight had flown past its destination of Mumbai with the pilots fatigued and fast asleep, AI's Director for Public Relations Jitender Bhargava said, "We emphatically deny the report. No such incident took place. We've checked our records." Maintaining that the report on the incident did not mention the date of flight, he said that on June 4 the Jaipur-Mumbai flight had lost radio contact with the ATC for some time, leading the plane to fly 24 km off Mumbai – and not half-way to Goa. Bhargava said that AI pilots had not slept on board and were not woken up by the ATC personnel.
26/06/08 Expressindia.com

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Monkey business at Dr Ambedkar Airport

Nagpur: Trap a monkey at Dr Ambedkar International Airport premises and get Rs 1,000, or trap a pig and get Rs 300. This is what the Airports Authority of India (AAI) officials are paying an expert monkey trapper to check the monkey and pig menace at the airport.
The expert — Haider Khan Maner from Sangli — has already begun the job of trapping monkeys and succeeded in trapping nine monkeys using his techniques. The monkeys will be relocated to Nagzira and nearby forest areas under the supervision of forest officials, a senior AAI official informed on Thursday.
Notorious for the intrusion of stray animals, including pigs, on the runway, Dr Ambedkar International Airport at Nagpur is now fighting a running battle with monkeys. Sources informed that around 70-80 monkeys have created havoc in the airport premises. The monkeys are seen in groups, usually early in the morning and afternoon.
“If not controlled immediately, these animals may also pose danger to aircraft during landings and take-offs just like other animals,” fear airport officials.
Interestingly, the monkeys are not afraid of the recently-installed zon guns — an LPG cylinder-operated device that emits loud bangs at irregular intervals.
27/06/08 Sachin Dravekar/Times of India

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Thai-Indian duo ahead in airport race

A Thai-Indian consortium has emerged as the lowest bidder for the Rs 2,000-crore Calcutta airport modernisation project.
ITD of Thailand, which was involved in constructing Suvarnabhumi airport in Bangkok, and its Indian partner ITD CEM have quoted around Rs 2,000 crore, said sources in the civil aviation ministry, which completed examining the bids on Wednesday.
The highest bid was around Rs 2,400 crore. Three consortiums and one company had submitted the technical and financial bids on June 16.
The others were Pomerleu Inc (Canada)-CCCL, TAV Tepe Akfer Yatirim Insaatva Isleme AS (Turkey)-Punj Lloyd Ltd and India’s Larsen and Toubro.
Usually, the lowest bidder is awarded the contract but a ministry official said it would take around three weeks for the award to be announced.
“The bid will be evaluated by a technical committee, which will send its recommendation to the Airports Authority of India (AAI) board for approval,” the official said from Delhi.
Financial as well as technical experts will be members of the committee.
27/06/08 The Telegraph

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Mandakalli airport to take off by this Dasara

Mysore: Mandakalli airport, which is being upgraded with various infrastructural facilities, will be ready for landing and taking off private aircrafts by this Dasara, beginning on Sept. 30, disclosed Lok Sabha member C.H. Vijayashankar.
Commercial flights will start by February 2009, the MP said, while addressing a press meet after taking part in a meeting of officials to review the progress in the works relating to upgradation of Mandakalli Airport in the office of the Deputy Commissioner here yesterday.
Work on the first phase of upgrading the airport is almost completed. That includes the runway, taxiway and the peripheral road. The work relating to the terminal building was to be completed by December. However, as the officials of Airports Authority of India (AAI) urged for construction of additional three floors to the terminal building in keeping with the second phase work, the terminal building will be ready by February, the MP said.
Land measuring 162.32 acres in five villages and in the vicinity of Chamundi Hill has been identified for shifting stretch of Mysore-Ooty National Highway 212 passing alongside airport to a distance of 2.5 km. The approval from Government for acquiring land has been obtained.
Approval has also been given by the government for construction of 60 metre wide four-lane road. The National Highways Engineer has taken steps to acquire the land after determining the exact width of the road.
26/06/08 Star of Mysore

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Airports ignore Patel plea, seek hike in charges

Rejecting Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel's exhortation for reduction in parking and landing charges, the developers of Delhi and Mumbai airports have sought the government's permission to increase charges by 10 per cent across the board. Without this, they said, they would lapse into losses.
The developers have pointed out that the contract they have signed with the government to modernise the airports permits such an increase after two years of taking charge.
GMR, which is modernising Delhi airport, and GVK, which is handling Mumbai, completed two years last May.
Patel, addressing the Business Standard Open Sky summit in New Delhi on Tuesday, had suggested that airport developers should reduce charges to provide relief to airlines, which are projected to register Rs 8,000 crore in combined losses this year. Airport charges constitute 12 per cent of the cost of operating an airline in India.
Airport developers said the cost of construction material — steel, cement, etc — had gone up by 10-15 per cent in the last six months.
26/06/08 Surajeet Das Gupta & Anirban ChowdhuryBusiness Standard

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Shirdi airport project gets approval

Shirdi, renowned for its Sai Baba temple, will soon be on India’s air map, proving a boon to religious tourism in Maharashtra.
The state government Wednesday announced its decision to construct an airport at Mauje-Kakdi village at an investment of Rs.2.64 billion ($62.8 million).
It will come up on an area of over 400 hectares, 15 km from Shirdi town.
The project will be undertaken by the Maharashtra Airports Development Co Ltd as a public-private partnership.
26/06/08 Indo-Asian News Service/Fresh News

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Chennai airport to commence work on second domestic terminal within two months

Chennai: Chennai’s Anna International Airport, will commence work on the construction of the second domestic terminal, within the next two months and is expected to be completed in 28 months. “It will have two-level terminals with departure area on first floor and arrival area on ground floor covering 67,000 sq. meters. It will also have three aerobridges, Common Use Terminal Equipment (CUTE) terminals and other state-of-the-art facilities,” informed Dinesh Kumar, Airport Director, Chennai International Airport. Further, an aerobridge will be added to the international arrival terminal, which is expected to be completed by the end of 2008. Apart from this, four aerobridges will be constructed in both, domestic and international terminals.
The Airports Authority of India (AAI) is planning to invest Rs 1,800 crore, for extending the second runway of the existing airport and overall expansion. The Government of Tamil Nadu is still in the process of acquiring land for this extension, partly owing to protests from residents, whose lands are within the area set aside for acquisition. According to the residents, expansion of the airport will cause floods during rainy season.
24/06/08 Lakshmi Vishwanath/TravelBizmonitor.com

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Thai woman sent back with her dog squad

Mumbai: Pakvimol Thangtha, a Thai national, had apparently thought she could take her 31 pets out of Sahar airport for a walk. However, she would now have to board a flight on Thursday with all of them and head back to the place from where she came.
Thangtha landed in Mumbai with two full-grown Pugs and 24 puppies of the breed, four Chihuahuas and a golden retriever from Bangkok on Tuesday. She told the customs officials attached to the air intelligence unit (AIU) that she owned all the dogs. However, a senior customs official said, “The four-hour travel for the pedigreed canines, especially the month-old puppies, could have ended as the final flight as they were simply checked in along with other baggage items on the plane. Another passenger, S Rao, who owns a cinema theatre in the Jayanagar region of Bangalore and who accompanied Thangtha, was also detained. Both passengers were fined Rs75,000 each.”
Joint commissioner of customs (AIU) Satish Kumar said, “.. Dogs and other animals have to be declared on the load sheet of the airline as special cargo so that proper temperature is maintained during flight to ensure the safety of the animals.”
However, Jet Airways spokeswoman Srirupa Sen said, “The issue is between the customs and the passenger. The airline has no role in it.”
Later at night she said carriage of live animals was accepted by Jet Airways after verifying relevant documents by the check-in staff and at stations like Bangkok, by local health authorities.
26/06/08 Renni Abraham/Daily News & Analysis

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GMR Infra buys 50 % in InterGen for $1.1 billion

Mumbai: In the largest ever acquisition of a global energy utility by an Indian company, GMR on Wednesday announced the signing of a definitive documentation for the acquisition of 50 per cent stake in the U.S.-based InterGen N.V., a global power generation company.
The transaction is valued at $1.1 billion and GMR Infrastructure (Malta) signed the share purchase agreement with AIG Highstar to acquire the 50-per cent stake. The remaining 50 per cent is held by Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan Board (OTPPB).
GMR is an infrastructure company with a presence in energy, airports, highways and urban infrastructure. InterGen has power plants across the U.K., the Netherlands, Mexico, Australia and the Philippines, with a total capacity of 12,766 MW.
GMR has an ambitious international business strategy whose focus sectors are energy, airports and aerotropolis (real estate development around airports).
GMR is developing airports in New Delhi, Hyderabad and Istanbul. According to Ashutosh Agarwala, CFO, Strategic Finance, GMR Group, “by 2010-11 airport infrastructure will account for 45-50 per cent of group revenues.”
26/06/08 The Hindu

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BIAL to raise $200 mn, eyes valuation of $2-2.5 bn

Bangalore/Mumbai: The operator of the newly-opened Bengaluru International Airport is seeking a valuation of up to $2.5 billion to raise about $200 million in equity to fund the second phase of the airport’s development.
The valuation of Bangalore International Airport Ltd (BIAL), which sources put at as high as Rs 10,000 crore, or about $2.3 billion, could make it among the most valuable privately-owned domestic aviation assets. This would better the three-month-old Hyderabad Rajiv Gandhi International Airport, majority owned by GMR Group, which is estimated to be valued at $1-1.5 billion.
BIAL—40% owned by Siemens with L&T, Unique Zurich, Airports Authority of India and KSIIDC, a Karnataka government agency, holding the rest—is exploring the option of a private placement, among others, to raise part of the equity for the proposed Rs 2,500-crore expansion. It is believed that the company is exploring various possibilities and no investment bank is involved in the process.
A source said the company was seeking valuation in the range of $2-2.5 billion, leading to a possibility of 8-10% equity placement for raising over $200 million. While BIAL CEO Albert Brunner said the information on fundraising through private placement was not true, one of the investors confirmed to ET that all options are being explored.
26/06/08 Boby Kurian, Rajesh Unnikrishnan & Peerzada Abrar/Economic Times

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Parallel taxiway at Coimbatore airport: preliminary works begin

Coimbatore: Airports Authority of India (AAI) has taken preliminary steps such as floating of tenders and finalisation of consultants to build a parallel taxiway and a new terminal building at Coimbatore Airport.
The works are expected to be completed in another 28 to 30 months.
Since none of these works require land acquisition delay is not expected. According to AAI sources, shortlisting of contractors for appointing them as consultants has begun for parallel taxiway and creation of three more parking bays at an estimated outlay of Rs. 44 crore.
Parallel taxiway will help in minimising the runway occupancy or time used by aircraft.
At present, an aircraft on touching down the airport taxies the entire runway distance and returns via the same run way to the apron for parking, says Airport Director, K. Hemalatha.
Once the parallel taxiway is completed, aircraft can use it to reach the parking bays thus leaving the runway free for another landing or take off.
The airport witnesses an average of 22 to 23 landings and take offs every day. It has five parking bays (it can accommodate six aircraft of smaller size).
This is in addition to the isolation parking bay for aircraft in distress/those with security perception.
26/06/08 V.S. Palaniappan/The Hindu

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GTAA hints at more fee cuts

In an effort to remain competitive and grow market shares, the Greater Toronto Airports Authority will effective January 2009 slash landing fees for cargo operators by 25 per cent.
The move will follow a three per cent cut in landing fees across the board announced in January this year.
“We’ve also embarked upon a three-pronged marketing development initiative aimed at boosting our global competitiveness while improving our corporate sustainability,” Lloyd McCoomb, the authority’s president and CEO, told members of the Mississauga Board of Trade last week.
More fee reductions are also in the pipeline, aimed at seeking to partly offset high jet fuel prices carriers are facing, while seeking to boost the airport’s own revenues through projected economies of scale, he said.
GTAA is the operator of Canada’s busiest airport, Toronto’s Pearson International, which accounts for a third of all airport movements in the country. Despite being among the few airport jurisdictions in the world that is heavily taxed and that has to pay a rent, and despite being recently named as being among the most uncompetitive airports worldwide— a charge the airport operator has disputed— the airport generated revenues of $26.4 billion.
At present some 76 airlines fly through the airport, with recent additions being Jet Airways, Emirates airlines and Icelandair, while others such as KLM, Lufthansa and Air China have added capacities on this route.
The event was presided over by Jake Dheer, chairman, MBoT, as part of the board’s ongoing executive speaker series.
The board leads a business mission to India from October 17-29, 2008, with cities on the itinerary including Bangalore, Chennai, Mumbai and New Delhi.
26/06/08 Sunil Rao/South Asian Focus, Canada

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Airports may cut landing, parking charges

New Delhi: The Union civil aviation ministry might ask airports to reduce landing and parking charges for aircraft.
Speaking at a function today, the civil aviation minister, Mr Praful Patel, said by reducing landing and parking charges for aircraft, airports could contribute to a “form of relief” for the loss-making aviation industry.
Mr Patel, however, said his ministry had not initiated any talks as yet with airport authorities in the country but this was “going to be looked into soon”.
The minister ruled out any bailout package from the government for the aviation industry. “Unlike other countries, in India it is very difficult for the government to write a cheque to the companies,” he said.
Mr Patel said keeping in view the bad financial health of domestic airlines at present, prices of air transport fuel (ATF) need to be brought down by about 50 to 60 per cent. Besides, states are charging high taxes on ATF, he said.
24/06/08 The Statesman

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War over Delhi skies

The air-space over the capital is one of the most highly protected, but a turf war between the very people who keep the skies safe -- Airports Authority of India (AAI)and Indian Air Force IAF) is potentially putting the lives of air passengers at risk.
The ongoing fight for the skies, between the Indian Air Force, and Delhi Air Traffic control is basically a 'fight' over controlling how aircrafts flying over Delhi airspace. What the authorities have forgotten or failed to realise while they argue over the issue, is that there are hundreds of passengers' lives at stake.
Normally, aircrafts over Delhi are told where to go and what to do by civilian Air Traffic Controllers (ATCs), but in the skies over Delhi, Air Force controllers have allegedly issued instructions to passenger aircrafts without Delhi airport having a clue. This is where the trouble started.
The Airports Authority of India sent a letter to the Air Force, telling them to stop interfering.
In the letter - a copy of which is with TIMES NOW - the AAI further alleged that because of Air Force interference, a collision was narrowly averted as the Air Force went ahead and issued instructions to an aircraft without telling Delhi ATC about it.
On December 29, 2007, Kras Air flight 1913 scheduled to land at Delhi airport was told by IAF control to fly in circles above the capital, Delhi ATC was not told about this.
Similarly on January 14, 2008, the same Kras Air Flight 1913 was told to circle the skies, something that Delhi ATC was kept in the dark about. Civil controllers noticed that Air France flight 256 was headed for a collision with another aircraft and in the nick of time, emergency evasive manuevers had to be performed.
25/06/08 Times Now.tv

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State declares HIAL as notified area

Chennai/ Hyderabad: The government has provisionally declared the area covered by Hyderabad International Airport Limited (HIAL) as a ‘notified area' (municipality) duly excluding it from the jurisdiction of the local authority. The Rajiv Gandhi International Airport is spread over 5,495 acre belonging to Shamshabad, Chinna Gollapally, Hamedullanagar, Mamidipally and Mankhal gram panchayats.
This area is carved into a notified area. The Notified Area Committee (NAC) is constituted by Huda vice-chairman and Roads and Buildings additional special secretary and other members including the airport operator for three years.
The Andhra Pradesh government signed a state support agreement and land lease agreement with HIAL in September 2003 for development of the new international airport. One of the conditions was to declare the area covered by HIAL as a ‘specified authority/local authority' as per a GO issued in December 2005.
The NAC would raise the property tax for the quarter (April-June) by end of June and GMR-HIAL (a joint venture promoted by GMR Infrastructure Limited, Malaysia Airports Holding Berhad, Airports Authority of India and AP government) would pay them by July end.
25/06/08 Business Standard

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Hopes for HAL reopening fade, BIA satisfies AAI

Bangalore: Curtains fell on the HAL Airport after the Bengaluru International Airport (BIA) started commercial flight operations on May 24; they are unlikely to lift.
The HAL Airport, which was closed for commercial flight operations on May 25, will remain non-operational, barring military and VIP flight landings and take-offs.
Sources told this website's newspaper that the four-member Airports Authority of India team which visited the BIA last week to conduct a feasibility study to evaluate the air traffic and passenger capacity at the new airport is satisfied with the facilities there.
They have also been assured by the Bangalore International Airport Limited (BIAL) that measures to address shortcomings will be initiated immediately.
"The idea of having two airports is not being viewed positively. Even if the airline operators want HAL to operate short haul flights, it is not feasible. From the commuters' point of view too, it is not a good option to keep two airports operating simultaneously in the city," sources explained.
BIAL, on its part, is also said to have assured the inspection team that it would be taking up expansion work to meet future requirements.
24/06/08 Hemanth C S and Monica Jha/Newindpress

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ATC officials refuse to do extra work

Kolkata: Air Traffic Control (ATC) officials at NSC Bose Airport have decided not to undertake any “extra work” from today.
The ATC officials have been putting in extra hours of work in addition to their regular working hours due to a shortage of staff. A spokesperson for the ATC Officers Guild (eastern region) said the guild had been urging the authorities to replenish the number of “rated” (or experienced) officials for a while but the number of officials transferred from Kolkata were more than the number of officials brought here. According to a spokesman, 32 “rated” ATC officials were needed each for area control and radar control. But only 25 are available at present for either functions. As a result the “rated” officials had to undertake extra work in addition to their regular work. Five of the “rated” ATC officials had to work a full shift every night after doing their regular duty in the morning. These officials also had to impart training to “non-rated” officials. This was telling upon their health and could create problems in safe monitoring of flights. Stoppage of extra work would affect the process of training and delay the transformation of “non-rated” officials to “rated” officials. Moreover transfer orders for eight more “rated” officials has already been served. The ATC Officers Guild (eastern region) also had earlier decided to stop extra work from 16 June. Following talks with the authority they deferred their decision till today.
23/06/08 The Statesman

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Now, developers plan low-cost airports

New Delhi: The financial turbulence that airlines are experiencing these days due to soaring fuel cost, is pushing airport developers to think on lines of building low cost airports.
GMR Group is looking at this model, where efficient greenfield airports could be built in smaller cities for anywhere between one-fifth to half the cost of the Rs 2,500-crore airport it has built in Hyderabad.
Such airports would mean lower charges for airlines, helping their survival and also no extra charges for passengers that would help reverse the trend of lower demand. Cities that already have an operational runway could get a new low-cost terminal for as low as Rs 150 crore, said a senior GMR official.
This thinking comes shortly after airlines are bleeding heavily due to high global oil prices and delayed payments to airports by them have become common. Recovering costs of fancy airports through levy of user development fee (UDF) has also become a touchy issue in these times of high surcharges and taxes.
While the blueprint is being finalised, the group estimates that in a city like Pune a low-cost airport could be built for Rs 1,000 crore, while cities of size of Coimbatore, Amritsar or Udaipur could get an airport for half this cost.
The GMR group said it would be adding a low-cost terminal at its Hyderabad airport once annual traffic reaches the 12-million mark by 2011-12. Delhi, where the same group is modernising the IGI Airport, is also likely to get a low-cost terminal.
Creation of low-cost airports with economical charges has been a major demand of Indian LCCs as they offer relatively cheaper tickets while paying the same amount as airport charge as full service carriers.
23/06/08 Saurabh Sinha/Times of India

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Private players to manage cargo at non-metro airports

Even as the government is proposing some changes from the original bidding structure for modernisation of 35 non metro airports, the ministry of civil aviation has clarified that the air cargo management at these airports will be vested with private players as envisaged in the original bidding document .
According to a senior government official, the Planning Commission has suggested to take away commercial operations and maintenance of terminal buildings from the private participation . "There were discussions to take away cargo management too," he said.
As per the original request for qualification, the ministry had decided to give the mandate to the winning bidder for commercial operations, maintenance of terminal buildings, cargo management and city-side development.
The target date for completion of modernisation process of the 35 non-metro airports by the Airports Authority of India (AAI), is March 2010. New terminal buildings expandable on modular basis are being constructed at Ahmedabad , Amritsar, Aurangabad, Agatti, Bhopal, Bhubaneswar, Chandigarh, Dehradun, Goa, Jaipur, Lucknow, Indore, Khajuraho , Madurai, Mangalore, Port Blair, Ranchi, Raipur, Rajkot, Trivandrum, Trichy, Udaipur, Varanasi and Vishakhapatnam airports.
Modification and expansion of existing terminal buildings are being undertaken at airports in Agra, Agartala, Coimbatore, Dimapur, Guwahati , Imphal, Jammu, Nagpur, Patna, Pune and Vadodara. Out of these 35 airports, tenders for Amritsar and Udaipur had already floated and the ministry is in the process of shortlisting the bidders.
23/06/08 Economic Times

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Now, BIA charts an Airport City

As the Bengaluru International Airport (BIA) gets into an expansion mode, the promoters of the new greenfield aerodrome have announced grandiose plans to construct an ‘Airport City’ within the premises of BIA.
The new announcement comes close on the heels of the BIA going public with its move to immediately construct a separate terminal for budget airlines, besides a second runway and terminal building later.
The Airport City, meanwhile, will be spread over 215 acres and witness over a million people live and work in BIA. “What a passenger sees on the airport premises today is only phase one — the tip of the iceberg! The future vision of this airport is on the lines of building an aerotropolis. An aerotropolis is a city in which the layout, infrastructure and economy are centred around a major airport,” according to officials of the BIA.
Aviation experts in the field are of the opinion that airports of the 21st century will shape business location and urban development, as much as sea-ports did in the 18th century, railroads in the 19th century and highways in the 20th century.
The Airport City will create one lakh jobs for qualified people. It can be accessed by a ringed network transport system consisting wide three lane roads, dedicated perimeter bus lanes with bus stands located at strategic points with overbridge/underpass pedestrian connections.
23/06/08 S Praveen Dhaneshkar/Deccan Herald

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Bangladeshi plane's tyres burst, air passengers safe

Kolkata: Air passengers of a private Bangladeshi airlines plane had a close shave after landing at the N S C B International airport on Sunday when two of the aircraft's tyres burst, blocking a taxi track.
The GMG plane, with 48 people on board, was taxing towards the parking bay after landing when the tyres burst, Airports Authority of India (AAI) sources said.
However, all the passengers were safe.
As the airport staff swiftly took over the tyre repair job, with one tyre brought from Dhaka as replacement, the taxi track got blocked for about two hours.
After the repair job the aircraft, with 35 people from Kolkata, flew back to the Bangladesh capital.
AAI officials confirmed that the incident in no way affected air traffic to and from Kolkata.
23/06/08 Sahara Samay

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Kingfisher Airlines vie for Heathrow slots

London: Etihad, the Abu Dhabi-based airline, and Kingfisher Airlines of India are negotiating deals to gain access to more take-off and landing slots at London Heathrow.
Long-haul carriers are taking over more of the prized slots at Heathrow from short-haul services as widebody jets replace smaller aircraft and some incumbent carriers seek to cash in on the slot trade. The trend is allowing passenger numbers at Europe’s most congested airport to grow without an increase in flights.
Kingfisher is expected to make Heathrow its first long-haul destination when it starts international flights from India this year.
It has obtained an initial pair of slots from the Heathrow co-ordinator, but is negotiating to take over a second pair of slots from KLM. The Dutch subsidiary of Air France-KLM said it planned to suspend its Rotterdam-Heathrow service in order to lease out the slots. It was seeking “to maximise its slot portfolio” and was “talking to various parties”.
In the past year it has given up its Heathrow-Eindhoven service and cut its daily flights to Amsterdam to make slots available to its Northwest Airlines, its US partner, for new daily services between Heathrow and Detroit, Minneapolis and Seattle.
23/06/08 Kevin Done/Financial Times, UK

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Government to Retain Old HAL Airport

Bangalore: The newly-elected BJP government on Friday said it wants to retain the old HAL airport for short hauls and called on the Centre to examine the issue.
Karnataka minister for IT, BT, Excise and Information, Katta Subramanya Naidu told reporters on the sidelines of the fourth India Innovation Summit here that there should be a dialouge between both the airport authorities and the Centre to examine the issue.
The retention of the old airport would help address the current inconvenience faced by those wishing to take up short hauls and flying to cities like Chennai, Hyderabad and Thiruvananthapuram, he said.
Seeking the intervention of the Centre and Union aviation minister in initiating negotiations, he said that the state, which also holds an equity stake in the new airport, was prepared to hold talks on the issue. "We have examples of cities where two to three airports are functioning", he said.
When constraints of a time frame were drawn to his attention, he said that the government had only recently taken over the reins of the state. "A scope for a dialogue exists at any time. There is no bar for holding dialogues, there is no bar when it comes to development", he said.
21/06/08 PTI/Daijiworld.com

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4 flights withdrawn for want of passengers

Jaipur: The spiralling price of air turbine fuel (ATF) and the low pas-senger load have forced some airlines to suspend select flights from the Sanganer airport.
At least four flights on select sectors were withdrawn by private op-erators like Jetlite, Kingfisher and GoAir, confirmed airport sources.
However, the officials at these private airlines refused to give any official reason behind the grounding of these flights.
The Sanganer airport is connected to 10 cities with eight domestic airlines operating an average flight count of 32 daily, flying in and out a total of around 3,000 passengers everyday.
The airlines’ officials, however, confided that the number of passengers on these routes have reduced this season and blameed the rising air turbine fuel price for this.
“The rise in aviation fuel has in turn led to rise in price of tickets. Air travel has now become a costly affair for the passenger,’’ said an official of a private airline, pleading anonymity.
To deal with the rising aviation fuel price, the airlines have raised their fuel surcharge by 10% to 15%. This means that if you are flying to a destination upto 750 kms, the minimum cost of a ticket would be Rs 2,250, and beyond 750 kms, you will have to cough up Rs 2,800, said an airport official.
21/06/08 Times of India

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CBI busts trolley racket at Mumbai airport

The CBI on Friday busted a trolley racket at the Mumbai International airport and registered a case against three persons including two Air India officials in this regard. A CBI press release said that baggage trolleys used by passengers and which were serviceable were being sold as scrap by altering/changing their number. The investigative agency has also seized a number of such trolleys.
The racket was unearthed during a surprised check, conducted by the CBI and the Vigilance wing of AI in which a contractor, Shakeel Ahmed, in connivance with two AI officials at the Sahar International Airport were lifting the baggage trolley as scrap, which were serviceable and not a part of the delivery order, the release said.
The surprise check also revealed that the accused persons would alter/change the number of serviceable trolleys with the ones declared unserviceable and take away a large number of such trolleys in excess to the scrap, the release said. A delivery order was issued by MSTC in favour of
Mumbai-based M/s Nasibdar Musahib and Co for lifting of 17 baggage trolleys as scrap, the CBI said.
20/06/08 Times Now.tv

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Mystery of missing jewels

Hyderabad: In March this year, city-based Pavan Cargo had booked a parcel with Kingfisher Airlines which was to be delivered to Bangalore.
The parcel contained a costly ruby and some jewellery. The cargo, weighing 3 kg, was instead placed on a Kingfisher flight that left for New Delhi ‘‘by mistake’’.
The parcel was promptly returned to Bangalore. When Pavan Cargo agents collected the parcel, they discovered that the valuables were missing!
A complaint was lodged by Gautam Jalan of Pavan Cargo with the Begumpet police. Raj Jewellers, MG Road, had assigned the delivery of their property to Pavan Cargo.
The jewellery was to reach Navaratan Jewellers in Bangalore. Who meddled with the cargo? Was it the airline staff or some outsider who had access to the parcel? Why was it booked as ‘console cargo’ and not ‘valuable cargo?’ Or, in the first place, did the cargo contain the valuables at all? What about the agents who collected the parcel in Bangalore ?
"The parcel containing the valuables was to have reached Bangalore by 11 am but it reached there only by 11 pm. We are now looking at scientific methods to crack the case.
Some staffers of Kingfisher Airlines and those from the cargo are being subjected to a polygraph test," Begumpet sub-inspector of police Sridhar told this website newspaper.
Surprisingly, the jewellery,especially the ruby, was insured for just Rs 1 lakh though its actual cost is said to be around 9 lakh. Normally, costly articles are sent by ‘valuable cargo’ and the person booking it has to declare the contents of the parcel.
‘Console cargo’ is cheaper but goods that are not costly are usually sent by it. Surprisingly,in this case, Pavan Cargo chose to send it in ‘console cargo’.
"When the cargo reached Delhi, it lay there for nearly six hours as unclaimed cargo. Later, it was brought to Bangalore.
It is not clear whether the valuables went missing before the flight took off from Hyderabad, in Delhi or after reaching Bangalore,"investigators said.
On the other hand, the police do not rule out foul play on the part of Pavan cargo itself. "There is a possibility of the jewellery not being sent at all and the entire thing just being a drama.
20/06/08 Siasat Daily

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Rs 6,516-cr projects to ease traffic congestion to Bangalore airport

Bangalore: The BJP government in Karnataka has given a green signal to implement two infrastructure projects with investments totalling Rs 6,516 crore. The move will significantly ease traffic congestion in India’s IT hub, Bangalore.
The city will have a Rs 3,716 crore High-Speed Rail Link (HSRL) to the Bangalore International Airport Ltd (BIAL) and two elevated corridors costing Rs 2,800 crore. According to government sources, global tender inviting Expression of Interest (EoI) for HSRL would be floated in a fortnight’s time while for elevated corridors open bids will be invited in two months period.
The high-speed rail project, prepared by the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) as a consultant for the Infrastructure Development Department (IDD) of the Karnataka government, proposes to transport passengers to the international airport located 37 km away from Bangalore City in 25 minutes. The project is seen as the only remedy to the concerns of accessibility to the international airport.
Currently, it takes around 90 minutes to commute from Central Bangalore to the new airport by road and atleast 150 minutes from Southern parts of the city, where major information technology infrastructure is located. The high-speed rail link is expected to cut down the travel time considerably.
Now as per instructions from the chief minister BS Yeddyurappa, who reviewed all infrastructure projects pertaining to Bangalore city two days ago, KSIIDC has almost finalized the draft notification to float global tenders for HSRL project, KSIIDC sources said.
21/06/08 Jaishankar Jayaramiah/Financial Express

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Foundation stone laid for Shimoga Airport

Shimoga: Hon'ble Chief Minister of Karnataka, Shri B S Yeddyurappa today laid the foundation stone for the Shimoga Airport to be constructed by a Consortium led by Maytas Infra Limited, a Hyderabad based construction and infrastructure development Company in association with NCC Infrastructure Holdings Ltd (NCC) and VIE India Project Development and Holding LLC (VIE). The estimated cost of the project is Rs. 110 crores.
Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Teja Raju, Vice Chairman, Maytas Infra said, "We at Maytas Infra are proud to be contributing to the development of Shimoga, the rice bowl of Karnataka and known for its architectural splendour and tourist spots. Shimoga Airport would essentially enhance the tourism scenario here and provide a strong impetus to the development activity in the region. The project will be executed with highest standards of terminal technologies and transport facilities.''
During the first phase, the airport will provide facilities for ATR-72 type aircrafts with a runway length of 1500 m. The second phase will render facilities for A320 type aircrafts with a runway length of 3100 m. A separate Special Purpose Company has been set up for the above said purpose where the Consortium partners Maytas Infra, NCC and VIE will have a shareholding pattern of 37%, 37% and 26% respectively. The Construction Period of the project is 24 months from the date of signing the Agreement with a Concession Period of 30 years extendable by an additional 30 years term.
Speaking on the occasion Yeddyurappa said that his Government was committed to create a congenial atmosphere for investors to start their ventures in Karnataka without being under anybody's obligation.
20/06/08 Mangalorean.com

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Bangalore Airport Staff to be Kannada-literate

Bangalore: The Bengaluru International Airport,(BIA) has attracted the wrath of pro-Kannada activists in the past for the name it has chosen for the new airport, for not giving sufficient employment to local people, and for not displaying signs in Kannada.
Now, the BIA is set to make amends and embrace Kannada in a big way. The promoters of the newly-commissioned airport have decided to train employees who cannot read, write and speak Kannada to be literate in the language of the state.
The Bangalore International Airport Limited (BIAL) officials told Express that employees who are Kannada-literate have already enrolled for a course that will be conducted by the Kannada and Culture department. “Approximately one-fifth of the total number of BIAL employees have registered for the Kannda course,” said a BIAL official. Special Kannada classes will be held three times a week; the duration of the course will be three months.
19/06/08 Hemanth C S/Daijiworld.com

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NH blockade stalls airport inspection

Siliguri: A team of the Union civil aviation ministry from New Delhi today failed to visit Sikkim to inspect the progress of the upcoming Gangtok airport due to the ongoing blockade of the National Highway 31A by the GJMM Agitating over a separate Gorkhaland state in Darjeeling, the GJMM has brought the Sikkim lifeline to a halt since 16 June evening through its blockade of the highway.
The three-member Union civil aviation ministry team, headed by the departmental secretary Mr Ashok Chawla, landed at the Bagdogra airport near Siliguri at 12:15 pm today. The other two members in the team included, the Airports Authority of India member operations Mr Praveen Seth and the executive director (engineering-central headquarters) Mr Raheja.
They were scheduled to visit Sikkim by road and take stock of the progress of the Sikkim's first airport project coming up at Pakyong, 31 kms off Gangtok. The team was also supposed to hold a meeting with the Sikkim chief secretary in Gangtok, before leaving the mountain state tomorrow.
The first civilian airport project of Sikkim, the foundation stone of which was laid by the former Vice President, late Mr Krishan Kant on 6 April 2002, is already lagging behind schedule. According to Mr Buddhi Rai, PRO, Sikkim government in Siliguri, the upcoming Gangtok airport with a proposed 1600 metre runway and a 106 X 76 metre apron would accommodate two 50-seater ATR aircrafts at a time.
19/06/08 Bappaditya Paul/The Statesman

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A'bad loses 8 air links as plane fuel cost takes off

The rising price of aviation fuel is likely to ground an increasing number of Amdavadi jet-setters who like to swoosh over humble trains.
At least eight flights have been yanked out of the Ahmedabad airport over the past two months, putting it in the league of airports squeezed hardest by the increase in the cost of aviation turbine fuel (ATF).
The eighth air-link was lost last week when JetLite discontinued its Ahmedabad-Jaipur flight.
The Ahmedabad airport offers connections to 11 cities in India, through eight domestic airlines and an average daily flight count of 44. Therefore, the loss of eight flights will certainly disrupt air-travel plans. Towards the beginning of 2008, Ahmedabad was all set to become one of the busiest aviation hubs in India. In 2007, the city airport recorded a growth of 32.4% in aircraft movement and 20.8% in passenger traffic. In fact, Ahmedabad's aircraft movement growth was 25% higher than the national average. At that point, the city connected 17 cities, and transferred more than 4,800 passengers every day.
The aviation industry blames the decline on skyrocketing ATF prices and the subsequent rise in the price of tickets. Most airlines have raised or plan to raise their fuel surcharge by 10% to 15%. 19/06/08 Sandeep Bhardwaj/ DNA MONEY

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Jet blast: No compensation to victim’s family

Mumbai: After a jet blast of a cargo plane allegedly brought down a hutment, killing 60-year-old Shivaji Thole on June 13, preliminary surveys carried on by the District Collector’s office has rejected compensation to his family on the ground that the accident did not happen as a result of a natural calamity.
“The police report was not very clear and technically speaking, the accident does not fit as an occurrence because of a natural calamity (in this case rains),” said Vishwas Patil, Mumbai Suburban District Collector.
“However, we are taking a very lenient approach to the case and I have asked our Tehsildar to consider the total amount of rainfall that took place within last week instead of total rainfall that occurred on that day, and based on that data we can provide compensation to the affected family,” said Patil.
On being told that the incident occurred because of a jet blast and not rainfall, Patil declined to comment saying that the police report was unclear.
The Mumbai International Airport Limited (MIAL) calls the accident an incident that occurred outside the airport boundary and therefore, MIAL is not liable to pay any compensation.
19/06/08 Shashank Shekhar/Mumbai Newsline

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Soon, automatic baggage checking at Delhi airport

New Delhi: The Indian capital's Indira Gandhi International Airport has begun trial runs for an 'inline baggage system' that would not only enable baggage to get checked and assigned automatically while passengers wait for their boarding passes but also do away with x-rays.
The airport will install the system for all its eight baggage rows at the international terminal, a senior airport official said.
While the inline baggage system will start working for two rows from July 1, six others will start three weeks later, a spokesperson of the Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL), the airport developer of the Delhi airport, told IANS.
"This would ease overcrowding at the manual x-ray machines," the official said, adding that the new system was expected to bring respite to passengers.
"Once we have the two rows for inline baggage system by July 1 and six others in the next three weeks, passengers can directly walk to the check-in counter and receive their boarding pass while the baggage gets checked and assigned automatically," he explained. The inline baggage system is a combination of conveyor belts, bar code readers and inline baggage sorters. The passenger also need not stand in a separate queue for X-ray screening of bags before checking in.
19/06/08 IANS/Mangalorean.com

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Bangalore Airport gets French Connection!!!

French Connection, Britain’s leading hi-fashion brand entered Bangalore city with the launch of its first store at Lifestyle Oasis followed by its second store at the Bangalore International Airport. Launched in India by the Murjani Group in April 2007, French Connection, now has 10 stores across the country.
Announcing the launch of the first store, Bhavna Darira, Marketing Head, Murjani Group says, “Bangalore is an important city for us and we have aggressive plans for the brand which includes launch of 6 stores by the end of 2008 -09.
Being a fashion conscience destination, with the launch of French Connection, we are confident of creating a strong connect with the consumers who resonate with the brand in being edgy, stylish and discerning.”
With 800sq.ft of shopping space, French Connection at Lifestyle Oasis introduces the Spring Summer 08 Collection, the first of four collections for the year.
Women can indulge in decades of style inspired by the romanticism of the 70’s, casual sports layering of the 80’s to touches of modernism, reminiscent of the early 90’
18/06/08 Fibre2fashion.com

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Chennai-Bangalore flights go near empty

Chennai: With travellers hesitating to fly to the new Bangalore airport because it is a two-hour drive from the city’s centre, airlines have started to combine some of their services on the Chennai-Bangalore route.
Airlines that are already reeling under the impact of high cost of jet fuel are struggling to cope with low load factor on the once lucrative sector. Deccan, Kingfisher, Paramount Airways and Jet Airways are struggling to get seats filled in the sector. Since not many bookings are being made flights scheduled during non-peak hours, airlines have started to combine flights scheduled at short intervals to minimise losses.
Airport sources said that there was a startling 60 percent dip in passenger bookings per flight after the new airport was opened at Bangalore. Only the first flight of the day, like the 6.20 a.m service operated by Deccan gets fully-booked. Other services scheduled later in the day suffer from low load factor.
Indian has stopped its services to Bangalore while other airlines are thinking of re-scheduling their frequencies to prevent aircraft flying empty. Kingfisher Airlines, which has recently increased services to Bangalore, is monitoring the situation before deciding whethere they will have to go for a re-scheduling.
18/06/08 V Ayyappan/Times of India

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Jackals, lizards and birds ground flights

Dozens of flights were delayed at India's New Delhi airport Monday after lizards, birds and jackals strayed on to a runway to seek refuge from the monsoon rains.
Animal rescuers rounded up the critters and moved them to habitats outside airport property. But the operation delayed several flights and shut down the runway for some time, airport spokesman Arun Arora said. Kartick Satyanarayan of the conservation group Wildlife SOS said the animals descended on the runway in search of dry ground.
His group works with the airport to move wildlife from airport property to a sanctuary on the outskirts of the capital."It's been raining cats and dogs the last two days. And when it rains like this, water goes in and fills the burrows of these animals," he said.
"The runway," he added, "is the only safe area. So they come out."
The airport sits on more than 2,000 acres that, over the years, have become home to jackals, porcupines, dogs, cats and a variety of birds.
Arora would not say how many flights were delayed during the rescue operation. The airport handles 13,000 domestic and 9,500 international passengers a day.
In the past, animals on the runway have disrupted flights at the airport -- particularly during the monsoon season, Satyanarayan said.
17/06/08 CNN International

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MIAL calls for ground-handling bids

Mumbai: The Mumbai International Airport Limited (MIAL), the GVK promoted consortium, has called for fresh bids from interested parties for the third party ground-handling contract in a competitive bidding process.
It means that the contract of the Cambata Aviation — the company that has been mired in controversies after the death of one of its loaders in an accident and two of its loaders were caught stealing mobile phones from cargo consignments — has not been renewed.
In accordance with the new eligibility criteria for ground handling service providers, while necessary regulations pertaining to security and provisions of ground handling services will be decided by the Airports Authority of India (AAI) under the Airports Authority of India Act, 1994, entities such as airport operators of all metropolitan airports, the National Aviation Company of India Limited (NACIL) and its subsidiary companies would be able to undertake ground handling services at these airports with immediate effect.
While NACIL remains one of the three service providers at the airport, the second service provider will be the MIAL itself as the new policy allows the airport operator or its joint venture company to provide such services.
18/06/08 Shashank Shekhar/Mumbai Newsline

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GMR's Delhi hospitality project hits AAI hurdle

New Delhi: The GMR Group-backed Delhi International Airport’s (DIAL) plans to develop a 45-acre hospitality district in the capital has hit an airpocket. Airports Authority of India (AAI), which owns 26% in DIAL, is unwilling to raise the required fund of Rs 1,000 crore for the proposed real estate development.
It was decided that all the stakeholders in DIAL would bring in funds in proportion to their equity holding in the company to part finance the project. This arrangement was opted after AAI raised its objection to GMR’s plan to collect security deposits from realty developers. DIAL is a joint venture between GMR (50.1%), AAI (26%), Fraport and Malaysian Airports (10% each) and IDFC (3.9%).
“AAI has said it would not pump in Rs 1,000 crore for the proposed real estate project. This would further hold the hospitality project at the airport,” a government official said. The dispute between AAI and GMR began last year when the former floated a subsidiary — Delhi Aerotropolis (DAPL) for the hospitality district. As per the plans, DAPL was to receive deposits of about Rs 2,835 crore in lieu of leasing land to developers.
18/06/08 Nirbhay Kumar/Economic Times

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Streamlined ground handling support needed

Coimbatore: Delayed operations of flights and aircraft not being able to land or take off at Coimbatore Airport owing to “technical snags” have necessitated a streamlined uniform ground handling support and logistical assistance by a single agency rather than allowing private airliners to have their own outsourcing arrangements.
Airport Authority officials on conditions of anonymity said private airliners were being allowed to have their own ground handling logistics. They largely outsource services and logistics on a contract basis leading to inconsistency owing to viability factors. This led to lack of streamlined systems and pilots getting to know about the availability of landing facility or lack of it only after coming under the air traffic control jurisdiction of the landing station. The Airport Authority of India (AAI) should take a policy decision - it could either have its own logistics to be provided to the private airliners which will bring revenue to the AAI or entrust the work to a single agency to provide ground handling logistics which could even be an airliner. AAI sources also recalled an earlier idea i.e. Air India, the national career, providing the ground handling support and logistics to all airliners.
Ground handling includes baggage trolleys for taking passenger luggage from the terminal to the aircraft and from the aircraft to the conveyor belt. It also includes movable ladders for passengers to embark and disembark from the aircraft.
17/06/08 V.S. Palaniappan/The Hindu

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Traditional Keralite reception for Doha-Kozhikode flight

Kozhikode: Qatar Airways Flight QR 1284 took off from Doha yesterday at 1.10am Doha time and landed in Kozhikode (formerly known as Calicut) at 8am to a traditional Keralite reception, marking its inaugural flight to the bustling south Indian city.
It is the third destination of the airways to the state, ninth to India and 83rd worldwide.
Akbar Al Baker, CEO of Qatar Airways flew with the international media on its maiden flight to Kozhikode. The Airbus A-320 also carried its first batch of passengers. The aircraft can accommodate 132 economy class and 12 business class passengers.
The four-hour non-stop flight connecting yet another destination in Kerala to the region will fly daily. The airline, in its endeavour to make Doha a major aviation hub in the region, is planning to add new aircraft to its fleet.
There was festivity in the air as Captain Alvaros made a perfect touchdown. Young women clad in Kasavu saris of cream and gold, with jasmine flowers adorning their hair welcomed the invited guests and dignitaries. The hall at the airport where the ceremony took place was decorated with 'poo kalam' – the traditional carpet of fresh flowers Kerala is famous for.
17/06/08 Pratibha Umashankar/Khaleej Times, United Arab Emirates

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Biggies vie for airport makeover project

Kolkata: India's largest construction company, firms from Canada and Turkey as well as an Italian-Thai joint venture have bid for the Rs 1,942 crore modernization project of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport.
All three international firms have Indian partners.
While the Indian firms will have to meet the financial norms, the foreign partner will bring expertise to the table.
Eleven companies had initially shown interest in the airport modernization project and six - Hervé Pomerleau Canada-Consolidated Construction Consortium Ltd, Italian-Thai Development Public Co Ltd-Cementation India Ltd, TAV Tepe Akfen Yatirim ve Isletme AS-Punj Lloyd Ltd and Larsen & Toubro Ltd, Laing O'Rourke UK-Simplex Infrastructures Ltd and CSCHK Hong Kong-Soma Enterprise - were shortlisted by Airports Authority of India. The last two did not submit the bid on Monday.
"The deadline for submission of bids was 11 am on Monday. Four parties did so. We will now verify the bank guarantees. Bids will be opened once the bidding process for Chennai airport is completed on June 23," NSCBI Airport modernization in-charge SPS Bakshi told TOI.
Though consortiums can bid for projects at both airports, two different companies will be selected for the two schemes. Hence, the decision to keep the selection process in abeyance till the deadline for submission of Chennai airport bids.
17/06/08 Subhro Niyogi/Times of India

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BIA is Bangalore’s new advertising hotspot

Bangalore: The airport operator, BIAL, which has picked world number two in outdoor advertising, JC Decaux, as its advertising concessionaire for seven years, says almost 70 per cent of its space is sold out. “We have received a very encouraging response from the market. Some of the best foreign and local brands from a wide spectrum of industries — banks, cosmetics, telecom, construction and IT — are already visible at the airport. Close to 70 per cent of the space has been blocked,” BIAL’s spokesperson told Business Line.
Without divulging the brands it would sport, BIAL said: “We are in discussions with other large clients for the same space.”
While obvious advertisers would be airlines, hotels and restaurants, banking products and brands retailed within airport outlets, “I would also expect fashion-wear, cosmetics, lifestyle items and — being in the IT capital — some technology products as well,” said brand consultant, Mr Ramanujam Sridhar.
BIA is the first airport catch in India for JCDecaux, Europe’s leader that is present in 145 airports in 16 countries. Its two-year-old Indian entity builds and manages all media space throughout the 4,000-acre airport campus and the long four-lane approach road.
17/06/08 Madhumathi D.S./Business Line

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Bial plans terminal for budget flyers

Bangalore: The operator of the new airport here, Bangalore International Airport Ltd, or Bial, plans to build a terminal for low-cost airlines, which would be the country’s first, as it gears up for rapid growth that could congest the terminal opened in May.
Nearly a third of air travellers to Bangalore fly budget airlines such as the Deccan Aviation Ltd-run Simplifly Deccan or Spicejet Ltd. The new airport can handle around 12 million passengers in its first year of operation.
“It is a most promising solution because it can be realized fast and take a portion of passengers,” said Bial chief executive Albert Brunner, adding its board will consider the plan in July in addition to a second terminal and runway.
The terminal could be ready by December 2009.
16/06/08 K Raghu/Livemint

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Chandrika Kumaratunga ‘detained’ at Srinagar airport

Former Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga faced an embarrassing situation when she was ‘detained’ at the Srinagar airport after officials failed to identify her on arrival to take part in a SAARC cultural event, the Kashmir Times reported yesterday.
According to the report security officials had refused to allow Ms. Kumaratunga to leave the Srinagar airport on May 24 as she did not have a special visa and prior Home Ministry permission to participate in the event organized by the South Asia Foundation.
Her repeated pleas that she was a former president of Sri Lanka and that she was in Kashmir on the invitation of the Indian government had fallen on deaf ears.
Later the Sri Lankan High Commission in New Delhi intervened on her behalf and obtained a directive from the Home Ministry for Ms. Kumaratunga to exit the airport.
The newspaper also reported similar incident that also occurred last month when former Pakistani minister and human rights activist Ansar Burney deported him back to Dubai after he arrived in New Delhi to attend a conference on terrorism.
16/06/08 Daily Mirror, Sri Lanka

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Maytas Infra to construct Gulbarga airport

Mumbai: A consortium led by Maytas Infrastructrure will construct the Gulbarga airport in Karnataka. The partners in the consortium will be NCC Infrastructure Holdings, VIE India Project development Holdings and Maytas Infrastructure. The consortium would develop and operate the airport on a BOT basis which would be a greenfield project under PPP.
A separate special purpose company has been set up for this reason where the consortium partners - Maytas Infra, NCC and VIE will have a shareholding pattern of 37 per cent, 37 per cent and 26 per cent respectively. The construction period of the project is 24 months from the date of signing the agreement with a concession period of 30 years extendable by an additional 30 years term.
16/06/08 Business Standard

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ATC officials not to take on extra load

Kolkata: The Air Traffic Control (ATC) officials at NSC Bose Airport Guild (Eastern region) have decided to stop “extra work” from Monday.
The ATC Guild (eastern region) took this decision in an emergency meeting held yesterday. The Guild has also informed higher officials of their decisions.
According to an ATC officials, every day about 650 aircrafts fly over Kolkata flight information region (FIR) without landing. About 270 flights fly to and from Kolkata. For every flight, 26 ATC officials have to be on duty and at least 5 officials have to work over time to monitor all these flights. Some senior officials have to impart training to fresh or junior ATC officials while doing their normal duties. According to guidelines, on every shift, at least 35 ATC officials are required to be on duty for safe monitoring of the flights.
According to the official, the extra workload is taking a toll on their health. “Any minor mistake due to overwork or fatigue may lead to a mishap," an official said.
The officials said that ideally there should be 175 ATC officials at this airport but there were only 132. Moreover, transfer orders had been issued for some of the officials despite the staff crunch here.
There have been continuous transfers of senior, experienced and rated ATC officials from this airport every year. But the replenishment has not been adequate.
15/06/08 The Statesman

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6-hr delay in take-off creates ruckus

Chennai: Passengers had a harrowing experience after a Chennai-Bangkok Indian flight was delayed by more than six hours at the Anna International terminal of the airport, on Sunday. The flight was scheduled to depart at 10.30 a.m, but left only at 5 p.m.
Irritated by the prolonged delay, many of the passengers picked up a quarrel with the airline and airport staff from 12 noon. Some of the 87 passengers kicked up a ruckus and even abused the airline and airport staff alleging that the airline failed to inform them about the delay in advance.
The passengers had completed the formalities and were waiting for the flight, when Indian announced at 9 a.m. that the flight would be delayed and has been re-scheduled to 3 p.m.
However, some of the passengers, who were already upset that the airline did not inform them before 7 am about the delay, were further peeved when Indian again re-scheduled the flight to 5 p.m.
One of the passengers flung a plate filled with food and started to quarrel with the airline and airport staff alleging that the airline was putting the passengers in trouble. He had to be pacified after much struggle, said an eyewitness at the airport.
16/06/08 V Ayyappan/Times of India

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SC clears air on arrears

New Delhi: An employee cannot claim wage arrears for a period he was absent from work without leave or without a justifiable reason, the Supreme Court has said.
The ruling came as the court set aside a Calcutta High Court order which had asked the Airports Authority of India to pay back wages to an assistant engineer who had stayed away from work for 10 years after he was transferred from Calcutta to Delhi.
A division bench of the high court had directed the airports authority to pay Shambhu Nath Das of Calcutta back wages from October 1985 to November 1995. Das had reported for duty at Delhi and served there for seven days. He then took leave from March 26, 1985, to April 12, 1985, citing his grandmother’s illness. But he did not rejoin work and kept seeking repeated leave extensions on medical grounds.
The airports authority refused to give him back wages, citing the principle of no work, no pay. Das moved high court and a division bench upheld his plea, but the apex court set aside the order.
15/06/08 The Telegraph

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Liquor the most imported item at Kerala airports

Thiruvananthapuram: Gone are the days when non-resident Keralites returned home with a bagful of goodies, most notably electronic gadgets. Today, that is passe. The only article that continues to be brought in - and in an increased flow - is liquor, ranging from the expensive scotch to the inexpensive rum.
Thanks to the latest amended rules, people arriving aboard an international flight can bring along two litres of “spirits”.
“India and Sri Lanka are the only two countries where an international passenger can bring in two litres,” said Mohan Kumar, a senior customs official at the Thiruvananthapuram international airport. Elsewhere, passengers are allowed only a litre.
Kerala has more than two million Keralites working abroad, 90 percent of them in West Asia.
The state has three international airports, and on an average about 4000 passengers arrive daily. Of these, close to 90 percent are Keralites returning to their home state. Said a customs official who has served at Kerala’s all three international airports: “The rules are very clear, and it states that for every passport, irrespective of the age, one can bring in two litres of spirits. There are only a handful who do not arrive with liquor. So calculate for yourself the amount of liquor that arrives every day at the airports in Kerala.”
15/06/08 IANS/Thaindian.com, Thailand

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Yeddyurappa kicks off Gulbarga airport work

Gulbarga: Chief minister B S Yeddyurappa pitched the development flag in the long-neglected Congress fief of Gulbarga by kicking off the airport work at Srinivas Saradgi village, near here, on Saturday.
Buffeted by a string of early blues, Yeddyurappa sought to turn over a new leaf with his Gulbarga assignment.
The CM said the work on the airport, taken up as public-private initiative, would begin inside of five days and hoped it would be completed in 24 months.
He recalled the extensive airport spadework done by former chief minister N Dharam Singh and KPCC president Mallikarjun M Kharge.
The CM hoped the airport, once functional, would attract major industries, creating job opportunities for the locals.
Work on Shimoga and Hassan airports, too, will begin soon. Also, the government has proposed to build an airport in Bijapur on the Gulbarga model.
He said Hubli, Mangalore and Belgaum airports, which are plagued by capacity constraints, will be expanded to meet the increasing air traffic.
The CM said the Indian Air Force has given permission for using its base in Karwar, Mysore and Bidar for civil aviation. Yeddyurappa held the Airports Authority of India responsible for the Bidar airport terminal construction delay.
15/06/08 Mangalorean.com

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Big birds stare at elbow-room problem on Bangalore tarmac

Bangalore: The glitzy airport in India’s software capital that was to have been the takeoff point for the aviation growth story remains grounded in the present.
International airlines have slammed the airport for the “flawed” design of the aerobridges — a sanitised corridor connecting the plane doors with the terminal building.
The new airport has eight aerobridges to handle 11.4 million passengers annually.
Only four of the eight aerobridges in Bangalore can service wide-bodied aircraft at a time, leaving the other four idle. If one wide-bodied aircraft is being serviced, the two aerobridges flanking it have to be left unused as the aircraft’s large wingspan prevents other planes from being parked close to it on either side.
Wide-bodied aircraft, such as the Airbus A330, A340 or the Boeing 747 or 777, have a wingspan of 60-75 metres compared with 28-34 metres for narrow-bodied planes like the A320 or Boeing 737. With an aerobridge every 45-50 metres, wide bodies occupy a major portion of the apron — the area where the planes are parked, loaded or unloaded, refuelled or boarded.
Albert Brunner, the chief executive officer of Bangalore International Airport Limited (BIAL), said it was not a design flaw but a plan to “optimise” the use of infrastructure.
But airlines are not amused. A European airline, which operates only Airbus A-340s to Bangalore, was upset with the planning.
With aviation registering phenomenal growth and seat demand surging, airlines across the world are opting for more wide-bodied aircraft. But the Bangalore airport, which cost over Rs 2,500 crore and took four years to build, is not designed to meet the demands of this growth.
15/06/08 Anil Budur Lulla/The Telegraph

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Baggage handler hero John Smeaton snubs Bollywood movie of airport attack

Hero baggage handler John Smeaton has turned down a role in a Bollywood movie about the Glasgow Airport terror attack.
Smeaton rejected the offer to star in Beyond Belief - made by Dundee businessman Tony Hussain - because he believes the idea is "tasteless".
The 32-year-old, of Erskine, Renfrewshire, who shot to global fame after grappling with airport terror suspects last summer, said: "I have spoken to Tony Hussain but I have told him that I'm not doing it because it's a bit tasteless."
Director Nileish Malhotra was due to begin shooting the multimillion pound song-and-dance thriller in Scotland this month.
Despite Smeato's comments, Hussain last week claimed he was still on board. He said: "He's going to play himself."
Smeato's snub comes as the Sunday Mail can reveal Hussain's controversial business history.
Behind the boasts, BMW car and designer suits, self-publicist Hussain, 42, has a chequered past.
He says he is an "entrepreneur, restaurateur, property investor, developer, business angel, screenwriter and occasional actor".
But the former bankrupt has a string of failed firms behind him and has served a seven-year company director ban.
Hussain, who ran Indian restaurants in Edinburgh and Dundee, says his firm SHK Property & Investments is backed by the Bank of Ireland and "makes the impossible, possible".
15/06/08 Marion Scott/Glasgow Sunday Mail, UK

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Hit by bird, Lalu's flight makes emergency landing

New Delhi: Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav, his wife Rabri Devi and the top brass of the Rashtriya Janata Dal had a close shave on Saturday morning after the Kingfisher flight carrying them was hit by a bird. The aircraft had to come back to IGIA shortly after taking off. “The plane could have caught fire, but thanks to the pilot, we all landed safely,” Lalu told Hindustan Times. Other VIP passengers on board included RJD union ministers PC Gupta, JP Yadav and Akhilesh Prasad Singh.
The Delhi-Varanasi Kingfisher flight (IT 331) took off from IGIA at 9.32 a.m. and while the aircraft was still at cruising height, it suffered a bird hit. “The commander of the flight could have carried on because it is a short journey to Varanasi and there was not much damage to the aircraft. However, we have a strict safety policy and the commander decided to bring it back,” Kingfisher spokesman Prakash Mirpuri said.
The pilot informed the Air Traffic Controller in Delhi that he would have to return and all arrangements for landing in emergency condition were made. The aircraft had a safe and normal landing around 10 a.m.
There were 63 other passengers in the plane, the airline spokesman said. The VIPs were accommodated in an Air India that was leaving for Varanasi shortly. The other passengers were sent by another Kingfisher aircraft around 11.30 a.m.
14/06/08 Hindustan Times

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Indian loses deportation case

Manama: An expatriate worker convicted of theft has lost his appeal against being thrown out of Bahrain. The 38-year-old Indian man was jailed for three months, to be followed by deportation, by the Lower Criminal Court, after being caught stealing in April.
He appealed only against the deportation order, but this was rejected by the High Criminal Appeals Court.
The defendant was arrested after stealing cash from a counter while delivering goods to Bahrain Duty Free, at the airport.
He was later found to have kept goods in his car, with the intention to sell them and keep the cash, rather that deliver them to Bahrain Duty Free.
The man had just delivered cartons of cigarettes and other goods to one of the shops, when a female customer suddenly accused the cashier of stealing her change, after giving him BD20 for BD2 worth of chocolates.
The clerk told her that he put the change on the counter, as he was opening the boxes the defendant had delivered, the court heard.
A security guard later alerted police, after seeing the defendant rushing out of the airport and also noticing that he still had boxes in his car marked "Must deliver today".
The defendant later admitted stealing the woman's cash and that he had intended to sell the goods in his car, the court heard.
15/06/08 Gulf Daily News, Bahrain

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Revamp of non-metro airports a distant dream

Mumbai: India’s ambitious project to modernize 35 non-metro airports may miss its deadline, with the ministry of civil aviation deciding to revise its terms and conditions.
The ministry had already pre-qualified some companies, including Tata Power Ltd and Reliance Energy Ltd, for participating in the bidding process for the Amritsar and Udaipur airports. Lanco Infratech Ltd, Maytas Infra Ltd, GMR Infrastructure Ltd and Larsen and Toubro Ltd along with its international partner, were also shortlisted for the programme. The ministry had planned to upgrade 24 airports by 2009 and 11 by 2010, with a total investment of more than Rs10,000 crore.
"When the government first invited RFQs (requests for qualification), it planned to give the mandate to the winning bidder for commercial operations, maintenance of terminal buildings, cargo management and city-side development. Now, it wants to give only for cargo management and city-side development,” said a person familiar with the development.
"This will not only discourage international partners, but will also derail the non-metro airport modernization project,” he added, asking not to be identified.
A senior government official said nothing has been finalized on changing the terms and conditions, though there is a provision to do so.
The Airports Authority of India (AAI) has pointed out major human resources problems with the private companies taking over commercial operations and maintenance of terminal building, city-side development and cargo handling. “The fear of labour unrest and re-allocation of these AAI staff have resulted in changing the rules of airport modernization,” said a person familiar with the move. A senior executive of the Tata group, who did not wish to be identified, said this would send wrong signals to domestic and international investors.
14/06/08 P.R. Sanjai/Livemint

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50 flights delayed

Almost all afternoon flights from Calcutta were delayed on Friday because of work on the airport’s secondary runway.
Airport officials said around 50 flights of Jet Airways, Kingfisher, Deccan, IndiGo and Air India took off 30-45 minutes later than scheduled.
Work on merging the extended portion of the secondary runway with the main section started around 10am, though delays began to occur only when the taxiway closest to the main runway’s turning pad was blocked.
The main runway will be closed to remove strips of melted tyre rubber from the track once work on the secondary runway is over.
14/06/08 The Telegraph

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Flight chaos at airport

Kolkata: A number of flights — both incoming and outgoing — were delayed at the Kolkata airport of Friday after a key taxi-way was shut down, throwing flight schedules haywire.
A total of 18 flights took off late while 11 incoming flights got delayed. Around 1,000 passengers had to wait inside departing aircraft for anything from 20 minutes to an hour. Rohit Sharma, a JetLite passenger to Bangalore, complained: “I had to sit inside the aircraft for an hour after the doors closed. By then, I would have completed nearly half the journey.”
Airports Authority of India (AAI) officials said the shut-down had been necessary to complete critical work on extending the secondary runway. “Taxi track A, that is used by departing aircraft, had to be shut down. Planes had to enter the runway using taxi track B and backtrack all the way to the northern end some 9,900 ft away. Thus, planes coming in to land were held up. Runway occupancy for departing aircraft shot up from a minute to nearly four,” said an air traffic control source.
AAI had issued a notice to airmen at 7 pm on Thursday, informing airlines that work would be undertaken to join the secondary runway to the newly completed 1,300-ft extension from 10 am to 6 pm on Friday and Saturday.
AAI decided to complete the work on Friday as airlines had complained in April about the airport’s main runway turning slippery due to rubber deposits from aircraft tyres at the landing zone.
At a May 23 meeting with airline representatives, AAI officials said the primary runway would remain shut till June 15 so that work could be undertaken to remove the rubber deposits.
14/06/08 Arpit Basu/Times of India

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One killed in freak 'air accident' in Mumbai

Mumbai: Ruins of a small room in the slums right behind Mumbai's international airport in an area called Jari Mari lay proof to Shivaji Ghole's unexpected death.
Around 2000 hours IST on Thursday evening a strong blast of hot air hit the weak, makeshift ceiling of Ghole's house and caused it to collapse.
“We heard the sound of the wall collapsing in the house where my father-in-law was. We rushed there and my husband took him out but he died on the way to the hospital,” victim's relative Rani Mane said.
The dangerous proximity of the slum to the airport's runway caused the accident. A blast of hot air from a plane revving up its engines hit the slum and led to the caving of the hutment.
Slums on 276 acres of land around the airport are to be rehabilitated by real estate developers but local leaders are now raising questions about the status of the project.
Meanwhile, the Airport Authority of India has been called for an inspection but with the questionable condition of the slums, it's unlikely that Ghole's family will receive any compensation.
13/06/08 Nimisha Srivastava/CNN-IBN

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Corporates resist hangar takeover bid

Raymonds, Tatas, Mukesh Ambani and ESSAR, they all have reason to worry now. It has nothing to do with the rise and fall of the Sensex. In fact, these corporates are now getting set to battle it out with the Airport authority of India, which has asked them to vacate their private jet hangars for the development of Mumbai airport.
Raymonds, Tatas, Mukesh Ambani and ESSAR, they have been asked to vacate the hangars by June 30, 2008.
It's going to be a 'Battle Royale', the buckling swords of the industry giants are out, as India's biggest tycoons are ready to slug it out with Airport Authoritiy of India (AAI) - for their status symbols, their hangars for private jets.
The AAI has asked the country's top corporates to vacate the land, on which these hangars are built for the development of the airport.
12/06/08 Times Now.tv

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AAI dilly-dally over funding delays IGI hotel project

New Delhi: Even as the Airports Authority of India (AAI) remain undecided over funding of the hotel project at the Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi, the logjam over the issue may delay the hotel project and it may not come up in time for the Commonwealth Games in 2010.
As per plans, a 3,000-room hotel complex was to be built at the 5% area, which the developers of the Delhi airport developers are allowed to undertake for commercial development.
Last year, Delhi International Airport Ltd (DIAL) had created subsidiaries and tried to develop a hospitality district on 45 acres of the approximately 250 acres of airport land that it is allowed to develop by taking security deposits toalling Rs 2,750 crore from realty developers.
This move was opposed by the AAI as it felt that DIAL, the developers of IGI, was taking revenue away from the AAI by forming subsidiaries. The government-owned airport developer contended that the deposits DIAL took were too high and is a part of its revenue and not deposits that were to be returned.
The GMR Infrastructure Ltd-led Delhi International Airport Ltd (Dial) consortium, which is modernising India’s second busiest international airport by traffic had planned to raise around Rs 2,800 crore in debt from land lease rights for some 45 acres of airport land through a subsidiaries, Delhi Aerotropolis Pvt Ltd, to fund the airport’s development.
13/06/08 Shauvik Ghosh/Financial Express

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At IGI, a dead body stayed in a plane for over an hour-and-half

New Delhi: In another incident that highlights the deplorable state of affairs at the Indira Gandhi International Airport, authorities took over 90 minutes to remove the body of a passenger who died on board a flight.
Fr M A Joseph from the Meerut diocese had boarded the Delhi-Trivandrum flight IC 466. On way, he apparently developed a breathing problem. The passenger next to him later told police that he was using an inhaler repeatedly. Ten minutes before the flight landed, the priest collapsed.
“Though the pilot had informed the ATC that there was a patient on board who needed medical care urgently, the plane was sent to a remote bay. The bay 146 is next to the taxiway and the ambulift takes around half-an-hour to reach the aircraft,” said a senior airport official.
The aircraft landed in Delhi at 10:50 am.
“The airport doctor arrived on board after 20 minutes and declared Fr Jospeh dead. But the body was kept inside the plane as the police was supposed to come and provide clearance,” said Fr Varghese Matmana, who was on the same flight on his way from Kanyakumari.
The airlines officials kept waiting for the police — who were stationed at the domestic terminal itself, technically, a few minutes away — till 12.20 pm. Finally, they took the body out of the aircraft and tried to take it out from the VIP exit at terminal 1-A. But the CISF personnel posted there intervened — pointing out that this exit was not meant for the body. Eventually, the airline officials prevailed and the body was taken to the medical unit. “The police came at the medical unit to give the clearance around 12.30. Finally, at 3 pm, the body was handed over to the family,” Fr Matmana said.
The Indian Airlines officials, however, deny that there was a delay in removing the body from the aircraft.
12/06/08 Expressindia.com

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Indian turned away

An Indian national was turned away at Nadi Airport on Monday after immigration officials realised the university he was to attend did not exist.
Immigration director Viliame Naupoto said the man travelled here on the understanding he was going to attend the University of Pacific International.
Mr Naupoto said the man told immigration officers there was a recruitment in India for the university.
On the website, the university is located in Suva. It has a mobile phone contact number, while the fax number is that of the landline to Ba's Global Electrical.
Company director Mohini Ram said her husband met a man on a business trip to India. He accompanied her husband to Fiji and inquired with the authorities on the setting up of the university.
"He came to Fiji and went around Suva to set up the university," Mrs Ram said. "There was a student who came in from India who was detained at the airport. According to my husband, the university is to start in September."
Mrs Ram's husband, Rishi, is away overseas.
The university website offers free study tours to Australia, New Zealand and the United States.
"This is part of human trafficking. It's when you get people into the country through fraud or deception and this is what's happening," Mr Naupoto said.
"We will be sending across to India the information so they will be able to put it out to the media there that this is no such university based in Suva.
12/06/08 Fiji Times, Fiji

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Global airlines oppose India’s passenger data system proposal

Flying into India could turn into a nightmare for international travellers, if New Delhi goes ahead with its demands for passenger information from global carriers in a particular format before their flights take off for the country.
India proposes to implement from 30 June an advanced passenger information system, or Apis, that requires carriers to transmit key passenger information before their flights take off for India.
Most of the information Apis requires is available in the so-called machine-readable parts of a traveller’s passport. This data can then be compared with security databases by immigration authorities to check the background of the passengers, and flight crew.
India, too, sought to put in a similar system in place starting 1 April, and extended the deadline to 30 June for carriers to prepare themselves. However, airlines say even this may not be met.
Globally, the industry norm is to transfer the highly confidential passport information in a format called the United Nations Electronic Data Interchange for Administration, Commerce and Transport,or UN/Edifact, which is then decoded by immigration authorities at the country it is sent to.
But India has asked the airlines to send the details in a flat file format, which is the final version and does not require any further decryption. It means the airline needs to re-encrypt the information after sending it across to India.
Steve Ridgway, chief executive of UK-based Virgin Atlantic Airways Ltd, that runs flights between Europe and Mumbai and Delhi, said meeting this requirement will require further investments, something Virgin is unwilling to do.
Shigeyuki Kamei, vice-president of industry affairs at Japan Airlines Corp.says the passenger information India seeks is much more stricter and “personal”, besides the difference in formats.
It is stricter than the US in some requirements, he said, adding that the airline has sent its comments to the International Air Transport Association, or Iata.
In addition to the five fields that machines can read off a passport, New Delhi is asking for three more fields: the passenger’s visa number, its date of issue and the passenger’s residing address.
“I have expressed my concerns with the minister (of civil aviation Praful Patel). I have explained to them that we need to have a global standard,” said Giovanni Bisignani, Iata’s director general. “The IT system will (otherwise) be a nightmare in costs.”
12/06/08 Tarun Shukla/Livemint

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IGI to get private terminal for chartered flights soon

New Delhi: In a little over two years, the Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) would have India’s first dedicated terminal for private jets and chartered flights. The general aviation facility would fulfil the long pending demand of corporate houses to have ‘private airports’ or at least separate terminals for business travellers at airports, especially in busy ones like Delhi and Mumbai.
Airport operator Delhi International Airport (P) Ltd had recently invited Express of Interest (EoI) from global fixed base operators (FBOs) to build and operate dedicated General Aviation facilities at IGIA. “This would help in providing exclusive services to users of private and charter aircrafts at IGI,” a DIAL spokesman said.
The special terminal could come up near the existing domestic airport or it might also begin from the international Terminal 2 of IGIA, which was originally planned to be de-commissioned after the integrated Terminal 3 comes up by March 2010.
The FBO would provide services at both the terminals and the airside to general aviation passengers. “Services provided in the terminal would include special lounges, conferencing facilities apart from other amenities like rental cars, charters, catering, hotel reservations etc.,” he said.
In the airside, the FBO would provide handling services, aircraft fuelling, parking and hangar services, the official said.
11/06/08 Sidhartha Roy/Hindustan Times

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